Monday, June 12, 2000

What on Earth is that Noise?

"There must be something wildly wonderful going on upstairs," I thought as I rang the outside buzzer a few times before someone exited the building in Chelsea, allowing me entry to the party on the third-floor loft. It didn't sound wildly loud, but with a company name like Earthnoise, you might expect that. In striking contrast to the ear-splitting, frat-like parties going on this week during Streaming Media East, Earthnoise took a cue from the entertaining maven of our era and hosted a comfortable, intimate soiree in the CEO's home. Not a terribly hard stretch for the former COO of Martha Stewart Living, Omnimedia, and now CEO of Earthnoise, David Steward.

His elegant and Asian-inspired aesthetic loft was perfect for entertaining -- so perfect it was featured in several architectural magazines. But David does more than just entertain and hail from a noted background. His company has a video library on countless topics and the ability for users to post their videos. While delicate hors d'oeuvres were passed around by wait-staff in clean white t-shirts (emphasis on Clean), Hawaiian print sarongs (provided) and flip-flops, I met Earthnoise’s Art Director Steve Moors and COO Marti Schiff. Chief Creative Officer Jen Bekman was in the process of moving back to her hometown of NYC after several years in San Francisco, and we chatted about the differences and features of each city. Nearby, Thomas Koveleskie of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown introduced me to an expert on derivatives -- his sister, Mary Koveleskie of HSBC Securities. While mango martinis, the drink of choice, were being sipped carefully, I chatted with Biz Development Manager Stephanie Colucci and Biz Developer Rich Stradtman, as well as Timothy Boyd of Sports.com and James McGurk of Coqui Capital.