Friday, April 30, 1999

CWC cinqo de mayo promo

"Cinco de Mayo with Courtney" -- That's right, folks! I couldn't help myself when I realized I could have a party during the ultra hip Edgewise '99 conference and give away tequila shots, margaritas and wine -- all compliments of Cuervo Tequila and Gundlach Bundschu vineyards (respectively). Come on over for some SALSA party! RSVP: www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 4/30/99

The multimedia agency Pixelpark, plans to enter the stock market in the second half of 1999. In 1996, Bertelsmann had acquired 75% of the company; Neef owns the remaining 25%. Pixelpark plans to list its stocks in Frankfurt and, through its initial public offering (IPO), will solidify its leading position in Germany and Europe. Pixelpark will be the second Bertelsmann affiliate to be introduced on the stock exchange. Barnesandnoble.com, whose IPO is imminent, will be the first.

CDKnet, a provider of audio, video and Internet convergence technologies, announced that the New York Knicks are using CDKnet's unique multimedia technology, CDK,? to bring the excitement of basketball directly to the fans' desktops. CDKnet has worked with the New York Knicks to create a multimedia companion to their yearbook to be included with each Knicks yearbook purchase.

SHAKERS & STIRRERS
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com

William Lansing, president of Fingerhut Companies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Federated Department Stores, Inc., has joined the Board of Directors of BigStar Entertainment, the online filmed entertainment marketing company. The announcement was made by David Friedensohn, chairman and CEO of BigStar Entertainment.

NewsEdge Corporation -- barnesandnoble.com announced it has launched a new Small Business feature area, hosted by Terri Lonier, one of the nation's leading experts on solo entrepreneurs. Ms. Lonier, as founder and president of Working Solo, Inc., advises high-tech and Fortune 500 companies on the booming SOHO (small office/home office) market. An accomplished entrepreneur and 18-year veteran of the personal computer industry, she is also the author of the widely acclaimed Working Solo Series, which provides books, audiotapes, monthly e-mail newsletter, and seminars to thousands of solo entrepreneurs.

Amy Goldberger is now the Terpin Group's new NYC general manager. She most recently was head of PR for Seagram (Universal Studios, Polygram, etc.).

Kevin Chiu has joined R/GA Interactive (New York) as Senior Designer. He was previously at Nicholson NY.

Congratulations to Stephen Petri of CigarLife on his recent marriage!

Rich LeFurgy, one of the early evangelists of the Internet’s advertising and marketing power, has joined The Walden Group, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, as a consultant to the firm’s Walden Media & Information Technology (WMIT) fund.

The MiningCo.com, Inc. announced the appointment of Ron McCoy, 30, to Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations. As Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations, Mr. McCoy will be responsible for scaling up the network and expanding the breadth of development tools for the company.

US Interactive, Inc. announced the appointment of three key members to its senior management team: promotion of Philip Calamia to chief financial officer from vice president of finance and administration; hiring of Benjamin Green as senior vice president and general manager for the company's Philadelphia office; promotion of James Letts, formerly the general manager of US Interactive's Philadelphia office, to chief information officer. US Interactive also announced its strategic alliance with Be Free, Inc. with the intention to generate increased traffic and develop new sales channels for their E-Commerce clients.

Mark Strehlow (Razorfish) and Jim Cooper (Sun Microsystems) had a wild bash for 150 people at their East Village pad on April 16th. There were several DJs pumping music and scratch rapping and drinks a plenty! Just in time for this news:

Razorfish, Inc. announced its Initial Public Offering of 3 million shares of Class A common stock at a price of $16.00 per share. The company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 450,000 additional shares to cover over allotments. The offering is being managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, BancBoston Robertson Stephens, BT Alex. Brown and Lehman Brothers.

Jeff Cannon launched Marcis Interactive with a huge bang in March and ended with an even bigger win in April. He'll start developing one of the first episodic adventure shows on the net targeting the teen audience. It's already being funded by one of the largest toy manufacturers, additionally, he'll be flying to Germany later in May to discuss developing some original content for one of their leading ISPs. Finally, the McGraw Hill book on Internet marketing wraps up next week and goes to press.

Two former NetGrocer Marketing and Business Development team members have formed Ecom Advisors, LLC, a strategic e-commerce marketing advisory firm. The firm works with startups and traditional companies looking to enter into e-commerce or improve upon their current e-commerce efforts. Sandeep Thakrar and Larry Pearl, co-founders of Ecom Advisors, have years of leading-edge, hands-on experience with online customer acquisition and retention with a focus on developing e-commerce strategies and programs from a marketing perspective. Ecom Advisors' core services include: Business Plan Development, Strategic Planning and Implementation, Partnership/Alliance Development and Management, and Customer Acquisition and Loyalty Program Development. Ecom Advisors is positioned to complement the interactive agencies as well
as traditional consulting and systems integration companies.

Manning Rubin, Senior Creative Supervisor at downtown interactive agency K2 Design, has authored "Keep Your Brain Alive" (www.keepyourbrainalive.com), a book that gives advice on how not to go 'braindead' by using simple exercises. One of these exercises consists in having an "ongoing chess game" by the water cooler. Employees would study the game, and make a move. This brief gear shifting provides a break from verbal, left-brain activities. What a good way to break the routine! It contains 83 exercises that can be done while commuting, at work, at the market, during mealtimes, or while resting.

Mercer Management Consulting's new book "Profit Patterns" is out and should be of interest to business exec. The new web site is dedicated solely to the book and its main messages. http://www.profitpatterns.com

Marking a major expansion of its technical and consulting services, Blue Barn Interactive named Chris Robison, formerly of iChat and SMART Technologies, as the company's new Vice President of Professional Services, a new position.

Thursday, April 29, 1999

The Cyber Scene in Dallas ~ By Eric Olsson

THE CYBER SCENE IN DALLAS -- by Eric Olsson
Thursday, April 29 marked the world premiere of "Songs and Stories from Moby Dick", Laurie Anderson's most ambitious work since "United States" 15 years ago. The performance took place in McFarlin Auditorium at Southern Methodist University.

As the title suggests, "Songs and Stories" is less a multimedia adaptation of Melville's novel than an attempt, as Anderson describes in the program, to translate her "favorite parts of the book into music and images that suggest the flavor and strangeness and beauty of Melville's world."

In addition to the segments derived from the novel itself, one part of the show was inspired by biblical verse Isaiah 27:1 (http://www.bible.org/netbible/isa.htm#27), checked and underlined in pencil in Melville's own annotated bible as he was writing Moby Dick. And the high point of the evening was probably when Anderson took to a monologue to describe (in digitally dropped "Sharkey's Night" voice) some of the rather bizarre research that went into the production, culminating in a plot summary of the awful 1930 film version of Moby Dick (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0021149) featuring John Barrymore. The show resumed with a song-and-dance number based on the title song from the film.

