You know the day is going to be mysteriously awesome when at least 15 people come up to you and say “Hey! I didn’t know you were real!”

blogs Matt Jones of Jonesin’ Crosswords on his LiveJournal, mlstrm.livejournal.com. His take on Friday night’s events …

On Wieden + Kennedy

“There was a giant DJed reception on the rooftop, and the building was really stylish and swank, along with great accommodations and perfect weather. This was my first actual mass meet-up with other attendees. Arianna Huffington, a guest speaker from earlier in the day, was rumored to be at the party. Apparently, she was there early and left early. A small group of us wanted to form a “Let’s try to find Arianna” mission, but we all missed out. No matter, since I’m not very political, and don’t often get to read her columns. But it still would’ve been cool.”

On Dogfighting

Off to the Portland Mercury-hosted party at the abandoned Portland Cleaners, now an empty space for gatherings and art exhibits. The Mercury concerned me with big advertisements to “come see a dog-fighting match.” I knew the Mercury had a reputation for the ultra-sarcastic, but I didn’t know what lengths they’d go to. Fortunately, it was a DVD screened on the wall of a bandana-and-sunglasses-disguised presenter. He presided over a fake dog-fighting match in a small fenced off area, between three tiny dogs and a dog toy. It was less violent than any of the Animal Planet Puppy Bowls. Big sigh of relief. The venue itself was OK, with framed covers of the Mercury gracing the walls. The music was way too loud, and we’d arrived pretty late. Tables were covered with empty and half-empty glasses, but no one to clean them up.

On 2020

Finally, an informal party was thrown in one of the 20th floor suites. Met more WW staff and interns. Blair tried to stump the room on what a Brannock device was used for, which I knew right away. That seemed to blow his mind (and mine too, since that’s a good trivia question). MG tried to guess an intern’s first name by having her give him the number of letters and the vowel-consonant pattern. I thought it was cool she didn’t hesitate giving him the CVCCVV. I joked her name could be Tattoo for all we know; MG said, “No, that’s probably her middle name.” We finally got to “Maggie” and moved on.

Want more? Matt Jones’ take on Saturday’s parties.