Friday, May 28, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 5/28/99

SHAKERS & STIRRERS ______________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com

Brian Czarny (of Think New Ideas and PR21) has transplanted himself and is doing well as director, corporate communications
at Mount Laurel, NJ-based DirectWeb. DirectWeb is the first subscription-based service to provide a complete, user-friendly solution for personal computing and the Internet. The fixed monthly subscription price includes a remotely managed and secured state-of-the-art Windows 98-based personal computer, unlimited Internet access, an easy-to-use and consumer-friendly portal and complete technical support.

ShiftKey Software, Inc. (www.shiftkey.com), a leading developer of tools for creating automated online distribution networks, announced the appointment of David B. Mathison as CEO. In his new position, Mathison will focus on ShiftKey’s strategic direction, and implement the appropriate organizational structure for sales, marketing and affiliate partnerships. Mathison joins ShiftKey after five years at Reuters Ltd., most recently as vice president of global syndication at Reuters NewMedia. During his tenure at Reuters, which pioneered the business model of content syndication on the web, Mathison developed and executed business plans for TruQuote and TargetNews, then aggregated Reuters content for those web offerings and for Planet Reuters, an integrated online multimedia current events news service. Prior to joining ShiftKey, Mathison served briefly as CIO of The Carson Group, a privately held New York consulting firm that provides strategic counseling for publicly traded companies seeking to maximize shareholder value. Mathison previously held senior-management-level sales and marketing positions at the start-ups Software Spectrum and Ovid Technologies.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced that Charles Millard, who has served as President of the City's Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for the past three-and-a-half years, will leave the Administration to accept a position as a Managing Director with Prudential Securities. In his new position, Mr. Millard, will be the Head of the New York-based practice of Prudential Securities newly created Internet Economy Group.

Bill Bass is now VP of e-commerce, Lands End. He was formerly with Forrester.

Risi Leanne-Wright has moved on from Saatchi & Saatchi's Darwin Digital. She is now working at Saatchi's former sister
agency, Bates Worldwide, in their integrated communications division, 141 Communications.


NEWS BITS AND BYTES _____________________________
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com

Icon Digital Photography, a high-end digital imaging studio, announced its new service -- digital photographs for 360 degree
interactive rotation on the internet. In addition, Icon has the in-house capability to retouch and deliver the images web ready.

"The growing ranks of interactive services firms received their first report card today, and many of them are being asked to stay after school, according to the 1999 National Benchmark Study of Client Satisfaction with Interactive Services Firms, reported at the Web Advertising ’99 conference at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel. A key statistic from the study showed that more than a third of U.S. companies have terminated interactive services firms before projects were completed because of poor job performance. The survey found that interactive services firms are still not fully meeting their clients’ expectations. More than 400 decision makers representing a cross section of United States firms participated in the survey prepared by People | Design | Technology, an independent, research-based consultancy that helps organizations generate better results with their online strategies. The study provides tools to enable interactive services providers and their clients to communicate more effectively and to help ensure that client’s expectations are met, according to Lee Wright, founding principal of People | Design | Technology.

www.getoutraged.com launched successfully as a site that invites Massachusetts residents to vent frustration and share personal stories about the damage caused by smoking and the tobacco industry. Local Alley-er Jason Jercinovic, president of Iguana studios partnered with Arnold Communications, to develop getoutraged.com.

Ruben Perez writes in that he's been working on a "cool project" for the past few months in the marketing and advertising efforts as well as "helping find investors interested in running with Here & Now to meet the approaching broadband freight train." Produced by Erik Vidal (nephew of Gore Vidal), Here & Now is a 24 hour, unedited, live broadband broadcast profiling six Oberlin College housemates. Here And Now -- Real Life, Real Time. http://www.hereandnow.net

GoodNoise Corporation, a seller of downloadable music, announced it signed an agreement to acquire the privately-held Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA). IUMA, which was founded in 1993, was the Internet's first site to offer unsigned musicians the opportunity to promote and sell their music using the Web. IUMA hosts millions of page views each month and features over 3,500 artists on individual web sites offering unique URLs (bandname.iuma.com).

SmartGirl.com made the print-waves with two articles in USA Today about researching teen girls on-line. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctf178.htm -- and the companion article about SmartGirl at http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctf181.htm

Global Crossing Ltd. and US WEST, Inc. announced a definitive agreement for a merger that will create a seamless end-to-end local-to-global broadband network, provide integrated telecommunications and data services, and accelerate the deployment of high speed Internet services to local, national and global markets. The new company, which will be called Global Crossing Corporation, will be the first Global and Local Service Provider in an era when traditional RBOCs and long distance carriers are becoming obsolete.

Pixelpark USA will launch a new Internet presence for the
German Information Center on Monday, May 24th to
coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Republic
of Germany. Don't forget to check out the site's "tiviality"
tivia game - one of the only interactive gaming experiences
to be designed using Macromedia's Flash Generator
technology.

"The Guillemot Championships of the AMD PGL" had the finals of the PGL's
fourth season featuring 16 of North America's top gamers who vyied for more than $100,000 in cash and prizes on 5/21 in NYC. The two-day competition was Webcast live courtesy of Jumpcut, a leading producer of live Internet videocasts, and Vstream, a provider of streaming audio and video services.

iVillage Inc. announced an advertising alliance with Glaxo Wellcome Inc. The $1.7-million, year-long sponsorship package is designed to promote Glaxo Wellcome's leadership position in the increasingly competitive consumer health market and increase consumer awareness of various disease categories. The Glaxo Wellcome sponsorship will advance the consumer experience at iVillage.com's health channel by building interactive resources that allow the network¹s members to develop their own personalized health-awareness programs.

MTV Networks and TCI Music (which will be renamed Liberty Digital in connection with a recently announced transaction) jointly announced an Internet music alliance. Under the terms of the agreement, Liberty Digital will acquire a 10% stake in MTV Networks' online music ventures and MTV Networks online music ventures will acquire SonicNet, one of the Internet's leading music Web sites, from Liberty. Tom Freston, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks, said, "The acquisition of SonicNet, coupled with the recent acquisition of Imagine Radio, expand the reach of MTV Networks Music Online and are key building blocks for our new Internet initiative scheduled to launch in June.

