"Silicon Alley Rivals Meet on the Playing Field" -- A "field" report from James Pearson of Razorfish
According to news reports on the culture of Silicon Alley, the last place you might expect to find Silicon Alley's best and brightest at 9 am on a Saturday morning would be in Central Park. You might expect to find them hunched over their computers fast asleep after a long night of coding or at home just getting to bed after a late night at a club, but certainly not up early on Saturday and in the mood for a little exercise and healthy competition. But that is, in fact, where 60 Razorfish and Agency.Com employees were last Saturday morning. Most came to play, and some to cheer on their team as Razorfish trounced Agency.com 21-22 in one of the most competitive softball games of the summer.
A sense of play abounded as Razorfish employees played and cheered their way to victory. Dogs ran around the field, shouts of 'good eye', 'nice hit' and 'bring it on home' rang from the stands, and a ukulele made a very special appearance to lead the crowd in an original version of the early 1980 s hit, "We Will Rock You." Razorfish first base coach James Pearson also entertained the fans by singing an original song, "We love you Razorfish" accompanied by Tim Kelly on the ukulele. Not even the ninety-eight degree heat could keep the Razorfish team and supporters from donning their long-sleeved team jerseys. "It's like elementary school all over again remarked," Maria Sund. A large crowd gathered to watch the game, drawn by the boisterous spirit and close competition of the game.
Razorfish got off to a slow start, and by the end of the fourth inning, was down 14-7 despite the pitching excellence of Jeff Dachis and Jose Cabeller. Despite strong fielding skills, Razorfish was not able to slow down the firepower of Agency.com's small, but strong team. Joe Epstein's three run homer and Scott Kolb's homer at the bottom of the fourth helped narrow the gap, but Razorfish was definitely in a difficult position at the start of the 5th inning. A tightening of the lineup from twenty-four hitters down to ten helped Razorfish concentrate its firepower and give Agency.com a run for their money. At the bottom of the 5th inning, Razorfish's Richard Ting hit a homer to bring in 2 runners, narrowing the score to 14-10. The infield and outfield continued to do a great job at stopping Agency.com, but it was still a game of catch-up.
The consistent hitting power and fielding expertise of Razorfish closed the gap to 19-17 by the top of the seventh and final inning. As time constraints were beginning to kick in and a sense of tension hit at the top of the seventh, Agency.com continued their strong hitting streak and the score rose to 21-17 by the bottom of the seventh. But Razorfish was unstoppable, hitting strongly and causing Agency.com to commit errors. The final score of 21-22 was Razorfish's hard fought victory, celebrated with wild cheering, photographs and a tub of ice water dumped on Razorfish pitcher (and CEO) Jeff Dachis.
A chronicle of the people and events in technology, internet and media since 1997, mixed in with snapshots of musings and observations.
Saturday, July 31, 1999
Friday, July 30, 1999
Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 7/30/99
SHAKERS & STIRRERS ________________________
Gary Welz is leaving Rare Medium and will be working at Think New Ideas as Director of Corporate Business Development http://www.thinkinc.com as of August 9th.
Razorfish, Inc. announced the appointment of Julia Goldberg as Global Information Systems (IS) Director. In her new role, Ms. Goldberg will oversee company-wide IS initiatives, including maintaining Razorfish's corporate network, providing end-user training and support, and enhancing its vendor partner program and strategic technology relationships.
Albert F. Barber, a former President of CNBC and CEO of Stuart Entertainment, has joined emerging Internet player e-Media as Vice Chairman. He will be responsible for developing strategic alliances and refining corporate strategy and infrastructure in collaboration with e-Media’s President and CEO, John Engel, to whom he will report.
Chris Darner has recently joined Concrete Media as a producer after a tenure as General Manager at Chopping Block.
Karyn Exilus joins the busy Lisa Swayne of The Swayne Agency as as an editorial assistant. Prior to coming this appointment she was at Shakespeare & Co., a local Manhattan bookstore, where she worked as a merchandising assistant.
ScreamingMedia (www.screamingmedia.net) a provider of syndication services and specialized content for corporate, special-interest and vertical Web sites, announced today that the company has formed the ScreamingMedia Content Network to cultivate stronger relationships between its customers and content providers. In addition, the company has named Marianne Howatson, former publishing executive from Emap, Condé Nast and Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing, as Senior Managing Director to oversee the Content Network and the company's foray into e-commerce services.
The NetSlaves book guys--Steve Baldwin and Bill Lessard had a small soiree a few weeks ago as a pre-launch for their book release "NetSlaves." One thing that emerged from the party was a spirited Slogan Competition for the batch of (union-made) T-shirts that we'll be trading for drinks (D-Commerce?) at the next party. Listmember Steve Gilliard wrote most of the slogans, one of which will adorn the NetSlaves icon.
There's hope for swinging single-ones yet! A little more than a year ago Eric Targen of The Humor Network introduced Larry Chase of Web Digest for Marketers and Chase Online to Heidi Conen, director of specialty clubs at Doubleday Direct book clubs at a NYNMA event in Irving Plaza. After a year of seeing each other at industry events and a chance meeting in Fire Island, the two marvelous characters are getting married. Congratulations!
NEWS BITS AND BYTES ________________________
Seems NYNMA might have need a little positive PR campaign after its recent invite confusion for its upcoming Cyber Splash cruise. Apparently many members never received the email with information about this anticipated event, and by the time the print postcards arrived, the event was sold out. Hmph! Popular indeed!
Bolt (www.bolt.com), has landed its third feature in three weeks with the release of Digital Diaries, which will enable Bolt's nearly 1 million registered users to maintain and personalize a record of their daily activities directly on the site.
Law.com, a leading Web law resource for information, e-commerce and e-services, and American Lawyer Media, Inc. (ALM), the nation's leading legal journalism and information company, announced a strategic alliance, aimed at creating a single, comprehensive destination for legal information and e-law services on the Web, under the law.com brand.
Razorfish Studios, Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, Inc., the independent publishing and distribution service headquartered in Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Consortium will become the exclusive US and Canadian distributor for Razorfish Studios, effective as of June 1, 1999.
Heynetwork.com debuted on June 21 and will be formally launching the free consumer service on August 31. Families will soon have the ability to communicate, shop and share information online in a private, safe, and secure setting. The service, will foster the newly emerging concept of K-commerce ™, or kids' commerce, enabling the fastest growing segment of the Internet audience, children and teenagers, to complete purchases online, with parental authorization and approval.
Bikini.com is making waves -- they announced on July 15th of a deal with Madacy Entertainment for a musical CD series based on their brand and then on July 19th of an exclusive deal of swimwear.
Gary Welz is leaving Rare Medium and will be working at Think New Ideas as Director of Corporate Business Development http://www.thinkinc.com as of August 9th.
Razorfish, Inc. announced the appointment of Julia Goldberg as Global Information Systems (IS) Director. In her new role, Ms. Goldberg will oversee company-wide IS initiatives, including maintaining Razorfish's corporate network, providing end-user training and support, and enhancing its vendor partner program and strategic technology relationships.
Albert F. Barber, a former President of CNBC and CEO of Stuart Entertainment, has joined emerging Internet player e-Media as Vice Chairman. He will be responsible for developing strategic alliances and refining corporate strategy and infrastructure in collaboration with e-Media’s President and CEO, John Engel, to whom he will report.
Chris Darner has recently joined Concrete Media as a producer after a tenure as General Manager at Chopping Block.
Karyn Exilus joins the busy Lisa Swayne of The Swayne Agency as as an editorial assistant. Prior to coming this appointment she was at Shakespeare & Co., a local Manhattan bookstore, where she worked as a merchandising assistant.
ScreamingMedia (www.screamingmedia.net) a provider of syndication services and specialized content for corporate, special-interest and vertical Web sites, announced today that the company has formed the ScreamingMedia Content Network to cultivate stronger relationships between its customers and content providers. In addition, the company has named Marianne Howatson, former publishing executive from Emap, Condé Nast and Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing, as Senior Managing Director to oversee the Content Network and the company's foray into e-commerce services.
The NetSlaves book guys--Steve Baldwin and Bill Lessard had a small soiree a few weeks ago as a pre-launch for their book release "NetSlaves." One thing that emerged from the party was a spirited Slogan Competition for the batch of (union-made) T-shirts that we'll be trading for drinks (D-Commerce?) at the next party. Listmember Steve Gilliard wrote most of the slogans, one of which will adorn the NetSlaves icon.
There's hope for swinging single-ones yet! A little more than a year ago Eric Targen of The Humor Network introduced Larry Chase of Web Digest for Marketers and Chase Online to Heidi Conen, director of specialty clubs at Doubleday Direct book clubs at a NYNMA event in Irving Plaza. After a year of seeing each other at industry events and a chance meeting in Fire Island, the two marvelous characters are getting married. Congratulations!
NEWS BITS AND BYTES ________________________
Seems NYNMA might have need a little positive PR campaign after its recent invite confusion for its upcoming Cyber Splash cruise. Apparently many members never received the email with information about this anticipated event, and by the time the print postcards arrived, the event was sold out. Hmph! Popular indeed!
Bolt (www.bolt.com), has landed its third feature in three weeks with the release of Digital Diaries, which will enable Bolt's nearly 1 million registered users to maintain and personalize a record of their daily activities directly on the site.
Law.com, a leading Web law resource for information, e-commerce and e-services, and American Lawyer Media, Inc. (ALM), the nation's leading legal journalism and information company, announced a strategic alliance, aimed at creating a single, comprehensive destination for legal information and e-law services on the Web, under the law.com brand.
Razorfish Studios, Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, Inc., the independent publishing and distribution service headquartered in Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Consortium will become the exclusive US and Canadian distributor for Razorfish Studios, effective as of June 1, 1999.
Heynetwork.com debuted on June 21 and will be formally launching the free consumer service on August 31. Families will soon have the ability to communicate, shop and share information online in a private, safe, and secure setting. The service, will foster the newly emerging concept of K-commerce ™, or kids' commerce, enabling the fastest growing segment of the Internet audience, children and teenagers, to complete purchases online, with parental authorization and approval.
Bikini.com is making waves -- they announced on July 15th of a deal with Madacy Entertainment for a musical CD series based on their brand and then on July 19th of an exclusive deal of swimwear.
The Cyber Scene in Austin ~ By Will Kreth
This week in Austin saw the long awaited launch of Living.com, the furniture and home furnishings site that Starbucks just put US$20million into. Headed up by iChat/Acuity veteran Andrew Busey, it's estimated that there are about 120 people practically "living" over at Living. At the last CyberScene event in Austin, I asked V.P. of Marketing Stephen England if Living.com was, in effect, "a Pottery Barn on the Web?" England replied that "yes, one could call it that" - which is kind of funny, when you consider that Pottery Barn is owned by Williams-Sonoma, another company that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has had his eye on, as he seeks to diversify beyond roasted beans and barristas. (Nothing like a comfortable chair to curl up in with a copy of "Joe" and a tall, skinny Mochaccino, is there?) Hey Andrew, could you sell me one of those cool chairs that Dr. Evil has in his Space Needle/Starbucks World H.Q.?
Pay the Doctor, and Call Your Broker in the Morning
In other Austin "Internet play" news, CBS agreed to take a 20 percent stake in the privately-held Rx.com - in exchange for US$37.5 million in advertising and promotion inventory. Continuing a trend in "ads for equity" - this one of a handful of similar deals CBS has worked of late. Currently selling brand-name over-the-counter health, wellness, and vitamin products, Rx.com will begin selling prescription medicine sometime in late 1999. Over at Dr.Koop.com, they're grooving on both their zooming IPO and their latest four-year, US$89 million deal as the sole health care [information] provider across all the AOL brands. Paying for the privilege of being on AOL - well, I hate to sound like an old Net fart, but I can remember when it used to be the other way around. Of course, the amount of money AOL paid companies to be "on" AOL was nothing like the sums we've seen flowing the other way of late.
Not Just a Boxy Town Anymore
Beyond the fact that all this paper wealth is changing hands lies the reality that Austin is starting to shed the "hardware-centric" label that the phenomenal Dell years have unconsciously bestowed upon her. Certainly, the software success of local old-timers such as Tivoli and Trilogy (with their legendary "Vegas-style" employee recruiting efforts) are well-known in high-tech circles - but today, there are dozens of "Internet-play" companies in the Austin area, and a raft of them are less than two years old.
With more reports continuing to come out that show Austin poised for great success in new Net businesses, it's a little surprising that Deja.com CEO Tom Phillips decided to move his company from Austin to NYC late last year. However, exemplary of a countervailing trend was Living.com's recent success of landing Shawn Holliday, former managing director of Guinness Ireland, for their CEO post. Welcome to town, Shawn! Perhaps we could discuss our new city over a pint at Courtney's local soiree next week. %^) And that's all this week from Austin, where both the weather and the people are always warm, sometimes hot, but never, never cold!
Pay the Doctor, and Call Your Broker in the Morning
In other Austin "Internet play" news, CBS agreed to take a 20 percent stake in the privately-held Rx.com - in exchange for US$37.5 million in advertising and promotion inventory. Continuing a trend in "ads for equity" - this one of a handful of similar deals CBS has worked of late. Currently selling brand-name over-the-counter health, wellness, and vitamin products, Rx.com will begin selling prescription medicine sometime in late 1999. Over at Dr.Koop.com, they're grooving on both their zooming IPO and their latest four-year, US$89 million deal as the sole health care [information] provider across all the AOL brands. Paying for the privilege of being on AOL - well, I hate to sound like an old Net fart, but I can remember when it used to be the other way around. Of course, the amount of money AOL paid companies to be "on" AOL was nothing like the sums we've seen flowing the other way of late.
Not Just a Boxy Town Anymore
Beyond the fact that all this paper wealth is changing hands lies the reality that Austin is starting to shed the "hardware-centric" label that the phenomenal Dell years have unconsciously bestowed upon her. Certainly, the software success of local old-timers such as Tivoli and Trilogy (with their legendary "Vegas-style" employee recruiting efforts) are well-known in high-tech circles - but today, there are dozens of "Internet-play" companies in the Austin area, and a raft of them are less than two years old.
With more reports continuing to come out that show Austin poised for great success in new Net businesses, it's a little surprising that Deja.com CEO Tom Phillips decided to move his company from Austin to NYC late last year. However, exemplary of a countervailing trend was Living.com's recent success of landing Shawn Holliday, former managing director of Guinness Ireland, for their CEO post. Welcome to town, Shawn! Perhaps we could discuss our new city over a pint at Courtney's local soiree next week. %^) And that's all this week from Austin, where both the weather and the people are always warm, sometimes hot, but never, never cold!
TCS Intro: 7/30/99
WELCOME
The full moon must be having its effect because it seemed vibes were either "on" or "off" this week. Lots of great energies and good things, but if something went wrong, watch out!
Next week will be my second excursion to Austin, TX for August's "Cocktails with Courtney." I've been warned about the heat, but after NYC's record temps, and spending a few summers in Tucson, AZ, I'm not afraid! :) If you know anyone in Austin who'd be interested in meeting some other neat Austinites, send them over to www.CocktailswithCourtney.com to RSVP!
Before I head back to steamy NYC, I'l be heading to New Orleans, LA for a quick trip so next week's "The Cyber Scene" will be on hiatus till August13th.
The full moon must be having its effect because it seemed vibes were either "on" or "off" this week. Lots of great energies and good things, but if something went wrong, watch out!
Next week will be my second excursion to Austin, TX for August's "Cocktails with Courtney." I've been warned about the heat, but after NYC's record temps, and spending a few summers in Tucson, AZ, I'm not afraid! :) If you know anyone in Austin who'd be interested in meeting some other neat Austinites, send them over to www.CocktailswithCourtney.com to RSVP!
Before I head back to steamy NYC, I'l be heading to New Orleans, LA for a quick trip so next week's "The Cyber Scene" will be on hiatus till August13th.
Thursday, July 29, 1999
More predictions from the Valley for "The Next 20 Years"
So if the Silicon Valley writers predict a world where Microsoft is not king, and AOL.com is (maybe); and no one gets burnt-out regardless of race or age and the Internet babies can recall the thrill of owning a Ferrari, then what else do we have to look forward to? Well, Bob Ayres and his "Next 20 Years Series" continued on its world tour with a stop in NYC on Thursday, July 29th at the Roseland Ballroom.
