Thursday, February 26, 1998

Lyco's party @ System

From there a gaggle of us headed over to Lycos' party at System. As you know from @NY last week, Lycos and Tripod have come together under a unifying umbrella, but they will be keeping separate identities -- as demonstrated by the two different bottle-opener key chains I received in my goodie bag. Not a bad party, in fact many people I spoke to went so far as to say it was "GOOD!"

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

WWWAC Social Hour

Thursday is generally a night out on the town for New York. As many of you know, New Media is no different. Among the numerous events going on this week that I've attended (and will cover here next week), last week was no different. Third Thursday's of the month are reserved for the WWWAC's "Social Hour" and a handful of wwwacies graced the Rodeo Bar on Feb. 26th. Steve Filler, Steve Lackowski, Tamy Luhby (www.salley.com), and Max Vazquez were just a few of the folks who enjoyed frothy margaritas and free hors d'oeuvres.

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

Wednesday, February 25, 1998

NYNMA's new ED @ the Education SIG meeting

NYNMA's new Executive Director Alice O'Rourke, was present to start off the Education SIG meeting, last Wednesday, February 25th. The meeting was filled with educators, and content and product developers alike. The very important issue of wiring schools was brought up, as was the topic of needing trained teachers. Richard Schultz scared me when he mentioned that infrastructure development has stopped in many schools due to asbestos and inadequate electrification. Bob Durkin educated me on the process for getting software into school systems. And, Jen Hogan spoke at length of her most recent project Digital Dante, a model for innovative educational practices. Encouraging was what Ellen Dempsey said -- that the schools need *content.* So -- keep working on developing the fantastically interesting topics close to your heart, sell them to the schools, volunteer with MOUSE, and let's get this Education thing going!

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

Monday, February 23, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published 2/23/98


MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Kenneth Crutchfield has recently joined US Interactive as Director of Strategic Planning and Development. Crutchfield spent over 12 years at Lexis-Nexis and was most recently the Director of Electronic Commerce for Dun & Bradstreet. In 1995 and '96 he was the Electronic Commerce Director for the National Information Infrastructure Testbed (NIIT) Consortium.

Christopher Clinton has joined Montrose Capital Management, Ltd., the Wall Street investment banking and brokerage firm, as Vice President, Investments and Director of the New Media division. He was formerly with Prudential Securities where he promoted the firm's online and brokerage services.

David Corales, former Marketing & Public Relations Associate of New Jersey Online, has joined Middleberg Interactive, a division of Middleberg + Associates (www.middleberg.com, www.mediasource.com) as the Online Public Relations Coordinator.

Silicon Alley Bowl


While no one saved the day at the Silicon Alley Bowl Monday, Feb. 23, a few underdogs surfaced to save their games. Bowlmor Lanes once again hosted the competition between a select group of new media firms chosen by the Alley's original female heroine -- Cybergrrl! NetGuide and Red #40 were initiated to the festivities of pizza, drinks and good-natured competition in another "decidedly non-web event." NetGuide must've been practicing over the weekend 'cause they came in first, with cumulative scores of 143. Red#40 must've been busy back at the office as they ranked just 108. Concrete Media was close behind NetGuide at 136 and Cybergrrl, not to be outdone totally got the Bronze medal with 112. Interport did a fine job at the last 'Bowl but only got 102 and the T3 Media folks just enjoyed the night without competing too hard, bowling an 88. The high scoring bowlers were (drum roll please), Julie Roth of NetGuide (bowled a 175) and Mike DiBianco of Concrete Media (bowled a 236). Despite the tough competition in the Silicon Alley, the Bowling Alley is home to sheer fun. (Just in case you're curious and want to flex some bowling muscle, here are the overall 1998 standings: NetGuide--143, Interport--125, Concrete Media--110, Cybergrrl--110, Red #40--108, Darwin Digital--91, T3 Media--88, Yahoo!--78)


Webcinema's Silicon Alley movie

Another paradox involves the number of internet newbies who will be portraying the seasoned "Salliati" (Silicon Alley Digerati) -- both of which can be witnessed at the numerous Webcinema/"Silicon Alley, The Movie" parties. Last Monday, February 23rd was the most recent, and there's another this coming Monday, March 9th. The landmark nightclub Nells has been (and will be) hostess to this intriguing event. Of course I'm not saying all actors are newbies, but their life certainly doesn't revolve around the 'net as ours do. Last Monday was fun -- seeing old pals like Manos Megagiannis (and Rumseen Beitmirza, Kim Schinnerer -- all of TKI.net) , Alec Pollack (Stir), Tristan Louis (who's at Bencom.com now), Randall Stempler (stempler.com), Jonathan Faber (LI Film), and Lance Rose.  The festivities were (will be) hosted by Buzz Communication (www.buzznyc.com), an online resource for actors and filmmakers, and co-hosted by CNI Cinema (http://www.webcinema.org/cnicinema), producer's of the upcoming feature film "Silicon Alley." Last Monday was celebrating the launch of the new ShowcaseNews area on Buzz and this coming Monday will be to celebrate our new IP services.

