Thursday, September 30, 1999

Thursday night's the Boogie Night!


WebStakes their claim
WebStakes enjoyed their Four-Year Anniversary at the Key Club on Thursday, September 30th. Unity Stoakes (dir. marcomm) and Daniel Feldman (president) were greeting guests till the very end and told me they've got 60 employees total now, 15 of which they flew in from San Francisco. Of course they did a sweepstakes and some lucky winners got a Palm Pilot and a weekend on Webstakes, anywhere in the USA!

It's YourDay mania
It doesn't take a supermodel to pack a party for the web world, but the launch party of YourDay.com had Victoria Secret model Laetitia Casta as part of their draw for the 300+ guests. The big loft space at 428 Broadway was filled up with friends and industry workers like Paul Kotonis (Sensenet) who brought in a bunch of cyber-scenestirs. Later, I met two blokes from London--Jon Bains of Lateral Thinker and the media director for Modem Media in London.

Uproarious good time
Öwas had by all at Uproar's bash at Studio Daylight on 31st Street. Why was there such a bubalou about? Well, why not? They've got a new site design, lots of fun games added, growth like you've never seen and (honestly--they're a good partying bunch!)

Gotta Bolt!
And the final stop on Thursday's dance card was Bolt.com's party at Twirl. They had a hot new band, Bicycle, playing, which just signed with Capricorn records and Dan Pelson and Jane Mount were busy as host and hostess for the event. There cause celebre was festive and buzzing -- as is their site, which features one of the cooler e-commerce solutions I've seen -- users get to choose what they want to see sold online, not just have to stick with what's available!

Thursday night's the Boogie Night!


WebStakes their claim

WebStakes enjoyed their Four Year Anniversary at the Key Club on Thursday, September 30th. Unity Stoakes (dir. marcomm) and Daniel Feldman (president) were greeting guests till the very end and told me they've got 60 employees total now, 15 of which they flew in from San Francisco. Of course they did a sweepstakes and some lucky winners got a Palm Pilot and a weekend on Webstakes, anywhere in the USA!

It's YourDay mania

It doesn't take a supermodel to pack a party for the web world, but the launch party of YourDay.com had Victoria Secret model Laetitia Casta as part of their draw for the 300+ guests. The big loft space at 428 Broadway was filled up with friends and industry workers like Paul Kotonis (Sensenet) who brought in a bunch of cyber-scenestirs. Later, I met two blokes from London--Jon Bains of Lateral Thinker and the media director for Modem Media in London.

            Uproarious good time

…was had by all at Uproar's bash at Studio Daylight on 31st Street. Why was there such a bubalou about? Well, why not? They've got a new site design, lots of fun games added, growth like you've never seen and (honestly--they're a good partying bunch!)


            Gotta Bolt!

And the final stop on Thursday's dance card was Bolt.com's party at Twirl. They had a hot new band, Bicycle, playing, which just signed with Capricorn records and Dan Pelson and Jane Mount were busy as host and hostess for the event. There cause celebre was festive and buzzing -- as is their site, which features one of the cooler e-commerce solutions I've seen -- users get to choose what they want to see sold online, not just have to stick with what's available!

Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Real Floozy Cocktails

  It wasn't the people who were Floozy, and the drinks certainly weren't, but Flooz was once again the prize offered for Real Media's raffle at the September 29th "Cocktails with Courtney." EarthCam (www.earthcam.com) made a banner splash at the event too with their fun, whimsical kiosk for picture taking at the event. And after a few drinks, who doesn't want to snap a photo, have it up on a site and emailed to your friends?! Check them out at: http://www.earthcam.com/events/PulitzerParty/

Among some of the guests who stopped by on this busy fall night were Monte Bartlett of Surge Interactive, Diane Butler of iXL and Catherine Winchester of Soliloquy, Michael McNally of Vantage Technologies and Peter Rowan, the new president of T3Media (promoted from VP Biz Dev. Chris Byrant has been promoted to CEO and Chairman.) Dana Blankenhorn (A-CLUE.COM), Robert Pina (Register.com), Aliza Sherman (Cybergrrl), Lauren Wechsler (Blue Marble), Lee Kaplan (cbs.com), Syl Tang (HipGuide), Henrik Brun (SonicNet), Hunter Bost (Electra Fleming Inc.) and Michael Stofer of Qwest were all among the guests who came for some fun drinks, hors d'oeuvres and exchanges of witty repartee!

It was such a thrill to have come back from a successful event in LA to celebrate the one-year anniversary of "Cocktails with Courtney!" Yes, indeed, the first one was September 1998. Amazing how things have grown in one fast year! Thank you ALL for your support and interest. I am looking forward to celebrating more events with You at web site launches, IPO celebrations and other cocktail parties. And I am looking forward as I branch out into Philadelphia (Oct), San Francisco (Oct) and Boston (Nov)!

Glamourous Movie Star

 
After a full day at the Digital Hollywood conference and a lovely dinner with family, I hopped aboard a flight to jet back to NYC for Wednesday morning to prepare for a photo shoot and September's regularly scheduled "Cocktails with Courtney."


Bedraggled and beleaguered, I stepped off the plane and into a limo, waiting to whisk me away to Conde Nast's building on 42nd Street. I was promptly delivered to Martin, the photographer; Dennis, the hairstylist; and Jane the makeup artist, who worked their magic and made me into a glamorous Hollywood movie star! For the next few hours I posed and camped about in gorgeous silk gowns by Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrara and vintage dresses that Jennifer acquired for me, for my picture to be in their upcoming issue (mid October) on the "Generation Next" (or some such titled article). It will be fun to be in the pages of the "New Yorker" next to a famous skateboarder, a chef, Haley Joel Osment of "The Sixth Sense" and the Hilton Sisters. Look for it on the newsstands in mid-October and let me know what you think!

Tuesday, September 28, 1999

Breakfast with a potential movie star


Michael Tchong wowed and entertained the Breakfast at VIC audience of over 200 attendees on Tuesday, September 28th at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. I enjoyed hearing about some of the astonishing stats of this industry's growth, and his accurate predictions while sampling fresh fruits. Afterwards I chatted with Heather Mason of ShowBizData.com, Leslie Berliant of E Talent Agency, Candice Pearson of Intertainer and Victoria Miller of V Communications.
A tour of LA's Museum of Radio and Television (for a potential BIG VIC event) followed breakfast and then Brad Nye and I headed over to the Beverly Hilton for some of the Digital Hollywood conference. He introduced me to Victor Harwood, president of this long-running conference, Mariana Danilovic of KPMG and Rick Bender (director of Online Media, American Film Institute). I also saw New Yorker David Friedensohn of BigStar.com and bumped into Warren Beatty! He's good friends with Spence Bovee, of VIC. Be still my beating heart!

Monday, September 27, 1999

Cocktails and a movie star

From Carnegie Hall to the Studio Walls of Hollywood, I traveled out to Los Angeles on Monday, September 27 for my LA debut with "Cocktails with Courtney." Sponsored by VIC (Venice Interactive Community) and InternetWire, the reception was set in the elegant and posh Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Of course I came prepared with my special touches of branded napkins and sparkly confetti, which always adds a little sparkle to any event!

This event was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet some people I'd only heard about and see first hand what the LA Cyber Scene is like. Tony Winders, president of InterActive Agency and Donald Alschuler of ExperTeam were among the first people I met. Brad Nye (pres. of VIC) introduced me to some of his close friends including his friend since early school days -- Paul Wolff of Brand ATM and Sofia Agras of PeopleLink. Marie Condron, of the SoCal Tech calendar came to meet me -- after weeks of emailing and event info exchanging. Bruce Braunstein, a writer, and Stephen Graham were working the room, and I met Deborah Bothun (partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers), Bruce Braun of Sabela Media, Brian Litman of PlayMedia Systems and Frederic Bien of Flirt.com were busy mingling with some of the well-heeled and dressed soiree attendees. Martini's delicately balanced in hands as sumptuous hors d'oeuvres were passed around. The witty and charming James Roberts of the Atlantic Advisory Group and I had many laughs and a good time, as did the smashing group from Viant-- Clive Pinder, Jeremy Barnett, Lance Trebesch and Seth Palmer (formerly of NY and then Dallas). Bridget Baiss was lovely to speak with and I also got the opportunity to meet the famous Gary Arlen of Arlen Communities.

Halfway through the glam gathering Brad Nye, Michael Terpin (of InternetWire) and I stood up on the rim of the fountain for a quick introduction and thanks to the guests. It was tempting to jump in afterwards, but of course I restrained myself. The evening was getting a bit chilly too, but it didn't stop the warm exchanges of greetings -- Bill Rini of eToys (and a frequent poster on the Goodtimes list!), Nina Steiner of NATPE and Rich Geist of another networking organization, The Zone were all bubbly and social.

Ever the brander, Brad Nye rounded up a select few for dinner afterwards at Trader Vics, an old-time LA establishment. Mads Lillelund of Lucent Technogies, Carolyn Nisbet (dir., HR, PeopleSupport.com), Tony Greenberg (SVP, biz dev. DEN), Michael Lindsey (LA Times), Joe Jurrell (Fullmettle), David Conlin (Cambridge Technology Partners), who very nicely picked up the tab.

Saturday, September 25, 1999

Cocktails and a movie

Next to the decidedly older, bejeweled, coiffed assemblage outside Carnegie Hall, there was a decidedly younger but equally stylish set gathering outside the Directors Guild Theater on 57th Street. Among the Pashima draped shoulders and Kenneth Cole clad feet, new media-ites like NYNMA executive director Alice O'Rourke, her husband, and iXL's Diane Butler. Angela Victor (NBC Interactive), Debra Sito (E-QualityKids Corp.), Kara Holmstrom (Edventure Holdings) and Lynda Fox-Frazer (Columbia House) were also among the many guests who arrived at the DGT on Saturday, September 25th for the preview screening of Warner Bros. newest movie "Three Kings." (http://www.three-kings.com). Don Buckley, SVP theatrical marketing & new media, Warner Bros. read a review of the film before it started to the "Cocktails With Courtney" attendees and WB associates including Simon Applebaum (Editor, Cablevison Magazine), Ella Newman (VP, The Bank of NY), Robert Jutson (managing director, Griffin Capital), Francis Chimenti and Christopher Faruol of Merrill Lynch.

