AllThingsD » Randi Zuckerberg

What's Really Behind The Facebook/Google Real Name Debate?

Liz Gannes — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:10:17 +0000

Mandating that people must use their “real names” to express themselves online is a hard position to defend. There are many scenarios where participating under a different name makes sense: For political activists, victims of harassment and other crimes, those with medical conditions or lifestyles they’d rather keep private, and people on the job market or in sensitive professions, like teaching children.

It seems to me that the larger issue in this ongoing real names debate is not who you say you are, but the usefulness of a unified Web identity. The more we condense our online selves into a single person, the more reliable, accountable and monetizable our Web experiences can be.

Facebook and Google are fighting a war over which company will be the preferred personalization experience across their own and other people’s Web sites and apps. Both companies offer Web identity systems that they want us to stay logged into all day long, whether we’re reading the news, listening to music or looking at photos.

Having a unified identity isn’t necessarily a bad thing for users, because it can make the Web more customized and convenient. It can also be super creepy.

When I log into my Google Dashboard, I can learn that the last thing I bought with Google Checkout was a pair of shoes in June ’09, that I last synced my mail on my iPhone at 1:27 am last night, and that I’ve had 1,518 Google Voice calls. That is a seriously quantified self.

Facebook and Google+ may say that they require “real names,” but I’m not convinced that they’re terribly serious about it. Neither site requires users to send in their passports to create an account (though they do sometimes ask for legal verification in disputed cases). Like danah boyd, I know many Facebook users who use pseudonyms, often for obviously justifiable reasons or simply because they like more privacy.

For that matter, I’ve also become friends with a few pet dogs as well as dummy accounts created by developers, which Facebook didn’t officially support until last month.

Facebook does do some policing of its terms of use but it obviously turns a blind eye to pseudonyms much of the time. It seems to rely more on a culture of real names than strict enforcement. Users who choose to go by their commonly used names are probably more likely to have a full Facebook experience, simply because more people they know will find them and interact with them.

Google+, meanwhile, has tweaked its “real name” requirement after offending users by deleting their accounts on the presumption that they broke the rules. It still doesn’t have a clear policy in place but there’s time for the month-old invite-only “field trial” product to evolve. For now, the service is allowing users to submit their nicknames and display them to certain circles of friends, though that’s not the same thing as allowing multiple accounts.

Even if I’m giving Google+ a pass for now, I will say Google is currently utterly terrible at understanding its users’ multiple identities. I have a Google Apps account for work and a Gmail account for personal email and am constantly bumping into access problems despite having supposedly set up a multiple account feature.

For a while I contributed to a (silly, harmless) blog under a pseudonym, and now every time I go to make a comment on a Blogger site, it’s under that name because I linked it to my Gmail address. And do I really want every video I ever watch on YouTube tied to my Google account? Not really, but if I log out of YouTube I log out of everything.

None of this inconvenience has to do with whether or not I used my genuine certified real name — it’s about Google or Facebook trying to get me to use a single account for all my activities.

Facebook’s Mark and more recently Randi Zuckerberg have famously called for the end of anonymity and denigrated inconsistent online identities. But Randi was on her way out the door and Mark later tried to recant his comments, saying he didn’t mean to make value judgments about people’s lives. Their stated positions are too uncompromising to be defensible.

As Caterina Fake writes, pseudonyms have different purposes — among them, stage names and noms de plume, false names used for protection and haters and trolls. Requiring “real names” on online services is a clumsy though often effective attempt to fend off trolls. Sites like Google+ and Facebook don’t actually need real names to do their business.

What Facebook and Google really seem to be after is condensing our accounts into one. That in itself is a scary and awkward prospect as well — but it’s not as simple as requiring a “real name.”

Passport image credit: FreeFoto.

Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my ethics statement.

A New Kind of Marketing Company From Former Apple Exec Forming With Backing of Twitter's Dorsey

Kara Swisher — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:51:05 +0000

Allison Johnson, who had been a top marketing exec for Apple, is finally close to launching on a new kind of marketing firm, sources said, with backing from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Malaria No More co-founder Ray Chambers.

