Next week myself and Jason (account executive from CitySquares) are off to Santa Clara, CA for The Kelsey Group’s annual superbowl of all things local - ILM:08. This is a fantastic event that I’ve had the pleasure of attending in the past. The panels are excellents, the keynotes as well, but what I really like about ILM are the networking opportunities. That’s really at the core of ILM for me - meeting other players, and looking into new opportunities with them. It’s a hell of a time. Peter Krasilovsky organizes the event each year, and moderates many of the panels, and does a hell of a job each time. I look forward to seeing many people at ILM this year! If you’re planning to attend, shoot me an email or send me a DM on twitter. If you’re not aware of ILM, but you can make the trek out to the west coast, I highly recommend you do - well worth the investment.
Networking, New Media and Web 2.0
ilm, ilm:08, interactive local marketing, Kelsey Group, santa clara
At ILM:07
Originally uploaded by Benee
It took a little longer than we’d hoped, but Bob and I made it to ILM:07. Our flight from Boston was delayed and we ended up missing our connection to LA. So we had to crash at a JFK airport and catch a flight to LA bright and early. We arrived at ILM around noon, cleaned up, grabbed a bite, and jumped right in. We quickly ran into many familiar faces, shook hands, gabbed a bit, laughed a bit, and caught the remainder of the day’s sessions. So far so good. And as expected, Peter Krasilovsky (www.localonliner.com) is doing a heck of a job. Went out to dinner tonight with Danny Moon (www.upnext.com) and Fred Pfeiffer of Localeze (www.localeze.com). Went to a cool steakhouse called The Lodge (www.thelodgesteakhouse.com). We had a good time. Came back here and jumped into the Call Genie Martini Party and hung out with Ian White (www.urbanmapping.com) and Peter K.
What did I get out of today? Well, we’re getting ready for 2008. And now that 2007 is coming to a close, I’m thinking a lot about what we’ve done in the past year. It was a year ago that Bob and I were in LA, under very difference circumstances. A year later, we’re feeling much better about things but there’s still so much work to do. The game is changing for us now. Our roles are evolving and it’s time to step up the level of execution. We need to think about getting Citysquares.com to a point where it can be reproduced easily. That includes the site, that includes the sales model, the marketing strategy and more. Today gave me a chance to buckle down and dive deep into the financial projections and plans, on the flight, and to think about things at a higher level than I’m usually able to on a day-to-day basis. Citysquares is about to enter 3rd gear. I’m excited. I’m also very tired. Good night.
Networking
conference, ILM:07, Kelsey Group
Being billed as The Premier Event for Interactive Local Media Execs and Local Search Practitioners, ILM:07 is widely known amongst local-media folk as the biggest event of the year. Hosted by The Kelsey Group and organized by my pal Peter Krasilovsky ILM:07 is next week, starting Wednesday and going a full three days. Bob and I will be attending and we’re greatly looking forward to the agenda, to meeting back up with many of the folks we know from around the way, and to connecting and meeting with new peeps. If you’d like to meet up, shoot me an email at bsaren -at- citysquares.com.
Networking
ILM:07, Kelsey Group
John Kelsey has a nice piece on The Kelsey Group blog about Sidewalk.com, and Steve Ballmer’s regrets of dumping it. I have to admit that it’s nice to finally see some acknowledgment by Microsoft that this was a mistake. Because that’s ultimately what it is. Sidewalk.com was a fantastic site back in the day. In the mid/late 90’s I used Sidewalk.com quite a bit. I used it to find music shows in Boston and Cambridge, to find restaurants, and so much more. I really think Sidewalk.com was one of the best “local search” sites that’s ever existed - and mind you, that’s before the term “local search” was ever in our vocabularies. Every since Citysearch purchased Sidewalk from Microsoft in 1999, I think it’s fair to say a lot of people were disappointed. I remember just a few months ago I was presenting Citysquares.com to a group at Babson and I fondly mentioned Sidewalk. A couple people in the audience quite exuberantly nodded their heads as if they knew exactly what I was fondly recollecting. Over the past year or so, fans of Citysquares, or just about anyone that I’ve mentioned Sidewalk to, also have fond memories of Sidewalk. Anyway, suffice to say Sidewalk left a very good impression with a lot of people.
Can there ever be another Sidewalk.com? I don’t think so. It was the Model T - the first of its kind.
CitySquares, Entrepreneurship, Local Search
citysearch, CitySquares, citysquares.com, Kelsey Group, Local Search, sidewalk.com
A very interesting post by John Kelsey at The Kelsey Group. Very outspoken and candid reality check for small businesses, and I happen to think he’s right on the money here. I’m reminded of a conversation I had a couple weeks ago with a gentleman in New Hampshire, who was referred to me by a mutual contact. This gentleman was shopping for a Christmas gift for his wife and was at a locally owned jewelry store in the seacoast region of NH. He went in looking for a watch and didn’t quite find what he was looking for.
<!–break–> He still purchased a watch anyway, because it was a matter of convenience. He had an idea, which he shared with me, about an inventory management and distribution system for which a business, such as this jewelry store, could access their distributors’ inventory and special order items. It was more complex than that, but that’s the gist of it. He was aware of my involvement with Citysquares and wanted my opinion on whether or not he thought there was a market for this sort of thing. I explained that while I thought there was certainly a market for it, the reality is that getting local merchants to conform to the requirements of the new technology is a tough sell. Local merchants have their own ways and methods for running their business. Surely there are some standards, like Quickbooks, or Peachtree, and some standard POS and inventory systems, but at the end of the day, they use what’s easiest and most convenient. Asking a local merchant to adapt to the pace of technology and changes around them is like asking a third world nation to adopt environmentalism - it’s a stretch. Unless you can really point out the benefits and make the proposition that they can justify a quick and measurable ROI, it’s really an uphill battle. Unless it directly affects their bottom line, they will resist change. So while I agree with John’s reality check, reality is relative. There are movements all across our country, to prevent the invasion of big box retailers and the homogenization of our communities. Ones that comes to mind is Local First and BALLE. These are not fleeting ideas run by hippies, these are serious and business minded individuals who are doing it, and doing it well (to quote LL Cool J).
CitySquares, Entrepreneurship, Local Search, Locally Owned
balle, independent business, Kelsey Group, local business, local first, local merchants, Local Search, Locally Owned, mom and pop
other places