The movie was stunning, as Don fortold, and might even be an Academy contender. If you think this film is just a guy-war flick, think again. George Clooney, Mark Walhberg and Ice Cube carry us through an emotional, laugh-filled, emotional journey of after-war, but still warring Iraq. We go with them on pursuit of stolen gold and their efforts to return it to Kuwait. We become involved with Iranian rebels and families, and the soldiers themselves. Equally as riviting, beside the story-line, was the cinematography and David Russell's unique use of stills, time-lapse photography, over-exposed shots and silence between dramatic takes.

Web-workers might also appreciate the website, which has clips, bulletin boards, postcards, sounds, chat and a timeline. Using IPIX technology you could check out the "assmap," see special presentations in Flash and trailers in WindowsMedia or Real Players.

Afterwards Todd Cohen (EZCD), Nick Boris (ABC News), Lydia Sugarman (the Good Egg) and Laura Taylor (Matrix Group, Washington, DC), Serena Doshi (Liv4Now) and Sean Malatesta (Yack!) and many other scene-stirs compliemented the movie and the fun cocktails, hors d'oeurvres (provided by Cakes & Ale) and wine from Gundlach Bundschu vineyards.

The theater was darkened, and outside a smaller group formed. I then led Sean Jacobson, Joe Murphy, Bernardo Joselevich, Kathleen Wallace (iVillage) and some companions traipsed over to the newly opened (this week) Campbell Apartment. Once more we were stunned this evening by this room's stunning ceiling and private library decorations (originals from Mr. Campbell's apt. in the 40s.)

Friday, September 24, 1999

TCS Intro: 9/24/99

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene (tm) ~ September 24, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------

WELCOME

I. This week's specials:
Cheese Steaks in a stretch limo
The Rich Media Sig 5 Minute Ranter
Vampires in the 'Hood
Twenty years and one hundred lawyers later
Shimmy, shimmy KoKo Pop!
Creative Goodness Gracious
You go Gurl
Wrap this Marshmallow, honey

Cyber Scene in DC
Cyber Scene in Portland

Cyber Scene Social Notes (networking etiquette for the new media professional)

II. Regular Features: (full write-ups on the site)
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes

Listen to the AudioCast -- in conjunction with ClickHear

III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
September 25 -- Special Warner Brothers Movie Screening & Cocktails -- SOLD OUT! : )
September 27 -- Courtney Does LA! Cocktails with Courtney -- LA
September 29 -- Sponsored by Real Media @ the B Bar
October 6 -- Sponsored by HIGHTECH Scandinavia @ Gaslight
October 27 -- Sponsored by The Swayne Agency & McGraw-Hill
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com

IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Saturday
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month

V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml
Unsubscribe! :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml

The Cyber Scene in Portland ~ by Mike Kingsella


Building Characters Online


In last weeks report you read what happened at the stellar Portland Creative Conference. Creative individuals from the movie, music, advertising, cartooning, and interactive industries all took part in this incredible event. And as you read last week, everyone was talking about interactive. I had the opportunity to meet Alexandra Rose, the producer behind such films as "Norma Rae", "Quigley Down Under", and "Frankie and Johnny". She also wrote "The Other Sister" in addition to producing the film.

Since Alexandra has worked for many years in the traditional entertainment industry she is able to provide fresh insight into interactive storytelling. In Alexandra's speech at the Creative Conference, she discussed the art of creating characters, in all sorts of mediums. When she mentioned the Internet as a character-creating medium I, of course, was intrigued.

According to Alexandra, there haven't been any really compelling characters developed for the web as of yet. What she finds is that there have been attempts, such as "The Spot", but they have unsuccessfully been trying to "drag old systems to new parameters." For online character building to be successful, someone will need to come up with an entirely new way of looking at things.
Alexandra finds the web as a way to garnish support for new films, for sales, marketing, and promotions. According to Rose, characters are essential to building strong brand identities. She uses the example of the Marlboro Man. A very strong character was built to position Marlboro as the manly cigarette. Similar techniques can be applied to the web, but the interactive nature can be leveraged for infinite possibilities.

So what does this have to do with the Portland industry? Believe it or not, a heck of a lot! Firms all over town such as Second Story, ZCom, and Paris France are all doing lots of work with flash entertainment on the web, actually working on online character development to an extent.

In addition to the interactive agencies around town, traditional broadcasters are jumping onto the convergence bandwagon. I had a chance to speak with Larry McDaniel, director of marketing & creative services at KOIN-TV, which is the local Portland CBS affiliate. Apparently, KOIN is doing lots of interesting things with digital television. While Larry could not fill me in on any specifics there is apparently lots of initiatives in the works at KOIN.

In addition to all of this, the music industry and the new media industry are converging at ultra warp speeds in Portland this weekend. The annual NXNW, (http://www.nxnw.com) music and new media conference is being held this Thursday, September 30th - Saturday October 2nd. This intrepid reporter will be hitting all the parties and panels to bring the hottest information to you, the faithful weekly reader.

So keep your eye on the digital forest for more convergence news in the next coming weeks, and keep an eye peeled for next weeks NXNW special and NXNW Shakers & Stirrers.

Thursday, September 23, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 9/23/99

SHAKERS & STIRRERS ________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Read all about the hot people online at:

Salley (www.salley.com) and Tami Zori have been hard at work-- they just placed William Luddy as the Director of Creative Services at Micro Modeling (http://www.micromodeling.com). William is going to head the formation of a brand new creative services department for the company that was very much technology oriented until now. William was Executive Creative Director at
AGENCY.COM before joining MMA, last week.

Kate Berg joined Jupiter Communications in May 99 to head up public relations for the research and advisory company located in SoHo. She has just expanded her new role to incorporate all corporate communications, in preparation for the rapid growth the company is experiencing.

hipO.com, Inc. (http://www.hipo.com), a destination site that entirely empowers the youth market, announced the appointment of Mike Glennon, a veteran consumer brand marketer, to director of marketing. Glennon will work in hipO.com's corporate headquarters located in Atlanta.

Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has been named President of space.com, effective immediately. Ride, who joined the company in June as executive Vice President of Strategic Planning and was elected to its Board of Directors, reports to space.com Chairman and CEO Lou Dobbs.

e-Media, a leading full-service provider of Internet solutions including e-commerce, micro-marketing and video and audio streaming, has named Albert F. Barber Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Barber joined e-Media as Vice Chairman earlier this year, a position he will retain in his new capacity; he was formerly a
President of CNBC and CFO of NBC.

Dan Sweeney has moved from the @dVENTURE Network Manager (@dVENTURE is a division of Venture Direct Worldwide) to the VP of Business Development here at NetCreations/PostmasterDirect.com

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

The Knot, Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange
Commission regarding an initial public offering of its common stock.

New Media Magazine has named iStadium as a finalist in their Invision Awards Competiton for its execution of "the world's largest game" in Shea Stadium. AND -- Human Code projects are finalists for 13 New Media Invision Awards, the most of any competitor. They've won 15 Invision awards over the years. Here's the skinny. If you want more info, go to http://www.invisionawards.com/finalists.html. The awards will be announced
November 11.

Motorola, a leader in wireless communications and Audible, a provider of Internet-delivered spoken audio content, held the first-ever demonstration of premium spoken audio content delivery, downloaded directly to digital wireless phones at the Personal Communications Showcase (PCS '99) in New Orleans.

CYBER SCENE SOCIAL NOTES ~ 9/23/99

In an attempt to help faciliate better networking for new media professionals and "Scenesters," here are some points, that will be added during the weeks. They will be archived.

* If you don't have anything nice to say to a person, don't stand there and insult them, go on and find another person more to your liking.

CYBER SCENE SOCIAL NOTES ~ 9/23/99

In an attempt to help faciliate better networking for new media professionals and "Scenesters," here are some points, that will be added during the weeks. They will be archived.

* If you don't have anything nice to say to a person, don't stand there and insult them, go on and find another person more to your liking.

The Cyber Scene in Portland ~ by Mike Kingsella

Portland Creative Conference Goes Interactive

The Portland Creative Conference opened with a bang on Thursday night over at the Portland Center for Performing Arts, with Sam BamBoo playing his Jamaican tunes and the creative professionals schmoozing the night away.

At the opening party, I had the chance to say hi to Lev Lieberman, Portland interactive guru. Lev told me he is reevaluating the industry, his background lies in traditional media and he is disappointed that the new media is not at the same level that traditional media was when he left it five years ago.

I also ran into Scott Banish of Dreaming America, a new interactive agency. Scott was pretty excited about two of their new clients, Trans-tech and Fusion Pictures.

The wacky art director at CyberSight, Todd Greco, talked to me about the Portland Creative Conference party, and his DJ styles. At that point I met Peter Gillington, contract web developer for George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic. Peter is working on an exciting project over there creating an archive site for ILM, which will store all their reels.

Hollywood Video, which owns reel.com, had a strong presence at the opening night party. Everyone in the crowd had a movie star nametag on and were encouraged to find four other people they were in a movie with. If you find four people you enter into a drawing for free video rentals for life.

Towards the end of the party I ran into Martin Higgins from Microsoft. Martin is currently producing a CD-ROM called “Shaq’s How To Stay Safe Online.” Paid for by the Gates Foundation the CD-ROM will be donated to Boys and Girls Clubs across the country to teach kids safe surfing behaviors.

Day two of the conference was filled with panels on filmmaking to convergence. But it seemed that everyone had something to say about the interactive scene. Alexandra Rose, writer and producer of “The Other Sister” spoke about building the character. She noted that it is not only important to build characters in books and on the screen, but also in interactive experiences. Log on next week to read my interview with Alexandra Rose and her insights into convergence.

A panel later in the day called “Digital Entertainment” showcased how the broadcast and interactive businesses are collaborating to build the groundwork for our converged systems in the Future. Ken Papagan, senior vice president at iXL demonstrated their moreTV technology and how interactive TV might look in the future. Michelle Miller, a producer over at PBS Kids Online talked about using this technology to create more exciting ways to learn for younger children.

Earlier that day I met Nathan Lucas, the New Media teacher over at Beaverton Arts & Communications High School. He will be teaching his students Photoshop 5.5, Illustrator 8, Director, and Flash 4. Lucas comes to the teaching profession directly from the software industry.

I also got a chance to hear Tiffany Shlain from the Webby Awards speak about online culture and how this culture is mirroring what happened during the renaissance. Tiffany comes to the interactive industry with a background in independent filmmaking. I got a chance to speak with her after her talk and she wants everyone to know that the submission date for the Webby Awards have been pushed up to October 8th.

On Saturday night, everyone at the conference got the chance to dance the night away. Hosted by 800.com the Portland Creative Conference wrap party was a big hit. I got a chance to talk to Greg Drew, CEO of 800.com, about his companies amazing growth.

Before the night was through I was also able to chat with Steve Bovee from VIC. Steve told me that VIC is expanding to become a huge nationwide networking organization for the interactive community.

All in all, the conference was incredible! If you are an interactive or Hollywood professional, this is the conference to go to. This is Mike Kingsella, signing off from Portland, the creative capital of the world!

Wrap this Marshmallow, honey

Since they were fourteen, Mark Smith and Vincent Lacava have been collaborating together on art projects. They created the character design and animation in Sony's "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" online games, and now they created a seamless interactive cartoon for Cartoon Network.com called "The Marshmallow Money Show." Characters like "Money," whose voice is Rob Roth's of the "Click and Drag" club at Mother and Vincent's 13-year old son Keith McKurdy does the voice for "Trey" (a green sock-like character). I chatted for a bit with Mark at their launch party at Sweet & Vicious on Spring Street where he told me most of their guests were art and creative directors in the interactive world and a Western Boot maker. Stacey, a florist who works on Spring Street, came bouncing over in pig-tails and a short plaid skirt and boots, hopped on Mark's knee and began hugging him with compliments on how great and wonderful he is. She popped back off and went away and he said, "I've never met that woman before in my life." Guess that's what happens when you launch a fun, successful cartoon!

You go GURL!

And go they did! That fabulous trio of go-gurl-getters Rebecca Odes, Esther Drill and Heather McDonald celebrated in style on Thursday, September 23rd at the big loft in Chelsea for their book "Deal With It!" This rav-arific event had a whole other group of our lovable cyber celebs and among the most lovable were David Friedensohn of Bigstar.com (have you seen their trucks 'round town?!), who was chatting with Ofer Cohen (of Sonicnet and my old neighbor), Michael Green (MichaelGreen.com), Jaime Levy (Ehollywood) and Mark Scarpa (Jumpcut--which is apparently jumping). Corey Podolsky came by and as I sauntered over to the other side of the deck I ran into one of my most favorite people, Maura Johnston of Gurl.com and Maura.com. Joey Cavella, creative director of Nerve.com and some other dark and arty types were there in the dark upstairs space. I think some vampires might've been here too, as the full moon is almost here!

Creative Goodness Gracious

Peter Shankman of the techno-wonder-computer-geek PR firm, The Geek Factory, commented that "nothing against other parties, but there seems to be a High Level in the room, intellectually, creatively and financially." I agreed. Just looking around the cavernous space for Creative Good's launch party, you could feel the solidity and solidarity of people committed to making good use of the web. As I entered the space I ran immediately into one of my best friends, James O'Connor of Mercury Interactive and his wife, HBS '98 grad and Zefer's NYoffice GM, Melissa Grossman. To their right were Burt Alimansky of Alimansky Capital, Arlene West of NY Business Forums, attorney David Leffler, Barry Schreiber of Richard A. Eisner & Company and Phil Terry, Creative Good's CEO (and HBS grad.) There were many HBS grads roaming around including new man-about-town Sean Jacobsen, who's consulting with just about everyone.

Walking a bit further into the space I bumped into HBS grads Isabel Walcott of Smartgirl and Anne Keogh of Walt Disney, who appeared on Broadway in Annie and was a child star for many years, and now--guess what?--she's in the Internet business! Ian Kerner of Arc Interactive, Denise Seidner and Colleen Kuehn, president, of Media.com were chatting with Kathy Reilly, VP customer loyalty and Spencer Waxman, co-founder, of Flooz. Larry Pearl of Ecom Advisors and Dynamic Logic's Nick Nyhan and I hovered by the Chinese food station -- nibbling on fruit and nuts as others waited on line, at the other end, to be served some stir fry. Once served, guests walked around with Chinese food containers. Sarah Lefton and I caught up a bit since I'd last seen her (was it that long ago, at the Mermaid Parade?!) And on his way 'round the room, Scott Heiferman of I-traffic hovered to say "hello" and chat a bit the high quality of the guests. On my way out I chatted with NYU Stern MBA grads David Turnbull and Arul Sundaram.

Lynn Moloney, director marcomm at Mail.com just flew in from 4 days of commercial production in Dallas, and we jetted uptown together to the Gurl.com book party.

Shimmy, shimmy KoKo Pop!

The relaxed and friendly lounge atmosphere of Otis served up comfy chairs for Jason Parkin, Valerie Boyko, Will Sears and Gloria Ehrenberg of Blue Dingo and Matt Straznitskas of BrainBug. Chris Gierlich, Gavin Becker, Liam Tumulty and Mike Meyers also of Blue Dingo were sharing a chaise on the other side. Druce Vertes waltzed in and Katie Peters and Spencer Spinnell of KokoPelli ambled in for some good drinks and hearty hors d'oeuvres on Thursday, September 23rd. The occasion of this gathering? Just some good solid people from some good solid companies getting together for some good solid fun. Katie told me about some of their recent projects and products, and how the "news is following them!" They seem to be finishing projects just as the press begins to write about various trends. For instance, they developed HotKoko, a web-based application for leasing to service companies that provides instant relationship management through an extranet. Matt of BrainBug told me how his firm's growing successfully and attested to HotKoko as his company is using it. On my way out Glen Lipka of Kokopelli and Tery "Good Karma of the Internet" Spataro were sipping on beers and cosmos and enjoying the fine fall night.

Twenty years and one hundred lawyers later

The opulent Hudson Theater in the Millenium Hotel sparkled through the sea of dark blue suits of the partners, attorneys and clients of Brown Raysman Milstein Felder & Steiner's Twentieth anniversary on September 23rd. Betsy Silverfine introduced me to founding partner Peter Brown who told me he "feels like we're entrepeneurs like the Internet, with our growth." In 1990 there were 30 lawyers, and since, the firm's grown to 110 lawyers and 37 partners. They've had a long tradition in computer law and like Silicon Alley, are seeing the technical and corporate business and legal issues coming together for clients ranging from Time Warner to Music Pen. Jeffrey Neuburger, also a partner, has been specializing in ecommerce law for seven years, and between Edward Pisacreta and Dov Sherzer they've been in the firm for 2/3rds of its existence. After cocktails there was a retrospective video and dinner, and many toasts to twenty more years!

Wednesday, September 22, 1999

Vampires in the 'Hood

In Anne Rice's novels the vampires are usually unusually tall and striking. And the Salon.com party on Wednesday, September 22 at Studio Seven was late enough and sexy enough to lure some striking tall people out -- vampires or not. Mind you, there were plenty of short people who were pleasing to gaze at as well at this celebration of their new $5mm TV ad campaign, which starts on Sunday during the Simpsons season premiere.

Michael O'Donnell, CEO and president of Salon.com introduced the dream team sales crew to the crowd of mostly advertisers, agencies and creatives. Guillermo Suescum of Internet+ and Michael Domicam of Gray Entertainment were among the many appropriately trendily-attired guests. Albert Crane of Salon, Jerry Seeman of LuxCore, James Healy (In2.com) and Lea deFrancisci were there, enjoying the still-in-their-delivery-tins-chinese food. Cass Almendrai, Melissa Kirby and Samuel Galeota of Computer Intelligence Group were there for some shoulder-rubbing with new media folks, as were Chris Lukas, CIO of ETCData, Charles Monlineaux of CNNfn's Nasdaq market site and Donna Morrow of Morrow & Company.

On my way out I met Jason "Xavier" Root of Sanford Bernstein & Co., Meredyth Gertner of Advantage and Patrick Hurley of the Salon SF office. He was exuberant about their new offices in November, which will be a marked improvement from working on cramped card tables.

The Rich Media Sig 5-Minute Ranter

After a rich and meaty discussion and show-and-tell from Veon and Gotham Interactive, Bill McCloskey, chairman of Comet Systems and the sig, stepped into the open conference room space in Intellispace's offices on Wednesday Setember 22, with a bottle of red wine, an offer to pass it around--but watch out for the carpeting--and an introduction of the Rich Media Sig Ranter. For Five minutes an unshaven mini John Belushi stood in front of the gathered group in a baseball cap, worn leather jacket, encouraged the guests to go create challenging video art and to "encapsulate the audience more." Who is this guy?! Well, he's been in the industry for a long time (10 years with the same email account and no spam!), works at a big agency, but is anonymous save his role with the Sig. The audience was mostly advertisers, buyers and developers. I spied Marjorie Stave of the VRML sig talking afterwards with writer and sig events coordinator Mary Jo Fahey. John Bader, VP of Intellispace and Lauren Giglio and I talked about the Intellispace space. It was designed by Carl Lalomia, president and CEO, who also worked as a restauranteur and designed public spaces. The earth-toned, natural wood open space felt inviting, and the Intelliblue light on the ceiling created a slick café feel.

