Arriving in New York never gets old. The city is so full of life and I really look forward to this conference every year.

The first day is always fun because you get to see old friends and everyone is really hyped up about the week to come. The activities for this conference included a MSN party, a dinner with Allen Dick and of course the nightly winding things down (or up) at the Old Castle. That’s really were you can get all the juice about what’s happening and apparently there was a lot happening this trip.

Here’s how our week went…

Monday 4/9/07
We landed at JFK at 3, got to the hotel by 4, and down to the lobby bar by 4:30. We chilled there with DaveN, Oilman, Jen, Vanessa (the Fox), Darin, Brandi, Intern Eddie, Sandra from Looksmart, the Mozzers and a few more SEO peeps. We left there and headed over to the Iridium Jazz Club in Time Square for a scrumptious dinner and an evening of jazz with the famous Les Paul. After the show we headed back to the Old Castle to finish the evening with some Stellas.

Tuesday 4/10/07
We went to the dinner party sponsored by Allen Dick of Vintage Tub and Bath. The party was held in a Manhattan Penthouse so we could all enjoy the view of the city while we mingled. It was elegant from start to finish. Thanks to Allen for throwing such a memorable event. The ride to and from was also a time to remember. We were shuttled there on this amazing party bus that was kindly provided by Ken Jurina of Epiar. I had never seen anything like it. There were neon lights and great music. It was really a rock star way to travel.

Wednesday 4/11/07
We headed over to Caroline’s on Broadway to watch a comedy show. I’m always afraid to sit too close to the comedians because I don’t want to get picked on for anything. Fortunately, there was another group of SEO peeps in the crowd and they took all the heat. I don’t know who they were, but one of them was so drunk and started heckling the comedian to the point where it was stupid. Shortly thereafter, she was escorted out. Good, back to the show!

After Caroline’s we headed over to The Old Castle which was pretty packed. We then headed back to the hotel lobby lounge to finish chatting and enjoy our “chicken and rice” when suddenly while minding our own business we were harassed by the Hilton security team. Things got kinda ugly…more to follow on the soon to be released YouTube video.

Thursday 4/12/07
The moment we had been waiting for had finally arrived. Dinner at Esca. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. The moment we were seated, the one and only Chef Dave Pasternack was sitting at the table next to us with a friend. He was very welcoming and took pictures with my SEOH. Dinner was fabulous and the service was out of this world.

Friday 4/13/07
Heading home. Back to reality.

Here are the pictures I took at the conference.