Wednesday, May 26, 1999

Madness with the Downtown Alliance


So while earlier in the week there was a panel on "everything you wanted to ask a lawyer but were afraid to ask," Wednesday, May 26th you could find out about "everything you wanted to know about the on-line sex industry but were afraid to ask." NYNMA's panel, "The Frontier Of Business & Technology: What You Can Learn From The Online Sex Industry" drew a large crowd despite the controversy and nervousness of more than a few board members. Panelists included Steve Becker, Lead Internet Strategist, General Media (Penthouse's Parent); Jane Duvall, Editor & Founder, Jane's 'Net Sex Guide'; Rufus Griscom, Founder, Nerve.com; Mark Hardie, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.; and Mark Tiarra, CEO, Tiarra Corp; President, United Adult Sites. Sun Microsystems stepped up to the plate to sponsor the reception. Afterwards I chatted with Stephanie Agresta (barnesandnoble.com), the proud Chip Austin (pres. and CEO, bol.com) of barnesandnoble.com's recent IPO (raising $450 million in an initial stock sale), Seth Price--who's now at FreeRide.com, and Damon Torres of Robocast. Chip introduced me to two enterprising young men, Jeffrey Ungar and Geoff Clendenning, from Reflexive Networks, who are giving Linkshare a run for their money. Murray Alter and Tom Hyland of Price Waterhouse Coopers were also out and about at this event, schmoozing with other guests like Ben Austin of Comet Systems and Kevin Sickles of Sun. Even Neeraj Khemlani showed up for some filming he's doing for his documentary on Silicon Alley.

Tuesday, May 25, 1999

Role-playing with lawyers


Steven Masur, Esq., moderated a panel on "Business Legal Issues Encountered by Internet Companies" on Tuesday, May 25 at the N.Y. County Lawyers Association, Committee on Entertainment and Communications Law. All those questions you were afraid to ask were covered as two Internet veterans (Tery Spataro, Chief Operating Officer of Blue Dingo, and Augustine Fou, President and CEO, go-Digital Internet Consulting Group) role-played as founders of MediaStock.com. Lawyers who participated were Jerrold Spiegel, Esq., Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein & Selz P.C. (CultureFinder, CDuctive, MiningCo [About.com], Interactive8, Connect Systems, Dynamicsoft), Elaine F. Stein, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP (AOL, iVillage, JuniorNet), Nancy E. Wolff, Esq.,  Law Office of Nancy E. Wolff (Corbis Corp., Getty Images, Picture Agency Council of America), Paul Goodman, Esq., Elias, Goodman, Shanks & Zizmor, LLP (RareMedium, Kozmo.com, T3 Media), Travis L. Gering, Esq., Wuersch & Gering LLP (musicmusicmusic.com, Claremont
Investment Partners, LLC, shareholders of TheGlobe.com).
Afterwards attendees enjoyed local brewed Ruffian Ales & Lagers (http://www.ruffianbeer.com) and schmoozed as they mused the outcomes! I had a chance to chat with Greg Belmont of Grand Central Holdings and attornies Steve Filler, Paul Goodman and Travis Gering.

breakfastnetwork.com's fishing for good panelists


The dressy set of the morning crew convened again faithfully on Tuesday, May 25 at Bryant Park Grill for the breakfastnetwork.com's discussion of meeting demands on on-line customers. The grocer, the fish-hawker and the wanna-be gangster (Stratis Morfogen, pres. and CEO, FultonStreet.com; Tom Furber, president, Hannaford's HomeRuns; and Jason Calacanis, CEO of Silicon Alley Reporter) expounded on who they are, what they think of web sites and what their favorite movies are. Ho-hum. Pass the lox please. I couldn't make heads or tails of what these guys were saying, and they didn’t seem to stay true to on topic, although the rest of the audience seemed transfixed. Some attendees who were paying attention were from Charett Recruiting, Don Schatz of Administaff and Judy Harnick and Sandy Charet of Charet & Associates. Eric Gordon of The Globe.com, Michelle Harris of Blue Marble, Patti Goldfarb (Creative Benefit Solutions), Howard Schwartz of Heynetwork.com (which just spun out 2 weeks ago from Antidote), and Kevin Callahan and Michael Mochnal of Vantage Techonologies came out for the early morning breakfast. Lisa Boyne (former WWWAC board member), Thomas Morey (Snickleways) and Dawn Berber and Ellen Auwater of NYNMA came out too. The panel ended with Stratis doling out live lobsters for those who wanted them! breakfastnetwork.com is a well-produced panel, but we just need to stop the panelists from pontificating too long and stay on topic!

Monday, May 24, 1999

Palm VII launch madness


What happens when the Rainbow Room (closed save for private functions due to Cipriani's new ownership) is opened to the public? Well, let me tell you, it's not a pretty site. I think there must've been flyers out at J&R, RCS and other Palm vendors for this Palm VII launch event on Monday, May24th. It seemed every yahoo and his brother were there gobbling up the buffet tables of full course meals and sucking back Cipriani's classic Bellini. One Alleyite who I recognized was Jennifer Runne, the Ironhanded WWWAC ListMom assistant. Demos of the new wireless PDA were fascinating many, but I wasn't impressed with the new functionality. It seemed like a good first attempt at added services, but I'd really like to see business card scanning capabilities with this unit.

Palm VII madness

What happens when the Rainbow Room (closed save for private functions due to Cipriani's new ownership) is opened to the public? Well, let me tell you, it's not a pretty site. I think there must've been flyers out at J&R, RCS and other Palm vendors for this Palm VII launch event on Monday, May24th. It seemed every yahoo and his brother was there gobbling up the buffet tables of full course meals and sucking back Cipriani's classic Bellini. One Alleyite who I recognized was Jennifer Runne, the Ironhanded WWWAC ListMom assistant. Demos of the new wireless PDA were fascinating many, but I wasn't impressed with the new functionality. It seemed like a good first attempt at added services, but I'd really like to see business card scanning capabilities with this unit.

Thursday, May 20, 1999

Cocktails with Courtney ~ Austin ~ Invite

Cocktails with Courtney

Featuring
the Wines
of
Gundlach Bundschu

This Month
May 20th

The Driskill, Austin, TX
Veranda
6:00 till 8:30

Join us in the beautiful Veranda room for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, wonderfully rich networking opportunties and the chance to meet great people from cool companies, experience Wayport's high-speed connectivity in the beautiful hotel.

Upcoming Months
May 5th -- Cinco de Mayo party in conjunction with Edgewise '99<
May 19th -- The Mansion in Turtle Creek, Dallas, TX
May 20th -- The Driskill, Austin, TX

Every Month
Join me and selected internet industry friends, associates, and business acquaintances for a fine evening with witty and thought-provoking conversations, cocktails to heighten the mood, and complementary hors d'oeuvres.

Past Months' parties:
April 1, 1999
February 24, 1999
January 27, 1999
December 16, 1998
November 18, 1998
October 28, 1998
September 23, 1998

Special Thanks to these Sponsors:
Pulitzer Promotions, Dewline

Cocktails with Courtney invite ~ Austin ~ May 1999

Cocktails with Courtney
Cocktails with Courtney
~~
Gundlach Bundschu
Featuring
the Wines
of
Gundlach
Bundschu
This Month
May 20th
The Driskill, Austin, TX
Veranda
6:00 till 8:30
Join us in the beautiful Veranda room for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, wonderfully rich networking opportunties and the chance to meet great people from cool companies, experience Wayport's high-speed connectivity in the beautiful hotel.

