9/11 Seven Years On…

September 12, 2008 3 Comments


WTC Tribute Lights

Originally uploaded by brandonj74

Ronald Keith Milstein, 54; Alejandro Castano, 35; John Doe, 59; Jane Doe, 52 (both names not released).

Know them? Probably not and neither do I. These four 9/11 World Trade Center victims’ remains were finally identified just this past April — almost seven years after the attack. I just wanted you to know that even now, more than 40% of the victim’s have yet to have their remains identified, leaving those families with only the WTC site — now a gaping construction pit — as the only place for them to gather to remember those lost on that day.

As I travel around the country, especially away from the big population centers of NY, Boston, D.C. and even L.A., it strikes me that those of us who live in the areas that were attacked are still hurting whereas most of the country has moved on.

And so, as we remember those who died on that day and (for some of us) as we continue to hear the screaming voices buried deep within our souls, let’s renew our resolve as a country to prevent this from happening again.

I originally planned to post this yesterday, on the 7th anniversary, but came to realize that this date still affects me more than I’d care to admit.

P.S. – As we dicsuss the billion$ in overruns in the planning and construction of a 9/11 memorial here in New York City, aren’t the two beams of light reaching towards heaven the ultimate memorial?

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Business Exchange: Trilogy of Entries Ends

September 8, 2008 Leave a comment

At the risk of losing you by posting a 3rd entry in a row about the new project I am working on, I’d like to point out the good side: trilogies have a habit of working, quadrilogies (is that a word?) don’t, and so this is the last one you’ll have to endure (at least for a while).

Check me out at Business Exchange

(the items in the widget below are clickable)

[clearspring_widget title=”Business Exchange by Business Week” wid=”48c1733bcd396af8″ pid=”48c59e62f69d9090″ width=”300″ height=”250″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]

We’re open! Today is the day the curtain gets lifted, the veils get parted, the fog dissipates (etc., etc.) on the Business Exchange (if I had a soundfile of Also Sprach Zarathustra, I’d insert it here).

So, come on in — it’s easy! Just self-register here (insert your info, including your e-mail address and the password you wish to use when signing-in), and a completion link will be sent to you within the hour. Click the link, create your profile (a neat feature allows you to load your profile from your existing LinkedIn one) and then go to this page to sign-in: Business Exchange.

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Pay No Attention to The App Behind the Curtain

August 28, 2008 4 Comments

Slowly, the veil is being lifted on the ‘Business Exchange’, the new project I am working on at BusinessWeek. We’re now almost in open beta and at this point have taken the product out from behind the firewall and have invited some industry types in to take a peek.

Welcome to the Business Exchange

Welcome to the Business Exchange

And so far, the reaction has been pretty positive. We’ve been written up in the New York Times (“Topic Pages to Be Hub of New BusinessWeek Site” free reg required), as well as this article in Wired.Com (“BusinessWeek Goes Geek, Nixes Silicon Valley for Inside Job“) a personal favorite of mine.

Keeping in mind that this is still in early beta, I’d love to hear your comments.

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So, Ron, What Are You Working On Now?

August 16, 2008 1 Comment

Here’s what I’m working on right now:

My new project

My new project

After 10+ years at AOL, people have been asking me that question, and it’s not always an easy question to answer. I’m Director of User Participation at BusinessWeek.com — which means I’m the lead curator of Community among our users. We’ve been hard at work on a new Web 2.0 product that’ll roll out after Labor Day (want a sneak peek? E-mail me or ask in a comment) and I’ve been unable to speak about it publicly.

The word cloud above, created with Wordle (thank you, Nancie), gives a clue to what we’re developing. Stay tuned for more…

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All the World’s a Stage (My New York #2)

August 13, 2008 Leave a comment

I don’t think the bard was thinking about New York City when he wrote those words, but if not he should’ve been. Certainly, working in New York City gives me front row seats to see actors and audience mingling together on the streets by day, and theater at night. L.A. can have its movies, New York, where one of my favorite T-Shirts reads, “So you’re an actor… What restaurant?”, is the home of the Great White Way — Broadway, where there’s a light for every broken heart who tried to make it here.

OK, enough of the Jerry Orbach impression. Here’s some things about NY theater in general and some theater festivals in particular.

When it comes to theater, there’s Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway. Now, here’s the skinny — those categories have nothing to do with geography. You can have an Off-Broadway theater on Broadway; a Broadway theater not on Broadway; and so on.

What determines the difference? Say it with me, ladies, “size matters.”

Broadway theaters have 500 or more seats, Off-Broadway 100-499 and Off-Off Broadway under 100. I am lucky enough to have seen many Broadway shows — more on them at another time — but this is the time of year I overdose on Off-Off Broadway shows.  They’re ususally fun, sometimes odd, generally well staged and acted — and cheap!

It’s festival time here in the Big Apple, and so far this year I’ve seen:

Bad Musicals Festival ’08 Jul-Aug Went to three, I liked these two:

  • Stranded — three men stranded on a deserted island find a genie bottle; guy #3’s wish really pisses off Guy 1 and Guy 2. I thought it was amusing.
  • The Plastic Surgeon of Oz — Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Crab Louse (yes, crab louse) seek the talents of the Plastic Surgeon of Oz in order to get into a career in porn (yes, porn). Always funny, this was, at times, LOL hilarious.

Fringe NYC Festival: Aug-Sep The odd, the irreverant, and occasionally the breeding ground for future Broadway shows (“Urinetown’)

  • Becoming Britney – Britney’s last few years as set in Promises-Promises, a rehab center for the marginally talented but Very Beautiful. Saw this last night. Molly Bell is great as the pop tart.
  • Tim Gunn’s Podcast (a reality chamber opera) – Using Tim Gunn’s words from ‘Project Runway’ to describe the behind the scenes battles. Seeing this Sunday.
  • The Deciders – Haven’t seen this yet but I’m betting they don’t have kind words fro the current president.

New York Musical Festival: Sept-Oct Fun, lyrical, and also occasionally the breeding ground for Broadway shows (‘[title of show]’ <– yes, that’s the name) Here’s what I am scheduled to see (with official descriptions plus my notes):

  • The Bubble: A Musical Dot-Comedy The rise and fall of the dotcom decade — in a single day.
  • College:The Musical They sing. They dance. They sometimes go to class. (Or, why wasn’t my college years filled with spontaneous dance and song?)
  • Wood A sexy musical romp that will have you tapping your toes all the way to the public restroom stall!  (Based upon a Mid-summer night’s dream
  • Bedbugs!!! A hell-bent exterminator must save NYC from killer mutant bedbug Hair Metal Rock Gods… of her own creation. (Sci-fi musicals — gotta love ’em)

And the best thing about all of these? Typical ticket price – $15!

So, the next time you think NY Theater is aloof or too expensive, get yourself off — Off-Off Broadway, that is.

Filed under new york, theater Tagged with , , ,

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