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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: abuelita who wrote (9363)	11/15/2002 6:07:15 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Oracle CEO sends familiar message via cool medium By Lisa Baertlein Thursday November 14, 8:20 pm ET SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - News) Chief Larry Ellison had a familiar message from an unusual location on Thursday as his keynote address to attendees of the database giant's big U.S. technology and user conference was beamed here from half a world -- and nearly a day -- away. Ellison -- who is sponsoring and sailing with a team now competing in the America's Cup races in New Zealand -- missed his company's key user event for the first time in at least 5 years. Instead, he beamed a live TV feed off a communications satellite in space to the San Francisco event from a Friday morning user conference in Auckland. That detail, however, appeared to have little impact on attendance, which was strong despite weak corporate demand for high-tech products like those sold by Oracle. Ellison's speech covered familiar ground -- corporations' need to consolidate their data, simplify their software integration efforts and fully automate systems -- and stirred mixed feelings among attendees. Marshall McLuhan might have observed that the medium was the message, as Ellison's use of the cool medium of television left some attendees cold. Bill Felling, the chief technology officer at John Snow Inc., a small consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia, communicated that feeling well. "I guess I care that he's not here," said Felling, who noted that some 20,000 people paid about $1,000 each to attend the database giant's four-day technology conference here this week. "That's $20 million ... and Larry's in New Zealand sailing," Felling quipped. Felling said he learned Ellison would not be making a live appearance at the OracleWorld event after he arrived at the show, but that prior knowledge of that fact would not have kept him from attending. "What I'm here for is the stuff, the booths, the sessions, how it all works together. Larry's interesting ... but I'm not here to see Larry," Felling said. Ellison is oft criticized by investors and analysts for having too many distracting and potentially dangerous hobbies -- competitive sailing and flying jets among them -- and holding too much control over Oracle's corporate direction. The company is expected to post its seventh straight quarter of year-on-year revenue declines in mid-December, when it reports results from its current quarter that finishes at month-end. Oracle's CEO has poured nearly $85 million of his own money into his first bid to bring the America's Cup back to the U.S. His Oracle BMW Racing team is ranked No. 2 behind Switzerland's Alinghi team in the quarter-final races now underway. The Oracle BMW team is leading 2-0 in its best of seven race series against OneWorld, a U.S. team lead by telecoms investor Craig McCaw and Paul Allen, co-founder of software rival Microsoft Corp.