The production also featured Tom Nelis, Anthony Turner, and Price Waldman, and marked the first time that Anderson has appeared onstage along with other performers. Laurie also added a new instrument to her repertoire, the Talking Stick, which she developed in collaboration with Interval Research Corporation (http://www.interval.com). The Talking Stick amplifies the performer's gestures across any predefined palette of sounds, and was used to great effect in the show as a sort of musical harpoon. However the potential for abuse seems endless - one can only hope it is never marketed as a toy.

As if that weren't enough avant-garde excitement for one evening (at least by Dallas standards), Laurie Anderson's beau Lou Reed (http://brightred.trilidun.org/images/glass15.jpg) could be seen enjoying the performance from an aisle seat in the sixth row. Dallas art collector Howard Rachofsky hosted both at a private reception in his home later in the evening.

According to Laurie's management (mailto:lrlarson@difficultmusic.com) the long-awaited official Laurie Anderson website (http://www.laurieanderson.com) will be online any day now. Until then Peter Hartman (mailto:hartman@kuntrynet.com) has quite a good unofficial site (http://brightred.trilidun.org/), and Laurie is said to read and answer her email (mailto:laurie_anderson@voyagerco.com), at least when not on tour.

"Songs and Stories from Moby Dick" continues in Dallas through May 1, and the soundtrack will be released on Nonesuch Records (http://www.nonesuch.com) this fall.

NYNMA's "Bowling For Interns" night

Disco Duck and Village People were out in full force at the Chelsea Piers bowling alley on Thursday, April 29th for NYNMA's "Bowling For Interns" night. The question isn't really who was there, but who wasn't?! So many Alley firms came out to support and raise money and awareness for NYNMA's internship program. The agencies who bowled? Well, there was Outside the Box, Weather.com, Organic, ZD Net, HotJobs, Double Click, Oracle, Avenue A Media, Met Life.com, NY Times, InterCLUBS Single Bowler Lane, LinkShare, The Globe, PR 21, SME New Media, Brobeck Phelger & Harrison, LLP, Sidewalk, and iXL. Amy Hogue of Digex said it was "the most fun networking party!" Team Captain of Insignia/ESG Cindy Glanzrock felt similarly with her comments of "Awesome! It's so much fun!" Judy of Redwood Partners was kicking some serious butt and Leslie Hess, Cherry Arnold and the other Barnes and Noblers were working hard at staying competitive. Over 270 people came out and Stephanie Agresta, of Barnesandnoble.com coordinated the event and was thrilled with the turn-out. "It's great to see the best and brightest of the Silicon Alley come out to support NYNMA and the internship program. The whole night was a lot of fun and it really shows that NY internet companies care about involving young people in the future of this industry." Stephanie has plans to pack the place next year. I chatted with Mark Bell of Globix too who was spinning some fine strikes, and saw my newest best friend -- simply because she's been at every event I have in the last month -- Kailah Ronin of Redwood Partners! : ) Webgrrls Eileen Shulock came over and gave me and the beautiful and sharp-witted Stacey Schrader glow-in-the-dark stars for our faces. Ms. Schrader's the only person I know who has a custom and personal outgoing message from Robin Leach on her answering machine. Jodie Kahn is driving out to the Burning Man festival this year with my old Alley to Valley trekker Dave Brown of CDNow. Many teams were in custom bowling shirts -- like Morrison & Forrester team with their "Alley McBowls" shirts and Agency.com in an aqua number with embroidered names. Jerry "Lucky" Bavarro thinks they all went on-line and got them at one place. Could be!?! The Intellispace team was challenged to a $100 bet by the Interglobe team and that rally went on long after the official event ended. Webgrrls won the "Best costume" category and other awards went out to teams with the Highest Score; the Team and Individual that raises the most money. Not a bad way to raise money and get jobs for talented young people, while spinning a glow-in-the-dark bowling ball down a disco lane to funky tunes!

BITS AND BYTES - 4/29/99


NEWS BITS AND BYTES
 Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com

 The multimedia agency Pixelpark, plans to enter the stock market in
 the second half of 1999. In 1996, Bertelsmann had acquired 75% of
 the company; Neef owns the remaining 25%. Pixelpark plans to list its
 stocks in Frankfurt and, through its initial public offering (IPO), will
 solidify its leading position in Germany and Europe. Pixelpark will be
 the second Bertelsmann affiliate to be introduced on the stock
 exchange. Barnesandnoble.com, whose IPO is imminent, will be the
 first.

 CDKnet, a provider of audio, video and Internet convergence
 technologies, announced that the New York Knicks are using
 CDKnet's unique multimedia technology, CDK,? to bring the
 excitement of basketball directly to the fans' desktops. CDKnet has
 worked with the New York Knicks to create a multimedia companion
 to their yearbook to be included with each Knicks yearbook purchase.

THE CYBER SCENE CHARACTER SKETCH -- Flowers.com


 THE CYBER SCENE CHARACTER SKETCH
 While Chris McCann and his brother Jim have been offering flowers
 for direct sale for twelve years already, this is the first time they are
 promoting it in response to a consumer need they saw not getting
 answered. The majority of flower orders for 1-800-Flowers.com are
 fulfilled by florists, but as customers began increasingly asking for
 flowers for self-consumption (Mmmm, yummy!), the fraternal team
 (and company) began seeing lots of other smaller shops on-line and in
 the spirit of competition, began publicizing their competitive range of
 price offerings for something they'd been doing for some time now.
 So head on over to 1800flowers.com and get Mom something fun
 from the florist or direct flowers that she can arrange herself. Perhaps
 she'd like the "Sun and Moon" gift, which is 1 dozen multi-colored
 sunflowers and moonstruck-chocolate! Now there's something for
 self-consumption!

Media Life magazine


If you're involved in media buying for the web, and who isn't on some
 level, then you should check out the newest mag to come onto the
 scene! Media Life magazine is getting started by the dynamic and
 effervescent founding editor-in-chief Gene Ely and witty and with-it
 senior editor Jeremy Slossberg. I'll be contributing too -- writing about
 advertising on the web and you can sign up for your free subscription
 at www.medialifemagazine.com. This new web site will be aimed at
 media directors, media planners, and media buyers and is scheduled to
 be online as of May 17th. Free for registered subscribers, this mag will
 cover the entire media industry, with sections on new media, TV,
 cable, magazines, and newspapers. The emphasis will be on the Web
 as an advertising medium and their goals are two-fold: first, to inform
 people who specialize in new media about the latest developments in
 the marketplace; and second, to relate major trends in new media to
 the overall media marketplace--a valuable but often missing
 perspective on the hype-addled Internet scene. Just two of the things
 that set Media Life apart from other publications is that they do not
 believe that new media stories are only about finance, nor do they
 believe that being the first to announce someone else's announcement
 is equivalent to being a good reporter. Gene also launched the
 award-winning print magazine "Inside Media" and is applying his
 industry know-how and journalistic talents to bring a new level of
 value to the concept of "trade publication." So anyone who is a media
 decision-maker is entitled to a free subscription, and may enroll at
 enroll@medialifemagazine.com. Send me your tips and good things to
 write about!