Hundreds of industry people (where did they call come from?) came to hear Denise Caruso of the New York Times, Anna Winblad of Hummer Winblad, Paul Saffo of the Institute of the Future and Dan Farber of ZDNet speak. Denise had a grim reality check for all those in techno-bizzy-buzz and spoke of poverty and population problems. She heralded Austinian Bruce Sterling's Viridian group, which is a design company focused the Greenhouse effect and its influence on design. One cause she said we as consumers can rally for is centered on privacy issues. If we have no privacy online, then we can demand that corporations too don't have rights to privacy and we can request similar information on our corporate neighbors. Paul Saffo spoke for a bit about Broadband and the advantage of its always being turned on--if you combine that with wireless technology, we're back at the ubiquitous computing predicion of Kara Swisher's, where when you approach the ice box you could get an AD for something you might need (or be craving). He also spoke of cellphones that could buzz you with a special from a Chinese restaurant that's just three blocks away. The real revolution? Biotechnology. And with those meaty words, we were introduced to Anna Winblad. I was having trouble hearing Anna from my post on the far side (where I had a sponsor's table where I was explaning my site to people yet unfamiliar with it.
Afterwards I chatted a bit with Seth Palmer of Viant, Phil Lam of Scient, Andrew Gelman of NBC, Amy Fried of Roz Goldfarb and Steven Glass of Kindgon Capital. Shondell Mance of Signal Core, Larry Cox of his own company and Alice Dysart of Events Marketing Consultants also introduced herself. John McCrea of Renaissance Resource Group introduced himself to me and Joseph Murphy and I spoke for a bit about patenting and trademarking issues. Just before leaving, I met and talked about cable modems and digital set -top boxes with Senior Editor of "Cablevision" Simon Applebaum and introduced myself to the speakers and David Berlind of ZDNet. A full evening with lots to look at, touch, taste and sample -- digitally and figuratively. There's a lot going on tomorrow, let alone "Tomorrow." But it never hurts to hear what some people think about for the Next 20 Years.
The same night, just down the street…. The Art Directors Club had a big bash at their fabulous gallery space on Thursday, July 29th. Starting as a discussion on Behind-the-Scenes of The ADC 78th Annual Awards and with a classic wild party afterwards, the ADC is hip for me!
Hundreds of industry people (where did they call come from?) came to hear Denise Caruso of the New York Times, Anna Winblad of Hummer Winblad, Paul Saffo of the Institute of the Future and Dan Farber of ZDNet speak. Denise had a grim reality check for all those in techno-bizzy-buzz and spoke of poverty and population problems. She heralded Austinian Bruce Sterling's Viridian group, which is a design company focused the Greenhouse effect and its influence on design. One cause she said we as consumers can rally for is centered on privacy issues. If we have no privacy online, then we can demand that corporations too don't have rights to privacy and we can request similar information on our corporate neighbors. Paul Saffo spoke for a bit about Broadband and the advantage of its always being turned on--if you combine that with wireless technology, we're back at the ubiquitous computing predicion of Kara Swisher's, where when you approach the ice box you could get an AD for something you might need (or be craving). He also spoke of cellphones that could buzz you with a special from a Chinese restaurant that's just three blocks away. The real revolution? Biotechnology. And with those meaty words, we were introduced to Anna Winblad. I was having trouble hearing Anna from my post on the far side (where I had a sponsor's table where I was explaning my site to people yet unfamiliar with it.
Afterwards I chatted a bit with Seth Palmer of Viant, Phil Lam of Scient, Andrew Gelman of NBC, Amy Fried of Roz Goldfarb and Steven Glass of Kindgon Capital. Shondell Mance of Signal Core, Larry Cox of his own company and Alice Dysart of Events Marketing Consultants also introduced herself. John McCrea of Renaissance Resource Group introduced himself to me and Joseph Murphy and I spoke for a bit about patenting and trademarking issues. Just before leaving, I met and talked about cable modems and digital set -top boxes with Senior Editor of "Cablevision" Simon Applebaum and introduced myself to the speakers and David Berlind of ZDNet. A full evening with lots to look at, touch, taste and sample -- digitally and figuratively. There's a lot going on tomorrow, let alone "Tomorrow." But it never hurts to hear what some people think about for the Next 20 Years.
The same night, just down the street…. The Art Directors Club had a big bash at their fabulous gallery space on Thursday, July 29th. Starting as a discussion on Behind-the-Scenes of The ADC 78th Annual Awards and with a classic wild party afterwards, the ADC is hip for me!
Wednesday, July 28, 1999
"Cocktails with Courtney" -- the hottest one yet!
What started out as an effort for me to see my friends in the industry at least once a month, since the rest of the time I am running around to one event or another, has turned into apparently quite a popular professional networking party. "Cocktails with Courtney" started with the thoughts of "Cheers" TV show -- there'd be events where you could go and "everyone would know your name," they would be a chance for me to stay in one place for a night, instead of four. They would be the opportunity to see old friends and make a few new acquaintences. Well July's event, on Wednesday the 28th was a marked departure from these intimate affairs. Over 300 RSVPs including many bankers, investors and consultants came to crowd the Never Bar on East Houston Street and meet and greet all the other attendees. Sponsored by vINTRANET with wine donated by Gundlach Bundschu vineyards and some sushi samplings thrown in from Never, the aggressive bunch were hot (literally and figuratively), hungry and thirsty!
Not everyone complained of course, and those who chilled out a bit were given a chance to hear first hand about some of the changes that have been occuring with my businesses. First of all, if you haven't been to my site in a while, I encourage you to do so! You'll see a brand new look and design. My new corporate identity package, done by LPNYTHink, was unified and strengthened by a strong new logo that carries through all my properties. Once the designs were settled on, Dmitri Don (seasoned programmer and technical wizard, currently at SenseNet.com) and Chip Lewis (seasoned television producer, consultant and HTML master) helped me crank out the code behind the glitz. Heather Linnell was instrumental in her assistance with the "Cocktails…" site and Octet helped throughout with technical hosting and server issues.
I am also indebted to Dawn Kersting and Mary Beth Barber of eRSVP for helping out at the door, Stacey Schrader for helping manage the event and Jon Spooner of NetMix.com for the most excellent DJ-ing.
Among some of the guests whom I did get a chance to briefly chat with between other introductions were Jack Hidary, president of Earthweb, Nate Brochin, of RareMedium and Chris Bryant, CEO/Managing Director of T3 Media. Steven Miller of the New York Times and I chatted for a while about our experiences of working (and living) in Moscow between 1990 - 1991. Some CWC regulars like Rich De Sanctis, Doug Propp, William Lopez (who just recently left Qwest for Globix), Lydia Sugarman, and the lovely brother and sister team of Cherie and Sam Alcoff braved the hot NYC night. Mary Dawne Arden stood out, as usual, in her striking summer dress and warm personality. The vINTRANET crew of Zol, Suzanne, and Michael drew a large number of guests and made the party a lively one. The network of party-attenders is growing geographically too, as Bob Roberson came with a guest from Philadelphia for the night. He updated me with information about the panel I'll be speaking on in Philadelphia -- the mayor introducing us.
Garnet Heraman of University Ventures and Amy Brownstein of KPE came, I chatted briefly with Scott Ettin and met a bunch of people from Germany, Sweden and Luxembourg who are involved in various ventures to help get companies to know about Internet firms in their respective countries, among other duties.
When the clock struck nine o'clock we had a little ceremony and cut the cake, especially made for me by renowned pastry chef Francois Payard. As part of Chip Lewis's newest show, "Unblinking Eye" filmed Francois making this cake for me, which was originally designed for Milton Berle's 90th birthday. Substituting my picture for Uncle Miltie and adding a feminine touch with flowers, the strawberry shortcake melted in the mouths of some lucky guests who craved something sweet.
Thanks again to all who came to make the July event a successful one, and stay tuned for upcoming event info!
Not everyone complained of course, and those who chilled out a bit were given a chance to hear first hand about some of the changes that have been occuring with my businesses. First of all, if you haven't been to my site in a while, I encourage you to do so! You'll see a brand new look and design. My new corporate identity package, done by LPNYTHink, was unified and strengthened by a strong new logo that carries through all my properties. Once the designs were settled on, Dmitri Don (seasoned programmer and technical wizard, currently at SenseNet.com) and Chip Lewis (seasoned television producer, consultant and HTML master) helped me crank out the code behind the glitz. Heather Linnell was instrumental in her assistance with the "Cocktails…" site and Octet helped throughout with technical hosting and server issues.
I am also indebted to Dawn Kersting and Mary Beth Barber of eRSVP for helping out at the door, Stacey Schrader for helping manage the event and Jon Spooner of NetMix.com for the most excellent DJ-ing.
Among some of the guests whom I did get a chance to briefly chat with between other introductions were Jack Hidary, president of Earthweb, Nate Brochin, of RareMedium and Chris Bryant, CEO/Managing Director of T3 Media. Steven Miller of the New York Times and I chatted for a while about our experiences of working (and living) in Moscow between 1990 - 1991. Some CWC regulars like Rich De Sanctis, Doug Propp, William Lopez (who just recently left Qwest for Globix), Lydia Sugarman, and the lovely brother and sister team of Cherie and Sam Alcoff braved the hot NYC night. Mary Dawne Arden stood out, as usual, in her striking summer dress and warm personality. The vINTRANET crew of Zol, Suzanne, and Michael drew a large number of guests and made the party a lively one. The network of party-attenders is growing geographically too, as Bob Roberson came with a guest from Philadelphia for the night. He updated me with information about the panel I'll be speaking on in Philadelphia -- the mayor introducing us.
Garnet Heraman of University Ventures and Amy Brownstein of KPE came, I chatted briefly with Scott Ettin and met a bunch of people from Germany, Sweden and Luxembourg who are involved in various ventures to help get companies to know about Internet firms in their respective countries, among other duties.
When the clock struck nine o'clock we had a little ceremony and cut the cake, especially made for me by renowned pastry chef Francois Payard. As part of Chip Lewis's newest show, "Unblinking Eye" filmed Francois making this cake for me, which was originally designed for Milton Berle's 90th birthday. Substituting my picture for Uncle Miltie and adding a feminine touch with flowers, the strawberry shortcake melted in the mouths of some lucky guests who craved something sweet.
Thanks again to all who came to make the July event a successful one, and stay tuned for upcoming event info!
Tuesday, July 27, 1999
UJA's perfect permission party
"This was the most interesting one to date." "This was the largest one I've been to." "There were many people there, and from all religions, not just Jewish." These were some of the comments I received about the United Jewish Association's Federation of New York Technology & New Media Group's discussion "Digital Edge" Forum on "One-to-One Relational Marketing: Harnessing the Power of the Web" on Tuesday, July 27th at the UJA-Federation of New York, Ballroom.
Seth Price of FreeRide.com said the discussion from Jerry Shereshewsky of Yahoo! (formerly Yoyodyne) brought up some very interesting points about how using "permission marketing," companies on the web can really begin offering something of value to people and incentivize them. Shereshewsky mentioned FreeRide.com and Webstakes.com as two sites that truly excel in this area. Seth (all pitching aside) was really impressed with the panel and felt that listening to some people with real year's experiences as opposed to a young upstart who's only been in one company was truly refreshing and insightful. Felice Carson and Bernardo Joselevich were just two of the other many guests who came to hear Shereshewsky, Lou Weiss of Yahoo! and the other talented speakers speak.
Seth Price of FreeRide.com said the discussion from Jerry Shereshewsky of Yahoo! (formerly Yoyodyne) brought up some very interesting points about how using "permission marketing," companies on the web can really begin offering something of value to people and incentivize them. Shereshewsky mentioned FreeRide.com and Webstakes.com as two sites that truly excel in this area. Seth (all pitching aside) was really impressed with the panel and felt that listening to some people with real year's experiences as opposed to a young upstart who's only been in one company was truly refreshing and insightful. Felice Carson and Bernardo Joselevich were just two of the other many guests who came to hear Shereshewsky, Lou Weiss of Yahoo! and the other talented speakers speak.
UJA's perfect permission party
"This was the most interesting one to date." "This was the largest one I've been to." "There were many people there, and from all religions, not just Jewish." These were some of the comments I received about the United Jewish Association's Federation of New York Technology & New Media Group's discussion "Digital Edge" Forum on "One-to-One Relational Marketing: Harnessing the Power of the Web" on Tuesday, July 27th at the UJA-Federation of New York, Ballroom.
Seth Price of FreeRide.com said the discussion from Jerry Shereshewsky of Yahoo! (formerly Yoyodyne) brought up some very interesting points about how using "permission marketing," companies on the web can really begin offering something of value to people and incentivize them. Shereshewsky mentioned FreeRide.com and Webstakes.com as two sites that truly excel in this area. Seth (all pitching aside) was really impressed with the panel and felt that listening to some people with real year's experiences as opposed to a young upstart who's only been in one company was truly refreshing and insightful. Felice Carson and Bernardo Joselevich were just two of the other many guests who came to hear Shereshewsky, Lou Weiss of Yahoo! and the other talented speakers speak.
Seth Price of FreeRide.com said the discussion from Jerry Shereshewsky of Yahoo! (formerly Yoyodyne) brought up some very interesting points about how using "permission marketing," companies on the web can really begin offering something of value to people and incentivize them. Shereshewsky mentioned FreeRide.com and Webstakes.com as two sites that truly excel in this area. Seth (all pitching aside) was really impressed with the panel and felt that listening to some people with real year's experiences as opposed to a young upstart who's only been in one company was truly refreshing and insightful. Felice Carson and Bernardo Joselevich were just two of the other many guests who came to hear Shereshewsky, Lou Weiss of Yahoo! and the other talented speakers speak.
Monday, July 26, 1999
Future predictions from Silicon Valley top writers
What happens when you put a mix of editors, agents, writers and computer and book geeks together on the fourth floor of Barnes & Noble on Union Square? Some interesting discussions to say the least. Well, On Monday, July 26th Jon Karp, an editor at Random House, led conversations between Po Bronson, Gary Rivlin and Kara Swisher as they discussed and debated about Silicon Valley, the Internet, the convergence of technology and culture, and the Satanic dimensions of Bill Gates. The fifth stop on the authors' seven-city "Silicon Valley Bleeding Edge Book Tour," was well-attended and continued onto Boston the next day.
Kara Swisher offered interesting points based on her intimiate knoweldge of AOL for her book "AOL.com." She pointed out that AOL wouldn't exist today if they started in Silicon Valley because everyone always bashed them. Because they were living and working in their own world (basically) they could continue to believe in themselves and grow to what they have today. When asked for her prediction of what's to come, she cited "ubiquitous computing" as our relationship with technology and its certain invisibilty like the telephone -- we won't think about it, we'll just use it.
Gary Rivlin has a thorough knowledge of Bill Gates and Microsoft's history, actions and future from his book "The Plot To Get Bill Gates" and relayed his thoughts on the Microsoft trial. He considers that MS has annoyed the judge, that they're "blowing it" and Gates' testimony is basically making Bill Clinton look profound. With tactics that are going over the line, (ex. learning that they wouldn't package MS products with Compaq when they announced a partnership with Netscape).
Kara chimed in that the Internet will be the demise of MS, not the trial because they are not good at media marketing.
An older Indian man asked a question about the use/abuse of Company Towns replacing large groups of burnouts with a "new crop" of immigrants and asked the writers to talk about racism and agism. All three writers agreed this is a problem and mentioned how some of biggest technology firms are not up to par with their equal opportunity standards for government contracts.
Due most likely to his research of many of the Valley startups, Po mentioned how he's met a lot of 24-year olds on their 4th startup who are already bored with having their Ferraris!
The conversation lasted about an hour and then after the brief Q&A, they signed books. I met writer Lisa Estreich while in the "meet the authors" line. We were right behind a man who brought what looked like every release of "Bombadiers" and asked Po to sign them all! Each writer was truly a delight to listen to and gain a first hand perspecitve on the situation in California. You can hear their discussion yourself at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/community/ra/bleed_ra1.asp?userid=22ESSJSQKU&pcount=0&srefer=
Kara Swisher offered interesting points based on her intimiate knoweldge of AOL for her book "AOL.com." She pointed out that AOL wouldn't exist today if they started in Silicon Valley because everyone always bashed them. Because they were living and working in their own world (basically) they could continue to believe in themselves and grow to what they have today. When asked for her prediction of what's to come, she cited "ubiquitous computing" as our relationship with technology and its certain invisibilty like the telephone -- we won't think about it, we'll just use it.
Gary Rivlin has a thorough knowledge of Bill Gates and Microsoft's history, actions and future from his book "The Plot To Get Bill Gates" and relayed his thoughts on the Microsoft trial. He considers that MS has annoyed the judge, that they're "blowing it" and Gates' testimony is basically making Bill Clinton look profound. With tactics that are going over the line, (ex. learning that they wouldn't package MS products with Compaq when they announced a partnership with Netscape).
Kara chimed in that the Internet will be the demise of MS, not the trial because they are not good at media marketing.
An older Indian man asked a question about the use/abuse of Company Towns replacing large groups of burnouts with a "new crop" of immigrants and asked the writers to talk about racism and agism. All three writers agreed this is a problem and mentioned how some of biggest technology firms are not up to par with their equal opportunity standards for government contracts.
Due most likely to his research of many of the Valley startups, Po mentioned how he's met a lot of 24-year olds on their 4th startup who are already bored with having their Ferraris!
