THIS IS NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S KEYNOTE

“In short, the Twitterati in the audience thought our hour-long chat was about as interesting as watching a pair of grandmothers play Canasta.”

Havas Media Lab director Umair Haque, managing to insult grandmothers everywhere while apologizing to SXSW attendees for his disappoint interview with Twitter CEO Evan Williams, Harvard Business Review, 17 March 2010

LOCAL ZERO

“While there are companies in the local space, AOL has the technology to digitize the local space at scale. We believe it’s an untapped market for the most part and one of the largest commercial opportunities online that has yet to be won.”

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who already sold AOL a local startup, Patch.com, and now wants it to pour more megabucks into microcontent, MarketWatch, 17 March 2010

ALL THE CODE THAT’S FIT TO SHIP

“The New York Times is now as much a technology company as a journalism company.”

Times executive editor Bill Keller, displaying his well-documented if oft-hidden humorist within, Guardian.co.uk, 16 March 2010

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DISH FOR

“Perhaps this rumor started because I’ve been interviewing folks for a President/COO slot to help us keep up with the growth. I am NOT giving up my CEO slot EVER. I have a Steve Jobs/Larry Ellison approach to these things: I’m in charge. Forever. End of discussion. I’m not here to screen share.”

Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, forgetting Jobs’s decade in the wilderness as he responded to gossip about his tenure at the question-and-answers site, Calacanis.com, 16 March 2010.

SHUT UP AND LISTEN

“From Spotify’s perspective, I think music is the most social object there is.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, on how all those people listening to songs with earbuds plugged in are secretly paying attention to the rest of the world, VentureBeat, 16 March 2010