(Disclaimer: at first this might seem like a tech industry post that might put you to sleep, but it’s not really about technology.)

I’m a little slow sometimes. I attended the Flickr Turns 4 birthday party in San Francisco one week ago, and I just realised something out about it today.

Last Saturday Kevin and I had dinner at Metreon before walking over to 111 Minna Gallery, where the party was taking place. Somewhere along the way a couple of people turned a corner and walked in front of us, one of whom looked faintly familiar. Kevin asked me if I knew who Robert Scoble was, and I said yes, but I didn’t follow his blog, I only knew about him. I assumed the teenager walking beside him was his son.

“I’ll bet he’s going to the Flickr party.”

Sure enough, he led us straight there — the spot clearly marked by a bunch of pink and blue balloons.

It only occurred to me today that I didn’t see Scoble inside the party, or at all after that, so I went over to his blog to see if he’d written anything about it.

Lo and behold, he did. In fact, he said a lot of things, most of which centred around his staunch opinion that Flickr had done their users a major disservice by throwing the party at a venue that is 21+.

I RSVP’ed on the Upcoming.org event page, so I already knew that they would ID at the door. It was also covered in the Flickr Turns 4 group, which was advertised on Flickr’s homepage for weeks beforehand. Scoble says he didn’t see any mention of it on his emailed invitation.

After I showed my ID at the door and we went inside, it didn’t occur to me that Scoble and company would likely not be permitted on account of his son being a minor.

After reading the comments and discussion that followed on Scoble’s blog post, I can see how it might look to a parent. Why not make it all ages? Many of the photographers on Flickr, including those who have photos displayed on the walls all over the venue, are under 21 years old.

Part of the problem is that the U.S. legal system deems their citizens of legal drinking age at 21, which makes no sense in light of the fact that young people under 21 defend their country in war. (The drinking age in New Zealand is 20, but as far as I could tell while I was there, enforcement is not a priority.) Most of Canada is 18, some provinces are 19.

California is especially strict about enforcing the drinking age, I’ve noticed. When I first rolled through California by myself in 1991, I was 19 and couldn’t get in anywhere except when I was with my friends Rob and Eric, who were 10 years older, and we went to the local pubs where bartenders were more lax. People get carded all over the place, especially in southern California. So I can imagine the licensing and insurance and security must be tricky business.

Scoble argues that Flickr could’ve chosen a venue that allowed minors, but that would’ve meant either not serving booze or obtaining some sort of special event license, although I don’t know if such a thing exists in California. Alternately, 111 Minna Gallery would’ve needed an onsite restaurant to offer that type of liquor license, which they don’t have — it’s an arts venue, a 4,000 square foot warehouse space. As well, the party officially began at 7 o’clock and everyone had to leave by 9 o’clock to make way for a Burning Man fundraiser (if you know anything about Burning Man, it is not exactly a kid-friendly event, either).

In the two-and-some hours of the Flickr party, there was free food (although not much, which I expected, which is why I had a proper dinner) and two free drink tickets at the door. The space filled up pretty quickly, the booze was flowing well beyond the jump start of available tickets, and I’m guessing the closest thing to a meal that most people had eaten to balance out the booze was a Flickr cupcake or two. Certainly not a place I would bring a child, what with occasional trampling by the alcohol-fuelled brides of march (yeah, I got kissed on the mouth by a man wearing a wedding dress!), getting poked in the back by a telephoto lens or blinded by flashguns going off left, right, and centre. The venue was seriously full at one point; it’s incredible none of the photo walls toppled over (that I could see, anyway).

Having said all that, it was still fun, but adult fun, not a place for children or minor-minors (as opposed to college-age kids who are still considered underage in the U.S.). As for Scoble’s argument that Flickr isn’t “family supportive” (his words), Stewart Butterfield has spent months away from Flickr on paternity leave, and I didn’t see Caterina there so she was likely at home with the kid. Because you know what? Kids and drinking don’t mix. Drinking = fun. Kids = fun. Together? No. Maybe a glass of wine at Christmas dinner or a beer at a BBQ, neither of which resembled this event at all!

Interestingly, Scoble also takes the opportunity to promote Smugmug, which is a site I’ve visited a few times but I have always disliked the interface. (I never liked the name, either: smug mug?? Neither of those words have any appeal or positive connotation whatsoever. Sure, Flickr looks like a spelling mistake, but at least it doesn’t conjure up visions of a Jack Nicholson character, mugging all smug-like.)

When I first checked Smugmug out years ago, I thought it was big on cutesy and the navigation drove me bonkers. Now I see it’s got a page on fleeing Flickr, but even Smugmug’s lowest price point is $39.95, substantially more than Flickr’s Pro Account at $24.95. (My account is free because I subscribe to a cable internet service that is partnered with Yahoo, which owns Flickr.) Scoble says he’s not writing the post for the purpose of pimping Smugmug, but it sure doesn’t sound that way. He says nothing about their service that motivates him to move his photos away from Flickr, only that he had a good interview with the CEO and strongly implies (practically assures) that Smugmug would never DARE make a user-unfriendly move such as throwing an adults-only party.

Hmmm. See what I mean about this post not being about technology?