James gave me the full tour and I got to see the Internet Petting Zoo, where all the servers, routers, switches and other good infrastructure equipment is located. They have 100 megabit cables, thousands of T1s and a OC48mux. And when you step back outside, in the calm-cool offices, with the Intelliwave white wavy grate along a corridor celing, you feel warm and fuzzy again. Off to the left is the "room of darkness" where Eugene, the 22-year old Rothman-smoking Russian works in total darkness, save the light of his monitor. Aside from this room, the rest of the space is pretty open and engaging--the bar (yes, a true bar with a foot rail and everything) becomes an informal meeting place. A coke dispenser, coffee machine, sink and microwave complete the centrally located convergence place.

Tuesday, September 21, 1999

Cheese steaks in a stretch limo

There are a few rare moments in one's life where you relish and wonder at the situations you're in. Take Tuesday, September 21st, for instance. Josh Harris, president of Pseudo; Lara Stein, former president of iXL's New York office and now consulting; Heidi Messer, president of Linkshare, myself and Jason Calacanis, president of Silicon Alley Reporter all spread out in a white stretch limo, provided by Bob Robinson of 4MP.com noshing on Phillie Cheese Steaks and guzzling water. We'd just come from the panel we spoke on for the Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia at the Federal Reserve Bank on the life and times of Silicon Alley.

We were sent out to impart our wisdom and woes to the Silicon Phillie folks about starting out and up in the Internet biz. The 250 people who came to mingle and schmooze, and then listen to us, were of a very different cyber sort. This wasn't the "hey-have-you-graduated-from-High-School-yet" cyber punk, urban street crowd. This was a more seasoned entreprenuer of the non-Internet sort, who was interested in getting in where the action is. Lots of interesting people came--including some Silicon Alley-ers like Isabel Walcott of SmartGirl and Lauren Giglio of Intellispace--and came up to us afterwards, like Vijay Chattha of Philly2nite.com, a directory site similar to ClubNYC and Sidewalk combined. Irving Safra of Fax.com and director of the Entrepreneurs Club and Patrick McMichael of Storm Solutions were chatty fellows, and Dee Eckstein of Dee Co. Advertising and I shared some stories on owning our businesses. Connie Jackson of East Coast Entertainment commented that she was impressed with the panel having three women on it. True, tis a rare site for some odd reason! Gretchen Roede of the Garfield Group told me how there is lots of activity going on in the outer lying cites as well as Philadelphia, and maybe each town should take a turn to host the events.

Steven Mullin, director of commerce for the city, was direct with his honest interest in helping companies succeed in the online arena and Frank Morrocco of Icon Broadcasting was interested in helping me succeed in Philadelphia by offering to webcast my upcoming cocktail party there.

All in all, Mr. Robinson and Joshua Slavitt, are owed much credit for bringing together a wiley group from New York and getting us to the fair historic town of Philadelphia. As much as we wanted to stay and live it up in "the city that loves you back," (http://www.gophila.com/) we had to get back to the "greatest city in the world" and get ready for our busy week. Of course we didn’t leave without stopping in Jim's Steaks and getting a classic Phillie Cheese Steak (with Cheese Whiz! -- but I opted for Provolone.) Our conversations transformed from the early days to cool apartments, what kind of car we want, and what kind of dog Josh should get.

No bones about it, though, the folks from Phillie are serious about doing stuff, and don't be surprised if you see them out in NY more too.

Friday, September 17, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 9/17/99

SHAKERS & STIRRERS ________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Read all about the hot people online at:

Mitchell Cannold, former President, Sony Online Ventures and Sony New Technologies, has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Cannold reports directly to Dobbs.

Michael Coggins and Chris Kresge were recently appointed to implement and command sales and marketing for TEAM USA at OpenShop Internet Inc.

Kate Kennedy has just been promoted to Senior Account Executive in the Internet Business Strategies division at Edelman Worldwide.


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

Now here's something that's really neat--choosing what items you want in an online store: Bolt.com unveiled an innovative e-commerce model expected to become the next "category killer" strategy for online retailing. Bolt.com's new Store (store.bolt.com) will sell merchandise determined solely by its audience of 3 million teens. Dan Pelson, CEO of Bolt.com said "now this community will determine what products they want to buy and help each other make buying decisions. This is the first store completely controlled by the consumer and the only store on the internet for teens of all ages, male and female alike." The Bolt Store will not inventory the products sold which effectively eliminates traditional retail overhead costs. By having the flexibility to add or remove items from the merchandise for sale, Bolt.com can quickly respond to customer demand. Visitors to the site can review products by providing a text review and a star rating. Whether a product is purchased or not, reviews can be made by anyone visiting the Bolt Store.

HEYNetwork has launched their site, providing a safe online community for parents, children, families and friends to commuicate and surf the web safely. This free Internet destination for the entire family by creating the first safe and private on-line closed community. On the site, parents, children, relatives, and friends can
communicate, explore, learn, be entertained and purchase goods and services on-line. Powered by KleanWare (TM), a proprietary and innovative filtering technology, families and children are protected from outside strangers and even profanity, making the Internet a positive and safe experience.

MarketHistory.com is the new online authority on the lessons of financial market history -- thanks to an online presence developed by StreetEYE, LLC. More than ten years ago Logical Information Machines (LIM) developed and licensed the most advanced investment data-mining technology in the world -- the Market Information Machine (MIM). Created by top scientists at Bell Labs and IBM, the MIM is generating profitable ideas on many of the world's top trading desks, including Fidelity Investments, Soros Management, and Moore Capital.

The Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA), the site which pioneered the delivery of music on the Internet in 1993, has completed its integration with EMusic.com (Nasdaq: EMUS) and re-launched the Web site credited with starting the Internet music industry.

The Interactive Resource (http://www.interactiveresource.com) appoints Scott Andrews, formerly with The New York Times Electronic Media Company, as Director of New Media Recruiting in their New York office. The
Interactive Resource is the digital "matchmaking" firm that provides interactive agency reviews, mergers and acquisitions advising and recruiting services for new media companies in NY and LA.

After conducting an online poll, the Webby Awards Academy decided to create three new awards:
Broadband, Services, Kids. With three new categories unveiled, The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences™ announced that it has extended the entry deadline for The Webby Awards 2000 to Friday, October 8, 1999.

Flatiron News proudly presents http://www.kewlshop.com their new E-commerce site is a specialized high-end e-commerce site, featuring boutique-type designer items for home and office. Price points will range from moderate to expensive featuring high margin items.

Razorfish, Inc. announced that it will redesign CareerPath.com.

Guess what? ScreamingMedia's been up to a lot lately! ScreamingMedia.net, an aggregator and distributor of custom-filtered real-time content to vertical and special-interest Web sites, will provide its proprietary content delivery software, Siteware(tm), to both content providers and Web sites free of charge. The move underscores ScreamingMedia's commitment to creating a universal Content Network, connecting those who have content to those who need it, in the most cost-efficient and direct way. -- AND -- They named New York advertising agency, Mad Dogs & Englishmen as its first agency of record. Mad Dogs will develop and launch an integrated campaign that will include online and offline advertising to reinforce ScreamingMedia's position as a content/commerce network, which links content providers, e-tailers, and web sites, through its proprietary software. Annual billings will be $5 million to $7 million.

The Cyber Scene in Portland ~ by Mike Kingsella

Portland Ad Club Fosters Local Interactive Industry Development

If you want to meet and greet your interactive peers in Portland, go to The Pint. But for professional development, go to Internet Professionals Northwest?? Sure, that’s fantastic for engineers but where do you go if you are a creative or a marketing wonk? Dennis Hahn and the Portland Advertising Federation is setting out to fill that very void.

Now some of you may have noticed that I have been recently focusing my attention on interactive agencies. I have decided to take a diversion this week to take a look at the organization that is servicing interactive advertising professionals and a look at the state of the Portland interactive market in general.

The Portland Advertising Federation has been in existence for over ninety years, the oldest ad club on the west coast. With its ninety-year history, the club is no stranger to change.

Last week I had the opportunity to stop by Dennis Hahn’s office in the Lair Hill neighborhood to talk about the interactive industry that is exploding in Portland, Oregon, and the Ad Federations initiatives to develop it. Dennis, who just recently took office as President of the Portland Advertising Federation, has been working hard to bring the interactive advertising industry to the forefront of the PAF.

There are two catalysts to this movement, one being the lack of a professional organization for the interactive community, and the second being the tremendous desire from traditional advertisers to learn more about interactive advertising.

According to Hahn, the Portland industry is exploding – and with good reason. “There’s about two dozen interactive agencies here in town,” Hahn explained, “and then there are somewhere around a hundred dot com companies.” So why is there a huge explosion in Portland? According to Hahn, Portland enjoys the halo effect. Portland is situated right in between the large high tech centers of Seattle and San Francisco. Couple that with the quality of living and the large advertising community – you have an interactive advertising match made in heaven!

As I alluded to earlier, The Pint of Portland is about the only venue where a interactive pro can meet his peers in Portland – but the nature of the Pint is a party, no speakers, no panels, just 100% shmooz. Which is great, it has brought the interactive community together like never before, and it has fostered a true sense of community. What many creative and strategic people in the Portland interactive industry want is a place where they can hear speakers, panels, and get programming geared just for them. Portland has several organizations for new media types, such as IPN, but none offer programming geared towards the creative and marketing aspects of the interactive business.

