Brits & Bytes – The CyberScene London – April 6, 2000
"Boobs Just Want To Have Fun"
For weeks I had been hearing that no search for the soul of
London’s new media scene could be complete without a visit to ‘Boobnight’ (www.boobnight.co.uk), the monthly cyber-happening founded by
Geoff Inns, Business Development Manager of the ubiquitous Guardian Online (www.guardianonline.co.uk), Jonathan Baron,
Sales Manager of MSN and Brian Fitzpatrick, Media Director of MMPT.
“Boob” stands for ‘bring our own booze’ but since
confirmation of the URL was elusive, of course no search for something with the
word “boob” in it would be complete without a healthy dose of, well, boobs.
Suffice to say, until I finally hit the right suffix, I found much to (ahem)
Bsupport the theory that pornography is the only ‘business’ on the ‘net that’s
attracting critical mass.
The first person to greet me at the Pool Bar, 104 Curtain
Road in gritty-chic Shoreditch (EC2) was Andrew Moore, also of Guardian Online.
He introduced me to host Geoff Inns, who explained that in its 1½ year history,
Boobnight has never had a sponsor, relying instead on a no-sell approach of
being by the cyber-people, for the cyber-people. He made me regret not having
been around for the Award Ceremony which took place at Boobnight XVI. Democratically judged by a committee of 1800,
Geoff was nominated – and I believe, won – the award for sexiest male. (Note to self: ‘pen’ this in calendar for
2000.)
That Boobnight has remained adamantly oriented to the social
rather than the professional was borne out by the fact that despite our best
efforts, Jules Ruston –UK Manager for design shop Webysm (www.webysm.com),
Jennifer Bruni - Management Associate at Citigroup (www.citicorp.com) and I had a hard time finding anyone
willing to discuss business between beers.
For awhile, I found myself chatting to the excellent DJ, as
you do -- Bunny of Klooks Kleek Records, the quintessence of London’s legendary
60-70s rock scene. I finally had my chance to ask him something I’ve been dying
to know for years – what those little plastic gizmos that go inside 45’s are
called: a) a dingle b) a boggle c) a dongle d) a buggle. Remember - you can
phone a friend or ask the audience!
After talking to a mysterious (some say sinister) gentleman
from Railtrack
(http://www.railtrack.co.uk) whose interest in 1) Boobnight 2) the
internet/new media 3) The Pool Bar was indeterminate, I found myself deep in
discussion with Kannan Rajalingam, a talent scout for New Age-esque recruitment
agency Major Players (www.majorplayers.co.uk )
who confirmed that he also was just there for the tunes.
Next we happened upon “Tom”, from Connextra (www.connextra.com), which provides a smart
‘internet browsing companion’. I don’t often think of those who shout
instructions over my shoulder as ‘companions’ exactly, since I prefer to linger
than to browse. Tom was in the midst of explaining that his company has
developed smart software to rival competitors like Gurunet and Flyswat –when we
were interrupted by a colleague who advised – a bit rudely, I might add - that
Tom shouldn’t be talking to me, as I am “The Press” (wow! How exciting!), and
that I should contact their PR office. Curses, foiled again!
Perhaps the second most useful thing I learned (next to the
fact that the little plastic thing inside a 45 is called, somewhat
obscenely, a ‘dongle’ – there – I’ve
given it away*) is that there is a software reported entitled “call manager”
that alerts users who are online (via a landline) when a phone call is coming
through – and provides a variety of options for diverting the call. Apparently
this is unique in the UK, but the dark and handsome stranger – his name MIGHT
have been David - who told me about it wouldn’t give any further details…except
that his company operates as a joint venture with Redstone Communications…If
anyone has further information, I’d be most interested.
Anyway, I left Boobnight at somewhat of a loss for juicy,
hard-hitting news and sites to explore. I also didn’t see anyone playing pool –
but I’m glad to know that for one night a month, there’s Boobnight, where
everyone seems to be taking a break from all {their} worries, and people are
all the same. With apologies to…
“Cheers”,
Maggie
*The answer seems to have sparked some debate, so if you do
know the answer and can provide its provenance, I’d appreciate it.