The Web Can Make You a Star!

The Host

Star: Julie Gordon, 39, creator of The Velvet Rope, a members-only message board for music-industry news and gossip.

Julie Gordon has worked as an A&R executive at The Enclave, a music label distributed by EMI, and she once published a tip sheet on unsigned bands. Back in 1993 she became a member of America Online and discovered a message board called Record Industry Dirt. She was completely underwhelmed. "It was really boring," she says. "There was no 'record industry dirt.'" Her first reaction was to forget about the discussion folder. Her second was to take it over: "I thought, this folder could be so juicy -- if I made it happen."

Making it happen meant fanning the flames. AOL allows subscribers to use up to five screen names, so Gordon simply logged on and talked to herself: "I would come in with one screen name and ask, 'Can anyone tell me what's happening at Warner Bros.?' Then I'd come in with another name and answer. It looked like an active conversation, but it was me pontificating."

She didn't fan the flames for long. Record Industry Dirt kept growing in popularity -- so much so that young bands started crowding the bulletin board with promos. Gordon had to start "hiding" the discussion inside AOL: she'd rename the folder, notify her regulars of the new name, and wait until word spread to the masses. Then she'd give the folder yet another name and start the process over again. She played hide-and-seek for two years.

In August Gordon moved her discussion group from AOL to the Web. People can't join the online forum unless Gordon approves their membership. And no one calls this discussion boring. In the course of one week this past fall, postings included an enthusiastic review of an unreleased video by the Ramones, jaded comments on staff changes at Rolling Stone, and news that rocker-turned-actress Courtney Love had moved from CAA to ICM. "The Velvet Rope is strictly an insider's board for music industry pros," Gordon says. "That's what we want it to be."

Fan Club: Julie Gordon is a star more because of who she knows than because of what she knows. Her fans are the source of her fame -- even though no one knows who those fans are. The Velvet Rope guarantees the anonymity of its participants.

But anonymity, like fame, can be fleeting. Gordon says that one of the most surefire conversation starters occurs when Courtney Love posts a message. If messages don't include proper names, how do people know it's her? "She makes it obvious that it's her," Gordon says. "Believe me, when Courtney Love posts, it's always a memorable moment. The thread can go on for a week."

Ultimately, though, people visit The Velvet Rope for substance rather than dish. "People are worried about job security," she says. "They want to see if we have any dirt on their company. The Rope attracts people because the information is accurate."

Road to Fame:Unlike Robert Seidman, Gordon doesn't spend late nights evaluating trends or technologies. Even as a moderator, she applies a light touch. "I steer people away from discussing personal lives," she says. "But the beauty of the Rope is that it's whatever the members want it to be."

The problem is that it's often hard for members to distinguish between who's hosting the discussion and what's being said. "I'm a brand name," Gordon says, "but people don't always think of me in the most pleasant context. If something bad gets posted about someone, it's easy for that person to associate me with the message."

The Stage: Try to get inside The Velvet Rope at http://www.velvetrope.com

The Player

Star: Tom Hespos, 25, senior media planner at K2 Design and creator of OLAF, the Online Advertising Forum.

Who says a young executive can't have major clout? About a year ago Tom Hespos signed on with K2 Design, an interactive agency based in New York City. He noticed how much time his colleagues spent reading trade magazines in a desperate effort to stay on top of their field. His idea: "Put together a single resource with all the information people needed, a daily must-read." The Web was the obvious medium. So Hespos started evaluating all the sites related to online advertising that he could find. Then he built a Web site that linked to them. "When I was done," he says, "I sent an internal email to my colleagues: 'This covers your must-reads for the day.' I got a great response."

A better response, in fact, than he'd received when he first pitched the idea to the higher-ups at K2. He had wanted the company to host his site. Management was intrigued but didn't consider it a high priority. Hespos learned that GeoCities, an online community offering free homepage setup, had created a "neighborhood" of marketing sites called Madison Avenue, for which it was holding a best-site contest. Hespos entered -- and won.