By SARA FISHER

Staff Reporter

It could be a typical scene in the MSNBC recording studio a reporter interviewing the CEO of a public company, video camera running.

Except this isn’t a real TV studio, and the tape won’t be aired on television.

It’s Los Angeles, which hosted its first “CEO-fest” for CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video Services (previously MSNBC Business Video) last week. More than 20 CEOs of public companies based in Western states streamed through the Brentwood offices of Financial Relations Board Inc., a Chicago-based public relations firm. There, the CEOs lined up for half-hour interviews that look like television segments but will be screened only on personal computers.

“The Internet is a broadcast medium whose reach exceeds any other medium,” said George Wallner, head of Phoenix-based Hypercom Corp., which develops credit-card swipe machines. “This is a great idea. The interviews are accessible to anyone with a PC, and can be viewed at your convenience rather than a television station’s scheduling. For my company, we want to use this forum to better explain our industry to as many people as possible.”

The fact that Los Angeles was chosen for the event reflects its growing importance as a technology center. More than three-quarters of the CEO guests were from technology or biomedical companies, and the taping was done in Los Angeles because so many of the companies are based here or nearby.

“L.A. is starting to grow as a center for companies seeking exposure in the market,” said Michaelle Burstin, the event coordinator from the Financial Relations Board’s Los Angeles office. “There is a sense that the economy is resurging here, and we’re seeing a huge number of public medical companies and high-tech companies in the West that want to meet with the media to improve their profile. And on a more basic level, L.A is a good logistical choice.”

Participants included Paul Gigg from information technology developer Isocor of Santa Monica, Rob Walston from Burbank-based Four Media Co., Jim Didion of Los Angeles-based CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. and Bill Mercer from the biomedical company Alaris Medical Systems Inc. of San Diego.

The Financial Relations Board first put together a similar “CEO-fest” in Chicago at the end of January, drawing together over 40 company heads. Theodore Pincus, chairman of The Financial Relations Board, said his company represents over 500 public companies in the United States, consequently making it relatively easy for it to put together these kinds of interview extravaganzas.

“These companies that (The Financial Relations Board) represents are what we find attractive, what our subscribers are interested in following, and what Wall Street invests in,” said Basil Lyden, vice president of marketing for New York-based CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video.

Lyden said that feedback from last month’s Chicago show was positive and that he hopes to do these sessions again next year.

“These interviews tap into a niche market,” Pincus said. “Analysts, shareholders and Wall Street types who already spend a lot of time on the Internet can get an intimate look at a company through the online interview. It’s an example of companies readily tapping into a new media.”

The technology is fairly standard, requiring a regular audio and video card that most current computers already have installed. With a click of the button, a viewer can run the video clip of the interview on a personal computer screen.

The interviews are archived on the site for at least 90 days after its initial airing. In addition to being available on the CNBC/Dow Jones site, the interviews are distributed on other business news sites, including Bloomberg, and on Nasdaq’s site for companies traded on that exchange.

Off-screen, the CEO-fest also includes meetings between company heads and analysts. The Financial Relations Board has set up meetings with representatives from such companies as Paine Webber and Dean Witter.

“I definitely hope to attract more analysts to cover our company and our industry,” Wallner said. “This meeting gives me a good opportunity to let analysts know about what we’re doing from an inside perspective.”

But the two-day, 20-interview event is formidable. MSNBC reporter Peter Schacknow conducted the interviews at the Chicago and L.A. gatherings. He runs the sessions in half-hour intervals from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., almost without a break. Schacknow also works without notes while asking questions that reveal a background knowledge about his subject.

So how does he hold up?

“This is frantic, but there are down times to compensate for the up times,” Schacknow said. But the bottom line is that I like it. It’s fun. Believe it or not.”