Please RSVP to: rsvp@cocktailswithcourtney.com
~~
Upcoming Months
May 5th -- Cinco de Mayo party in conjunction with Edgewise '99
May 19th -- The Mansion in Turtle Creek, Dallas, TX
May 20th -- The Driskill, Austin, TX

Every Month
Join me and selected internet industry friends, associates, and business acquaintances for a fine evening with witty and thought-provoking conversations, cocktails to heighten the mood, and complementary hors d'oeuvres.
Past Months

Here are the pictures from the past parties: April 1, 1999
February 24, 1999
January 27, 1999
December 16, 1998
November 18, 1998
October 28, 1998
September 23, 1998
~~

Special Thanks to these Sponsors:
Pulitzer Promotions Dewline
Sign up to attend
Become a sponsor
Read about The Cyber Scene
(a weekly column about people, events and
trends in the New York new media scene)
Sign up for it here

Wednesday, May 19, 1999

The Inaugural "Cocktails with Courtney -- Texas"

Last week marked the inaugural "Cocktails with Courtney" in a place other than Silicon Alley. Thinking big -- I went straight for the largest state of them all -- Texas. Or, rather, was invited to Texas. I met Brad Gray and Kem McClelland of Wayport Inc. at the AlleyCat News Salon last month, and after some initial discussions we realized there was a connection and interest on both sides to forge into new territory. In addition to Wayport, which provides high-speed access to places people travel (airports, hotels), the May 19th event was also sponsored by Primus Associates (executive recruiters), Novare (high-quality back end networking), R.R. Donnelley Financial, and Trellis Partners (a VC firm). Set in the Promenade room at the luxurious Mansion on Turtle Creek Hotel (rated the country's best hotel), the Dallas event drew a select group of high-tech industry players. The Dallas Cyber Scene isn't as advanced as ours in Silicon Alley and Austin (as you'll soon read). Nonetheless, I had the opportunity to chat with Leland Murphy of Trellis Partners about the community. Seth Palmer -- an Alley transplant -- of Viant brought some other Vianters. Carol Curley of the Women's Growth Capital Fund and Marianne N. Radwan of Seven Rosen Funds introduced themselves and I met Tommy Welch of J.J. W. International. Pliny Gale, relationship manager at IBM e-business, who I met last week at the Earthpledge function, came out for some scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and Felix Racca, President & CEO, Fuego Technology Corp., in a smashing red tie, brought some friends. Cheryl Miller of R.R. Donnelley Financial, a sponsor, was in a beautiful springy suit and representatives of Primus Associates (another sponsor)--Becky Gates, Charles Leadford and Sam Gassett--were out in full force, as were Arlyn Samuelson of Turner Collie & Braden and Michael Segrest of Silver Creek. And while the reception at the Mansion is one of the finest hotels and the service is impeccably prompt, we discussed other venues that might be fun for the next one. Personally, wherever the next "Cocktails…" is, I'd recommend staying at the Mansion--the service, the big fluffy hotel bathrobes, the luxuriously big tub, and the complimentary carrot cake and passion fruit ice tea upon arrival are all little things that make a world-weary traveller happy. High speed Internet access from Wayport really helps too, for those moments when you absolutely *must* check e-mail!

More familiar with the Austin scene, having spent some time there during the South by Southwest Conference this year, I had a bigger list to draw from and more guests. Over 100 guests filled the spacious Veranda Ballroom at The Driskill hotel on Thursday, May 20th. This historic grand-dam hotel oozed old Texas. Cow-fur covered sofas with real saddles as bar stools decorated the lobby and lobby bar. Dark woods, Lone Star state star-patterned carpeting and antique memorabilia in cases and hallways decorated the halls, bookshelves and rooms. My room, while completely renovated, did not have Wayport's services yet, but did have a big iron bed. The Veranda Ballroom also lead out to a grand balcony and the entranceways to this old hotel (with a resident ghost apparently) were impressive as well. Austin's party was sponsored by Primus, Hoovers On-line, R.R. Donnelley and Trellis Partners in addition to Wayport. All the sponsors were so wonderful with their support and help in producing two flawless events and Shannon Martin of Wayport deserves special mention for all her help at the events. In addition to all the exciting Austinites, I got to spend some time with Eric Gould, President of MonkeyMedia, which incidentally won the Silver in Self-Promotion last week at the Clio awards, and Nick West (formerly of NYU's YORB program).

Jon Lebkowsky, communications director at WholeFoods.com, and Honoria, who also works at Wholefoods.com and is the initiator behind CyberOpera.org, came with Knut Graf a new media developer for the hot design shop FrogDesign.

Honoria's CyperOpera "honoria in ciberspazio" is about "isolated and lonely internet travelers who entreat the oracle of cyberspace to transform their dreams of virtual reality into a beautifully woven sexy operatic climax. The opera depicts humans looking for love in cyberspace. Their words generate clones which mirror their desires."

Karen Kreps of NetIngenuity.com and Emily Sopensky of The Iris Company and Cindy Goldsberry, VP, Marketing, AcrossFrontiers International, Inc. came to see the newly refinished grand ballroom. Shane P. Cook (http://home.austin.rr.com/cannibal/) helped out immensely by taking digital photographs at the party. All the other pictures were snapped by Eric Olsson--my Texas colleague, and Anne Yoakam--my NYC friend, who drove down from Oaklahoma City during her wedding preparations for the party). Duncan Hopkins of Syndetic Design, Ingrid Vanderveldt (Dryken Technologies), and Rosie VonZurmuehlen (Alchemy Interactive) all came out to meet and greet other Austinites like Kim Crisler (Fyrehead Creative) and Clay Goodwin (House of Moves). I also got a chance to speak with Andrew Dillon, pres. of Unmall.com, who has been working hard with the other people at Thought Interactive to create on online shopping concept that focuses on high quality, unique and artistic shopping with a local feel.

Some guys from startup Works.com, Bo Holland (pres. and CEO) and Duncan Van Dusen (biz dev. manager) came out with their VC. Will Kreth of Agillion.com, Pam Knight of ISIS Multimedia, and Glen Coleman of KDi had a nice chat. Another hot web development company, FGSquared, had a presence at the party with Doug Collins. After my toast to Texas and my sponsors, Jerry Sullivan of Adams Capital told me I should've had my signature martini glass in hand as I stood at the podium Governor Bush stood at just recently, with the great star of Texas behind me and a banner saying "Friendship," which is the original definition of Texas (tejas) as I was informed.

TCS Intro: 5/19/99

Welcome to a special sleek edition of The Cyber Scene. Today you have a midweek update on the Clio Awards in addition to some other tasty morsels. I am off to Texas and will have a full report on what's the action around town when I return next week. And without another moment: I present:

TSC TOC:
Happy Birthday Vica!
The Clios

Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month
Metro Learning Channel's "Plugged In" (Cablevision) -- 5/28
"Cocktails with Courtney" Dallas and Austin -- 5/19 & 5/20 --
www.cocktailswithcourtney.com

Tuesday, May 18, 1999

Clio awards

Clio was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology -- the historian, the proclaimer, the celebrator of accomplishments. Founded in 1959 by Wallace Ross to recognize creative excellence in the advertising industry, this year's Clio Awards marks the inaugural Interactive awards.

