Internet high-tech radio show plans expansion to major cities

LONGMONT — Colorado residents have been able to view and listen to their technology business news and interviews online for nearly 10 years on the w3w3 Media Network.

The Internet “radio show” has undergone several transformations throughout the years, and, now, owners Larry and Pat Nelson are poised for expansion.

They are developing plans to open bureaus in other cities in addition to their offices in Longmont, Denver and Fort Collins. The couple might eventually replace the Longmont location with one in Boulder.

Twenty cities have been identified and five or six city bureaus are planned for either this year or next. Milwaukee, Austin, Texas, Boston, Portland, Ore. and Atlanta are under serious consideration. The couple said this would not be a franchise; rather, it would be a licensed deal.

“The only thing I’m allowed to say is it will be a shared revenue model,” Larry said.

The pair also plans to open a radio studio with a live audience and archive each show for at least six months. They intend to make the studio space available to others in the community, either by in-kind trades, sponsorships or by renting out the space.

Additionally, new software is being developed so “listeners” can more easily navigate and search the site for technology news.

The couple believes they will lease studio space somewhere in the Denver/Boulder Corridor before undertaking the addition of bureaus. However, an April 20 executive advisory board meeting will determine how much expansion will take place this year and how much will occur in 2005.

The company name gives a nod to the three Ws that precede all Web site addresses. The site boasts 200,000 visitors per month and has 10,000 people on a weekly mailing list. With even a 28K modem, “listeners” can access audio archived interviews and view some on-site videos and slide show photos at any time of the day or night.

In fact, Larry and Pat Nelson developed the site for this very convenience. The couple had a multinational business consulting company for 35 years. In 1984, they settled in Colorado and hosted a technology news program on local radio stations. They began to empathize with listeners who caught the show in the middle or at the end.

“The biggest thing was people wanted to hear an interview, and it not being available when people wanted to hear it,” Pat said. Also, with w3w3, “An entire interview is commercial free.”

Because the duo was Internet savvy and this type of venture can operate out of one’s home, startup costs were almost nonexistent. Though the team would not disclose revenues for 2003 or 2002, they did say that revenues increased by more than 50 percent every year since 2000.

W3w3 has three revenue streams. Companies can become sponsors, meaning that they help finance entire sections or subsections of the Web site. They can become advertisers, in that they can pay for a logo with a link and sometimes a message. Longstanding companies also can consult with the w3w3 team on how they can more effectively market their businesses. W3w3 representatives can assist businesses by writing their ad copy or by helping them with their design work.

The online media company has seven regular contract workers, including newly hired Jessica Wright, former director of marketing and events for the Colorado Software and Internet Association. Wright is the w3w3 chief operating officer.

Lu Cordova, president of nonprofit CTEK Inc., a volunteer-based business consulting organization, has been included in w3w3’s programming on numerous occasions. W3w3 has interviewed CTEK representatives for panel discussions, personal profiles and has promoted the company’s events.

Cordova said w3w3 differs from other technology news outlets not only in its multimedia delivery system, but also because it actually helps market the businesses it covers. For example, w3w3 representatives were on the steering committee that helped strategize and launch the inaugural CTEK entrepreneur ball.

“It’s fostering technology growth,” she said.

CTEK also refers some companies to w3w3 for marketing advice. Though w3w3 works closely with CTEK, it is not a CTEK client.

Brad Feld, managing director of Mobius Venture Capital, also has been interviewed frequently for the show. Feld said interviews are in real time and conversational in tone.

Additionally, Feld is on the w3w3 advisory board. “I think he’s (Larry Nelson) done a really good job of providing a different kind of media channel for the technology community. The content is invigorating. It’s interesting, and it’s with good people.”

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