Tuesday, April 27, 1999

Doubleclick's "The Gallery of the Alley"


 Just before you fall into the river, there's a loft space that has lots of
 parties. It's very far west and on Tuesday, April 27th Doubleclick
 took advantage of the stunning views and vastland for their latest
 themed party "The Gallery of the Alley." All the striking photographs
 that were on display were taken by Paul Hunter, who works in
 Doubleclick's mailroom. Mark Stahlman and Debbie Newman
 (DejaNews), Jeff Heron (SCIO-Ltd.) and Manos Megagianis
 (Teknowledge) were milling about the suspended photographs. And
 Scott Heiferman was beaming as he announced he was going to
 confiscate the "American Gothic" imitation of Kevin O'Connor. The
 Ecom guys were there (we'd all been following each other around
 since breakfast), Brand Dialogue's David Israel and Kit Cody and
 Amy Shapiro were enjoying some of the yummy hot hors d'oeuvres
 and desserts that were getting passed around. Dynamic duo team
 Roger (CEO, LIFilm.com) and Marissa Raderman (Doubleclick and
 LIFilm) were there. These two are so hip and trendy I think someone
 should write into the Sony studios and tell Donny & Marie to watch
 out! Before I left I chatted a bit with Chip Austin and Bradford Farkas
 (Lazard Partners). Each photograph had a Silicon Alley professional
 attribute a quote to it and naturally, on eof the best quotes came from
 Doubleclick's CEO Kevin O'Connor -- "It's not about working harder,
 it's about dreaming bigger."

Art Directors Club panel "The Latest vs. The Greatest"


 It wasn't totally a mosh pit, but the Art Directors Club panel on "The
 Latest vs. The Greatest" on Tuesday, April 27th was a showdown
 between seasoned advertising design industry shapers and scrappy
 young revolutionaries. Anthony Vagnoni, editor-at-large "Advertising
 Age" kept the light and pointed conversations between Jerry Della
 Femina, Allan Beaver, Ed McCabe, Paul Thayer, and Steven Grasse.
 Jeff Weiss definitely was on the progressive front, but paid homage to
 the wizened greats who had lots of laughs and stories about how they
 started. Before the panel started I met Donna Belej, an account
 exec/researcher with Image Bank and SVA students Dave Arnold and
 Jason Rogers. Bill Oberlander, exec. creative director of Kirshenbaum,
 Bond & Partners was there along with Jonann Tansman (VP,
 associate Creative director, BBDO) and bubbly Amanda Angotti
 (BBDO) and an FIT and Tuoro college professor (name escaped me).
 I took the serious look on Tyme Gadson's face for real when he said
 he is from Monsoon, a rival design shop in Philadelphia to Grasse's
 shop. Even people from Brazil -- Fabricio Branco -- and London --
 Adam Helliwell -- came for the panel. Well, actually Fabrico is
 studying and living here, and Adam moved here to work in the
 super-uber cool design shop The Attik (with super hip plastic credit
 card business cards).

Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence

-->
The Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence on Tuesday,
 April 27th, drew a glittery digerati crowd. These awards are the
 Internet marketing industry's oldest peer-review awards program
 where a panel of leading Internet marketing experts recognize
 achievements each year that have made a fundamental impact on the
 way marketing, public relations, and advertising are done on the
 Internet. K2 Design won but Tom Hespos only had the box with him
 (at the Doubleclick party later that night) as the creative director ran
 off with it -- most likely to show friends and family. Steve Nesle,
 executive creative director at Modem Media.PoppeTyson said the
 "design is elegant and works because it keeps the focus on the
 message." I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder
 Thunder Lizard, and more than 500 attendees also got to witness the
 ClickZ challenge, where K2, Beyond Interactive, Lot 21 and BBDO
 developed campaigns to generate online contributions for the Doug
 Flutie Jr. Foundation, which benefits autism awareness and research,
 and names for the Flutie Foundation mailing list. The agency that
 produces the best results, as measured by the AdKnowledge System,
 will win the grand prize. Lee Wright's panel revealed results from their
 1999 national benchmark study on Client Satisfaction with Interactive
 Services Firms. It's due out May 17th and you can find out more.

Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99

-->Meanwhile, down the Alley a bit, at the Marriott World Trade Center,
 Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99 was filling the
 grand ballroom. I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder
 of Thunder Lizard, and his vision of creating a conference that's
 content rich -- and not just a bunch of CEOs pontificating -- is clearly
 indicated by the panel topics and list of speakers. From Sunday, April
 25th through Wednesday, April 28th, people came from around the
 world to hear successful web ad/marketing related professionals like
 Thom Forbes, conference chair, Mara Lipacas (ChannelSeven) and
 Tom Hespos (K2 Design) speak. Hespos (who also publishes the
 On-line Advertising Forum) doled out practical advice on what web ad
 tricks really work with Brad Aronson (I-frontier) and Jeremy Haft
 (consultant).

Javits Center findings


 I headed over to the Javits center with Kurt Ebner of Castle Point
 Systems, Inc. Castle Point focuses on Microsoft solutions and
 technologies and offers its clients both superior technical skills and
 solid project management skills for their projects. It was a busy week
 at the Javits center with real estate and textile shows going on in
 addition to the Internet and Electronic Commerce show. After
 weeding through the splashy, plush overdone booths and the swarms
 of smaller (but equally aggressive booths) I found a few interesting
 nuggets. In the telecom and e-com arena Seattle and Vancouver based
 E-Charge (www.echarge.com) is expanding their services of allowing
 consumers to securely charge on-line purchases to their phone bill to
 Canada. In one of the newest trendy areas of on-line shopping,
 incentive e-commerce, San Francisco based Netcentives
 (www.clickrewards.com) is expanding with an acquisition of Panttaja
 and reward programs with BarnesandNoble.com, garden.com, and is
 the exclusive provider of frequent flyer miles for major airlines. I was
 also impressed with Extricity Software, who even had a CD corporate
 video in their press kit in addition to the standard demo CD. They
 have a virtual factory and customer integration solutions for b2b
 clients.

The Breakfast Network


 Set in the elegant and pretty Bryant Park Grill, sun streamed in on
 tables set with branded coffee mugs, programs and invites. There
 were views of tall trees outside with budding leaves and inside platters
 of salmon and capers sat next to baskets of bagels, croissants and
 pastries. The Breakfast Network, a breakfast panel and networking
 opportunity started by Bogen PR, captured Jeffery Taylor, CEO of
 Monster.com, Jason Chervokas, Co-publisher of @NY and Richard
 Johnson, CEO Hotjobs to discuss the exciting topic of "Recruiting Top
 Talent On-line" on Tuesday, April 27th. Edmund Bogen of Bogen PR
 and Andrew Levy of LPNYTHink, the Breakfast Network's strategic
 partner for all materials and promotional items, deserve mucho kudos
 for hosting a fine morning affair. Over 130 early risers came out to
 hear the speakers and network, including Richard Frazer of Cowen
 Financials, who had to skedadle right away to Connecticut for a
 meeting. Ecom Advisors Sandeep Thrakar and butter knife-wielding
 Larry Pearl were schmoozin' near the door, as were Eric Gordon (The
 Globe), Bruce Strzelczyk (RAEisnor & Associates), Anna-Marie
 Vallone and Melissa Carnahan (Chase) and Jonathan Spira of The
 Basex Group.