I spoke with Andrew Jaffe, executive director of the Clio Awards, and he filled me in on all the new developments and his thoughts regarding this first year of an Interactive category. Recognizing that budgets are still small, people are still trying to learn how to use the Internet the best way and that the development tools are still very crude, Jaffe feels we are at the beginning of a new creative form and the work represented is notable in a few ways. The Internet is (obviously) changing many things in our world, and new media awards are moving beyond industry-specific ones such as The Webbies, AdTech and so forth. Now the "big shows" (Cannes, Clio) are beginning to pay attention to new media and give it some credit.

Jaffe is hopeful for future Clio award entries as he feels with the developments of broadband and cable modems, consumers will be able to absorb messages better when they are smooth and sophisticated as opposed to clunky images.

Among the goals for this year's introduction of Interactive awards are to give encouragement to interactive pioneers and set standards. There were 400 entries and Doubleclick will take the reel of winners to other countries around the world. (After the luncheon on Tuesday, May 18th, Wenda Millard of Doubleclick told me they were first off to Amsterdam.)

Another mission of the Clio's was, according to Jaffe, to bring people to NYC and give them special access to various companies, galleries and Broadway shows. On Monday, May 17th, nineteen interactive agencies opened their doors and welcomed delegates from across the Avenue and across the seas. He said he was "touched by the generosity of Silicon Alley" and that most of the creative directors overseas don't get it yet and aren't as open.

After the Digital Open-House's later that afternoon ChannelSeven.com hosted a cocktail party at the cool, spacious and holistic Obecali restaurant in TriBeCa. Ben Austin and Bill McCloskey of Comet Systems told me all about the fabulous Rich Media Sig and that they will be announcing one of the BIGGEST INITIATIVE's EVER! Wow. Check my calendar on the web (www.TheCyberScene.com) for the info. Cathy Taylor of AdWeek and Adrienne Mann (AdAge) and I conversed a while with Michael Tchong and Dara Tyson. Mara Lipacis looked positively stunning in her springy linen shirt and new do' and announced the raffle winners to the anticipatory crowd. Some companies were there to demo their wares, like Orientation.com, Spree.com, @Home and UnoDosTres.com. I spoke with Russ Walters of UnoDosTres and he told me this Hispanic portal site based in Miami is gaining popularity.

And with that note, I headed up to the MLC's studios to tape our upcoming "Hot Web site of the Week" segment (Zing.com)

And now the moment you've been waiting for. The Awards! All the information will be up on the ClioAwards.com web site, but here are some highlights from the Interactive Awards luncheon on Tuesday, May 18. Among the presenters was Michael Tchong who reflected on how when we started the 80s we had just two "F" words: Facsimile and Fedex and today - it's scary what we can do with viral marketing. He also predicted for us the 16 year old CEO (that'll be a fun launch party -- cupcakes and soda pop)!

GM O'Connell of Modem Media.Poppe Tyson presented the awards and some of the significant winners were Ogilvy and Mather's interactive division, Gray Interactive/KPE and Red Sky Interactive. Ogilvy won the coveted Grand Clio award for their work on IBM's Internet Technology e-culture awards. Gray/KPE won a Silver in Internet Rich Media for a pop-culture-y Pringles site "Popblaster." I liked TBWA/Chiat/Day's Absolute Vodka site "Absolute DJ" and was thrilled to see Austin-based Monkey Media win the Silver in Self-Promotion. NicholsonNY took home the gold in this category for their popular snow-ball fight holiday card. RedSky not only made some noise with their work (Absolute DJ), but San Francisco-based CEO Tim Smith and his wife Anne Vosler brought out their adorable 16 month old Cale Smith to the luncheon!

Andrew Jaffe closed the ceremony with hopes that next year's entries will be better and encouraging words that we're on the right start.

Monday, May 17, 1999

Media Life magazine launch


If you're involved in media buying for the web, and who isn't on some
 level, then you should check out the newest mag to come onto the
 scene! Media Life magazine is getting started by the dynamic and
 effervescent founding editor-in-chief Gene Ely and witty and with-it
 senior editor Jeremy Slossberg. I'll be contributing too -- writing about
 advertising on the web and you can sign up for your free subscription
 at www.medialifemagazine.com. This new web site will be aimed at
 media directors, media planners, and media buyers and is scheduled to
 be online as of May 17th. Free for registered subscribers, this mag will
 cover the entire media industry, with sections on new media, TV,
 cable, magazines, and newspapers. The emphasis will be on the Web
 as an advertising medium and their goals are two-fold: first, to inform
 people who specialize in new media about the latest developments in
 the marketplace; and second, to relate major trends in new media to
 the overall media marketplace--a valuable but often missing
 perspective on the hype-addled Internet scene. Just two of the things
 that set Media Life apart from other publications is that they do not
 believe that new media stories are only about finance, nor do they
 believe that being the first to announce someone else's announcement
 is equivalent to being a good reporter. Gene also launched the
 award-winning print magazine "Inside Media" and is applying his
 industry know-how and journalistic talents to bring a new level of
 value to the concept of "trade publication." So anyone who is a media
 decision-maker is entitled to a free subscription, and may enroll at
 enroll@medialifemagazine.com. Send me your tips and good things to
 write about!

Saturday, May 15, 1999

Happy Birthday Vica!

You may know Vica Vinogradova for her talented work on the Russian Web Girls site or on Sonicnet, or even her professional site, Ladno. But her talents extend beyond all these efforts to more -- and her recent return from Moscow for her birthday gave me the opportunity to hear about some of them. In addition to developing her business in Moscow, she worked on the Kremlin Cup and continues helping build the RWG community on-line. Other guests who came for cheer and celebration were Maya (Kremlin Cup), Katya (designer), Slava Borisov (gromco.com), Anna and Ivan Eliashevish (fashion designer and scientist @ emcore.com), Scott Ettin (Tankboy.com -- and original WWWAC member) and Leonid. Everyone looked great and most women had on wildly artistic outfits on the fine Spring Saturday (5/15) night in Manhattan.

Friday, May 14, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 5/14/99

NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Send your news to: news@TheCyberScene.com

Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers popped up into my inbox --
such a nice, well written, useful e-mail on marketing on the web!

Urban Desires has launched a new feature based on the videos of
Chris Cunningham. Cunningham is a very talented, questionably
pessimistic man who has an affinity for electronic music. You can
check out his videos for Squarepusher's "Come on My Selector" and
Apehx Twin's "Come to Daddy" on Urban Desires. Read the
interview and find out why Cunningham thinks films today are crap
(and let us know if you agree).

