LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD....In the heydey of the dot-com bubble there were a slew of influential events one of the most well-known in Los Angeles was called "HERRING ON HOLLYWOOD"....don't remember it? Well, Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, emerging entertainment analyst and consultant was doing the techno-disco in those days and schlepping around to these conferences covering for several pubs including the now defunct digitrends.net. Here's some coverage on-location at opening night on the West Hollywood patio of one of these events.
.........blogger note: here are some notes on RED HERRING (of yesteryear) from my favorite wikipedia.com of course: Red Herring was originally launched in May 1993 by Anthony B. Perkins, Christopher J. Alden, and Zachary A. Herlick out of the home of Mr. Alden's parents in Woodside, California........Red Herring's revenues peaked in 2000, nearing $100 million with a staff around 350, but contracted significantly in 2001 and 2002. BCP invested in several additional rounds to help stabilize the organization, which went through several rounds of layoffs. Through these financings BCP obtained control of Red Herring and in 2002 put the company through an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC), which is a California state process similar to a federal bankruptcy. RHC Media, owned by BCP, bought the Red Herring assets out of ABC and kept the business operating.....After trying unsuccessfully to sell the company, RHC Media decided in early 2003 to cease operations and sell the company's assets........
Herring on Hollywood Attendees Speak Out
by Joyce A. Schwarz originally posted online 08/03/2000 |
“If you want to make it in show business, get the hell out of Oregon,” advised old-time comedienne, raconteur, Sophie Tucker to a young singer named Johnnie Ray.
Many of the new media moguls at the Herring on Hollywood conference this week would tell the young crooner today to find the right URL, stream some music videos and MP3s and spin his wheel of fortune online.
Is Hollywood in danger of becoming a state of mind vs. a geographic location?
How have the dot-com disasters of the past few months affected the future of new start-ups?
Has Napster really hit where it hurts on the entertainment industry’s bottom line?
Behind the scenes at the opening night reception at Herring on Hollywood we caught up with some of the attendees to ask their opinions on the above topics. What was most fascinating wasn’t the answers but the attitudes to the questions.
One VC declined to state because she said, “I’m buying not selling.” (2006 blogger note-- don't you just love that answer-- did VCs in those days really think you didn't have to sell anything?)
Another nouveau film site auteur asked this reporter her opinion because not only did he not seem to have one, but he also was clueless about his competition.
In a time when personalization and individuality seem to be driving the worldwide Web, getting executives to talk about what they think is a surprising challenge. Maybe, some of them are just too busy to think? Maybe thinking was an old economy skill?
Another challenge was deciphering the “techisms” and current clichés. Asked what they really mean, some people froze and just repeated the phrases we’ve heard again and again like paradigm shift yada yada.
Here are some of the more lucid thoughts on dot-combat and Napster as sacrificial lamb:
“Napster is a sticky issue; the company has its work cut out for it. This is not something that will be resolved overnight,” said Julie O’Grady, marketing director at DoDots.com. The real keys to start-up success, according to O’Grady, are to have solid business models, solid business plans and the right venture backing from the beginning.
And be sure to have seasoned VCs who add to your credibility, she said. DoDots.com has Heidi Roizen from Softbank on its board and it views itself as a digital infrastructure company with deals with content firms like ZDNet, CNET, Politics.com and IFuse.com.
(BLOGGER NOTE -- DO DOTS was dead 9 months later ....Requiem for DoDots: DoDots at SoftBANK,
CHAIRMAN BORG FOR CHARMED TECHNOLOGY SPEAKS OUT:
New media veteran Alex Lightman, CEO and chairman borg for Charmed Technology, has strong opinions and said, “I was with a group of about 70 CEOs last week and all of them were angry and basically said let’s go and trash the dot-coms and make our stocks rise—so they turned their PR departments loose.”
Basically there was too much money spent on advertising on trade publication ads and Superbowl commercials, he said. Plus, spectacular scandals like Pixelon and DEN turned their information machines against them so that the companies who had become celebrities themselves fell fast. Lightman said the future is in new platforms for computing like what his firm offers—artificial intelligence and augmented reality to create wearables not unlike the ones that Ray Kurzweil, author and Siggraph keynoter, promotes in his best seller “Age of Spiritual Machines”.
OTHERS LOOK AT THE NAPSTER CONTROVERSY OF 2000....
Even well-funded firms with veteran entertainment executives on board are looking closely at the Napster controversy. Richard Rosen, VP, affiliate relations for firstlook.com, an idealab!/Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Company with monies from Intel, Cox and more, said industry fundamentals are changing. Consumers just don’t see why they can’t download what they want. Firstlook.com has deals with many of the studios and record labels to preview music and movies.
LOGICAL SUCCESSORS TO MASS MEDIA?
Alan Brody, co-chair of the upcoming ETV World, said it’s all about convergence. “Interactive TV may be the savior at the end of the day. It’s all about where the advertisers are willing to put their dollars and they’re looking for the logical successor to mass media.”
OTHERS WERE LETTING PEOPLE CONTROL CONTENT --even back then!
John O. Jeffrey, EVP of Live 365 explained: “We let people control the content.” Jeffrey also lists corporate strategy and general counsel on his business card, and describes his firm as a “PRASP”—personal radio application service provider. He explained the tables have turned from the media choosing what you want to hear to you making the decisions on your own creative content.
Over and over the quiet ones in the back of the crowd echoed Jeffrey’s statement that user control is what the revolution is all about. The great groundswell is driven by personal choice, when they want it and where they want their content.
WHAT'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN?
Becca Topol, manager of development movies and mini-series for Fox Television Studios, who is also a screenwriter, joined into the discussions by saying, “I don’t think dot-com entertainment can really take off until there’s some kind of merging. Dot-coms still need good stories. It’s about great content vs. gimmicks and buzz. What’s really behind the curtain?” It seems that viewers just won’t buy vaporware.