 Edmund (Bogen PR) recognized Andrew Levy of LPNYTHink for
 taking it upon himself to create the look for Silicon Alley @ Work by
 designing a logo (downloadable from his site) in response to the slight
 NY took for not being mentioned in the "Business Week" article on
 top tech towns, Sam Albert, sponsors Esther Sporn of The Sporn
 Group and Jud Breslin of The Cobre Group. He even was so kind as
 to reference my article in the "AlleyCat News" devoted to top women
 in Silicon Alley. And I agreed with him wholeheartedly when he said
 that what was wrong with the article is that each woman deserves a
 full cover story and there are so many who weren't in there! Among
 the many recruiters and head hunters who came to hear the speakers
 were Marion Novack of Gainor, Lauren Schellenbach and Twee
 Merrigan of Aquent Partners, which was formerly known as
 MacTemps as of two weeks ago. I also met Jason Largever (Director,
 the Digital Sandbox) and Julian Barnes. Kelly Michaelian (Hotjobs)
 was friendly to me, which is more than I can say for Bob Liu (in the
 PR dept.), who basically was suggesting I not bother Mr. Johnson.
 Not always the best approach in terms getting journalists to speak with
 the CEO -- you never know when you might just get a little good OR
 BAD press.

 I did enjoy spending some time afterwards with Erica Garcia of the
 Daily News, though. And afterwards I met Paul Crayton of one of the
 newest hip New York new media type mags, Digital New York.
 Bogen PR and LPNYTHink definitely have put together a fine
 function, a breakfast panel that has a nice easy in the morning feeling.
 Elegant, quality people, good panel discussion and moderation and
 yummy bagels with lox! Sign up for the next one, which will be
 highlighting fultonstreet.com -- a profitable site that sells fishes on-line.
 Sounds fishy? Well, check it out!

Sunday, April 25, 1999

Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99

Meanwhile, down the Alley a bit, at the Marriott World Trade Center, Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99 was filling the grand ballroom. I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder of Thunder Lizard, and his vision of creating a conference that's content rich -- and not just a bunch of CEOs pontificating -- is clearly indicated by the panel topics and list of speakers.
From Sunday, April 25th through Wednesday, April 28th, people came from around the world to hear successful web ad/marketing related professionals like Thom Forbes, conference chair, Mara Lipacas (ChannelSeven) and Tom Hespos (K2 Design) speak. Hespos (who also publishes the On-line Advertising Forum) doled out practical advice on what web ad tricks really work with Brad Aronson (I-frontier) and Jeremy Haft (consultant). The Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence on Tuesday, April 27th, drew a glittery digerati crowd. These awards are the Internet marketing industry's oldest peer-review awards program where a panel of leading Internet marketing experts recognize achievements each year that have made a fundamental impact on the way marketing, public relations, and advertising are done on the Internet. K2 Design won but Tom Hespos only had the box with him (at the Doubleclick party later that night) as the creative director ran off with it -- most likely to show friends and family. Steve Nesle, executive creative director at Modem Media.PoppeTyson said the "design is elegant and works because it keeps the focus on the message." I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder Thunder Lizard, and more than 500 attendees also got to witness the ClickZ challenge, where K2, Beyond Interactive, Lot 21 and BBDO developed campaigns to generate online contributions for the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, which benefits autism awareness and research, and names for the Flutie Foundation mailing list. The agency that produces the best results, as measured by the AdKnowledge System, will win the grand prize. Lee Wright's panel revealed results from their 1999 national benchmark study on Client Satisfaction with Interactive Services Firms. It's due out May 17th and you can find out more at: http://www.peopledesigntechnology.com/.

Friday, April 23, 1999

The Cyber Scene in San Diego ~ by Joe Crawford

Joe Crawford reported to the WebSanDiego list that the first WebSanDiego happy hour was a grand success and had a nice little turnout! It was at the Bitter End in the Gaslamp Quarter, a very cool place -- a tad noisier than expected -- but very nice. Faces were put together with voices and names and business cards and stickers were exchanged, which revealed an interesting mix of skills and backgrounds! The illustrious list of initial attendees includes: Joe Crawford (Web Integrator; started list) http://www.artlung.com;
Jim Langston (Web Designer for Non-Profits); Bonnie Oberster (IT Professional segueing into web stuff) http://www.matchbookart.com. Domain name speculator Chris Roth (Designer, Domain Name Speculator, works for a major hosting company) http://www.simplenet.com was also there, as was David Snow who helped start this first happy hour (Illustrator, Web Design of all kinds) http://www.snowdesign.com. Anne Wayman of The MiningCo and who set up the San Diego guide for the MC came out and met some fellow San Diegans (Designer, Writer, MiningCo Guide) http://www.powerfullyrecovered.com, http://sandiego.miningco.com. Tim Wayne (Designer for an IBM sub, Freelance Web Designer) http://www.commquest.com/ and videographer Bev Woodworth (Videoographer making change into web design/multimedia) Video Vision also came out for the plentiful good discussions, talks and chats and lots of talk about tools (see below). And, after a few famous Black Martinis, I'm sure the funny stories that cropped up will be even more interesting when they make their way to the list. Check out the URL that started it all! Http://www.artlung.com/WebSanDiego/happyhour/

Based on the success of this happy hour, Joe has plans to turn these into monthly gigs with the possibility of something fancier on a quarterly basis. Suggestions for venue preferences and whatnot would be appreciated - send them to Joe Crawford (joe@artlung.com) or David Snow (who organized this inaugural happy hour - kudos for that! -- david@snowdesign.com).

The Cyber Scene in Dallas ~ By Eric Olsson

The Dallas Society of Visual Communications (http://www.dsvc.org) hosted the 1999 Dallas Awards Show on April 17 in Fair Park (home to the Texas State Fair and the tallest Ferris Wheel in the Western Hemisphere). The Show featured outstanding examples of print, radio, television and multimedia advertising, as well as graphic design, photography and illustration.

focus2 (http://www.focus2.com), a Dallas design firm, probably made the biggest splash, with about 8 pieces on display including advertising and packaging for local game developer id software. focus2 creative director Todd Hart has also recently founded Big Theory (http://www.bigtheory.com), a new firm that deals exclusively with interactive and web-based media.

Entries in the "interactive multimedia" category were rather difficult to appreciate, as there were no computers to be found at the show. Nonetheless Pennebaker.LMC Design of Houston (http://www.pennebaker.com) took home an award for Houston freelance photographer Drew Donovan's website (http://www.drewdonovan.com). Great use of Flash, though one also hopes the DSVC will introduce a "most efficient use of bandwidth" category at next year's show.

