Media and technology executives are meeting Wednesday and Thursday in New York City at a conference hosted by private equity firm Quadrangle. Note the word private.

When they meet at the Plaza, they will talk about a ton of different things that their customers, their investors and other readers want to know. I have to apologize for them because they’re not letting in any riff-raff. And that includes reporters who get paid to spend all day figuring out how these people decide what kind of entertainment you want, what kind of technology you pay them for and what deals they pursue with the money that you give them when you buy their stock. This event always excludes press, but that’s no reason not to highlight what you probably are missing because of this. After all, who wants to wait for the 8-K filing?

Some press will be allowed, but it will be an assortment of celebrity journalists who will moderate panels and, according to Peter Kafka, author of “MediaMemo” at News Corp’s AllThingsD blog, will not write about the event (I’m talking about Maria Bartiromo and David Faber of CNBC, The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta, etc).

Peter wrote two posts about this, here and here. He also issued me a challenge to sneak into the conference, but horror of horrors, I’m on a deadline that I can’t shirk any longer. So consider this an invitation from me to you to go to the Plaza and catch these guys on the way in and out of the building. It’s a fun way to spend the day, and maybe you’ll learn something interesting.

Here is the agenda, courtesy of Peter Kafka. Below that is a list of speakers. Outrage breeds corrections: I have to amend the record: The list I had posted here of topics is last year’s agenda. My mistake. The list of speakers appearing THIS year still appears below.

2009 SPEAKERS
EMILIO AZCÁRRAGA President, Board of Directors and CEO, Grupo Televisa
DENNIS CROWLEY Co-Founder, foursquare
BARRY DILLER Chairman and CEO, IAC; Chairman, Expedia, Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc.
BRIAN DUNN CEO, Best Buy
CHARLES FORMAN Founder, OMGPOP
REED HASTINGS Founder, Chairman and CEO, Netflix
REID HOFFMAN Executive Chairman and Founder, LinkedIn Corporation
CHAD HURLEY CEO and Co-Founder, YouTube
JEFF IMMELT Chairman and CEO, GE
PAUL JACOBS Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated
OLLI-PEKKA KALLASVUO President and CEO, Nokia
JASON KILAR CEO, Hulu
LESLIE MOONVES President and CEO, CBS Corporation
ANNE MULCAHY Chairman, Xerox Corporation
JAMES MURDOCH Chairman and Chief Executive, Europe & Asia, News Corporation
BRIAN PHILLIPS CEO and Co-Founder, Thread
DAN PORTER CEO, OMGPOP
BRIAN ROBERTS Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation
PAUL SAGAN President and CEO, Akamai
ERIC SCHMIDT Chairman and CEO, Google
IVAN SEIDENBERG Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications
BIZ STONE Co-Founder, Twitter
HOWARD STRINGER Chairman, CEO and President, Sony Corporation
BEN VERWAAYEN CEO, Alcatel-Lucent
DAVID ZASLAV President and CEO, Discovery Communications

MODERATORS
MARC ANDREESSEN General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
KEN AULETTA Author and Writer, “Annals of Communications”, The New Yorker
MARIA BARTIROMO Anchor, Closing Bell; Host & Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal Report, CNBC
JAMES CITRIN Co-Leader, Board & CEO Practice, North America, Spencer Stuart
DAVID FABER Anchor, Reporter, CNBC
MICHAEL HUBER Co-President and Managing Principal, Quadrangle Group
BECKY QUICK Co-Anchor, Squawk Box, CNBC
GEOFFREY SANDS Director & Leader, Global Media, Entertainment & Information Practice, McKinsey & Co.
JOSHUA L. STEINER Co-President and Managing Principal, Quadrangle Group
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS Anchor, This Week; Chief Washington Correspondent, ABC News

(Photo of Barry Diller, who will remain away from prying eyes at Quadrangle’s confab: Reuters)

Brace yourself for the next salvo in the battle of the ebook readers (or electronic reading devices, or e-reader, or whatever you want to call them).

Barnes & Noble is planning a “major event” next Tuesday in New York to announce a mystery… something.

The bookseller won’t say exactly what it will announce, but we’d be surprised if its NOT a digital book reader, to compete with Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader series.

In fact, Gizmodo says it has the goods on the device — which it says has “a multi-touch display like an iPhone” — and picture of the device. Click the link and take a look.

What do you think of this device (which may or may not be the actual product)? For that matter, what do you think about e-readers? Are you ready to buy one?

Let us know in the comment area.

I was rather surprised yesterday to see an e-mail from Ogilvy PR pitching an interview with Dave Booth, the Chairman President of Global Sales and Marketing at Computer Sciences Corp, only a couple of hours after Xerox announced its $6.4 billion planned purchase of Affiliated Computer Services.

After all, CSC — an IT services company that competes with ACS, and has a market value of $8.1 billion — was the first company that came to bankers’ and analysts’ minds when I asked them who else could be in play, as tech companies look to buy into new growth opportunities.

