by Brian Solis

Recession? What recession? The IPO seems to be making a rare appearance.

According to TechCrunch, FriendFinder Networks, formerly Penthouse Media Group, has filed to go public.

Here’s the S-1.

Renaissance Capital out of Russia is navigating the process. The company hopes to raise ~$460 million which earmarked to pay off the nearly half billion dollars in current debt .

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words and pictures by Brian Solis

Blogworld Expo exceeded all of my expectations this year and it already has scores of bloggers planning their 2009 trip to Las Vegas – including me.

Stephanie Agresta and I were asked to host a Techset event in honor of attending bloggers to celebrate their achievements, connect each other, place names to faces, and also meet new contacts to place on our radar and in our feed readers.

Because of you and your accomplishments, we were inspired to organize something very special, something that truly captured the spirit of the blogsphere and the relationships we’ve built, while injecting a bit of Las Vegas style into the mix.

Hosted at the Bare outdoor adult pool lounge at the Mirage, some of the most renown, innovative, vocal, and creative bloggers descended upon the venue en masse. The doors opened at 9:00 p.m. and by 9:05, the place was already packed. By the end of the evening, we were 500 strong.

It wasn’t the perfect night, weather, ambiance, view, or setting that made the evening memorable. It was your participation as an ambassador of the blogosphere and your community, who individually and collectively created a truly wonderful experience.

These pictures only capture one side of the night. There are many great stories from that night that should be shared with everyone. Please tell us your experience or favorite part of the night in the comments section or link your stories back here!

Gary Vaynerchuk, Michelle Oshen and Loren Feldman

Brian Thatcher of Empressr

Effren Toscano and Francisco Dao

Shira Lazar of The Pop Report

Sandra Ponce de Leon and Francisco Dao

Steve Hall of Adrants

Valerie Combs of BuzzLogic

Tim Street

Aaron Brazell and Loren Feldman

@pistachio, @queenofspain, @geekmommy, @nalei, @colleenplick

Hugh MacLeod, GapingVoid

Laura Fitton and Gary Vaynerchuk

Frank Eliason @comcastcares

VIP Zone by Media Temple

Pete Cashmore of Mashable

Kris Krug and Shira Lazar

Ewan Spence with Erin Kotecki Vest

Jenn Mae and Rebecca Bollwitt

Drew Olanoff and Jen Myronuk

Adam Ostrow, Karen Hartline, Brett Petersel of Mashable

Ezra Butler

Brian Solis and Shira Lazar

Miiko Mentz, Jeremy Tanner, and Karen Hartline

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We want to extend a very special thank you to our sponsors. Without you, we could not have hosted one of the best blogger events to date. You made it possible…

Everyone, please make sure to visit each company to see how they can help you.

Title Sponsor:

(mt) Media Temple, hosting blog super stars and super startups alike.

Cabana Sponsors:

Canvas On Demand takes your prized photograph and transform it into an amazing canvas work of art.

Empressr is a first of its kind rich Internet application that provides users with the tools to create and share multimedia visual stories online.

MindTouch Deki is an open source collaboration and integration platform.

ShareThis lets you instantly access all of your profiles, blogs, friends, and contacts for easy sharing and updating, without leaving a Web site.

Tagga allows anyone to create text message campaigns instantly so that you can interact, sell to, or simply communicate with mobile users.

Thank you to Sarah Lacy, who took over one of the cabanas to meet with fans and sign copies of her new book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0.

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For more pictures from TechSet Las Vegas, please visit my album on flickr.

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