8 posts and columns on Marriott

Nobody Puts Dan Loeb in the Corner: Third Point Begins Proxy Bombing Yahoo in 3 … 2 … 1

in News on March 14 at 1:24 pm PT

And if you prefer to go all “Fatal Attraction” instead of “Dirty Dancing,” the activist shareholder is not going to be ignored!
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News Byte

Six Major Hotel Companies Launch a Hotel Search Engine Called Room Key

in Commerce on January 11 at 4:15 pm PT

Here’s something novel: A new hotel search engine founded by companies that own hotels. The joint venture, called Room Key, is an effort to gain independence from some of the large online aggregators, like Priceline and Expedia or even Google. Room Key was founded by Choice Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels, Marriott and Wyndham Hotel, and acquired its technology from hotelicopter in an asset deal last year.

Meet the Yahoo Board: Something Old, Something New–But Will They Do Something?

in News on October 14, 2010 at 9:00 am PT

With all the noisy swirl around Yahoo of late–from its executive turmoil to its flat growth to its dashed partnerships in Asia to its brash CEO–its board has been unusually quiet of late. Comatose, some might say. But with private equity firms, media companies, Web rivals, big shareholders, Wall Street and others all machinating about trying to grab all or some of the Internet giant, it will be interesting to see if its directors will shake themselves out of their typical comfort zone of inactivity to actually do their job. Thus, time for their moment in the BoomTown spotlight!

Cisco Does Doobies–So What's Next in the Consumer Space?

in News on September 28, 2010 at 8:15 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown made a brief stop at what felt like an underground bunker in a hotel in San Francisco to see the Doobie Brothers. Yes, the legendary band of indelible hit songs such as “Black Water” and “China Grove” and misspent youth way, way back in the day. Except the band, which was founded in San Jose, Calif., in 1970, was performing in a Cisco studio down south in Silicon Valley to telepresence-launch its first album in a decade, called “World Gone Crazy.”

Liveblogging the 2009 Yahoo Annual Meeting: Carol-tastic!

in News on June 25, 2009 at 10:18 am PT

BoomTown is at the lovely Santa Clara Marriott in Silicon Valley at the 2009 Yahoo annual meeting, liveblogging the event, which should be spectacularly dull. Here is a rundown of what went on. 10:05 am: The meeting kicks off with a little video presentation with various and sundry television talking heads saying “Yahoo” in quick succession. Actually, this was the year during which all of those hype-magnets repeated “Twitter” so many times that it has began to make my ears bleed. But I like the spirit of trying to make Yahoo seem relevant and innovative again.
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The Walk-Up to Yahoo's 2009 Annual Meeting (Liveblogging Starts at 10 am PDT)

in News on June 25, 2009 at 6:00 am PT

Let’s be honest–even with the sassy stylings of CEO Carol Bartz, who will be appearing at her first Yahoo annual meeting this morning–there are few of these affairs that are even remotely exciting. Last year’s Yahoo meeting did have a frisson of possibility, since billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were fixing to put the double squeeze on the board and, especially, its then-CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. Also, major Yahoo shareholders threatened a revolt. But, none of that panned out. Thus, this year is likely to be a snoozer in comparison.
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Verizon Now Sells Subsidized Netbook With Cell Service

in Personal Technology on May 13, 2009 at 6:12 pm PT

Verizon’s H-P Mini netbook is an adequate light-duty computer for a low price, but the charge for Internet service is high if used as a main online connection.
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Yahoo Tries to Bake Up Some Sales Excitement in the Desert

in News on March 2, 2009 at 4:09 pm PT

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name/It felt good to be out of the rain/In the desert you can remember your name/’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain. Actually, for Yahoo, which is holding its big annual meeting of the company’s advertising sales staff in Indian Wells, Calif., maybe just a little pain since BoomTown is only a scant few miles away, as the crow flies, attending the Demo09 conference in Palm Desert. The Yahoofest will include an appearance by its energetic new CEO, Carol Bartz. Don’t worry, Yahoo PR, I will not crash the proceedings or be bribing the bartenders to get more leaks. But you Yahoos should still be careful with the wine in the hot tub anyway–as Carol says, loose lips sink ships!
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