ILM East is coming back to Boston March 26-28 with a lineup of doers and innovators who are transforming and redefining the local space. Highlights include a featured keynote from industry legend Ted Leonsis (Groupon vice chair/AmEx board member/sports team owner/AOL mastermind), along with keynotes/interviews from Jason Calacanis, Leslie Berland, Jay Herratti, Michael Zimbalist and Michael Silberman.

Other highlights of the two-day event includes a preconference rundown on local search run by Andrew Shotland of Local SEO Guide; a full plate of top BIA/Kelsey research and forecasts; a special venture capital panel; and innovator panels on social, mobile, deals, video and hyperlocal (the latter co-moderated by Merrill Brown).

KEYNOTES/KEYNOTE DISCUSSIONS
� Ted Leonsis: Owner, Monumental Sports (Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards); Vice Chair of Groupon; board member of AmEx, former vice chair of AOL; author, “The Business of Happiness”
� Jason Calacanis: CEO, Mahalo; investor. Calacanis’ career has been at the cutting edge of local and social media and reflects all the big trends, from his development of The Silicon Alley Reporter to Weblogs (AOL), Mahalo and the creation of TechCrunch50 and Launch.
� Leslie Berland, vice president, social strategy, American Express. Berland’s a major deal maker deeply involved in AmEx’ss mega Foursquare and Facebook deals.
� Jay Herratti, CEO, CityGrid Media. Herratti always gets top rankings at our events. He runs IAC’s super quad of the CityGrid Media Network, Citysearch, Urbanspoon and Insider Pages.
� Michael Zimbalist, VP, research operations, New York Times Co. Zimbalist leads the NYT’s 12 person-research unit. He’s deeply immersed in cutting-edge social, mobile, tablet and video efforts.
� Michael Silberman, GM, New York Magazine Silberman is the mastermind of NYMag’s development of a super set of verticals catering to the “New York state of mind.”

FEATURED SPEAKERS
� Bill Bice, CEO, SpaBoom
� Merrill Brown, Cofounder, MSNBC.com, Court TV
� Jim Douglass, EVP, Cartera Commerce
� Jere Doyle, CEO, EverSave
� Walt Doyle, CEO, Where
� Adam Japko, CEO, Digital Sherpa
� Maria Kermath, Director, New Tech & Sales Apps, AT&T Advertising Sales
� Mark Josephson, SVP, AOL Local
� Charlie Kim, CEO, Next Jump
� John McIntyre, CEO, Pixelfish
� Randa Minkarah, SVP, Revenue, Fisher Communications
� Randy Parker, President, SMB Apps
� Mark Schmulen, GM, Social Media, Constant Contact
� Andy Slater, VP, Digital Agency Sales, Katz 360
� Andrew Shotland, Publisher, Local SEO Guide
� Christopher Tippie, CEO, FindNSave
� Darren Waddell, EVP, Product and Corporate Marketing, Reply.com

Join hundreds of senior level local executives at ILM East for the local community’s best networking and insights. You can register here for earlier bird rates.

Internet Pioneer Ted Leonsis

In particular, AT&T underestimated call duration guidelines that led to customer-service issues. In other words, some customers were upset that they were being charged for calls that they did not think had any value. Secondly, and adding gas to the customer-service issue fire, was related to the number of non-relevant or “nuisance” calls.

Read reported that two of the changes AT&T made to better manage the expectations of its advertisers was to implement a better call management tool and also updating its program to offer a fixed fee plan in addition to its original pay-per-call plan. The fixed fee option was launched in April 2011. Additionally, AT&T has looked at this as an outcome-based selling initiative, which is more focused on selling the outcome than on traditional selling of features and benefits.

Right now the clients involved in pay-per-call are primarily print customers — around 65 percent to 70 percent. At this point, AT&T is seeing an approximate 50-50 breakdown between calls generated from organic traffic and distribution partner calls.

