New York – September 19, 1997 (Full Issue)
Related Links:
New New Yorkers
Time Inc.’s West Bank Bash
Colubmia University: “News in the Digital Age: Journalism versus the Bottom Line.”
Cyber Bars’ Demise?
September 19, 1997
New New Yorkers
THE NIGHT WAS WARM and all of digital New York was out on September 11. Unlike other industries, ours didn’t slow down for one moment this summer, and all newbies needed to just hop on the Merry-Go-Round when the opportunity was there.
That’s what newly appointed American citizen Tami Zori did anyway. Local recruiting firm Silicon Alley Connections and many guests celebrated her new status at Ludlow Bar. Free drinks, foods and Acid Jazz spun music.
Time Inc.’s West Bank Bash
Earlier in the night, as the sun was setting over our beautiful Hudson River, Pathfinder hosted a party for advertisers and clients. Time Inc. New Media’s Nancy Maloney explained how she found the Upper West Side’s recently opened Boat Basin Cafe at 79th Street this summer. While nice for mariners and upper west siders, this was not the choicest spot for a new media event … Abigail Hornik, an account rep, breezed by Valerie Martinez (Brand Dialogue) and Bob Liu (CNNfn), who was slicing some cheese with his www.NYTimes.com Swiss army knife. Amanda Hanes, who is the postmaster and does chats, RealAudio and Video on Pathfinder, was enjoying the night with Michael Coble who spoke cryptically of his role at Pathfinder: he manages reporting and analysis and sees what things are getting traffic from the web surfer’s pov. I ran into Olivia Gushin (Kokonet), who is my partner-in-crime for forever trying to plan the next WWWAC party (soon).
Unlit dirt paths, and sidewalks on main onramps to the highway made this trek inconvenient to get to. Not as high as wide, the flagstoned space was cavernous going from an outer courtyard entrance with dry fountain to patio (under the West Side Drive) with blue cloth-covered tables and a bar at the North end, and steps leading down to a narrow balcony overlooking a marina and the river. The aroma of grilled hamburgers out in the open for the restaurant whet our appetite, and like Pathfinder’s website, the spread was impressive: endive with crab dip, spicy grilled chicken on skewers, crudite, fine cheeses and crackers, chips and salsa, and big drinks in plastic cups. Classy, no?
Colubmia University: “News in the Digital Age: Journalism versus the Bottom Line.”
Heading further north, I continued to Columbia University’s Center for New Media‘s panel: “News in the Digital Age: Journalism versus the Bottom Line.” Moderated by Jeff Greenfield of ABC News, and put together in part by @NY editor Tom Watson (way to go Tom!), this taut exchange of ideas at the top of the industry brought some of new media’s cream of the crop to the helm of the J-School’s ship. Panelists included former CourtTV honcho Steve Brill, media tycoon Barry Diller, Time Inc. New Media president Linda McCutcheon Conneally, CKS CEO Mark Kvamme, and Bertelsmann CEO-designate Thomas Middelhoff. To see someone of Barry Diller’s stature (ABC, Paramount, Fox, QVC, Home Shopping Network, and his upcoming network of local news) debate the merits of online publishing with other notables was well worth the trip uptown. The panelists gave the audience some meaty morsels to muse on at the reception following in the Pulitzer World room, where a virtual who’s who of the New York media world indulged in the mouth-mmelting scrumptious apps being passed and the bevy of beverages available at the site.
This was of personal interest for me as well, as I got to pear up close at 2 busts Joseph Pulitzer, at vastly different ages, by Rodin. Dominating the center of the subtly lit warm brown toned modernized room was a beautiful stained glass window that resided in Pulitzer’s “World” office. This piece depicted the Statue of Liberty flanked by two globes highlighted by a glorious bright yellow sun-lit background. It was dedicated to Herbert Bayard Swope, one of the editors of The World, first winner of the Prize in 1917 for reporting, and Great-Great Uncle to Bill Collins, President of TeleVector, Inc., a company dedicated to marrying satellite and fiber optic technology to allow new types of audio and video multicasting via the web. (People will be able to log into TeleVector’s satellites over the web using their existing ISP connection to get real-time news and entertainment from around the world. They expect to have their first satellite operational in the fall of 1998.)
Pete Zollman (Interactive News Solutions) and Vin Crosbie (Digital Deliverance, biz planning for online newspapers) and I caught up with Shara Zoll (webmaster for Scientific American) who I hadn’t seen in a dog’s age from early cro-magnum pre-Netscape WWWAC meetings. I met John McGrath and some other people who redesigned the Pulitzer Prize website. Eileen Shulock, a managing editor and also Director of Webgrrls International with Aliza Sherman were expressing concern for Lori Schwab of NYNMA who broke her elbow several weeks ago during a charitable bike-a-thon. Send her well wishes! John Borthwick (Digital City Studio), Howard Greenstein (Microsoft), Sichel Jones (NYTimes Cyber writer), Austin Bunn (Wired News), Chris Allbritton (Associated Press), Will Chang (AP), and Norman Green (an investigative reporter for Inside Edition) were all indulging in the mouth-melting scrumptious apps being passed and the bevy of beverages available.
