Paul has been active in the local+social space for the last five years, which has included creating a pioneering video website introducing city neighbourhoods. Now a digital strategist at Imagination, his recent #sixweeks project used social media tools to challenge basic assumptions about consumer behaviour and saw a number of companies pay him for being their customer.

You can find him on:

• His blog: http://www.paulmccrudden.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/crudden
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-mccrudden/0/7b/935

Local Social Summit Speaker Biography Footnote: As set out in this post, our policy is to publish Speaker Biographies as is.

Please feel to comment here, on the LinkedIn group or via Twitter.

Local Gets Social – The Impact of User Generated Content and the Promise of Real-Time Search

With the increase of local sites that feature user generated content and in particular reviews plus the real-time nature of platforms such as Twitter, consumers now have access to unprecedented amounts of local information. In this panel we will explore many  questions.  Do we risk information overload for consumers? What is the promise of real time search? How is the power of word of mouth being used by consumers? What are the challenges for publishers, advertisers and in particular local business owners? We will also explore new business models and opportunities that have been generated by UGC.
Moderator: Greg Sterling, Internet/Mobile Analyst – Screenwerk
Panel:

• Seb Provencher, Co-Founder Praized Media
• David Ingram, CEO Brownbook
• Sokratis Papafloratos, CEO TrustedPlaces
• Andrew Hunter, General Manager Qype

Please feel to comment here, on the LinkedIn group or via Twitter.

Local Content & Monetisation – A View from Europe

The local media landscape in Europe is unique in many ways and in particular is different to the US market. However, Google still dominates on the search side (both in terms of advertising and traffic volumes) in many European markets and is particularly strong in the UK. Yet Google is also a great source of traffic and revenue for many local publishers. In this panel we examine what makes local media different in Europe.  We will explore how media owners are attracting users and growing traffic. Will look at innovative partnerships and business models. In addition we will discuss what strategies are working for attracting local advertising revenue and look at where growth is coming from 2010 and beyond.
Moderator: Jonathan Ewert, Co-Founder Skepsis Group
Panel:

• Simon Greenman, MD – Online, European Directories
• James Thornett, Executive Product Manager, BBC Local and Location Services
• Ben Barney, Akesios
• Joachim Helfer, Müller Medien
• Roland Bryan, Associated Northcliffe Digital

David spent around 10 years in traditional business directory firms (Thomson, Scoot, BT) before joining a file sharing startup in 2006 which provided the bridge from traditional publishing to the peer-produced model.

In 1996 he led the development and launch of a mass market e-commerce solution for SMEs at the directory company Scoot, and went on to head up all product management for an international e-procurement company during the early 00s.  He’s consulted on digital asset management products at Sony and on strategies for monetizing BT’s online
directory enquiries service on BT.com.

In 2005 he joined a file sharing start-up to head up product strategy and saw that grow from 3 people to a team of over 30 on both sides of the Atlantic, before starting www.brownbook.net with Marc Lyne in2008.

• Follow David on Twitter: http://twitter.com/daveingram
• Linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/davidingram

Local Social Summit Speaker Biography Footnote: As set out in this post, our policy is to publish Speaker Biographies as is.