Last year the PAF conducted a pilot program that introduced specialized programming for its members. The Communication Arts Interactive program took place in May, and was an incredible success. Especially considering that only 80 attendees were anticipated in early planning stages. When the PAF got involved, the room was packed at about five hundred people. Over the summer the PAF sent a questionnaire to all of its eight hundred and seventy five members to find out what kind of programming they wanted to see this year. Out of all the categories available to members, interactive won by far. However, what is interesting to note is that out of all 875 members of the PAF only about 50 work in interactive advertising. A tremendous amount of traditional advertisers want interactive programming from the PAF because, as Dennis Hahn puts it, “they want to see where they fit in.”

Quickly recognizing the need for such programming, Dennis whipped together a crack team of interactive visionaries. The task force is comprised of John Craft, Marketing director at Uvona and also the founder of Pint of Portland, Andrew Shakman, CEO of CyberSight, Kent Lewis of Wave Rock Communications, and Brad Johnson, one of the founders of Second Story. The team is now organizing the first interactive program of the year, which should take place sometime in November.

With the explosive growth in the Portland market, and the enormous momentum pushing the interactive initiatives within the Portland Advertising Federation, this programming is sure to be a hit. Consider how popular the Pint of Portland has become, according to John Craft there are over 750 people on the Pint of Portland distribution list. Add to that 400+ traditional advertisers in the PAF who want to learn about interactive, and you have a sure thing!

Be sure to check out the new Portland edition of Shakers and Stirrers! And make sure to tune in next week to read my interviews with the creative professionals at the Portland Creative Conference!!

The Cyber Scene in Washington, DC ~ by Sacha Cohen

They Laughed

For the past few months, I’ve been telling people that I’m trying to bring a little of Silicon Alley to DC. Why, they wonder? Because, darn it, DC needs a little fun, a little wackiness, and as many excuses as possible to cut loose and ditch work early. Most say it can’t be done. The naysayers tell me that DC is too stodgy and too over run with workaholics to support frivolous parties and tie-free cocktail hours. Wanna help prove them wrong? Send your ideas, invites, and comments to me at: sachacohen@att.net
Heck, there’s got to be more to this town than political fundraisers, embassy parties, and golf outings, right?

Meanwhile, at the Press Club

September 9 -- Once again, in the line of duty, I got soaking wet. This time, I was on my way to a "back to school" happy hour at the National Press Club sponsored by the NPC High Tech Committee. It was organized and hosted by bon vivant and Committee Chair, Tim Maloy. The evening’s raison d’etre (yeah, I’m feeling a little French today, okay?) was to discover which one of us is the biggest techno geek. When I arrived, they were passing around a RocketBook—you know, one of those devices that lets you download "War and Peace" and "Ulysses" for a little light reading on the road. Other objects of digital desire included a new digital camera, a cell phone, and an electronic organizer. The winner, by a nose, was Laura Taylor, PR/Marketing coordinator at the Matrix Group. She went home with a lovely Dilbert doll. Congrats, Laura.

Laura, Tim, and I will be trekking to NYC in early October for Internet World. Drinks at the Paramount, anyone? (picture on the website: http://www.thecyberscene.com/cgi-bin/show.cgi?city=washington&issue=current)

Also on hand, sipping Cosmopolitans, Martinis, and wine were Kevin Anderson of BBC Online; Kathleen Hickey of Traffic World magazine; Sean Moore, a PR staffer at Georgetown Law School; Ashley Gross, an intern at NPR; Thomas Timmons of LoneMountain Web Design; Heidi Strom, programs manager for DC Web Women; artist Seth Cohen; and Dan Rutherford, managing editor of Kiplinger.com.

Tim and Dan have been working tirelessly to organize the Press Club's latest CyberCocktail lecture series -- "The State of Online Publishing." – scheduled for late October. For more information about the event, click here: http://www.editors-service.com/oct28.html

Power Play

Here’s further proof that DC is the little tech capital that could. Bill Regardie – outrageous ‘80s publishing mogul -- has launched Regardie’s Power. The magazine (the third in Regardie’s publishing career), will cover "The buzz of fast money. The delirium of ‘closing the deal.’ The siren song of celebrity. The bright lights--and even brighter minds--of Greater Washington." Can it live up to its own hype? Well, the first issue includes a cover story about the Louisiana cybersquatter who owns the domain name www.americaonline.com, an article about local celebrities and their first cars, and a profile of AOL’s hotshot Hollywood lawyer George Vradenburg.

The magazine’s glitzy launch party was held at Sam & Harry’s in Tysons Corner, where DC’s tech elite gather to dine and deal. Guess my invite got lost in the mail.

TCS Intro: 9/17/99

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene (tm) ~ September 17, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------

WELCOME

I. This week's specials:
Back to the Basics, Straight Text
The new Religion, or "I want my eTV!"
It's Raining Cats and Dollars!
A Dinner & A Deal
Oh me! Oh my! Who is that I spy?
Read my lips: "No new taxes."
And even more conferences?

II. Regular Features: (full write-ups on the site)
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes

Listen to the AudioCast -- in conjunction with ClickHear

III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
September 25 -- Special Warner Brothers Movie Screening & Cocktails
September 27 -- Courtney Does LA! Cocktails with Courtney -- LA
September 29 -- Sponsored by Real Media
October 6 -- Sponsored by HIGHTECH Scandinavia
October 27 -- Sponsored by The Swayne Agency & McGraw-Hill
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com

IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Saturday
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month

V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml
Unsubscribe! :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml
--------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome

Back to Basics, Straight Text

For a few weeks I experimented with sending out my newsletter in HTML. I am still offering this service for Cyber Scene readers. However, to keep everyone happy, the list has been divided. If you are still interested in receiving the newsletter in HTML, please send me an email and I'll put you on. If you don't email me, you'll continue to receive the straight text version. In the meantime, sit back, relax with your G&T or Manhattan, and enjoy the good ol' plain text edition.

Thursday, September 16, 1999

The Cyber Scene in Washington, DC ~ by Sacha Cohen

Good Cause … and Effect

September 16 -- Washingtonians feel better if they have a reason to socialize. Whether it’s a political fundraiser or an arts benefit, you will rarely find large clusters of people in the nation’s capital drinking and carousing aimlessly (except at bars, of course). At least this was what my friend Alex observed the other evening at a fundraiser for http://www.byteback.org Byte Back, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 that provides computer training for unemployed and under-employed DC area adults and youth to increase their skill sets and marketability.

Despite remnants of Hurricane Floyd, the party was stellar. I had my doubts about how many people would show up considering the inclement weather and steep price of admission, but all my worries were put to rest at the door where I was greeted by charming Byte Back director, Brian Komar. Like most Byte Back board members, Brian wears a couple of hats including that of director of technology programs at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Turns out that just about everyone in the place knew him and between collecting donations, working the room, and making a brief speech, he didn’t sit still all night.

When I arrived at the Childe Harold, there was still plenty of room at the bar, so I tossed aside my umbrella, grabbed a drink (note to the CH: spring for bigger cups), and secured a place overlooking the entranceway. It was the prime spot to scope out all the action. Let’s just say that I was pleasantly surprised by the cute alterna-geek guys streaming in—not to mention the lack of Dockers and loafers. Generally, this type of affair brings out swarms of uber-nerds, but thankfully, this was not the case this evening. In fact, there was an eclectic mix of non-profiters, techies, and media people in attendance.

Just an hour or so after the doors opened, the second floor of the Childe Harold was jamming. Citing the invite’s promise of a DJ and dancing, I convinced a few friends to join me including Helen Wilson of Frontier Global Center, TK Maloy of the Internet Newsroom, Laura Taylor of the Matrix Group, Sam Stainburn, former editor of now-defunct "Who Cares" magazine, and Seth Cohen of "The Washington Post." As soon as Helen (who knows everyone!) walked in, she rushed over to greet a former coworker, Eric Cantor (Regional VP of Marketing at Verio). In fact, throughout the evening, I met tons of people from Verio including Adam Steinback, an interactive account executive at Verio Interactive, and Michael Mann, who founded (and sold) Internet Interstate/Verio Washington, DC. Michael is now president of BuyDomains.com.

Later on, I tracked down dedicated Byte Back founder Glenn Stein hanging out by the dance floor and spoke to him about his organization. I also chatted with Mary Dalrymple, a new media reporter at the Congressional Quarterly, and Jodi Glickman, partnership programs liaison at the Environmental Protection Agency. After the party, I contacted Brian to see how things turned out. He was “ecstatic” with the event’s outcome. Over 150 individuals had forked over a minimum of $20 a piece to help fight the 'digital divide' in the nation's capitol. Together their efforts raised close to $4000 for the organization, he said. Plus, several individuals who attended the event are donating old computers to Byte Back and many volunteers have signed up to teach classes for the organization. "We raised a lot of money and a lot of awareness about a very important issue. With more events like this one, Byte Back will continue closing the technology gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not.”

Wednesday, September 15, 1999

And even more conferences?

Not to be deterred by the impending weather, this week also marked EntertainNet Marketing conference, Fashion Week and the College Music Festival. I attended one party for Insound.com, a indie music sites for bands and CDs, at the Cooler on Wednesday, September 15. The party hadn't started yet and as a result there were about 20 of us milling about outside in the Meat Market District--me, in a cream colored dress and heels, and about 18 young musicians dressed in black. So we went down the street to the Village Idiot Bar and listened to a country song "Beer is good for you" and chatted. The band I mingled with was Aleutian (aleutian.net), named after the Island. "Our music is cold and the island is too…We're more productive in cold climates," said Mike Dobkowski, bassist in the band. He and his brother, Steven (drummer, electronic samples), Jeremy Prebost (keyboards, engineer, webmaster) and Brad Prenda (vocals, guitar) all drove from Chicago this day and were on 2 hours of sleep. They're performing in one of the wired clubs in town, the Spiral on East Houston at 6:00 pm on Friday.