Sources said that Johnson — who had been Apple’s vice president of worldwide marketing communications since 2005, before she quit in March — has since been ruminating on how to create a different kind of marketing company. Its aim is to help big companies and brands connect more effectively with smaller tech companies and burgeoning social networks.

“It’s a different new model, although it’s certainly a full-service solution for companies from a marketing point of view,” said one source. “But it does not conform to a typical agency.”

It’s not clear how much funding Dorsey or Chambers have put up or when the firm will launch. It’s been in formation for many months, said sources.

But Johnson has been working closely on its creation with longtime Silicon Valley PR exec Sarah Ross and others. Previously, she had been talking about such a partnership with Facebook PR exec Brandee Barker, who is no longer involved in the project.

Johnson has also talked to former Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg, who left the social networking site last week to start her own marketing firm, about working together.

Johnson declined to comment on the venture.

Exclusive: Randi Zuckerberg Leaves Facebook to Start New Social Media Firm (Resignation Letter)

Kara Swisher — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:23:14 +0000

Randi Zuckerberg, who is director of marketing at Facebook and also the sister of CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg — is leaving the company after six years to start a new media firm to help companies become more social.

In her resignation letter, which is below in its entirety, Zuckerberg said:

“I have spent my years at Facebook pouring my heart and soul into innovating and pushing the media industry forward by introducing new concepts around live, social, participatory viewing that the media industry has since adopted. We have made incredible progress, but there is still much to be done and other ways I can affect change. Now is the perfect time for me to move outside of Facebook to build a company focused on the exciting trends underway in the media industry.”

Facebook confirmed the departure and in a statement said: “We can confirm Randi has decided to leave Facebook to start her own company. We are all grateful for her important service.”

There was no comment from Mark Zuckerberg directly.

The company Randi Zuckerberg is creating is apparently called RtoZ Media, which is obviously a play on her name.

The move is likely to be much noticed, since Randi Zuckberberg has been at Facebook since its early days and has also been a high-profile and charismatic personality both inside the social networking company and in Silicon Valley.

She has been on maternity leave for the last three months, after having her first child, and sources said she has told them that being away from the rapid-fire pace at Facebook has given her time to reflect on what she wants to do in the next phase of her career.

Presumably, leaving Facebook will give Zuckerberg greater freedom to work for a range of companies without a conflict. That said, it’s unlikely she’ll take on Google+ as a client.

Zuckerberg is certainly going out on a high note — she was recently nominated for an Emmy award in the category of live coverage of a current news event for her work on “Facebook Live,” a real-time news show she created and hosted for the company.

Zuckerberg, who is definitely not a geek like her brother, noted in her letter to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and communications head Elliot Schrage: “I am thankful for the strong mentorship, guidance, and support, which is empowering me to follow my dreams and show that you don’t have to be an engineer to be a hacker.”

Here is the letter and also a video I did with her last year when Zuckerberg was covering the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills for Facebook early last year:

Randi Zuckerberg Letter 8.3.11

[ See post to watch video ]

Viral Video: "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" (at SXSW)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:43:33 +0000

Conan O’Brien has been all over the South by Southwest festival this week, hawking a new documentary about his time wandering in the late-night talk television wilderness after he left “The Tonight Show” last year.

That included a lively live interview with Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg on Saturday, as well as a series of appearances related to “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop.”

His hysterical journey, of course, was deftly played out by O’Brien all over the Internet, which was definitely on “Team Coco.”

The documentary, which will be distributed in the U.S. in a multi-platform deal with AT&T, follows O’Brien on his “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” tour.

Here’s a clip from the film:

BoomTown Talks Girl Geek at Facebook Hack Event

Kara Swisher — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:08:41 +0000

This Saturday, BoomTown gassed up the Mini and motored on down to Facebook’s newest building in Palo Alto, Calif., for a Developer Garage and Hackathon, which the social networking giant did in partnership with Girls in Tech.

The goal was to focus on women developers, although there were plenty of dudes in attendance, as per usual at any all-night nerd-off.

