Thursday, December 31, 1998

Silicon Alley Mottos

Clay Shirky
A Proud Tradition of Making It Up As We Go Along.
Where Cont--mmui-erce is King!
Birthplace of Michael Wolff
Glenn Hauman
Brother, can you paradigm?
First to market, quality content, profitable: Pick any two
Silicon Alley: Our venture capitalists aren't as gullible
We don't give our employees BMWs, we pass the savings on to you!
We live in New York -- an Internet startup is supposed to be more stressful?
Three hours ahead of the valley, twenty-one hours in Internet time.
Silicon Alley: Trendier than cocaine-- and legal, too!
Silicon Alley: The Big Applet.
Silicon Alley: Exploiting native fear and distrust of Californians since 1993.

Peter Shankman
Plug and go. And go, and go, and go...
Profits? We don' need no steenkin profits!

Catherine Skidmore
Try Reloading
Grimmwerks@aol.com
Silicon Alley: not just the space between Pamela's breasts
Silicon Alley: What're YOU lookin' at?!?

Jason McCabe Calacanis
No *Alley*, drop the V"
We dress better, throw bigger parties, and eat at better restaurants.
Please underestimate us, we love that. or Underestimate us and we'll disintermediate your ass.
Our content is as sticky as the seats on F train

Bill Lessard
Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle, baby!
Brian Cirulnick
Silicon Alley: More Parties, Less Profits
Justin Champion
Screw the Valley, keep it real in the Alley
Alex Valich
Silicon Alley, where inexperiece and stupidity= success....on paper
Jen Runne
It's not about who you know, it's about....uh, nevermind.....
Jim Graham
Silicon Alley -- Gateway to the Garment District

Steve Baldwin
Commerce, Community, and Corruption
Surf Drunk Here, and We'll Take Your PC
More Hamster Dance Fans Than Syracuse

o___o@hongkong.com
Feel you're gettin fuk'd on the left coast? Come here, we can do it better!
Paradigm??? We can't discern what's left from what's right.
Paradigm??? How much does that cost?
There's a lotta rocks is this Alley - lets make soup. (All rocks provided, you bring the meat and vegetables.)
Paradigm??? We don't need no steenkin' paradigm - Just give us your /time/expertise/heart/soul and the check will be mailed tomorrow.

Enrique Gili
Silly Con Alley: We Spend Your Money, So you Don't Have To
Jesse Erlbaum
Abort, Retry, Fail?
Save early, save often!
Bababooey!

Tony Long
Where IPO means, "I'm Pierced-Out!"
Steve Gilliard
Silicon Alley-where no one says have a nice day.....ever.
Wei Su
We take the 'Victory' out of the Valley
John Bono
Give us $5,000,000 and we'll give you a piece of paper w/ writing on it
We waste more money by 9AM than some governments waste all year

Jonathan I. Ezor
Silicon Alley--*Way* Over the (Cutting) Edge!
and from Glenn Hauman "or the variant: Silicon Alley: where the cutting edge of technology is suspended over our necks."

Rahmin Pavlovic
You mean, I actually get paid for doing this?
Silicon Alley - We've got more overbudgeted trust-fund babies than an uptown prep-school
Silicon Alley - We don't have to work long & late hours, we choose to. N64 anyone?
Silicon Alley - Where people ask you for mottoes describing Silicon Alley

And my vote is:
Courtney Pulitzer
Silicon Alley: If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!

Thursday, December 17, 1998

NYNMA Holiday Party

NYNMA had their Holiday celebration not far away, the same night, at the Duggal Studios on Broadway in Soho. This has been the choice space for the members only affair for the last 3 years and still has quite a respectable draw.

Thursday, December 03, 1998

Speaking in the CanApple program in Vancouver


Continuing on my travel mode, two days later I flew to Vancouver, British Columbia on Thursday, December 3rd. I was bestowed an honor from Matt Toner of The Canadian Consulate in New York, and co-director of the CanApple program, to speak with two other Silicon Alley-ers at a panel discussion on New York and new media. The newly formed New Media BC non-profit, similar to our NYNMA, has panels and networking events for members in the British Columbia territory with an interest in new media. Put on in conjunction between CanApple, New Media BC, Industry Canada and Deloitte and Touche at the geodesic dome Science Fair in downtown Vancouver the event was a classy introduction to the new media scene in BC. Jane Green, executive director of New Media BC, is a talented and dynamic woman whose energy and vision will take this organization far. I spoke first, providing a backdrop for the event and background on Silicon Alley and how the NY new media community and industry has grown and developed since the early days in 1994. Garnet Hernaman, co-founder and CEO of University Ventures, Inc. gave much-desired advice to the audience with simple, clear points on how to go about getting venture capital. Recounting the trials and tribulations of the experience for an Irish company doing business in New York, with a bit of humor thrown in, Niall Swan gave the attendees a sense of how foreign firms can survive in NYC and the new media community. Rounding out the session Matt Toner explained the CanApple program and how the Canadian government and Canadian organizations like his can assist interested new media professionals.

Believing in the importance of knowing who's who and who does what, I set out in Vancouver to discover some interesting companies and the people who run them. And what a discovery I made! I am so impressed with the amount of talent in this town, the professionalism of every person I met, and the energy and activity going on in this beautiful city.

MOUSE Holiday Benefit party

I arrived back in New York just in time to attend the MOUSE Holiday Benefit party on Tuesday, December 3rd. The crisp cold night made the excitement about this organization's first major benefit even more heightened. Executive director Sarah Holloway's and president Andrew Raisej's decision to host the event in Jonathan Leitersdorf's stunning triplex apartment added to the drama and sense of specialness appropriate for this non-profit. Letiersdorf donated the use of his six bedroom home-cum-rented-party-space complete with heated pool (outside on a deck facing East).

 The guest list read like New York's Who's Who of new media CEO's, venture capitalists, and small business owners. Robert Levitan (iVillage), Lara Stein and Diana Butler (iXL), and MOUSE board member Peter Chislett came in support with friends. Gordon Gould, executive editor for the Silicon Alley Reporter, Roz Resneck of NetCreations and two of her friends arrived early, along with many other attendees. Real estate guru Debra Lee Charatan and her friend Victoria spent some quality time at the event, firmly entrenched in conversation by the massive stone fireplace with roaring fire. Andrew Klein of Wit Capital and his colleague all had the opportunity to enjoy stunning views and mouth-watering Asian cuisine hors d'ouvres  Even Andy's mom showed up! Other family members of Silicon Alley movers and shakers and some high school friends of Ms. Holloway helped make this high-powered $250 a ticket event seem warm and friendly. Andrew Raisej spoke for a brief bit on MOUSE (Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education) and its successes. The non-profit has currently wired and trained teachers in 15 New York City public high and junior-high schools on integrating the Internet and new technologies. Two high school students shared their dreams of future success, conceivable due to the new world MOUSE has opened up for them. Upstairs the grass carpeted patio led to a glass-enclosed duplex where many guests stood in awe of views of stars above and their friends downstairs, which they could spy on thanks to the 12-foot projection screen monitor set in the room. Seasoned new media-ites Troy Tyler (NYC Investment Fund), Mark Hurst (Creative Good), Ted Werth (Digital Club Network), and a spiffy chap in a checked suit were mixed in with a motley crew of seasoned investment types, some less paletable than others. One self-important gentleman stood impatiently at the door upon arrival, throwing a blank check at one of the guest list checkers, while on his cell, and barked "Just fill it all out." Upstairs, rumor has it another man flat out propositioned a woman (name withheld, but she was a classy art restorer). Well, not everyone had the class, or panache that newly IPO'd success stories Jack and Murray Hidary had as they escorted their father around. Judging from the happy faces of guests as they arrived and their even more beaming looks as they filtered out, the MOUSE event was a success in many ways. The stunning space and fund-raising success (unofficially it reached several tens of thousands), reflect and highlight MOUSE's grand goals and achievements. As the holiday season continues on, let's continue to look at the good works around us, take a little time for charity and for your soul. It'll feel good, and you'll probably have a good time at it!

