February 27, 2006 | Monday
Live (and freezing) from SES New York…
By Dylan Thwaites, CEO in Company News |Latitude People |Events
So the day dawns bright, clear and very crisp in New York. Bluetooth-enabled earmuffs seem to be this winter’s hot fashion tip. The vibe in this city always shocks me, like getting into a cold bath… and more of that later.
I’ve only ever visited NYC in the winter, so for me it is the subway steam rising on yellow cabbed streets, the urgency of the foot soldiers, partly a necessity to avoid frostbite and partly a one man show - everyone knows that busy equals important. It feels like everyone imagines themselves at the centre of their own reality TV show.
The cabbies don’t speak English, they speak horn. Our taxi driver from JFK was great; he feigned not to speak English, but when the police blocked off Grand Central Station for a film crew, he wound his window down, hawked a gob of phlegm into the road and shouted, “F**k you!”. His only comment all journey - a thing of beauty.
So it’s celeb day today at SES. Barry Diller, possibly the greatest internet entrepreneur of them all, will be addressing the conference. I like observing celebrities, I’m expecting a Donald Trump kind of figure, let’s see what happens. Last year at SES NY it was Jerry Yang, Yahoo founder, and in London at the IAB’s Engage I saw Bill Gates. Both were so stereotypical of their perceived image, so clearly on message, that I felt a bit of an anticlimax. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the real Diller - I’ll let you know.
Incidentally, when we flew from Manchester, we saw the best uncelebrity professional footballer in the world - Paul Scholes of Manchester United. He shuns publicity and fame, and there he was in the economy lounge with his family going to watch the Cup Final in Cardiff. He sat next to us eating baked beans, looking just like the ginger haired kid on those Beanz Meanz Heinz adverts. Very impressed with the way he handles himself.
Ok, gotta go to scrutinise Diller. Oh...the cold bath. Yes - Hilton Hotels, I have a feeling that it’s going downhill. No hot water this morning, and the customer service number is constantly on voicemail: “Our operators are helping another guest right now...”. Yeah, whatever. I’m watching you.
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