Read my lips: "No new taxes."

Governor Leavitt of Utah was emphatic and pushed hard with his points for a new policy regarding Internet taxation. The conversation was polite, structured and according to ceremony, but the gentlemen and two women present on the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce were passionate about their points.

Michael Moynihan of the Center For Strategic And International Studies (csis.org) told me he was pleased that his suggestion to have the event in NYC was followed. He wanted to reach out to the community and expressed thanks to Bill Rudin for hosting the event on Wednesday, September 15 (the first day was at the Millenium Hotel). He was also the administrative point person for getting the Internet Tax Freedom Act passed and is very excited about what's going on

Before the conversation centered on the scheduled issues, an audience member stood up to speak his peace. Peter McGeough, EVP of Seaman's Furniture Company and on behalf of the National Home Furnishings Association, stood up to state that they are not opposed to ecommerce, but ask for a level playing field. He cited how consumers are going into their stores, sitting on their furniture and then going online and purschasing the items over the Internet, thus avoiding taxes. He referenced an 8% differential tax that is unfair, from his point of view. Robert Novick (General Counsel, Office of the USTrade Representative (Delegate for Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky) asked if wouldn't shipping balance out tax costs? And offering a solution, Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas, Texas pointed out that Dallas is between New York and California, and would be a perfect mid-point for distribution needs.

Mr. McGeough's point was discussed a bit more and then the conversation headed into Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform's resolution.
This called for the elimination of the 3% tax on telecommunications services and use, and it was passed. And Governor Leavitt's motion for a simpler system was passed for further definition. His call to action was to come back and tell him if this new system will work. "We should figure out if this is going to work….The world is watching what we're doing because we're the default leader in the Internet space." Leavitt feels the entire system is a mess and that we have an obligation to put something together and see if it works. We have a responsibility."

He decreed that the new system must have the following:
1. Is a radically simplified system
2. Has No New Taxes being passed on sales on the Internet
3. Removes the burden from the sellers
4. Doesn't compromise the privacy of purchasers
5. Acknowledges the role of States as sovereign taxing authorities
6. Treats purchasers as close to equal as possible
7. Has International scalability (David Pottruck, of Charles Schwab addtion)
8. Has no out of state prejudices (with audits or oversight) (David Pottruck, of Charles Schwab addtion)
9. Elimiates multiple odds
10. Is constitutional and not overrun American Indian's rights (Grover Norquist's addition)

David Pottruck, President & co-CEO, Charles Schwab Corp., rounded out the conversation with further requirements--that any organization can put together a plan, it not be more than 10 pages or so, when a plan gets the support of three or four commissioners it gets presented to all of them or they'll do nothing and each commissioner can not present more than two plans.

This resolution passed with relatively little argument and mostly carried discussions between Ron Kirk; David Pottruck; Gene Lebrun, President, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws; Grover Norquist; Robert Novick; Theodore Waitt, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Gateway, added his support.

The day ended early so most of the Governors could get back to their respective states before the Hurricane came. And with agreements to fax and email amongst each other, the motions and discussions would continue in San Francisco.

Oh me! Oh my! Who is that I spy?

Amidst the beginning's of Hurricane Floyd's flurry in the city, I rushed off to hear Cliff Friedman of Constellation Ventures in the grand ballroom at the Crown Plaza for the final day of eTV World. As I ducked in, James Cramer of TheStreet.com was gesticulating wildly up front talking about the changing face of investment in the Internet era and the rise of the individual investor. I looked at my program, I looked up at the banners of sponsors, I looked back at the program, I asked my neighbor if there was a schedule change, and then I realized that I was in a different conference! Lo and behold the First Conferences conference on Investor Relations was being held in the same spot that eTV was in yesterday. There's definitely no lack for conferences on the Internet topics of the day!

I came back later for the cocktail party sponsored by Citigate Dewe Rogerson and met Deborah Ward of First Conferences who told me this was the first in a series of six IR related conferences. Jonathan Sack of "Investor's Business Daily" and John Giordano of Guardian were chatting and as I spoke with them, enjoyed some mui yummy hors d'oeuvres. Wearing the famous "Capitalist Tool" tie that Malcolm Forbes gives out personally, Joseph Shaefer of Kostech Corporation, told me how he got the tie after sending in his book to Mr. Forbes with a request to review it. Jack Phillips of CCBN.com told me about his company's products. IReye is their service that uses a template to help companies manage their IR sections of their websites and StreetEvents.com is a web-based calendaring tool for conflict management so corporate customers can see when to schedule conference calls. Just across the cheese and fruit table was Stockmaster.com, their direct compeitor, which has been in existence since 1993 as the first public site with delayed stock quotes. Kevin Kopanon, an account executive, said they also offer clients assistance with IR sections of their websites as well, but their pages are customizable.

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

A Dinner & A Deal

So after the round of conference cocktail parties, on Tuesday evening, September 14, I headed down to Metronome Restaurant for the AIM (Association for Interactive Media) "Dinner & A Deal." Seated at my table were Ben Isaacson, acting executive director AIM and Julie Tice and Chris Woodard of ALC Interactive. Real Media was well represented by Scott Kerr and Jane Riesen and Intellispace had VP John Bader and marketing manager Lauren Giglio there for the salmon special and entertaining evening. The ebuillant Dara Tyson of Penton Media was chatting with Marge Amodio of Victoria James Executive Search, the only executive search firm present at the dinner. There was a wacky gentleman from Pantone present and Alex Friedman of eDelights.com and I chatted briefly before I headed home.

It's Raining Cats and Dollars!

So after breakfast at eTV world I headed over for lunch at the VC world. AlleyCat News organized the first Northeast Venture Conference, as an annual affair, and brought home some prize sponsors to boot! Loeb & Loeb, Redwood Partners, Ambrose, Prudential, Exodus, Middleberg and Organic all offered up their coffers to this highly-touted event. That Wonder Lou Dobbs marvelled the audience with his keynote, on the first day, September 14, though a few people still aren't sure where they're making their money, and aren't sure if they or Lou care. Mr. Bob Lessin, the Silicon Alley Venture Darling, in his charismatic way imparted some ways of future-thinking advice for investing in those fabulous "dot coms." And now, (drumroll please), here they are: (on the website)

While Mr. Lessin was speaking, I dined with Douglas MacLaury (SVP, NYC Economic Development Corp.), Justin Model, Lisa Linden (Linden Aschuler & Kaplan) and Charles Millard (Prudential).

I also spoke briefly with Jeanine Moss (Organic) and Diane McGrath of PaintingsDirect.com, whose firm was presenting this afternoon. Also presenting, and creating a racket with their media stunts were the JustBalls.com guys. Kathleen Hynes of PartsBay.com got the most VCs packed in one room after she stood up and lambasted them all during breakfast for always chiming "you need a better management team" while she funded her business with her own million since the beginning. BATV was following Susan Shaw of HyperSpace Cowgirls around for a show on "Business Now."

That evening Loeb & Loeb sponsored a "Women in the Alley" Suite of Sweets and had cordials, petit fours, desserts galore, fruit and cheese in a hospitality suite. There were some women mingling around but anytime I tried to get some info from a L&L rep, I got a very nice smile and nod and said I should speak with Betiayn Tursi tomorrow. Okaaay. Downstairs in the NYCEDC cocktail party, Matt Merriam of Rival Works was one of the nicer and friendlier fellows who was around, and I learned a bit about their online community that offers web-based services to enhance online gaming while meeting business needs beyond game play. He was hanging out with Brian Wiley of Agency.com. The wild and crazy guys from Philadelphia Bob Robinson (MP4) and Joshua Slavitt (Synnestvedt & Lechner) were milling about. Ben Austin (Comet Systems), Seth Price and Bruce Bernstein (NYSIA) three of Silicon Alley's good ol' boys, were out too.

Bright and early the next morning, September 15, regional companies and organizations sponsored breakfasts for discussion on what was occuring in their areas. I ducked into the Washington breakfast and noted the feeling that the businesses and cultures in the area didn't leverage their resources in the nearby universities, the way Austin has, with recruitment and labor.

The new Religion, or "I want my eTV!"

There was a lot of religion and preaching going on at eTV World's breakfast conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel on September 14. Allison Dollar, director eTV World started off the day's events with talk of the juncture of religion and electronics. She mentioned Douglas Rushkoff's new book and quoted Jon Belushi with "we're on a mission from God" with regards to the passion and devotion that people in the new media industry have for the Internet and the covergence with traditional mediums. Today was Day Two of the eTV conference that focused on entertainment, broadband, television and the digital world. Mark Cuban was the speaker for the morning show, and he waxed historical with references to Barry Manilow and other cultural aspects of life 20 years ago.

Now stop for one minute and just think--imagine your life minus a fax, a cellphone, a walkman, a cable tv service, Microsoft, the Internet. …………………………………………………………………………………….. Life would basically be a flat line, no? Kind of funny to think that it was just 20 years ago before such major technological developments became mainstream. Just last year marked the addition of essential features in our lives, the new Volkswagen Beetle, streaming media, stock trading afterhours, or ordering Ben & Jerry's, a video and all those cute butterfly hair clips via your Palm?!

Well, from headbands to broadband, our world is changing. Cuban brought up several interesting points about how "broadband is changing everything." Near the end of his presentation he unveiled a magical mystery box that retails for about $1,899 and offers everything you need from a computer and full-scale digital recording and entertainment center. "It starts to get compelling," said Cuban. Start? I'm hooked! Sign me up! Basically now anyone can be their own Internet station and your home becomes your studio. Mark also made mention that when he started Broadcast.com they wondered "Who would want to turn a $4000 PC into a $6 radio?" But what is happening is that the $4000 PC's are turning into full entertainment systems. In fact, Mark watches movies on his computer in his bedroom.

