IT’S BEEN AN INTERESTING FEW WEEKS. Ever since The Observer debuted its Media Power Bachelors and Media Power Bachelorettes lists, many an inbox or IM window in the office have yet to go a day without some noting—be it laudatory, critical, generally humored, or moderately infuriated—of the lists. Feedback for a publication is usual; this kind of feedback has been, in this particular instance, patently unusual. One common response to the lists, especially by those selected for them, was: When are you having the mixer?
And why wouldn’t it happen? Well, the bachelors list elicited a comparison to “the cantina scene from Star Wars.” The bachelorettes list elicited, among other things, a few lewd proposals. We are not in the business of facilitating a room that resembles less of a networking confab and more an Island of Dr. Moreau full of hormonal, single, and eventually drunk media people.
Which is why we made it a cash bar.
And why not attend ourselves? We’ll gladly celebrate the conclusion of this endeavor, and the start of a newer, (literally) broader New York Observer, and we’ll also hire a photographer to document it with a few pictures. As it turned out, we weren’t the only ones to enjoy it: plenty of others have since turned out reports publicly or privately of “clocking,” vomiting, screaming, wingmanning, eavesdropping, people telling one another to “fuck yourself,” hugging it out, Tweeting, and an abundance of drinking. To add to the festive/sadistic atmosphere, at one point, Sublime was heard playing over the bar’s speakers (“40 Oz. to Freedom”). And yet, somehow, it’s been noted as “less of a shitshow” than assumed in the lead up to be.
As for romances yielded by the party or the lists? We have yet to confirm any, but romantic interest if not vague suspicions of it having already happened were discussed last night. More, if necessitated, forthcoming. Until then, enjoy this: two lists later, a bunch of media people in a bar three sheets and smiling in the foreground, carnage just slightly out of frame. Romance is clearly in the air, and there are power couples to be dethroned.
From this group, we’d expect nothing less.
fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek
