So I visited mecca today, aka, Lawrence, Kansas.
You know, the place that gave us Lawrence.com and made Rob Curley famous.
Innovation in Lawrence hasn’t stopped just because Rob left. Dan Cox and his team in Lawrence are doing a great things.
I learned stuff today about what they’re planning and how they’re working that left me truly impressed. These are smart guys who really get it. They are also realistic and not resting on the laurels of past Digital Edgies. Expect changes.
One of the things Dan and his team have launched recently is a product called Marketplace. I think it’s just smart. Simple, elegant, functional, and built with the small market advertiser in mind.
If I wasn’t impressed before, or not impressed with what Dan shared about the product’s performance, here’s a little transaction that knocked me off my feet:
My wife and I love mid-century modern furniture, so when I noticed a mid-century modern furniture store in town, I had to make time in my day to visit it.
After looking around, a woman approached me and I asked about a web site where I might be able to order stuff, and she gave me a card with a URL, www.blueheronfurniture.com. Then a gentleman approached me and we chatted a bit about my interest, and he handed me another card, saying something like, “rather than go to our web site, go here.”
On the back of the card was scribbled, “ljworld.com, marketplace, search for ‘furniture.'”
Can you imagine a local merchant recommending your IYP/directory product over their own web site?
To Dan and everybody in Lawrence, thanks for letting me poke around your shop today.
“Can you imagine a local merchant recommending your IYP/directory product over their own web site?”
Happens to us every day with local nightclubs — of course, Lawrence’s stuff is the cornerstone of our technology :)
Howard,
In ’03-04 we were lucky enough to work with an online director named Bernard Re Jr. He joined us after a three year stint as the former online manager from Lawrence. He brought a wealth of information and innovation to Utica and yes, I can absolutely believe it that a business would recommend the newspaper’s site over their own- it’s very expensive for these small businesses to keep their sites updated and find the quality services we offer at the newspaper. I will check out what’s new in Lawrence. Thanks,
Emilia