Saturday, February 21, 1998

Raje @ CristineRose Gallery


There's a new Superhero in Gotham, and in case you didn't know, "Raje" (pronounced Rajeh) is her name. Clad in a Red, Yellow, and Green Uber Bathing Suit (think Wonder Woman of the Reggae Nation), knee high boots and a good cause, Raje was making an appearance at the CristineRose Galley in Chelsea on Saturday, Feb. 21. The vast gallery space was comfortably packed with people from the fashion, music, and art world. A "decidedly non-web event" as JP Frenza (Earthpledge) said. He and Leslie Hoffman (Exec. Dir., Earthpledge) were part of the organization that produced the glossy over-sized prints depicting our heroine helping enslaved people everywhere. The best example of this was the one in which Raja led two modern versions of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben out of their product boxes. Earthpledge is involved in many great causes; their mission is to promote sustainable development--balancing the desire for economic growth with the necessity of environmental protection--for non-profits. They produce educational programs, access to technology and websites, and showcase solutions that integrate growth and equity in public policy. A partnership with Microsoft forming Showcase New York offers actual hardware and software and training to the greater New York community. Its events and efforts like these that will bring the internet and new technology more fully into every aspect of community life, benefiting the world at large. Hurrah Raja and Earthpledge!

Friday, February 20, 1998

Renee Edelman's Lovely Soiree


PR Guru Renee Edelman (Edelman PR) opened up her lovely home to a hand picked chosen few of New York's "Digerati" on Friday, Feb 20. What would have been just another Silicon Alley networking event anywhere else was a genuine communion between friends in her cozy home. The delicious dinner, fine wines, and warm, enveloping laughter was shared by a group of people whose common interest for the internet has evolved into one for each other.

Thursday, February 19, 1998

Fitz, Lenny & Peter Party @ NV/289


"Up and coming twenty something professionals in the fields of art, fashion, and finance will bring their unique energy to Thursday nights." So was the promise of Fitz, Lenny & Peter who hosted the beginning of a Thursday night party "must do" at NV/289 in Soho on Thurs, Feb. 19. The crowd was definitely a "serious club crowd" according to Bob Bandera (Pres, New World Media). Considering he spends a lot of time in clubs, promoting musicians to Labels, I figured he'd know. I agreed--everyone I saw was hip, trendy, skinny, and had that New York edge. So club promoters are targeting the internet crowd now. Obviously a long way from beers after a WWWAC meeting, CyberSuds, and coffee at alt.coffee.

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
 

Wednesday, February 18, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published issue 3.25

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

While the WWWAC list debated about whether or not "push" technology is over, and the GOODTIMES list debated over names for L.A.'s new media community, Tom and Beryl Watson went ahead and accomplished both! Earlier in the week Tom wrote, "this is the best software release I've written about in quite some time..." Devon Thomas Watson was born on born on Feb. 15 at St. Agnes Hospital in White Plains. Joining an older sister and brother, Tom added that Beryl is doing well and he is "still amazed at the world's oldest "push technology."

Friday the 13th doesn't have to be jinxed all the time. At least not for Nancy Jaffe as she and Chris McCarthy celebrated her moving on  at O'Flaherty's in the Times Square area. Close friends came by and toasted with a cool frothy beverage.

Drew Ianni (danni@jup.com) recently left the Silicon Valley office of CKS to accept an Analyst position with Jupiter here in New York.

One of the busy recruiting firms in the Alley, Wert & Co, has launched their web site. If you can't find anything in @NY's comprehensive listing every Tuesday for jobs (shocking!) you could amble over...http://www.wertco.com

White Columns ada'web launch


COLLABORATION and experimentation are two things we don't hear about too much anymore in the increasingly serious Internet business. But they were on display, quite literally, on Feb. 18 at the White Columns gallery on Christopher Street at a party celebrating the latest ada'web project launch. The project is called Blind Spot, and it was written by Darcy Steinke.
Cherise Fong, who designed the project with Vivian Selbo and Ainatte Inbal, was helping guests navigate the site from a computer in a small side room. Darcy, who had not written for the web before, was approached by ada'web, shown around the net, went away to write something, and began to learn all about the exciting collaborative process of building a web-based project. Video monitors showed off another ada'web project. Creativity was in the air.

