BoomTown » session

Kara Visits the Women's Conference (Questions for Ashton Kutcher, Please!)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:57:20 +0000

This morning, BoomTown will be onstage at California First Lady Maria Shriver’s well-known Women’s Conference in Long Beach, to moderate a panel titled “Changing the World Through the Web” for a crowd of 1,800 people.

The panelists for my session at what has become one of the top forums for women’s issues include Hollywood actor/producer, Katalyst co-founder and Twitter demigod Ashton Kutcher (pictured above, of course); Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg, who leads the social networking site’s elections, breaking news and social change initiatives; Premal Shah, president of online microloan site Kiva.org; and Joe Rospars, founder and creative director of Blue State Digital and new media director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

In other words, as a group, they are all either prettier, smarter or better for the planet than anything I have ginned up so far.

But, to be safe, send some question suggestions quick that you think I should ask in the interview–via Twitter @karaswisher.

In any case, I shall press on and try to conduct myself with some kind of tech dignity, as I query the group on how the Web–especially social media–can empower people to change the world and be more than just one big pool of mundanities, meaningless status updates, silly apps and online gossip.

Speaking of which, it was a minor shock to run smack into reality show whatever-she-is Kate Gosselin at a speaker party last night, who is here to flack a book about–of course–her kids, titled “Eight Little Faces.”

No, I did not make that title up and I suppose it takes all kinds.

But it was especially surreal, since other speakers include–how shall I put this delicately?–much more serious and substantial women, such as primatology legend Dr. Jane Goodall, women’s rights activist Eve Ensler, Obama Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, a spate of women news legends such as Katie Couric, and even–my personal favorite, for her cheery butter-loving nature–celebrity chef Paula Deen.

For those interested in seeing some of the all-day event online, there’s a live Webcast from the Web site, which you can access here (the Twitter hashtag is #wc09

I will, natch, post a video report later.

Elevation Partners Managing Director Roger McNamee and Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:21:06 +0000

As the final posting of the onstage interviews at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, here is one of the sessions that generated a lot of news: The first major interview about the Palm Pre with Elevation Partners Managing Director Roger McNamee and Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein.

The pair are trying to remake Palm (PALM)–see the AllThingsD.com topic page on the Pre here–in a bet-the-company move to recover the Silicon Valley icon’s long-lost glory via innovation.

Palm is trying to muscle into a market with multiple competitors, such as Apple’s iPhone, Android from Google (GOOG) and many more.

In the session with Walt Mossberg and me, McNamee and Rubinstein talked about the new smartphone and its various features, including a controversial way of syncing with Apple (AAPL) iTunes.

Also, McNamee and I had a debate over the Pre’s mirror. Really.

Here’s the video of the full D7 session (along with a very funny intro video making fun of McNamee’s loose lips):

[ See post to watch video ]

Mozilla Chairman Mitchell Baker and CEO John Lilly: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:27:12 +0000

As CEO and chairman of Mozilla, respectively, John Lilly and Mitchell Baker have overseen the huge growth of Firefox, the innovative open-source browser.

With almost 23 percent of the Web browser market in recent surveys, it is the second most popular of such software globally, after Microsoft (MSFT) Internet Explorer, which holds just over 66 percent.

But there other competitors too, including Apple (AAPL) and now Mozilla partner Google (GOOG), which is bearing down upon it with its latest “don’t-be-evil” browser bulldozer, Chrome.

The pair talk about all this and more in an interview with Walt Mossberg at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

Here’s the video of the full D7 session:

[ See post to watch video ]

Huffington Post Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington and Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:20:24 +0000

It’s an opportune time to see this interview, in which Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Huffington Post Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington talked about the future of the news media.

The pair were interviewed at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference only a month before Weymouth landed in hot water for trying to organize an off-the-record gathering of D.C. power players and journalists at her house, underwritten by sponsors.

In the interview, Weymouth discussed the struggles the Post–one of the nation’s most prestigious newspapers–has had of late as the Internet pummels its business model.

