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.