Matteo Ames looked sharp in his suit and bow-tie. He told me about some exciting inventions (not all digital) he's working on and about poetry online. Other arty types were in attendance at this strictly red wine (and Rolling Rock) affair. The women were fashionably sporting bright tops with colorful silk cigarette pants, or short skirts of varied materials. The guys were straight out of a Details Mag. Ted Werth (Digital Club Network) was positively beaming after just returning from Milia. His first time to Cannes, he reported that the southern city was a beautiful backdrop for the conference held during the week of Valentine's Day. He and Andrew Raisej (Digital Club Network) stayed across the street from the conference and put on a fabu cocktail party one night. There were about 30-40 Silicon Alley-ers in town and many were forming "gangs" and squeezing into the restaurants. 

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)


Saturday, February 14, 1998

Sweater magazine, SoundScan, Concrete Marketing's celebration


THE RED VELVET curtained-encased room oozed with music and magazine industry folks at Sweater Magazine, SoundScan, and Concrete Marketing's celebration of launching of their first issue with the new Electronic Soundscan Chart that will be running in Sweater at Spy Bar in Soho on Tuesday. Lounging in old chaises and chairs, leaning 'gainst velvet wallpapered walls, and exuding an excitable energy, the hip crowd coolly waited for the special guests Novamute Records' Luke Slater (UK) and DJ X-Rae to show up. Free Smirnoff drinks calmed some, others were mellow on their own-like Dan Deming (proofreader at Forbes) and his girlfriend Liz Koch (college radio promotions, Ignition Records). They came 'cause they knew John Davis (Concrete Marketing). Concrete's Bob Chiappard said, "The underground electronic music scene has been gaining more and more notoriety . . . and driven by the recent music festivals and burgeoning electronic club scene." I'll say -- it doesn't stop!
  

Intro - all about love


BEFORE WE HEAD into this week's events (of which there were many), I'd like to take a brief moment and reflect on the most powerful content of all -- you guessed it -- LOVE! Rare wonderful stories can give a girl hope. For instance, Jerry Michalski, editor of Release 1.0, will be leaving Silicon Alley to be with his love and wife -- Jennifer Weissman in Silicon Valley. I know of a few other similar and touching stories. And I reflect on my last few Silicon Alley Valentine's Days: the infamous Urban Desires "Geek Love Connection" date and the Webmaster's Valentine's Ball at Void. Come "chat" with me on my new message board about what you'll be doing for V-day, and let's share some of our favorite places to go on this
fun day in this wonderful town of ours! 

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
 

Thursday, February 12, 1998

Match.com, Thrive Online + Infoseek's "new media Love-fest"


SIGNS SHOUTING "Dozen Roses: $5.00" this week are painful reminders of the Hallmark-greeting-card holiday that occurred last week: Valentine's Day. 

Match.com, Thrive Online, and Infoseek hosted a "new media Love-fest" on Feb. 12. (Just enough time to maybe find a Sweetheart). The Merc Bar in Soho was the scene of the crime, and I met a lovely couple who met on Match.com and married just 5 months ago: Natalie and Andrew Grengross met online in Sept. 1995 and in person in March 1997. Natalie admitted that using Match.com was an "interesting, low risk, experience." Living in England at the time while Andrew was here in fair Gotham, Natalie spoke of the common feeling many people have of wanting to believe in the idea of your soulmate out in the world. I'd say she found hers. Other hopefuls (?) enjoying the cocktails and raffles were Ben Allen and Tom Hespos (both formerly of Y&R's Army Group and now of K2), Megan Owen of Thrive, John David and the always friendly Myles Weissleder (i-traffic). David Markus, co-founder of Thrive bubbled that after 2 years of being based in San Fran, they will be
opening a New York office this week. 

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
 

Wednesday, February 11, 1998

N2K AND GIORGIO ARMANI soiree at the World Financial Center


N2K AND GIORGIO ARMANI (and others) put on a splashy soiree at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden on Wednesday, Feb. 11. What could be going on in this gorgeous cavernous space? The online cybercast of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Discord with DJ Spooky, David Torn & Electra String Quartet, of course. the place was packed! Our sponsors can be proud of a successful event judging from the tight security and the many many people who tried to gain entrance after 8pm.

