17 November 2008

The Mood at PhocusWright - Day 1, Innovation

Hi,

Based on purely my virtual barstool research - this PhocusWright is a bit more sombre in mood, actually way more sober than has been seen in a long time. There is still a lot of innovation and a lot of people chasing - well - zero dollars. Most of that got sucked up by HomeAway. But hope springs eternal.

So what has come out so far.

This morning there was a number of players who have been focused on the Vacation Rental market. Hmmm lots of guys chasing a market that might be a particular hard to reach and even harder to monetize.

There was also some interesting products on deals on fares. And then there were a lot of people looking at the itinerary and trip repair.

So what can I infer from this? There are some good stuff out there who are looking at the long tail of things that some of the big travel sites will eventually get round to and either create themselves or buy these guys. More likely the former.

There was a lot of innovation about what you "could" do rather than what you will use because it fully works.

I also saw a lot of people who need to hone up on their presentation skills! And of course there were some REAL pros at this who could have been selling soap.

However it shows that there is still life out there albeit - this is going to be a VERY long winter. I hope these guys can self fund for the next 18 months

Oh yes and Cutest Video (and most annoying product that I have had to unload) goes to Worldmate.(More later on the last parts of the day.

Cheers

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