New Media Summit

In the game Three-Card Monte, the object is always to find the ball under the nut. But of the three conferences in town on streaming media and broadband, which one was the nut with the lucky ball? I started out in my quest at the Pricewaterhouse Coopers New Media Summit '99: A Deeper View Conference, done in conjunction with Forbes. The conference began on June 28th with a lovely networking reception at the Forbes building.

The growth of the Internet business is stunning. But the art displayed in the Forbes gallery far surpasses any revolutionary system, technology or e-com application. The most sophisticated electronic transaction couldn't compare with the craftmanship that went into the ship model's collection. No website design could touch the Fabrege eggs that glistened and sparkled with exquisite delicacy and fine detailing. And the strength and power of American business would struggle next to the dominance and beauty of the American paintings collection. Or maybe they could and would rival and surpass these classic works.

The pre-conference cocktail party gathered a fine collection of guests including the graceful Lori Schwab of Sunny Bates Associates, the dashing Eric Goldberg of Crossover Technologies, a witty Mark Martiak of Forbes Digital Media and thoughtful Anne Chelius of Chrysalis Computer, Inc. Joanne Gebhardt looked stunning in a red & white striped suit and the Most Fun Business Card award goes to LiquidBoy.com (a new web shop). Peter Petrusky of PricewaterhouseCoopers took some time aside with discussions with Tom Hyland (manager of the new media division) to speak with me about PWC's developing growth in the new media division. They have carved their practice out of the traditional research and offer services to help companies stay competitive and intelligent in this marketspace.

The conference was on the 29th at swank Supper Club and had noted speakers, including Tim Forbes, COO Forbes Magazine; Josh Grotstein, global director of e-commerce, Citicorp; and Doubleclick EVP, Wenda Harris Millard, presenting on recent developments and related issues concerning electronic business.