While there, event wrangler Randi Zuckerberg fobbed off to me a panel for lady geeks she was slated to moderate, which was a decidedly risky move on her part.

Here is the video of that panel, which included: Facebook Engineering Director Jocelyn Goldfein; Meebo co-founder Sandy Jen; Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America; and Catherine Herdlick, a game producer for Electronic Arts (ERTS).

Natch, I also did a video of my own at the Silicon Valley event that features interviews with Zuckerberg, Facebook Engineering VP Mike Schroepfer, GIT Managing Director Dhana Pawar and Goldfein, which is also below:

[ See post to watch video ]

Viral Video: Facebook Live vs. Google Beat

Kara Swisher — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:15:03 +0000

While the Silicon Valley digital giants are fighting on much bigger playing fields, BoomTown is enjoying the mini-battle brewing between Facebook Live and Google Beat.

What, pray tell, are those?

Well, Facebook Live launched about a month ago, and includes all kinds of insidery videos from the social networking giant.

Facebook Live notes on its Facebook page that it is an “official live video streaming channel, providing a deeper look into our features, partners & employees.”

That includes interviews by Facebook’s marketing exec Randi Zuckerberg, live event streaming and also a look-see at demos.

Google (GOOG) has been putting up a lot of videos on its official YouTube channel for a while now, such as executive talks, tips, product explainers, life-at-Google vignettes and even a Rubik’s Cubes Googley art wall competition.

Now, it seems to have upped the stakes with last week’s launch of Google Beat, which is–as a blog post described it–a video series that “highlights some of the hottest searches on Google in the U.S.”

This past week, searches centered on Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally and hurricane information, which seems like a good fit.

Personally, I like both entries from Facebook and Google and want even more.

What about a look inside Facebook Mark Zuckerberg’s sock drawer? Or perhaps a gander at exactly what Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin searched for over Labor Day?

I say, the more, the merrier–or, in this case, the geekier, the nerdier!

Although here is something to ponder: While Twitter is likely minutes away from broadcasting “Twit Wit,” would Apple (AAPL) ever do something like this?

(Answer: Never ever ever.)

Here are two recent Facebook Live posts–one an interview of the Places team and the other a tech talk on Facebook infrastructure.

They are followed by the first two Google Beat episodes, starring Anne Espiritu, as well as the ever-changing colors of Google’s signature exercise ball.

Enjoy:

Exclusive: Facebook Will Announce 500 Million Users Next Week With "Facebook Stories"

Kara Swisher — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:17:44 +0000

Facebook confirmed that it expects to announce its 500-millionth user next week, and will mark the occasion with a new consumer marketing initiative called “Facebook Stories.”

Last week, BoomTown got wind of the effort–which will center on a variety of life stories from users about the impact of the social networking site on their lives–and asked Facebook about it.

The company said it was readying its launch for next week and put Randi Zuckerberg on the horn to tell me the story behind “Stories.”

“As we anticipated our 500-million milestone, and we wanted to find a different way to announce and celebrate it,” said Zuckerberg, who has spearheaded the site’s creation, in an interview this afternoon. “In the past, it’s been all about the numbers and milestones, and we realized we had never taken the opportunity to celebrate users.”

Getting to the 500-million mark, though, is a big deal for the Silicon Valley-based Facebook, which has been growing wildly over the last several years across the globe.

While the number has been widely expected to be announced soon, it will still be a big landmark in the history of the company.

Thus, a Web site within Facebook that is a visualization of some of the many kinds of consumer stories the company has collected over the years, but never showed off.

The stories will have two views–organized by by geographical location and by theme, such as “finding love,” “coping with grief” and “natural disasters.”

Facebook has seeded the selection with about 200 text stories it has, asking users again for permission to feature them.

But the point is to open the page up to all users to submit their tale in 420 characters, the same number as a status update on Facebook. The story can also be linked to the user’s profile.

Users can also “Like” stories, and the most popular will be featured. The site will also be optimized for the other devices, such as the Apple (AAPL) iPad and Amazon (AMZN) Kindle.

