D6 Conference | May 27-29, 2008 | Carlsbad, California

Facebook COO Sandberg to Add the Magic Kingdom Board Seat to Her When-You-Wish-Upon-a-Star Resume

Kara Swisher in News on December 23, 2009 at 9:56 pm PT

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg already has one of the shinier resumes in Silicon Valley as a Harvard grad with stints at the World Bank, the U.S. Treasury Department and Google, as well as a seat on the board of coffee kingpin Starbucks. She was also named one of Fortune magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women this year, clocking in at No. 22. Now Sandberg has been nominated to be a director on the Disney board, a position that will get rubberstamped at the entertainment giant’s annual meeting in March.

Digital Management Musical Chairs: The Tooth-Free Edition

Kara Swisher in News on September 8, 2009 at 6:30 am PT

Longtime Yahoo exec Brad Garlinghouse’s appointment to a new job at AOL today is yet another sign of an interesting trend for those keeping score of the comings and goings of top Internet execs. As anyone who watches the digital space knows by now, this kind of management musical chairs is common and never-ending, although it seems more frantic than ever of late. In fact, borrowing a quote by IAC/InterActiveCorp chairman and CEO Barry Diller from an onstage interview I did with him at the sixth D: All Things Digital conference, and switching out Hollywood for Silicon Valley: “[It] is a community that’s so inbred, it’s a wonder the children have any teeth.”

23andMe Co-Founder Linda Avey Leaves Personal Genetics Start-Up to Focus on Alzheimer's Research

Kara Swisher in News on September 4, 2009 at 1:49 pm PT

Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe, the personal genetics start-up, will be leaving to start a foundation related to Alzheimer’s disease. With Anne Wojcicki, she founded the high-profile company–whose Series A investors include Genentech, Google, and New Enterprise Associates, as well as Wojcicki’s husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin–in 2006. Avey noted in an email to staff, which is posted in its entirety below: “I also recognize that the company has reached a critical point in its growth where new leadership can take it to the successful heights we all think it can achieve.”

The Agony and Ecstasy of Paula & Simon (Plus: When Abdul Did D6)

Kara Swisher in News on August 5, 2009 at 10:44 am PT

BoomTown is wearing all-black today, in profound mourning for the prospect of no Paula Abdul on “American Idol” next season. “With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return,” tweeted Abdul yesterday, bidding goodbye, natch, on Twitter. Here is a cool video look at her and co-judge Simon Cowell and one of her appearance at the D: All Things Digital conference. (I kid you not!)

Welcome to the FCC, Julius: Now Get to Work on a National Broadband Plan, Please…

Kara Swisher in News on June 29, 2009 at 1:04 pm PT

Last week, after much delay, longtime Internet exec Julius Genachowski was confirmed by the Senate as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. It is an important role for the future development of the Web, of course, although it took a dog’s age into the new Democratic administration to approve him. Hopefully, he and the other commissioners can soon get to work on a wide range of major digital issues, such as a national broadband plan that does not cost Americans a fortune.

Palm's New Pilot: Jon Rubinstein [UPDATED]

John Paczkowski in News on June 10, 2009 at 2:33 pm PT

Now we know why it was Palm executive chairman Jon Rubinstein and investor Roger McNamee on stage at the D conference last month talking up the Pre, and not CEO Ed Colligan: Colligan was on his way out. On Wednesday, Palm tapped Rubinstein as its new CEO.

Palm’s New Pilot: Jon Rubinstein [UPDATED]

John Paczkowski in News on June 10, 2009 at 2:33 pm PT

Now we know why it was Palm executive chairman Jon Rubinstein and investor Roger McNamee on stage at the D conference last month talking up the Pre, and not CEO Ed Colligan: Colligan was on his way out. On Wednesday, Palm tapped Rubinstein as its new CEO.

The Curse Heard Round the Globe–Well, Actually, Just the Web, But It's a Start for Yahoo

Kara Swisher in News on June 3, 2009 at 7:00 am PT

San Jose Mercury News columnist Chris O’Brien made a lot of humorous hay at the expense of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz yesterday, in a joke piece called: “Bartz Unveils New &*%! Strategy for Yahoo.” O’Brien cleverly created a fictional transcript of a Yahoo staff meeting where Bartz–by now, well-known for her salty language–lets loose in an address about just how sick she was of competitors getting all the good press: “So we’re re-branding the company around excessive use of profanity. Our new marketing slogan will be, ‘Yahoo, (expletive) yeah!’” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Why Robert Scoble Is Wronger About "2010 Web": A BoomTown Translation!

Kara Swisher in News on June 2, 2009 at 12:37 pm PT

Oh, Scooby-Don’t… You could not be more wrong in your post last week–titled, “Why Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg are wrong about naming Web 3.0 ‘Web 3.0′”–about Walt and I being wrong about naming Web 3.0 “Web 3.0″ in an essay we posted at the start of our D: All Things Digital conference, which took place last week. I know writing “Kara Swisher,” “Walt Mossberg” and “Wrong” is well-nigh irresistible, but your solution of calling the digital era we are in the “2010 Web” is equally confusing and incorrect.

WWYD (What Will Yahoo Do?): Deal, Sell, Stand Pat or What?

Kara Swisher in News on May 26, 2009 at 1:17 am PT

If BoomTown were to hazard a guess, I would assume Yahoo would, if it could–in the end–sell itself off to Microsoft. It’s just my opinion, of course, but it would still be the best-case scenario for the company, over either a more limited commercial advertising and search partnership with the software giant or, of course, going it alone. That’s because, in 2009, it is still hard to answer the simple question: What is Yahoo? That’s the one that stumped former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang onstage at our sixth D: All Things Digital conference last year and will be the key query that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz will need to answer when she takes the stage Wednesday morning at D7.