Saturday, November 28, 1998

1st time coverage of new media scene in Vancouver & CJP's un-wired trip to the BVI's


News Flash! Special first-time coverage of the New Media scene in Vancouver!

Highlights of this week's column:
* The British Virgin Islands--sailing around the Caribbean, not surfing the Web
* MOUSE Holiday Benefit
* New Media BC--the scene in Vancouver

It's a rare opportunity when a person has the opportunity to travel from one corner of the United States to the other within a week. Seeing palm trees and sailing around the US and British Virgin Islands over Thanksgiving week to seeing the Rocky Mountains in Vancouver this week has been a unique experience and one that spans the range of digital connectivity on many levels.

You may have noticed my column did not arrive in your In-box last week. For once, instead of attending several new media events a week, I had the delicious experience of sailing from tiny island to tiny island between the USVI and the BVI, snorkeling and lazing around. Eating fresh Caribbean lobster on Jost Van Dyke--an island of 150 people, was something I'd never done before and relished every bit. As our lives get more connected and people become more "wired"--cell phones, Palm IIIs, laptops, voice mail--the chance to escape it all seems harder to do but more important than ever. Sure there were signs of Internet filtration: advertisements for the resorts', diving schools', charter boats', and other tourist companies' Web sites; but checking them out online was nowhere near my itinerary. This was one trip I'd do totally un-wired.

Thursday, October 08, 1998

Internet World: SAR party

From Javits a group of us walked over to Mr. Jason Calacanis' vast bash at Studio 450. Hyped up as one of the biggest and best Internet World parties, this "executive cocktail reception" was far from exclusive. There were lots of people, possibly a representative from the majority of Alley companies, but the large parties that resemble mob scenes are more than this journalist can deal with after a week of conferencing. Fellow WWWAC Board member Larry Aronson and headed out for a nice calm dinner at Peryali.

Internet World: WWWAC, Webgrrls and NYNMA event "Soho to IPO: Silicon Alley Matures and Faces Its Growing Pains

Continuing the frenzied pace of Internet World, typical of any conference in town, I headed over to the Jacob K. Javits center on Thursday, October 8th along with Howard Greenstein, Eric Goldberg, Deb Shultz, and Eileen Shulock to begin setup for the WWWAC, Webgrrls and NYNMA event "Soho to IPO: Silicon Alley Matures and Faces Its Growing Pains." Formerly the Silicon Village event, this year the panel discussion, lead by Lisa Napoli was an attempt to discuss, debate, and discern how New York has gone from a town of small startups to a major leading city for new media and companies financial success. Unfortunately, once again the impressive array of panelists (Kevin O'Connor, Doubleclick; Martin Nisenholtz, NYTimes; Candice Carpenter, iVillage; Glenn Meyers, Raremedium; Scott Kurnit, The Mining Company) failed to say much beyond "safe" topics. I think people go to panels because they are interested in the topic. They would like to learn something from the esteemed speakers or be exposed to a meaty debate. Instead we are feed pat answers and recycled musings. Ms. Napoli made valiant efforts to draw out inspired answers and asked a few charged questions, "If you could be one of the other panelists, who would you be?" Mark Stalhman shouted out from the audience of "Up the Alley!" With his charge, the panel ended and the 400+ attendees streamed back into room 1E11 for more cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. This event was successful in bringing together a terrific menagerie of industry professionals ranging from programmers to account people to board members from NYNMA and WWWAC to anyone who has an interest in new media and especially in New York.

Wednesday, October 07, 1998

Internet World: TRUSTe announcement

Considering one of the biggest obstacles for consumers and non-Internet-industry professionals is privacy online, and what happens to their information once submitted to a site, the TRUSTe (www.truste.org) organization's announcement of its Privacy Partnership was yet another important piece of news during Internet World. Executive director of this independent, non-profit, industry initiative, Susan Scott announced the impressive statistic that there will be over 200 million banner impressions due to the combined efforts of the founding companies' sites and other participants. A glittery assortment of founding company executives spoke of the importance of this program for community building, trust, and security issues for the consumer and their experience on the Internet. The press event, which was Wednesday, October 7th, was wrapped up with Andrew Zolli, vice president, interactive media, Siegel & Gale, showing the banner ad campaign that his company created (along with the program's identity).

Nerve's 1st Book & LawNMoweR

While Nerve magazine (www.nerve.com) continued celebrating the release of their first book at a watering hole near the Astor Place Barnes & Noble, the LawNMoweR organization continued its festivities until about 11:00 PM at the Roxy. What would be coverage of this year's Internet World without mentioning the big publicity stunt by The Mining Co. accommodating the press with Ferrari and regular limos. These giant slugs carried around the crowds from one party to the next during the conference. One colleague mentioned that some journalists were less than sophisticated and pocketed the "free" beers. "You didn't even have to pay for them? Hey! What class!

News in the Digital Age @ Columbia

From there I caught the number 1 train and went to the completely opposite end of the Island and landed at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. AT&T sponsored a panel discussion on "News in the Digital Age" moderated by Lesley Stahl. Dr. Thomas Middlehoff of Bertelsmann, Steve Case of America Online, and Bob Wright of NBC were among the panelists. Attendees included John Pavlik, director of Columbia University's Center for New Media, Sreenath Sreenivasan, associate prof. at the school, the dynamic Renee Edelman of PR21, Jennifer Michalski of Antenna Group, and Katherine Cavenaugh. Jeff Ratner of Brand Dialogue, Dana Blankenhorn (www.a-clue.com), and Robert Silverman (NBC.com) came up for the delicious, hearty, yummy, filling hors d'ouevres. I certainly enjoyed them as I chatted with these interesting thinkers. And what did they think of the panel? Well, it seemed to most that Ms. Stahl hadn't done her homework and many wondered if she'd ever been online. While the topic "The Information Revolution: What comes next?" was ripe for discussion, most panelists managed to get through it without committing to much and reverted to topics comfortable, familiar, and safe -- their companies and personal anecdotes.

The Industry Standard @ NASDAQ

Later on Wednesday the party scene picked up, which is another major component of this conference for many attendees. A typical week for me, now I am joined by thousands of people who attempt to go to the events, meet people, and see what's going on. The Industry Standard had a spectacular space for its party, in the NASDAQ Television studio at 33 Whitehall Place, but hors d'ouevres were non-existent. I managed to catch a mini lobster wrap, but considering this was a cocktail party from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, you think they would've feed the hungry guests a little better. In any case, I had lovely conversations with Erik Endress of Thomson Financial Services (www.thomsoninvest.net), Elliot Ng of NetCentives, and Graeme Thickins of GTA Marketing. Michael Bayle and Adrian Vanzl of Link Exchange, and Michael Lee and I enjoyed some moments in the packed corridor of this slick, high-tech, many video-screened studio. Riva Syrop and Nova Spivak of Earthweb, Chris Bayers, Senior Writer, Wired took a peek at the newest issue of The Standard, and marveled at the lawyer-cum-model in Earthweb's newest ad.

