Chasing the Party Van: From RVIP to Gawker to Facebook - SxSW Parties

Courtesy of Mashable.com and Wm. Marc Salsberry, @wmmarc

Julia Allison behind the decks at the Facebook party

After a full day of paneling and working hard to bring you fresh SXSW daily, we decided that it was time to play hard. Convening in the TechSet blogger lounge to debate where we were going to go we heard many a suggestion; the Google party, the Gawker party, the Facebook party and apparently a Guy Kawasaki party where you needed a special red bandanna to get in (we considered going to CVS to buy one and then decided just to wing it).

We decided to finally get a real dinner (no more giveaway Zone Protein bars) and go early to the Gawker party at Six Lounge. The first floor of the lounge was empty and we were directed to the roof, ascending the stairs we were bombarded by the sound of media, which is namely witty banter. Media superstars like - Loren Feldman and Tumblr founder David Karp sipped drinks and traded bon mots while watching the sun set over Austin.

Erin Broadley

Shira Lazar (right) and friends at the Facebook party at Pangaea

Next we decided to ignore the ominous tweets and brave the lines to get in the Facebook get.friends party at Pangaea. Despite an impossibly long line, we made it in and got to watch as a veritable cornucopia of tech hotties (Shira Lazar, Julia Allison, Megan Asha, Sarah Austin and Randi Zuckerberg) rocked the house with their dance saavy and pure energy.

Erin Broadley

Kestrin Pantera in the RVIP lounge

When we got tired of dancing our butts off (what? we're human), we walked across the street to what seemed like a party Recreational Vehicle. We were pleasantly surprised when we realized that this was the infamous {RV}IP lounge - where mistress of ceremonies Kestrin Pantera and driver Jonathan Grubb got us drinks and offered us a mic, and Digg User Experience Architect Mark Tramell taught us how to use contxt, a cool service for exchanging business cards through the Internet (for those interested, here's an alternate option). We accepted, and capped off the night with a gut wrenching rendition of Dusty Springfeild's "Son of a Preacher Man."

Follow us on Twitter at @alexiatsotsis and @laweekly. Also, check out Village Voice Media's SXSW Festival site for more coverage.