It's not often that someone who attends a party described widely as "cheesy" has such a good time, but when Robert Scoble turns 40, some amazing folks turn out to sing Happy Birthday. Robert writes about it, and Chris Pirillo submits an overview, along with Photo Story of the happenings.
I understand now that Robert's ulterior motive to including me on the invite list was to get me drunk so I'd spill secrets of Xbox plans, but since I limit my drinking to sodas and juice, their plot was foiled. Mwah ha ha ha.
I'm not the social maven that Robert and Maryam are, and normally I don't enjoy parties where I'm expected to socialize with strangers. But the guests were so fascinating, and the atmosphere so genuine, that I ended up staying several hours after I thought I would.
It's always fun to put faces to blogger names. I got to meet Josh Ledgard, one of the first Microsoft bloggers I ever read, and his wife Gretchen Ledgard (author of the widely-read Technical Careers @ Microsoft blog). I didn't speak with, but got to see co-HED (Home & Entertainment Division) employee Steve Lacey. And I saw again JP and Garrett.
I finally got to meet (and hang out with a bit) Halley Suitt. She's in town for the Blog Business Summit show happening Monday and Tuesday in Seattle. I've written about Halley a few times, and I was super excited to get the chance to meet her. I've always been impressed with her writing, whether it's for HBR, Worthwhile magazine, or the inimitable Halley's Comment. I was just as impressed with her in person as I am from afar. While I didn't have my own fortune told with Tarot Cards, I watched her give readings to several folks. I hope to meet up with Halley before she heads home to the northeast.
Watching over Halley's shoulder with me was Erik Hansen. He is Tom Peter’s “Minister of Culture,” responsible for Tom’s “global brand.” He heads up www.tompeters.com, and rumor has it he’s the one that got Tom blogging. He shared some stories of working with Tom, and since I’m a huge Tom Peters fan, I ate up every word. (One of the regrets I have from taking a hiatus from blogging is that I missed Tom’s introduction and continued postings…).
Later, I butted in on a conversation between Halley and Amazon.com CTO Werner Vogels. Somehow the conversation drifted to online privacy, and Halley wondered if all the information Amazon’s collected could be used to find the perfect partner. Problem is, how do you know why someone ordered what they did? Is that book about having the perfect relationship for someone who wants to develop and maintain a great relationship, or for someone who is needs instruction because he is so bad? Hmmm. As for me, my wife and I often share our account. So my profile would show that I’ve bought business and marketing books, classic rock CDs, digital gadgets, potty training books, Barney videos, and books about women’s nutrition, spirituality, and angels. I don’t want to know the kind of mate that profile would attract.
A bit later, Buzz Bruggerman came to the party. It's not often someone lives up to lofty expectations. I had expected Buzz to be vivacious and smart and personable. He was all that and more, and I look forward to having lunch with him later this week.
Buzz and I were talking about Xbox and videogames and the impact on culture and education, and Buzz insisted I speak with David Gall, Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. David often speaks to schools about science and oceanography, and often opens talking about Halo 2 and how playing Halo 2 is a lot like modern science. You work as a team, you explore strange new worlds, you use joysticks to control your player or a robotic submersible. Fascinating! I really need a whole blog post about our conversation. I left wanting to change the way our education system works… David introduced me to a colleague with the title “Underwater Archaeologist.” Being a budding geologist myself, I was fascinated with stories of sunken treasure and 400 year old vessels.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, ex-Softee Linda Stone popped by to say hello...
I wrapped up the night (as Robert reports) being grilled about future plans for Xbox. As much as I love talking about my job, I really want to keep it. So as much as I hated to, I found myself repeating the PR catchphrase: “I cannot comment on rumors or unannounced products.”
Great night with great people. I think I ended up getting the gift. Happy Birthday, Robert!
(Photo: Chris Pirillo shows winner of most creative cheese contest, a block of mozerrella in the shape of a SmartPhone. Taken with my Audiovox SMT5600.)
Sorry I missed meeting you there...It was a fun party!
Posted by: Julie Leung | Monday, January 24, 2005 at 12:51 AM
Great to hear you’re stepping out to have a good time! I had a fabulous weekend hanging with the Vloggers, the snow just made it more “interesting”. Hope you get to meet Tom Peters, he's a genuinely nice guy.
Posted by: paul | Monday, January 24, 2005 at 04:00 AM
If I wasn't there, it wasn't much of a party. Perhaps I need someone to manage
*my* global brand!
Posted by: Skip | Monday, January 24, 2005 at 04:45 AM
Skip - funny, I was thinking the same thing.
Posted by: Rose | Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 01:05 PM