Tuesday, October 06, 1998

First Edition of "Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene"

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

You have known me for years as the best source for what is happening in the New York Cyber Social Scene.  As the industry has expanded, my interests have also expanded.

My readers have been asking for more reporting on industry trends, movers and shakers, and the buzz that makes New York as one of the greatest places for new media to thrive. One of my goals is to live up to your requests and deliver the newest, coolest, sassiest, inside news on The Scene. I hope to continue to deliver the best, wittiest, and most useful information. To be the best, I need your help. Email me with your news and views, career changes, and event information and I will keep the community abuzz with what's happening.  If you enjoy the column, forward a copy to your friends!

So let's get going.

Welcome to the first edition of "The Scene with Courtney Pulitzer."

This week at Internet World there were the typical hyped-up parties, events and seminars galore, and panels that fell far below expectations.

Swing magazine's Battle of the Unsigned Bands

Things were swinging at the Swing magazine's Battle of the Unsigned Bands down in the West Village at the West Beth Theater, this same evening. While David Lauren, president and editor-in-chief of Swing, announced the winner -- Youngster, I caught up with old Skidmore classmate of mine, Andrew Lauren. Currently working on a film with Woody Allen and a few other projects, it seems as if life has been treating him well since our former school days. Ted Werth of Digital Club Network and Jeremy Kagan of Volatile Media were there checking out the bands, as was David Meadows of ScreenShop.com.

Internet World: Financial Sites Storm the Internet party

With such a focus on financial and corporate news, I thought it appropriate to start off the week at the Hoover's Online, EDGAR-Online, and Pequot Systems' "Financial Sites Storm the Internet" party on Tuesday, October 6th. The Typhoon brewery, an appropriate choice given the title of the event, was packed with business associates and "financial types." I had a great long chat with Brian McCracken of iSyndicate (http://www.isyndicate.com). Chris Allbritton (AP news) and I spoke at length with Chris Hayes (www.hayes.net), Rick Robinson and of Michael Peroff (www.strategicdomain.com), and Mark Pasetsky (www.middleberg.com). Jay Sears, vice president, marketing and business development of EDGAR-Online, introduced me to Ajit "Professional Thinker" Kambil, who came up with the electronic filing system for SEC and now is at Anderson Consulting and an Assistant Professor at Stern School of Business at NYU. Jack Gardner, national advertising manager at Hoovers, was telling me all about the thriving scene in Dallas and Austin, TX. Hmmm, maybe a trip is in order to check it out! Kimberly Benedetto, manager customer support, EDGAR-Online and Michael Valentin, director, internet technology, were also present enjoying the evening. Before I left I had a breath of fresh air by speaking with Michael Wolff and his exuberant wife Ms. Anthoine.

The Start of Internet World

Starting out like Mercury, quick and light-footed, trying to see everything at the Javits Center and ending with the slow plodding of a pack-horse, most people think of Internet World as a blessing and a curse. In addition to the buzz and hype generated around this conference, the Internet industry has been abuzz with news of CDnow and N2K possibly merging and with Bertelsmann purchasing 50% of Barnes and Noble.com. All this and a market that just hasn't reflected a positive outlook for the industry has many people spinning.

The Start of Internet World

Starting out like Mercury, quick and light-footed, trying to see everything at the Javits Center and ending with the slow plodding of a pack-horse, most people think of Internet World as a blessing and a curse. In addition to the buzz and hype generated around this conference, the Internet industry has been abuzz with news of CDnow and N2K possibly merging and with Bertelsmann purchasing 50% of Barnes and Noble.com. All this and a market that just hasn't reflected a positive outlook for the industry has many people spinning.

Thursday, October 01, 1998

Norma Kamali showroom online and off

From there I visited the Norma Kamali showroom (www.omo-norma-kamali.com), whose website I built in 1996 and then the showroom of XMI. John Young, national sales director, XMI, showed me a gorgeous selection of high-end, beautiful ties and shirts. Something to keep in mind, gentlemen, for next week's series of posh parties. Yes, Virginia (and Virgil) there is something other than Banana Republic and Armani!

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

Appointments About Town

Harkening back to the days of social calls and leisurely lunches, Thursday, October 1st, I dashed about town paying visits to an assortment of people vested in the care and development of new media. NYNMA's executive director, Alice O'Rourke and I had a delicious lunch at Savoy in Soho. The planning of some exciting (and fun!) future events were among the topics, volunteering and busy lives were others. After this healthful meal I visited with David West Smith of Global Emerging Markets and had a rich conversation about his firm's investment background. Chris Brown, director and founder of the New York office was savoring what he could of his lunch that long time school-mate and friend Tom Courts (pres. and CEO, Sportscappers.com) wasn't relishing!

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

Wednesday, September 30, 1998

Forrester Research's 1998 Forum Series, "Making Internet Marketing Pay Off.

As an appetizer for next week's crazy conference compendium, I sampled some tasty morsels of conference schmooze at Forrester Research's 1998 Forum Series, "Making Internet Marketing Pay Off." The Sheraton Towers Hotel was a buzz with activity on Wednesday, September 30th. Some companies were showing their wares at the "Web Welcome Showcase" reception this night. I met Diana Butler (director, PR and marketing) and James Ontra (bus. Dev. Manager) of iXL.com and Colin Costello (program manager) of Chicago-based Giant Step.com. While listening to some impressive demo-speak from Post Communications' Hans Peter Brondmo I spied (and caught up with) NetGravity's Mark Elkin. Elkin and I shared some stories of our beloved Russia, where we both spent time -- at different times -- and how things are going in San Francisco, which is where he is now based. Matthew Moog, vp of CoolSavings.com outlined their sucess and gave me some real coupons (which you can also print out from their various clients' websites). Helloooo, Kmart! Ipix.com (Interactive Pictures) was also demoing their software, and as soon as I finish processing all the great information from the informative panels, I'll be able to take it for a test run. Speakers for this event included Christie Hefner (Playboy), Jake Winebaum (Disney Online and Buena Vista Internet Group), Tim Koogle (pres. and CEO, Yahoo!), Robert Pittman (pres. and COO, AOL), and our own local talent, Seth Goldstein (pres. and CEO, Root.net).

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

Monday, September 28, 1998

Michael Wolff @ NYNMA/Wharton School of Business joint event & WWWAC Mtg

With next week promising to be another phenomenally phrantic Internet World phrenzy, this week was relatively quiet with only a few phat events scattered throughout. Okay, enough of the hip-talk... let's get down to business, which is exactly what Michael Wolff did on Monday at the NYNMA/Wharton School of Business joint event. Wolff, a lively and humorous writer, took a much more dour tone this September 28th night at the Citicorp building. His outlook for the future of the Internet was not hopeful. Meanwhile, in the spacious loft of Larry Aronson (of "HTML 3 Manual of Style" fame) and Lynn Thigpen (of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" fame) was a WWWAC board meeting. I mention this as I am a board member, but am not running for the next year. This final meeting of inaugural board members conveyed to me that the next year's board will need lots of energy and commitment to take this trade organization to the next level of professional association status.

