Om Malik and TheLadders.com CEO Mark Cenedella joined forces to throw a cocktail party at San Francisco’s Pier 38 Thursday evening. Was this a turning point for the boomlet of optimism and hope that has been tagged with the lame moniker of “web 2.0”? Maybe, but whether it’s the high water mark or the bend in the hockey stick of upward growth is hard to tell. One thing seemed clear: For the first time since late 2000, Web geeks in T-shirts were rubbing shoulders with MBAs in blue oxford shirts and suit pants. (Many of the business class had wisely left their jackets in their Audis, and all had removed their ties by the time they arrived. Everyone knows you dress down for a web party.)
TheLadders is a job board catering to people looking for jobs paying $100,000 a year or more. Isn’t that all of us? A good number of the attendees must have been successful in that search, though, because while the free drinks flowed, the bartender’s tip glass overflowed, a sure sign that the crowd wasn’t too packed with tightfisted computer geeks or ramen-eating bootstrappers.
Justin.tv’s Justin Kan wandered through the crowd, beaming everything to his web site’s live video feed. Robert Scoble amiably and enthusiastically held court. And presiding over it all was a beaming Om Malik.
Link: Geeks and Suits Rub Shoulders at GigaOm Party
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