Exclusive: Scott Cohen on LivePerson

A Cyber Scene Exclusive! If you went to the corner of Broadway and Bond you might catch a glimpse of Kyle or Chan of Agency.com slipping out for a coffee, or maybe Roland or Joe or Tery from Blue Dingo coming back from a sushi lunch. But who's that new resident, jetting in and out of the offices with such purpose and energy the papers on the street are left swirling in the air? Why, it's Scott Cohen! Scott has been busy in his new role as Executive Vice President - Sales & Strategic Alliances at LivePerson.com. This recent move, after a short respite from a previous post at 24/7 and at least 50 offers for top executive positions at major player Internet firms (think CBS-like), has Scott positively beaming! On-line customer service is recognized as the biggest, most crucial and rapidly growing segment for e-businesses. When Scott met LivePerson president Robert LoCasio and saw the company mission statement in three bullet points on a white board, he knew this company will rule and define the on-line customer service market. Scott educated me on the LivePerson product, which is a totally web-based, remote accessible, and intuitive product needing no hard nor software. After a 30-minute demo, you too could be utilizing this solid product. They are staffing up very quickly, hired Connors Communications to handle its PR, and will be opening a West Coast office very soon. Led by Silicon Alley financial digerati Bob Lessin and Dawntreader, LivePerson closed their first round of financing a short while ago. With a current client list that includes The Mining Co., Intuit, Nations Bank, Priceline and CBS Sportsline, and with targets in major networks and e-commerce markets, this is one LivePerson that promises to deliver more news!

BITS & BYTES -and- Shakers & Stirrers 4/23/99

NEWS BITS AND BYTES
After a hacker attack and overhauling the server the WWWAC list is back up! Wwwac.org

SHAKERS & STIRRERS
More wwwacky changes: Bogen PR has announced it is the (first) PR agency for the WWWAC group. WWWAtch out world!

As of April 30th Christopher Luzine will be leaving Chase Manhattan Private Bank, Investors Group to work in the Asset Management Division as an Equity Portfolio Analyst in pursuit of a position that better meets his future aspirations, at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Wednesday, April 21, 1999

EDGAR On-line Book signing party

The slick clean gray marble floors, steely handrails and cool walls sloped into a wide cul de sac of video monitors at Nasdaq's Market Site at 33 Whitehall Street on Wednesday, April 21st and barely contained the overflow of guests for the book signing party. EDGAR Online (www.edgar-online.com), Bloomberg Press (www.bloomberg.com/products/bbpress.html) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (www.nasdaq.com) hosted the cocktail reception to celebrate Tom Taulli's new book, "Investing in IPOs." Taulli is EDGAR Online's market analyst. I chatted for a short while with Susan Strausberg, CEO and co-founder of EDGAR Online, who looked stunning in her light gray pant suit with a grossgrain ribbon belt, on the success my recent "Women of Silicon Alley" article in "AlleyCat News" by attracting four new hires to her firm. Jay Sears (VP marketing and business development, EDGAR) filled me in on EDGAR's value-added services: EDGAR Online People, which allows users to search the SEC filings by an executive's name, and EDGAR Online Personal, which provides real-time Web and email based alerting, and other advanced searches of SEC data. In addition to writing this book, Taulli has a weekly e-mail newsletter (hey, neat!) chock full of news, analysis and tutorials covering the IPO market and the full range of issues relating to securities filings.

Monday, April 19, 1999

CJP on MCL's MetroByte - organizing business cards

* Confused about how to organize your overflowing piles of business cards and contacts? Is your calendar out of control?! I feel your pain! Maybe I can help you sort it out with my reviews of desktop organizers suites on the Metro Learning Channels' "MetroByte" show Monday, April 19th (Uncle Bert's birthday), from 8 - 9 PM. *

CJP on MCL's MetroByte - desktop organizers


* Confused about how to organize your overflowing piles of business cards and
 contacts? Is your calendar out of control?! I feel your pain! Maybe I can help you sort
 it out with my reviews of desktop organizer suites on the Metro Learning Channels'
 "MetroByte" show Monday, April 19th (Uncle Bert's birthday), from 8 - 9 PM. *

Saturday, April 17, 1999

BITS AND BYTES - 4/17/99


NEWS BITS AND BYTES
 Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com

 Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers popped up into my inbox --
 such a nice, well written, useful e-mail on marketing on the web!

 Urban Desires has launched a new feature based on the videos of
 Chris Cunningham. Cunningham is a very talented, questionably
 pessimistic man who has an affinity for electronic music. You can
 check out his videos for Squarepusher's "Come on My Selector" and
 Apehx Twin's "Come to Daddy" on Urban Desires. Read the
 interview and find out why Cunningham thinks films today are crap
 (and let us know if you agree).

 Nutripeak.com just launched a site that offers more than 1,500
 products, from amino acids to weight gainers at discounted prices.
 They also feature the latest information on training and workouts for
 the serious athlete. There is a shopping cart system where you can
 also choose delivery (including next day) and customers who make a
 $50 dollar purchase through June will receive a free nutripeak.com
 T-shirt and the first thousand customers will receive a free sample of
 "effervescent Creatine." Customers can also set up their own "lockers"
 where they can store information about their workouts, their
 nutritional supplements and other data necessary to ensure a
 successful fitness program. An easy-to-use keyword search program
 allows customers to pinpoint each product along with prices and
 quantities. Several varieties of "custom kits" are tailored for specific
 fitness interests such as losing body fat and gaining muscle size;
 burning fat and losing weight; increasing energy and building
 endurance, and improving sexual performance.

 Niehaus Ryan Wong, Inc. (NRW), an Internet and technology public
 relations firms, announced plans to open an office in New York. The
 announcement is marked by the appointment of Laura Hamilton,
 formerly senior vice president of Corporate Communications and
 Investor Relations for Cendant Corporation, as managing director to
 head the New York office and further expand NRW's investor
 relations services. New York has a concentration of creatives --
 authors, playwrights, artists, and producers -- who've traditionally
 communicated through theater, media, publishing, and advertising,"
 said Ed Niehaus, president of NRW. "Leveraging the City's expertise,
 we believe that creative advances in Interactive/Internet content will
 come out of New York. We want to be the agency that helps these
 companies tell their stories to the world." "New York's global financial
 community is also a big draw for NRW," Niehaus explains. "New
 York is the financial epicenter of the world, so it is very important for
 us to help clients communicate with the New York financial
 community. Combining our West Coast office's strong ties to the Sand
 Hill Road investment community, we believe NRW is uniquely
 positioned to offer new forms of Investor Relations services to clients
 around the country." NRW plans to bring its expertise in relationship
 marketing and sustainable identity strategies eastward to a variety of
 East Coast companies. In particular, NRW will help emerging
 companies articulate their vision, position and voice in a crowded and
 competitive marketplace through its special trademarked service, the
 Architecture of Identity. In addition, NRW will offer BI-coastal
 communications services to its impressive range of clients including
 Yahoo!, Pixar, E-Loan, and Planet Rx. The Internet Foreign Currency
 Exchange, which was designed and developed by Octet
 (www.octet.com), won the Oxford Global Network the "American
 Venture Spring 1999 Award." (go to Award-winning listing (#630) -
 Internet Foreign Currency Exchange)

Friday, April 16, 1999

Upcoming Events ~ 4/16/99

While you've all heard about iVillage and how rich its web site is, not many people have seen my personal review of it on the Metro Channels' "MetroByte" show! Check it out on Monday, April 26th from 8 -9 PM.