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

Thursday, June 11, 1998

WWWAC meeting and KRON

Standing above the Summer Garden at Rockefeller Center, combating busses, "jubilant" party-ers, and a band that wouldn't quit, I was interviewed by Stan Bunger of KRON-TV. So the Valley folks got a unique cross-section of the New Media event/party scene on Thursday, June 11.  We started off at a WWWAC meeting, which was focused that night on distance learning. The presentations were rich with various companies and schools discussing their distance learning programs and the future of education.  Characteristically, the merry band of wwwacky's had wry comments and sharp wit as they called out news stories from the past week. One gentleman in particular, an advocate of free software distribution, zealously informed us of the day when free software will reign and MS-based products will actually fall by the wayside. Bunger and crew noted afterwards that its refreshing to hear such "anarchy" (my words) as their is hardly anyone left on the West Coast who would dare breathe a word of dissonance against the Gatesian Kingdom and all its fiefdoms.

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

The Advertising New York '98 benefit

We hopped in a cab and went 3 blocks from the Canadian Consulate  (gracious hosts of the WWWAC mtg) to Rockefeller Center. (Well, they *were* carrying lots of heavy equipment.) The Advertising New York '98 benefit event brought together the Ad. Club of NY, the Ad Women of NY, and the American Ad Federation. They were raising money to benefit charitable causes and honoring the winners of the Good Egg award, which is given to a company that makes public service an important part of their business. Price Waterhouse, Young & Rubicam, and Schlolastic Inc. were the winners, and Publicolor received an award for their contribution to education in NYC. 36 companies from these clubs sponsored city eateries and had one of their employees (like Al Roker (NBC), Wenda Harris Millard (Doubleclick), and David Rosengarten (Food Network) "cook" the food. I met "celebrity chefs" John Messina (AOL), and Greg Bauer (Ticketmaster). Robert Ruskstalis (MassiveMedia) wasn't cooking but was enjoying the People magazine properties' yummy hors d'ouevres. I allowed myself to indulge in that which I normally wouldn't and sampled Hearst Magazine's (Alan Waxenberg) lamb burger, The Ad Age Group's  gourmet pig-in-a-blanket, and a corn dog (which actually brought back bad memories of 4th grade lunch)! Frank Cina, with Hearst Magazines, was enjoying the fine samplings, as was Jennifer Sokol of Darwin Digital, and Katie Gallagher and Lydia Snape of Renegade Marketing Group. Renegade was a finalist for the Good Egg award for their work with Per Scholas (www.perscholas.org), and recently won the Gold Effie for their Panasonic campaign.

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

Wednesday, June 10, 1998

WINM: myths currently governing the online content industry

Earlier that day (June 10), in Bloomberg News's offices, Jim Docherty, (Pres. Hachette Filipacchi New Media) challenged some myths currently governing the online content industry for the Women in New Media. (www.winm.org) He had some interesting points about repurposing conventional media (not always a bad idea), how to succeed in the internet business, and that you don't have to always market your product as if it were produced by a guy with a shaved head. (You don't?!) Not everyone agreed with his views, but no one threw their morning bagels or fresh fruit at him (well, he asked us not to in the beginning of his talk). Afterwards, I had an enlightening conversation with John Motavalli, of Hachette, about the origins of Pathfinder's name. One of America's greatest writers, James Fenimore Cooper, had written a book with the same name. The Hachette representatives would claim the novel is better than the website, and current day Pathfinder only succeeded in diluting their brands. Some may beg to differ, and Karen Epper Hoffman, a new media writer, and Amy Fried and I discussed some of the finer points on our way out. Amy and I discovered we knew some people in common -- Andrew Gelman (currently an attorney with NBC) and Malcolm Maclachlan (who was also at the Burning Man festival last year). Amy just moved back to NY from CA and is busily immersed at Wert & Co.

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

NYNMA Panel: The Internet & Public Policy: Who's in Control?

It was mentioned in @NY last week, and I'm sure people from the dark recesses of the Alley's companies came out for NYNMA's panel on "The Internet & Public Policy: Who's in Control?" on Wednesday, June 10. Sun Microsystems hosted a reception and then Saul Hansell (tech. & e-commerce reporter, The New York Times) moderated a discussion between Esther Dyson, (Edventure Holdings), Lawrence Lessig, (Berkman Professor, Harvard Law School), and Ira Magaziner, (Senior Advisor to the President for Policy Development). There are 13 bills in congress now, designed to lasso the web and there were intelligent and provoking points discussing whether it needs controlling and who is creating and governing public policy.

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

Tuesday, June 09, 1998

Demo or Die


Die! Die! Die! The coliseum of blood hungry barbarians foamed at the mouth, stamping their feet, and belting out this chant as two cubs scampered around, twisting, and jabbing, exclaiming "oh no! our mouse isn't working!" Yes, this scene, while seemingly of Romanesque times, occurred not in Ancient Rome, but just this past Monday, June 8, in a Bell Technology seminar room, at the Puck Building, under the benevolent (?) watchful eye of Michael Pinto. Demo or Die, the modern day feeding of Christians to the lions, is a regularly occurring opportunity for new media companies to show their wares, and face a curious and critical crowd. The two cubs lost their chance to perform at that moment, and Visitor Tracker.com showed their website and tracking capabilities. Independent film-maker Jonathan Sarno (who's seeing his film on Silicon Alley through production), WWWAC "list mom" (and Board Member) Larry Aronson, Jennifer Runne (a wwwacky list-moderator), Steve Introcaso (super Sun Microsystems salesman) and Steve Warren were all on hand to witness this event. It's a great thing in this day and age when we're on the brink of yet another PC Expo and inundated with marketing kits and press releases. Other brave souls that presented were representatives from Electronic Hollywood, showing their new Red Hot Jazz Archive (www.technoir.net/jazz), Jean Lurie of the American Gateway Project Settlement House, showing the consortium of Settlement House's websites and personal sites of children and elders in the programs, Delta, The Comparison Tool and Firewall Media.

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

Wednesday, April 22, 1998

Cybersuds & Steve Johnson "Interface Culture"

NYNMA's working hard at revamping the infamous Cybersuds, and they're doing a good job. Wednesday evening, April 22, they offered a chance to meet Steve Johnson and purchase his book "Interface Culture" at a discount in the Irving Plaza club. Demos of games by ASC Games' and Crossover Technologies also provided a point of reference for people to schmooze on while boozin'.

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

Electronic Hollywood small soiree

Just Northeast of this event was a small soiree at Electronic Hollywood's offices. Co-Founder's Jamie Levy, Jordan Serlin, and Scott Alexander had cause to celebrate as Web TV's Steve Perlman joined them in forming a production company. Munching on a delicious spread of smoked salmon on pumpernickel, I met David Wyly, president of Pareto Financial Services, Inc. (wyly.com). His company helps people raise capital and "makes sure the investment is a win-win situation." Nearby were David Blumenstein (david.com) and Lara Stein (iXL.com), huddled around a computer. Lara looked quite spring-y in an all ivory suit and sandals and her little pup Jasper ran circles around her. Also at the small reception were Matt Toner (CanApple.org), Dan Sweeney (ad-venture.com), Oliver Harris (fortunecity.com), who were all excited about the prospect of EH's new prospects. I spied my friends Bonnie Halper (sendresume.com), Lori Schwab (uda.com), and Howard Greenstein (Microsoft.com and echonyc.com/~howard/). Cherry Arnold (who's now at Barnes & Noble) and Scott Heiferman (I-traffic) came out for the celebration as well. Jordan Serlin and I exchanged stories of summers in Lake George, he as a water-skiing instructor and me as an actress in summer stock. We played with the WebTV and got a tip from Sarah Lefton to sign up for the bikenewyork.org. Yes! After all this hard work and networking, its time to get out and exercise a bit!

