L.A.-based MySpace has officially arrived in Silicon Valley.
But from the look of the social network’s soiree Wednesday night following the first day of the Web 2.0 Summit, the company hasn’t left Beverly Hills far behind. MySpace hosted the invite-only party at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to celebrate the company’s new office in the city.
Hired models swilled champagne on a white shag carpet next to the likes of News Corp. (NWS) chair Rupert Murdoch, YouTube founder Chad Hurley, media reps and the occasional tech geek. Waiters passed bite-sized sweets on silver trays, vases of glowing orbs added color to the white modernist tables and screenshots of MySpace pages flickered on the walls.
Earlier in the day, co-founder Chris DeWolfe told the crowd at the Web 2.0 Summit that MySpace’s move north will help the company “build out its tech facilities and hire more engineers.” He said that the media-focused MySpace “will have the best of both worlds” with its new outpost.
Meanwhile, party-goers speculated on what it means now that the social network has moved closer to its biggest rival, Facebook.
“I think MySpace is thinking, ‘We kicked ass on the Web but we’re still not accepted by Silicon Valley so we came to make friends’,” said Evan Williams, co-founder of micro-blogging company Twitter. “Also, they’re probably thinking it’s time to stop flirting with that Facebook floozy.”
Despite the rivalry, MySpace invited a few Facebook reps – like head of PR Brandee Barker – to the party and the two companies did their best to get along.
But most attendees could have cared less.
“Yeah, it’s a good party, but there needs to be more women,” said Phillip Gums, director of JE Model Management. “At a party like this,” he said, “I mean, you know, dim the lights a bit. Invite some women.”
