The Party For The People
People said I was crazy to even consider a party where every Macworld Expo attendee was welcome, without invitations. But I wanted a gathering where no one had to worry about landing an invitation and people could have real converstations without stepping outside and freezing. And I had faith in Mac users. The party was a hit from the start — so this year we celebrate the Mac and Macworld Expo with the 3rd annual Party For The People, thanks to our great sponsors.
The full set of Deborah Shadovitz' ground-breaking Macworld Expo parties
[Party for the People 2004 • Party for the People 2005 • Party for the People 2006]
[The 2007 Mac Mingle • The 2008 Mac Mingle •The 2009 Mac Mingle]
2006 Party Summary
What:
The Party For The People
Produced by Deb Shadovitz with the help of friends
Thanks to some cool vendors
Where:
San Francisco, CA
When:
Tuesday, January 10th, 2006 from 8pm until you flop.
Why:
Because there’s just not enough time in a week of exhibit hours to meet and socialize with so many cool vendor folks, attendees, Mac authors, and fellow attendees.
Admission:
Just show up wearing your Macworld badge. (But we're very serious about this part.)
Details:
There will be a cash bar with drink specials. We'll have hot hors d'oeuvres for you throughout the evening as long as they last. The hotel's Sports Bar also has food for sale.
There is also always a Trivia contest, so get to know our sponsors and you can win some of their stuff.
Among the authors planning to be there are:
- Shelly Brisbin, author of many a book and magazine article, the latest of which is her upcoming book, Easy iPod and iTunes. Shelly also writes for Macworld and MacAddict.
- Dave Hamilton, publisher of The Mac Observer and contributor to MacAddict.
- Andy Ihnatko, technology columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times, author of Macworld magazine's back-page, contributor to The Mac Observer. He's also written outside of the Mac realm for publications like Playboy and CNN.com.
- The Tidbits crew — Adam and Tonya Engst, and Jeff Carlson.
- Andrew Shalat, Macworld author and now author of Mac Design Out of The Box.
- Daniel East, contributor to Layers magazine, Macsimum News and more.
- Chris Breen, long-time Macworld magazine author and now editor of Playlist Magazine.
- Dennis Sellers, editor of Macsimum News.
- David Feng, contributor to Macsimum News who is coming from Beijing, China(!)
- Rachael Smithey, editor of the Mac section — About Focus on Macs — at About.com.
And of course your host, me, Deborah Shadovitz, Contributing Editor for MacAddict, contriubutor to a few other publications including Macworld. (If the Dec issue is on the stands at the show, you can see my Sync Your Mac article.)
The Podcast
We’ll be taking the pulse of Macworld Expo as we podcast live from The Party for the People. Mac author Shelly Brisbin, who mixes humor and Mac commentary on her acclaimed show, Shelly’s Podcast will interview Mac celebrities, vendors, and party guests. You’ll also be able to listen in on music and prize giveaways throughout the evening.
Shelly's Podcast from the party is sponsored by: 
Our Sponsors
The fabulous folks helping make the 2006 party a reality by providing some fine food. Remember, we always have a trivia contest so if you know your Mac trivia or sponsors you might take home a nice prize.
Other World Computing — OWComputing.com
Figuring out what you need put into your Mac is a cinch at OWC's site. Then they go on to make it simple to buy and as easy as possible to afford. Ram, drives, burners, batteries... all here. Plenty of other stuff too.
Macworld magazine — macworld.com
Macworld magazine, Macworld online, Macworld newsletters, MacCentral, and Playlist-for all things iTunes and iPod (for both Mac and Windows).
- RadTech LLC — Radtech.us
RadTech designs, manufactures and OEM's innovative, high-tech accessories that are practical, durable, rugged, functional at environmental extremes and lightweight. From Bluetooth mice to the plastic dots that protect your PowerBook or iBook to the tools to open your PowerBook properly. 
