One of the highlights of the South by Southwest experience is the parties and each year there are a select few that really stand out that you just have to be at. Sure, there are going to be complaints and criticism about things are handled, but for the most part, the party seems just fine. Was the Mashable MashBash one of these events? Sure…I’d chalk this up and say that the MashBash was the party to look out for at SXSW.

Held at Buffalo Billiards in downtown Austin, the Mashable team threw a soiree that rivaled all others that night and the entire venue was nearly filled to capacity, or at least it seemed it was pretty hard to move around. With free drinks (<$4) and entertainment put on by DJ Chicken  George, who said that Mashable can’t throw a lively party. All sorts of ce-web-rities showed up, including Leo Laporte, Robert Scoble, Brian Solis, Michelle Feldman, Drew Olanoff and even Pete Cashmore (well…it was his party, after all).

The party started at 9pm and kept going until 2am when Buffalo Billiards kicked everyone out and we dispersed into the streets seeking the next source of entertainment. The Mashable party was definitely one that I looked forward at my time at SXSW. Definitely something worth going to if you get a chance.

Here are some photos from the event:

Team Mashable

The crowd at the MashBash

Jeff Pulver

Gregarious Narain, Drew Olanoff & Jenn Van Grove

Wm. Marc Salsberry

Pete Cashmore & Leora Israel

Robert Scoble with Leo Laporte interviewing Lisa Bettany

Chris Heuer & Pete Cashmore

Khayyam Wakil, Drew Olanoff & Brett Petersel

Having fun at the MashBash

Stephanie Agresta and Pete Cashmore

DJ Chicken George

Many more photos from the Mashable MashBash photos can be found online by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Yeung

Let’s turn the tables and give the press some love. Here are Marissa Louie’s top picks.

By Marissa Louie, January 9

I’m not a PR person. But I am a CEO who has worked directly with several reporters, anchors, journalists, and bloggers covering national / mainstream, tech, local, and political media.

Take a look at which 15 members of the press are at the top of their game for 2010:

STAR OF THE YEAR:

Kym McNicholas (Anchor / Reporter, Forbes) steps into the minds of the subjects she portrays on camera, like a top actress would do. She makes people feel comfortable: she interviewed Steve Wozniak while riding a Segway and ballroom danced with SYTYCD’s Nigel Lythgoe, for example. What makes her star of the year? Her background in sports reporting and as a local news anchor, her professionalism and razor-sharp intellect, and her ability to get to the very core of a wide variety of subjects ranging from science and technology to professional sports and entertainment. Behind the scenes: Kym wakes up at the crack of dawn every day (including weekends), prepares very thoroughly for each interview, carries around all of her own equipment, shoots videos (with or without the help of a cameraman), and edits up to 2 hours of footage into 2-5 minutes. She is superwoman! Kym on Twitter

MEET THE PRESS (and bring your A-Game):

MAINSTREAM

Lea Goldman (Features Editor, Marie Claire) has taken her pedigree from Forbes (where she had some of the most popular stories and listicles) and brought it to the women’s fashion, lifestyle, culture, and celebrity magazine. She does her research – sometimes months in advance of covering a story. She also makes her interviewees feel at ease as she penetrates deeply into the thought process. The result: she reads between the lines, uncovers underlying emotions, and brings a story to life that is meaningful to her readers. Lea on Twitter

Eric Kuhn (Audience Interaction Producer, CNN) isn’t just one of the most influential online journalists in the field today, but has appeared on nationally televised CNN to bring life to his storyline. His on-camera personality is honest and personable, just like his off-camera personality. Hey CNN, here’s a crossover star in the making. No wonder Arianna Huffington calls Eric a “fearless journalist.” Eric on Twitter

David Gelles (Technology Reporter, Financial Times) goes out of his way to cover all angles of a story. In the past year since he joined FT’s San Francisco Bureau to cover technology and startups, he has amassed an impressive network of the most notable web celebrities. In addition to the articles he publishes in the newspaper and online, he also blogs for FT and has contributed to notable places including TechCrunch. He ruminates, takes good notes, digs far and wide to research, and assembles masterpiece after masterpiece. He’s the most eloquent journalist I’ve ever met, on record and off record. He’s Beethoven come to life on the salmon pages (and the web). David on Twitter

POP CULTURE AND MARKETING

Steve Hall (Publisher, Adrants, AdGabber, and ad:tech Blog) describes how he filters the hundreds of stories that fly across his desk every morning: “It’s methodical…I’ve come to just know whether a story would resonate with our readers or not.” His pop-culture spin and no-holds barred, yet cheeky approach are refreshing. At a recent panel we were on at Web 2.0 Expo, an overwhelming 40% of the audience either knew Steve personally or had read Adrants. I’m a fan, too. Steve on Twitter

