Gawker: valleywag, d conference

Invading D6, the Wall Street Journal's posh pooh-bah conference

Owen Thomas — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:40:00 EDT

CARLSBAD, CA — D, the Wall Street Journal schmoozefest which opened today with a round of golf at the Four Seasons Aviara Resort, is not the conference for the rest of us. It attracts a host of tech and media CEOs who agree to be harangued onstage by Walt Mossberg, the sexagenarian of sexy gadgets, and Kara Swisher, the diminutive media commentaterrorist of AllThingsD.com. In exchange, they get to seem classy and witty, if only by comparison. It is the sort of elite event to which Valleywag is not invited. We showed up anyway.

Security may prevent me from attending the formal program. But the hotel bar is lovely, I hear, and I intend to camp out there, to overhear what I may and hold court with brave (or incautious) tipsters. Folks I'm looking forward to running into:

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who threatened to shoot me
Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, or rather, his rumored chaperone at the event — Marcy Simon, Google CEO Eric Schmidt's ex-girlfriend
Yahoo president Sue Decker, who is negotiating a divorce at the same time as a merger

And that's just for starters. See why I don't get invited to these things?

For you, gentle reader, I can endure a few awkward conversations and more. Peruse the list of speakers, think of questions you'd like me to ask, and I'll do my best to buttonhole them for you.

Just letting you know, this man is not Ze Frank

Nick Douglas — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:20:57 EDT

NICK DOUGLAS — The upcoming D Conference, run by Wall Street Journal columnists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, has an accompanying web site called "All Things Digital. Is it worth visiting? Well, I don't know about the written articles, because I don't read. But I watch video. Someone pointed out the "Digital Daily" video, in which some unnamed (and by that I mean I didn't check) guy delivers tech news and tries to be videoblogger Ze Frank. But he is not at all Ze Frank. (And trust me, through my videoblog Look Shiny, I've become an expert on trying and failing to be Ze.) And instead of simply cutting between stories, the editor stuck in a loud fanfare that BLASTS at you, leaving you dazed enough to keep watching the next item until the next BLAST. His latest episode is after the jump. Brace yourself.

Geek out: Al Gore lunges and Martha befriends a topless boy at D Conference

Nick Douglas — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:59:01 EDT

Wrap up the Powerbook cord and follow Esther Dyson to the next con — the D Conference winds down today. For actual news from people who are there, check out the Wall Street Journal's blog. (Favorite post: Turning the schmaltz up to 11.) For trumped-up news filtered through the snark machine, look no further. Photos by ZDNet reporter Dan Farber.

It's every boy's wet dream: get topless with Martha Stewart. At any rate, that guy in the shades looks jealous.

Al Gore, confused by the scenery, spent the whole time asking when the shuttle would blast off.

"I never attend a conference without my Wubby."

J. Peterman: "Elaine, you may call it Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me."

"Ahahahaha, ahaha, aha...yes, yes, I am the love child of Steve Rubel and Tucker Carlson."

After host Kara Swisher was pried out from under the statesman's body, Mossberg wrote, "Lesson Learned: Don't offer Al Gore cake."

My god, Blodgett, you don't have to say yes to every conference invite.

Sandwiched between Al Gore and a big techie journalisty guy, Esther Dyson can't help but make an "I am cute and tiny!" face.

A moment of silence for the Guy Who Forgot to Bring Collared Shirts. (Don't be that guy.)

"No," says blog publisher Arianna Huffington, "I don't have any spare change. Now move away, you're standing in front of my Prius."

Walt Mossberg: "Whatever you do, let's please not make Marissa Mayer giggle."

Photos: D Conference [Dan Farber on Flickr]