MacSpeech — MacSpeech.com
iListen voice command software lets you control virtually any Macintosh application and dictate your text instead of typing. Library packs enable you to do medical dication, legal dictation, and more.- R
ogue Amoeba — RogueAmoeba.com
These guys have some cool audio software. In fact, without Audio Hijack Pro there wouldn't be any audio clips at my MacGathering site and wouldn't be any coming to this site either. 
Now Software — NowSoftware.com
Makers of Now Contact & Now Up-to-Date, for shared calendars and contact management, even cross-platform.
DriveSavers — DriveSavers.com
DriveSavers recovers data from drives whose damage may shock you. Every drive and media manufacturer authorizes and recommends DriveSavers Data Recovery so their recovery work doesn't void your original warranty.
Bias Inc — Bias-Inc.com
Providing Mac users with excellent audio tools for 9 years. Peak Pro, Peak Pro XT, Peak LE, Deck, and Deck LE for pro-level users. SoundSoap and SoundSoap Pro for amazing audio restoration for all levels of user.
- MacAddict magazine — Macaddict.com
the coolest Mac magazine. It's fun to read, but the
research and writing behind it are quite serious and the features are definitely informative. (I know because I write some of them.) 
DealMac — Dealmac.com
The definitive guide for finding deals on Mac hardware and software. Proprietary search agents, expert editorial
research, and reader submissions make it possible for dealmac.com to point us to shopping news for all things Mac. Sister sites like DealNews cover us for just about everything else!
Elgato — Elgato.com
Let your Mac do TV: Watch, Record, Edit — with eyetv.
Prosoft Engineering — ProsoftEng.com
Prosoft's line of software keeps your data safe, helps you back up, and (hopefully) saves your butt when you don't back up or maintain your Mac.
iKlear — iKlear.com
Klear Screen/Apple Polish are the premier cleaners for you monitors and other screens, even plastics.
Circus Ponies — CircusPonies.com
Makers of the popular NoteBook app for keeping track of your thoughts and life.
iPod Garage — iPodGarage.com
The iPod Garage is the voice of the iPod generation, providing the widest variety of iPod-related original content on the web: iPod and iTunes commentary, hands-on accessory reviews, up to the minute iPod and iTunes news, music reviews, humor pieces, tutorials, Q&A sessions and more.
Mariner Software — marinersoftware.com
Mariner Software develops and publishes professional and personal software for the writing and creativity markets. This year we are showcasing: MacJournal 4.0 and introducing Montage 1.0, Screenwriting for Mac OS X.
Econ - econtechnologies.com
Econ Technologies creates applications built exclusively for the Mac OS X operating system including ChronoSync, Portraits & Prints, DayChaser, and ImageCaster.
SeeFile — SeeFile.com
A new way to share files with customers.
- Future Sonics — futuresonics.com
Think your iPod sounds great with its standard ear pieces? Wait'll you hear it with FutureSonics ear pieces! Check out this offer. FS also makes the custom ear pieces that so many professional musicians use in concert and for recording. 
The Apple Groups Team (TAGteam) — applegroups.org
(Formerly MaMUGs.) Excellent, free support for Mac User Groups. With over 70 groups as members, it exists only to encourage cooperation, camaraderie, collective events and support.
With special thanks to MasterpieceBanner.com for the party banner.
And special thanks to Fender Audio, makers of the excellent PA Systems I use for all Deb Shadovitz presents... events.
The 2006 Banner
To let people know about the party and to thank the sponsors, a large banner hung in the entry of the hotel we were at and another hung in the party's lounge.
Ours is not just any banner. It's an impressive new photographic process by MasterpieceBanner.com. You can see on the 2005 banner that there are great nuances in the logos and there are actual photos as well.
[By the way, sponsors are also offered special pricing for their own banners. Just phone Mark Hartman at (619) 644-1564.]
The Announcement
Each Sponsor's booth will sport a party notice to invite show attendees. There will be "invitations" for folks to take too, to help everyone learn about and find the party.
Macworld magazine will be helping us spread the word as well.
Other Macworld Expo events
Want to know about other events happening at Macworld Expo? You'll find it all listed at Ilene Hoffman's Hess Events List.