Twiistup 6 Mixer: the Producer, the VIPs, and the Stuff No One is Talking About
Twiistup creator Mike Macadaan once hailed L.A.'s premier tech event as a nod to the dot-com days of excess. Geeks got together in uniquely Los Angeles locales to network and party like rockstars. But Macadaan sold Twiistup to an undisclosed party a few months ago, and with new management came changes. 
AV Flox Party like it's 1997
The first major change for Twiistup 6, which took place July 30 and 31 at the Universal Hilton, was to move it to the Valley. The second: make it a two-day event and include panels from high-profilers in the Web space. The last, but by no means least: to jack up the fee from 80 to 300 dollars.
Thursday's post-conference Twiistup party wasn't short on excess, but the vibe was different. I made my round of the room, surprised that no one was talking about it. When I asked people, their first question was whether I'm friends with the event producer, Francisco Dao. The second is whether I'm a blogger.
(No one asks if you're press anymore. Now all people need to know to assess liability when talking to you is whether or not you have a blog. A sign of the times.) 
Jim Alden (L-R) Neil Patel and AV Flox
I tell people I know Dao -- he's a good guy. I tell them I'm doing a piece for L.A. Weekly. Some ask me to keep their names to myself; They don't want to piss people off, but they share concerns about the location. Many had to take two or more freeways to get here and impending drive back makes it hard to really let loose.
THE PRODUCER
I work my way around the booths of the event showoffs, the companies competing for Twiistup's trophy awarding innovation, financial potential, and defensible market positioning.
Somewhere between the Blip.fm and Bakespace booths, I catch a glimpse of Dao as he cuts across the ballroom floor. He looks like he hasn't slept in days. This is Francisco Dao, the fun guy whose Twitter username is @theman, and the guy who created the Facebook group "Francisco Fun Club a.k.a. No Business Cards Allowed."
There's a big difference between being the life of the party and throwing one.
Frankly, I'm impressed. At Twiistup 5 in February of this year, Dao put together a Bachelorette-style show where three bachelors answered questions in hopes of winning over one of L.A. tech's bombshells. The premise was hilarious, but the execution was so sub-par that when people found out Dao was taking over Twiistup, concerns immediately erupted. 
Jim Alden (L-R) Jason Calacanis and Francisco Dao
There was a share of drama accompanying the hand-over, as there tends to be for things that are so near and dear to a group of people. But by the looks of things tonight, Francisco Dao has proven his event-planning chops.
Mike Macadaan, the creator of Twiistup smiles when I catch him.
"It's great," he tells me. "This is the first Twiistup I've been able to really enjoy."
If that's in the least bit surprising, it helps to remember that those immortal words that for so long defined Twiistup -- "It feels like 1997 all over again" -- were uttered by Macadaan as he was hauling bags of ice at the Viceroy at Twiistup 4 in 2008.
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