One of those hammers has been Huffington, whose site has grown like gangbusters, led by its political blogs and aggregation. Though not regularly profitable, it recently got a huge slug of funding to keep up the competition.

The pressure was apparent last week when Weymouth got in trouble for offering the exclusive sessions–although the controversial marketing flyer about it went out by mistake, before her approval or that of the Post newsroom.

Here’s the video of the full D7 interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker: The Full D7 Interview

Kara Swisher — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:37:34 +0000

Jeff Zucker runs one of the world’s leading media and entertainment content companies, which is also being caught in the throes of a major shift, due to the impact of the Internet over the last decade.

In this onstage interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, Zucker talks about the state of the television business; the changing advertising market; the impact of Hulu, an online premium video joint venture the GE (GE) unit NBC launched with News Corp. (NWS); and precisely what he meant when he said that the Web was turning “analog dollars into digital pennies.”

Here’s the video of the full D7 session (the video does not include a short intro video done by NBC’s “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon, which includes a ribald joke about Zucker marrying Courtney Cox):

[ See post to watch video ]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: The Full D7 Session (Badda-Bing!)

Kara Swisher — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:05:14 +0000

As most know by now, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the software giant’s relaunch of its search offering, dubbed Bing, onstage at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

You can see that here, as well as Ballmer demoing the product, which is Microsoft’s biggest and priciest attempt yet to catch archrival Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO) in the search business.

It is a market where the typically dominant Microsoft (MSFT) is a mouse in comparison, although it is also trying to innovate.

That did not stop Ballmer from doing some roaring about Bing, in an interview with Walt Mossberg, as well as the status of other Microsoft products like its upcoming release of the Windows 7 operating system, an arena where Microsoft does rule.

Ballmer also talked about ongoing talks with Yahoo about a search partnership, and other Microsoft initiatives.

Here’s the video of Ballmer’s full D7 session (this video is missing a promotional video for Bing, which the audience saw, but that Microsoft did not give us video rights to use here):

[ See post to watch video ]

HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:19:44 +0000

What can one say about Mark Cuban that he can’t say himself?

Not much, as you will see from this sassy onstage interview he did with Walt Mossberg and me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, where he talked about everything from the idiots of the Internet to the subsidization of Web video by Google (GOOG) to the next big innovation.

Cuban hardly needs an introduction–he’s been a Web mogul, an entrepreneur, a sports team owner, a blogger, a theater owner, a high-definition evangelist and most of all, a digital gadfly.

Here’s the full D7 video session:

[ See post to watch video ]

News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller and MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:53:14 +0000

Over the last weeks, News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller and MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta have had their hands full directing massive layoffs at the flagship social-networking site, as well as throughout the Fox Interactive Media division.

The pair discussed the many challenges faced by the giant media company in its digital enterprises in an onstage interview with Walt Mossberg and me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference last month.

That included everything from how News Corp. (NWS) online content is paid for to the need for MySpace to innovate, as Facebook has surpassed it.

Here’s the video of the full D7 session:

[ See post to watch video ]

(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:15:41 +0000

As President and CEO of Nokia, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo runs the world’s largest mobile phone maker (with roughly 36 percent share) and one of the few top tech companies in Europe.

It’s a hard-won and enviable position, but a tough one to maintain, especially in a souring economy. And that is even more of an issue for Nokia (NOK) now, with new rivals like Apple (AAPL) emerging in the sector the company has long dominated.

Both Apple and Research in Motion (RIMM) gained market share at the company’s expense in the first quarter, with innovative touchscreens and apps, features that Nokia has been late to the smartphone party with.

Kallasvuo talks about all this and more in an interview with Walt Mossberg at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

Here’s the video of the full D7 session:

[ See post to watch video ]

RIM President and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:30:42 +0000

We kick off the week of full posts of the onstage interviews at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference with Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIMM), which is best known as the maker of the BlackBerry.

Lazaridis has been key to developing the BlackBerry, which means he is directly responsible for the CrackBerry problem too. And it means he’s in the thick of the new handheld platform wars.