Sean Percival (Publisher, Lalawag) pumps out pop culture-laced tech news that is one part adventure novel, and one part geek glory. He has sent LA-based Lalawag straight to stardom in just over 1 year, including at places like Techmeme. Sean’s quirky-cool lexicon has caught fire on the Internet: you might have seen the words kitteh, lalawabbit, ohnoez, and Caturday used all over Twitter and Facebook. This badass is a sleek dresser who rocks retro-hipster designer clothes, has the coolest hair (keep it long, Sean!) and makes any event look great together with his lovely wife, Laurie. Sean on Twitter

TECH

MG Siegler (Writer, TechCrunch) adds a refreshing and cool, tech-infused, tongue-in-cheek, Hollywood-esque spin on tech stories. And that only describes the titles of his articles at TechCrunch – his content is carefully considered and an adventure to read. MG is featured in Violet Blue’s “Top 10 Sexy Geeks” for 2010, and according to her, MG “exudes an irresistible combination of young James Spader and Don Draper.” I couldn’t agree more! MG on Twitter

Pete Cashmore (CEO, Mashable) At just 24, Pete has clawed his way from his home country of Scotland onto the top of the pedestal of the world’s technology elite. He’s brought a world class team along with him. His article titles are often hilarious and catchy, and he lead Mashable to cover Twitter extensively before anybody else was doing so. He recently started writing a CNN column about social media and networking. Plus he’s a ton of fun to hang out with in person. I know dozens of girls (and just as many guys – hehe sorry Pete) who swoon for his model looks. And he might comment or like your Facebook posts too, if you know him! Pete on Twitter

Richard McManus (Founder and Editor, ReadWriteWeb) has a thoughtful, relatable, approachable, no-nonsense approach to covering technology. It’s in his blood: his father was a renowned journalist. Richard follows up immediately, and makes sure that somebody checks out your story pitch if you give him a good lead. He crowdsources from his readership too: for example, he changed his Twitter handle from @ReadWriteWeb to @RWW after getting feedback from his followers. Richard on Twitter

Adam Ostrow (Editor in Chief, Mashable) is the sort of guy you’d like to be best friends with, and a deep introspective person. His content is fresh, thorough, charismatic, and to the point. He manages the editorial content that covers the evolution of technology and web trends. The world watches his pen (or is it a sword?): The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Times of London, The Globe and Mail, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, AdAge, BBC, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC. Adam on Twitter

Om Malik (Publisher, GigaOM) picks up his cell phone immediately and gets right on it. He takes things into his own hands and is very thorough. His intelligence seeps through his demeanor, his voice, and even in his stage presence at The Crunchies. He gets primo placement after primo placement. It’s like he’s a highly trained intelligence agent with a sharpshooting eye. It’s no wonder that Om has led The GigaOM Network to reach an audience of over 3 million viewers. Om on Twitter

LOCAL NEWS

Joe Vazquez (Anchor / Reporter, CBS 5) will come out to cover your local story in the San Francisco Bay Area if you have a good spin. He puts you at ease in front of the camera (the spotlight can be glaring, and going on camera can be nerve-wracking), and makes you feel great about working with him. It’s no wonder: this pro has a local TV news career that spans more than two decades. In 2008, he won an Emmy for his 11 o’clock news coverage of the tiger escape at the San Francisco Zoo. If you do a great job and befriend him, he’ll remember you and reach back out too. Joe on Twitter

Tom Foremski (Publisher, SiliconValleyWatcher) always knows the best events in Silicon Valley. His pedigree from Forbes is very evident in his natural, insider-coverage blogging style. You can trust Tom to give you tips on what’s good – often the tips that nobody else will tell you. He teeters on the bleeding edge between technology and media, and brings you right to where you want to be on with an impeccable taste. His cool, James Bond- meets-Tom Ford-meets John Smith nature will leave you wanting more. Tom on Twitter

POLITICS

Maegan Carberry (Blogger, Huffington Post and Causecast, and Co-host, Wilshire & Washington) provokes our thoughts and stirs the imagination of our young, entrepreneurial, cause-devoted “”Millennial Generation.” She has a heart of gold yet a ballsy presentation that gets noticed. See her effervescence shine in her recent article “The 2020 Project: What’s your Perfect Vision for the Next Decade?” Maegan on Twitter

