Jason Calacanis: ‘Wrong About Local Too,” ILM REPORT
Jason Calacanis keynoting at the Kelsey Interactive Local Media conference underway in Los Angeles?
Conference producer, Peter Krasilovsky, has been vigorously defending his choice leading up to the conference kick-off yesterday, fending off bad “SEO is bullshit” (Calacanis) vibes.
When I arrived at the conference Wednesday, I underscored to Krasilovsky the irony of Calacanis’ Kelsey keynote as well, but for a different reason, a Calacanis-Facebook one.I told Krasilovsky about Calacanis’ personal blog post last week which used a distastefull pig graphic (below) to portray Facebook in a social graph critique headlined “The wonderful horrible life of Facebook users and their data, or data hogs get slaughtered.”
The concluding Calacanis message to Facebook: “If you are a hog you wil be slaughtered.”
Small world then, that a top Facebook exec would keynote Kelsey in the morning, followed by a Calacanis top billing in the afternoon.
Krasilovsky opened his “conversation” with Calacanis today by referencing the Calacanis blog post I mentioned to him:“So Jason, Facebook was here this morning and you have been critical of Facebook.”I had a question prepared for Calacanis, but inexplicably no opportunity for Q & A was provided. All 12 previous Kelsey keynotes and panels I have attended here in Los Angeles have had ample time for audience questions, a feature greatly appreciated by attendees.Here is my question for Calacanis:
As you are critical of Facebook, some are critical of your startup, Mahalo, estimating it to be a Web 1.0 style directory.
My two part question is 1) What types of formal business opportunity analysis did you perform, if any, before deciding on the Mahalo concept for your current venture? and 2) Were you considering any other types of Internet business models?
Judging from Calacanis’ prepared remarks, neither a SEO or local venture was on his short list of startup possibilities.
Calacanis explained his infamous “SEO is bullshit” remark at a SEO conference by claiming ignorance of the SEO business, and the SEO conference audience he was addressing.
Calacanis demonstrated an ignorance of his conference audience and topic once again today in his Kelsey “conversation,” by asserting his belief that the local business “is not worth a lot of money.“
After asking if there were any local people in the audience, Calacanis offered that “local people are smart now.”
Calacanis did get something right about local: “I am probably wrong about local too,” he admitted.
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Local Advertising Online: SMEs Hold the Billion Dollar Keys, ILM ANALYSIS
The Future of Local IS (Google) Search: ILM REPORT and
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