Nutripeak.com just launched a site that offers more than 1,500
products, from amino acids to weight gainers at discounted prices.
They also feature the latest information on training and workouts for
the serious athlete. There is a shopping cart system where you can
also choose delivery (including next day) and customers who make a
$50 dollar purchase through June will receive a free nutripeak.com
T-shirt and the first thousand customers will receive a free sample of
"effervescent Creatine." Customers can also set up their own "lockers"
where they can store information about their workouts, their
nutritional supplements and other data necessary to ensure a
successful fitness program. An easy-to-use keyword search program
allows customers to pinpoint each product along with prices and
quantities. Several varieties of "custom kits" are tailored for specific
fitness interests such as losing body fat and gaining muscle size;
burning fat and losing weight; increasing energy and building
endurance, and improving sexual performance.

Niehaus Ryan Wong, Inc. (NRW), an Internet and technology public
relations firms, announced plans to open an office in New York. The
announcement is marked by the appointment of Laura Hamilton,
formerly senior vice president of Corporate Communications and
Investor Relations for Cendant Corporation, as managing director to
head the New York office and further expand NRW's investor
relations services. New York has a concentration of creatives --
authors, playwrights, artists, and producers -- who've traditionally
communicated through theater, media, publishing, and advertising,"
said Ed Niehaus, president of NRW. "Leveraging the City's expertise,
we believe that creative advances in Interactive/Internet content will
come out of New York. We want to be the agency that helps these
companies tell their stories to the world." "New York's global financial
community is also a big draw for NRW," Niehaus explains. "New
York is the financial epicenter of the world, so it is very important for
us to help clients communicate with the New York financial
community. Combining our West Coast office's strong ties to the Sand
Hill Road investment community, we believe NRW is uniquely
positioned to offer new forms of Investor Relations services to clients
around the country." NRW plans to bring its expertise in relationship
marketing and sustainable identity strategies eastward to a variety of
East Coast companies. In particular, NRW will help emerging
companies articulate their vision, position and voice in a crowded and
competitive marketplace through its special trademarked service, the
Architecture of Identity. In addition, NRW will offer BI-coastal
communications services to its impressive range of clients including
Yahoo!, Pixar, E-Loan, and Planet Rx. The Internet Foreign Currency
Exchange, which was designed and developed by Octet
(www.octet.com), won the Oxford Global Network the "American
Venture Spring 1999 Award." (go to Award-winning listing (#630) -
Internet Foreign Currency Exchange)

SHAKERS & STIRRERS ______________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com

Howard Greenstein: promoted to Technical Evangelist, Windows Media Technologies, Microsoft || Shachin Shah: promoted to Account Supervisor, PR@vantage || Laura Hamilton joins Niehaus Ryan Wong, Inc. as managing director to head the New York office and further expand NRW's investor relations services || Alayna Tagariello is moving from Peppercom Communications to Connors Communications || Adrienne Matt is writing solo again as Lucid Thought and working with Christine Harmel of The Interactive Resource

TSC TOC - May 14


May 14
TSC TOC
 Rhizome's "Digital Desserts"
 Jaron Lanier and Soaring Inspiration
 The Battle of the Breakfast Seminars -- Round Three
 Venture Downtown (in Midtown)
 Pathfinder Rumor
 Cheesey IBM
 Equity-compensation 101
 Auctioning Ads
 His Royal Highness and Le Petite Prince
 SmartMoney.com ROCKS THE WEB!
 Bits and Bytes

 What a week of art and finance. That's what it's all about isn't it?
 Affording beautiful things that mean something& . And there were
 more than a few offerings this week:

 Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
 Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com
 AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com
 Metro Learning Channel's "Plugged In" (Cablevision) -- 5/21 & 5/28
 "Cocktails with Courtney" Dallas and Austin -- 5/19 & 5/20 --
 www.cocktailswithcourtney.com

Thursday, May 13, 1999

Luxumbourg's New Media/Tec biz & dinner with HRH Henri


As the presentations were beginning, I glanced at my watch and
 realized I was almost late for dinner with HRH Crown Prince Henri of
 Luxemburg. Over at the Marriott Marquis the cocktail hour was still
 underway. A full afternoon of panels and presentations from
 companies in Luxumburg doing new media/tech. biz had already
 informed guests. Those companies were the National Media &
 Communications Development Agency (www.mediaport.lu), the
 satellite communications company SES-Astra (www.astra.lu)
 (footprint of 74 million European households), the largest European
 entertainment and radio-TV broadcaster CLT-UFA, the Web design
 and services company Incotech (www.incotech.lu), the SEC group of
 telecommunications companies (www.sec.lu), the digital media firm
 Cybea and the multimedia translation company Euroscript
 (www.euroscript.lu).

 At the cocktail reception I met Romit Leora, Gabrielle Riera, Susan
 Steier (an attorney and board member of NYSIA) and saw William
 Lopez of Qwest. Thomas Klinkowstein, president of Media Arts, and
 I chatted for a while about who we think are the most interesting
 people in the industry (Red Burns, Jaron Lanier). He told me about
 the three women astronauts he knows, how he helped Laurie
 Anderson get going in Europe, and about some of the shows he did as
 a performance artist. Robert Hoffman, a famous Luxumbourg lawyer;
 Anne Lux of Euroscript; Linda Gras, Deputy Commissioner, division
 for int'l biz, NYC Commission for the UN, Consular Corps and
 Protocol; Sal Venezia of Merrill Lynch; and Susan Livington at Brown
 Brothers Harriman were also present to learn more about the business
 opportunities for these two countries.

 Stefan Chorus was snapping pictures of guests and HRH. Gilbert E.
 McNeill, Executive Director of AmChamLux, was about to introduce
 me to the "handsome prince" (as all the women I met thus far said),
 when he politely told me I must put away my paper. No paper is to be
 out in front of HRH. This was very confusing to me, as when I
 RSVP'd I'd made a point that I was "press." But apparently I wasn't
 invited as press, but simply as a new media person. The Prince didn't
 want to meet press and, in fact, the NYTimes or the WSJ didn't get
 invitations. And yet I spied a freelance reporter not far away. Hmmm.
 I told Mr. McNeill that I certainly did not want to offend the Prince,
 as I tucked my notepad into my pocketbook, but that he really
 should've told me this was the case in his e-mails. So, now the big
 moment. I met the Prince, who was tall, tan, elegantly attired and
 graceful. He was also a good conversationalist. He asked if I knew
 much about Luxumbourg, and I mentioned that I would love to learn
 more about this country-the reason, really, that I was interested in
 attending this event. So Prince Charming and the Little Prince went
 away to meet more people, but not before Justin Model of the NYC
 Economic Development Corporation asked HRH Prince Henri if he
 was spending lots of money in New York. Alright, Justin! That's the
 spirit. I tell ya, that guy is always working for the good of his State
 and school--as he asked me if I sent in my donation to Skidmore, our
 Alma Mater. Tillie Castellano of the NYCEDC joshed Justin a bit and
 we moved into dinner.