"Branding, broadband, advetising and technobabble! It seems every time I turn around there's another conference in town -- or out of town! But I've had my eye on Thunder Lizards' Web Advertising '99, which is coming to town on April 25-28th. What's nice about this event is that real meaty discussions on content and the future are discussed, it's not just the same round of speakers reciting their familiar jargon. There's still some room to sign up, and after attending four days of meaty topics -- stop by my cocktail party (on the 28th) to mull over all the tasty morsels! www.thunderlizard.com

BITS & BYTES -and- Shakers & Stirrers 4/16/99

BITS AND BYTES
HEAVEN's ANGELS today became part of the Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. HEAVEN -- Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer & Empower via the Net -- received the award for innovative uses of technology in its ANGELS computer, community service and career training program for youth.

Webcinema is hosting war diaries of independent filmmakers from Belgrade. Their server in Belgrade has been shut down since April 2nd. The diaries were written from March 23 to April 6th, and the videos shot from March 22 to April 3rd, in and around Belgrade. The complete text of the War Diaries and the video are at http://www.webcinema.org/war_diaries/

In a grand gesture, Nokia decided to donate a total of USD 1 million for humanitarian assistance of the victims of the Kosovo crisis. The donation will be made through the Finnish Red Cross on Tuesday, April 13. With its donation, Nokia wants to contribute to providing fast support to the crisis area, wherever help is needed most.

Viant (www.viant.com) filed to go public on April 9th. Their S-1 has been filed with the S.E.C. and can be reviewed at: http://www.edgar-online.com/bin/getipo/?doc=A-1028122-0001047469-99-014268

Wacky! Here's a funny blurb that came across my desk: The Handwriting Company gives you a chance to be a 'new' person within 6 months; personality profiling - very in-depth and starting with clients age 6-8; employee theft/forgery cases made easy; employee screening, and genealogical services so people can bring their family tree to life and finally know the ancestors they've never met. ANYTHING having to do with handwriting for ANYONE! Discover the 'personality behind the pen' because handwriting never lies… www.maxpages.com/thc and link to main.

SHAKERS & STIRRERS
Internet marketing veterans Matt Rothman and Michael Lipson have joined the Thinking Media Corporation offices in San Francisco. Matt and Michael will be charged with establishing strategic alliances with WestCoast companies. Matt Rothman was previously Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sony Online Ventures. Matt conceived and launched Sony's online game service, and in 1994, as Director of Business Development for Sony New Technologies, Matt created www.sony.com. Matt was a technology writer for twelve years. He is a recipient of the Loeb Award for Investigative Reporting. Michael Lipson was most recently Vice President, Strategic Alliances for planet U Inc., a leader in online promotions for consumer packaged goods. Michael previously held senior business roles for over a dozen interactive enterprises, including Total Entertainment Network, the Internet Underground Music Archive and Interval Research, Paul Allen's think-tank. Michael was the first President of the Board of the Multimedia Development Group, one of the first non-profit trade organizations for the multimedia industry. His first position in the interactive industry was in the early 1990's as a partner in GISTICS, a research firm that authored Apple's first white papers
on CD ROM development. Prior to this, Michael spent 8 years as an investment banker with GE Capital.

Karen Epper Hoffman recently joined the GartnerGroup as a research director in the payment systems area. She was formerly with Forrester Research's Money & Technology service in Boston and before that with the American Banker in New York. karen.hoffman@gartner.com

Thomas L. Morell has joined the Bates USA Media Dept. agency as Sr. VP, Dir. of Media Planning for Product Accounts, and Richard Anderson has been promoted to Sr. VP, Associate Media Dir., Bates USA.

Bob Wyman has made the move to the other coast! He recently left New York and is now V.P. of Product Development at Marketwave in Seattle. bobwyman@marketwave.com

Don Voreck left his post at IBM / Lucent to work at Planet Access, a local Internet Service Provider.

There are lots of changes going on with Janice Gjersten. She's leaving AOL's Ditital City, after helping start Total NY, sell to Digital City in '97, and then sell Digital City to AOL in '98. Now she is branching out on her own again, marrying her soul mate Alexander Caillet, writing a book, turning a town around, advising a little with Creative Good, and starting a new dinner series. If you're interested in finding out more, e-mail her at: Janice@PartnershipStrategies.com.

David West Smith's (GEM) brother, Adam Smith, was invited to join MIT Media Lab to work on developing interactive toys. Congratulations Adam!

If you can still get it, check out Marisa Bowe's has a great article on the Alley in the 4/14 edition of the New York Observer.

Steve Grady reports that GoodNoise moved its headquarters to Redwood City last week. They can now be reached at GoodNoise Corporation, 1991 Broadway, Second Floor, Redwood City, CA 94063. Main number: 650-556-9733

The Cyber Scene in Dallas ~ By Eric Olsson

An exhibit entitled "Digital Code/Cultural Patterns: Digital Photography, CD-ROM and Web Art at the End of the Millennium" continued this week in the Visual Arts Building at the University of Texas at Dallas. A large portion can be visited online (http://www.utdallas.edu/~waligore/digital/code.html).

"Digital Code" features about 20 works by 5 artists from Texas and another 6 from around the country. Highlights from the online version include Gregory P. Garvey's "Genderbender" (http://www.digearth.bcit.bc.ca/dedocs/ggarvey/index.HTML), an interactive sex-role quiz, and Victoria Vesna's "Bodies Incorporated" (http://arts.ucsb.edu/bodiesinc), a nifty VRML-based alter-ego construction set.

My favorite work is Piotr Szyhalski's "Ding an sich: The Canon Series" (http://www.walkerart.org/gallery9/artists/dingansich/index.html), a twelve-part response to Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"...in Shockwave! "Digital Code" continues through April 24th.

…. And in Austin, TX
Jon Lebkowsky, Interactive Community Director, WholeFoods.com hosted the first Café Virtuale on Sunday, April 11. A few folks came to talk, hang out and talk about the new media scene in Austin and elsewhere.

The Cyber Scene in Dallas ~ By Eric Olsson

An exhibit entitled "Digital Code/Cultural Patterns: Digital Photography, CD-ROM and Web Art at the End of the Millennium" continued this week in the Visual Arts Building at the University of Texas at Dallas. A large portion can be visited online (http://www.utdallas.edu/~waligore/digital/code.html).