The conversation lasted about an hour and then after the brief Q&A, they signed books. I met writer Lisa Estreich while in the "meet the authors" line. We were right behind a man who brought what looked like every release of "Bombadiers" and asked Po to sign them all! Each writer was truly a delight to listen to and gain a first hand perspecitve on the situation in California. You can hear their discussion yourself at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/community/ra/bleed_ra1.asp?userid=22ESSJSQKU&pcount=0&srefer=
Friday, July 23, 1999
More meanings behind Creative Good
A lot of good can come from creativity and when it's used for positive means, then it's really a very Creative Good. And Creative Good, the company, held their second Learning Lab (of a series) on Friday, July 23rd at the Performance of a Lifetime space in SoHo. This lab focused on "Ways of Seeing" and brought together about 30 people for four hours of discussion and then an opportunity to rehearse and perform a playlette. Led by the POAL staff, which was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal for their unique approach to team building, the participants were divided into three teams that performed a piece. One group did a skit entitled "Prop Therapy" where each person was a prop that complained about its issues (ex. the fencing sword (guy) always had to make a 'point,' the parachute (woman) sometimes just didn’t feel like 'opening up.') The second group created a piece that chronicled a father and his relationships over the years through a series of conversations. And the final performance was an improv based on entrances and exits -- each person came on the scene in a particular order and needed to state their reason for being there and why they were leaving.
Afterwards, more discussion ensued centered on vulnerability, being open with ourselves and others in the work place, "seeing" others as viable creative contributors to projects, and how difficult it can be to strip away our daily defenses and prejudices.
Mark Hurst (founder and president) and his growing talented team including Phil Terry (CEO) and Liz Bennett (dir. of operations) have been in the industry since its inception creating good businesses in a variety of ways. How nice to see them working together for all our beneficial user experience! Stay tuned for information on upcoming Labs in their series. In the meantime, you can learn about effective and useful sites on the web at www.creativegood.com and at http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise/e-business/bphome/ for their "E-Business Best Practices" site with ZDNet.
Afterwards, more discussion ensued centered on vulnerability, being open with ourselves and others in the work place, "seeing" others as viable creative contributors to projects, and how difficult it can be to strip away our daily defenses and prejudices.
Mark Hurst (founder and president) and his growing talented team including Phil Terry (CEO) and Liz Bennett (dir. of operations) have been in the industry since its inception creating good businesses in a variety of ways. How nice to see them working together for all our beneficial user experience! Stay tuned for information on upcoming Labs in their series. In the meantime, you can learn about effective and useful sites on the web at www.creativegood.com and at http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise/e-business/bphome/ for their "E-Business Best Practices" site with ZDNet.
Memoriam: Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey
Like a spaceship fueling its engines before take off, the Internet has sparked a culture and industry that feeds off, and thrives on, super-sonic speeds and dynamism. It’s also a culture and industry that is youth influenced and driven. Coupling this phenomenon with Northern America’s youth-driven culture, we often over look our sages and the valuable resources of our earlier generations. I, for one, have taken much pleasure and delight in learning and speaking with my grandparents, and when the opportunity arises with other seniors when I volunteer with senior programs. There is much to be learned from our elders, and at the very least, it can be enriching to learn how they used to court, shop, socialize and work.
And when one of them passes away, it marks an occasion to reflect on Life, our life, their life and valuing precious people, times, challenges and joys.
A vertible institution himself, the great woman (and institution) behind the great man -- John Perry Barlow -- is Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey. John’s mother died a few weeks ago and he sent a moving tribute about her to friends, and granted me permission to reprint it with her picture.
John wrote: “My mother was immense, *much* larger than life. No one who met her came away untouched - or unscathed, as the case may have been. She has kept an electric tension on a line that ran through the center of my life all its course. Now, all at once, that line's gone slack. The world is suddenly a far less interesting place. Some years ago, shortly after his own mother died, John Kennedy, Jr. mused to me, 'I don't think anyone really becomes an adult until both of his parents are dead.' Now I'm starting to understand what he meant. …”
How sadly ironic that John quotes his friend JFK, Jr., who he (in addition to the rest of the world) has had to say goodbye to also. I saw Mr. Barlow on television talking about his friendship with JFK, Jr. this past week, and can only think of how the world does seems a far less interesting place when one loses someone dear. Death is a great and final tragedy, but as John and as JFK, Jr. both indicate, it’s a release, a dawning and forces us to grow up a little more, straighten our back, lift our chin and go boldly forward as an “adult.”
God Bless Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey, John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette. May they all go forth in peace and may we all breathe a bit deeper today in appreciation of our gift of Life.
In Memoriam, Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey (Oct. 24, 1905 - July 10, 1999)
**************************************************************
Do not cry, do not cry with anguished moans,
for that is a pit a demon has dug, and only that is sad.
When you see a procession, don't cry, "gone, gone!"
For me it is a time of meeting and reunion.
As you lower me into the grave, don't say, "So long."
The grave is a veil before the gathering of paradise.
When you see that lowering down, consider a rising.
What harm is there in the setting of a sun or moon?
What seems a setting to you is a dawning.
Though it may seem a prison,
this vault releases the soul.
What seed goes into the earth and does not grow?
More about Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey at: http://www.thecyberscene.com/miriam.htm
And when one of them passes away, it marks an occasion to reflect on Life, our life, their life and valuing precious people, times, challenges and joys.
A vertible institution himself, the great woman (and institution) behind the great man -- John Perry Barlow -- is Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey. John’s mother died a few weeks ago and he sent a moving tribute about her to friends, and granted me permission to reprint it with her picture.
John wrote: “My mother was immense, *much* larger than life. No one who met her came away untouched - or unscathed, as the case may have been. She has kept an electric tension on a line that ran through the center of my life all its course. Now, all at once, that line's gone slack. The world is suddenly a far less interesting place. Some years ago, shortly after his own mother died, John Kennedy, Jr. mused to me, 'I don't think anyone really becomes an adult until both of his parents are dead.' Now I'm starting to understand what he meant. …”
How sadly ironic that John quotes his friend JFK, Jr., who he (in addition to the rest of the world) has had to say goodbye to also. I saw Mr. Barlow on television talking about his friendship with JFK, Jr. this past week, and can only think of how the world does seems a far less interesting place when one loses someone dear. Death is a great and final tragedy, but as John and as JFK, Jr. both indicate, it’s a release, a dawning and forces us to grow up a little more, straighten our back, lift our chin and go boldly forward as an “adult.”
God Bless Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey, John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette. May they all go forth in peace and may we all breathe a bit deeper today in appreciation of our gift of Life.
In Memoriam, Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey (Oct. 24, 1905 - July 10, 1999)
**************************************************************
Do not cry, do not cry with anguished moans,
for that is a pit a demon has dug, and only that is sad.
When you see a procession, don't cry, "gone, gone!"
For me it is a time of meeting and reunion.
As you lower me into the grave, don't say, "So long."
The grave is a veil before the gathering of paradise.
When you see that lowering down, consider a rising.
What harm is there in the setting of a sun or moon?
What seems a setting to you is a dawning.
Though it may seem a prison,
this vault releases the soul.
What seed goes into the earth and does not grow?
More about Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey at: http://www.thecyberscene.com/miriam.htm
TCS Intro: 7/23/99
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cyber Scene (tm) ~ by Courtney Pulitzer ~ July 23, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
I. This week's specials:
~ Mercury in Retrograde
~ In Memoriam: Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey
~ Space.com—Launching into new territories on National Space.com day, 30 years after the first landing on the Moon.
~ SonicNet wins and celebrates in style
~ Coming from both sides of the Atlantic TV celebrates
~ Digital Music pumps and jams up New York(ers lives)
~ Boston AIDS ride charity event
~ Cone Interactive's patio grand poobah
~ Levy's levy of loungers
II. Regular Features: (full write-ups on the site)
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th. Never Bar.RSVP!
Austin -- August 4th. The SpeakEasy. RSVP. *Webcast via Clickhear
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Saturday
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/subscribe.htm
Unsubscribe :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/unsubscribe.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mercury is in retrograde. Didn’t you know that? Well, even if you don’t follow the stars (astronomically or astrologically), you probably felt its influence at one point or another. Genie Easie of AstroNet.com has a whole bunch of warnings regarding this phase (lasting till August 8th). These last few weeks have been fraught with mishaps, terror, error, and distress. And it seems it’s not just occurring in the Pulitzer Creations Worldwide Headquarters, but in big and small firms around the Alley and Beyond!
The Cyber Scene (tm) ~ by Courtney Pulitzer ~ July 23, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
I. This week's specials:
~ Mercury in Retrograde
~ In Memoriam: Miriam Jenkins Barlow Bailey
~ Space.com—Launching into new territories on National Space.com day, 30 years after the first landing on the Moon.
~ SonicNet wins and celebrates in style
~ Coming from both sides of the Atlantic TV celebrates
~ Digital Music pumps and jams up New York(ers lives)
~ Boston AIDS ride charity event
~ Cone Interactive's patio grand poobah
~ Levy's levy of loungers
II. Regular Features: (full write-ups on the site)
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th. Never Bar.RSVP!
Austin -- August 4th. The SpeakEasy. RSVP. *Webcast via Clickhear
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Saturday
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/subscribe.htm
Unsubscribe :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/unsubscribe.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mercury is in retrograde. Didn’t you know that? Well, even if you don’t follow the stars (astronomically or astrologically), you probably felt its influence at one point or another. Genie Easie of AstroNet.com has a whole bunch of warnings regarding this phase (lasting till August 8th). These last few weeks have been fraught with mishaps, terror, error, and distress. And it seems it’s not just occurring in the Pulitzer Creations Worldwide Headquarters, but in big and small firms around the Alley and Beyond!
Thursday, July 22, 1999
Levy's levy of loungers
Gathering atop a rooftop shared with several other buildings was a sizeable soiree at Jaime Levy's newest digs in the East Village. Home movies and screeings, including her Cyber Slaker cartoon, on the white wall of a neighboring building entertained some guests. Brewskies and other refreshments eased the over-worked minds and typing fingers of other new media guests. A trader, who lives down the street, Aaron Sosnick of Caxton Corporation came to meet some new media folks, and I caught up with Doug Propp (of Atlantic TV), Steven Warren (Zoecom) and Karthik Swaminathan (The Fantastic Corporation). Just before heading out (the window--to exit the roof), I chatted with an old Echoid acquaintance. Funny how "people come and people go -- nothing ever changes."
Boston AIDS charity ride
The usual whirlwind carried me through the night of Thursday, July 22nd as the skies above threatened rain with winds whipping around too. I dashed across concrete cracks in the sidewalk up to the pressured hard-sell (at least 10 emails from various sponsors) charity event for the Boston AIDS ride. In the lovely ballroom set back oddly in the Toy Center (which used to be a grand Fifth Avenue hotel), was a semi-formal, casino, raffle, open bar, hors d'oeuvred evening sponsored by Alley companies brought out a fair following of friends in support of this cause.
Cone Interactive's Summer Patio Party
Next I hi-tailed it to Cone Interactive's summer patio party for some fine red wine and a yummy cookie. Lengthy interesting conversations with Larry Allen and Jane Risien of Real Media kept me there, as did brief introductions from Mike Cummings of Cone to his friend, a textile designer, Jane, and Raymond Stearn of Women.com. Lynn Silverman--the event planner for the evening--excelled in offering tasty treats and fine service at this intimate gathering.
Wednesday, July 21, 1999
PPI merger with Atlantic Televison
From across the Atlantic and across a shared office space, in the cold month of January two entities merged. Doug Propp merged his company PPI with Howard Gibbons’ Atlantic Television and since the two have gone on to produce original stories and show segments about America in America and Internationally. Some of their “only in America” segments have been on a prison that trains inmates Opera; an underwater hotel in Key West, where guests have to dive to their rooms; and a preacher in the south who preaches while holding onto a poisonous snake, tongue rolling and all (the snakes tongue, that is).
The three divisions focus on original stories and documentaries, production services in European and US standards, and a corporate video division. Broadcast and streaming media production are in the works—they have the content, now it’s just a matter of getting a webmaster in to handle all that! :)
Their party, in their office, on Wednesday July 21st was a sweet small affair of mostly television people with some Net types thrown in for good measure, like attorney Steve Filler. He was chatting with Robet Kyncl, manager of HBO European Programming Operations. Thomas Aguierre-Smith, who does video content management consulting for companies came with Lee Morganroth of Symbiotic Media. The two are schoolmates from MIT and are now bringing some of their “stuff” to market. Julia Stoecker just started working at Atltantic and Brandon Cook, an architect student and teacher at Columbia were also there enjoying the cool sounds from the live jazz band and enjoying some of the nice dry wine. Just before leaving Doug introduced me to Judy Burger who just moved up from Austin, TX and is doing some consulting here.
The three divisions focus on original stories and documentaries, production services in European and US standards, and a corporate video division. Broadcast and streaming media production are in the works—they have the content, now it’s just a matter of getting a webmaster in to handle all that! :)
Their party, in their office, on Wednesday July 21st was a sweet small affair of mostly television people with some Net types thrown in for good measure, like attorney Steve Filler. He was chatting with Robet Kyncl, manager of HBO European Programming Operations. Thomas Aguierre-Smith, who does video content management consulting for companies came with Lee Morganroth of Symbiotic Media. The two are schoolmates from MIT and are now bringing some of their “stuff” to market. Julia Stoecker just started working at Atltantic and Brandon Cook, an architect student and teacher at Columbia were also there enjoying the cool sounds from the live jazz band and enjoying some of the nice dry wine. Just before leaving Doug introduced me to Judy Burger who just moved up from Austin, TX and is doing some consulting here.
Tuesday, July 20, 1999
MUSIC TO MY EARS
As a sneak preview to this year's Digital Music Festival http://www.thegig.com/), I thought I'd credit a few bands I know who've had Web sites and even supported web events by playing at them. Cocktail Angst (a great retro loungy band -- www.cocktailangst.com) and the Bari Koral Band -- a urban folk band -- www.barikoral.com) both played at the WWWAC Holiday Party in '97 at Irving Plaza. Two bands with people in the new media biz are Ian Macgraith's Anomaly (http://www.inch.com/~magraith/) and Mark Curtis Filstup's Flatiron Five Men's a cappella group (http://www.filstrup.com/Flatiron5/index.html). Check out any and all of these bands, and more, when the Festival starts on July 20.
SonicNet wins and celebrates in style
Corey Podolsky, senior director, product development & programming at SonicNet told me that their intimate (just invitees +1) after-hours Plug-in Party celebrating their new home with MTV Networks Online at Torch on Tuesday, July 20, was a packed pleasure. Aside from the heat and crowd and long wait to get inside, everyone was celebrating that SonicNet was just awarded the best overall music site award from Yahoo! Internet Life for the second year in a row the night before. Among the notables in attendance was an actual Baldwin – possibly Billy but we can't tell them apart. And Soul Coughing played a really good set.
Space.com's launch at Mars 2112
Space.com—Launching into new territories on National Space.com day, 30 years after the first landing on the Moon.
I suppose there are several significant reasons why having the Space.com launch party at Mars 2112 on Tuesday, July 20 was appropriate. First of all – theme, and second, the date. You can’t launch a website devoted to “all things Space” and not have it in a spacy-related venue! Right?! Second, thirty years to the day, the Space.com site launched on the anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic first step on the moon. Even Mayor Guiliani got into the action and named July 20th Space.com day! Wow.
Walking into the Mars 2112 was a real treat for tired eyes that have stared at a monitor 18 hours a day. Bright, twitching, lightning flash lights surrounded you as you walked down a translucent lit walkway Mars-ian terrain corridor. Once through this jarring jolt I walked through more dark red lit passageways till I was spit out into a large dark room with boulder-like walls, monitors with aliens making news announcements, Aliens walking around and a whole Space-age Flintstone-ish decor. Martian-martinis precariously balanced between guests fingers and round trays of hors d’oeuvres offered other nourishment. Waiters walked around and offered freeze-dried ice cream, jello shots and Reese Pieces candies. Jim Ledbetter (NY Bureau Chief of “The Industry Standard”) and I chatted a bit about these disturbing odd past two weeks.
