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CounterPunch
December
14, 2002
STAR 2000
by ADAM ENGEL
To date the Internet has been a mixed blessing
for celebrities. On the one hand, this new channel has provided
an enormous expansion in the amount of promotion available to
them; fan sites, web-rings and dedicated discussion lists have
created persistent gossip circles, providing the ability to create
a perpetual buzz around the personality. On the other hand, these
resources are, for the most part, beyond the control of the finely
honed PR machines that hold, spin, and market the persona of
the celebrity. Ultimately, this translates into a loss of control
for the celebrity--loss of brand and loss of potential revenue.
Golden Calf, THE official celebrity online portal, will prove
to be the solution.
Through Golden Calf, celebrities will
be able to control, protect and enhance their star power in a
controlled environment within the wild-west culture of the Internet.
Stars will be afforded the opportunity to focus on issues of
concern to them, provide "official" information about
themselves, while generating revenue and traffic through e-commerce,
interactive content, community, sponsorship, subscription and
promotional opportunities. In the end, Golden Calf offers the
chance for a star to be a person, rather than a personality.
Golden Calf will be THE place for the fan to "get closer
to the celebrity", putting control of their image and properties
back in the hands of the stars.
Like the business model of Planet Hollywood,
a select group of A-list stars will own an equity piece of Golden
Calf and will be incentivized to make the portal a success. These
charter members will be brought on board as equity partners,
and will assist in the marketing efforts and development needed
to pull other celebrities into the Golden Calf network. Golden
Calf brand will be built on the "backs" of the celebrities,
with virtually free marketing through PR and customer acquisition
costs that are near zero. Golden Calf will be helmed by an executive
management team comprised of proven manager, agent, and producer
superstars, as well as several highly innovative and forward
thinking Internet entrepreneurs. The combined power of the pure-play
Internet business model, a-list stars and management team have
already proven a winning formula for attracting investors.
Golden Calf will deploy cutting edge
web technologies as well as a stable of proven producers, editors,
designers and programmers. The celebrity can then take advantage
of these resources to have highly interactive individual sites,
that leverage the drawing power of their name and brand, with
content that's both compelling and fresh.
For the user, pulling these stars together
in a constellation, provides them with one stop to find all the
news and information on their favorite stars. An individual star's
fans will be able to share information with fans of other stars
as well as take part in special events such as celebrity chats
and e-mail games. The combined interest across fans and stars
will be further leveraged with channels that contain specific
and directed area of interest content.
As part of the Golden Calf 2000 win-an-hour-with-a-wax
-dummy-of-your-favorite-star contest, powered by Golden Calf
Inc., each Reader/Fan/Wannabe is licensed to fill in a CONCLUDING
SENTENCE OR TWO REITERATING POWER. Submissions containing more
than two sentences will be disqualified.
Adam Engel
actually helped author this proposal for a dot.com power portal
(now a ghost site) in the year 2000 (with the exception of the
last paragraph, written yesterday). He is still paying for his
sins. May god help us all. Celebrities and cultural icons with
at least six weeks of Major Media saturation coverage may contact
him at asengel@attglobl.net
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Brazil's
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December 10,
2002
Carol Norris
Help Wanted:
US Government Looking for a Few Qualified Applicants
Tom Gorman
With Liberators
Like These, Who Needs Conquerors?
Linda Heard
Spies,
Snitches and Eyes in the Sky
Josh Ruebner
Striking
with Impunity
Joanne Mariner
You Have
No Right to Remain Silent
December 9,
2002
Adam Engel
Great Expectations:
an Immodest Proposal
Roldan Tomasz
Suárez
What Really
Happened in Altamira Plaza?
Robert Jensen
Bob Woodward's
Bush Hagiography
William Hughes
Berrigan's
Final Warning
Uri Avnery
Why Does
the Leopard Change His Spots?
Netanyahu and Likud
Gary Leupp
Religious
Intolerance Then and Now
Hammond Guthrie
In a
Moment's Time
(for Philip Berrigan)
Resources:
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About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By
Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
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