"Digital Code" features about 20 works by 5 artists from Texas and another 6 from around the country. Highlights from the online version include Gregory P. Garvey's "Genderbender" (http://www.digearth.bcit.bc.ca/dedocs/ggarvey/index.HTML), an interactive sex-role quiz, and Victoria Vesna's "Bodies Incorporated" (http://arts.ucsb.edu/bodiesinc), a nifty VRML-based alter-ego construction set.

My favorite work is Piotr Szyhalski's "Ding an sich: The Canon Series" (http://www.walkerart.org/gallery9/artists/dingansich/index.html), a twelve-part response to Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"...in Shockwave! "Digital Code" continues through April 24th.

…. And in Austin, TX
Jon Lebkowsky, Interactive Community Director, WholeFoods.com hosted the first Café Virtuale on Sunday, April 11. A few folks came to talk, hang out and talk about the new media scene in Austin and elsewhere.

TCS Intro: Well, well, well, what's on the cooker for this week? - 4/16/99

While many alley-ites were boarding planes to jet out to Los Angeles for Spring Internet World, those who stayed home had no shortage of net-worthy events to attend. Saturday, April 10th I popped into the NY Sheraton Towers for a quick spin around the Investment Expo exhibition hall with Michael Terpin of Internet Wire and The Terpin Group. It was a whirlwind, but worth it. Traders, day-traders, brokers, financial consultants, funds, industries, and a whole host of other attendees and hot topics related to them were discussed and debated by financial and Internet professionals for the two day conference. Two companies that I stopped and chatted with were CyBerCorp and Raging Bull. CyBerCorp is based out of my newest favorite city, Austin, and is a "vertically integrated, electronic trading technology group" that provides real time, stock trading technologies and lots of other goodies. Jonny White, product manager, for the company was on hand to tell me a bit about the firm and, of course, about the big Austin conference, SXSW, again! Just down the row a bit was Suzanne Schantz of Raging Bull.com. She had all sorts of info about this young company, founded by three young 20-year central Jersey college students, which has popular bulletin boards beyond just hot stock tips (like Politics, Movies, Sports and more). Raging Bull is also beginning to host events in Boston for its on-line community, because they recognize the value in the F2F aspect of this world wide web.

From the Investment Expo to Flute, a nearby champagne bar, Michael and I popped into to talk about all the lightning fast advancements of his ventures, and the history and the growth of the industry and community in LA, SF and NY.

Upcoming Events ~ 4/2/99

With all the talk of community, it's about time for some real muscle behind the words. Mark Hurst (mark@creativegood.com) has taken it upon himself to change our lackidasical approach to community-building and is assisting in an incredibly rich and rewarding community-building event. See his invite, sign up, pass this announcement around, and let's make a difference! And now a word from Mr. Hurst himself: "I get tired sometimes that people I know in New York hardly ever seem to connect, or communicate, at anything more than a surface level. So I'm putting together an event that a lot of people I know would probably be interested in: a community-building workshop for people in their 20s and early 30s. (This is an in-person, face-to-face kind of community -- has nothing to do with the Web.) The workshop is an opportunity for people to slow down from the hectic NYC pace, really listen to each other, and work to communicate honestly. I've participated twice in such an event and it's been a extremely helpful, positive, learning experience both times. It has also help form my views on building a humanistic environment within my own company.

The workshop (this is a one-time-only thing) will be held in Manhattan on the weekend of April 16: Friday evening, most of Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Some meals are provided. People should sign up now: http://www.creativegood.com/fce The cost is a *suggested donation* only... with the meals and facilitator stipends, I'd suggest $80, or $40 for students, or even just pay what you think the workshop is worth once you're done. (The regular price of these events is $200.) The main thing is, you should sign up now if you're interested -- cost should not be a limiting factor. More info at http://www.creativegood.com/fce"

Wednesday, April 14, 1999

UJA Technology and New Media group spring cocktail party


At a delightful spring cocktail party for the UJA Technology and New Media group on April 14th, created an opportunity guests to be educated on this group's activities and initiatives and to learn of other interesting companies. Misters Ed Horowitz (with Citigroup) and Steve Erhlich (of IBM, global sports segment manager) spoke of their companies and the benefits of being associated with UJA and this group. Virginia Cruickshank, SVP of FEGS, told us of a Career Vector System her company launched yesterday, which helps assess which job is right for you, based on your interests and skills. This Internet-based comprehensive, data-gathering, exploration, and recommendation tool even helps find compatible jobs for people with no reading skills. Under the direction of the energetic committee organizers this group will go far.

Fast Company Spring Party


The Fast Company I was seeking was the magazine of the same name. Fast Company
 magazine has several groups that meet around the world, and the NYC "cell" had a
 spring party the night of Wednesday, April 14th. There were probably about 40
 cellmates upstairs in the Pagent by the time I arrived. I saw Pat Barrett, cell-leader (in
 a fine pearl baubley necklace). She introduced me to Joe Hunt of Relationship Link
 and Troy von Kutzleben of Guy Carpenter & Company. Sachin Shah greeted me most
 graciously. I spent a few precious moments saying hello and then hopped home for
 some rest!

The Cyber Scene in Vancouver

FROM THE FOLKS IN VANCOUVER
The talented creatives over at DNA (http://www.dna-ms.com/) have produced another fine interactive experience. Einstein's Dreams is an interactive treatment of Allan Lightman's best selling novel. DNA has licensed the novel and is creating a series of interactive experiences exploring how time conditions our experiences and relationships. These will be webcast from April 14 to June 30 and then published as a CD-ROM in the fall. Please visit http://www.einsteinsdreams.com -- If you like what you see, please pass on the URL to your friends.

Monday, April 12, 1999

Pulitzer Prizes announcement


On Monday, April 12th, the 83rd Pulitzer Prizes were announced by President George Rupp, president of Columbia University, which was founded by Joseph Pulitzer. Seymour Topping, re-elected administrator of the Prizes was on hand to field questions from the forty or so reporters who went up to Columbia's World Room (named after Joseph Pulitzer's NY-based publication). This year's announcement was unique in a few ways. This was the first year that the board sanctioned newspapers' submissions of online presentations, as supplements to print exhibits, in the Public Service category. The board also is open to the possibility of more on-line journalism inclusions as the medium develops. This year's announcement was also unique in that there was an audio webcast. Viewers of the on-line medium could hear the announcement instantly at the Freedom Forum's web site. You can see all the winners at: http://www.pulitzer.org.

Sunday, April 11, 1999

Shakers and Stirrers - published 4/11/97


NEWS BITS AND BYTES

 HEAVEN's ANGELS today became part of the Permanent Research Collection on
 Information Technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
 HEAVEN -- Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer & Empower via the Net --
 received the award for innovative uses of technology in its ANGELS computer,
 community service and career training program for youth.