For AT&Ti, deals represent “an offensive opportunity,” added Rose. “The product gets into a customer segment we haven’t historically served very well.” At the same time, AT&Ti has an unexpected advantage: a customer-centric approach. Pure plays such as Groupon need to max out the opportunity with every deal, whether or not it meets the needs of merchants or users, he suggested.

While the deals are currently focused on customer acquisition, like most deals providers, Rose said the company’s DNA is to help local customers both acquire and retain customers. As time goes on, the focus will be more about retention,” he said.

Rose also noted that AT&Ti is currently discussing a range of partnerships with major brands on the Web, as well as with location-based services. “They may not have the appetite or resources to build up a local sales force,” he said. “It is a perfect time to engage with them.”

David Krantz, president and CEO of AT&T Interactive, announced the launch of AT&T’s “Deal of the Day” program this afternoon at the BIA/Kelsey Deals 3D conference. The program is being offered initially in three markets: Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Los Angeles.

Krantz emphasized that deals are a natural extension of local advertising. Ergo, a full-line local advertising company needs to be a player in the deals space. (”We think of deals as just another type of advertising.”)

The new AT&T offering appears to be well thought-out, incorporating “best of breed” features and capabilities seen elsewhere in the deals space.

AT&T finds itself well-positioned in terms of the key elements that are needed to succeed in this space, with:

� A strong local sales force (AT&T Interactive has some 5,000 salespeople in the U.S.)
� Access to consumers (through owned and operated sites, as well as partner sites). Here, AT&T has YP.com, which ranks as the No. 35 most visited website with some 74 million monthly uniques. AT&T has 300+ partners online and mobile publisher sites and applications (it just added Foursquare, for instance).

But Krantz doesn’t foresee deals dominating advertising by SMBs (no “dealmageddon”). He explained there are four elements a business needs to advertise (of which deals is just one):

� Awareness (contextually placed ads)
� Directional (online profiles in directories and search engines)
� Presence & Social (an established online presence)
� Promotions (includes several elements, including everyday savings, loyalty programs and daily deals)

AT&T Interactive announced this week the launch of in-app ads on its mobile ad network, an extension of YP Local Ad Network. In-app local ads are served within mobile apps based on a user’s location. Earlier this year, AT&T Interactive piloted in-app advertising and reported generating more than 750 million local ad impressions in three months. The goal of in-app local ads is two-fold: offer participating mobile publishers an enhanced way to generate revenues and help advertisers increase potential reach.

“We’re taking advantage of the power of local advertising and the proliferation of location-aware mobile handsets,” said AT&T Interactive President and CEO David Krantz in a statement. Krantz briefed BIA/Kelsey that mobile now makes up a third of AT&T’s local search.

Last month we predicted in our mobile local forecast that local mobile advertising will grow from 51 percent of total mobile advertising to 70 percent by 2015.

Mobile ad networks will be in the spotlight at BIA/Kelsey’s DMS ’11: The Summit for Small-Business Advertising Solutions, Sept. 21-23, in Denver. We’ve got the following session on deck, with BIA/Kelsey’s Mike Boland moderating:

Mobile Ad Networks: The Stakes for SMBs
Mobile brings new customers in different parts of the purchase funnel. How should SMBs engage? The emergence of local mobile ad networks is a major step in bringing volume and engagement to SMBs. We’ll hear from industry leaders.

Dan Gilmartin, VP Marketing, Where
Craig Hagopian, COO, xAd
Greg Hallinan, CMO, Verve Wireless

Maybe it’s not my glasses. In fact, all those straight lines with hard edges are quickly disappearing. Technology is making everything that was simple much more confusing. Luckily, for all the analysts at BIA/Kelsey, we have the privilege of spending our entire work days bringing sense and clarity to this rapidly changing local commerce space.

For instance, a couple of years ago I went out and suggested the notion of the three Ps — “Presence,” “Performance” and “Permanence.” I spoke of these three buckets at the YPA (now LSA) annual convention in San Diego in 2009.