In this interview, Walt Mossberg talked to him about all that and the competitors, such as Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Palm (PALM), all of which are competing aggressively in the fast-growing and innovative smartphone space.

Here’s the D7 interview with Lazaridis:

[ See post to watch video ]

V-Day Founder Eve Ensler: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:21:16 +0000

As founder of a global movement to end violence against women and girls, Eve Ensler has long been focused on human rights issues across the world.

Onstage in an interview at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, she shed much-needed light on the dire situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where some of the worst atrocities are now being committed on the population in a terrible civil war.

Ensler’s aim is to end the use of rape as a weapon of war there, which is, in part, a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics, such as mobile phones and laptops.

It is well worth hearing about exactly how some of our everyday gadgets come to us at a terrible price.

Here is the video of the full D7 session:

[ See post to watch video ]

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz: The Full D7 Session (Unexpurgated!)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:51:27 +0000

Yes, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz did indeed drop the F-bomb on BoomTown quite expertly in an onstage interview at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference recently–and, yes, it was both expected and enjoyable.

(In this picture above, she is clearly trying to hypnotize me with her stare.)

But that’s not all the voluble leader of the long-troubled Internet company said in what was a sassy, funny and very lively session at D7.

Discussing the future prospects for Yahoo (YHOO), her reasons for taking the top job at the company, the state of the advertising market, what she thought about Yahoo’s relationships with Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT), and more, Bartz’s colorful personality was on full display.

She even managed to tease News Corp. (NWS) head Rupert Murdoch, who was sitting in the front row during the interview (News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site).

And whether one thinks about whether Bartz can save the Silicon Valley icon or not–although she disputed the notion that Yahoo needs saving in the interview–and revive its innovative spirit, it will certainly be interesting watching her try.

Here’s the full video of the session:

[ See post to watch video ]

Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:23:29 +0000

Today, the full sessions of the seventh D: All Things Digital conference get rocking–literally–by posting my onstage interview with music powerhouse and Ticketmaster (TKTM) CEO Irving Azoff.

One of the most important behind-the-scenes movers and shakers in the industry, Azoff is now running the world’s biggest entertainment ticketing company while still heading one of the largest music management companies. He is also personal manager for the Eagles and many others.

He and I talked about all this and more, focusing on the digital forces buffeting the music business.

Here’s the video of the D7 interview (including the very funny intro that music legend Joe Walsh did for Azoff) :

[ See post to watch video ]

AT&T Chairman, CEO and President Randall Stephenson: The Full D7 Interview

Kara Swisher — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:03:45 +0000

Next up on the seventh D: All Things Digital conference program was an onstage interview that Walt Mossberg did with AT&T (T) Chairman, CEO and President Randall Stephenson.

In the interview, Stephenson was queried about a lot of topics, including the status of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone deal, the company’s network glitches, the economy and competitors like the new Pre from Palm (PALM), and more.

Here’s the video of the entire session:

[ See post to watch video ]

You can find all of our conference coverage on the D7 Highlights page.

Twitter Co-Founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams: The Full D7 Interview

Kara Swisher — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:09:51 +0000

As promised, we kick off posting the full sessions of the seventh D: All Things Digital conference with the interview that Walt Mossberg and I did onstage with two of the three founders of the hot microblogging service Twitter, Biz Stone and Evan Williams.

Our selection of the pair as the first interview of D7 was due to the enormous attention and, yes, hype, that the San Francisco-based start-up has received of late.

But, along with a massive funding and a frothy valuation, despite no clear business model as yet, the clear innovation of Twitter has also attracted the acquisition attention of Web giants like Facebook, Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT).

In any case, no matter what you think of its prospects, there is no question–thanks be to Oprah–they’ve become the latest It boys of Silicon Valley.

Williams and Stone talked about all this and more in the interview, as well as how they plans to make money eventually, the impact of real-time search and where they see the social networking going.

We also got them to react to a video of my mother questioning the point of the service, which tracked on some polling we also did about Twitter.

Here’s the video of entire session:

[ See post to watch video ]

You can find all of our conference coverage on the D7 Highlights page.