 While I sat througha HRH the Crown Prince Henri of Luxemburg's
 speech, Kevin Bacon and the Bacon brothers were belting out
 "Footloose" to the 1000 or so attendees for SmartMoney.com's big,
 banner bash at Webster Hall. I stopped by near the tail end to find out
 that Agency.com's band got mixed reviews -- Sam Huxley of Brand
 Dialogue thought Modem Media's band was much better, while Marc
 Frons, Editor-in-Chief of SmartMoney.com thought they were great!
 In addition to meeting Eric Lob and several loopy partiers, I had a
 chance to pal around with my old colleagues from Brand Dialogue:
 Mike Potter and Peter Grasik (who's moved onto a new firm).

ICONOCAST @ W Hotel New York


Who has the most infectious laugh in the industry? Why Michael
 Tchong, of course! The editor and chief information architect of the
 weekly ICONOCAST newsletter arrived at the newly renovated
 (wow, is it renovated!) W Hotel New York on Thursday, May 13th,
 to a welcoming crew of myself and Dara Tyson of Penton Media. We
 were sampling the refreshingly light avocado hearts with lemon aioli
 on toast points just before he snapped a few pictures for the
 ICONOCAST Society page. Terry Kent of VNU and Don Miller of
 Horizon Media Inc., and the Mass Transit Interactive crew of Danny
 Schaeffer, Jason Burnham and Hope Distant were all there for the
 lovely cocktail reception and presentations. There's a concept -- the
 cocktail party beforehand! Mike Corso stopped by before heading off
 to hear Winston Marselis play at Alice Tully Hall for an Ellington
 tribute. Jeff Olander of AdForce and Bill Somers of
 Neilsen/NetRatings explained their services to me. Neil Cohen (senior
 VP, biz affairs, AdAuction) introduced me around, and I got a nifty
 baggage tag made from my business card. The silent auction included
 funny money we could use to bid on AdAuction's site, where they
 were launching the banner-ads-for-auction service. Neat concept. I
 met Harold Van Arnem (CEO of Money.net), who'd been getting my
 newsletter from Mark Friedler at Gigex. Dinesh Ahluwalia of Tribeca
 Internet Initiatives, Inc. told me about one of his companies' sites,
 IndiaServer.com, which is the world's largest destination site for
 Indians. He said that 70% of the traffic comes from the US, but the
 content providers are in India. Margaret McCann of Bluefly.com
 came out for the event, and as the topic of fashion came up, Michael
 and I realized we were both in our blue Versace suits!

Equity-compensation: Strategies @ Digital Sandbox


So what was NOT going on Thursday night? Not much. I managed to
 make four out of the five events in my datebook. First stop was to
 learn about "Equity-compensation: Strategies for Building and
 Motivating Management Teams in Silicon Alley" at the Digital
 Sandbox. Presented by the Financial Women's Association and
 sponsored by Bryan Cave LLP and Grant Thornton LLP, The event
 featured quite a handful of enterprising entrepreneurs. They included
 Jeff Phillips of Stockobjects; James Marciano of Upset.com; Betty
 Wong of ServiceFinders (who wore a stunning red-silk, Chinese print
 jacket); Rob Steir of MBA FreeAgents; Bigfoot International; Eleanor
 Hass of e-technologies; Bill Duke of FreelanceNY; Craig Zolan of
 UniversityVentures and The Humor Network guys. There were many
 other executives who learned about how the non-qualified stock
 option plan rules in Silicon Valley and about the differences between
 C and S Corps, LLCs and LLPs. As fascinating and useful this
 information was, I had to head out to the next event! A little report in
 from Charles Hamilton of Planetrider said that the panels got better
 and better and "in fact, by the third session--and after a heaping plate
 of sushi and a couple belts of Merlot--it was more than worth the
 wait."

Wednesday, May 12, 1999

Big Blue in a Big White Space

IBM's commercials have propelled Big Blue's image from that of a stodgy, stiff, structured and inflexible firm to one of the big companies that's (maybe) the most with it. And now they're targeting Silicon Alley companies in a brave new way. After struggling with ineffective reseller models, IBM came up with their Web Integrators initiative. This program targeted over 100 interactive firms that are not just doing cool sites, but also running critical back-end applications. In exchange for education, training and certification in IBM products and relationship management topics, these companies will offer IBM products and services as a viable "e-business" solution (there's that word again) for their clients. And to kick-off the grand plan was a party at Earthpledge Foundation's fabulously modern carriage house on Wednesday, May 12th. Monte Bartlett of Surge Interactive and Kyle Shannon of Agency.com were two of the firms there, as part of the program. Sam Albert, who tipped me off to this event (thanks, Sam!), dropped
me another revolutionary sound byte with, "IBM is changing its name to EBM" in reference to all the e-mphasis on their "e" words (just look at their ads: e-vulcan, e-cuisine, e-profits, e-tcera).

Leslie Hoff introduced me to the legendary labor attorney Theodore Kheel, who is president of the Earthpledge Foundation and Bob Timpson  (general manager of IBM's software group), who came down from Somers, NY. Stuart Gannes (VP, Internet applications, AT&T Labs) came out from of Menlo Park, as did Ryan Magnussen (CEO, Zentropy). We spoke for a bit about the benefits of growing a company organically and building value, and how Zentropy has done that and still grown 300% a year since May 1995. We sampled a bit of the brewed and bottled beer from Cooperstown, NY, (home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame). Nommegang was the darker, fruitier beer, and it went quite well with the homemade, fresh mozzarella that was being spun in front of our eyes. Warm and soaked in Pumpkin Seed oil and sea salt (that’s the key!), this mozzarella was so delicious I had to find out more!

Jonathan White, originally a computer professional, and his wife, Gina, started the Egg Farm Dairy and are intent on "Setting the Dairy Industry Back 100 years." I'll happily go with them if I can have more of that yummy CHEESE too! :) Now, you may be thinking, "what the heck has gotten into Miss Courtney with this cheese fascination." Well, I'm not the only one who loved it -- this company has the distinction of being the only non-Internet investment in Silicon Alley investment darling Bob Lessin's portfolio.

Mark Swanson (president, iXL) and I chatted for a while about all the interesting things he did before coming to NYC. He was the iXL's worldwide CTO, and his first two companies (Digital Image and Swan Interactive Media) were both bought out. Pliny Gale (relationship manager, web integrator initiative) also had some interesting comments on cyber scenes and will be comin' round to my party in Dallas.

Tuesday, May 11, 1999

Venture Downtown Midtown


NYNMA's Venture Downtown, a VC conference for cutting-edge New York new media companies, occurred on May 11th at the New York Hilton. NYNMA is getting good at bringing in the heavy players for its events, thanks to the powerful leadership of Alice O'Rourke and the indefatigable efforts of the NYNMA staff. They all deserve kudos for putting on an event that will assist in raising NY to significant player status among "wired cities" doing noteworthy "stuff."