We’ve now evolved this construct to “Media,” “Commerce” and “Engagement” — the three pillars of local commerce. Media is what you’d expect — advertising and promotional messages necessary to drive both awareness and action. Commerce is the conversion of those messages into customers, clients and patients (if you are a medically oriented SMB). And Engagement is the process of retaining and engaging those customers as they move from one-time customers to long-time fans.

These buckets of activity are becoming more and more solved by cloud-based solutions — nearly anyone and everyone figures he or she can get a piece of the action. Consequently, it is not surprising to watch transactional companies such as American Express nibble around the edges of advertising and marketing solutions. Nor will we be surprised when companies such as AT&T Interactive begin to solve the riddle of social media, marketing and engagement by offering easy-to-use solutions for the millions of U.S. merchants struggling to make sense of — and money in — the new marketplace.

Which brings me to the “rimshot” of the day. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, the longtime mobile business phone leader, suffered a 20 percent decline in its market valuation Friday. In just three years, the company has plummeted from a lofty $150 a share and a $90B market valuation to a skimpy $30 a share and a $18B market valuation. It makes one think — as one of RIM’s largest investors has suggested — that RIM cannot adopt and adapt fast enough to keep pace with the relentlessly aggressive product initiatives driving consumers to the iPhone and to Android devices. At this point, it appears that RIM missed the boat, like Palm did, when it tried to milk its way to success while Apple and Google chose to break the existing model.

As companies in the local commerce space ponder their strategic direction in the coming months and years, the fate of their company and their competitors will ride heavily on the ability to transform — not just evolve and nibble on the edges. It likely won’t be enough to dabble in adjacent markets or products or service. It won’t be enough to tinker with the business model. It won’t be enough to hope that the marketplace stands still just long enough to get out and with a hefty retirement in place. Indeed, technology is altering the competitive landscape and the dimensions of the marketplace like never before.

The Deals space is so hot, yet there are many unanswered questions about it. We know it will be big, but who really knows what it is going to look like 18 months from now?

With that in mind, we have developed a brand-new addition to our regular conference schedule: Deals 3D, a day-and-a-half event taking place in the afternoon of July 18 and all of July 19 at the contemporary Mission Bay Conference Center at UC San Francisco. The event will feature 40+ top level executives and entrepreneurs; a lot of cool demos; and, well – our typically great BIA/Kelsey networking.

Keynotes include MasterCard’s Gary Kearns; AT&T Interactive’s David Krantz and Facebook Local’s Lexi Reese. Featured speakers include such leaders as Microsoft’s Charles Dyer; Foursquare’s Tristan Walker; Loopt’s Sam Altman; BuyWithMe’s Andrew Moss; Shopkick’s Evan Tana; and Savings.com CEO Loren Bendele.

Old friends like Greg Sterling are on the agenda, too, and the event is being cochaired by The Dealmap’s Jon Sofield. You can register here.

