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Dan
Pulcrano, the acting chairman of Associated
Cities (the organization that stages the
annual conference) sent us a statement this evening that
said, "The 2009 Geodomain Expo is going full
steam ahead. AC has an iron-clad contract with the
hotel, a theme, confirmed attendees and sponsors. SanDiego.com
emailed us today to say they were fully on board."
Pulcrano added "Interest
is especially high now thanks to the publicity windfall
of the DNJournal coverage, and the collapse of
several daily newspapers. Nothing could be more timely
and important than focusing on the future of local media
at this critical moment in history. Reports of the
Geodomain Expo's demise — and suggestions that this
had anything to do with the economy — were obviously
greatly exaggerated." As
Dan mentioned, we have had the unsavory task of
reporting on a rift on the Associated |
Dan
Pulcrano
Acting Chairman, Associated Cities |
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Cities board that had
temporarily left the status of the show up in the air.
Though this is not the kind of publicity you normally
want to have, it did draw a lot of attention to AC and
the Expo. As George M. Cohan famously said "
I don't care what you say about
me, as long as you say something about me, and as long
as you spell my name right!" If you
missed that coverage it can be reviewed in posts in this
column from Thursday,
Saturday
and Sunday.
If you want the Cliff's
Notes version, a board member, Skip
Hoagland, (who just resigned from that
position) contended a vote had been taken to cancel the
show. Hoagland, who still has a minority ownership
interest in Associated Cities, continues to have some
issues with how organization decisions are being made
but he told us he will not try to stop the show.
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That should
eliminate any doubts among those who have been
waiting for the smoke to clear before making a
decision on whether or not to book a trip to San
Diego. Though the turmoil at AC has been a
distraction I have no doubt that the
organization will stage another top notch show,
just as they did in Chicago
last year and in San
Francisco the year before that. |
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In
fact, they have already started rolling out the
agenda and we are happy to be the first to give
you a peak at that. The show's theme will be Freefall!
(How to Monetize the Collapse of Traditional
Media), certainly a timely topic given today's
headlines. Traditional media is on
its way to being overtaken by online outlets and
the .com city domain sites
operated by Associated Cities members are
especially well positioned to take advantage of
this sea change.
According
to the agenda preview we saw, industry leaders
will tell you how to:
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Price
and buy quality geodomains
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Develop
Destination portals
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Promote
through social media tools
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Build
business directories
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Write
compelling copy
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SEO for
search term placements
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Monetize
through affiliate programs
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Optimize
for commerce conversion
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Sell
flat-fee advertising
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Execute
linking programs
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Build
and leverage community relationships
-
Think
strategically
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We
noted in our coverage of the problems at
Associated Cities that six board members had
resigned (with a seventh, Hoagland, stepping
down today). Does that mean there will be fewer
experts than in the past for you to meet and
learn from? No. In fact, many of those
who left the board remain committed AC members
and they will be actively involved in the show.
Their reasons for stepping down from the board
in many cases centered on a desire to get out
of the crossfire being exchanged in a heated
debate over how the group should be structured
and what its future mission should be.
With
its focus on domain development and a
roster of experts with a record of proven
success building out some of the world's best
geodomains, the Expo offers specialized content
and networking opportunities that give them a unique
place in the conference world. If you go,
past experience tells me your time and money
will be well spent. |
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