RISE OF PERSONAL MUSIC SERVICES!
Personal music services to lots of different devices with back-end systems that will support hundreds of thousands of users are what’s needed, according to Albert Chen, founder, president and CEO of gig.com, one of the featured demo companies at Herring on Hollywood.
“We’re seeing the next generation of music services evolving now that can serve up tens of gigabytes per second.” To prepare for the future, gig.com has developed an experienced team from such major companies like Sandpiper (now Digital Island), and Globalcast, with a background of legal, music and entertainment experience. Of course, funding from Sony Music and Alcatel ventures will certainly separate his firm from angel-funded start-ups vying for back-end systems.
THE RUBBER WAS HITTING THE ROAD.....
The rubber has hit the road, said William Simon, managing director, global media entertainment and convergence practice for recruiter Korn/Ferry International. “You’ll see similar kinds of challenges to video like Napster and content providers will figure out some kind of royalty solution.” But no, dot-coms are not dead, he maintained. The key to success is to start off with fiscally responsible executives.
BEYOND THE IN-CROWD.....
Sometime you have to go outside of the “in-crowd” to see beyond the fence. Manager of Luna Park, the location for Herring on Hollywood reception, was Jason Harper, who is also a musician. Harper wisely said that there’s no third dimension to the online world today. “My mind is fed quickly, not richly online.”
He envisions a “teleputer,” which combines a DVD player, phone calls, word processing and personal organizer in one box. Asked about Napster he said it’s a ludicrous offense to freedom of speech. His band Soul Central Station, whose lead singer Thomas Do had a deal with Def Records previously, sees the Web as a way to open doors to a new world of media and communications. Harper urged eavesdroppers to his comments to join him back at Luna Park later this week to reacquaint themselves with the power of live music when Soul Central Station takes to the stage.
BUILDING THE FUTURE....
A man really building the future—David Weinberg of the architectural firm Mancini, Duffy Architecture, and one of the sponsors for the conference—said it’s really about merging technology and ergonomics. In dealing with dot-coms, many of them don’t want to look five years ahead, or even two years beyond. But as the 12th largest design firm in the country, his company has been able to attract solid new media leaders like Industry Standard, ZDTV and financial firms.
NECESSARY TO PERSONALIZE THE MEDIUM!
“You have to have a market not just a concept,” said Lisa Osborn, CEO of start-up content creator and distributor Traffic 411.com. Osborn, a veteran Los Angeles radio traffic personality, says it’s necessary to personalize the medium.
Lisa believes the key is in serving the people not just servicing them and finding a viable market. “Millions of people tune in every day to get on-the-go traffic updates and we depend on the traffic tipsters to provide updates, so it’s a two-way street with people getting involved not just listening passively.
All too often, dot-coms don’t give the consumer a chance to respond,” Osborn said.e said. Many online services don’t even post phone numbers. Can you imagine a talk radio station not mentioning its phone number? Traffic 411.com is all about traffic anytime, anywhere. It already has a deal as a content provider for Packet Video offering full-motion, full-screen video on hand-helds.
USERS VERSUS VIEWERS OR LISTENERS -- semantics?
Maybe it’s not just semantics—Hollywood has never referred to its viewers or listeners as “users.” In a phone call later after the event, I talked with a fellow author, John Hedtke, who wrote “MP3 and the Digital Revolution” from Top Floor Publishing (available on Amazon.com) who said, “MP3s are the right technology at the right time,” they’re really driving peer-to-peer computing, which may be the big revolution. He explained that even on a 14.4 modem you can easily download two gigabytes a month of MP3s, which is the equivalent of 18 CDs. No wonder the popularity of something like Napster. The whole era reminds Hedtke of the wild cat oil rig phenomenon of the ‘20s and ‘30’s—only a few will actually make it. “One of the nice things about laissez faire capitalism is that sometimes it works,” he said.
WHAT IS THE REAL RED HERRING HERE?
Which reminds me that one of the dictionary’s definitions of ‘red herring’ is “something that draws attention away from the subject under notice or discussion,” based on the origin of the phrase from when red herring were used to distract hunting dogs from the scent.
ROI -- return on investment is the real king - not just content!
Have the dot-coms distracted us all from what is really crucial?
When I opened the Paris, France Internet/ITV conference in 1995, I said that the French knew the secret to new media success all along—they believe that ROI means king.
THE REALLY BIG BRANDS....
Now that the big brands are back into the swing of things and we see the airlines selling tickets directly versus through online agents like Travelocity, and Wal-Mart edging for Amazon’s executives and audience, it could be an all new ballgame and you may not have to be in Hollywood to hit a home run.
Joyce Schwarz was an early player on the new Hollywood scene. She combines a Masters degree in film from USC with two decades of major advertising agency experience at such top brand names as Foote Cone & Belding. She has launched more than 100 products and services including dozens of Web sites and worked with such early digital streaming firms as eveo.com and emusic.com. She wrote the first NAB book on convergence in 1993 called “Reinventing Hollywood” and co-wrote “Gateway to the Next Millennium” Harcourt Brace in 1994. Her firms JCOM (joycecom.com) provide marketing and strategy for new media leaders including more than a dozen firms listed in the Red Herring Top 100. You can reach her at [email protected].
PARADIGM SHIFTING....yada ....yada...(back in 2000)
THE VISION BOARD author Joyce Schwarz (left) with Bob Proctor right who wrote the preface for THE VISION BOARD book and is an acclaimed personal development guru! Tune in on FLOW WITH LIFE Radio Show on February 4 to talk directly with author Joyce Schwarz! 
George Lucas’s most grown-up piece of work is, oddly enough, his first .
