Seattle - A reptilian-like segmented steel tube snakes above the exposed air ducts and brick walls of the Sidewalk office in Seattle, holding up the network wires; by the end of the year, Microsoft expects to have as many as 15 Sidewalk offices with identical steel vertebrae in cities around the world.
But although the upcoming Sidewalks will have the same technological backbone, the same content formula, and even similar architecture to the Sidewalk that launched Thursday in Seattle, each site in Microsoft's enormous local guide network is charged with an individualist mission: Be unique.
The Microsoft PR spiel for Sidewalk consists of four heavily emphasized words: "personalized," "local," "decision-making" and "editorial." As is oft repeated in the press meetings Sidewalk has been holding all week, the Sidewalk goal is to "create great editorial content to give people the information they need to make decisions."
What this means is an impressive technology backbone, filled in by a database of local content. Thanks to extensive market research, Microsoft is convinced that people are too busy and therefore locked in to routines; they need Sidewalk to advise them on where to go, what to see, and what to eat once they get there. Besides short features and reviews, the site contains extensive databases full of restaurants, bars, music, arts, events, athletic activities, and more. Fill in the customization survey, and "personal agents" will update you on when your favorite band is coming to town. Or click on the local freeway map to get speed-specific traffic updates, courtesy of the Department of Transportation cameras.
The technology and basic interface that drive the sites will be identical, a formula dictated out of Redmond. According to Sidewalk Seattle manager Kevin Eagan, cities may also share some content and feature ideas, when there is overlap. Microsoft materials from Cinemania and Music Central will be included in various databases, and the sites will likely share national advertisers too.
In its quest to provide thousands of pages of city-specific content, however, Sidewalk is plundering the local talent. "Everyone in Seattle has either worked for Microsoft, or slept with someone who's worked for Microsoft," comments one local writer. "And now that they're doing Sidewalk, every freelancer is going to work for them too."
Besides hiring 14 editorial staffers from the local papers and radio and TV stations, it is relying heavily on the freelance pool. According to Egan, one to two dozen journalists and "consultants" are scouring the streets of Seattle every day to add reviews, entertainment suggestions, and upcoming events to the database. Not to mention the alliances that Sidewalk is signing with local papers and publishing houses to help fill out listings.
Eagan refers to the steel cable vertebrae as adding a "close dynamic" to the offices in the Sidewalk network. Multiply the Seattle site and its staff by 15, all networked by wires and mandates from Redmond, and you've got one massive dynamic. Brought to you by Microsoft.