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

Monday, April 20, 1998

Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic @ Sony Wonder Tech Labs

Monday, April 20, I set sail once again, this time on the "Starship Titanic." Once again, champagne was waiting at the entrance. This trip was orchestrated by Simon & Schuster Interactive, who published the "Starship Titanic" CD-Rom game, and was held at the Sony Wonder Tech Labs. The game is by Douglas Adams of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with Terry Jones of Monty Python offering much hilarity as the voice of the parrot. I spoke with Mr. Adam's briefly, between "speak-throughs" of the product, and he said the parrot was one of his most favorite parts. Another is the encounter with the Maitre D' at the bottom of the restaurant who is "gluttonously obsequious, but if you counter him at all, he'll fight you!" The game takes at least 60 hours to play, is completely non-violent, and is basically about trying to navigate this vast ship (which is in space) via interaction and actually speaking with robots who will sometimes give you clues. It is gorgeously rendered, and we had a chance to explore the ship after the demo. Gina Bevinetto (Woman's Day) thought it was "a pretty cool game" but found it difficult to navigate without a manual. I navigated down to the reception where they served blue martinis and sat in the tres luxe "Rock 'n Roll Thoroughbred Ralph Lauren Room" complete with big leopard and Indian-print pillows, big leather armchairs, oriental rugs, classic desk lamps, and (of course) a HUGE TV monitor. There I spoke with Ed Baig (Business Week) and Frank Vizard (Popular Science).

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

Silicon Alley Cyber Bowl

From the Sony Tech Labs, I swung by the Silicon Alley Cyber Bowl, hosted by Cybergrrl. Hearty bowlers and novices alike from Interport, NetGuide, T3 Media, and MacDonald Communciations all donned those funny shoes and enjoyed a fine evening of simple non new media pleasures. Everyone had a great time and this is one of those simple ways to have fun (and even network a little).

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

Thursday, April 16, 1998

Exodus' data center Open House

There was a mass exodus on Thursday, April 16 to get on the World Yacht "The Empress" on Pier 41. Clients, investors and business partners of Exodus (exodus.net) were invited for a special cruise and tour of Exodus' data center in Jersey City. I bumped into Andrew Raisej and Ted Werth of the Digital Club Network and Michael Dorf of the Knitting Factory before I even boarded. Nearby was Ryan Nelson, Jonathan Hirschman, and Jeff Auerbach of splashy Starmedia (starmedia.com). We all walked the plank and were promptly served a glass of champagne. I held off for a bit as I gathered my sea legs. Richard Jones of Fortuncity.com was another guest and client of Exodus'. Donna Loughlin (Dir. of PR, Exodus) was good enough to fill me in on this company, which is steered by the very capable Ellen Hancock (formerly of IBM). Exodus provides internet connectivity, facilities for businesses that need to outsource their servers, and managed services. As I wandered upstairs, to the "Lido Deck," I was recognized by Ray Ochlan (major acct. consultant, Exodus). We had a friend in common, Bill Collins, who is now out in Seattle making big deals left and right with (apparently) another "Bill" out there.  The boat took off and I rushed to the bow to see who would first attempt their impression of the famous "Titanic" scene with Leo and Kate face forward, arms wrapped around each other. I guess I got there too late, according to Jamie Levy (Electronic Hollywood) and Chris Starace (of the newly named Sitebridge--you may remember them as Social Science--and heard it hear first!). Jamie had wrapped her limber self around the railings and reenacted the scene. Larry Chase (wdfm.com), David Isenberg (isen.com), and Matt Lederman were also present, bearing the cold, windy, foggy night. After trying to dock the boat three times, we were herded off via van to the impressive, spacious data center. I would write more about it, but was stopped by an employee who warned me this was proprietary information. It didn't matter to him that I crossed out my notes and apologized because it didn't mean I wouldn't remember the information. Hmmm, so why are you taking hundreds of people here to see your facility? While the data center was nice, some people bailed and went home via the Path train, others took advantage of the bartender with a mixer and had Pina Coladas and danced in the rain!

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

Wednesday, April 15, 1998

CanApple's TranslAtlantic link conference

Unless you've had your head under a rock you are probably aware of all the activity that's been going on by our Northern neighbors, the Canadians. A few weeks ago there was CanApple's (www.canapple.org) TranslAtlantic link conference, where @NY's Tom Watson was present. The Canadian Consulate has been a generous host of WWWAC meetings in their "country" (space) on 6th Avenue in midtown, and this week was "Highlight Quebec." This mini-conference sponsored by the Government of Quebec and go-Digital Internet Consulting Group, set in the famed Digital Sandbox at 55 Broad Street, brought many Canadian businesses into Silicon Alley for exposure and networking opportunities. Held on April 15-16, the conference got significant recognition from many big associations in Canada.

Richard Pinto (Managing Director, Appia Group) shared some of the ideas behind the conference with me. It's a natural fit for both Alley's (Canada being Silicon Alley North) to work together. With tax incentives and grants, and three new new-media centers in Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City, Canada is a great place for companies to try out a foreign market. And yet, Canada isn't so foreign to us. The same is true for these companies. Martin Carrier and Sabine Hamelin of UbiSoft, expressed the company's approach to attending the summit. UbiSoft is based in Paris and does production in five countries. They already have an office in San Francisco, now they want to explore the possibilities New York has to offer for the East Coast. A developer of instructional software on painting, music, tech-familiarity, math, and games, they want to increase their U.S. sales from 15% to 40%.

Another firm hoping to break into the U.S. market is Ressources Kitaskino XXI. Owned by trappers in the Itimec region, Simon Brascoupe (Pres., International Indigenous Network on Environment and Trade -- ii.net) was their representative and demoed their Waskak Edu. CD-rom for me, which they hope will be sold to schools in the U.S. Currently written in Itimec, a native Canadian "tribe," and French, this CD is being translated into English. Using this culture's analogy of 6 seasons, you can click on any number of options and see pictures, video and audio clips, and texts from elders on this culture. This CD is a complete encyclopedia of one of this nation's indigenous people, preserving cultural heritage, in an engaging and technologically current format. As the issue of technology and education progresses full steam ahead, materials like this become even more relevant.

Other companies on hand were Softimage and Discreet Logic. Softimage did some graphics for "Titanic" and the special effects of the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park." Dicreet Logic gushed out creations of water effects for "Titanic." You could run away from those dinosaurs while watching a video of "Jurassic" on Xystos treadmill. The "treadmill of the future," this piece of equipment features a touch-screen that displays realistic paths and backgrounds for you while running. And when you get bored of that, you can answer e-mail, type messages, watch your favorite soap opera, or video conference. I can just see it now, "we'd love to start the meeting, but Bob is running all over the place!"

