Prescriptions for Ailing City Guides

[Rod Clark]

> > http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_2464.html

Doug,

   That article briefly mentions Cox Interactive Media as an
example of a company that's doing most things right in the
author's view. Cox is planning to open a portal site soon in
Seattle, to be called seattlespot.com. (Or I think that's the
address, but there's nothing there now).

   In early July, some of their people met with some SCN people
and talked for a while about what SCN was doing as a community
network, and what Cox might be doing here, which still sounded
very sketchy then. They thought SCN might be one of the local
sites to which their portal would direct traffic (or
"eyeballs"). 

   Whether that happens or not (and it's probably not one of
their hot priorities), they plan to attract lots of local
content providers, and said they intended to become the best
place for nonprofits to establish Web sites in Seattle. Of
course, they want to be the eventual winner in the local city
guide market. To do that, they have to make it very easy for
local organizations to cluster onto their site in large numbers.

   Well, you can see their other city guides at www.cimedia.com,
and form your own opinion. In any case, they will have huge
viewership from promotions on KIRO and in other media. So
whatever they do, it will instantly be hundreds of times more
visible to the local Seattle audience than SCN is.

   Every once in a while, it's good to realize that we have only
a tiny fraction of a percent of the local population looking at
SCN, and most people in town have never heard of it, while
Microsoft and others influence vast audiences every day with
what they publish on their Seattle city sites. We are like an
ant crossing a path frequented by hurrying elephants. 

Rod Clark

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