The site was designed by two outside firms, social marketing company Involver and JESS3, a design, branding and data visualization firm.

Zuckerberg, who said she would be adding her own story, said her favorite so far has been the story of a group that coalesced on Facebook to save an old theater in Kentucky.

But she is hoping for a varied collection that will appeal to, well, the soon-to-be 500 million people on Facebook.

“We really think by surfacing these stories, users can explain what Facebook is a lot better than we can,” said Zuckerberg.

Before the launch of “Facebook Stories” next week, you can start the tale-telling now here, using a newly tweaked form, pictured below (click on it to make image larger):

Take That E!: Facebook Invades the Golden Globes–The Scandalous Video!

Kara Swisher — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:59:38 +0000

Who says Facebook can’t be an online content company too?

Not the passel of folks from the social networking behemoth, who plucked, primped and transformed themselves into a pack of glamorous nerds to hit the red carpet at the Golden Globes Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills earlier tonight.

In other words: Silicon Valley meets Silicone Valley!

There, the Facebook team–which included PR honcho Brandee Barker and Randi Zuckerberg, who handles all kinds of media and other partnership initiatives (both pictured above)–asked Hollywood celebrities questions from Facebook users and more.

It was broadcast live, much like television, but you can look at one of Randi’s behind-the-scenes videos here, and see Brandee photographically assault all manner of celebs backstage.

Or you can watch BoomTown’s video below, since I managed to slip into the Beverly Hilton this afternoon right before the action to interview the team:

[ See post to watch video ]

"Changing the World Through the Web": Video Interviews with Zuckerberg, Kutcher, Rospars and Shah

Kara Swisher — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:19:34 +0000

Yesterday, BoomTown moderated a panel at California First Lady Maria Shriver’s well-known Women’s Conference in Long Beach, titled “Changing the World Through the Web” for a crowd of several thousand people.

The panelists for my session at what has become one of the top forums for women’s issues included Hollywood actor/producer, Katalyst co-founder and Twitter demigod Ashton Kutcher; 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.

It turned out to be a lively session with the sharp digitally-focused group, which was the first tech panel at the six-year-old conference.

Here are video interviews I did with each of them (and you can see other video scenes from the conference here):

[ See post to watch video ]

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.

Facebook to Nonprofits: More Pages, Fewer Apps

Andrew LaVallee — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:40:59 +0000

Nonprofit organizations seeking to harness Facebook can get the most bang for their buck by using fan pages in addition to groups, streamlining their app usage and livening things up, one of its marketing execs said Friday.

Pages operate like profiles for organizations or businesses, can only be created by official representatives and can add applications, while groups are unofficial and can be created by any user. Relying on groups, which have been available longer, is one of the biggest mistakes nonprofits make, said Randi Zuckerberg, who works on marketing and nonprofit initiatives and is co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s sister. “You lose a lot of the incredible viral power.”

Because fan pages are official, it’s also easier for Facebook to take down fake ones, she said, as opposed to groups, which can be run by enthusiasts.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

BoomTown's Top 10 List of Fact-Challenged Revelations That Should Be in the Facebook Tell-All Book

Kara Swisher — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:34:39 +0000

How much is BoomTown and everyone else in Silicon Valley trying to nab a copy of Ben Mezrich’s likely-to-be-entirely-made-up-but-who-cares tale of dirty doings at Facebook?

Muchety-much! So much so that I called all my book industry contacts–hey, I am a published author, ya know!–even though I have not actually completed reading a book since the Internet started and gave me permanent attention deficit disorder.

But, so far I have come up peanuts in grabbing an early copy of Mezrich’s tome, “The Accidental Billionaires,” which is set to come out July 14.

Facebook is not pleased, of course, and will likely be challenging Mezrich’s work as specious dreck. But the drama around the book should be interesting, to say the least.

More so, since this week also came news that actors Michael Cera and Shia LaBeouf are being considered to play founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and that David Fincher, the director of the lugubrious Brad Pitt snoozer, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” is “attached” to the movie version.

Even better: “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin will pen it and actor Kevin Spacey will produce the Columbia Pictures film, which will be called “The Social Network.”

