The Local Angle
The Internet may be a global medium, but when it comes to finding new markets in cyberspace, the action is increasingly focusing on local markets.
Take CitySearch, a new company based in La Crescenta that launched its ambitious “online guide to local communities” with an offering in Chapel Hill, N.C., that goes fully active today.
The company--co-founded by Bill Gross, chairman of innovative game vendor Knowledge Adventure, and backed by Goldman Sachs and AT&T; Ventures--has plans to launch similar services in 30 other cities by the end of 1997 and is in discussions to offer such services in six other countries.
“Everybody was offering these global services, but the market for local information was ignored,” said Charles Conn, co-founder and chief executive of CitySearch. “People spend 95% of their time and 95% of their disposable income where they live.”
Others have spotted the same opportunity. Microsoft is recruiting staffs in such cities as Seattle, Chicago and New York, for example, as part of a plan to develop a series of online arts and entertainment services. And many city newspapers, including The Times, offer extensive community information on the Web along with news.
But Microsoft has been slow to get its service off the ground. And Conn says newspapers, coming from a “print mind-set,” aren’t taking advantage of the full power of the Internet.
CitySearch says it will offer local news, sports scores, a business directory and information about ongoing arts, entertainment and community events. It also allows users to create an electronic profile to help sort through the jumble of offerings.
“It will tell you if your favorite music group is coming to town or if there is an art exhibit that is likely to interest you,” Conn said.
Community organizations such as the Red Cross, United Way and even schools are given space to put up information about themselves and their events. Parents in Chapel Hill can already get school lunch menus and may soon have access to classroom assignments. There are also forums on controversial local issues.