After the initial day's events, I tagged along with Matthew Toner and Anthony Raposo of C@nApple (with the Canadian Consulate), Eugenio Zuniga and Sylvain Perron of K*OS (pronounced Chaos), Sherry Reisner, and Stephane Choquette for a nice casual meal at the Wall Street Bar and Restaurant. Stephane elaborated on how his experiences as a waiter in Paris gave him the correct approach to customer service with his company. Like waiting, dealing with clients should be a collaborative, uplifting experience for them, not one of begrudgingly doing them a favor. Sounds simple enough, but is hard to find in real world scenarios more often than not.

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

Tuesday, April 14, 1998

K2 Bash

K2 had a banner bash bidding bye-bye to their well-loved co-worker (cohort) Frank Gibbons on Tuesday, April 14 at Dukes. Billed as "Head Negotiating Dude, King of the Unshorn Media, Folk and All-Around Nice Guy" the gang at K2 pulled out all the stops for the large new media mass that made an appearance there. Totally unbeknownst of these goings-on, Bonnie Halper, David Blumenstein, and a whole other gaggle of new media geese flew into Dukes for some good ol' Southern food and brewskies. Fortunately the bash did not became a brou-haha.

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

Wednesday, April 08, 1998

Warner Brother's "City of Angels"

It has been out for a week now, but I was one of a few lucky people who got to attend an advance screening of "City of Angels" at the Warner Brothers screening room on Wednesday, April 8. The usual suspects were in attendance with me: Emily Davidow (Behome.com), Bonnie Halper (sendresume.com), David Blumenstein (david.com), Michael Tchong (C|Net), Paul Kotonis, and Tery Spataro and Alec Pollack of Stir Associates. Stir designed and developed the website for this movie, which according to Don Buckly (Sen. VP of theatrical marketing & new media) is unusual, as Warner Bros. have a full production team in house. The site is beautiful, the movie has some fantastic cinematography, and Nicholas Cage isn't too bad looking either!

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

Wednesday, April 01, 1998

Silicon Alley film party "downstairs" crew

The city is all a buzz with mentions of El Nino and what it's doing to our weather. And by now, I'm sure you've all heard the buzz about Jonathan Sarno's upcoming film on Silicon Alley. He had a reading of the script last week, and there have been several parties for people interested in the film in conjunction with Buzz/NYC at Nells. Buzz/NYC had another bash at this famed club on Weds, April 1st. The club was filled with 20-something's in "Fashion Dont's" -- most likely from the mix of people leftover from the party earlier, for "Index," a fashion and music type zine. Young women in white tank tops and assorted parachute/combat type pants looked trashy, and other women in halter top dresses and all men in black zoot suits made this conservatively clad reporter feel stylishly archaic.

Downstairs was a whole different story -- DJ Stormin' Norman mixed a bad groove and here I found the new media folks.  Anton Self and partner Phillipe Araras of Telephant were stylishly casual. David Chachere, of the New York Indep. Film Monitor, spoke with me about the progress of Sarno's film. Jonathan Faber (L.I. Film) and Chris Allbritton (Cyberspace reporter, Assoc. Press) (both looking elegantly casual) and I had a meaty debate over the future of the web. Faber was positive about Community re-establishing itself as a main component after attending a seminar on this subject by Basex. Allbritton is putting his stock in e-mail and bulletin boards, where he thinks true community and usefulness can be had. And me? I me-tooed them both ('cause I believe in both means) as I spied the 6' tall drag queen with a 2' tall black, curly, long-haired, wig sashaying through the room.

Mr. Allbritton and I had a good discussion on the state of reporting on the web, and various accounts of funny interviews and favorite stories. We also discussed the WebLab's upcoming Silicon Alley Talent Show benefiting the Web Development Fund (http://www.weblab.org). This coming Saturday, it is sure to be a hoot getting to see some of New York new media's most visible people show off their other talents. I for one will have the luxury of not performing and being able to enjoy the show! 

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

Dialing up the world from New Orleans

This entire past week has actually been an usually non-digital week for me. I headed south to New Orleans for a personal trip and savored coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde (www.cafedumonde.com), mounds of spicy crawfish and shrimp, and beautiful weather.

Of course, you're never more than a dial tone away from logging in to the rest of the world.  My hotel room had instructions in the Hotel Services book on how to use the data port. During a stroll through the French Quarter I spied an Internet cafe on the second floor of old Kaldi's coffeehouse and museum near the French Market. This wasn't just any ol' Internet cafe, though, this was "New Orleans First Cyber CafÈ." Realm of Delirium (www.realmofdelirium.com), owned by Shane and Krissandra Kretzmann, offers many services in addition to coffee. People can come in and get e-mail, surf the web, create web pages, and play games. The atmosphere was a delicious combination of old New Orleans French Quarter and New Age Hippie-ness. Psychedelic banners hung on walls and knitted caps, mystical and voodoo books and objects were for sale. The computers, sitting on old wooden tables, were spray painted to give that crackled/alligator skin look. One man sat in the corner with his own laptop, which he worked from. Another man was using PhotoShop on another dedicated machine. Krissandra told me she just got ISDN lines and is waiting for them to be installed. (I guess some things never change!) The environment was very calming. The room was softly lit by sunlight streaming through windows, antique oriental rugs lie the floor, antique lights hung from the ceiling, and a fabulous red-velvet gold-paint-trimmed loveseat sat under big old windows. Trees and plants outside added to the exotic feeling. There were newsletters on an old coffee table and a flyer for the new monthly i-zine Surfgurl (www.surfgurl.com).

The trip to New Orleans was fabulous, and this little gem added a charming spark. My trip across the country as part of the Alley to Valley Rally (www.avr.org) made me aware of how the internet biz is alive and well in all sorts of nooks and crannies of our nation -- not just the digital coasts.

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

Monday, March 23, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published 3/23/98

Alan Ginsberg has recently joined Mercury Seven, the Internet development company and publisher of ChannelSeven.com, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  Alan was formerly a manager in Arthur Andersen's Business Consulting practice where he helped Fortune 500 companies manage through large-scale change initiatives.  Alan was instrumental in the creation and launch of Arthur Andersen KnowledgeSpace, an award winning online service for business executives.

Touchscreen Media Group has been busy with some organizational changes: Cheryl Moellenbeck, previously the Executive Producer, will now devote her attention to the consulting arm of the company. Tom Skinner, Senior Producer at TMG has been promoted to Executive Producer. And Lisa Rawding has just been added as an executive level marketing consultant to their staff.

Tierra Communications, Inc. is moving. Their new address is: 8283 Fernbank Road, Ashton, Ontario, K0A 1B0, Canada, Phone:    (613) 253-7577, Fax:    (613) 253-2303. www.tierra.com

Kenneth Crutchfield, a 15-year veteran of the online/interactive industry, has recently joined US Interactive as Director of Strategic Planning and Development.

David Corales, former Marketing & Public Relations Associate for New Jersey Online   has joined Middleberg Interactive , the new media division of the NYC based Public Relations firm Middleberg + Associates, as the Internet Public Relations Coordinator.