Ari Melber (Correspondent, The Nation, and Columnist, Politico) has a no bullshit approach to politics. He gets right down to the core issues that matter. At his young age, he has accomplished much. On the short list: he has appeared on NBC, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, FOX News and Bloomberg News, and has served as a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Senate and as a national staff member of the 2004 John Kerry Presidential Campaign. It’s no wonder he’s a leader amongst leaders and knows the streets of New York like the palm of his hand. Ari on Twitter

Michael Skolnik (Editor of Politics Section of Global Grind) is very real and doesn’t sugarcoat his stories. He weaves a powerful story and relates to his subjects by providing perspective from his own life. He thinks quietly and deeply, then produces a crescendo. In person, Michael is a skilled negotiator amongst a room of diverse opinions. His background as a documentary filmmaker in countries like Swaziland, where a bullet nearly shaved the side of his head, helped him earn his chops. Not only is this man one of the most influential people in the hip hop community, but his character has deep soul. He has the respect of Russell Simmons and dozens of our mutual friends for a very good reason. Michael on Twitter

Are you not on this list, but think you should be? Drop me a line or comment below.

Marissa is a contributor to Adotas and BusinessWeek. Find her on Twitter: @malouie

Marissa Louie is the Founder and CEO of HeroEx, San Francisco’s affordable 1 hour delivery service. Customers order their favorite items at heroex.com, and then crowdsourced Delivery Heroes deliver the items anywhere in San Francisco.

Contact her at (510) 375-1941, or email marissa@heroex.com.

Post by Alison McNeill and video by Miiko Mentz

Is there another word to describe Karen Hartline besides bubbly? Well, perhaps “Twitter Addict” would have also been appropriate, but we chose to award her with the “Most Bubbly” Bubby award at Twiistup 5.

Many of you probably know Karen as the events coordinator for Mashable, but she has branched out and is also doing her thing for Blurb. But whether she’s hosting or attending the party, she’s always the life of the party, which is why we presented her with the ‘Most Bubbly” award.

For those of you hitting SXSWi, swing by and say hi to Karen and the Blurb team at the Mashable Blurb SX Bash on Monday night, March 16. Blurb is also on the show floor at booth #408, so swing by and check out Blurb books. Maybe you have a book inside you waiting to be published Blurb style.

If you missed our highlight reel or the first three Bubby awards, check out our posts from earlier this week: Causecast, Viewdle and Patricia Handschiegel.

And stop by tomorrow as we present our final Twiistup 5 interview with Christine Elia, founder and CEO of Closet Couture, and winner of the “Favorite Fashionista Startup” Bubby award.

By Larry Chiang and Marissa Louie

Holiday Party 2.0

Hosted by Bub.blicio.us, AD-Village.com, Zinette Magazine, and S1 Management

12/2 11:19pm: SPONSOR LIST IS NOW FULL
12/4 11:18am: SEE NOTES BELOW RE: AFTERPARTY

Fa-la-la-la-la, where’s the holiday moolah?? Show me the money.

In the old days, it was “Let’s set aside $50 grand of our $12mm b-round and effen host a holiday party.”

While we WILL miss the carving station, Cirque du Soleil ballet dancers and gift baskets, we are in a borderline depression. Chin up ol’ sport!, because we are architecting a party — a holiday party where we make money, build awareness of our start-up and wow our partners and sponsors with 10x ROI on their $100-200 sponsorship.

Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing for money. Why should holiday partying be any different= We fully expect surprises to be laced between now and FRIDAY (yes, four short days away).

The party is Dec 5th, 7-9pm at Roe Restaurant (651 Howard St.) in San Francisco.

Special Guests:

• Jackie Peters of Heavybag Media
• Sarah Lacy, Author of “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good”

Co-Hosts:

• Larry Chiang
• Marissa Louie
• Brian Solis
• Krystel Ariel
• Adam Jackson
• Tyler Willis
• Barney Pell
• Waleed Abdulla
• Yo Yoshida
• Max Schulze
• Paul Schleicher
• Michael Moradzadeh
• Halle Tecco
• Ryan Merket

Spotlight Sponsor: Sun Startup Essentials

Sponsors:

• AD-Village .com
• Asse9 link
• Founders Fund .com (solicited)
• Zinette .com
• Yoono .com
• Involver .com
• JS-Kit .com
• S1 Management .com
• Blog Networks on Facebook
• Rimon Law Group
• WordPress .com
• Workstir .com
• Ninne .de
• Whole Foods Market

Media Sponsors:

• Bub.blicio.us
  
• Future-Works PR
• Heavybag Media

RSVP via text message under 140 characters to:

@malouie | (510) 375-1941 | marissa@ad-village.com

@larrychiang | (650) 283-8008 | chiang9@duck9.com

or check the Facebook group.