There were two tracks in the morning and afternoon, a luncheon with keynote from our morning speaker Guy Kawasaki, and a cocktail reception sponsored by Microsoft and ZDNet. The "other" Michael Wolf, author of "The Entertainment Economy: How Mega Media Forces Are Transforming Our Lives" and founder and senior partner of the media & entertainment practice of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc, gave the morning keynote to a full house. By stopping by in the late morning I was able to meet up with a few notable sponsors, including Tom Hyland, partner and new media group chair at Price Waterhouse Coopers. Burt Alimansky was there telling Jeanine Moss (VP, sales & marketing, NY Business Forums, who was wearing a stunning silver cuff bracelet) and Stan Sandberg (Ladenburg Thalmann--also a sponsor) about my Uncle Bert, who own a successful tie and menswear business (XMI). Stephen Berman (pres., Synergy Capital) and Chris Wood and Chris Patyk (both of Riverside Management Group, LLC) and Howie Schwartz (Antidote Systems) were waiting for Track A companies to start presenting.

A bit later I came back up to meet up with Ben Boissevain (e-Technologies), Jon Perkel and Anna Wong of Mofo.com, and Miriam Eaves of 1ClickCharge. Howard Greenstein of Microsoft told me about some of his new developments, including his recent promotion to Technical Evangelist, Windows Media Technologies. David Friedensohn (CEO of BigStar) came over to say "hello" and introduced me to Gretchen Grant (of Grant Media), who is working with Marc Scarpa of Jumpcut. Bruce Strzelczyk (Richard A. Eisnor) and Gavin McElroy were comparing ties (Bruce won with a fantastic American Flag motif). Greg Arnold (pres.) and Marc Boroditsky (CEO) of Passlogix were there with two of their friends/investors Ross Goldstein and Daniel Schultz (managing partners @ Atlantic Venture Partners). Michael Schwartz (pres., Signal Core) was also sporting a great tie with a fish on it -- in celebration of May and Fly fishing season. I ran into old college buddy Steve Novick (private equity, Lehman Brothers) and VP, Finance DesignerOutlet.com, who was with this new startup's pres. and CEO, Lauren Battista. I also met Michael Werner (director, East Coast partner and ISV relations, Microsoft) and Thomas Kurz (dir. of Eagle Financial Partners).

Raphi Salem (CEO, pres.) of SalemGlobal was charming as ever and reminded me about his newsletter. Jim Chard of 1ClickCharge and John Delaney (Mofo.com) were chatting it up with Mary Sue Blackney (Mofo.com) about the recent "San Jose Mercury News" article about the law firm's domain name, which has been attributed to a vulgar phrase. The article was saying that the firm has been known as "mofo" in legal circles for years, and when web sites were starting up, they took advantage of that and snatched up the domain name. Despite the joke, marketing director Carl Whitaker said "It is very Web-oriented and catchy.'' Multi-tasker extraordinaire Alex Cohen was cutting it up with Felix Knoll (a recent sales hire at Sun). Alex and McAdory Lipscomb helped train the presenters for today's show. He is graduating from Columbia Law School, has an investment fund (KMS Fund, started by Kevin McKullum (who started the Broadway show "Rent"), and has funny Puri pictures of him and his girlfriend in his Palm carrier!

Siegel and Gale's Interactive Breakfasts 1999 series

It's the battle of the breakfast seminars! Over the last three weeks I've been at Bogen PR and LPNYTHink's Breakfast Network, the Silicon Alley Breakfast Club, and Siegel and Gale's Interactive Breakfasts 1999 series. Each was unique in its own way. Siegel & Gale's event was Tuesday, May 11th, at the University Club on 5th Avenue. Some heavy-hitters were on this panel: Guy Kawasaki (CEO of garage.com), Nicole Vanderbilt (director, Mindshares program, Jupiter Communications), Emmen Hidgon (assist, VP, T. Rowe Price), David Webster (exec. VP, Siegel & Gale, managing director of the interactive group) and Nick Gould (VP, marketing & biz dev at educational media, Scholastic). The conversation touched upon the pros and cons of real vs. virtual stores, with a focus on eToys vs. Toys 'R Us and Dell vs. Gateway. David commented that he thinks Gateway has a good model that offers the ease of on-line shopping to savvy buyers, but the touch-and-feel features that new online shoppers need. Nicole asked if these companies should be all things to all people, and Emmett pointed out that customer service issues are getting to be more vital, which is why companies like LivePerson.com are so hot. David talked about companies like drugstore.com will obviously run into problems when people who need a prescription in an hour or the next day. Nicole reminded us that the problem with the brick & mortar stores is that for the most part, they don't know who their customers are, and that, in fact, you're probably more anonymous with them than you are with an on-line component. She recalled the first virtual store with a real world presence at The Met, Virtual Emporium.

Guy made a funny comment about a conversation during dinner with some folks at Lucent the previous night. They decided they should give away cars and sell billboard ads for revenue. Haha. Yet, that's our revenue model for the Internet! Among the questions posed to the panel afterwards was "which would you rather be? Dell or Gateway?" They all answered "Dell," except for Nick, who said that he bought Dell even though he'd rather be Gateway. I might vote for Gateway too, considering the troubles I've been having with my new Dell -- Fatal Exception Errors and I are getting a bit too familiar with each other. Unlike the other breakfasts, at least half the audience stayed to schmooz after the event, and I had a chance to catch up with Andrew Zolli (VP, interactive media, Siegel & Gale), Gina Lalli (VP, Siegel & Gale, interactive media) and Jay Sears ( EDGAR 's On-line.) Andrew Raisej said "hello" and reminded me about MOUSE's upcoming June event. I also touched base with Paula Batson of A2B and Laura Berland (EVP), Michael Greene (VP, Digital biz dev) of ORB, the Ecom Advisors, and Marci Weisler and Robert Levitan (Chief Floozer) at Flooz.com. JC Herz was telling Alex Stanton, of Stanton Crenshaw, and me about her new company, which is centered around a web site and documentary on video games.

Monday, May 10, 1999

Time, Inc rumor / Next20Years.com


 Rumor overheard in the Elevators: After an 1 1/2 hour long Monday
 morning meeting for the Time Inc. new media employees, Perlstein
 was overheard saying to Logan "that'll hold them till the sh*t hits the
 fan." The meeting was at 8:00 AM on May 10th and they'd told the
 employees that they were trying to change the way things ran and get
 cooperation between all the properties.


