New York – October 31, 1997 (Full Issue)
In this issue:
International Webgrrls Day
Historical WWWAC & TouchScreen
WebCinema parties on
Doubleclick’s Beautious Party
October 31, 1997
When Mayor Giuliani names a day it *must* be big time and International Webgrrls Day was a true networking experience. Web cams and chats from Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Canada, South Africa and Long Island were armed with womenchatting all evening on October 22. Champagne was served and founder AlizaSherman honored several Silicon Alley women, including Esther Dyson (Edventure),Tery Spataro (Stir Associates) and Connie Conners (NYNMA). There were doorprizes including software from Microsoft, Dyson’s new book, t-shirts, and a onehour massage therapy session.
Historical WWWAC & TouchScreen
Right after the historical WWWAC board election, fellow board member Howard Greenstein (Microsoft) and I headed up to the remote New York Carriage House onOctober 23. Touchscreen Media Group was celebrating five years of successfulbusiness, a devoted staff (current and former) and a strong client base. Cheryl Mollenbeck, Dennis McCole and Tom Skinner have something to be proud of. Evenex-employees were present, raving about the company and how wonderful it is.Kristina Krawchuk organized the classy evening of fine food and beverages.Incredible smoked brie and other yummy hors d’oeuvres from Michele & Companyadorned a center table and the drinks warmed the crowd as well. A.J. Mollenbeck(Cheryl’s father) was a most unique character, donning his tall greywestern-styled beaded hat, plaid shirt, bolo, and cowboy boots, looking everybit the beef farmer/real estate broker that he is.If you kept up with @The Scene last week, you know that October 24 was the nightof Brett Leveridge’s benefit for his sister at the Void. Many warm-hearted Echopeople showed their support including Stacy Horn (Echo’s Founder), Primus (Sensenet), and three wonderful bands. During LianneSmith’s (conference manager at Echo) set Marianne Petit (hosts the art galleryon Echo) played the accordion and Horn did her first attempt (wonderfully) onbongos!
The red plush velvet curtains and sconces couldn’t keep the throngs away. Jonathan Sarno and his Webcinema organization seems to throw a party a week! On October 28 at Chaos, there was another bash to drum up interest and financialsupport for the upcoming, soon-to-be-in-a-theater-near-you “Silicon Alley.” There were models, actresses, producers, and even a few new media people! Perched near the door,puffing away at big ol’ stogies, were Arnold Bruck (president, A.H.B. FinancialGroup) and Stuart Goldman (K-Tel International). They were there to show supportfor Jonathan, who was busy being host and getting actresses’ service numbers andbiz cards from backers. Larry Nagel (E-Pub) and Michael Diamant (T3 Media) cameby a bit later and joined Anton Self (Telephant), Manos Megagiannis (TeKnowledgeIndustries, Inc.), Stephen C. Filler (attorney), and Alec Pollack (StirAssociates) up in the VIP lounge. David Johnson of the Filmmakers Collaborativespoke enthusiastically of the 3D “renderation” (rendering recreation) of theAcropolis. Block by block, this historical monument will be restored digitally for virtual tourists throughout the world. Mark Chackerian (programmer, Reuters)and I made some interesting observations about people who observe each other. Hea lso is the webmaster for one of the more useful sites on the web. Coming froma family of scientists he wanted to do something useful that no one else had done before on the web. Imagine that! Something *useful* on the web. The New York City Street Cleaning Rules Suspension Calendar for 1997 has gotten 200 hits a day.
Look Smart! Dress Sharp! Click, Click Here! Which one doesn’t fit in with theother? Ha. Gotcha! They all fit together, and did so nicely at Fred’s Beauty Baron October 28. Held in conjunction with DoubleClick, the party drew a welldressed crowd. Nate Elliott (DoubleClick) filled me in on the his company’s growing network of sites. Public relations manager Amy Shapiro (DC) was on herway out in a fun faux (I hope) fur collared coat with Michael Tchong (Iconoclast), who just finished a research study on “Music on the Net.” Mark Filstrup.com gleefully told me he’s at CBS News after a long affair with SiteSpecific (which we all know is now married as CKS/Site Specific). Jim Orsi, who’s still at CKS/SS, was looking no worse for the wear however, even as Mark mentioned “it’s the little perks” like a free wool David Letterman cap and t-shirt that he just got. Key Compton (president, Solbright) and Taylor Ongaro (co-founder, Solbright) have a key market in developing software for the publishing industry. David “Happy Feet” Carvajal (Hotjobs) danced around the floor as he told me of a system “designed by headhunters for headhunters” that will be the “internet recruiting strategy of the future.” This didn’t sway Larry “HappyLegs” Melzer (Otec.com) from persuading me about all his company’s capabilities. Moving from there I did a dip into a chair and plopped right in the midst of a fascinating heated debate between Cathleen “Eco-feminist” McGuire (Kokopelli), Katie Peters (Partner, Kokopelli), and Jacqueline London (AE, Playboy) on this question — “Are men gender or culturally biased?” It’s getting serious in Silicon Alley, folks.
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