The effervescent Richard Laemer popped over and offered commentary while Lou Dobbs made some remarks in front of the spacious screen in front of the room with moving Space and Mars landscape images. He introduced me to Meredith Halpern (dir. of communications) and we laughed at Sally Ride’s comment that she’s “happy to be a part of a successful launch,” in reference to the actual shuttle launch that was scheduled to occur today. Ms. Ride is the company’s EVP of strategic planning andember of the Board of Directors. Space.com president Rich Zahradnik and Astronaut Colonel Tom Stafford also spoke and then it was on to meet the other guests. There were a great group of youngish-looking hipsters and a large group of media. Richard explained they wanted this party not to be a big schmooze-fest and invited media they felt really cared about the Internet and the industry. Sounded good to me! ;)
I met and spoke with Jonathan Halpern, assistant US attorney, and Amy Cortese, VP-Director of content at Wit Capital. Allison Weiss of Monarch PR and Forbes’ Silvia Sansoni (senior reporter) and staff writer Caroline Waxler were there, checking out this space scene as well. NY Times assistant to the Technology Editor Stephen Miller was there and just before I jetted home I stopped by and said hello to Mr. Space.com himself, Lou Dobbs. As I congratulated him on his jump into “cyber”SPACE I noticed the glow-in-the-dark-Alien-space.com-bubble-pen he wore around his neck on a multi-colored ribbon. Using the same sort of pen, I jotted down some notes and thought how adorable this sight was: Lou Dobbs, with an alien pen around his neck, in Mars 2112, as he’s embarking on a new journey. Good luck! :)
I suppose there are several significant reasons why having the Space.com launch party at Mars 2112 on Tuesday, July 20 was appropriate. First of all – theme, and second, the date. You can’t launch a website devoted to “all things Space” and not have it in a spacy-related venue! Right?! Second, thirty years to the day, the Space.com site launched on the anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic first step on the moon. Even Mayor Guiliani got into the action and named July 20th Space.com day! Wow.
Walking into the Mars 2112 was a real treat for tired eyes that have stared at a monitor 18 hours a day. Bright, twitching, lightning flash lights surrounded you as you walked down a translucent lit walkway Mars-ian terrain corridor. Once through this jarring jolt I walked through more dark red lit passageways till I was spit out into a large dark room with boulder-like walls, monitors with aliens making news announcements, Aliens walking around and a whole Space-age Flintstone-ish decor. Martian-martinis precariously balanced between guests fingers and round trays of hors d’oeuvres offered other nourishment. Waiters walked around and offered freeze-dried ice cream, jello shots and Reese Pieces candies. Jim Ledbetter (NY Bureau Chief of “The Industry Standard”) and I chatted a bit about these disturbing odd past two weeks.
The effervescent Richard Laemer popped over and offered commentary while Lou Dobbs made some remarks in front of the spacious screen in front of the room with moving Space and Mars landscape images. He introduced me to Meredith Halpern (dir. of communications) and we laughed at Sally Ride’s comment that she’s “happy to be a part of a successful launch,” in reference to the actual shuttle launch that was scheduled to occur today. Ms. Ride is the company’s EVP of strategic planning andember of the Board of Directors. Space.com president Rich Zahradnik and Astronaut Colonel Tom Stafford also spoke and then it was on to meet the other guests. There were a great group of youngish-looking hipsters and a large group of media. Richard explained they wanted this party not to be a big schmooze-fest and invited media they felt really cared about the Internet and the industry. Sounded good to me! ;)
I met and spoke with Jonathan Halpern, assistant US attorney, and Amy Cortese, VP-Director of content at Wit Capital. Allison Weiss of Monarch PR and Forbes’ Silvia Sansoni (senior reporter) and staff writer Caroline Waxler were there, checking out this space scene as well. NY Times assistant to the Technology Editor Stephen Miller was there and just before I jetted home I stopped by and said hello to Mr. Space.com himself, Lou Dobbs. As I congratulated him on his jump into “cyber”SPACE I noticed the glow-in-the-dark-Alien-space.com-bubble-pen he wore around his neck on a multi-colored ribbon. Using the same sort of pen, I jotted down some notes and thought how adorable this sight was: Lou Dobbs, with an alien pen around his neck, in Mars 2112, as he’s embarking on a new journey. Good luck! :)
The Cyber Scene in San Francisco
The Cyber Scene in San Francisco
Bill McCloskey, Chairman, Rich Media SIG, writes in:
The launch last Thursday of the San Francisco branch of the Rich Media SIG was a resounding success. The highlight of the evening was a impromptu discussion on the pros, cons, and frustrations of Rich Media advertising which included thought provoking input from representatives of Enliven, Intel, Mpath, Ad Knowledge, Flycast, Unicast, Lot 21, Comet Systems, and others. I look forward to seeing you at the first Rich Media Certification Program panel on July 20th.
Josh Masur (jmkm@ispchannel.com) and his wife Shelly and daughter have moved out to the lovely Palo Alto over Memorial Day weekend, after his graduation from Columbia Law. He is studying for the bar exam (end of July), then starting work in mid-August, at which point he'll be an associate in the litigation department of the Palo Alto office of a San Francisco-based law firm, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, hopefully with a Web focus. Shelly is going to be a project director of the San Mateo County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition. Julia (the baby) will be cute. Josh also just won the Berkeley Technology Law Journal 1999 Comment Competition. The journal will be publishing an article by Josh on electronic mail, encryption, and attorney-client privileged communications either late this year or early next. And another article is at the printers, on the Ticketmaster v. Microsoft Sidewalk hyperlink liability case; it'll be coming out in a few weeks in the Spring/Summer 1999 issue of the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & The Arts. Wow! More news from Josh coming soon!
Bill McCloskey, Chairman, Rich Media SIG, writes in:
The launch last Thursday of the San Francisco branch of the Rich Media SIG was a resounding success. The highlight of the evening was a impromptu discussion on the pros, cons, and frustrations of Rich Media advertising which included thought provoking input from representatives of Enliven, Intel, Mpath, Ad Knowledge, Flycast, Unicast, Lot 21, Comet Systems, and others. I look forward to seeing you at the first Rich Media Certification Program panel on July 20th.
Josh Masur (jmkm@ispchannel.com) and his wife Shelly and daughter have moved out to the lovely Palo Alto over Memorial Day weekend, after his graduation from Columbia Law. He is studying for the bar exam (end of July), then starting work in mid-August, at which point he'll be an associate in the litigation department of the Palo Alto office of a San Francisco-based law firm, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, hopefully with a Web focus. Shelly is going to be a project director of the San Mateo County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition. Julia (the baby) will be cute. Josh also just won the Berkeley Technology Law Journal 1999 Comment Competition. The journal will be publishing an article by Josh on electronic mail, encryption, and attorney-client privileged communications either late this year or early next. And another article is at the printers, on the Ticketmaster v. Microsoft Sidewalk hyperlink liability case; it'll be coming out in a few weeks in the Spring/Summer 1999 issue of the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & The Arts. Wow! More news from Josh coming soon!
Monday, July 19, 1999
Digital Music pumps and jams up New York(ers lives)
Music! Music! Music! I’d be banned from the Scene if I didn’t write up about the Plug In Conference and the Digital Club Festival, which both occurred earlier this week. The DCF is still going on till the 23rd too, so you can still catch some of it. The parties were a plenty and the bands and performances were almost too much! NetNauts with tickets got to see They Might Be Giants at Irving Plaza on Monday, July 19th, Prince and Puff Daddy and Public Enemy at Tramps on Wednesday, July 21st and a whole host of other smaller unique and up-and-comers play at over 22 wired clubs in NYC. I'm down with that!
Friday, July 16, 1999
TCS Intro: 7/16/99
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cyber Scene (tm) ~ by Courtney Pulitzer ~ July 16, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
~ ClickHear for the LIVE Audiocast of The Cyber Scene!
http://www.TheCyberScene.com/audiocasts/0716.htm
Technology provided by Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com).
Last week's audiocast had over 122 listeners! Thank you.
~ Save the Date: August 10th I will be giving a Learning Annex class on "How to Spot Trends in Silicon Alley, and How to Profit from them" see:
http://www.learningannex.com/default.taf?_UserReference=9EF4EF90A00CD38B378E35EC
~ Wondrous webbies in Washington, D.C -- the witty and well-spoken Sacha Cohen will begin contributing to The Cyber Scene. Send her your tips, congrats, and more! sachacohen@att.net
-------------------------------------------------------------
I. This week's specials:
It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's a new technology island!
Greenwich Village CoC enters new media
Petanque and Champagne for everyone!
Jammin' early with the DMF
Meow Mixin' It Up @ the DA
Renaissance Affair
The Cyber Scene in Austin -- by Will Kreth and Bill Holloway
The Cyber Scene in San Francisco -- by Bill McCloskey and Josh Masur
The Cyber Scene in Los Angeles -- by Fixer
II. Regular Features:
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th. Never Bar. (RSVP required)
Austin -- August 4th. SpeakEasy (RSVP required)
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Week
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/subscribe.htm
Unsubscribe :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/unsubscribe.htm
The Cyber Scene (tm) ~ by Courtney Pulitzer ~ July 16, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
~ ClickHear for the LIVE Audiocast of The Cyber Scene!
http://www.TheCyberScene.com/audiocasts/0716.htm
Technology provided by Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com).
Last week's audiocast had over 122 listeners! Thank you.
~ Save the Date: August 10th I will be giving a Learning Annex class on "How to Spot Trends in Silicon Alley, and How to Profit from them" see:
http://www.learningannex.com/default.taf?_UserReference=9EF4EF90A00CD38B378E35EC
~ Wondrous webbies in Washington, D.C -- the witty and well-spoken Sacha Cohen will begin contributing to The Cyber Scene. Send her your tips, congrats, and more! sachacohen@att.net
-------------------------------------------------------------
I. This week's specials:
It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's a new technology island!
Greenwich Village CoC enters new media
Petanque and Champagne for everyone!
Jammin' early with the DMF
Meow Mixin' It Up @ the DA
Renaissance Affair
The Cyber Scene in Austin -- by Will Kreth and Bill Holloway
The Cyber Scene in San Francisco -- by Bill McCloskey and Josh Masur
The Cyber Scene in Los Angeles -- by Fixer
II. Regular Features:
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th. Never Bar. (RSVP required)
Austin -- August 4th. SpeakEasy (RSVP required)
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Week
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/subscribe.htm
Unsubscribe :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/unsubscribe.htm
The Cyber Scene in Austin ~ By Will Kreth
July 16, 1999
Hello and welcome to my first Cyber Scene report from Austin, TX - where both the weather and the people are always warm, sometimes hot, but never cold. On July 1st, we checked out a meeting of the ACM-SIGCHI Austin Chapter (CHI-Austin) at interactive game and media developers Human Code's offices.
Located on Congress St.'s "media strip" of design houses and Web site, CD-ROM, and PC/video game developers, such as Digital Anvil, Frog Design, Excite, Monkey Media, and Living.Com (all on Congress and all within about a quarter-mile of the Colorado River [AKA: Town Lake]), Human Code has been developing or co-developing titles for several years. Of late, they've been working on Web site architecture and design (such as the redesign of Austin-based Garden.com), and games titles for kids (such as Mattel's Barbie's Riding Stable, which was the best selling kids' CD-ROM title during Christmas '98). Giddy-up Barbie!
Human Code senior designer Tim Gasperak took the CHI-Austin audience through not only a demonstration of the products Human Code has worked on, but also some of the ideas and methodologies involved in their work. One of the phrases that he mentioned that stuck in my mind was the idea of creating a "user-tropic" experience. Unlike the "user-centric" design that is bandied about quite a bit these days, Gasperak defined "user-tropic" interaction design as design that "turns like a flower or plant turns toward the sun [e.g.- heliotropic], accommodating each unique user's needs or level of skill/ability." In an era of increasingly 1:1 relationships with customers, where companies have to personalize to compete, this seems to make sense.
Designer Heather Kelley then demo'd "Redbeard's Pirate Quest" - a new kind of kids' game that mixes both real and virtual characters to great effect. Co-designed with Zowie Intertainment (a spin-off of Interval Research - Paul Allen's Menlo Park, CA-based research and development lab), "RPQ" comes with a plastic ship model, four action figures, and a CD-ROM with game software. The play action is determined by the figures, which when set on the deck of the ship, can control the action that happens on a virtual ship on the computer screen. If the game on the screen depicts a sword fight with some villains approaching, the action figure characters can be moved around the deck of the "real" ship to fend off the attackers. Beyond the ordinary mouse or joystick as controllers, this use of a pirate ship model as an input device for the action on the screen was a big hit with the crowd. (Some parents may not want to stop playing with this one!) Another game using this technology is called "Ellie's Enchanted Garden." Both games are set to be in stores in the US in time for Christmas 1999.
Afterwards, a posse of CHI-Austinites, including current CHI-Austin Chair Perry Arnold, Harald Friz (of Trilogy); Brian Frank (ex-Trilogy, moving on to BeCandid in Boulder), Roger Tilson (of IBM), Tanya Payne (of Kazan) and Tim and Heather from Human Code all repaired to the Sava Blue Water Grill for drinks and appetizers. Harald turned me on to a Cuban drink called a "Mohito" - a rum, lime, and mint concoction served in a tall glass and on the rocks - somewhat similar to the Brazilian "Caipirinha." Tasty stuff! Well, that's all for now from Austin.
** Austin Shakers & Stirrers ~ by Bill Holloway, Antera Consulting **
Seeking to add a seasoned executive to its management team, CyBerCorp, the fast-growing electronic trading technology company, has hired Steve Wagh as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Hello and welcome to my first Cyber Scene report from Austin, TX - where both the weather and the people are always warm, sometimes hot, but never cold. On July 1st, we checked out a meeting of the ACM-SIGCHI Austin Chapter (CHI-Austin) at interactive game and media developers Human Code's offices.
Located on Congress St.'s "media strip" of design houses and Web site, CD-ROM, and PC/video game developers, such as Digital Anvil, Frog Design, Excite, Monkey Media, and Living.Com (all on Congress and all within about a quarter-mile of the Colorado River [AKA: Town Lake]), Human Code has been developing or co-developing titles for several years. Of late, they've been working on Web site architecture and design (such as the redesign of Austin-based Garden.com), and games titles for kids (such as Mattel's Barbie's Riding Stable, which was the best selling kids' CD-ROM title during Christmas '98). Giddy-up Barbie!
Human Code senior designer Tim Gasperak took the CHI-Austin audience through not only a demonstration of the products Human Code has worked on, but also some of the ideas and methodologies involved in their work. One of the phrases that he mentioned that stuck in my mind was the idea of creating a "user-tropic" experience. Unlike the "user-centric" design that is bandied about quite a bit these days, Gasperak defined "user-tropic" interaction design as design that "turns like a flower or plant turns toward the sun [e.g.- heliotropic], accommodating each unique user's needs or level of skill/ability." In an era of increasingly 1:1 relationships with customers, where companies have to personalize to compete, this seems to make sense.
Designer Heather Kelley then demo'd "Redbeard's Pirate Quest" - a new kind of kids' game that mixes both real and virtual characters to great effect. Co-designed with Zowie Intertainment (a spin-off of Interval Research - Paul Allen's Menlo Park, CA-based research and development lab), "RPQ" comes with a plastic ship model, four action figures, and a CD-ROM with game software. The play action is determined by the figures, which when set on the deck of the ship, can control the action that happens on a virtual ship on the computer screen. If the game on the screen depicts a sword fight with some villains approaching, the action figure characters can be moved around the deck of the "real" ship to fend off the attackers. Beyond the ordinary mouse or joystick as controllers, this use of a pirate ship model as an input device for the action on the screen was a big hit with the crowd. (Some parents may not want to stop playing with this one!) Another game using this technology is called "Ellie's Enchanted Garden." Both games are set to be in stores in the US in time for Christmas 1999.
Afterwards, a posse of CHI-Austinites, including current CHI-Austin Chair Perry Arnold, Harald Friz (of Trilogy); Brian Frank (ex-Trilogy, moving on to BeCandid in Boulder), Roger Tilson (of IBM), Tanya Payne (of Kazan) and Tim and Heather from Human Code all repaired to the Sava Blue Water Grill for drinks and appetizers. Harald turned me on to a Cuban drink called a "Mohito" - a rum, lime, and mint concoction served in a tall glass and on the rocks - somewhat similar to the Brazilian "Caipirinha." Tasty stuff! Well, that's all for now from Austin.
** Austin Shakers & Stirrers ~ by Bill Holloway, Antera Consulting **
Seeking to add a seasoned executive to its management team, CyBerCorp, the fast-growing electronic trading technology company, has hired Steve Wagh as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Upcoming Events ~ 7/16/99
UPCOMING EVENTS_____________________________
For the most comprehensive, up-to-date listing on all the events ~ Check out: http://www.TheCyberScene.com/ and click on "Calendar of Events" Add your own events too!
The founder of the web site http://www.thesquare.com, James Marciano, is hosting a party for members on August 4th at Back Flip in SF. Resvervations are required and can be made at http://www.thesquare.com/special.cfm?url=sfparty.cfm
Magic, Magic, Magic! Every Monday the Monday Night Magic group, headed by the talented Michael Chaut is at The Sullivan Street Playhouse. From at 8PM till about 10PM get wow'd and fooled by trickery beyond belief! http://www.MondayNightMagic.com
UJA-Federation of New York Technology & New Media Group "Digital Edge" Forum One-to-One Relational Marketing: Harnessing the Power of the Web. Tuesday, 7/27. 6:30- 8:00pm- UJA-Federation of New York, BALLROOM 130 East 59th Street (Btwn Park & Lex.) $18 COVER, min. gift of $36 is kindly requested.
