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Monday, November 2, 2009

“Come to Think of It, eBay”–Is That a Killer Ad Motto or a Desperate Plea for Attention? (Plus Old Commericals!)

ebay

BoomTown is not quite sure what to think of another new advertising campaign from an Internet giant–this time by eBay.

With the tagline, “Come to Think of It, eBay,” the print, television and online marketing campaign starts today to “boost its standing as a holiday shopping destination.”

Interestingly, the ads have been crafted by San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which has also just nabbed the lead role in the $100 million advertising campaign by Yahoo.

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Monday, July 6, 2009

Canesta: The Full D7 Demo

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The search for the perfect remote control continues, this time from Canesta, a San Jose-based company specializing in 3-D “natural interfaces.”

That means controlling your television via a series of gestures–including a wave and more.

Canesta demoed the new technology to control TV functions, from changing channels to navigating more complex menus, at the seventh D: All Things Digital.

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Monday, August 4, 2008

Kara Visits the Yahoo Annual Meeting!

BoomTown was blogging so manically from the Yahoo annual meeting, which took place in San Jose on Friday, I plum forgot to load up the video I did there.

No video was allowed inside the meeting or anywhere near it, by the way. So rather than getting beaten senseless by the squads of purple-clad Yahoo minions of CEO Jerry Yang, I decided to pocket my Flip camera for part of it.

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Friday, August 1, 2008

Liveblogging From Yahoo Annual Meeting: Shareholder Q&A!

OK, now we’re cooking with gas at Yahoo’s annual meeting in San Jose, as various shareholders–mostly small ones–come to the microphones and give Yahoo a piece of their mind.

First up, longtime Yahoo activist shareholder Eric Jackson asked Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock to step down, noted that Yahoo had overplayed its hand on the Microsoft bid, wondered about Yahoo President Sue Decker’s time problems (too many outside boards) and questioned the worth of Yahoo’s deal to sell an asset in Japan.

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Liveblogging From Yahoo Annual Meeting: Tim Koogle Returns!

While looking for news, any news, at Yahoo’s annual meeting in San Jose this morning, who should tap BoomTown on the shoulder but a blast-from-the-past Yahoo, former CEO Tim Koogle.

Koogle still has about 10 shares of the stock apparently, and I am not entirely clear why he is here, though I will surely find out what’s what.

But Koogle looks fabulous.

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Liveblogging From Yahoo Annual Meeting: Empty Chairs and No Power

Eight minutes to go and BoomTown has a copious choice of seating here at the San Jose Fairmont Imperial Ballroom, as you can see from this picture.

But no electricity for the computers of the press! The purple T-shirt squad from Yahoo had lovingly set up power strips for the reporters gathered in the cheap seats in the back.

Well played, Jerry Yang, well played!

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BoomTown Liveblogging From Yahoo Annual Meeting in San Jose!

Ah, lovely breakfast pastries of all kinds tumbling down from the tables outside the Imperial Ballroom at the San Jose Fairmont this morning at Yahoo’s annual meeting.

But, of course, no Carl Icahn and the noisy proxy fight circus that would have followed the shareholder activist here.

Which is kind of a relief, really, after a very fraught year for the troubled Internet company.

As to news that is likely to come out of the meeting, which starts at 10 a.m.?

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Yahoo Annual Meeting Countdown (1 Day to Go!): Let the Memory Live Again?

Is it just me or does the dire situation of Grizabella the Glamour Cat in the musical “Cats” remind you a little bit too much of what’s been going on with Yahoo and its CEO Jerry Yang over the last year?

Thus, BoomTown has decided to make that scraggly cat’s anthem Yahoo’s for its annual meeting tomorrow, because the similarities are simply startling.

(Grizabella’s signature song, “Memory” is even wildly purplish, just like the Internet company!)

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About Kara

Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau in 1997 and also wrote the BoomTown column about the sector. With Walt Mossberg, she co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech and media conference. Read more »

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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