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

Open-I Media's 2nd Annual Oscar party

Women with powder dusted creamy backs in gowns dripping with beads and men in crisp tuxes. Of course its Oscar night. Yet I'm not talking about the fancily clad movie stars. I'm talking about the fancily clad crowd at Open-I Media's 2nd Annual Oscar party. "Black Tie Optional" and held on Monday, March 23, in their offices at 73 Franklin Street during the airing of the Oscars, Open-I benefited The CityKids Foundation's Cyber Links and Safe Space programs. Cyber Links is relatively new (it just started last week!) and has the goal of getting kids on computers. Safe Space is a physical space at the non-profit's Leonard street facility where city kids can go and express their feelings. Now, thanks to Open-I, they have a space online where they can safely express themselves as well.

Dana Story of Open-I wasn't just acting when she played the role of a good hostess, she gave me a very informative tour and spoke enthusiastically of their relationship with CityKids. In a stunning full length black gown with clear criss-crossed straps she navigated the space with me and pointed out how their office was transformed to accommodate the guests. The space is long and divided by a glass rectangular "backstage" area in the middle. "Backstage" is the color output center and where technicians can service the computers--like add hardware (zip drives)--for the computer terminals on either side. Hot hors d'oeuvres were stationed on what was the video editing suite, and next to the avid system (covered in blue plastic and strangely resembling one of those life boats in this year's winner "Titanic") were the computers people rent out on a monthly basis. Actually, Dana explained, some people just rent the space and bring in their own equipment. This way they can have their own business, but not have to deal with also being CFO or Office Manager, they can just do what they do best -- create. Downstairs are 3 rooms for computer classes.

Students created 3 games for this night's festivities: "Find That Oscar Tune," "Bingo," and a trivia game. The prizes weren't so shabby either: dinner at one of the fine Tribeca restaurants, 1 full day at Chelsea Piers health club, a 1 year membership to NYNMA, a bottle of Skyy Vodka or Ocumare Rum, and other goodies. All these fine things, including the much needed elbow grease to put on such a fine event were donated. The Special Events Marketing class at FIT offered students to work on a real-life project and receive credit. Two students I met from this program were Sacheen Cicero and Joanna Fillie, who both were pretty much rooting for "Titanic." Down the hall I chatted with Jeff Stuart who had that glowing "just back from a skiing vacation" look. Having his company get bought didn't hurt his relaxed happy demeanor either. Neither did Nate Elliot at Doubleclick look to badly, for the obvious reasons (if you don't know what happened to Doubleclick, check the @NY archive's). Nate said things are "crazy but great" and that Open-I "is a great shop." Kim Hino of Stanton Crenshew Communications was nearby, as was Bill Tucker, a writer for the New York Press who told me that "California didn't show up for the Alley to Valley Conference" (sponsored by the AlleyCats). Paul Glazrock, who was playing one of the Oscar games nearby, is freelancing as a technical development person at Individual Investor Online. And who were all these people voting for in the Oscar raffle? Matt Damon, Titanic, and 2 undecided, respectively. Jodie Kahn of 24/7 (Titanic) and Jeremy Kagan of Volatile Media (Starship Troopers) debated over their choices. And Miles Rose (WWWAC board member and biz SIG leader), sweetly said he was voting for me! All in all, I'd say everyone benefited from this fine event.

Correction: Tristan Louis is not at Bencom.com but Pencom.com. Please excuse my error in reporting.

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

Friday, March 20, 1998

Russian Web Girls' "Dreams of St. Petersburg" party

I left this "speedily" and jaunted over to the Russian Web Girls' "Dreams of St. Petersburg" party. Swathed in black ostrich feather boas, each RWG was once again a lovely hostess. Earlier in the day they painted an evocative mural on the walls downstairs transforming the club "Planet 28" into a mysterious and moody dreamscape. Upstairs slides of past and present St. Petersburg flashed on a glittery white wall. A duo of Japanese ballerinas, led by Ballet Mistress Maki Fujita, swirled, pirouetted, and arabesqued their way into our experience. Beginning with an ethereal classic piece in white the ballerinas dancing around and in white sheeting. The second piece was in all black and the three performers writhed and pointed more erotically. The third, a solo, was a modern day Japanese girl, in a girlie fatigue combo, beating against Russian Big Brother ordering commands mixed with techno. The band Black Mama Dharma, a family led by a Slavic father and Indian mother, was phenomenal. Their 10 year old son (drummer) and 8 year old daughter (bass guitar) were excellent. Tristan Louis (Pencom.com), Anya (Fashion designer) and Vanya (Emcore.com) Eliashevich agreed. The blues band mix with Indian strains got everyone into the groove including Ilya (name), Alona Makeevch, and a club full of Russians, new media and non.

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

Netparty

Friday March 20 was another big night out. It starts off at a "netparty." The invitation read "A Netparty is a "networking party" -- an opportunity for young professionals to network with each other on a business level (we encourage you to exchange business cards) and to interact with each other on a social level.  A Netparty also provides an opportunity to meet in person those who you might otherwise have only communicated with on "the Net."  Crain's New York Business has called networking parties "a genuinely original idea." Hmm. Sounds like every (Inter)Netparty I've been to! This one was at Speed (a Moroccan Lounge). By the time I got there (9:30ish) Donna Summer's "On the Radio" was ending, Diana Ross' "I'm coming out" was starting, the networking was pretty much over and the dancing was in full swing. Check my Upcoming events section for the next one!

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

Wednesday, March 11, 1998

Avalanche's new office

You could imagine my surprise when I entered Avalanche's office, Wednesday, March 11, expecting to see the same "lofty" environment typical of Soho/Silicon Alley web shops. But this is a kinder, gentler, saavy-er, new Avalanche. And if you noticed, its not Avalanche Systems anymore. No,siree, they offer Solutions now. Of course, I didn't just pop on over to Avalanche to ogle their new space (but you should, and can read more about it in my column section on the website). They were having another opening as part of "On-Screen," a series of exhibitions at their offices, exploring facets of interface.

This show highlighted the work of Yoshio Itagaki (yoshio777@aol.com) who juxtiposed his impressions as a child, growing up in the ancient capital of Japan, where he saw "old Buddhist statues and temples everyday...and watched Japanese animation programs" into his vision of future Japanese society.  Upcoming shows include a group of painters whose works have no art signifiers; and a joint Razorfish/Avalanche group show with 4 people from company. Peter described the actual structure of "the Omnicom and Razorfish deal" and seemed quite content about the fact that now he can focus again on what he does best -- design. Meanwhile, he has a top-notch real quality crew lead by Troy Tyler (COO, from Boston Consulting Group). His wife, Christine Muhlke, Managing Editor of Paper Mag stopped in our Machine briefly and said "Hello." Shortly after Lori Schwab (VP Biz Dev, United Digital Artists) and I went out into the rare cold night for a warm delicious dinner.

