Virtual Events Provider Raises $10 Million, Misses the Point of Events
Unisfair, a Menlo Park-based startup that hosts events such as conferences, trade shows and job fairs in virtual worlds, has raised $10 million in funding from Norwest and Sequoia. Unisfair hosted more than 400 virtual events for companies like Cisco, Cognos and Nielsen over the past year and a half and appears to have a real business model.
Because the company generates revenue, you’d expect that Drama 2.0 would be a fan. Wrong. I agree with Paul Glazowski that this is a ridiculous business, but for a much different reason: Unisfair misses the entire point of corporate events. The companies that host virtual events in Unisfair’s corporate Second Life are doing a major disservice to “attendees.”
2007 Crunchies: The Winners
The Crunchies weren’t the Grammys but for a Silicon Valley production, they get a passing grade. It was a bit of a sausage fest, but that was to be expected. Mark Zuckerberg really disappointed me. He’s just really clueless about how to dress appropriately. Time to grow up, Mark. You’re 23, not 13. I was wearing Brioni suits when I was 19 so there’s no reason Mr. Billionaire can’t, at the very least, pick up some slacks and a sportcoat.
GoldDigger: Pre-Prenup Protection
After successfully raising $10 million for blackmailr and pocketing my 5% finder’s fee, I’ve decided to help a new startup raise a small angel round. Why do this when I’m only going to earn a $25,000 finder’s fee? Because this startup is near and dear to my heart and truly has the potential to make the world a better place.
The Problem
Modern society’s wealth boom has created a significant problem for wealthy men: an increasing number of women desire nothing more than to date and marry them solely for their assets. According to Prince & Associates, a Connecticut-based wealth-research firm, nearly two-thirds of women are “very” or “extremely” willing to marry for money.
Who is Drama 2.0?
I’ve done an interview with Allen Stern at Center Networks and I while I don’t reveal all, I do reveal some. Check it out.
The Crunchies Ultimate Preview
San Francisco is going to be jumping tonight and this time it won’t solely be because Drama 2.0 is in town to show all the Frisco ladies how he makes it rain at The Supper Club. No, this time San Francisco will be jumping because The Crunchies are going down at the Herbst Theater. If you haven’t heard, The Crunchies are basically the Grammys of Web 2.0 and the stars of Silicon Valley will be walking down a gradient red carpet hoping that they’ll be going home with an award (if not a PR chick).
Google to Save the World with Twitter, Facebook
I’ve never been a huge fan of Google. Beyond the fact that there’s something about Larry Page’s face that just disgusts me, I’ve never bought into the “do no evil” bullshit. The company’s hypocrisy is increasingly evident and I’ve always found the founders’ philanthropic interests quite humorous given that they had the company purchase a 747 “party plane.”
So the company’s announcement that Google.org, its philanthropic arm, plans to launch InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disaster) to “save lives in the event of natural disasters or public health threats” didn’t pique my interest. Until I read how it plans to do it: using Twitter and Facebook.
Facebook and YouTube to Marketers: Give Us Your Money
Tom Arrix, VP, media sales east at Facebook, and Jamie Byrne, head of client solutions and ad programs for YouTube, participated in a panel discussion on social marketing at Argyle’s CMO Leadership Forum in New York. The PaidContent report on this panel made me smile.
ROI and social nets: “Return on investment” is probably the wrong thing to be looking for. Instead, the acronym should stand for “return on involvement,” Arrix said. The usual standard of audience “reach” is too limited when it comes to social media and “things like click-through rates don’t cut it. Return on ‘involvement’ looks at what users are saying about your brand. For example, are users taking your message and sharing it with their friends? Every client we do business with, we tell them, ‘You have to divorce yourself from what you’ve done before.’”
Where is Your Money Now?
Time Warner shareholders might be asking themselves that question if the rumors around AOL’s possible $200 million acquisition of Where Are You Now? (WAYN), a UK-based social network for travelers, are valid. With $4.5 million in annual revenues and 3.6 million unique visitors in November according to comScore, a nine-figure acquisition of WAYN would seem to provide a disappointing answer: the shitter.
What is a Startup?
My efriend Allen Stern over at Center Networks asked something interesting today: how do you define “startup”? It’s a good question. Not only because everybody seems to have his or her own “startup” these days and there’s a whole pop culture symbology built around the concept of the “startup,” but because we throw the term around so much that it has almost become as nebulous as the “Web 2.0″ moniker.
Allen suggests some possible criteria:
I Love Web 2.0
As I sat down at the computer this evening after an unusually long day of putting out fires, I realized something: I secretly love Web 2.0.
How did I finally come to realize that the phenomenon I thought I despised was really a phenomenon I loved? It was quite simple. The United States economy is collapsing. Okay, that might be a little strong (for now) - it’s receding faster than Ben Affleck’s hairline. The Dow dropped nearly 280 points. Citigroup wrote down $18.1 billion as part of “Mortgages Gone Wild.” It and Merrill Lynch sold hefty chunks of themselves to foreign investors to raise capital. Consumer spending plunged in December and Intel got hammered by the market after announcing disappointing fourth-quarter results.
« go back — keep looking »Sponsors
About
Drama 2.0 spikes the Web 2.0 kool aid by providing critical analyses of Web 2.0, its people, its startups and its impact on the world of media. Other topics are explored when Drama 2.0 has been drinking too much 1975 Dom Perignon. Read more about the Internet's version of Keyser Söze and find out what people are saying.
Ads
Drama 2.0 by Feed
