Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

VBSR Panel to focus on Local Online

Posted on Thursday, March 20, 2008 by 3 comments

I’m excited about a panel that I’ll be part of at the annual conference of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. Here’s a draft of what to expect…

The World Wide Web Comes Home
How “Local Online” Is Changing Your Business

Richard Donnelly, Burlington Telecom
Christopher Grotke and Lise LePage, iBrattleboro.com
Chris Middings, Seventh Generation and Champlain College
Paula Routly, Seven Days
moderator: Michael Wood-Lewis, Front Porch Forum

The fifth great wave of the Internet—after communication, commerce, search and social networking—may well be “local.” People increasingly look online for answers to local questions about shoe stores, plumber recommendations, meeting people, directions, crime reports and more. A vast array of tools and services are being developed in Vermont to meet this demand. Much of this activity is fueled by online ad sales, which grew nationally to $20 billion in 2007. The Internet is driving business change, and companies are increasingly learning how to use this medium to focus on local markets. This session will provide attendees with concepts and tips for keeping up and getting ahead.

The conference (always a hit), will be held May 14 at Champlain College in Burlington, VT. The panel is tentatively scheduled for 1:15 to 2:30 PM. Come join the conversation… bring your experiences, questions and comments!

For a list of local businesses that have advertised online recently via Front Porch Forum, click on our sponsor link.

INVITATION: If anyone wants to get the conversation started early, leave a comment below…

Posted in: Burlington, Citizen Journalism, Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Local Online, Local Reviews, Local Search, Neighborhood, Newspapers, Online Classified Ads, Small Business Advertising, social capital, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Responsibility, Stories, Vermont


3 comments

  1. A great article here:
    Local Search Mindshare Grows Among Search Engines — http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3628720

  2. Chris Middings says:

    Another Local article

  3. […] 14:  The World Wide Web Comes Home: How “Local Online” Is Changing Your Business at VBSR’s annual spring […]

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