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While
Pulcrano could not speak for the organization,
he did comment in his role as a prominent
geodomain owner (with a portfolio that includes
such gems as LosAngeles.com, SanFrancisco.com,
Philadelphia.com, Seattle.com and many
other major cities). Wearing that hat, Pulcrano
told us the following:
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Dan
Pulcrano
Founder & CEO, Boulevards
News Media
(photo by Dina
Scoppettone (c) 2008) |
"Associated
Cities has not had the opportunity to
meet and respond to the press release,
so I will respond on behalf of
Boulevards, which is the largest owner
of major US dotcom city domains and
historically the biggest contributor to
AC.
Boulevards
has been consistent in its support for
an industry wide trade association. We
were the first to propose a nonprofit
association, and worked hard in support
that objective, so in the sense that the
industry appears to be embracing the
non-profit association model, we view
that as validation of the concept that
Boulevards initiated and developed in
partnership with other industry
stakeholders. In terms of financial
contribution, no one has contributed
more than Boulevards has to see the
nonprofit vision realized.
The
industry also owes a debt of thanks to
people like Josh Metnick and Mike
Ward, who did the heavy lifting to
organize disparate geodomain owners into
a common framework, |
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and
to Patrick Carleton, who as
Associated Cities’ executive director,
greatly expanded the expo, the
membership and the industry profile. |
Any
new association stands on the shoulders of
the groundwork that was done. It's no
accident that prime geodomains are among the
most valuable and coveted properties on the net,
and why so many people want to be part of an
association with the most elite geographical
brands.
It
is my hope is that the founders of the new group
will have the wisdom to look at the broader
issues of transition and representation. The
last two Associated Cities boards were elected
publicly, at conventions, with broad
participation. Many people participated in the
development of the bylaws that I think created a
strong foundation, though not everyone had the
patience and persistence to stick with a plan
that was sound but not without some bumps.
Startup teams naturally have disagreements, and
the proper thing to do, I believe now as in the
past, is to meet and sort those issues out
and come to consensus. Without that, the
industry will not have a common voice.
I
believe that transparency, codes of ethical
conduct and a member-elected board are critical
for any association with a claim to represent an
industry. We look forward to seeing what kind of
governance structure and membership
criteria the new entity will adopt and what
type of public process it will use to
choose its leaders. We'll evaluate that in
making our decision on membership."
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Skip
Hoagland
Founder, Domains New Media LLC |
Skip
Hoagland, also speaking as the owner of
one of the world's greatest geodomain
portfolios (including Atlanta.com,
Baltimore.com, BuenosAires.com
and many others), had this to say about
the formation of a new association at
GeoPublishers.com:
"Ron,
as co-founder of Associated Cities and
someone who has spent the last seven
years to help others build not only AC,
but much more important our Industry, I
am glad to see the formation and
launch of this new association. I feel
this new association will be a positive
replacement for the old association in
every aspect and serve all its members
the way it should be. Based on my
current lawsuit against Associated
Cities and its LLC members (which I
regretted having to do, but had no
choice), I do not see Associated
Cities being a viable association moving
forward, nor a competitor to our new
association I feel it set our
industry |
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back
and I'm not sure until this lawsuit is
over, but I imagine AC will be dissolved
and this new association will be the
sole association for this industry. |
I
am
not at all disappointed about the launch of this
new association and in fact very proud of those
who dedicated their valuable time to make this
happen to get this industry back on track and
positive again. This has always been about building
a successful industry and success for all of
us, not about individuals and profit for a few
from this effort. I have always believed from
day one others success was my success and vice
versa. Our profits would and should come from
our company assets, not an association and its
assets. Yes, people have to get paid for their
work and I feel the structure of this new
Asssociation addresses this the correct and
transparent way for all who wish to be
members or attend conferences, Expos, Webinars,
newsletters etc.
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The
Geo Publishers name is very fitting as
its members will be made up of New and
Old Medias, print and online publishers
like our company - Domains New Media LLC.
We still publish magazines and now have
just simply moved them online and
use the City.com, State.com, Country.com
brand name to do so. Examples include
HiltonHead.com and Savannah.com.
Our print products are Island
Events and Savannah Scene;
two magazines |
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that
have been in print for over 30 years.
Converging the new media geodomain/City.com
brand with the old media print product
has proven to be very successful for us.
I see the Geo Publishers association
attracting huge global membership and
attendance to its Geo Conference/Expo
including all current Geodomain owners,
newspapers, TV, Radio and magazines that
own these brands, or want to learn more
about them, as well as many products and
services wanting to sell to all of us to
add to our Geo Domain Portal brand
sites.
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I
think this formation of this new industry
association was long over due. I knew about its
formation and fully supported it from day 1.
This industry desperately needed an organization
behind it, that was fully non profit, with a
professionally run structure and people behind
it with the knowledge and abilities to make it
all work. Our industry now has this in all
aspects 100%. As you can see I elected to not
participate in any form or fashion other than
just being a supportive member. I felt like I
served my time as co-founder with the old
association and did all I could to help move
this industry forward and will continue to do so
as I can as a member.
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I
will attend the new Geo
Publishers Expo in Chicago.
Because this Geo Publishers Expo is now
being run by the very powerful and
influential Borrell Organization
and will be part of the Borrell
Conference, New Media
geodomain.com owners and Old Media
can now mix, attend sessions and
learn about all the ways on how to be
successful with the convergence of New
and Old media as well as how to compete
effectively against all the companies
now attempting to get a slice of the
local media pie. |
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I
like others feel we all have many
opportunities to use our Geo Domain
brands to launch very informative and
effective New Medias companies and see
many opportunities for many of us
partnering with other local medias to
create powerful local New Media entities
to compete against others entering these
local markets. Our company is in fact
partnering with a local Newspaper in one
of our 40 some markets. We feel this
unique local media partnership will
prove successful for all of us. We are
also trying other unique partnerships
with local directory/yellow page
directory companies, using pure
transactional business models in some
markets. All these various tests are
helping us to see and understand the
most profitable and effective ways to
compete against all of our
competitors." |
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