Re: Lancaster, PA - no dot.com buses

From: Maria Helm <mrs_helm_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Mon 28 Aug 2000 09:55:48 -0400

RAMON RAY <ramon_at_smallbiztechnology.com> WROTE:
> I'm sitting in the Holiday Inn hotel in Lancaster
> right now, on vacation with my family - heading back
> to NY City in a short while. I've noticed that
> unlike, NYC, there's few dot.com advertising.
> There's almost no cellular phones ringing in all the
> nooks and crannies of this small town, nary a Palm
> in sight?
> ...
> This should be a loud wake up call to advertisers -
> before you start even thinking about a flood of
> wireless cell phone advertising, bandwidth breaking
> rich text adv or other bleeding edge advertising
> solutions, consider that there's more to America
> than New York City, NY and Los Angeles, CA - there's
> 48 other states to think about. and some people just
> live normal, low-tech lives.

You're right, Ray. When I read about "Fly-Over Land", I
highly identified. I'm actually in a small town outside
of Lancaster, just a few miles away from that hotel you
were sitting in. I work for an industrial manufacturer
out here. While there are some of us with cellular,
etc., you won't see a lot of it. Especially in this
area, people highly value family-style, low tech
living.

Also, there are logistical concerns. The hotel and mall
you were in were in the "city" (such as ours is), but
where I live, less than 10 miles away, our cell phone
rarely works. If I try to call my husband's cell, I am
frequently told he is "out of the area", even when he
is sitting right across from me! Even AT&T Worldnet and
AOL don't have local numbers out here (not that I use
them). Living in Fly-Over Land can be frustrating when
you want to be high tech. (Not to mention the pay rate
is lower than the same job in a "big city".) BUT I
wouldn't give up the "cows and cornfields commute", how
safe we feel, and all the quaint, relaxed offerings of
this town. I like to think I have a little of both
worlds.

I totally agree with your caution to advertisers. If
your target market is techies in Seattle, Ca and NY,
you might want to move to "bleeding edge advertising".
But there are still a lot of business people, techies,
and people who have a lot of money to spend on your
product out here in Fly-Over Land.





Received on Mon Aug 28 2000 - 08:55:48 CDT