Cyber Bars’ Demise?
SCARS OF CYBER BARS and their demise has been discussion of late on the ever waxing and waning WWWAC list. Recently @Café and KoKoBar (in Brooklyn) closed, spurring thoughts of why this trend is taking place. Atmosphere, marketing, or management can all be blamed, but what *is* the problem? In my recent trip across the U.S. I noticed a similarity between the Cyberworld Café in San Francisco, the @Café, and Alt.Coffee in NYC. The cafes lack in pleasing personality. Exposed pipes and brick can be nice in a joint, if treated well, but when its that not-a-big-budget-but-i’m-still-supposed-to-look-hip/cool/trendy/quaint/inser t_decorator_word_here atmosphere, it won’t appeal to wired nor non-wired crowds. New York alone breeds snobbery. We are immersed in good design and beautiful trendy world renowned museums, clubs, restaurants, and stores. Not that we demand it, but the digital crowd is even more blasé because we are not only sitting in new, hip, ultra modern, well-designed offices, but we create it, sell it, market it, use it. Our demands aren’t necessarily higher, but more heightened. We want to go to places that have a killer atmosphere to lounge in while we experiment with the latest killer app. Small computers sitting at ends of uncomfortable tables in the back of a bar won’t cut it. Over-stuffed beat-up “comfy” furniture attacks our senses at the other end. Being swallowed in an arm-chair isn’t conducive to surfing or socializing, its good for veggie in front of mind-numbing tv. This won’t even appeal to the non-wired crowd. Why not put WebTV in at one end of a space with ottomans and chaises for surfers, how `bout some terminals clustered on a cocktail table surrounded by a soft leather sofa, can we put a monitor at one end of the bar (with and a nice spill resistant plastic covering for the keyboard) and a tv at the other — the game is on for one’s enjoyment, a sports-related site for another. Lets bring the computers into the Lounge, not the bar into the Office.
CORRECTION:
In a previous edition of I mistakenly reported that Gregory Bender of BD Interactive produced the Internet Advertising Bureau, not the International Advertising Bureau. Please accept my apologies for such an error. If you notice other slips email me at: courtney@pulitzer.com
CONTINUUM:
Artnetweb offers courses, projects, readings, links, bulletin boards, and a host of other things making this site a true resource for all things digital art related.
9/11 – 12/18: Thursdays @12:30 pm (except 11/27) Thundergulch presents Lunchtime @ the Wall, utilizing the building’s impressive 14-foot video wall located in the lobby as a site to present artists’ video, CD-ROM, and internet projects to the downtown lunchtime crowd.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
9/23, 7 – 9 PM, e-dinner at the Canadian Consulate (SW corner of 50th Street and Ave. of the Americas, entrance on 50th Street) Dinner will not be served due to unreasonable catering prices. And speaker bio info and much more are on the website.
9/25: Columbia Business School Alumni Club/New York Media and Marketing Committees presents the first of two events dealing with Electronic Commerce: “Electronic Commerce: The Next Frontier or The Latest Buzzword?” Sony Building, 550 Madison Avenue (at 55th St.), (20th Floor), Recep: 5:30 PM, Program 6:30 PM, Fee: $10 advance, $15 at the door, For more info call (212) 854-8815
9/24, 5:15 – 7:45 PM, MIT Enterprise Forum of New York City, Inc. presents “Blueprints for Success in Elelctronic Commerce: Building Virtual Communities for Real Profit,” Chase Manhattan Bank, 270 Park Ave. (47th St.), NYC. 3rd floor auditorium, Pre-registration required by Thursday, September 18th, Prepaid members $25. Prepaid nonmembers $40. Additional $10 at the door, Send registration/payment to: Dick Reisman, Digital Media Committee Member, MIT Enterprise Forum of NY, 420 Lexington Ave., Rm.2400, NYC 10170. Voice 212.681.1112. Fax 212.687.3524., e-mail
9/25, 8 – 11 pm, Russian Web Girls party, Gallery @678 Broadway, 2 floor, Join in the secret celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow. Come feel the chill of Red Square, where the Mausoleum of Lenin and the Cathedral of St.Basil stand together, where the old and the new freely mix. Vodka and peroshkis will warm you spirit and strolling minstrels will warm you heart. On the walls, the works of artists, no longer underground, will make a miniature gallery. And, the runways will be cleared and forbidden Russian beauties will show the latest Moscow styles. wine/beer cash bar, $10 cover charge, dress in red RSVP: 212*475*6393
1998: March 31st – April 2nd, Computer World Expo, Sweden, Current invited speakers from the US are…Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Amazon.com, Robert Palmer, Louis V Gerstner… Topics for the 3 days focus on politics-economics-technique, Electronic Commerce, the millennium problems. For more info and suggestions on speakers/topics, please write to: Christian Bergenstraahle
You can reach scene columnist Courtney Pulitzer courtney@pulitzer.com
Come join fellow schmoozers in my E-Pub Chat room.