Well, Hollywood sure came up with an original title!

It certainly does not signal the juiciness of the proposal for the book–which did manage to leak out last year–with a lot of tale tales in it that seem to have pretty much tracked on its oddly purple subtitle of “The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal.”

The cover–which you can see on the book’s Facebook page (the delicious gall of Mezrich!)–features a spilled martini glass and a red bra flung nearby.

Martinis? Red bras? Sex? Facebook? Really?

Obviously, Mezrich has not actually met Zuckerberg, who is a very nice geekish young man, but who has approximately the sex appeal of a rack of Facebook servers.

Powerful yes! Spockish? Yes! Sexy? Um, no, no, no.

I will not even begin to parse the red bra thing, although I am attributing the martinis to stylish former COO (and now MySpace CEO) Owen Van Natta.

But, apparently, the sex part seems to have to do with Zuckerberg starting the company with others while an undergrad at Harvard University, as a scheme to meet some ladies.

I would say there are easier ways to attract the womenfolk–not that I could give tips or anything–but whatever!

Thus, since I cannot get my mitts on the book (yet!), here’s my list of 10 completely made-up, utterly fabricated, just-call-me-Jayson-Blair things that should be in the book.

10.) Facebook was actually going to be called OnlyPrettyLadyFacebook, but cooler heads prevailed.

9.) The Wall? A clever plot by Zuckerberg to build his online service on a fascist construct, touting his hegemony over all he surveyed.

Wait, that actually happened, and now some Russians are even investors.

Long live the Zuckrepublic of Palo Alto!

8.) Reason for stealing, oops, borrowing, oops again, completely separately developing an exact replica of ConnectU social network at Harvard:

The Olympically muscle-headed Winklevoss twins used to beat up the brainy Zuckerberg on his way back to the dorm, prompting a “Revenge of the Nerds” plot line.

7.) Facebook’s Beacon advertising? All Randi Zuckerberg’s idea, so she could find out what she was getting for her birthday from her billionaire-on-paper brother.

6.) Zuckerberg’s famous flip-flops were made in China under dubious working conditions. Wait, that’s true too.

5.) The 20-something Zuckerberg is actually 93 years old, a real-life version of Benjamin Button, which would explain the social awkwardness and staring-into-space-sometimes thing.

4.) The no-breast-feeding-pictures controversy pretty much proves no one is interested in bras or, more precisely, what goes in them at Facebook.

3.) COO Sheryl Sandberg is a cyborg sent to Facebook from Google for purposes of infiltration. She and her crafty sidekick, Elliott Schrage, will become self-aware in 2012 and hunt down Zuckerberg in a thrilling chase that will also become a movie.

2.) The sex, drugs and rock-and-roll stuff actually all took place at MySpace, which really pisses off certifiably dashing co-Founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson because, once again, Zuckerberg stole their mojo!

1.) This work of fiction, oops, “fact”-ion, oops again, nonfiction, is probably not going to sell many copies because it will mysteriously be uploaded in its entirety by a widget that will distribute it free to Facebook’s 200 million plus users while simultaneously SuperDuperPoking Mezrich, by throwing real sheep at him.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Ben.

(By the way, here is an extra for you: The $15 billion valuation for Facebook, along with all the other Web 2.0 ones? Totally true. Just ask any VC.)

And, in case anyone was wondering what the real Facebook looks like, here is a recent video tour I did of its new HQ in Palo Alto, Calif.:

[ See post to watch video ]

Kara Tours the New Facebook HQ (And Gets Ripped): The Uncut Video!

Kara Swisher — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:32 +0000

Last week, in anticipation of Facebook’s Press Open House tonight for its spanking new HQ in Palo Alto, Calif., BoomTown hightailed it down there for an early look-see at just what the social-networking site is doing with all that dough it collected from Microsoft (MSFT) and the Russians.

Moving into a new crib, for one thing!

Thus, I got a an extra-special tour of the 150,000-square-foot new building, which brings more than 900 employees together at last, by Facebook’s long-suffering–mostly due to my being annoying, I know!–PR honcho, Brandee Barker.