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

Tuesday, February 10, 1998

Sweater Magazine, SoundScan, and Concrete Marketing's celebration

The swank red velvet curtained-encased room oozed with Music and Magazine industry folks at Sweater Magazine, SoundScan, and Concrete Marketing's celebration of launching of their first issue with the new Electronic Soundscan Chart that will be running in "Sweater" at Spy Bar in Soho on Tuesday, 2/10 at the Spy Bar Soho. Lounging in old chaises and chairs, leaning 'gainst velvet wallpapered walls, and exuding an excitable energy the young hip crowd coolly waited for the special guests Novamute Records' Luke Slater (UK) and DJ X-Rae to show up. Free Smirnoff drinks calmed some, others were mellow on their own-like Dan Deming (proofreader at "Forbes") and his girlfriend Liz Koch (college radio promotions, Ignition Records). They came 'cause they knew John Davis (sen. acct. rep, Concrete Marketing). Concrete Marketing President Bob Chiappard said, "The underground electronic music scene has been gaining more and more notoriety...and driven by the recent music festivals and burgeoning electronic club scene." I'll say-it doesn't stop!

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

Sunday, February 08, 1998

Konami of America's NBA All Star Game


SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! The NBA All Star Game and parties were all around. I was a special guest at Konami of America, Inc.'s private reception with 1997 All-Star Game MVP, Glen Rice on Feb. 8, at Madison Square Garden's Charley O's. As promised by Michael Terpin of The Terpin Group, Glen was around for questions, photos, and a sneak preview of Konami's N64 and latest PlayStation game "NBA In the Zone '98." Other guests included a team of representatives from "Sports Illustrated for Kids" and "NBA Inside Stuff." We all oohed at Rice's toned body that swished around a court in the world premiere of the product's new commercial starring the shooting guard. He signed basketballs and then jetted across the street to perform an incredible game, finishing as the game's second highest shooter. The invite said Hors d'oeuvres and drinks
would be served and between takes of Konami's Puri Puri Canvas (photo ID stickers) amusement, everyone filled up in traditional game spirit.
   
(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
 

Saturday, February 07, 1998

Howard Greenstein's 1.0 Bundle of Joy


ONLY A FEW HOURS after they made the scene at Mark Stahlman's party, Microsoft technical evangelist Howard Greenstein and his wife Pamela were in a northern New Jersey hospital. The next day, Howard and Pamela announced the birth of their first child -- dubbed Baby 1.0 by Howard but more affectionately known as Brooke Danielle Greenstein. This little package of joy is fully compatible with Internet Explorer 4.0 and will be bundled with a pink blanket. Stay tuned for a pic! 

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
 

Mark Stahlman's 50th Birthday


I arrived at Mark Stahlman's 50th birthday party, held in the new media meister's Flatiron loft, which took a year and an untold cast of thousands to outfit. Columbia J-school new media guru John Pavlik watched his kids play pool, Flatiron Partner Fred Wilson eyed the crab cakes with the suspicious eye of a seasoned VC, while Mark hobnobbed with as varied a guest list as you're likely to find in Silicon Alley, which included his fellow NYNMA co-founders Connie Connors and Brian Horey. I had an opportunity to talk at length with Tristan Louis, Jennifer Weiner. Digital movie mogul Jonathan Sarno was also present, musing at the impressive bookshelves (Stahlman's personal library stacks, lined with HG Wells volumes) and mounds of yummy snacks on round tables. Only the eel in Mark's fish tank seemed shy of the goings-on. The birthday cake came out, the rockabilly band played, and the champagne flowed more than Robin Leach could even dream.
Mark seemed not at all perplexed at reaching the half-century milestone, happily describing the occasion as akin to a "jubilee"--a grand reckoning of things past and celebration of the future. Later, I bid adieu to the "inventor of the terms that define us" and skipped on down to Fiddlesticks for a nightcap with John Barlow. While some pups from Jersey spilled beer and broke mugs on the floor, John commanded us to "Go to Africa!" The Dorothy Parker-esque Bonnie Halpern, fiery Sean Lucey, and statuesque Steve of ISS mused at all the day's events and what tomorrow will bring. (Hint: A lot!) 

 (Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)

Russian Anniversaries


STARTING OUT THE brisk Feb. 7th evening I celebrated the birthdays and anniversary of Anya and Vanya Eliashevich. Anya, you may recall, designed my (if I may say so myself) stunning dress for the 3rd Annual WWWAC Holiday Party and all of the Russian Web Girls' parties dresses. Other talented friends present were Alona Makeeva (RWG art director) and her friend Tony, an American filmmaker who's lived in Moscow for the last 3 years and produced many commercials told me of an experience with the lead Mountain Dew girl. He was filming her in an Orange Crush commercial when she was 14 years old and apparently cried during the entire shoot -- she was having a bad day due to late night party doings ... 

(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)