Some of the things I picked up last night from our DC area mixer at Ritz Carlton:
– The hotel is very nice, and the staff is fabulous…the traffic in the area is as horrible as on the 91 here in LA.
– Citizen journalism site Back fence is a very hot company…it just closed a $3 million round, and investors are already clamoring for its to open a second round.
– PBS is making some big efforts in online…PBS Online chief Cindy Johanson apprised me of some of the efforts it is making, some of them in areas you would not traditionally associate PBS with. PBS Kids is a big push on the online side (educational games for kids), and it is also thinking of making a big push into opening up its vaults on the video podcasting side.
— Check out the new UPI site…UPI.com. Nice…they’re trying to make it a showcase and destination, and high time….
– Whatever the fate of AOL turns out to be, the mid to senior level executives are not necessarily loving the uncertainty of the situation. And there’s some specter of layoffs too.
– On which suitor would be better, my feeling in talking to a bunch of AOL folks is that they would be happier teaming with Google than Microsoft, if only because the former brings in a lot more excitement and sex appeal.
– On the mobile side, there are things happening in DC, but there is no visibility for those efforts. There are startups, especially around the Sprint-Nextel ecosystem in the area, which are doing some innovative things and being and looking to be funded.
– My feeling: the two big documentary/nature media companies National Geographic and Discovery Communications need to be looking at BBC for inspiration, in terms of exploiting broadband and mobile opportunities and opening up their vaults. The recent re-organizations of the digital media divisions of both the companies will hopefully help…
– On the newspaper side, both WashingtonPost.com and USAToday.com do get it..I’m especially like the small but steady steps WaPo has taken on its sites. I won’t be surprised it WaPo as a company does some additional small acquisitions to boost its audience and understanding of the online ethos better.
– The traditional B2B information people are asleep at the wheel..seriously. They deserve all they’re getting.
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