It had an inauspicious beginning. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan told the crowd of about 75 new-media Angelinos, "I'm used to speaking to small crowds, but it's usually at the end of my speech, not the beginning," as the audience nervously chuckled.

The first annual Emediatainment World conference ended just as it began, with a whimper. A planned keynote address was cancelled and in its place was a panel of one journalist talking to three other journalists about Web content. Bleary-eyed crowds were later told that Ice-T had cancelled his planned appearance at the event's "Superpanel." That left a panel less-than-super with Leonard Nimoy and Roseanne Barr. (Seal had backed out the day before.)

So what are these two celebrities up to on the Web? It's worth a visit. Roseanneworld.com, Ms. Barr's Web offering, is a retail and fan community that has been in development for seven years and is expected to launch one month from now.

The site is entirely wireless-controlled and will presumably allow Ms. Barr to change the price of an object from her Palm Pilot. Her view of Web commerce: "I believe in freedom. If the American Nazi Party wants to have a page on my site, I'll give it to them if they have the money. "

RAISE THE BARR

As for Mr. Nimoy, his venture has a higher purpose. He is currently hosting a television series called "The Next Wave," which focuses on e-commerce, online finanacial services, conversation, infrastructure, and IP telephony. "I wanted to learn something, and they pay me to do it. It's kind of like a news channel of business on the Internet."

And what did the audience want to know from these celebrities?

"How much time do you spend on the Web every day?" asked an audience member. "What kind of stupid-ass question is that?" blurted the jean-clad, sunglasses-wearing, and fully tanned television icon. She never answered that question, but had a lot more to say about her Web experience. "The Internet has so many consciousness levels -- there are about ten of them. And what you do when you get to them is really quite different." She later confided that she enjoyed an email exchange with her audience "because I can lay back and be naked on my bed if I want."

And Mr. Nimoy? Elegantly dressed in a beige sweater and khaki pants, he resembled a hip USC professor. "Answering questions online is an interesting process for me. I'm an actor, and I set out to play roles. The typecast is important, because I think it's useful that people know how they view you. I'm perceived as a person with a certain attitude, lifestyle, and vision, and the questions tend to fall in those categories."

THE ARTFUL DODGER

Mr. Nimoy later went on to muse about his typecasts. "When I'm introduced to a scientist and I'm presumed to have the same amount of knowledge as they do, it's always embarrassing. I nod and say 'Aha, you are on the right track.' And that's OK, because I had a conversation with Stephen Hawking a couple of years ago. His sense was that science fiction comes first and science follows. Yesterday, I had a conversation with a kind of nutty professor at MIT. This guy feels that science has caught up in past few years. The worm has turned, and the science fiction writers have begun to study science for their stories."

They won't be studying Ms. Barr.

"The trick to all of this Web business is how do you make it user-friendly. How do you do it so that it is not just the super-nerdies? If they go to Roseanneworld.com, it cannot be that hard [to use]," said Ms. Barr. Mr. Nimoy went on to explain that 80 percent of shopping carts on the Web are abandoned. "None of the web services will work if the big technology hurdles aren't first overcome," he said. Ms. Barr, on the other hand, is trying to overcome her own technology hurdles with her Web site. "I don't even know how to turn it on. I think it's the devil."

The two celebs were later asked if they were concerned about how to protect their names on the Internet. After all, the domain name Business.com was recently sold for $7.5 million dollars. So how much would Spock.com be worth? Mr. Nimoy said he is currently engaged in negotiations with a "friendly fan" that has ownership of LeonardNimoy.com. "Are you trying to sell me something? I'm not sure exactly where this conversation is going," said Mr. Nimoy about the line of question.

Ms. Barr however, has given up the fight. "My name is mine. And the site is called FatRoseanneworld.com, net, and org. I don't own RoseanneBarr.com. Who does, I don't know. Some other fat bitch."

And what areas of the entertainment world do these celebrities see the Web influencing? Ms. Barr believes in the Web empowering artists to cut out the greedy middlemen lurking around the entertainment business. "I can feature artists from all over the world to say what they want and say it to who they want to say it to. This portends an incredible renaissance in all types of art, and I'm excited to be a part of that," Ms. Barr said.

Mr. Nimoy has watched the record industry change and believes that even more changes are on the horizon. "Record companies are nervous because consumers for years have felt screwed on the prices of CD. Now it's the consumers' payday. We're seeing a huge revolution now," said Mr. Nimoy.

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