 Webcinema is hosting war diaries of independent filmmakers from Belgrade. Their
 server in Belgrade has been shut down since April 2nd. The diaries were written from
 March 23 to April 6th, and the videos shot from March 22 to April 3rd, in and around
 Belgrade. The complete text of the War Diaries and the video

 In a grand gesture, Nokia decided to donate a total of USD 1 million for humanitarian
 assistance of the victims of the Kosovo crisis. The donation will be made through the
 Finnish Red Cross on Tuesday, April 13. With its donation, Nokia wants to contribute
 to providing fast support to the crisis area, wherever help is needed most.

 Viant (www.viant.com) filed to go public on April 9th. Their S-1 has been filed with
 the S.E.C. and can be reviewed

 Wacky! Here's a funny blurb that came across my desk: The Handwriting Company
 gives you a chance to be a 'new' person within 6 months; personality profiling - very
 in-depth and starting with clients age 6-8; employee theft/forgery cases made easy;
 employee screening, and genealogical services so people can bring their family tree to
 life and finally know the ancestors they've never met. ANYTHING having to do with
 handwriting for ANYONE! Discover the 'personality behind the pen' because
 handwriting never lies… www.maxpages.com/thc and link to main.

David Blaine Underwater


 And from champagne to water I went. Six feet of it, actually--and a man underneath
 it! Yes, folks, the (in)famous street magician David Blaine was "BURIED ALIVE"
 under six feet of water in an airtight coffin on Trump's property at 68th Street and
 Riverside. James Nederlander and Donald Trump were producers of this farce.
 Honestly, if a man was in an airtight coffin under water for six days (at the time I saw
 him, on Sunday, April 11), with only 2 tablespoons of water being feed to him through
 his leg via a catheter, I'd expect him to look just a little peaked--wouldn't you? C'mon!
 Where was the drama? I was prepared to pour my heart out to the man in suffering. I
 was expecting to see a sober, meditating man, pensive and thoughtful of the
 implications of his undertaking. But, noooooo, he was just lying there, all
 slap-happy-grin-faced under a big fluffy white blanket, waving like he was Pee Wee
 Herman on the first day of his new TV show. If it weren't for my dashing and
 good-looking date, I would've smashed the glass and grabbed Mr. Chump Card by his
 scrawny neck and shaken the magic out of him. That probably would've revealed
 mirrors, rabbits' paws and jacks. I might not have been so reactionary, but the whole
 thing reeked of flashy showmanship. You can check out Mr. Blaine yourself.

Saturday, April 10, 1999

Investment Expo in NYC


While many alley-ites were boarding planes to Los Angeles for Spring Internet World,
 those who stayed home had no shortage of net-worthy events. On Saturday, April 10,
 I popped into the NY Sheraton Towers for a quick spin around the Investment Expo
 exhibition hall with Michael Terpin of Internet Wire and The Terpin Group. It was a
 whirlwind, but worth it. Traders, day-traders, brokers, financial consultants, funds,
 industries, and a host of other attendees discussed hot topics related to their work
 during the two-day conference.

 Two of the companies that I stopped and chatted with were CyBerCorp and Raging
 Bull. CyBerCorp is based out of my newest favorite city, Austin, TX. The company is
 a "vertically integrated, electronic trading technology group" that provides real-time,
 stock trading technologies and lots of other goodies. Jonny White, CyBerCorp's
 product manager, was on hand to tell me a bit about the firm. Just down the row was
 Suzanne Schantz of Raging Bull.com. She had all sorts of info about this young
 company, founded by three 20-year-old, central New Jersey college students. The
 site's popular bulletin boards go beyond hot stock tips to cover politics, movies, sports
 and more). Raging Bull is also beginning to host events in Boston for its on-line
 community, because they recognize the value in the F2F aspect of this Web.

 From the Investment Expo to Flute, a nearby champagne bar, Michael and I popped in
 to talk about all the lightning-fast advancements of his ventures, and the history and the
 growth of the industry and community in LA, SF and NY.

Friday, April 09, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 4/9/99

404Found, a French web management company won a prize for the "Best Creative Ad Campaign" in a "French Chic Pavillon" on the Champs Elysées on April 8th. The contest was sponsored by Strategies, an "AdAge"-like publication, Excite and RealMedia. 404Found is also in NYC and they specialize in e-traffic expertise from keyword positioning, link management strategy, online advertising campaigns, targeted e-mailing and web goodies. Romain Achard, a French "NY NoEnder," and a friend of Steven Warren, wrote in that, at the event, he met Kate Everett Thorp, the CEO of Lot21 among many other interesting people. http://www.404found.com/

Guess what?! Another virtual community is going offline! The WebSanDiego mailing list is having their first official "Happy Hour" in downtown San Diego at the Bitter End (home of the famous Black Martini!). They're getting together to celebrate the formation of their "little group of ne'er do-wells to complain loudly about the horrible burden of tax time, clients and designing for twenty different flavors of Netscrape and Internet Exploder, 28.8 modems, 216 colors and AOL 3.0! For cryin' out loud!!!" Check the invite for the final date and time

Various e-mail lists around the 'Net had been circulating the announcement that the head of Mozilla.org just resigned. Jamie Zawinski was one of the first Netscape employees and he shares, among many thoughts, his open source, open resignation letter: http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html. Excerpts include: "We changed the world. But we did that in 1994 and 1995. What we did from 1996 through 1999 was coast along, riding the wave caused by what we did before." "Netscape was shipping garbage, and shipping it late." And his prediction concerning open source: "Open source does work, but it is most definitely not a panacea. If there's a cautionary tale here, it is that you can't take a dying project, sprinkle it with the magic pixie dust of "open source,'' and have everything magically work out. Software is hard. The issues aren't that simple.

Bogen PR, the New York based public relations firm, has been named the agency of record for Offices2share.com. Offices2share.com is an online real estate service offering unique leasing options for large and small businesses. Offices2share.com has created the first nationwide Internet database for shared office space. Offices2share.com will service businesses looking to lease part of their office space and small businesses searching for additional and affordable spaces.

The Let's Talk Business Network (LTBN) group keeps expanding! They just inked a deal with entrepreneurial veteran Jon Lowder to bring LTBN to Washington DC. The Grand Opening is set for Wednesday April 21,1999 at the Marymount University-Ballston Campus Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia from 6pm to 9pm.

SHAKERS & STIRRERS
Mark Josephson has left PR agency Cone Interactive to work with his client, MiningCo.com, in business development.

Ellen Ullman has moved into the exciting role of Senior Associate Editor, in charge of the Keeping Pace section, at FamilyPC magazine. She was formerly News Editor at Small Business Computing. Her new e-mail, after 4/19, will be ellen_ullman@zd.com.

Jonathan Perkel, corporate cyber-lawyer, recently linked up with NYNMA sponsor and prominent Silicon Alley law firm, Morrison & Foerster. Jonathan will continue to represent companies both large and small pursuing success in the Internet arena.