Previously, the fast-growing Facebook staff had been spread willy-nilly throughout the downtown of Palo Alto, where they irked pretty much everyone by stealing all the good parking.

So, much like the tour I did recently with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone of its San Francisco HQ, here is a video of Facebook’s new digs in the heart of Silicon Valley.

It includes the whole place, which used to be a Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) facility, from the front door to the cafeteria to the evil lair of VP of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy, Elliot Schrage.

While he did not deign to be on camera (although he did shellac me in a quick game of ping-pong, in spite of my smack talk), I did get to chat with folks like marketing exec Randi Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Also, Barker tries mightily to show that she can ride a Rip Stick, which is apparently Facebook’s version of bikes at Google (GOOG).

At the very least, she gets an A for effort.

Here’s the video of my tour:

[ See post to watch video ]

QOTD

John Paczkowski — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:00:56 +0000

At the Democratic National Convention, we were like rock stars. At the Republican National Convention, I sat in my hotel room by myself for three days. No one would meet with us. I was begging people to meet with us.

–Facebook Marketing Director Randi Zuckerberg

With all due respect, Randi Zuckerberg is totally full of sh*t on this one…Is it possible Ms. Zuckerberg sat alone in her hotel room during the Republican National Convention because she never actually contacted anyone? Or maybe she forgot about the major hurricane barreling toward the Gulf Coast on the eve of the Republican National Convention? Or maybe she didn’t really want to be around a group of conservative Americans in the first place?…Can Ms. Zuckerberg tell us what the Democratic National Convention did with Facebook–aside from pet their enlarged egos and take them to glitzy parties with the Hollywood elite–that Republican National Convention planners didn’t? I guess next time we won’t make the mistake of letting the business of nominating our Presidential candidate get in the way of the folks at Facebook being treated like rock stars. Apologies to Facebook. Our bad.

–Matt Burns, director of communications for the 2008 Republican National Convention

Kara Visits Burda's DLD Luncheon in Silicon Valley!

Kara Swisher — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:23:35 +0000

Yesterday, WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg and I jumped into the BoomTownMini and took a road trip down the lovely 280 to Palo Alto’s MacArthur Park restaurant for a lunch thrown by Germany’s Hubert Burda Media.

Burda runs an annual digital conference in Munich called DLD (Digital, Life, Design), which a lot of U.S. tech types have gone to, including me, even though the media giant is best known for its old-line magazines about fashion, cooking and crafts.

But Burda has also been dipping into the digital sector a lot, especially via the tireless tech networking of the company’s Steffi Czerny and Marcel Reichart, who have established a high profile for the company among Silicon Valley denizens.

That was in evidence at Burda’s luncheon yesterday, which was crowded with a panoply of techies and hosted by Czerny, Maria Burda, the wife of CEO and owner Hubert Burda, and well-known Israeli investor Yossi Vardi.

Czerny has been taking Maria Burda (pictured here, she is also a famous German television star, better known as Maria Furtwängler) around the Valley on a learning tour this week to meet with companies like Ning, Mozilla, Facebook, and with venture capitalists. They are also here to attend Google’s Zeitgeist partners’ event, which starts today.

Here’s a video of yesterday’s luncheon, where I was asking everyone about the troubled economic situation and more.

It includes chats with Mullenweg and Seesmic’s Loic Le Meur, BillShrink’s Peter Pham, Facebook’s Brandee Barker and Randi Zuckerberg, Wired’s Steven Levy, Vardi and Burda and Czerny:

[ See post to watch video ]

VC Baby!

Kara Swisher — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:42:59 +0000

Yet another music video parody is making the rounds. This time, it’s from Revision3 Gazette and called “VC Baby.”

No, it’s not about Mark Zuckerberg, although his very talented sister Randi provided the vocals here, which are lip-synched by the comely lass singing to her VC to the tune of “Santa Baby.”

Our favorite line: “It’s Web 2.Ho-Ho-Ho.”

(Let’s hope some grinch doesn’t take this one down, as “Here Comes Another Bubble” was!)