Given how market sentiment works, any comments from the chief senior executive of a potential acquisition target like CSC could easily move the stock. As a rule, that’s why, companies typically don’t comment on rumor or speculation about themselves. So naturally, an on-the-record interview with the CSC chairman executive wasn’t something I could pass up.

The e-mail offered:

…(T)he opportunity to hear comments from Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). As you might know, CSC is a marketplace contrarian that can offer a POV on the other side of the coin - staying independent.
CSC anticipates greater interest from those clients that value the objectivity of a technology-independent approach. With one less independent firm in the marketplace, CSC’s position is strengthened as a global, technology-independent option for clients.

I let Ogilvy know of my interest, and waited, and followed up, and waited. By the late afternoon, I figured the pitch was too good to be true because CSC had thought the better of it. Sure enough, the e-mail that eventually turned up in my inbox, said: “CSC now prefers not to comment.”

Wonder if that was a PR learning experience.

(Photo: CSC.com)

Update: A CSC spokesman called on Tuesday to say Dave Booth is not chairman, but president of global sales and marketing at CSC. I have updated this post to include the correct title.

Look out nerdy-cool Apple guy, the empire is striking back. And it’s got Eva Longoria Parker, Tony Parker, Pharrell Williams and Deepak Chopra on its side.

Microsoft is launching (another) new commercial campaign Thursday night. It takes aim at Apple’s “Mac vs. PC” campaign that has portrayed personal computers running Windows as clunky and uncool.

The commercial starts with a real-life Windows engineer who looks eerily similar to John Hodgman (the comedian who plays the role of “PC” in Apple’s commercials), saying “I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” After that is a montage of celebs and normal folk, saying “I’m a PC.”   Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, along with the aforementioned celebrities, makes an appearance in the ad.

The new commercial is easier to understand than the first series of ads from Microsoft that featured comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Microsoft said the Seinfeld ads were meant to be an “ice breaker” and get people taking about the company and Windows. (Although it could be argued that there was already a conversation about Windows, just not the one the company wanted.)

Microsoft Senior Vice President Mich Matthews , who heads up the company’s marketing efforts, said  the goal of the $300 million advertising push is to “take back the PC brand” and its new commercial is meant as a “bear hug” to the PC stereotype being defined by its competitors.

The television commercials will also be joined by billboard, online and newspaper ads pushing the theme of “Windows vs. Walls” — the concept that Windows allows for a life without walls.

Update: here is the ad.

Harmonix threw the hottest and most exclusive party of the E3 conference on Wednesday night at L.A.’s Orpheum Theater. The “Rock Band Bash” concert celebrated Harmonix’s upcoming “Rock Band 2″ game and featured a private concert by one of the band’s included in the game’s updated tracklist — The Who. 

When we went to pick up our tickets at the MTV Games E3 showroom late Wednesday afternoon, a line of hopeful concertgoers snaked around the entrance. But their dreams were dashed moments later as their names weren’t on on the exclusive “invite-only” guest list that included “24″ star Kiefer Sutherland and AC/DC drummer Chris Slade.

It was clear we had one of the most coveted tickets in town.

Concertgoers had a chance to try out the new “Rock Band 2″ game before showtime.  About twenty minutes before the concert started, there was a mad sprint to grab the perfect seat. But the Orpheum wasn’t packed by any means, which made it almost like a private concert with the Who. 

Bragging rights aside, the experience was priceless.  Red party cups (yes, the same ones that can be found at any college kegger party) in hand, the audience filled with both young and old Who fans got to enjoy a two hour set. Band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend rocked out to some of their biggest hits, including “My Generation” and “Pinball Wizard,” which the audience granted a standing ovation. 

Townshend, like always, shredded it on the guitar, but also showed off his humorous side. He admitted to disliking the colors of the buttons on the guitar controller (green, red, yellow, blue and orange) and called out the Harmonix employee who designed it. Apparently pink, green and orange would work better, he said. Townshend even poked fun at Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and the recent launch of Aerosmith’s “Guitar Hero” edition, referring to it as “that other game.” 

– Reporting by Jennifer Martinez

It’s the third day of E3. The press conferences are finished and we are finally getting to spend some quality time with some of the most buzzed about games of the coming year.

Video games reporter Kemp Powers stopped by the Capcom booth and shot and slashed his way through one of the most impressive games of the show, “Resident Evil 5.” (Video below)

The follow-up to the 2005 hit “Resident Evil 4″ on the Nintendo GameCube, Sony Playstation 2 and Wii, this new game is the first offering in the survival horror series for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3. It’s due for a worldwide release on March 13, 2009.

More than just a typical sequel, “RE4″ was a critical and sales smash that rewrote the book on horror games and pioneered a unique over-the-shoulder view that is now ubiquitous in action titles. “Gears of War,” “Mass Effect” and “Metal Gear Solid 4″ are just a few of the big games that now employ the view.

The new game, though definitely a massive upgrade in the graphics department, appears to be sticking with the adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” which should make loyal fans of the series very happy.

Hero Chris Redfield travels to a fictional city in Africa, where the entire population of the city has been transformed into mindless zombie-like creatures. In this adventure, players are accompanied by a computer-controlled partner, Sheva, who shares weapons and ammunition, opens doors and even heals Chris when he is injured.

