June 16th, 2005, 6:44 pm

GoingOn networks: Tony Perkins venture enticing AAN editors

So, what does Tony Perkins, author of 1999’s The Internet Bubble, and founder of AlwaysOn, tell a room full of alternative weekly editors at the 2005 AAN Convention about the Open Media world?

Well … Not a whole lot of stuff that’s new to uber dorky me. But Perkins gave a good overview of what “Open Media” should be for our print editors who are a little behind on the times: open your site up to comment, build a social network, create a participatory media environment …

My opinion? He’s a little dry, and I doubt he struck gold with any of the dinosaur editors … (kidding, I’m kidding …). And, if I was going to be perfectly cynical, I’d say he was plugging his newest product, GoingOn Networks, which is a social networking tool that he’d “give away free.”

I asked … you knew I would … what was in it for him. Equivocation, starting … now: Well, what I didn’t tell you is that I would own the advertising on it … Perkins said. He elaborated, stating he’d put forth a generous profit sharing arrangement in which papers would get maybe … er, 50 percent of revenue. We could choose whether or not to put a portion of our own ads up there. And later, answering the questions of the group, he said they might eventually start charging for it …

Look for it at AlwaysOn Innovation Summit at Stanford July 19, 2005.