Wooooo!
Jeremy Wagstaff of the WSJ Asia, profiles Tokyoartbeat!!! I can't offer you a link to the article because it's behind a subscription wall, but I've received permission to post the section on TAB.
Loose Connections
The Challenge Of Becoming the Main Event
Event Web sites like EVDB.com are dealing with a slightly different kind of scheduling issue than a family or office calendar. These sites cover public events, drawing traffic from people who want to go out and check out an art gallery, for example. But the challenges are similar: Making an attractive interface, getting the data to the people when they need it, and, most important for these kind of Web sites, putting enough information in there to make the site worth visiting.
Several event sites have had trouble getting off the ground because of the challenges. Upcoming.org, for example, is still struggling to reach critical mass. But one success story hints at a couple of approaches that may work: Not worrying too much about clever technology, and not trying to cover too large an area. Two young Frenchmen living in Tokyo, who got tired of not being able to find out what was going on, last year set up an events Web site called Tokyo Art Beat (tokyoartbeat.com). Instead of spending a lot of time focusing on the technology, Olivier Thereaux and Paul Baron focused on the information, gathering a team of 20 volunteers to add as many events as they could before launching last October. It might not be the flashiest of Web sites, but it's well organized and comprehensive. And with two million page views last month, not too shabby for a volunteer Web site focusing on only one city. "Without judging other projects, we're thinking in terms of community and service, not so much in terms of a technology showcase," says Mr. Thereaux. Hear, hear.
Setting Your Online Agenda, May 20, 2005 (Asia WSJ)
TAB roqs!! ;)