HITAKER ASSOCIATESW
The directory market -- including Directory Enquiries (DQ), printed yellow pages and white pages directories, Internet directories, personal directories, and now even Internet search engines -- is undergoing tremendous change. The directory world watched closely as the United Kingdom deregulated its DQ market. France, Italy, and other countries are in the midst of similar deregulation. The fifth European Directory Marketplace Conference (EDM05) -- to be held in Paris at the four-star Marriott Renaissance Paris Hotel La Defense on February 7-8, 2005 -- will look at developing opportunities and strategies in this new environment.
While market participants are still adapting to the regulatory changes sweeping through Europe, participants must also adapt to the entry of Google and other search engines that offer competing "local search" capabilities. Many of the most promising strategies utilize technology to pursue "horizontal integration" to achieve further growth and profitability. These strategies must reflect an understanding of the impact of search engines on their market and a determination of whether the search engines are friends and partners, or foes and competitors.
According to Stu Whitaker, President of Whitaker Associates, participants are pursuing one or more of four key strategies: geographical expansion into countries such as France; expansion into other directory areas such as printed directories and search engines; development of wireless listings; and enhancement of current offerings with capabilities such as speech recognition and location based services (LBS).
EDM05 will help delegates develop a better understanding of DQ changes underway, opportunities being created, and pitfalls to avoid. It will also provide insights into technological issues involved in the development of new directory services. Representatives from industry and government will be in attendance and available for discussion.
Information Services Extended, Inc. (ISx) (http://www.isxinc.com) has signed on as a Gold Sponsor for this conference. Other industry leaders that will join us as Silver Sponsors include varetis AG (http://www.varetis.com) and VoltDelta (http://www.voltdelta.com).
The European Directory Marketplace (EDM) conference series is the largest annual gathering of DQ providers in Europe. Past conferences have attracted participants from twenty-eight countries and over one hundred forty organizations. Discounts are available for early registration.
For further information concerning EDM05 or to register, please visit http://www.whitaker.com.
Steffi Wallis, Production Manager of Whitaker Associates, +1-917-226-5062.
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