This year's Achievement in Technology & New Media Awards of UJA-Federation of New York will honor Candice Carpenter, Co-Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer iVillage, Inc. and Mike Levy, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sportsline USA, Inc. Date of event is November 17, 1999/Puck Building. 6:30PM
"Consultants, Creative, Compensation & Capital: How the web has forever changed the ad agency business"
Moderated By Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. Wed., July 21, Registration: 5:30PM Panel: 6:30-8PM Reception: 8-9PM, sponsored by Agency.com and Update Graphics Staffing FIT, Haft Auditorium. 27th St. at 7th Ave., C Building, 2nd fl.
For the most comprehensive, up-to-date listing on all the events ~ Check out: http://www.TheCyberScene.com/ and click on "Calendar of Events" Add your own events too!
The founder of the web site http://www.thesquare.com, James Marciano, is hosting a party for members on August 4th at Back Flip in SF. Resvervations are required and can be made at http://www.thesquare.com/special.cfm?url=sfparty.cfm
Magic, Magic, Magic! Every Monday the Monday Night Magic group, headed by the talented Michael Chaut is at The Sullivan Street Playhouse. From at 8PM till about 10PM get wow'd and fooled by trickery beyond belief! http://www.MondayNightMagic.com
UJA-Federation of New York Technology & New Media Group "Digital Edge" Forum One-to-One Relational Marketing: Harnessing the Power of the Web. Tuesday, 7/27. 6:30- 8:00pm- UJA-Federation of New York, BALLROOM 130 East 59th Street (Btwn Park & Lex.) $18 COVER, min. gift of $36 is kindly requested.
This year's Achievement in Technology & New Media Awards of UJA-Federation of New York will honor Candice Carpenter, Co-Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer iVillage, Inc. and Mike Levy, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sportsline USA, Inc. Date of event is November 17, 1999/Puck Building. 6:30PM
"Consultants, Creative, Compensation & Capital: How the web has forever changed the ad agency business"
Moderated By Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. Wed., July 21, Registration: 5:30PM Panel: 6:30-8PM Reception: 8-9PM, sponsored by Agency.com and Update Graphics Staffing FIT, Haft Auditorium. 27th St. at 7th Ave., C Building, 2nd fl.
Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 7/16/99
SHAKERS & STIRRERS ______________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
After 3 years, and starting off as Sharon Greenberger's intern, Lauren Giglio is leaving the Downtown Alliance for a new position at Intellispace. She'll be missed but is heading on to new challenges!
Eileen Shulock is now the Managing Editor of WDFM. Eileen has been with WDFM for nearly 3 years! She is now assisted by Anne Giles Rimbey, who just joined the staff and hails from Tampa. Like Eileen, Anne has a very distinct "voice" which lends itself nicely to getting to the meat of each site covered in this informative and engaging newsletter.
NEWS BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
WooWee! Ernst & Young will reportedly sign a major lease with Boston Properties for a tower to be built directly across from 3 Times Square. WWF has signed a lease in The Paramount Building for retail space on 43rd Street.
It's already up to the second floor and the retail space on the corner of 42nd Street is taking shape. You can check out http://www.3timesquare.com/main/Progress/construction/ to view the latest pictures of the steel and the cute construction workers!
Snickelways is moving to 22 Cortlandt Street, 14th Floor, NYc 10038. Phone (212) 619-3700.
De passage à Montréal, le Premier ministre Jean Chrétien a eu l'occasion de visiter les studios d'Ubi Soft. Ce sont 400 jeunes passionnés de technologie qui lui ont fait découvrir l'univers des jeux vidéo et du multimédia. And in case you didn’t get that the first time: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien took the opportunity to visit Ubi Soft's studios while passing through Montreal, and discovered the universe of video games and multimedia through the 400 young technology enthusiasts who work there.
Razorfish, Inc. acquired Fuel, Inc., a Los Angeles-based broadcast design firm and its affiliated commercial production firm, Tonga, Inc. The acquisition marks a continuation in the company's strategy of adding top talent to its current roster of industry professionals.
The Digital Club Festival is offering $5 off for WWAC and NYNMA members. With more venues, more bands, and the latest audio technology, tune in online for the world’s largest online music event!! Sponsored by Intel, MTV, Yahoo! Music, and RealNetworks. And, if you are in New York during July 20-23, don't miss performances by Live, Bush, Public Enemy, Everlast, The Smithereens, The Donnas, Guided By Voices, Mary Lou Lord, and 300 other artists. Four-day Festival badges are on sale NOW for $50 and allow club-hoppers unlimited access to 20 Manhattan nightspots. For more information visit www.digitalclubfest.com or call 212-677-9823.
LPNYTHink Creative, Inc., the Silicon Alley-based design firm, has been retained by Datatone Communications, Inc. to develop a corporate identity and ongoing marketing strategy for their wired building program. LPNYTHink named the new program WE, wired environments.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM(sm) has expanded its product line to emphasize its wide variety of specialty gifts. The company redesigned and restructured its Web site into five distinct shopping categories to better showcase its wider range of products, features and services. The redesigned Web site (www.1800flowers.com) also reflects the company?s recent name change to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and its greater emphasis on e-commerce.
Victor Le Broussois - Managing Director - StockOnWeb has been busy with the launch of his company & web site (www.stockonweb.com). They find finance for internet companies & help U.S. companies to go in Europe. Interested companies that want to develop in Europe, drop him a line: Victor.LeBroussois@stockonweb.com
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
After 3 years, and starting off as Sharon Greenberger's intern, Lauren Giglio is leaving the Downtown Alliance for a new position at Intellispace. She'll be missed but is heading on to new challenges!
Eileen Shulock is now the Managing Editor of WDFM. Eileen has been with WDFM for nearly 3 years! She is now assisted by Anne Giles Rimbey, who just joined the staff and hails from Tampa. Like Eileen, Anne has a very distinct "voice" which lends itself nicely to getting to the meat of each site covered in this informative and engaging newsletter.
NEWS BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
WooWee! Ernst & Young will reportedly sign a major lease with Boston Properties for a tower to be built directly across from 3 Times Square. WWF has signed a lease in The Paramount Building for retail space on 43rd Street.
It's already up to the second floor and the retail space on the corner of 42nd Street is taking shape. You can check out http://www.3timesquare.com/main/Progress/construction/ to view the latest pictures of the steel and the cute construction workers!
Snickelways is moving to 22 Cortlandt Street, 14th Floor, NYc 10038. Phone (212) 619-3700.
De passage à Montréal, le Premier ministre Jean Chrétien a eu l'occasion de visiter les studios d'Ubi Soft. Ce sont 400 jeunes passionnés de technologie qui lui ont fait découvrir l'univers des jeux vidéo et du multimédia. And in case you didn’t get that the first time: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien took the opportunity to visit Ubi Soft's studios while passing through Montreal, and discovered the universe of video games and multimedia through the 400 young technology enthusiasts who work there.
Razorfish, Inc. acquired Fuel, Inc., a Los Angeles-based broadcast design firm and its affiliated commercial production firm, Tonga, Inc. The acquisition marks a continuation in the company's strategy of adding top talent to its current roster of industry professionals.
The Digital Club Festival is offering $5 off for WWAC and NYNMA members. With more venues, more bands, and the latest audio technology, tune in online for the world’s largest online music event!! Sponsored by Intel, MTV, Yahoo! Music, and RealNetworks. And, if you are in New York during July 20-23, don't miss performances by Live, Bush, Public Enemy, Everlast, The Smithereens, The Donnas, Guided By Voices, Mary Lou Lord, and 300 other artists. Four-day Festival badges are on sale NOW for $50 and allow club-hoppers unlimited access to 20 Manhattan nightspots. For more information visit www.digitalclubfest.com or call 212-677-9823.
LPNYTHink Creative, Inc., the Silicon Alley-based design firm, has been retained by Datatone Communications, Inc. to develop a corporate identity and ongoing marketing strategy for their wired building program. LPNYTHink named the new program WE, wired environments.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM(sm) has expanded its product line to emphasize its wide variety of specialty gifts. The company redesigned and restructured its Web site into five distinct shopping categories to better showcase its wider range of products, features and services. The redesigned Web site (www.1800flowers.com) also reflects the company?s recent name change to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and its greater emphasis on e-commerce.
Victor Le Broussois - Managing Director - StockOnWeb has been busy with the launch of his company & web site (www.stockonweb.com). They find finance for internet companies & help U.S. companies to go in Europe. Interested companies that want to develop in Europe, drop him a line: Victor.LeBroussois@stockonweb.com
The Cyber Scene in LA ~ a party recap and history by Fixer
Fixer, from the DMZ (Digital Militarized Zone -- http://www.la-dmz.org) had another party at his house where people from the web/internet, cd-rom/videogame and film visual effects fields come to get crazy. He filled me in on the history of the naming of the Digital Coast and his parties. His recap follows:
"The party was a little smaller than usual, but apparently a lot louder. We had three different complaint calls to the cops from three different neighbors and the last time they showed up, at midnight, they brought 6 cars and 8 cops. In addition to the fine we'll have to pay, we also have to pay for the cops too. Guess the Digital Coast Roundtable is starting to make their moves against the DMZ! If you made it, thanks for coming. We're not sure when the next party will be, but since we have annoyed neighbors now, we'll probably rent a building somewhere and have something huge. Maybe we could charge an annual membership and get sponsors?
Some background: "The DMZ was a protest a bunch of people in LA came up with when the mayor announced the naming of the "Digital Coast." We weren't too happy with it, so decided to fight back and define the West Side as a splinter group known as the Digital Militarized Zone. No one asked us, the people in the industry doing the work, what we should be called. They only asked the big boys who have corporate offices elsewhere but a Wilshire District banking address. They sold seats on the Digital Coast Roundtable advisory board, all but guaranteeing the average person won't be part of it."
"The party was a little smaller than usual, but apparently a lot louder. We had three different complaint calls to the cops from three different neighbors and the last time they showed up, at midnight, they brought 6 cars and 8 cops. In addition to the fine we'll have to pay, we also have to pay for the cops too. Guess the Digital Coast Roundtable is starting to make their moves against the DMZ! If you made it, thanks for coming. We're not sure when the next party will be, but since we have annoyed neighbors now, we'll probably rent a building somewhere and have something huge. Maybe we could charge an annual membership and get sponsors?
Some background: "The DMZ was a protest a bunch of people in LA came up with when the mayor announced the naming of the "Digital Coast." We weren't too happy with it, so decided to fight back and define the West Side as a splinter group known as the Digital Militarized Zone. No one asked us, the people in the industry doing the work, what we should be called. They only asked the big boys who have corporate offices elsewhere but a Wilshire District banking address. They sold seats on the Digital Coast Roundtable advisory board, all but guaranteeing the average person won't be part of it."
Thursday, July 15, 1999
Eyes Wide Shut -- Almost!
I was anticipating seeing the new Stanley Kubrick film "Eyes Wide Shut" at a special screening by Warner Brothers Theatrical Marketing and New Media division on Thursday, July 15, but due to the crazy schedule of a new media journalist and sheer impossibilty of traveling from 120 Broadway to 75 Rockefeller Center in less than 1/2 hour, I had to sacrifice my seat. I heard from Ms. Tery Spataro, COO of Blue Dingo, whose comment about this movie on voyeurism was "eeeeeyyyyyeeeeesssss wwwwwiiiiiidddddeeee ssssshhhhuuuuttttt." Guess it moves a little slow, but you can judge for yourself -- and check out some of the clips at WB's website www.eyeswideshut.com. Thanks to Don Buckley who keeps opening the doors to the new media folks for these special preview screenings!
** Meow Mixin' It Up @ the DA **
Gleaming marble walls and floors paved the way in the spotless lobby to a multitude of elevator banks. And on the 33rd floor of one of these lovely vertical transporters, I found myself in the expansive, clean offices of the Downtown Alliance (DA) at 120 Broadway. It was Thursday, July 15, and it was the AlleyCat Investors Network Salon. Sharon Greenberger, VP, Economic Development of the DA, looked lovely in her floral print dress and she explained that at High Noon she was at 15 Gold Street where the newest hotel in the downtown area just opened. This Holiday Inn, which is in back of a Plugged In building, shares the technology wiring, and thus offers T1 connections in every room at "work stations" instead of traditional desks. It sounds like a poor-corporate-travelers dream come true! I plan on checking it out and will let you know what's up with it -- or you can go see for yourself!
Mary Jo Fahey, accomplished writer and evangelist for VRML and Rich Media, introduced me to Bruce Johnson, president ICSES, who has developed a technology and formed a company for transferring emergency medical and financial information wirelessly via the Internet. Bruce came up with the idea in '94 after reading how ambulances in East LA couldn't communicate with hospitals to learn where to bring earthquake victims. Stunned at this gap in communications, especially in light of the ease with which he could e-mail a fellow NASA colleague around the world, propelled him to develop this technology and company. Mary Jo also introduced me to Murat Aktianoglu, who developed the Cosmo Browser, and who is now working with Andrew Grengross at TheNextWeb.com, developing 3D interfaces for the web. I met Andrew several years ago at the Match.com party at the Merc Bar. He and his lovely wife, Natalie, met over e-mail on Match--a match was certainly struck and now they're living happily here in New York. Ronnie Morvay of HydraWeb, Greg Belmont of Grand Central Holdings, Howard Schwartz of HeyNetwork.com were also there to learn about some hot new companies. And Christopher Jones, CFO of The Productivity Works, which will be providing alternative access to the Internet through nonvisual means also came out to hear about the presenters.
Susan Shaw, president of Hyperspace Cowgirls was in a beautiful orange and red silk dress, which reminded me of one of my grandmother's special handpainted dresses from the 20s. We had a quick chat with Robertson MacMillan of Grubb & Ellis, who had a lovely bump on his head with stitches. Seems he was the unfortunate end of another head and basketball in the game the night before. Nearby I met attorney John Sachs and Richard Radsch, SVP, Financial & Specialty coverages Reliance National, outfitted in a classic blue seersucker suit, which reminded me of my dear grandfather from New Orleans. Stephen Negron proclaimed happily to Jason Brown of W-Trade that he has gotten his emails down to 30! I suppose that's an accomomplishment!
Anna Wheatley, editor-in-chief of AlleyCat, announced the show was about to begin and the 70 or so guests gathered 'round a large conference table in a room overlooking the Hudson.
The dark suited, Hermes tie-wearing men and fashionably-attired women gathered round to hear from some young upstarts. James McKenna of SmartResume.com where users can use the web-based service to update Web pages, send e-mail, use a rolodex and build a resume on-line spoke for a while about his company. After filling out a form, the application will send out your parameters and qualifications to various job boards, and returns with results. Neil Mayle of PageTalk outlined the easy way you can personalize your Web pages with your voice, simply by using the telephone. Some examples of current users were a ski resort reporting slope conditions, a joke site yuckin' it up and a grandmother listening to her new grandchild crying! We laughed at the implications of other uses (in a more romantic vein) for leaving personal voice messages for their significant others on Web sites. Gary Cheng and Howard Yen announced that as of June 30th, VirtualStockExchange.com was acquired by Bob Lessin and Dawntreader backed Predict-It. They spoke mostly about Predict-It and all the capabilities it has and will have. Philip Letts, CEO of Beenz, in a witty English manner told us about bean counters and traders. Earning beenz while on-line sounds like a good idea, and the banking themes work with this already successful startup. They're entering their 3rd round of financing, have 200 sites in the beenz network and 10 -60 people worldwide (NY, SF, London, and soon to be in Japan). A final and impromptu presentation was made by Simon TaufiQue of GreenButton.com. Suited up in a lime green shirt, he told us about his vision for providing technical service for consumers with his community of gurus for products ranging from hand-held units, PCs, televisions and the like. We heard about the scaling up plans and his early needs for getting the business off the ground.
Afterwards I chatted briefly with Richard Frazer and James Feldesman of Cowan Financial Group, Edward Reilly, Jr. of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and attorney Edmund Shangold who is also working in the IT department of Henry Holt publishers and is fascinated with the Internet industry--and has the skills to match a great startup! Kenzo Hashimoto, VP and Senior TV Producer of Gazeta USA, Inc. interviewed me and other attendees for a Tokyo TV show. When the show airs -- I'll letcha know! Elevator pitches were flying around as I introduced myself and met Christopher Forbes, president of William Andrew Inc.--publishers who just spun off an Internet company.
