Reboot: Your Own Garcon
May 22 2000
As eBay brims with Elian Gonzalez memorabilia, Reboot is placing bids on a collection of not-so-politically-charged products.
The other Jeeves. Until now, busy people looking for an online secretary to book their restaurant reservations or do their dry cleaning have had to turn to specialized sites like Mylackey.com.
Now, Fairfax, Va.-based VIPdesk lets any Web site offer its visitors a personal secretary or concierge. Visitors to AOL Digital City can interact with a concierge, by either e-mail or live chat, and get anything from help planning a bachelorette party to theater recommendations; the concierge will even buy the theater tickets. And the service is free for visitors.
Online businesses can add VIPdesk's Ask the Concierge service to their site for a sliding fee, ranging from 25 cents a year per unique visitor to $9.05 per customer per year.
But while the service is a no-brainer for local guides like Digital City, does a concierge make sense for other types of sites? VIPdesk says that any site catering to busy people, from travel to grocery sites, can benefit. So far the company has signed 14 customers, including MasterCard and Freddie Mac .
Unconventional convention. Ever since the Web was born, people have proclaimed trade shows obsolete. But don't count them out yet. Unlike the glut of companies trying to supplant real-world trade shows with online replicas, iConvention and competitor eTradeshow are creating online trade shows that supplement their real-world counterparts. Citrus Heights, Calif.-based iConvention, which launched its site in April, enables convention attendees to register online and schedule appointments, as well as visit Web versions of exhibitor booths. Exhibitors who want more than basic information posted online can pay for an upgrade like multimedia capabilities. The company would not disclose, though, the percentage of exhibitors who opted for upgrades.
After paying for floor space and other trade show expenses, businesses still have to pay for iConvention's virtual booths. And iConvention collects a fee of about $30 per exhibitor from the association putting on the show.
Tell us about your new products at netreturns@thestandard.com.