Well! On that exciting note, I milled around and spoke with a few attendees like my "front and center" audience partners Mark Stahlman (Mark Stahlman New Media) and Sam Albert (of Starsites.com). Wen Liao of Fantastic and I spoke a bit about their developments and how the States are finally starting to pay attention to foreign companies. After jumping out of my skin when the Yack! chattering teeth stunt actor yapped at me, I chatted with Joe Rubin (EVP web development and co-founder) of HeyNetwork.com, and spoke of some exciting news that’s coming up for them (see below in Bits & Bytes). The ACTV people were showing off their set-top system, which was ironic since they were the butt of a jab Cuban made at the clunky-ness and non-scalability of set-top boxes during his speech (hosted by ACTV). Next door was Mary Jo Fahey demoing Veon and showing me their video hypertext program where you can click on items to get more info as you watch a video. Adriana Karewicz (formerly of Oracle and now with Next Venue) introduced herself, and Tim Appmel of Agency.com told me how he's transitioning in his job from production to marketing and the interesting limbo phase that he's in.

The self-proclaimed "Johnny Carson of the Internet" and "Bob Villa of Computer World" Richard Garbowski of TechKnow Productions schmoozed away in his mauve suit with suspenders with Stan Bunger of KRON-TV and Chip Lewis of MetroChannels. TV-men unite! On my way out I chatted a bit with the enterprising Alan Brody (executive director, eTV World) and Greg Panos of Personaform.

Friday, September 10, 1999

Bits & Bytes -and- Shakers & Stirrers 9/10/99

SHAKERS & STIRRERS ________________________
Send your announcements to: shakers@TheCyberScene.com
Read all about the hot people online at:

Lori Schwab, founding director of the New York New Media Association (NYNMA), has joined SOHOnet (www.sohonet.com) as Vice President of Operations and Communications, it was announced today by John Bogosian, chief operating officer. At SOHOnet, Schwab’s duties will include overseeing a significant expansion of the company’s technical and managerial staff, designing and implementing training programs, and spearheading the company’s marketing and communications efforts.

While going after his MBA at Cranbrook Academy Of Art, Mike Essl will still be highly with Chopping Block and their clients.

On Friday, September 10, 1999, CultureFinder.com, an arts guide and ticketing service, announced the appointment David Rogers, formerly of 1-800-Flowers.com, to director of strategic business development and Christina DeSantis, formerly of New York's Thirteen/WNET, to director of partner relations.

Michael Corbett, former mid-Atlantic sales manager for Netscape, has joined eRSVP and will be working from Washington, DC.

While Kluger Media Group is relocating to Scottsdale, AZ on November 1, clients like Fingerhut, Motorola and Bigstar will still be serviced. The NY base is at Bigstar's offices. barrykluger@earthlink.net.

Veronique Christensen has accepted an offer at Zadu as Executive Producer. zadu is a Client/server solution, consisting of a small toolbar with a thin software attached, that accompanies the user while surfing the web. The management team is headed by Michael Meirer, former CEO and later Vice Chairman of nCube (acquired by Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle). The current management team includes experienced Silicon Valley veterans, with consulting from Phil Gerbert, partner at the McKenna Group.

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

Check out the largest professional computer game competition and convention ever held on the East Coast, September 9 – 12, at Manhattan’s Puck Building, hosted by the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL).

Sent in by Mirsky: Help. I am a little black kitten. I am homeless, and worse, live down the street from Mirsky. A woman who looks like she came out of a Popeye cartoon feeds me and about eight other homeless cats and a few other kittens. I am a few months old, friendly, playful, a nudist, drug free and committed to honest living. If you or someone else you know may be interested in adopting me, please have them contact mirsky@mirsky.com. I must now go pounce on my brethren.

The UJA-Federation of New York will be honoring Candice Carpenter, co-chairperson and CEO, iVillage Inc. and Mike Levy, founder, president and CEO, Sportsline USA, Inc. at their Annual Achievement in Technology and New Media Awards Gala this November. Barry Diller and Joe Namath will serve as the award presenters.

eRSVP, the free service that lets people respond to invitations through the Internet, just got even better. New enhancements include a photo album section and the "Social Diary" function the notify viewers of events that match interests.

Real Media, which runs an Internet advertising network of 570 highly-branded Web sites in the U.S. and around the world and is the leading provider of ad management technology, has hired R/GA Interactive (www.rga.com) to redesign its Web site.

The Yankees go online! On-line sports and entertainment specialists UltraStar Internet Services LLC has entered into a multi-year partnership with the 24-time World Champion New York Yankees to create the team’s new official web site. The site will include the opportunity for people to have @yankees.com email addresses.

The Cyber Scene in Portland ~ by Mike Kingsella

The Dot Com Crazy Anti-Agency!

Earlier this week I had the chance to meet Tim O’Leary, direct response guru and CEO of start-up interactive agency Respond2. O’Leary has recently started a new company called Respond2, which specializes in dot com companies. The philosophy behind the company is a bit radical, obviously apparent upon first glance at their press kit, “Advertising’s Dirty Little Secrets – Revealed!”

O’Leary, whose background includes experience in both the software and direct response industries, is excited to be working in the interactive advertising business. His previous firm, Tyee Group, has been a wildly successful agency raking in approximately 60 million dollars of gross billings last year alone. He is the mastermind behind the Nordicflex and WebTV infomercials, and he is credited with revolutionizing the infomercial as a viable advertising format for Fortune 500 companies. Response TV Magazine has named him one of the most influential people in direct response television. Yet even with all his successes, O’Leary is still not through. He has decided to conquer the world of interactive advertising, but he is not doing it like all the rest.

“We regard much of traditional advertising as somewhat of a scam.” O’Leary stated. Taking a very direct response approach to interactive advertising, O’Leary’s goal is to create very measurable campaigns on the Internet, since – according to O’Leary – “the Internet is just another direct response channel.” He seems to be taking the gloves off – so to speak - in his battle with traditional advertisers in the interactive medium. “I like to think of us as the ‘anti-agency’”

O’Leary has assembled an all-star cast to propel the agency to success. He picked David L. Wolfe from The Vacation Store to be the new President of Respond2. Jill Watkins joins the agency as VP of Client Services from Tyee Group, where she held the position of senior account supervisor. Julie Garel is the new VP of Account Planning. Her past positions include Senior Vice President at J. Walter Thompson and W.B. Donner. Rounding out the group is David LeCompte, the new VP of Interactive Services. He comes to Respond2 from FL7.com, an international product distribution site for direct response products.

“People are trying to use the old methods of advertising in an entirely new medium,” O’Leary says, “and it’s not going to work.” According to O’Leary, there will be a huge shakeout in the interactive advertising business when companies figure out that direct response is the strategy for their online campaigns.

While his ideas may sound radical, common sense rings throughout. When companies are looking at a tight advertising budget they like that they are getting direct results from their campaigns. “Companies – and especially dot com companies are having to answer to investors who want to see certain numbers at the end of the year. Direct response techniques are extremely effective.”

And while some may argue the merits of direct response vs. traditional advertising, who can argue with success? Certainly new media is bound to be the newest arena in the eternal battle between direct response and traditional advertising. Will direct response claim come out victorious over those other forms of marketing? Who knows? In any case, O’Leary has the deep understanding of direct response, software, and interactive media that it takes to be a success, regardless of who wins the war.

Apologia: Nando Media's apology to TCS readers

While not the "end of file" for this tome, it spurred some grunts of disapprovement from sensitive Cyber Scene readers after a technical glich this past weekend. 'Twas not any one person's fault, but a reminder that we must sometimes beware of technology, because if we become lax about it, or take it for granted, it can hiccup and spew out a whole mess!

Cyber Scene readers, Thank You for your support and understanding during the email situation that occurred early Saturday, September 4th. I was notified that morning and quickly alerted my mailhost provider of the problem. They responded quickly, but not before a significant number of bounced messages reached all of you, much to many of your annoyance.

Many of you recognized the symptoms of a program gone awry and deleted the extraneous bounces. Thank you. Many of you also recognized this, but also spoke out. Thank you for your concern. Nothing like a crisis to bring out some true colors! Regardless, Nando satisfactorily addressed the issue and has been supportive in dealing with the after effects.

Acting President & Publisher James Calloway responded to those that wrote in, but I thought I'd republish his explanation for all.

"Please accept my apology for the email flood that poured into your inbox over the weekend. We host Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene mailing list here at Nando Media and take full responsibility for the inconvenience this problem caused you. In the early hours of Saturday, Sept. 4, the mailing list software went into a loop and began spewing administrative messages to the members of the list. These messages never were intended for you and reached you only because of a failure of the system. Although we corrected the problem on Saturday, the breakdown should never have occurred in the first place, and we are investigating its causes. We also are putting filters on our mail server as an extra protection in case the software fails again before we find the root cause."

Thank you for your patience.
James Calloway, Acting President & Publisher
http://www.nando.net
Nando Media, a McClatchy New Media company

Wacky days in history

Caesar might have been warned, "Beware the Ides of March," but our modern day hero might've heard "Beware the Nines of September." Far less fanfare than our other favorite topic of Y2K, the 9999 day has been revered by some as a mystical event. Others have mentioned this date as a mark for potential destruction of files or inability for some computers to start because in some programming languages 9999 means "end of file." Programmers also have used 9-9-99 as shorthand for "never expires."