Mary Jo Fahey, accomplished writer and evangelist for VRML and Rich Media, introduced me to Bruce Johnson, president ICSES, who has developed a technology and formed a company for transferring emergency medical and financial information wirelessly via the Internet. Bruce came up with the idea in '94 after reading how ambulances in East LA couldn't communicate with hospitals to learn where to bring earthquake victims. Stunned at this gap in communications, especially in light of the ease with which he could e-mail a fellow NASA colleague around the world, propelled him to develop this technology and company. Mary Jo also introduced me to Murat Aktianoglu, who developed the Cosmo Browser, and who is now working with Andrew Grengross at TheNextWeb.com, developing 3D interfaces for the web. I met Andrew several years ago at the Match.com party at the Merc Bar. He and his lovely wife, Natalie, met over e-mail on Match--a match was certainly struck and now they're living happily here in New York. Ronnie Morvay of HydraWeb, Greg Belmont of Grand Central Holdings, Howard Schwartz of HeyNetwork.com were also there to learn about some hot new companies. And Christopher Jones, CFO of The Productivity Works, which will be providing alternative access to the Internet through nonvisual means also came out to hear about the presenters.
Susan Shaw, president of Hyperspace Cowgirls was in a beautiful orange and red silk dress, which reminded me of one of my grandmother's special handpainted dresses from the 20s. We had a quick chat with Robertson MacMillan of Grubb & Ellis, who had a lovely bump on his head with stitches. Seems he was the unfortunate end of another head and basketball in the game the night before. Nearby I met attorney John Sachs and Richard Radsch, SVP, Financial & Specialty coverages Reliance National, outfitted in a classic blue seersucker suit, which reminded me of my dear grandfather from New Orleans. Stephen Negron proclaimed happily to Jason Brown of W-Trade that he has gotten his emails down to 30! I suppose that's an accomomplishment!
Anna Wheatley, editor-in-chief of AlleyCat, announced the show was about to begin and the 70 or so guests gathered 'round a large conference table in a room overlooking the Hudson.
The dark suited, Hermes tie-wearing men and fashionably-attired women gathered round to hear from some young upstarts. James McKenna of SmartResume.com where users can use the web-based service to update Web pages, send e-mail, use a rolodex and build a resume on-line spoke for a while about his company. After filling out a form, the application will send out your parameters and qualifications to various job boards, and returns with results. Neil Mayle of PageTalk outlined the easy way you can personalize your Web pages with your voice, simply by using the telephone. Some examples of current users were a ski resort reporting slope conditions, a joke site yuckin' it up and a grandmother listening to her new grandchild crying! We laughed at the implications of other uses (in a more romantic vein) for leaving personal voice messages for their significant others on Web sites. Gary Cheng and Howard Yen announced that as of June 30th, VirtualStockExchange.com was acquired by Bob Lessin and Dawntreader backed Predict-It. They spoke mostly about Predict-It and all the capabilities it has and will have. Philip Letts, CEO of Beenz, in a witty English manner told us about bean counters and traders. Earning beenz while on-line sounds like a good idea, and the banking themes work with this already successful startup. They're entering their 3rd round of financing, have 200 sites in the beenz network and 10 -60 people worldwide (NY, SF, London, and soon to be in Japan). A final and impromptu presentation was made by Simon TaufiQue of GreenButton.com. Suited up in a lime green shirt, he told us about his vision for providing technical service for consumers with his community of gurus for products ranging from hand-held units, PCs, televisions and the like. We heard about the scaling up plans and his early needs for getting the business off the ground.
Afterwards I chatted briefly with Richard Frazer and James Feldesman of Cowan Financial Group, Edward Reilly, Jr. of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and attorney Edmund Shangold who is also working in the IT department of Henry Holt publishers and is fascinated with the Internet industry--and has the skills to match a great startup! Kenzo Hashimoto, VP and Senior TV Producer of Gazeta USA, Inc. interviewed me and other attendees for a Tokyo TV show. When the show airs -- I'll letcha know! Elevator pitches were flying around as I introduced myself and met Christopher Forbes, president of William Andrew Inc.--publishers who just spun off an Internet company.
Renaissance Affair
I spun out and up to Renaissance's party where I had a chance to see Bruce Strzelczyk and meet Tim Shea of Cable & Wireless. The well-spoken Larry Chase of WDFM introduced me to Ken Magill, editor of iMarketing News and Belinda Wittlin, acct. exec for AT&T local services. Ken and I chatted for a bit about newsletters and the wealth of information out there to be covered. Laurence Paskowitz, president and CEO of SavingsYellowPages.com came over and told me his site will be launching soon. On my way out I chatted briefly with Phil Kiracofe (who's now at RareMedium), Maria Elena Rigo of Cohn & Wells, Toni Lo Presti (Renaissance) and Christine Harmel who were all excited about next Thursday's party. (see the Calendar of Events for more info!)
__________________________________________
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** Jammin' early with the DMF **
It was bright and early on Thursday, July 15th when I stopped over the Digital Club Network's (http://www.thegig.com/) offices on 15th Street. The building is a buzz as this is also where MOUSE is headquartered and the DCN's conference room has been transformed (thanks to ClickHear) into the Digital Club Festival's (http://www.digitalclubfest.com) headquarters. Ted Werth (COO) mused about its transformation and how it's kind of neat to see such a nucleus of activity occurring in there. Just as Christopher Levy and Michael "Wally" Wallace were greeting me and about to show me the nerve-center, Andrew Raisej (CEO & President) approached us on his way out. Looking cool in his ecru-colored suit, he told me about some exciting conversations with top people from a different sector. I swore myself to secrecy, but you can be assured that when I can share the news, I will! : )
Christopher then quickly shuttled me into the conference-room-turned-Festival-headquarters. Rows of computers lined up and tagged were humming happily -- and being cooled off with fans -- while others were laid bare on a table for augmentation of audio and video cards by a nice man in a green suit. Well, actually he was just in a green t-shirt, and there were no real surgical instruments lying around.
Christopher, Wally and the rest of the talented crew at DCN and Clickhear, including devoted volunteers like Ryan Morris (a graphics wiz at the AP by day) are putting an impressive system in place for the Festival, which runs from July 20th - 23rd. Over 300 bands with major headliners like Public Enemy, Everlast and Live, will be playing over 4 nights in twenty-two clubs in New York and one club in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. After installing T1 lines in all the clubs (only about 5 - 8 will keep them), there will be Linux encoders stationed at each, encoding the performances using SureStream G2 technology from Real Networks. Once captured, the streams will go from the clubs to Globix's network using a distributed architecture, to Real Broadcast's Network (RBN) center then out to their distribution network points nationwide to the users! This is all very good, and especially since ClickHear has the capabilities to serve several thousand streams at once.
And just how did they get more than 300 bands to play? Matt Houser, booking agent at DCN told me that with the festival's history and Andrew Rasiej and Chairman of DCN's Michael Dorf's cache, the solicitation process was made easier. With over 600 submissions, they placed 60 bands in addition to the submissions from agents and managers. In some instances they decided they'll have to book bands with places and "just wait and see what happens," like at the closing night party with unknown band "American Revelation" playing.
Users logging onto the website will be able to see audio and video streaming shows and video capture slideshows using the technology from EarthCam and Real Pix, which inserts the stills into the video stream. They will be able to link to more band info, merchandise and schedules. After this overview, I went across the hall to Bennett Klineberg's office (VP, Marketing) and got the "big picture" story behind DCN's plans after the festival. In the content accumulation mode, DCN will be offering free video and audio casts of bands' performances from a variety of clubs. Down the road, you will be charged to view the performance, and a royalty will go to the band and club where the performance took place.
This year's festival is looking like and ramping up to be smashing indeed. Having seen the festival grow from a small operation in 1995 to bigger ones in '96 and '97 to its own entity as opposed to sponsor-titled is exciting. Much credit goes to Apple for its ground-breaking support in '95 when it was the Macintosh Music Festival, and to Intel for its subsequent support. There are many other supporters and sponsors who all also deserve credit. So go and get a badge and check out all this ground-breaking (ear-drum shattering) stuff! Special $5 discounts are available for WWWAC and NYNMA members too!
Christopher then quickly shuttled me into the conference-room-turned-Festival-headquarters. Rows of computers lined up and tagged were humming happily -- and being cooled off with fans -- while others were laid bare on a table for augmentation of audio and video cards by a nice man in a green suit. Well, actually he was just in a green t-shirt, and there were no real surgical instruments lying around.
Christopher, Wally and the rest of the talented crew at DCN and Clickhear, including devoted volunteers like Ryan Morris (a graphics wiz at the AP by day) are putting an impressive system in place for the Festival, which runs from July 20th - 23rd. Over 300 bands with major headliners like Public Enemy, Everlast and Live, will be playing over 4 nights in twenty-two clubs in New York and one club in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. After installing T1 lines in all the clubs (only about 5 - 8 will keep them), there will be Linux encoders stationed at each, encoding the performances using SureStream G2 technology from Real Networks. Once captured, the streams will go from the clubs to Globix's network using a distributed architecture, to Real Broadcast's Network (RBN) center then out to their distribution network points nationwide to the users! This is all very good, and especially since ClickHear has the capabilities to serve several thousand streams at once.
And just how did they get more than 300 bands to play? Matt Houser, booking agent at DCN told me that with the festival's history and Andrew Rasiej and Chairman of DCN's Michael Dorf's cache, the solicitation process was made easier. With over 600 submissions, they placed 60 bands in addition to the submissions from agents and managers. In some instances they decided they'll have to book bands with places and "just wait and see what happens," like at the closing night party with unknown band "American Revelation" playing.
Users logging onto the website will be able to see audio and video streaming shows and video capture slideshows using the technology from EarthCam and Real Pix, which inserts the stills into the video stream. They will be able to link to more band info, merchandise and schedules. After this overview, I went across the hall to Bennett Klineberg's office (VP, Marketing) and got the "big picture" story behind DCN's plans after the festival. In the content accumulation mode, DCN will be offering free video and audio casts of bands' performances from a variety of clubs. Down the road, you will be charged to view the performance, and a royalty will go to the band and club where the performance took place.
This year's festival is looking like and ramping up to be smashing indeed. Having seen the festival grow from a small operation in 1995 to bigger ones in '96 and '97 to its own entity as opposed to sponsor-titled is exciting. Much credit goes to Apple for its ground-breaking support in '95 when it was the Macintosh Music Festival, and to Intel for its subsequent support. There are many other supporters and sponsors who all also deserve credit. So go and get a badge and check out all this ground-breaking (ear-drum shattering) stuff! Special $5 discounts are available for WWWAC and NYNMA members too!
Wednesday, July 14, 1999
* Petanque and Champagne for everyone! **
Think you have to be an Internet entrepreneur to be under 30 and wildly successful? Think again. There's plenty of fabulously famous twenty-something's in all sorts of industries, and one of them is fashion designer Anne Fontaine. I stopped by her showroom on Wednesday, July 14 for a wine and cheese reception hosted by Louis Jadot, Beaune (http://www.louisjadot.com/) & Wine Brats (www.winebrats.com) for a Bastille Day celebration. This 27 year old designer highlighted blinding white pique sleeveless vest-shirts, which tempted guests from inside clear cellophane packets with dried rosebuds on the price tags. Torso forms up on a ledge towered with exquisite chiffon-like blousy-blouses with belted waists. If these weren't tempting enough on their own, the 30% - 50% off made it even more palatable.
Here the special off-the-cuff Bastille Day audio cast at:
http://www.TheCyberScene.com/audiocasts/bastille.ram
Here the special off-the-cuff Bastille Day audio cast at:
http://www.TheCyberScene.com/audiocasts/bastille.ram
Monday, July 12, 1999
Lunches with Courtney
These past two week's I've had the delightful pleasure of sitting down for leisurely lunches with two interesting firms. Amy Brownstein and Guild Copeland of KPE and I enjoyed fine lunches at Maxwell and Angies. I learned about some amazing new sites that will be launching soon and more about the talented individuals who work at this firm. The next week Scott Hall of StreamSearch.com and I collaborated and conveyed about our firms over a delicious lunch at The Lemon. This firm, founded by 5 friends who met and got funding in an incredibly short amount of time in St. Louis, are partnering and aligning with some top dogs in the industry, so stay tuned for more news on their developments too!
Greenwich Village CoC enters new media
** Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce enters new media **
After meeting with Nancy of the Manhattan CoC, I thought it appropriate to check out what was going on with the Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce. Set in the lovely Marylou's restaurant on 9th Street there were about 20 or so people by the time I arrived… I met Steven Shoshany, a chiropractor who handed me a funny twisty pen, Bruce and Suzanne Poli of The Creative Image were chatting with Sandra Holtzman of Holtzman Communications and Sue Montgomery of her own firm. Robert Rinaldo, president of the GVCoC, told me they have events all the time, and on my way out I met Douglas Koch of his own floral arrangement company, Michael Rura of Rembrandt Turner & Griswold and Kevin Kautzmann and Al Gugliotta of Executive Benefits.
After meeting with Nancy of the Manhattan CoC, I thought it appropriate to check out what was going on with the Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce. Set in the lovely Marylou's restaurant on 9th Street there were about 20 or so people by the time I arrived… I met Steven Shoshany, a chiropractor who handed me a funny twisty pen, Bruce and Suzanne Poli of The Creative Image were chatting with Sandra Holtzman of Holtzman Communications and Sue Montgomery of her own firm. Robert Rinaldo, president of the GVCoC, told me they have events all the time, and on my way out I met Douglas Koch of his own floral arrangement company, Michael Rura of Rembrandt Turner & Griswold and Kevin Kautzmann and Al Gugliotta of Executive Benefits.
It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's a new technology island!
** It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's a new technology island! **
It's a sculpture garden! An amusement park! A resort! No! It's the Information Island! At least that's what Bill Tucker of TheElevator.com thinks about Governors Island and the City's offer to give up the island to the best proposal. Dubbed the unofficial, unpaid spokesman who's doing this as an Eagle Scout public service project, this man has drummed up the support of NYSIA and is gaining momentum. He sees it as a technology nucleus where the main tenants could be the information-science departments of five engineering schools: Brooklyn Polytechnic, City University, Columbia, Cooper Union and New York University. A small hotel and conference center could also be attractions for small firms (to be incubated) and other support for this idyllic island five-minutes by ferry from Manhattan. And when the technology and firms have gotten funded, they could simply hop back over the river and set up bigger shops in Brooklyn or Manhattan.
The July 12th meeting at Pace University's Shimmel Theater drew a respectable number of attendees with interests piqued by this topic. Nancy Ploeger of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and David Leffler (attorney) came to hear what this man envisioned for the island and told me about some interesting upcoming events they are conducting (see TCS Calendar of Events). Thomas Liscomb and Kathy Wylde of HT Incubator (in the BMCC) and president and CEO of the NYC Investment Fund came out to hear more as well. Some wylie characters in plaid shirts and coke-bottle glasses also came out, and filled up on the thick ham sandwiches, terra chips and cookies. I would've found out who they were but they were engrossed in talking to Madrid Tennant of the NYU CAT program. Marta Goldsmith of the Urban Land Institute (based in Washington, DC) was a speaker on the panel, moderated by NYSIA's president Bruce Bernstein.
Other panelists who came to debate and mull over this controversial topic were Rod Nichols, CEO, NY Academy of Sciences; Eleanor Baum, Dean of Engineering, Cooper Union; and Alice O'Rourke, NYNMA, who was scheduled to speak, but never made it. There was no word from her nor NYNMA--I assume they're swamped with putting on and publicizing so many of their own events. Jonathan Gilbert of the City's Economic Development Corporation was in attendance and chatting beforehand with Jonathan Rudes of Newmark and Lauren Giglio of the Downtown Alliance. Just before the panel I chatted with Mr. Tucker, Bill Murphy, the man who "scooped" the domain name www.governersisland.com, was introduced to him. They chatted a bit about the series of events surrounding the capture of such name and then I escaped to the next affair! (see also: www.governors-island.org)
It's a sculpture garden! An amusement park! A resort! No! It's the Information Island! At least that's what Bill Tucker of TheElevator.com thinks about Governors Island and the City's offer to give up the island to the best proposal. Dubbed the unofficial, unpaid spokesman who's doing this as an Eagle Scout public service project, this man has drummed up the support of NYSIA and is gaining momentum. He sees it as a technology nucleus where the main tenants could be the information-science departments of five engineering schools: Brooklyn Polytechnic, City University, Columbia, Cooper Union and New York University. A small hotel and conference center could also be attractions for small firms (to be incubated) and other support for this idyllic island five-minutes by ferry from Manhattan. And when the technology and firms have gotten funded, they could simply hop back over the river and set up bigger shops in Brooklyn or Manhattan.
The July 12th meeting at Pace University's Shimmel Theater drew a respectable number of attendees with interests piqued by this topic. Nancy Ploeger of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and David Leffler (attorney) came to hear what this man envisioned for the island and told me about some interesting upcoming events they are conducting (see TCS Calendar of Events). Thomas Liscomb and Kathy Wylde of HT Incubator (in the BMCC) and president and CEO of the NYC Investment Fund came out to hear more as well. Some wylie characters in plaid shirts and coke-bottle glasses also came out, and filled up on the thick ham sandwiches, terra chips and cookies. I would've found out who they were but they were engrossed in talking to Madrid Tennant of the NYU CAT program. Marta Goldsmith of the Urban Land Institute (based in Washington, DC) was a speaker on the panel, moderated by NYSIA's president Bruce Bernstein.
