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November 13, 2007
Interactive Local Media Companies
Must Become More Savvy Financially as Investment Dollars Flow Into
the Sector, According to The Kelsey Group
Financial experts
will examine the ‘local’ investment climate at the firm’s
ILM:07 conference, Nov. 28-30 in Los Angeles.
Princeton, NJ (November 13, 2007) --
The financial sophistication of local online media executives is
becoming increasingly paramount as they ponder raising capital,
investment strategies, burn rates and the overall economic climate.
Recent deals, including AOL-Quigo, IAC-MerchantCircle, Gannett-Metromix,
Call Genie-BTSLogic and Microsoft-Facebook, indicate serious investor
interest in the sector. A panel of experts will discuss the local
financial environment in a session titled, “Investing in Local,”
during The Kelsey Group’s upcoming Interactive
Local Media 2007 (ILM:07) conference, which takes place Nov.
28-30 in Los Angeles, California. The panel will feature Mark Gorenberg,
managing director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; Kara Nortman,
VP, M&A, IAC/InterActiveCorp; and Nick Veronis, managing director,
Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
“Over the past year, we have tracked dozens
of investments in local media, ranging from sub-million-dollar investments
in social media services to multi-hundred-million- and even billion-dollar
acquisitions of established companies such as Business.com (RHDi),
Navteq (Nokia) and aQuantitative (Microsoft),” said Peter
Krasilovsky, Marketplaces program director for The Kelsey Group.
“It is clear that the real money is coming to local, but it
is less clear that investors have a true sense of realistic pay-offs,
synergies with existing properties and their transition of existing
budgets. This is what we’ll drill down on with our investment
thought leaders at ILM:07.”
ILM:07 is The Kelsey Group’s annual conference
devoted to digital media with a local focus. This year’s conference
includes tactical sessions produced by conference partner Search
Engine Strategies. The three-day agenda features more than 60 speakers,
including Jason Calacanis, chief executive officer, Mahalo; Bill
Day, chief media officer, Marchex; Scott Ferris, senior vice president
and general manager of emerging technologies, Atlas (Microsoft);
John Hanke, director, Google Earth and Maps, Google; Jay Herratti,
president, Citysearch; Russell Horowitz, chairman and CEO, Marchex;
Christophe Maire, cofounder, Nokia, smart2go; Daniel McCarthy, chairman
and CEO, NCI; Stuart McKelvey, president and CEO, TMP Directional
Marketing; Allison Mnookin, vice president, small business division,
Intuit; Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president of product marketing
and operations, Facebook; Jim Riesenbach, president and CEO, Autobytel;
Robyn Rose, vice president of Internet marketing, Idearc Media;
Jorritt Van der Meulen, vice president of partner relations, Zillow;
and Jake Winebaum, president, RHDi, and CEO, Business.com.
The premier agency sponsor for ILM:07 is TMP Directional
Marketing. Additional sponsors include Acxiom, AgendiZe, Amdocs,
Apptus, Call Genie, CallSource, eStara, Lat49, Local Matters, Local.com,
Localeze, Marchex, MatchCraft, MediaTraks and Yellowpages.com. Media
sponsors include Electronic Retailer Media Group, Hispanic Marketing
& Public Relations, TVover.net, VoIP Monitor and VOIP News.
Exhibitors include EZ Show, Google, OrangeSoda, PinPoint Local,
Superpages.com, Topix, Where2GetIt and Zvents. Association partners
include Association of Directory Marketing, Association of Directory
Publishers, International Classified Media Association, Search Engine
Marketing Professional Organization, Web Analytics Association,
Wireless Communications Alliance/MetroSIG and Yellow Pages Association.
For more information about ILM:07, visit http://www.kelseygroup.com/ilm2007.
About The Kelsey Group
The Kelsey Group is the leading provider of research, data and strategic
analysis on directories, small-business advertising, online local
media and mobile advertising. Founded in 1986, the company has built
a reputation as the premier analyst firm covering the directory
publishing community and the emerging local search marketplace,
providing advisory services (The Kelsey Report® and Interactive
Local Media), publishing (Global Yellow Pages™), consulting
(more than 400 individual assignments) and conferences (69 events).
For more information contact:
Eileen Pacheco
eileen@tango-group.com
(781) 556-1026
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