She is also pretty handy with guns and rifles, which is a relief when being attacked by swarming hordes of enemies.

In the recently announced cooperative mode, a second player controls Sheva, who is necessary for accessing hard to reach areas and solving numerous environmental puzzles.

Here’s a quick video of one of the game levels that demonstrates the fabulous new graphics and gore-filled action of “Resident Evil 5.”

WARNING: it’s not for the squeamish.

Electronic Arts is taking its popular “Skate” game to another level with the introduction of “Skate It” made exclusively for Nintendo’s Wii and DS.

“Skate It” follows a similar storyline as its predecessor, but it gets players off the couch and onto their Wii Fit Balance Boards. A player’s body weight on the balance board controls their turns and jumps on the skateboard.

If you’re a skateboarder or snowboarder, don’t be too confident. The game’s not as easy as it looks as our reporter Jennifer Martinez (not pictured)  found out when she got off to a rocky (and embarrassing) start to the game.

But fear not, after three or four tries she got the hang of the making turns and jump grabs on the balance board.

But you don’t need a balance board to play the game, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck can also control your ollies and kick flips. The stylus takes care of these functions on the DS.

As the creator of video game hits “Dance Dance Revolution”  and “Karaoke Revolution,” Konami has proved its chops in music video games. But now the Japanese game developer is moving into “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” territory with rock music game “Rock Revolution.”

Reporter Jennifer Martinez tried out Konami’s E3 demo room to test the game and found crisp and colorful graphics — which were nearly identical to those of the two older rivals.

As in “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band”, “Rock Revolution” players follow color-coded notes streaming on a television screen to play a rock song and earn points if the song is played correctly.

Konami’s “DDR” was the first dance video game of its kind and an international success, but “Rock Revolution” comes late to the rock band genre party, where Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts dominate.

The game currently features 40 songs but will offer more downloadable content on the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation3 after the game is released in Fall 2008. Some rock hits already featured on the game disc are Linkin Park’s “Given Up,” Blink 182’s “Small Things” and “Somebody Told Me” by the Killers.

The Konami reps were particularly proud of the game’s drum set, which includes a foot pedal and five drum tops to beat.

It’s closer to the real thing than the “Rock Band” drum set, but looks similar to pictures we’ve seen on gaming blogs of Activison Blizzard’s version for the new “Guitar Hero: World Tour” game, which will include a microphone and drum set in addition to its guitar controller.

So for now, it looks like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” can rest comfortably in this battle of the bands.

Our video games reporter Kemp Powers went to today’s Ubisoft press conference, which featured the usual array of gun play and sword fighting fans expected from the French video game publisher.

The company, however, saved some of its most enthusiastic chest-bumping for an update on its “Games for Girls” brand strategy.

Tony Key, Ubisoft’s senior vice president of sales and marketing laid out the impressive data; in the first three months of 2008, sales in the division aimed at “tween,” or pre-teen, girls grew 63 percent. Six of the top ten third party titles on the Nintendo DS are games targeted to the tween set.

And the number one third party title on the DS is Ubisoft’s own “Imagine,” a series of games that allows girls to pretend to be animal doctors, fashion designers, chefs and other professions and has sold more than four million units worldwide.

“You definitely cannot call them casual,” Key said of young girl gamers. “They’re playing and buying a lot of games.”

Which is why Ubisoft is expanding its girl games brand by rolling out a new line of “Imagine” titles between now and October that includes “Teacher,” “Interior Designer,” “Movie Star” and “Wedding Designer.”

We’re not sure how many little girls dream of planning other people’s weddings when they grow up, but obviously Ubisoft has done some focus group study and knows better than we would what professions today’s girls find interesting.

Our favorite game of the bunch is “Party Babyz,” in which girls play as babysitters and entertain the little tykes by having them race, dance and have soap bubble contests.

“Ener-G” is the new brand offering that will seek to capitalize on the popularity of girl sports when it releases during the holidays.

Calling it “the first sports brand dedicated to girls,” Key explained that the interest in sports is at an all-time high among young girls, with one in two girls playing sports in 2008 and 50 percent of all high school athletes being female.

For a company that is renown for its games for the hardcore enthusiasts, Ubisoft is definitely proving that it knows what the young ladies like.

It was Nintendo’s turn to play a little music. Following on the heels of popular music genre games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, Nintendo showed off Wii Music at its E3 press conference.  Here’s a quick video — shot by our video games reporter Kemp Powers — of Nintendo executives, including legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto , playing the Mario theme song. (Hint: Miyamoto is the short Japanese man.)

The reception for the game was mixed.  The game does let you simulate more than 60 different instruments and it does seem easy to use. However, no one keeps score and you can’t play out of tune because the game picks-up motions to play the melody. The complaint seems to be that it is too basic and simple. (To be fair, many people said that about the Wii when it came out.)

One of my colleagues may have said it best. Guitar Hero and Rock Band makes you feel like a rock star. This game makes you look like you are in a high school marching band.