Other panelists who came to debate and mull over this controversial topic were Rod Nichols, CEO, NY Academy of Sciences; Eleanor Baum, Dean of Engineering, Cooper Union; and Alice O'Rourke, NYNMA, who was scheduled to speak, but never made it. There was no word from her nor NYNMA--I assume they're swamped with putting on and publicizing so many of their own events. Jonathan Gilbert of the City's Economic Development Corporation was in attendance and chatting beforehand with Jonathan Rudes of Newmark and Lauren Giglio of the Downtown Alliance. Just before the panel I chatted with Mr. Tucker, Bill Murphy, the man who "scooped" the domain name www.governersisland.com, was introduced to him. They chatted a bit about the series of events surrounding the capture of such name and then I escaped to the next affair! (see also: www.governors-island.org)
Friday, July 09, 1999
Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 7/9/99
SHAKERS & STIRRERS ______________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Chris Allbritton -- on own | Maurice Russell @ Razorfish
Full details at: http://www.TheCyberScene.com
BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
BrainBug -- wins awards | Creative Good expansion | The Next 20 Years Series | Renegade Marketing Group -- 2 new accts.
More info at: http://www.TheCyberScene.com
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Chris Allbritton -- on own | Maurice Russell @ Razorfish
Full details at: http://www.TheCyberScene.com
BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
BrainBug -- wins awards | Creative Good expansion | The Next 20 Years Series | Renegade Marketing Group -- 2 new accts.
More info at: http://www.TheCyberScene.com
Cocktails with Courtney ~ July 99 ~ Invite
SPECIAL COCKTAILS
Save the Date! July's "Cocktails with Courtney" is going to be the biggest, best one yet! I'll be relaunching my brand-spanking new logo, corporate identity and websites for my company Courtney Pulitzer Creations, The Cyber Scene and Cocktails with Courtney. I must admit--it's always been a great pleasure hearing people compliment me on my Web sites and business card design and I'm a bit partial to them myself. But LPNYTHink has proved themselves once again with what I think is an appropriate mix. I encourage your comments (and criticisms) and hope you can attend this special event.
Also noteworthy at this party, in addition to this month's sponsor vIntranet, is the transition my sites are undergoing as they settle into their new home at Octet Media. You may have heard of Tatiana Aleksa from her involvement with the Russian Web Girls, but her real talents lie in the solid and serious successful business she is running in New York and Russia. The people at Octet are working hard and as with the growth of the web, are too growing in diversity and specialty.
Please RSVP for this month's fine affair.
http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com/rsvp.htm
"Cocktails with Courtney" Sponsored by vIntranet
July 28th
Never Bar (245 East Houston Street)
7:00 - 10:00 PM
Complementary wine from Gundlach Bundschu vineyards and Sushi from the Never Bar!
Preview the site!
A real live DJ and music!
Save the Date! July's "Cocktails with Courtney" is going to be the biggest, best one yet! I'll be relaunching my brand-spanking new logo, corporate identity and websites for my company Courtney Pulitzer Creations, The Cyber Scene and Cocktails with Courtney. I must admit--it's always been a great pleasure hearing people compliment me on my Web sites and business card design and I'm a bit partial to them myself. But LPNYTHink has proved themselves once again with what I think is an appropriate mix. I encourage your comments (and criticisms) and hope you can attend this special event.
Also noteworthy at this party, in addition to this month's sponsor vIntranet, is the transition my sites are undergoing as they settle into their new home at Octet Media. You may have heard of Tatiana Aleksa from her involvement with the Russian Web Girls, but her real talents lie in the solid and serious successful business she is running in New York and Russia. The people at Octet are working hard and as with the growth of the web, are too growing in diversity and specialty.
Please RSVP for this month's fine affair.
http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com/rsvp.htm
"Cocktails with Courtney" Sponsored by vIntranet
July 28th
Never Bar (245 East Houston Street)
7:00 - 10:00 PM
Complementary wine from Gundlach Bundschu vineyards and Sushi from the Never Bar!
Preview the site!
A real live DJ and music!
THE CYBER SCENE CHARACTER SKETCH -- Biggs Tabler
THE CYBER SCENE PROFILE
News on convergence of the cable and television industry and the Internet is everywhere. And one man who is uniquely positioned to assist and exist in both is William Biggs Tabler, president, Tabler Communications. They are based in Louisville but have hopes of opening an office in New York soon, which may be sooner than they think based on the wealth of activity he and his company have accumulated. He's also acquired some wealth in terms of funding for these interests. Biggs has a rich and varied background, some of which he shared with me over a fine seafood dinner at Docks restaurant on Wednesday, July 7th.
Starting as general sales manager in 1972 with WHAS TV in Louisville, Biggs then went on for variety and dabbled as VP & manager of Trust and Investment Marketing, Citizens Fidelity Bank. The lure of the exciting cable industry as it was starting drew Biggs back and he was appointed VP & GM of Times Mirror Cable television in Louisville. Stories of racing, betting, country music shows and more prepared him for the struggle in convincing execs in other industries to invest in a new medium. Biggs' own company now is focusing on web marketing for advertisers. One of three independent media buying specialists in the cable television industry, they offer Internet marketing in addition to their media buying. Extensive research with reasonable rates and personalized service are other features of Tabler Communications.
Going forward, and utilizing his contacts from cable, Biggs is discussing some future developments with converged cable shows. Stay tuned here for more info on this avid golfer, energetic family man -- or contact him directly at: tabler@aol.com.
News on convergence of the cable and television industry and the Internet is everywhere. And one man who is uniquely positioned to assist and exist in both is William Biggs Tabler, president, Tabler Communications. They are based in Louisville but have hopes of opening an office in New York soon, which may be sooner than they think based on the wealth of activity he and his company have accumulated. He's also acquired some wealth in terms of funding for these interests. Biggs has a rich and varied background, some of which he shared with me over a fine seafood dinner at Docks restaurant on Wednesday, July 7th.
Starting as general sales manager in 1972 with WHAS TV in Louisville, Biggs then went on for variety and dabbled as VP & manager of Trust and Investment Marketing, Citizens Fidelity Bank. The lure of the exciting cable industry as it was starting drew Biggs back and he was appointed VP & GM of Times Mirror Cable television in Louisville. Stories of racing, betting, country music shows and more prepared him for the struggle in convincing execs in other industries to invest in a new medium. Biggs' own company now is focusing on web marketing for advertisers. One of three independent media buying specialists in the cable television industry, they offer Internet marketing in addition to their media buying. Extensive research with reasonable rates and personalized service are other features of Tabler Communications.
Going forward, and utilizing his contacts from cable, Biggs is discussing some future developments with converged cable shows. Stay tuned here for more info on this avid golfer, energetic family man -- or contact him directly at: tabler@aol.com.
TCS Intro: 7/9/99
~ Starting today you can hear the LIVE Audiocast of The Cyber Scene! Just click on the link (http://www.TheCyberScene.com/audiocasts/0709.ram) and instead of reading the scoop, hear all about it as you multi-task! Neat, huh? Please send comments/etc. to courtney@pulitzer.com
Technology provided by Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com)
~ Also starting this week--in addition to my monthly edition in "AlleyCat News," and weekly piece in "MediaLife," I will be contributing to Michael Tchong's "ICONOCAST." Now people who love Michael's infinite wisdom and wit can catch a bit of the 'Scene too. Send me your scoops and I'll make sure you're the hot news!
~ Starting next week we will have regular updates on The Cyber Scene in Austin!
Technology provided by Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com)
~ Also starting this week--in addition to my monthly edition in "AlleyCat News," and weekly piece in "MediaLife," I will be contributing to Michael Tchong's "ICONOCAST." Now people who love Michael's infinite wisdom and wit can catch a bit of the 'Scene too. Send me your scoops and I'll make sure you're the hot news!
~ Starting next week we will have regular updates on The Cyber Scene in Austin!
Wednesday, July 07, 1999
TICK TOCK ITAC
As the Internet marketspace is getting crowded so is the area of firms who want to help. You may have heard about the Downtown Alliance, the NYC Economic Development Corporation and all the various venture groups who help find funding and provide other assistance for technology firms. But there's another organization that's offering assistance that has many services beyond what you could imagine.
It's ITAC! The Internet Technology Assistance Corporation and their mission is to promote and help NYC's technology and manufacturing firms grow and be successful. Octopus-like ITAC has many arms of interest and specialties for consulting, resource development and technical development for firms in information technology, biotech, environmental science and new media.
I spent Wednesday morning, July 7th, at ITAC's offices on lower Broadway and over a fresh-brewed cup of strong coffee, spoke with Technology Commercialization Services program director, Ben Segal. Ben is one of over thirty seasoned professionals, engineers and professors who make up the talented staff.
Ben filled me in on ITAC's offerings (quick list follows). We also talked about the growth of the industry in Silicon Alley, which Ben, like Jim Ledbetter of "The Industry Standard" can't stand the diminuation of our new media geography. How 'bout something with a bit more bravado like Silicon Canyon? With all the skyscrapers around, sometimes you do feel a bit like you're in the bottom of a canyon, and all those car commercials have shots of the cavernous Wall Street area. Although I have a feeling that a certain area in Northern Arizona might want to claim Silicon Canyon--unless they're already Silicon Desert.
ITAC's offerings:
* Assessment: quickview, performance, site, focused
* Marketing & Planning: research, planning, execution, sales, product development
* Computer applications program: unbiased info on choosing and using information technology
* Environmental management: helping you solve waste and pollution problems
* Workforce development services: find the exact person you need for a fraction of the cost!
* Continuous quality improvement: learn how to use tools that depend on management commitment & guidance, not capital
* Relocation support
* Business management
ITAC also began a technology policy project, which will be developing a strategy for public and private initiatives to improve the biz environment for tech firms in NYC.
Want $100,000 for six months of R&D? How 'bout $750,000 for a 2-year project? Apply to the NYState Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program! Get the "Strategies for Winning Awards" booklet from ITAC by emailing bsegal@itac.org.
Ben proudly told me how the Small Business Administration recently voted ITAC the Number 1 Resource for information on Y2K issues, so order your CD and kit from them today! Stay tuned for an ITAC TechNYC newsletter, calendar and whole new brand-spangled identity.
It's ITAC! The Internet Technology Assistance Corporation and their mission is to promote and help NYC's technology and manufacturing firms grow and be successful. Octopus-like ITAC has many arms of interest and specialties for consulting, resource development and technical development for firms in information technology, biotech, environmental science and new media.
I spent Wednesday morning, July 7th, at ITAC's offices on lower Broadway and over a fresh-brewed cup of strong coffee, spoke with Technology Commercialization Services program director, Ben Segal. Ben is one of over thirty seasoned professionals, engineers and professors who make up the talented staff.
Ben filled me in on ITAC's offerings (quick list follows). We also talked about the growth of the industry in Silicon Alley, which Ben, like Jim Ledbetter of "The Industry Standard" can't stand the diminuation of our new media geography. How 'bout something with a bit more bravado like Silicon Canyon? With all the skyscrapers around, sometimes you do feel a bit like you're in the bottom of a canyon, and all those car commercials have shots of the cavernous Wall Street area. Although I have a feeling that a certain area in Northern Arizona might want to claim Silicon Canyon--unless they're already Silicon Desert.
ITAC's offerings:
* Assessment: quickview, performance, site, focused
* Marketing & Planning: research, planning, execution, sales, product development
* Computer applications program: unbiased info on choosing and using information technology
* Environmental management: helping you solve waste and pollution problems
* Workforce development services: find the exact person you need for a fraction of the cost!
* Continuous quality improvement: learn how to use tools that depend on management commitment & guidance, not capital
* Relocation support
* Business management
ITAC also began a technology policy project, which will be developing a strategy for public and private initiatives to improve the biz environment for tech firms in NYC.
Want $100,000 for six months of R&D? How 'bout $750,000 for a 2-year project? Apply to the NYState Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program! Get the "Strategies for Winning Awards" booklet from ITAC by emailing bsegal@itac.org.
Ben proudly told me how the Small Business Administration recently voted ITAC the Number 1 Resource for information on Y2K issues, so order your CD and kit from them today! Stay tuned for an ITAC TechNYC newsletter, calendar and whole new brand-spangled identity.
Monday, July 05, 1999
Nude Recreation Week
NRW WEEK
Thanks to brutally hot record temperatures in NYC and in celebration of Nude Recreation Week (July 5 - 11th) (http://www.aanr.com/) I sat inside with fans blowing between a few brief jaunts to meetings (clad in clothes). I did hear of some naked runners causing rubbernecking problems on the George Washington Bridge on Thursday, July 8th's morning commute. And on my way to one meeting, I walked up Lafayette Street next to a naked man doning only red ribbons in his dreadlocks.
Thanks to brutally hot record temperatures in NYC and in celebration of Nude Recreation Week (July 5 - 11th) (http://www.aanr.com/) I sat inside with fans blowing between a few brief jaunts to meetings (clad in clothes). I did hear of some naked runners causing rubbernecking problems on the George Washington Bridge on Thursday, July 8th's morning commute. And on my way to one meeting, I walked up Lafayette Street next to a naked man doning only red ribbons in his dreadlocks.
Friday, July 02, 1999
Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 7/2/99
SHAKERS & STIRRERS ______________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Brian Lehon was formally a strategic account manager at Globix Corporation and has now moved on to StreamSearch.com as Director of Business
Development. StreamSearch.com is a search engine for audio and video content on the web.
Shane Cook (Austin, TX) has joined 1stBuy.com as its Internet Architect.
Richard Landry, Editor-In-Chief of NewMedia magazine, welcomes the ironic and provocative wit of Internet industry commentator and humorist, Heather Gold to NewMedia magazine. Gold's back-page humor column, "Back Flip", debuts in the July issue of NewMedia magazine (newmedia.com), now available.
NEWS BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
StockObjects, the new media stock library, has redesigned its site and is in the process of creating new content. We're inviting selected web and creative professional groups to an early preview to help us understand what concepts and styles are of interest to decision makers, designers and users of stock media. Please go to http://www.stockobjects.com and give us your feedback on the new content. All the content is free for now and can be downloaded via http. You can use the content whereever you want. Share it with friends. Use it for clients. But please don't sell it or broadly redistribute it. Also, please take the time to fill out a quick survey or send me an email.
Consumers looking to "live the dream" of a Caribbean lifestyle can fulfill at least some of their wishes at www.j3traders.com, the newly e-commerce-enabled Web site of Caribbean Traders U.S., Inc. There they'll find a variety of tropical shirts, tee-shirts, caps and gift packages themed around the adventures of the company's fictional "founder," J. Jeremiah Jefferson III, or J3 as the company portrays him.
v-GO Universal Password 1.0, the world's first truly universal password, PassLogix, Inc. (www.passlogix.com) announced the immediate availability of v-GO 1.5. The new, enhanced version of this free download facilitates seamless Web navigation for consumers and businesses by providing instant
logon to password-protected Web sites and applications. v-GO saves time, protects users' privacy, and takes the hassle out of managing multiple electronic identities by remembering a user's ID names and passwords and
giving the user only one Universal Password to remember. Users create their Universal Password by clicking one or more objects on an innovative animated interface of their choice.
Mary Dawne Arden, communications consultant and specialist has launched her site: www.ardenassociates.com Her online column on the subject of communication skills is at www.thepublicityguide.com.
4th Peripheral Technologies, a Silicon Valley based company, will be opening a New York City office in July, 1999. 4th Peripheral is a CyberExtension company, extending and integrating the Internet, intranets, and data warehouses by providing remote access from handheld devices (wireless telephone, land-line telephone, PDA, etc.) using the company's proprietary 4eXtenxa™ voice-product family.
Check out Man Vs. Machine's slick site: http://www.manvsmachine.com
Mark Patricof, CEO of announced that the company took an equity investment in the travel and adventure magazine Blue. As part of ’s involvement with the magazine, will assist Blue in developing its Internet strategy. Blue magazine, a travel and lifestyle magazine for the young adventure life-styler, was founded in 1996 by Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Amy Schrier. It was created in an effort to bridge the gap between an active lifestyle and a love of travel and adventure.
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Brian Lehon was formally a strategic account manager at Globix Corporation and has now moved on to StreamSearch.com as Director of Business
Development. StreamSearch.com is a search engine for audio and video content on the web.
Shane Cook (Austin, TX) has joined 1stBuy.com as its Internet Architect.
Richard Landry, Editor-In-Chief of NewMedia magazine, welcomes the ironic and provocative wit of Internet industry commentator and humorist, Heather Gold to NewMedia magazine. Gold's back-page humor column, "Back Flip", debuts in the July issue of NewMedia magazine (newmedia.com), now available.
