Dan “Technology Chronicles” Fost has the story of one plucky company (and their go-getting VC) end-running the gatekeepers of this week's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco:
So a lot of people who don't necessarily want to attend the sessions, or who couldn't get a ticket, can still show up and roam the halls and meet just about everyone they'd need to meet.
One company in particular is taking that concept to an art form. Mashery, led by CEO Oren Michels and investor Josh Kopelman, cleverly booked the Palace's Sonoma conference room as soon as the conference dates were announced.
“This is a guerilla launch,” Michels said. “We're not part of the conference.”
Instead, he had a room right at the center of the action, for “a fraction of the cost of a sponsorship.”
The room became a de facto party spot, with Mashery pouring 15 gallons of free margaritas for anyone who wandered in.
I dunno…is it really hacking or social engineering when 15 gallons of booze (Mash-aritas?) are applied to the situation? That's just shooting fish in a barrel.
Here's Mashery, in their own words (presumably written while sober). Cheers!
Tags: Web 2.0 Summit, Mashery, First Round Capital, booze, Masharitas, marketing