In the spirit of Holiday 2.0, it’s “Let’s make some money hosting a holiday party by inviting co-hosts like Brian Solis, Jackie Peters, Barney Pell, Sun Startup Essentials, Founders Fund, Involver.com, Yoono.com, and Rimon Law Group.

Because we are ZOMG monetizing , we will invite you to come celebrate Holiday 2.0.

** Chiang SURVEY QUESTIONS: **
Should we tip, bribe, comp and tip bloggers to come?
Should we charge a $5 cover?
Should we charge a $15-75 cover to VCs?

Should we have an AFTERPARTY?
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=25107055702&id=811315726&index=3

by Brian Solis

Mashable recently hosted its Mashable Monthly series at Roe in San Francisco. The September bash also served as the temporary going away party for Mr. Pete Cashmore.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…

Gregarious Greg Narain and Bub.blicio.us TV host, Alison McNeill

Dave Mathews

Morgan Brown of TurnHere

Betsy Flanagan and Reggie Nicolay

Adam Jackson

Marcus Nelson of Uservoice

Felicia Williams, Michelle DeForest, Schlomo Rabinowitz

Greg Narain and Tim Street

Drew Olanoff of Strands

Sandra Ponce de Leon

Pete Cashmore

Krystal Ariel and Rebecca Reeve

Bub.blicio.us TV

Nate Pagel and Stowe Boyd

Andrew Mager

Karen Hartline and Pete Cashmore

Rudy Bachraty

Paige Craig and Dan Kaplan

Debbie Landa

The Bub.blicio.us TV crew was on hand to interview an impressive list of entrepreneurs and influencers in attendance. Click here to watch the discussions.

For more pictures from the September Mashable Monthly event, please visit my album on flickr.

Connect with me on:
Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, or Facebook

By Alison McNeill

Mashable Monthly SF was another booming success and Dave Mathews and I were on hand to catch all the action for bub.blicio.us.

It was a full house and we had the opportunity to bid Pete Cashmore farewell and talk with some great folks including:

- Brian Zisk, SanFran MusicTech Summit
- Tim Street of French Maid TV
- Andrew Mager of The Web Life blog
- Patrick Koppula of ffwd
- Derek Overbey of roost and Morgan Brown of TurnHere
- Raina Gustafson of Unseen.tv
- Nikhil Roy of rudder
- Drew Olanoff of Strands
- Alan Bernier of Rofo
- John Le of Artiklz
- Mark Shedletsky of BlueHaze

Be sure to check out our pics of the event and more coverage here.  Stay tuned this week for all of the full interviews!

By Alex Ho

cross posted at www.startupordown.com

The first Mashable Monthly San Francisco event took place last week and packed the whole Roe Restaurant and Lounge. I wasn’t able to make it to the special pre party event for bloggers and press and actually didn’t get to the party until around 9ish but better late, than never. The top floor by that time, was packed with people while the blogger lounge downstairs had a little more breathing room but was not exactly empty either. Don’t these pictures make you wish you were there!

Mr. GQ of San Francisco, Pete Cashmore was the celebrity of the hour of course, here in front of the Mashable/Bub.blicio.us backdrop with Alice, Krystel, and Rana.

Lorna, Andrew, and Vanessa

Krystel, Andrew, and Alice

Awesome Aubrey with two glasses of wine to cure her jetlag back from Beijing.

Morgan and Kaley

More images from the event here

By Alison McNeill

Last night, Mashable kicked off a new series of events they’ve dubbed “Mashable Monthly” at Roe Nightclub in San Francisco. Folks gathered for an evening of hors d’oeuvres, drinks and networking. We’ll be posting our pics from last night’s event shortly.

In the meantime, some of you may remember SummerMash SF, a stop on Mashable’s U.S. Summer Tour, which kicked off in Seattle and then went onto San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami, Boston and recently wrapped up in New York.

During the tour’s San Francisco stop, the Bub.blicio.us video team caught up with Mashable’s Events Director, Karen Hartline, and the one and only Mr. Cashmore himself. We had the chance to grill Pete on the important issues facing Mashable. We hit him hard with questions about his groupies and lack of a tour bus (now what kind of rock star doesn’t have a tour bus), and tried to get the scoop on some top-secret info on upcoming events from Karen. The event and tour was a smashing success! And we can’t wait for the European leg.

Check it out…