NEWS BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com
StockObjects, the new media stock library, has redesigned its site and is in the process of creating new content. We're inviting selected web and creative professional groups to an early preview to help us understand what concepts and styles are of interest to decision makers, designers and users of stock media. Please go to http://www.stockobjects.com and give us your feedback on the new content. All the content is free for now and can be downloaded via http. You can use the content whereever you want. Share it with friends. Use it for clients. But please don't sell it or broadly redistribute it. Also, please take the time to fill out a quick survey or send me an email.
Consumers looking to "live the dream" of a Caribbean lifestyle can fulfill at least some of their wishes at www.j3traders.com, the newly e-commerce-enabled Web site of Caribbean Traders U.S., Inc. There they'll find a variety of tropical shirts, tee-shirts, caps and gift packages themed around the adventures of the company's fictional "founder," J. Jeremiah Jefferson III, or J3 as the company portrays him.
v-GO Universal Password 1.0, the world's first truly universal password, PassLogix, Inc. (www.passlogix.com) announced the immediate availability of v-GO 1.5. The new, enhanced version of this free download facilitates seamless Web navigation for consumers and businesses by providing instant
logon to password-protected Web sites and applications. v-GO saves time, protects users' privacy, and takes the hassle out of managing multiple electronic identities by remembering a user's ID names and passwords and
giving the user only one Universal Password to remember. Users create their Universal Password by clicking one or more objects on an innovative animated interface of their choice.
Mary Dawne Arden, communications consultant and specialist has launched her site: www.ardenassociates.com Her online column on the subject of communication skills is at www.thepublicityguide.com.
4th Peripheral Technologies, a Silicon Valley based company, will be opening a New York City office in July, 1999. 4th Peripheral is a CyberExtension company, extending and integrating the Internet, intranets, and data warehouses by providing remote access from handheld devices (wireless telephone, land-line telephone, PDA, etc.) using the company's proprietary 4eXtenxa™ voice-product family.
Check out Man Vs. Machine's slick site: http://www.manvsmachine.com
Mark Patricof, CEO of
The Cyber Scene in San Diego ~ by Joe Crawford
The Cyber Scene in San Diego ~ by Joe Crawford of ArtLung
The WebGrrls-San Diego [ http://www.webgrrls.com/sandiego/ ] and WebSanDiego [ http://www.artlung.com/websandiego/ ] joint meeting/get-together on June 30, 1999 was terrific. All my expectations about what this event was to be were exceeded. Lots of very cool folks, doing work here in San Diego. A great turnout from both groups, I felt.
The meeting took place at a coffeehouse on University Avenue in Hillcrest called - "The Living Room." The nominal focus was a presentation by Janelle Payne, who is in the sales arm of Sidewalk San Diego.
Anne Wayman (local guide for About.com [http://sandiego.about.com/ ], and Shannon Williams of Cox Interactive Media's [ http://www.cimedia.com/ ] (also responsible for [ http://www.kgtv.com/ ] [ http://www.holidaybowl.com/ ] [http://www.cox.com/sandiego/ ]) SanDiegoInsider.com [ http://www.SanDiegoInsider.com/ ]. WebSanDiego list owner, Joe Crawford [ http://www.artlung.com/ ] asked a few questions - including about what ads might not make it to the site: the reply was that there was indeed an approval process, and that she recalled one in particular - with a particularly clinical before and after graphic of a "male enhancement device" - did not make it through that approval process.
All in all a great presentation by Jannelle, and everyone I believe appreciated her taking the time to give us a look at what she does. "Well thought out" noted Anne Wayman, About.com guide and author [ http://www.powerfullyrecovered.com/ ].
After all that, lots of tech, business, and job discussion - plus an interaction game with Jolly Ranchers. I tried to talk to everybody but missed a few folks - but next time I'll meet everyone!
(full text at: http://www.artlung.com/websandiego/happyhour/hr_003_summary.html)
The WebGrrls-San Diego [ http://www.webgrrls.com/sandiego/ ] and WebSanDiego [ http://www.artlung.com/websandiego/ ] joint meeting/get-together on June 30, 1999 was terrific. All my expectations about what this event was to be were exceeded. Lots of very cool folks, doing work here in San Diego. A great turnout from both groups, I felt.
The meeting took place at a coffeehouse on University Avenue in Hillcrest called - "The Living Room." The nominal focus was a presentation by Janelle Payne, who is in the sales arm of Sidewalk San Diego.
Anne Wayman (local guide for About.com [http://sandiego.about.com/ ], and Shannon Williams of Cox Interactive Media's [ http://www.cimedia.com/ ] (also responsible for [ http://www.kgtv.com/ ] [ http://www.holidaybowl.com/ ] [http://www.cox.com/sandiego/ ]) SanDiegoInsider.com [ http://www.SanDiegoInsider.com/ ]. WebSanDiego list owner, Joe Crawford [ http://www.artlung.com/ ] asked a few questions - including about what ads might not make it to the site: the reply was that there was indeed an approval process, and that she recalled one in particular - with a particularly clinical before and after graphic of a "male enhancement device" - did not make it through that approval process.
All in all a great presentation by Jannelle, and everyone I believe appreciated her taking the time to give us a look at what she does. "Well thought out" noted Anne Wayman, About.com guide and author [ http://www.powerfullyrecovered.com/ ].
After all that, lots of tech, business, and job discussion - plus an interaction game with Jolly Ranchers. I tried to talk to everybody but missed a few folks - but next time I'll meet everyone!
(full text at: http://www.artlung.com/websandiego/happyhour/hr_003_summary.html)
The Cyber Scene in Austin ~ Bill Holloway
The Cyber Scene in Austin ~ by Bill Holloway (Antera Consulting. holloway@io.com)
Michael Dell was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Electronics Association and also named a lifetime acheiver by Mobile Computing and Communications magazine.
Austin technology consulting company Technology Futures study finds that local phone companies will lose significant market share in telecommunications to emerging wireless and cable-modem technologies. 58% of the high speed data market will be captured by cable modems by 2005, the study finds.
Austin-based drkoop.com, an online healthcare information portal, was the highest ranked dedicated healthcare information site on the Internet
for April and May, according to Media Metrix.
Austin's Multimedia Games, which produces interactive bingo and lottery games, says it plans to adapt some of its machines for Internet lotteries. Texas recently changed its laws to allow lottery betting over the Internet. The company said it also wants to have its Internet-based gambling machines working overseas.
Michael Dell was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Electronics Association and also named a lifetime acheiver by Mobile Computing and Communications magazine.
Austin technology consulting company Technology Futures study finds that local phone companies will lose significant market share in telecommunications to emerging wireless and cable-modem technologies. 58% of the high speed data market will be captured by cable modems by 2005, the study finds.
Austin-based drkoop.com, an online healthcare information portal, was the highest ranked dedicated healthcare information site on the Internet
for April and May, according to Media Metrix.
Austin's Multimedia Games, which produces interactive bingo and lottery games, says it plans to adapt some of its machines for Internet lotteries. Texas recently changed its laws to allow lottery betting over the Internet. The company said it also wants to have its Internet-based gambling machines working overseas.
Weddings Galore
In addition to being the month of conferences (6? 8?), June is also (traditionally) the month of weddings. This summer I've had the honor of knowing three wonderful couples who exchanged solemn vows and lifelong commitments to each other. First, my friend Anne Yoakam married Alex Ellsworth in Oaklahoma City in the beginning of June. Then my new and good friend Edmund Bogen (Bogen PR) married a lovely woman named Sam Zarrugh at the Essex House in New York City this past weekend. And this upcoming weekend my long-time good friend James O'Connor (Mercury Interactive) will be marrying Melissa Grossman (Harvard MBA '98 and now in a new startup) in lovely Colorado Springs on July 4th. Many deeply heartfelt congratulations to all three couples and all six dynamic people!
Weddings Galore
In addition to being the month of conferences (6? 8?), June is also (traditionally) the month of weddings. This summer I've had the honor of knowing three wonderful couples who exchanged solemn vows and lifelong commitments to each other. First, my friend Anne Yoakam married Alex Ellsworth in Oaklahoma City in the beginning of June. Then my new and good friend Edmund Bogen (Bogen PR) married a lovely woman named Sam Zarrugh at the Essex House in New York City this past weekend. And this upcoming weekend my long-time good friend James O'Connor (Mercury Interactive) will be marrying Melissa Grossman (Harvard MBA '98 and now in a new startup) in lovely Colorado Springs on July 4th. Many deeply heartfelt congratulations to all three couples and all six dynamic people!
TCS Intro: 7/2/99
The Cyber Scene (tm) ~ by Courtney Pulitzer ~ July 2, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
~ This week was we've got a whole beach bag of goodies! Check out the Table of Contents -- full reports are on the site, so your e-mail box won't bust!
~ I won't kiss & tell, but this month's "Cocktails with Courtney" had full-moon impact!
~ Catch me tonight as I appear on MLC's "Plugged In" show (Cablevision) discussing the pros and cons of buying food on-line. (And take home a live lobster tail!) 8:30 PM. Cablevision.
~ Don't touch that dial! Coming soon you'll be able to LISTEN to "The Cyber Scene" report each week instead of just reading it, thanks to Austin-based Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com). Videocasts are planned for the future too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I. This week's specials:
Weddings galore
Nerve-iness
Broadband and Streaming conferences galore
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Spending Island Time and "Yack!"ing with Mark Cuban
SWAK -- CWC (pictures soon)
The Cyber Scene in Austin
The Cyber Scene in San Diego
The Cyber Scene in Australia ~ Special report by Aliza Sherman
II. Regular Features:
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th
Austin -- August 4th (final plans pending) *Webcast via Clickhear
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME
~ This week was we've got a whole beach bag of goodies! Check out the Table of Contents -- full reports are on the site, so your e-mail box won't bust!
~ I won't kiss & tell, but this month's "Cocktails with Courtney" had full-moon impact!
~ Catch me tonight as I appear on MLC's "Plugged In" show (Cablevision) discussing the pros and cons of buying food on-line. (And take home a live lobster tail!) 8:30 PM. Cablevision.
~ Don't touch that dial! Coming soon you'll be able to LISTEN to "The Cyber Scene" report each week instead of just reading it, thanks to Austin-based Clickhear Productions (www.clickhear.com). Videocasts are planned for the future too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I. This week's specials:
Weddings galore
Nerve-iness
Broadband and Streaming conferences galore
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Spending Island Time and "Yack!"ing with Mark Cuban
SWAK -- CWC (pictures soon)
The Cyber Scene in Austin
The Cyber Scene in San Diego
The Cyber Scene in Australia ~ Special report by Aliza Sherman
II. Regular Features:
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes
III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
NYC -- July 28th
Austin -- August 4th (final plans pending) *Webcast via Clickhear
LA and SF -- Stay tuned!
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com
IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
Thursday, July 01, 1999
The Cyber Scene in Austin - by Will Kreth
Hello and welcome to my first Cyber Scene report from Austin, TX - where both the weather and the people are always warm, sometimes hot, but never cold. On July 1st, we checked out a meeting of the ACM-SIGCHI Austin Chapter (CHI-Austin) at interactive game and media developers Human Code's offices.
Located on Congress St.'s "media strip" of design houses and Web site, CD-ROM, and PC/video game developers, such as Digital Anvil, Frog Design, Excite, Monkey Media, and Living.Com (all on Congress and all within about a quarter-mile of the Colorado River [AKA: Town Lake]), Human Code has been developing or co-developing titles for several years. Of late, they've been working on Web site architecture and design (such as the redesign of Austin-based Garden.com), and games titles for kids (such as Mattel's Barbie's Riding Stable, which was the best selling kids' CD-ROM title during Christmas '98). Giddy-up Barbie!
Human Code senior designer Tim Gasperak took the CHI-Austin audience through not only a demonstration of the products Human Code has worked on, but also some of the ideas and methodologies involved in their work. One of the phrases that he mentioned that stuck in my mind was the idea of creating a "user-tropic" experience. Unlike the "user-centric" design that is bandied about quite a bit these days, Gasperak defined "user-tropic" interaction design as design that "turns like a flower or plant turns toward the sun [e.g.- heliotropic], accommodating each unique user's needs or level of skill/ability." In an era of increasingly 1:1 relationships with customers, where companies have to personalize to compete, this seems to make sense.
Designer Heather Kelley then demo'd "Redbeard's Pirate Quest" - a new kind of kids' game that mixes both real and virtual characters to great effect. Co-designed with Zowie Intertainment (a spin-off Interval Research - Paul Allen's Menlo Park, CA-based research and development lab), "RPQ" comes with a plastic ship model, four action figures, and a CD-ROM with game software. The play action is determined by the figures, which when set on the deck of the ship, can control the action that happens on a virtual ship on the computer screen. If the game on the screen depicts a sword fight with some villains approaching, the action figure characters can be moved around the deck of the "real" ship to fend off the attackers. Beyond the ordinary mouse or joystick as controllers, this use of a pirate ship model as an input device for the action on the screen was a big hit with the crowd. (Some parents may not want to stop playing with this one!) Another game using this technology is called "Ellie's Enchanted Garden." Both games are set to be in stores in the US in time for Christmas 1999.
Afterwards, a posse of CHI-Austinites, including current CHI-Austin Chair Perry Arnold, Harald Friz (of Trilogy); Brian Frank (ex-Trilogy, moving on to BeCandid in Boulder), Roger Tilson (of IBM), Tanya Payne (of Kazan) and Tim and Heather from Human Code all repaired to the Sava Blue Water Grill for drinks and appetizers. Harald turned me on to a drink called the "Mohito" - a rum and lime concoction served in a tall glass and on the rocks - somewhat similar to the Brazilian "Caiparhina." Tasty stuff! Well, that's all for now from Austin.
[[all links on the website]]
** Austin Shakers & Stirrers ~ by Bill Holloway **
Seeking to add a seasoned executive to its management team, CyBerCorp, the fast-growing electronic trading technology company, has hired Steve Wagh as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Located on Congress St.'s "media strip" of design houses and Web site, CD-ROM, and PC/video game developers, such as Digital Anvil, Frog Design, Excite, Monkey Media, and Living.Com (all on Congress and all within about a quarter-mile of the Colorado River [AKA: Town Lake]), Human Code has been developing or co-developing titles for several years. Of late, they've been working on Web site architecture and design (such as the redesign of Austin-based Garden.com), and games titles for kids (such as Mattel's Barbie's Riding Stable, which was the best selling kids' CD-ROM title during Christmas '98). Giddy-up Barbie!
Human Code senior designer Tim Gasperak took the CHI-Austin audience through not only a demonstration of the products Human Code has worked on, but also some of the ideas and methodologies involved in their work. One of the phrases that he mentioned that stuck in my mind was the idea of creating a "user-tropic" experience. Unlike the "user-centric" design that is bandied about quite a bit these days, Gasperak defined "user-tropic" interaction design as design that "turns like a flower or plant turns toward the sun [e.g.- heliotropic], accommodating each unique user's needs or level of skill/ability." In an era of increasingly 1:1 relationships with customers, where companies have to personalize to compete, this seems to make sense.
Designer Heather Kelley then demo'd "Redbeard's Pirate Quest" - a new kind of kids' game that mixes both real and virtual characters to great effect. Co-designed with Zowie Intertainment (a spin-off Interval Research - Paul Allen's Menlo Park, CA-based research and development lab), "RPQ" comes with a plastic ship model, four action figures, and a CD-ROM with game software. The play action is determined by the figures, which when set on the deck of the ship, can control the action that happens on a virtual ship on the computer screen. If the game on the screen depicts a sword fight with some villains approaching, the action figure characters can be moved around the deck of the "real" ship to fend off the attackers. Beyond the ordinary mouse or joystick as controllers, this use of a pirate ship model as an input device for the action on the screen was a big hit with the crowd. (Some parents may not want to stop playing with this one!) Another game using this technology is called "Ellie's Enchanted Garden." Both games are set to be in stores in the US in time for Christmas 1999.
Afterwards, a posse of CHI-Austinites, including current CHI-Austin Chair Perry Arnold, Harald Friz (of Trilogy); Brian Frank (ex-Trilogy, moving on to BeCandid in Boulder), Roger Tilson (of IBM), Tanya Payne (of Kazan) and Tim and Heather from Human Code all repaired to the Sava Blue Water Grill for drinks and appetizers. Harald turned me on to a drink called the "Mohito" - a rum and lime concoction served in a tall glass and on the rocks - somewhat similar to the Brazilian "Caiparhina." Tasty stuff! Well, that's all for now from Austin.
[[all links on the website]]
** Austin Shakers & Stirrers ~ by Bill Holloway **
Seeking to add a seasoned executive to its management team, CyBerCorp, the fast-growing electronic trading technology company, has hired Steve Wagh as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
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