The sold-out InfoCommerce 2004 Conference targeted executives and lead buyers from the directories and database publishing community, but its theme of a shifting balance of power seems to have attracted players from a broad array of leading publishers and content service providers who are seeking the answers to how to position their content services effectively in an increasingly open and competitive online environment. While print is still an important part of the directory and database sales environment for many publishers, this year's InfoCommerce conference assembled a community that is eagerly seeking how to position their products and services in an environment overshadowed by the power shifting to online-savvy content purchasers who recognize the value of these services but set their expectations of them against the capabilities of leading consumer-oriented search engines and portals. As InfoCommerce Group President Russell Perkins noted in his introductory address, "The Web exposes competition and levels the playing field." If your database or directory service doesn't please, the alternative is a click away - or less so if they're finding specific products and services from these publishers via contextual ads placed by search engines. With these more intense competitive pressures, Russell Perkins sees one key to distinguishing database and directory content is focusing on the "Three R's - Ratings, Rankings and Recommendations." It's no longer enough to set out purified content in electronic format to establish a thriving electronic content product. Simplifying selection processes with community and editorial content that amplifies fact-gathering and features with trusted expert views provides context that today's users expect if they are to trust a content product on an ongoing basis. Other forms of context such as workflow integration and effective use of contextual advertising also play an important role for directory and database publishers, making it even more essential for content suppliers to get to know their markets on a much more intimate basis than ever before. The InfoCommerce conference is proving to be a remarkably rich environment in which to explore these issues and their potential solutions.

The following weblog entries provide blow-by-blow coverage of each of the main panel and presentation sessions, along with other key coverage. Enjoy!