If you think that's wacky, thank the stars you didn't live in 1582, when Pope Gregory eliminated 10 days from the calendar that year. Imagine computer systems around the world dealing with Monday, October 5, 1582 and then Tuesday, October 15, 1582. This was a one-time remedy to address the fact that the spring equinox was occurring earlier than it should according to church calendars. (This information was garnered from http://earthsky.worldofscience.com/1999/esmi990315.html) As if life isn't spinning by uncontrollably as it is, we need some Pope to whisk away 10 days. If he could've just put them all into vacation time!

TCS Intro: 9/10/99

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene (tm) ~ September 10, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------

WELCOME

I. This week's specials:
Wacky days in history
Apologia
Cheatah! Cheetah!
He's not heavy, he's my Hevasi
Music to my ears


II. Regular Features: (full write-ups on the site)
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits and Bytes

Listen to the AudioCast -- in conjunction with ClickHear

III. "Cocktails with Courtney"
September 25 -- Special Warner Brothers Movie Screening & Cocktails
September 27 -- Courtney Does LA! Cocktails with Courtney -- LA
September 29 -- Sponsored by Real Media
October 6 -- Sponsored by HIGHTECH Scandinavia
October 27 -- Sponsored by The Swayne Agency & McGraw-Hill
More info: http://www.CocktailsWithCourtney.com

IV. Where in the world is Courtney Pulitzer?
ICONOCAST -- www.iconocast.com -- Every Saturday
Media Life -- www.medialifemagazine.com -- Every Monday
AlleyCat News -- www.alleycatnews.com -- Every Month

V. Subscribe! : ) http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml
Unsubscribe! :( http://www.TheCyberScene.com/join.shtml

Thursday, September 09, 1999

9|9|99 the day of Hip Hop and Awards

Madonna smirked, Little Kim got felt up (by Diana Ross), the BackStreet Boys were heckled by Stuttering John of the Howard Stern show, Mark McGrath was full of one-liners, Ricky Martin had 5 outfit changes, and the Beastie Boys had a serious message. The 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, held on the magical date of 9|9|99 at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House effused energy and hip hop despite the tortential rains that danced on eager fans heads below.

The coming weeks will be a flood of conferences on convergence, eTV, Digital Hollywood, venture, and other Internet World-like shows. I took advantage of a decidedly established hip world venue for my Thursday night activities and at the invitation of MTVi, attended the MTV award show. The music industry has been turned on its ear for a few years now, as the Internet changed the way artists distribute, reach audiences, sell and market themselves. Last year was the year of music and Internet comingling. This year, it's all about cable and TV and the Internet and how they'll come together.

Now what's the Cyber Scene got to do with the music scene you say? Well, there were some cyber elements. For instance, AdWheels promotional staff on rollerblades, "Skatertizers," decked out in CheckOut.com gear, rolled through the busy streets and screaming fans. The group of skaters were equipped with a flatscreen color TV strapped to their chest, playing an explosively visual promotional reel and blaring music to keep the party going. The "Skatertizers" distributed CheckOut.com paraphernalia, free CDs, and water to cool off the crowd. And MTVi was webcasting their interviews for streaming on their site and offering online polls and a Johnny Fame ATT message center.

Nicholas Butterworth's entrance to MTVi as president also marks a significant milestone in the development of the Alley. What was one a niche is now mainstream. And our once digerati superstars are now becoming true superstars -- or at least mingling with them. Although Nicholas shouldn't be too shy of cameras considering it was early in his life when he was in front of the camera himself, on Boston-based "Zoom!"

And zooming were the stars in the press room. Tommy Lee, dressed as a flasher, flashed Pamela Anderson Lee, who was under a big pink fluffy top hat and in a tres-fitted corset with beige spangly pants. Renee Zellwegger was popping out through her see-through black sequenced Versace mini-dress, when she wasn't hiding behind her long crimped blond hair or Jay Mohr in his Donna Karan. Little Kim had a special creation of purple sequence with just a pasty on her left breast.

I scooted over to the television and radio section and watched Aerosmith and Run DMC, along with bare-chested Kid Rock yukin' it up on the Howard Stern show, while I went over and said hello to the morning show crews (ABC, CBS). Mark McEwen introduced himself to me and I asked him if he'd gotten any good interviews. Just then the striking model Iman in a smooth yellow-gold dress with fire-y red hair and her husband David Bowie brushed past me and Mark said, "gotta go!" David was doing his best to look like a skateboarder.

The Beastie Boy's brought a sense of responsibility and seriousness to the show, with the recognition of the horrible rapes and violence that went on at this year's Woodstock. He called everyone to action to "protect our girls and women at these concerts." And to create and maintain a safe environment for people to feel comfortable. After his remark, most of the performers addressed this issue with the press.

Speaking of the press, I sat down with Joseph Gallivan of the NY Post and his wife Spring, to hear the amazingly talented and cute 13 year old Charlotte Church giggle her spritely answers. In response to why there weren't many other English teenagers on the music scene in America she replied, "there's lots of American artists, which is why they've *over-ruled* us…heeheehee!"

Mark McGrath kept the laughter going as he offered up one good one-liner after another. He filled the room with rumors of him and Madonna, but the one true woman in his life is his little dog, Lola. He also addressed the violence at Woodstock and put the blame on the people who organized the event in '99 and in '69. Will Smith also spoke to violence in our culture and being a role model. He proudly stated that "I never killed anyone in my records and I never use profanity." Amen! Will Smith also entertained the press with the title of his new album "Willenium," scoops like his next film with Robert Redford, and inspiration with his tribute to his son Trey and wife Jadah. Mary J. Blige, in her green getup, said her album's titled "Mary" because she was tired of all the other names and this album has real music on it.

75-year old Buddy Hackett, who's on Jay Mohr's new show, likened today's music to 500 Bob Fosse's--there's a different energy, it's a different era and it's wonderful.

9|9|99 the day of Hip Hop and Awards

Madonna smirked, Little Kim got felt up (by Diana Ross), the BackStreet Boys were heckled by Stuttering John of the Howard Stern show, Mark McGrath was full of one-liners, Ricky Martin had 5 outfit changes, and the Beastie Boys had a serious message. The 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, held on the magical date of 9|9|99 at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House effused energy and hip hop despite the tortential rains that danced on eager fans heads below.

The coming weeks will be a flood of conferences on convergence, eTV, Digital Hollywood, venture, and other Internet World-like shows. I took advantage of a decidedly established hip world venue for my Thursday night activities and at the invitation of MTVi, attended the MTV award show. The music industry has been turned on its ear for a few years now, as the Internet changed the way artists distribute, reach audiences, sell and market themselves. Last year was the year of music and Internet comingling. This year, it's all about cable and TV and the Internet and how they'll come together.

Now what's the Cyber Scene got to do with the music scene you say? Well, there were some cyber elements. For instance, AdWheels promotional staff on rollerblades, "Skatertizers," decked out in CheckOut.com gear, rolled through the busy streets and screaming fans. The group of skaters were equipped with a flatscreen color TV strapped to their chest, playing an explosively visual promotional reel and blaring music to keep the party going. The "Skatertizers" distributed CheckOut.com paraphernalia, free CDs, and water to cool off the crowd. And MTVi was webcasting their interviews for streaming on their site and offering online polls and a Johnny Fame ATT message center.

Nicholas Butterworth's entrance to MTVi as president also marks a significant milestone in the development of the Alley. What was one a niche is now mainstream. And our once digerati superstars are now becoming true superstars -- or at least mingling with them. Although Nicholas shouldn't be too shy of cameras considering it was early in his life when he was in front of the camera himself, on Boston-based "Zoom!"

And zooming were the stars in the press room. Tommy Lee, dressed as a flasher, flashed Pamela Anderson Lee, who was under a big pink fluffy top hat and in a tres-fitted corset with beige spangly pants. Renee Zellwegger was popping out through her see-through black sequenced Versace mini-dress, when she wasn't hiding behind her long crimped blond hair or Jay Mohr in his Donna Karan. Little Kim had a special creation of purple sequence with just a pasty on her left breast.

I scooted over to the television and radio section and watched Aerosmith and Run DMC, along with bare-chested Kid Rock yukin' it up on the Howard Stern show, while I went over and said hello to the morning show crews (ABC, CBS). Mark McEwen introduced himself to me and I asked him if he'd gotten any good interviews. Just then the striking model Iman in a smooth yellow-gold dress with fire-y red hair and her husband David Bowie brushed past me and Mark said, "gotta go!" David was doing his best to look like a skateboarder.

The Beastie Boy's brought a sense of responsibility and seriousness to the show, with the recognition of the horrible rapes and violence that went on at this year's Woodstock. He called everyone to action to "protect our girls and women at these concerts." And to create and maintain a safe environment for people to feel comfortable. After his remark, most of the performers addressed this issue with the press.

Speaking of the press, I sat down with Joseph Gallivan of the NY Post and his wife Spring, to hear the amazingly talented and cute 13 year old Charlotte Church giggle her spritely answers. In response to why there weren't many other English teenagers on the music scene in America she replied, "there's lots of American artists, which is why they've *over-ruled* us…heeheehee!"

Mark McGrath kept the laughter going as he offered up one good one-liner after another. He filled the room with rumors of him and Madonna, but the one true woman in his life is his little dog, Lola. He also addressed the violence at Woodstock and put the blame on the people who organized the event in '99 and in '69. Will Smith also spoke to violence in our culture and being a role model. He proudly stated that "I never killed anyone in my records and I never use profanity." Amen! Will Smith also entertained the press with the title of his new album "Willenium," scoops like his next film with Robert Redford, and inspiration with his tribute to his son Trey and wife Jadah. Mary J. Blige, in her green getup, said her album's titled "Mary" because she was tired of all the other names and this album has real music on it.

75-year old Buddy Hackett, who's on Jay Mohr's new show, likened today's music to 500 Bob Fosse's--there's a different energy, it's a different era and it's wonderful.