Wednesday,
November 30
9:00
am – 9:15 am
Introduction & Overview
John F. Kelsey, III, CEO, The
Kelsey Group
9:15
am – 10:00 am
How Much Search Is Really Local?
What percentage of search engine usage behavior is actually
local in nature? The estimates range from 10 percent to 25 percent
or more. Queries in categories such as "attorneys" and
"restaurants" have a local intent that approaches almost
100 percent. And the traditional classifieds categories (Jobs, Cars,
Real Estate) are similarly local. So what is the real number that
captures Internet users' actual local intent and behavior? And what
are the implications for search and for the general Internet marketplace?
This session will use the most recent data from The Kelsey Group
and comScore to seek to answer these complex and elusive questions.
Greg Sterling,
SVP - Program Director, Interactive Local Media,
The Kelsey Group
James
M. Larrison, SVP, Corporate Development, comScore Networks
10:00
am – 10:45 am
The Internet Is the Yellow Pages: A Conversation
with Marty Himmelstein
Marty Himmelstein was a local search pioneer, having worked
for Vicinity Corp. before it was acquired by Microsoft. Vicinity
and early search engine Northern Light released “Geosearch,”
the first large-scale geo-enabled search engine. Himmelstein contends
that current IYP/local search products are quite limited. He believes
the traditional offline sources of structured data that most of
them rely upon are inadequate to deliver against consumer needs
and expectations – and the true potential of local search.
Who is doing the best job in local now and what will it take to
deliver the next generation of local search products?
Marty Himmelstein, Principal, Long Hill Consulting
10:45
am – 11:15 am
Refreshment Break
11:15 am – 12:00 pm
Keynote Presentation
Caroline
H. Little, Chief
Executive Officer & Publisher, Washingtonpost.Newsweek
Interactive
12:00
pm – 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30
pm – 2:15 pm
BREAKOUT
SESSIONS
Newspapers
2.0
Newspapers and their media parents have recently become very acquisitive
and aggressive, snapping up high-profile properties such as About.com,
Homegain, MarketWatch, MySpace, Topix and others. How do newspapers
see their online products evolving from an extension of traditional
print publications to the next generation of online content delivery
and advertising vehicles? How will newspapers serve the changing
needs of consumers and maintain and grow their revenues in the local
ad marketplace?
Bob
Armour, VP, Business Development, ShopLocal
Michael
Markson, VP, Business Affairs, Topix.net
Shawn Riegsecker, President, Intégrent
Jay
Small, Director, Online Content and Operations / Newspapers,
E.W. Scripps Co.
Stephen Weis,
VP/General Manager, HoustonChronicle.com
Hyper-Local
Content Sites
Through various strategies and methods there are a number of sites
generating what might be called “hyper-local content.”
These sites contend that the content they offer is not available
anywhere else online and especially not on the big Internet brands,
directories or even newspaper sites. What is the outlook for these
hyper-local sites and where do they fit in the overall local ecosystem?
Donna Bogatin,
President & CEO, VIPOffers.com
Susan Williams DeFife, President & CEO, Backfence
Lorren
Elkins, CEO, The American Town Network
Howell Jones,
VP, Marketing, DiscoverOurTown
2:15
pm – 2:30 pm
Refreshment
Break
2:30
pm – 3:15 pm
BREAKOUT
SESSIONS
Online
Consumers, Offline SMEs: Inertia and the Online Imperative
Even
as more consumers are using the Internet for local, there is evidence
that SMEs may be discouraged, frustrated and/or confused. While
one could argue there is an “imperative” that SMEs adopt
Internet marketing, there is a messy and unpredictable reality “on
the ground.” What are the factors that make it more likely
that a certain category of small-business advertisers will adopt
the Internet as a marketing vehicle? What and who are the enablers
facilitating Internet marketing adoption at the local level?
Gary Arthurs,
President, Click Forward
Tom Bates,
VP & GM - Cox Search, Cox Enterprises/Kudzu.com
Steven
Chuck, Senior Manager, Emerging Markets, Yahoo! Search Marketing
Brian Kraff, CEO, Market Hardware
Stuart
MacFarlane, President, Insider Pages
John
Triano, SVP, Business Development, Vista.com
The
State of Local Search: A Marketer’s Perspective
Although small businesses were among the early adopters of search,
a significant percentage of advertisers now doing local targeting
on major search engines are larger companies that can afford to
outsource their search marketing (and search engine optimization).
SEM/SEO firms are on the front lines of local search and can see
the issues, challenges and the future better than most industry
observers. What does this panel of experts think about the current
state of local search (paid and SEO), the available inventory, the
tools and where geotargeting is heading?
Barbara Coll,
CEO, WebMama.com
Kevin
M. Ryan, Managing Partner, Kinetic Results
Gregg
Stewart, SVP, Channel Measurement & Marketing, Fathomonline
Josh
Stylman, Managing Partner, Reprise Media
3:15
pm – 3:45 pm
Refreshment Break
3:45
pm – 4:30 pm
Keynote Presentation
Anne M. Busquet, Chief Executive
Officer, IAC Local and Media Services
4:30
pm – 5:30 pm
The
Role of User-Generated Content and Community
How important are “user-generated content” (UGC),
blogs and “social search” to the future of local? The
Kelsey Group has argued that the majority of valuable local content
resides in users’ heads. But getting users to contribute that
content can be difficult and perhaps even risky for certain publishers.
UGC may also be unreliable if it is generated anonymously (i.e.,
“review fraud”). Is UGC just the topic “du jour”
or is it an increasingly important component of local? Are there
any alternatives to UGC?
Brian Dear, Founder & CEO, EVDB, Inc.
Jason
Dowdell, Founder, MarketingShift.com
Karthik
Iyer, SVP, Business Development, IntelliSeek
Lou Morsberger, President & CEO, ServiceRatings
Andy Sack, Board of Directors, Judy's Book
Andrew
Shotland, VP, Business Development, InsiderPages
5:30
pm – 7:30 pm
Reception in the Exhibit Hall
