This is an alternative for a growing number of people bored with ‘So what bar are we going to tonight?’

First of all, a couple of definitions. Mixed-use is a placemaking/real estate development term for combining uses in a building (residential over retail), which also applies to neighborhoods (walkable) and businesses (bookstore coffeehouse bar lounge theater). Mashup refers to the combining of songs, videos, and web application features into a new and distinct product.

Thus, what happens when you combine all of these into an event, or more specifically, an event as part of Manhattan’s nightlife, as the NY Times discovers in Night Life Reprogrammed? This is best answered via one mere example, IgniteNYC, which is:

- An organized, regularly scheduled networking party, bringing together NYC’s Silicon Alley techies and entrepreneurs, later becoming a dance party;
- A Meetup.com inspired spontaneous, informal happy hour;
- A Burning Man inspired display of collective personal creativity;
- A technology conference focused on unveiling new ideas around an emerging field (such as web video), with brief but compelling presentations on cutting edge/irreverent topics by ‘keynote’ speakers;
- A shortened version of Pecha Kucha with presentations of 20 slides at 15 seconds each;
- A sporting event, with a competition (on this particular night) to build a remote control, with the winner signified by being the first to turn off a TV set.

Btw, IgniteNYC was inspired by IgniteSeattle (pictured).