EDM08: Update

I want to provide a brief update on plans for the next EDM conference.

First, I have been talking with a lot of people and have begun to get a lot of good feedback. The foremost issue raised so far is that we need to move this event back. For a number of years, we have scheduled the program the week before 3GSM so that people could attend EDM one week and 3GSM the next. However, recent discussions make clear that many people are heavily focused on 3GSM the week fore 3GSM. Now that the mobile market has become so important to the directory and search market, we need to avoid a conflict with 3GSM. We will be announcing a new date soon.

Second, consumers are gaining an increasing amount of choice in the services they consume. This is great for consumers but makes it even more important for service providers to be innovative in order to deliver what consumers want. Facebook and other social networking services are a prime example of new services that consumers are flocking to. (If you have not yet signed up for the EDM facebook group, let me encourage you to do so right away at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4803202308.)

Third, I have gotten nothing but positive response from our use of Facebook. I recognize that Facebook isn’t the only social network and, according to the story we ran last week (www.theoperatoronline.com), Comscore recently reported that Facebook is nowhere near the lead in a number of countries, including Germany and France. Nevertheless, social networking is very real, very disruptive, and needs to be incorporated in information service strategies.

Fourth, user-pay call service is going to continue its decline. Consumers want value for money and are being presented with a wide range of new and alternative services that give them greater value than ever before. A combination of free voice information services and smart handsets will continue to eat away at user-pay call services. The days when providers could form exclusive clubs and expect to keep newcomers out are coming to an end.

Fifth, consumers want more than just numbers. The Mobile Entertainment Forum recently launched a mobile search and discovery initiative to better understand mobile consumer behavior. What they found is this: premium, paid-for content tops the list of mobile search terms: 56% of those surveyed searched for ringtones and 47% searched for music downloads. Less than 20% of the consumers said they search for local information.

Sixth, I don’t think you can ignore the fact that devices are becoming every more powerful and the ways in which consumers reach each other and reach businesses is changing. IM, VoIP, Internet, smartphones, are all playing significant role in the changes underway.

Seventh, last but certainly not least, when you put it all together, all service providers are looking for new ways to monetize their services. This goes for entertainment content as well as other content. Advertising services and other means of delivering ROI to content providers are tremendously important.

Keep your feedback coming and be sure to invite your clients and colleagues to participate in this discussion.

See you soon!

Directories and Search is Dead--Long Live Directories and Search!

When Bill Gates recently forecast that print directories will be dead in five years, he caused some consternation. Yet now even our friends at Kelsey ask whether "Yellow Pages" are still relevant. We believe that traditional directory assistance is dying even faster.

Replacing these legacy services will be new, rich and powerful information services delivering far more than the legacy products ever dreamed.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook (www.facebook.com), are having a great impact on personal and business behavior. The Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) recently reported that there are 2,000 applications on Facebook that regularly attract more than 100 users and that one venture capitalist, Bay Partners, has raised US$ 300 million for companies developing Facebook applications. Facebook had 30.6 million visitors in July.

We have decided to test the power of open social networks by establishing a European Directory Marketplace (EDM) conference group on Facebook. Anyone interested in learning more about and contributing to plans for EDM08, February 4-5, is welcome to join the conversation. To participate, sign up at www.facebook.com, search for the European Directory Marketplace group, and join the conversation!