Monday, March 15, 1999

SXSW Wolff Strikes Fears And Ends with masterbation!?

Michael Wolff put some fear in the audience with his unusually long pause at the start of his keynote speech this second day of the conference. Was he going to lash out? What would he do? The truth was, he made the classic speech-givers mistake and glanced at his notes before beginning to speak. To his surprise, he'd brought his notes he'd given last week on Telephony. Pro that he is, he recalled his speech from memory and began. He touched upon the huge phenomenon of chats and how they are largely responsible for AOL's growth. Wolff admitted that if he could be anywhere, he'd be in the space of making stories, of making connections, of being with people. He loves the possibility that there is some new way of expanding yourself and touching people. Wolff's closing note was a headline he found so perfect he didn’t even read the story. "Teenage Girl Abducted into the Internet via Web Cam while Masturbating."