 Wondering what you'll be doing for new years? Forget about that!
 Hear what industry pundits think about new media in The Next 20
 Years extravaganza! Slick, cool, demos need only apply to showcase
 ~ demo@next20years.com More info: contact Bob Ayres ~
 bob@tnty.com ~ www.next20years.com

Saturday, May 08, 1999

Cooper Union benefit for ASCI / ACSI's annual Cyberart '99 symposium


Continuing in the creative, virtual vein on Saturday, May 8th, I went
 to see and hear Jaron Lanier, scholar, virtuoso musician, writer,
 scientist and father of virtual reality, perform at the Cooper Union
 school as a benefit for Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI). The
 event launched ASCI's annual Cyberart '99 symposium. Lanier is
 commanding. Dressed all in black, with Birkenstocks, the longest
 blond dreadlocks I've ever seen and all the love of a big cuddly polar
 bear, Jaron thrilled the audience with his masterful playing of any
 number of instruments, including the Ba Wu, Seljeflote, Gu Zheng,
 Khaen, and Disklavier piano. These instruments had sensors
 connected to Silicon Graphics-based 3-D images that were projected
 real-time on a large-screen video display.

 He started us off with a piano number. Then he stopped and asked if
 the images animated were based on his playing, or if he was following
 the cue of the graphics. We had to believe in the illusion -- which is
 what the web offers us daily -- the challenge to believe the reality and
 interactivity of what's virtual. "Echoes of Chromatophoria" was the
 title of this night's program, which is taken from Jaron's love of the
 Giant Cuttlefish. These amazing little creatures communicate by
 displaying luminous, quickly changing colorful images all over their
 bodies through chromatophores--color-changing cells found in the
 Cuttlefish's skin. I wish I were a cuttlefish! We got to witness more
 stunning 3D graphics as he jammed with a violinist, cellist, and in a
 separate number with a Mexican guitar player. Another stunning
 performance came from Sussan Deyhim, an Iranian singer. Matilda, a
 dragonfly, newt-like monster, was controlled on the screen by
 Sussan's soaring voice, which reached new heights and then clucked
 like a chicken. Jaron cut a wood lathe that in turn struck piano and
 hammer-like images as he played a flute.

 Mr. Lanier pioneered the development of virtual reality, and his
 current research work at Advanced Network & Services has been
 bringing together recognized experts in virtual reality and networking
 to identify issues and to develop plans to build a national
 tele-immersive research infrastructure. Jaron on the web. The event
 was produced by the additional support of: YAMAHA, Theatrical
 Services & Supplies/PROXIMA, Silicon Graphics, and A's Wave.

AD: Stanton-Crenshaw


 Stanton Crenshaw Communications is a public relations firm based in
 New York. Chosen "Best New Agency of 1998" by Inside PR,
 Stanton Crenshaw is expanding its New Media capabilities. Current
 hi-tech clients include e-businesses in a number of sectors, Internet
 infrastructure and content providers and companies on the fast track
 to IPO. We are seeking a leader for this practice area - an individual
 with progressive management experience, strategic business
 knowledge and a commitment to innovation and professional
 development. Competitive salary with bonuses and benefits. Email
 resume to: alissa@stanton-crenshaw.com

AD: Stanton-Crenshaw


 Stanton Crenshaw Communications is a public relations firm based in
 New York. Chosen "Best New Agency of 1998" by Inside PR,
 Stanton Crenshaw is expanding its New Media capabilities. Current
 hi-tech clients include e-businesses in a number of sectors, Internet
 infrastructure and content providers and companies on the fast track
 to IPO. We are seeking a leader for this practice area - an individual
 with progressive management experience, strategic business
 knowledge and a commitment to innovation and professional
 development. Competitive salary with bonuses and benefits. Email
 resume to: alissa@stanton-crenshaw.com

Friday, May 07, 1999

Rhizome's "Digital Dessert"

I can't deny my sweet tooth, so when I noticed that Rhizome was
having a "Digital Dessert" on May 7th at The Kitchen, I made sure I
was there! The third and final fundraiser was for Rhizome
Communications Inc. www.rhizome.org, a New York not-for-profit
organization that fosters communication and community in new media
art and highlighted Electronic Hollywood's Jaime Levy, Miltos
Manetas of Manetas.com and Mark Napier of Potatoland.org. Coffee,
milk and "mindblowingly delicious desserts" and cookies were
tempting the 50 or so guests. On hand was Yael Kanarick, senior
designer at The Globe and of her own www.worldofawe.com. The
Desserts couldn't come close to the sensory treats we were to witness
from these artists, however.

 Mark Napier's tome of impressive works includes the Digital Landfill
 (ASCI Digital Art Show 98), The Distorted Barbie, and artwork in
 Yahoo! Internet Life, Altoids.com and one independent film. That
 night he demoed Potatoland.org, which was a visual cornucopia of
 flashes, colors, movement and HTML that dazzled the eye. Napier,
 waxing serious for a moment, appealed to the audience for funding,
 and told us that part of the fun of the web is that you can really do
 some creative promotions. Greek Miltos Manetas surprised me with
 his showcase of Chelsea World, a virtual-reality world created in
 Active Worlds. Miltos took us through gallery after gallery, where you
 can have your own room--but if you don't use it, you lose it! Then we
 went up into a blue sky with puffy clouds, a place where you have no
 gravity but can free fall--once you select that action button. The
 typical VR world features chats, various avatar options and actions.
 My sugar high crashed during Miltos' speech and what had been
 interesting quickly turned into sour leftovers.

 Another uber talented creative star of the virtual reality world is Jaime
 Levy with her "Malice Palace." Jaime didn't demo this site however.
 Instead she took us through some of her newest creations--a game and
 a cartoon. Quite proud, and rightly so, she demoed "Run, Dog, Run,"
 a game that lets you know a little bit more about what it's like to be a
 dog in a classic NYC dog run. Jaime's self-depreciating humor brought
 us back to life and laughs burst out as she went from level to level of
 the game to run around a tree, avoid a Chihuahua's poop, avoid a
 horny Dalmatian humping you at any moment and avoiding a mean ol'
 nasty pit bull. She explained how the creative process fluctuated
 between struggles, going back to the drawing board and triumphs for
 herself, Carl Rozak (artist) and Steven Warren (programmer). She
 explained the challenges of coordinating little details like the people in
 the background too.

 EH also demonstrated a "shoot 'em up" game--"Die, Roach, Die," in
 which players can spray cockroaches to death. EH has done work for
 Tommy Hilfiger the Partnership for Drug Free America and a parody
 of Jerry Springer's show with "Ringmaster." Jaime's real pride and
 joy, however, is her new cartoon. The longest streaming animated
 cartoon on the Net is based on her life as a 22-year-old who has just
 moved to NYC. Jaime hopes the game will gain popularity like "South
 Park" and soon go mainstream. I liked Jaime's inventiveness and
 humility. When she realized that she couldn't draw the cartoon herself,
 she used a digital camera to capture the images she wanted to convey
 and had an artist translate them. Jaime shared the high points of
 making this cartoon, like having her friends come over to record
 voices, and that the greatest thing is to be so expressive in so many
 ways. How true!

 Rachel Green and Mark Tribe of Rhizome have a lot to be proud of
 for putting together a rich, artistic (and yummy) evening. They just
 might want to start it earlier!