Peter Seidler, founder of Avalanche in 1994 greeted me at the door and took me on an exclusive tour of the new office space. Just one flight up from Avalanche Systems' old offices, Avalanche Solutions' space feels like a great big efficient, friendly hug. Nathan Elbogen, the architect who has taken Avalanche from its space below, to this new loftiness, told Peter he pays attention to the 40 million cubic inches in the space. And it shows. The glass offices for all directors lined one side of an interior wall. This Arm laid next to the expansive Back for all creative and technical people to cohabitate in. Their desks, the Ribs, snaked horizonatally up the floor where they terminated at the Brain, where the mainfram-ish networks hummed. Right down the Back, suspended from the ceiling was the Backbone, literally and figuratively, of the company -- the wires and cables that connected everyone's work stations. There is a pod-like, brain-storming room just to the right of the ComputerBrain room. Its oval shape in which Peter visualizes silver bean bag chairs and soft neon-like lighting, will be conducive to chillin' out or connecting with other brilliantly mellow workers.  The other side of the interior wall was lined with Meeting Machines: small 3 - 5 person meeting rooms. There was a speckled thick rubber covering on the floors in these rooms with one networked computer, deep cheery wood tables, burlap and white frosted walls, newspaper cardboard ceilings, with fabulous steel Restaurant-style Kitchen doors with the oval window encased in thick rubber. The overall sense was of high-tech rustic coziness.

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

Monday, March 09, 1998

Sarno/Green @ Nells & Canapple

Monday Monday! So good to me! You know that great song by the Mama's and the Papa's? Well, guess its good for good ol' Jon Sarno and Stewart Green. They had another packed night at Nells nightclub to celebrate their new IP services. Free champagne (for an about hour) and the same DJ made for yet another boogie night in New York. The parties just never end!

Meanwhile, uptown at the Canapple headquarters...

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

Saturday, March 07, 1998

Jaime Levy's party


The invitation read, "to enjoy, to prolong, to bring together, over and over again..." and if anyone can enjoy, prolong, and bring together, it's Jaime Levy. Despite the recent news of one of her original creations, WORD, a Silicon Alley content cornerstone, being shut-down, she and Lisa Cavender's joint birthday bash on Saturday, March 7th brought out some of Silicon Alley's finest. Jordan Serlin (Co-Founder, Director of Marketing, Electronic Hollywood -- Jamie's newest hot co.) and I dished and dug up dirt on well-wouldn't-you-like-to-know! Omar Wasow (NYOnline) was there with friends. Nerve Mag's editors, Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Fields were enjoying the fine night. This was, of course, before Rufus was quoted about politics and alley-antics in Crains this week, which also spurred debate on the wwwac list. Amanda Griscom (Rufus' sister) was there and looking severely hip. John, who works at Gateway, and Richard Tyson and I had a great time mingling with the guests.  Steven Warren was his usual mellow soul, as were Sarah, Morgan and someone named Dr. Vas Deferens. I swear I would've remembered their names, but Fred Meyer, of yet another recently closed classic Silicon Alley content house TotalNY, distracted me with the big bagel he was munching on as he arrived.

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

Thursday, March 05, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published 3/5/98

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Take Back NY's ParoleWatch had a big 30th birthday for NIGER INNIS, CORE Activist & MSNBC Commentator on Thursday, March 5th, 1998 at Le Bar Bat.

Daniel Resnick, CTO of hot shop Darwin Digital, made the C|Net news on Monday, March 9th. Promising real-time banners, he staked some desired territory out in cyberspace. (http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19843,00.htm)

Stir Co-Founder and long-time Silicon Alley artist, creative director, Tery Spataro was featured in NetGuide's Women's section by Lisa Gill, editor of Cybergrrl Webstation. http://www.netguide.com/Snapshot/Archive?guide=Women&id=1083

Jim Orsi (jim@starmedia.net) recently left his job as a Producer at CKS New York (formerly SiteSpecific) to become the Manager of Advertising Technology for StarMedia Network, the #1 online destination for Latin America (http://www.starmedia.com). My responsibilities will include setting up and maintaining all of Starmedia's adservers and developing new advertising and inventory management systems. Some travel to South America may be in the works as well.

This week Stir Associates  launched a  redesign for Olympus America (http://www.olympus.com).   What's so exceptional about this news, when it seems every company relauches a site, is that Olympus,  for more than 3 years, has worked with Alec Pollak & Tery Spataro, the principals of Stir.  Olympus has seen the value of a long-term relationship as its web presence has become a more sophisticated and integral part of its marketing mix.

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

Closing ada'web // Animator's Ball

It was quite the curious coincidence seeing Fred and his TotalNY co-horts at Jamie's party, considering I just saw them all on Thursday night, March 5, at the "Let's raise a toast to a fine job done but we're closing" party at the Screening Room after John Borthwick killed Total NY, ada'web and The Spanker. Despite this shocking news, most people seemed politely at peace with life's lot they were just dealt. (At least to me they were polite). They should be very proud of all the fine work they all produced and it is sad to see such a mainstay and cornerstone of Silicon Alley go the way of the cobweb.

Some people say its just the cost of doing business, some say its the way things go, but I say its a shame when big gorrillas like AOL and ICON can't find a way to keep valuable interesting content alive on the web.

And yet, in the face of all this, Clay Shirky produced a fabulous new initiative to gather and foster Animators in new media. The Animators Ball, on Thursday March 5th in the Digital Sandbox at 55 Broad Street was a smashing success by almost all accounts. Many excited people showed up and enjoyed themselves thanks to a handful of generous sponsors including InterActivity Magazine. Microwaves were set up for cooking sausages, popcorn, Mexican burritos, good cheap bar, and tables everywhere covered in paper and marked up with artists' creations. Computers and monitors displayed some animators works including Brad Paley with his (in)famous Monkey (as also seen in Wired). Clay said that he wants to build on the momentum of the Ball, and has have three projects going forward. Keep posted at my Upcoming Events section and on the Animators Ball website of future goings-on. http://www.AnimatorsBall.org

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

Wednesday, March 04, 1998

Cybergrrl's New Book & Jupiter's Digital Delirium

While Cybergrrl was signing her new book "Cybergrrl: A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web" at Barnes & Noble on Wednesday, March 4th. After a trip around the country, she hosted the evening's discussion on women and the internet and exuded infectious exuberance. Meanwhile, at the other end of town, and the other end of the spectrum, Jupiter Communications was hosting Digital Delirium, at The Supper Club. The event provided  the opportunity for seasoned new media executives, for whom Aliza's book would be elementary, to hobnob.

Both ends of the spectrum are important, the growth and interest in the internet is obvious as we have (and will have) both these types of events simultaneously occurring more and more around the country and world (wide web).

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

Tuesday, March 03, 1998

Doubleclick's party at IMAX

In the "sheer entertainment" department was Doubleclick's party at IMAX for "Everest" on Tuesday, March 3rd. "Thrilling," "Exhilarating," "Packed with drama!" are only a few of the words that were dropped in description of this event, which drew new media advertisers, developers, and hangers-on (for dear life!)

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

Thursday, February 26, 1998

Lyco's party @ System

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

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

WWWAC Social Hour

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

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

Wednesday, February 25, 1998

NYNMA's new ED @ the Education SIG meeting

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

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

Monday, February 23, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published 2/23/98


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

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

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

Silicon Alley Bowl


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


Webcinema's Silicon Alley movie

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

Saturday, February 21, 1998

Raje @ CristineRose Gallery


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

Friday, February 20, 1998

Renee Edelman's Lovely Soiree


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

Thursday, February 19, 1998

Fitz, Lenny & Peter Party @ NV/289


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

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

Wednesday, February 18, 1998

MOVERS AND SHAKERS - published issue 3.25

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

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

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

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

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

White Columns ada'web launch


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

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

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


Saturday, February 14, 1998

Sweater magazine, SoundScan, Concrete Marketing's celebration


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

Intro - all about love


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

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