Last night I found myself in attendance at CrunchGear's one-year birthday bash. I went partly because I was super curious about a few things. Like, how does a gadget blog celebrate one awesome year of publishing? What kind of crowd could a CrunchGear gig draw -- are there really gadget groupies? Lastly, in case I ever attend such an event again, what does one wear to a gadget get-together?

For the first 10 minutes I scanned the Manhattan bar where the party was being held. My observations: I spotted at least one iPhone for every three people, the phrase "web app" dominated most conversations, and editor-in-chief John Biggs or his big camera seemed to be everywhere at once.

A gathering of geeks on a Monday evening in Manhattan proved to be nothing short of another nutty experience. A distinct crowd (meet the new cool), nearly everyone had some form of geek currency to share, business cards made the rounds, and there were plenty of free hands for the free drinks (thank you!). Among the notables were a few CNET reporters, jovial and popular publicists, and some self-proclaimed "faux fans" (TechCrunch readers hoping for a Michael Arrington sighting and maybe some free swag).