Courtney Pulitzer

Why did you first get online?

I got online because I had to! My boss at the time, David Boorstin, went to a conference at the AIGA and came back the next day saying, “We’ve got to get online! We need a website! We need to get Netscape!” I was his only employee so it was up to me to learn how to do this, and then execute it. I learned how to get online and create a website and was hooked from the first bleeping, screeching modem call.

When did you first get involved with digital and why?

I got online, and involved with digital, in the Fall of 1993. I got involved because my job required me to do so, but I fell in love with the online community and the possibilities of what one could do online so I began to get involved “extra-curricularly” and eventually moved on to having my own business.

How would you describe your work and professional interests in the 1990’s (or 80’s etc).

First I was a website designer (graphics and HTML), then I was a writer for websites, then I did PR for emerging technology companies, then I had my own business. My business was an online and emailed newsletter and website titled “Courtney Pulitzer’s Cyber Scene” and monthly networking cocktail parties titled “Cocktails with Courtney.” I organized events for my business and for new media associations in New York, and in major cities nationally and internationally.

What do you think the future will hold?

A more integrated networked “online” experience for everyone. We won’t be going to computers to access information or to create. The devices will be more integrated into our lives. This is already happening. It will just continue. I hope for a world where all the schools and low-income communities will have the same access, where accessing information isn’t just a “Western” luxury.