more than 2,000 staffers and guests to Seattle's Sheraton Plaza late
last Friday under one important condition. Invitees were asked to
appear in a costume that related to any product Amazon sells. As you
might imagine, this opened Pandora's UPS box to everything from
bookmarks to blenders, computer hardware to a Star Wars' StormTrooper
(who managed to win the dance contest with his partner-- was that
Queen Amidala?). Hip-hop and classic rock filled the air while finger
food filled the mouths of hungry Amazonians. Living up to their name,
if not their new logo, there were even a few shrunken heads by the
end of the evening. Among the cast of characters, local radio Web
Grrl Dana rocked the night away with husband Rob Greenlee, aka Henry the
Eighth, president of the Seattle chapter of the AIP, (Assoc. of
Internet Professionals). No sign of the Bay-man, unless that was Jeff
hovering near the beer and wine bar dressed like a Zulu warrior.
Why watch game shows on TV when you can be a part of the action? The
WSA (Washington Software Alliance) combined the Bellevue Art Museum's
current exhibit, "The Game Show," featuring artist-inspired,
interactive games and puzzles with local interactive entertainment
companies, HerInteractive.com, Humongous Entertainment, Nintendo of
America and Valve Software to create an evening focused on fun and
interaction. WSA program manager Denise Elwood, arranged the event
and commented, "This year the WSA will be holding a number of
networking events at unique locations. We want to create a different
kind of atmosphere for interacting." 'Denise, you've just won 100
game points, or what's inside the box Steve Ballmer is now holding.'
Suburban Issaquah's experts in residence are Adam and Tonya Engst.
Best known for publishing TidBITS, the perennial Mac e-zine (Tonya
also co-authors), Adam scribed the best-selling Internet Startup Kit
and the Visual QuickStart Guide to Eudora 4.2 among others. Down the
road a piece, TidBITS co-editor Jeff Carlson also wrote the VQS on
the Palm Pilot. Adam's newest work, Crossing Platforms: A
Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook, penned with David Pogue, could bring
detente' to both OS camps. Around the house, Adam relates how one
year old birthday-boy, Tristan, was the impetus for making
HomeGrocer.com drive 1600 feet up Tiger Mountain (on a regular basis)
where the Engst residence provides a spectacular view. My trekkie
joke is that when Captain James Kirk said, "Beam me down, Scotty," he
followed with, "Wait a minute. The Engst place? Sheesh, I'll just
walk down!"
Spawning in the Northwest Net Stream... iCopyright.com has gone live,
providing immediate reuse permissions and reprints of stories from
the LA Times and San Jose Mercury News...Microsoft spawned
Expedia.com will launch a print travel magazine, and continues to
surpass Preview Travel (PTVL) and Travelocity.com as the most-visited
travel site on the Web...The Sundance Film Festival was good to Atom
Films which is adding new shorts at an amazing clip to fulfill its
mission of "Instant Entertainment." Looking for a job in Seattle?
Atom's got 'em, so does Brand-X, Net-Nanny and Q-Pass, to name but a
few.