SPEAKERS: DEALS 3D (As of June 9)
Samy Aboel-Nil, President and COO, Tippr
Sam Altman, CEO, Loopt
Derek Beckmann, CEO, Descuentro Libre
Loren Bendele, CEO, Savings.com
Robert Boniface, COO, iCoupon
Lilia Martinez-Coburn, VP, TownHog
Matt Coen, CEO, Second Street Media
Kimberly Cook, VP, GreenLink Networks
Charles Dyer, Director, Mobile, Local and Commerce, Microsoft
Jonathan Dyke, COO, Edo Interactive
Perry Evans, Founder and CEO, Closely
Paul Gain, CEO, Monster Offers
Dave Galvan, VP, Schedulicity
Andrea Gilman, VP, MasterCard
David Goldfarb, President, YourBestDeals.com
Alistair Goodman, CEO, Placecast
Oliver Gratry, CFO, Analog Analytics
Jimmy Hendricks, CEO, DealCurrent
Gary Kearns, Group Executive, Information Services, MasterCard
Jonty Kelt, CEO, Group Commerce
Jim Kerr, VP, Triton Media
Jared Kopf, Founder, Homerun
David Krantz, President and CEO, AT&T Interactive
Terry Kukle, VP, Metroland
Bill Lange, CEO, Full Slate
Malcolm Lewis, Senior VP and GM, Local.com/SpreeBird
James Moran, Founder, Yipit
Andrew Moss, Chief Strategy Officer, BuyWithMe
Darin Myman, President and CEO, PeopleString
Florent Peyre, VP, Gilt City
Prashant Nedungadi, CEO, Nimble Commerce
Rich Razgaitis, GM, ReachLocal Deals, ReachLocal
Lexi Reese, Director, Local Sales, Facebook
Jon Sofield, VP, Business Development, The Dealmap
Greg Sterling, Senior Analyst, Opus Research
David Strebinger, CEO, Wantsa
Evan Tana, VP, Product Management, Shopkick
Vinicius Vacanti, Cofounder and CEO, Yipit
Dan Visnick, VP of Marketing, The Dealmap
Darren Waddell, VP, MerchantCircle
Josh Walker, CEO, CityVoter
Tristan Walker, Director, Foursquare
Stuart Wall, CEO, SignPost
Rebecca Watson, VP, RadiumOne

Chuck Lee, AT&T’s executive director of Internet Ad Solutions, has a casual yet matter-of-fact way of delivering messages that stick. Based on results from the recent Vertical Shopper Study that AT&T commissioned, his message to the ILM East audience was clear: “You gotta know what people are looking for when you market.” The study highlights that consumers are increasingly turning to specialty vertical sites to deliver speedy value and/or information.

Six high-usage, at-risk revenue verticals were examined: legal, health care, contractors, auto, restaurants and insurance. By analyzing clickstream patterns, Lee and team noticed that “innovative verticals are growing and taking lead away from market leaders.”

They are doing so by meeting shoppers’ needs in the aforementioned value (best price, lowest quote) and education (free advice, “ask a lawyer”, “how-to” content) considerations. These two themes even supersede reviews as essential consumer motivations. Lee also noted that consumer needs and behaviors across verticals have a generational spin.

The upshot for Lee: “AT&T is a broad site, and vertical players are shaking up the marketplace.” Now the dilemma becomes how to innovate or partner to build this vertical functionality into the site. To borrow from Jim Collins in “Good to Great,” the Vertical Shopper Study was the legacy company’s way of “confronting the brutal facts.”

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that AT&T Interactive will join the growing list of directory companies to launch a daily deal site. AT&T Interactive CEO David Krantz told The Journal that he believes AT&T could be “fast followers” and that there is still ample opportunity in the daily deals space, initially popularized by Chicago-based Groupon. AT&T plans to offer a daily deal in each of its local markets. AT&T is reportedly developing the service with the help of a third party it has not disclosed.

Once it launches, AT&T will join Yellowbook, Yellow Pages Group (Canada), PagesJaunes, Direct West and Sensis on the list of Yellow Pages companies with group buying products. Directory publishers see group buying as an opportunity to increase sales volume, sell off cycle and appeal to businesses that are not core Yellow Pages advertisers, like specialty retail, higher end personal services and dining establishments.

It’s Yellow Pages earnings season again. AT&T is usually among the first out with its results, and the latest numbers show a worsening picture for its Advertising Solutions business, which includes print Yellow Pages and yp.com. The results are compounded by very modest growth in Internet revenues, an area that AT&T is counting on to stabilize the AS business.

Advertising Solutions’ third-quarter results, posted today, show that through nine months, revenues dropped 16.9 percent, from US$3.6 billion to US$3.0 billion. For the third quarter, results were down 17.3 percent over the prior year. This represents an acceleration of last year’s pace, when overall results decreased 11.8 percent for the nine months ended Sept. 30.

AT&T’s Internet revenues grew a modest 5.8 percent in Q3 to US$239 million. At this time last year, AT&T posted a 20.7 percent Q3 2009 online growth rate.