One component of the conference that many participants have expressed interest in is our new Strategic Exchange Sessions (SES) program, which replaces the traditional Exhibition Hall.

The SES program allows companies to easily make appointments with industry executives before and in between scheduled conference events and set the stage for profitable business initiatives. YPA will assist participating companies by listing contact information for those hosting events on our Web site, providing some helpful suggestions on managing the sessions and hosting a Webinar later in the month to answer questions.

SES appointments will be held at private tables, poolside cabanas, villas or executive suites at the Paris! Hotel, and are priced at a significant discount compared with the expenses associated with a tradeshow booth or traveling to meet with prospects.

For more information on setting up a SES appointment for your company, visit the Yellow Pages Association Annual Conference page.

The exciting statistic headlining the BIA/Kelsey study is that nearly all consumers (97%) currently use online media when researching products or services in their local area—a clear indication of the growing importance of our industry’s local search efforts.

Specifically, the study found that nearly half of online consumers (48%) use Internet Yellow Pages before buying. In addition, the study found that 42% of online consumers use shopping comparison sites and 25% use vertical sites in advance of making a purchase.

This data is directly in line with our industry’s approach to the online local search, the details of which we’ve shared on this blog. Over the past few months, Yellow Pages companies have added a variety of new features, services, and outlets to boost their online presence and take advantage of strong consumer interest in existing and up-and-coming local search services.

I’m also encouraged by additional data which shows that consumers are now using an average of 7.9 different media sources when shopping for products and services in their local area, up from 6.5 sources in 2009 and 5.8 sources in 2008. Our industry’s integrated approach ensures that our clients are able to reach the largest audience possible on the growing array of platforms consumers are using.

Since the start of the year, we’ve shared announcements from several major Yellow Pages companies including SuperMedia, Dex One Corp., The Berry Company, and Yellow Pages Group about new services, partnerships, and acquisitions that provide small business with the means to combine the most recent digital marketing possibilities with traditional print and online options that they’ve used for years.

Today, it’s not just about Internet Yellow Pages, which millions of small business already know and use. I’m also talking about new vertical web sites including digital coupon sites, shopping comparison sites and user review sites that are among the latest drivers of local leads and are increasingly being added to the portfolios of various Yellow Pages companies.

For my thoughts, check out my Search Engine Land column here.

A key reason that the legislation was overturned in a bipartisan vote is that Yellow Pages companies – both collectively and individually – have already introduced consumer choice programs aimed at helping consumers manage their print deliveries.

As we told the Denver Post, our industry has no economic incentive to deliver a phone book to someone who doesn’t want one.   That’s why we launched www.YellowPagesOptOut.com to make it easy for consumers to find information about stopping delivery of directories they don’t want.

We’re working on a number of fronts to educate the public about the industry’s efforts.  Generally, when we can have a conversation with a concerned individual about what we’ve done so far and what we are dedicated to doing going forward, we’re able to demonstrate that the industry is working to be responsive to consumers.

One topic that comes up often is how we are impacting the environment – specifically, how many trees are cut down to make directory paper.  One thing that shocks people most is that it is not necessary to use new trees to produce print Yellow Pages.  Directories today are produced from recycled materials (mostly old newspapers and old directories) and byproducts of the lumber industry. Along with recycle fiber, the waste wood chips generated from converting a round tree into square lumber is used to make our paper.

One other important factor that I think many on the Colorado legislative committee considered is the role Yellow Pages companies play in the local economy.

We work directly with nearly three million small business advertisers to help generate local leads for their products and services.  Given the difficultly small businesses face in this difficult environment, it isn’t a good time to legislate one of their best marketing tools.

Plus, Yellow Pages companies themselves are an economic engine by employing thousands of people and paying tax revenue to state and local governments.

I’m hopeful that Colorado’s decision will help increase dialogue about the continued importance of the Yellow Pages industry to communities and all our efforts to be responsive to consumers.

Yesterday, the company took another step in that direction by announcing a new agreement with Yelp, the popular local business review site, to provide consumer feedback on its local search listings.

Starting next month, DexKnows.com’s approximately 500,000 small business clients will begin seeing Yelp-branded content—including ratings and reviews written by the Yelp community—appear within their individual local businesses listings. The Yelp content will complement the existing user-generated content already provided by DexKnows.com users.

User review sites such as Yelp are very popular with consumers. Consumer opinions posted online are among the most trusted forms of advertising, second only to recommendations from personal acquaintances, according to the Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey released in July 2009.

For more, check out the press release by clicking here.

In a clear win for small businesses nationwide, YP provider SuperMedia announced yesterday that it is continuing and expanding its successful SuperGuarantee program, which provides consumers with added confidence when hiring contractors, plumbers, auto body repair shops and thousands of other service-based businesses.

The program, launched last year, ensures that customers of participating SuperGuarantee businesses can rely on SuperMedia to help resolve any service issues they experience—or SuperMedia will reimburse the customer up to $500 of the cost of labor for the service. The continuation of the program speaks to how well it has succeeded in generating new sales leads for SuperMedia’s clients.

