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News & Updates - Thursday, May 19, 2005

Syndicate Tidbits

IDG's Syndicate Conference, which wrapped up this week, had a little of everything necessary to make it a success. It embraced the buzzwords of blogging, RSS, and podcasting. Old media and new media canoodled. There were plenty of startups, and M&A, and VC activity.

Due to the announcement by the New York Times about their new $50 charge for premium content, the presentation by NYT Digital CEO Marty Nisenholtz was the most talked about bit. Nisenholtz comes across well - not at all arrogant - however he stumbled badly when justifying the cost of the Times' new offering by comparing it to the price of a few $17 martinis that nobody would complain about. That's pretty weak.

Other hot topics were the no shows. Jason Calacanis added to the lore of his flakiness by no-showing and not bothering to inform event management. Then there was the blogfather, Dave Winer, who reportedly asked for a strange quid pro quo: in exchange for being a featured speaker, he wanted to be able to pimp one of his own sponsors. When the show organizers didn't agree he pulled out, complaining that since he doesn't have a job, he needs the ability to promote his sponsors. But at someone else's event? Get a job, Dave.

Overheard - Given the M&A interest in this space, it wasn't surprising to overhear one entrepreneur who runs a dozen-person virtual venture with (no office) explain that he's thinking of taking out an office lease so that if he is bought out, the buyers will feel like they actually acquired something.