SuperMedia is also expanding the program to include an auto-specific offering that provides a free powertrain limited warranty covering many automotive components up to $3,000 for consumers who find and purchase qualified vehicles through Superpages.com or EveryCarListed.com, the company’s vertical auto website. Additionally, the company is expanding the capabilities of its mobile applications so that users can sign up for SuperGuarantee, register for service appointments, and file claims—all from their mobile devices.

SuperMedia is also creating a new ShieldPower program that gives small business clients more ways to advertise themselves as part of SuperGuarantee, including the ability to use the SuperGuarantee logo on the front door of their businesses, on their Web sites, business cards, TV ads, and more.

For more on SuperMedia’s announcement, click here.

According to the piece, the rate of decline in Yellow Pages print revenues has started to bottom out. The two executives also agreed that the negative performance of Yellow Pages’ print units is due in large part to the tough economic climate rather than a significant long-term shift in print usage and that confidence overall is increasing.

Even as Yellow Pages companies continue to add new digital and mobile services, partnerships, and acquisitions to their offerings, print remains a component of the product mix that helps local businesses generate sales leads.

For the full post, visit the BIA/Kelsey blog by clicking here.

What does this mean for our local advertisers? Among the various YP platforms consumers use to search for travel agencies, our data shows local businesses make up nearly two out of every three references. Because nearly 60% of all users do not have just one travel agency in mind when turning to the Yellow Pages, there is a real opportunity to generate qualified leads and establish long-term client relationships. In fact, travel agents that invest in YP advertising are typically seeing a 3-to-1 return on investment.

According to Chris Russo, president and chairman of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), Yellow Pages has been a critical tool in the overall marketing plan of the organization’s members.

For more information – as well as tips from the ASTA on selecting the best travel agency to fit your needs – click here.

So it’s no surprise why we selected Transformers as the theme for the 2010 Yellow Pages Association Conference, to be held Saturday, April 17—Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at the Paris! Hotel in Las Vegas.

This year’s program is designed to provide more insider perspective, more targeted presentations, and more observations from thought-leaders to really focus on our transformation as an industry and the road ahead.

Some of our distinguished speakers include:

• Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President for Eastman Kodak Company, is often cited as a leading marketing expert worldwide. As a veteran of dramatic industry change, he will reveal how Kodak is successfully transforming itself into an innovative leader in digital imaging—and what he thinks it takes to succeed in the digital age
• Jesper Karrbrink, CEO of Swedish local search company Eniro, will discuss how his company is embracing online and mobile technologies while also maintaining a profitable and effective print business
• Ben Legg, Group COO at European Directories, will discuss how he is transforming his group into a multi-media sales organization. Legg was previously COO of Google Europe.

In addition to speaker sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in one-on-one conversations with industry leaders and innovators, and attend a variety of networking receptions, events, and Strategic Exchange Sessions (more on this later) designed to encourage dialogue and networking.

Join Yellow Pages industry professionals from around the world at this premier event. For more information, including the list of speakers, agenda, and registration form, please visit the conference page on the YPA website.

While directories and advertisers are increasingly leveraging online channels in their marketing plans, a new survey by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding U.S. broadband adoption shows that a significant number of American consumers still haven’t signed on to the digital grid.

Some interesting stats from the survey include:

• Two-thirds of American adults use high-speed Internet connections at home, but approximately 35% of Americans—about 93 million consumers—are not connected where they live.
• 22% of U.S. adults are not Internet users at all. This group includes older Americans (median age of 60) and a high share of Hispanics (20%).
• Specific population segments trail the combined average in broadband adoption at home (65%), including low-income consumers (40%), consumers with disabilities (42%), rural consumers (50%), African-Americans (59%), and Hispanics (49%).
• 70% of non-broadband adopters have cell phones.
• African-Americans and Hispanics are more active mobile Internet users than whites – 39% to 27%.

These data remind us that although so much of our attention these days is focused on online growth and the need to align our advertisers with their target demographics in that space, we cannot forget that a sizable number of consumers do not use the Internet to conduct local search. Additionally, we also need to develop strategies that leverage the fact that certain groups are more prone to use mobile Internet search when looking for local business information.

That said, the way we define “demographics” and “groups” and their related media behavior may be changing. A new study from the University of Southern California, the Hallmark Channel, and E-Poll released this week argues that media behavior is best evaluated by looking at “life stages” as opposed to demographics. The report, which looked at media behaviors at eight major life-stage groups—including teens, college students, recent graduates, singles with no kids, new nesters, established families, married couples with no children and empty nesters—found distinct media usage differences at each life stage.

From our perspective, the results of these studies confirm what our industry has been saying for years. While social-economic and ethnic demographics are clearly factors in determining media usage, the needs and wants of consumers change as they grow up, buy their first homes, start families, send their children off to college, etc. At each stage, Yellow Pages—irrespective of the form in which it is delivered—provides an important service.