Background - In early 2000, Cox Interactive Media had established Web portals in major Cox markets, where it could leverage free promotion from our sister radio stations, TV stations, cable systems and newspapers. Having retained the now infamous investment banker Mary Meeker at Morgan Stanley, Cox Interactive was preparing to spin off and go public. But first it had to demonstrate the ability to expand into a large non-Cox market. Los Angeles was selected, and I was hired to launch and grow LAinsider.com. Less than two years later, with the dot com bust ending all hope of an IPO, Cox Interactive was forced to pull back to Cox markets and closed its L.A. office.

• Product Development - Oversaw the development of all content products, from a multimedia Golf Guide (photos and maps of every hole of every course in L.A. County) to a Restaurants database. Negotiated content licensing agreements, including a deal with a local CBS news radio station which provided LAinsider with local news stories and direct links. Also negotaited agreement with Airwatch/Premier Traffic whereby LAinsider became their first Internet affiliate, carrying online audio traffic reports updated every 15 minutes. Responsible for ongoing site metric analysis (using CIMtrack and SageAnalyst), including weekly and monthly site reports.

• Marketing (Advertising) - Responsible for product positioning, strategy, and planning and buying local campaigns for radio, outdoor and cable television. Conceived and produced initial TV spot on a minimal budget during Screen Actors Guild Strike. January 2001 campaign (outdoor and live radio traffic :10s) promoted LAinsider's live traffic maps and nearly doubled site traffic, from 74K visitors in December to 130K in January, the largest increase in the site's history.

• Online Marketing (Web) - Responsible for planning and buying online media (on both CPM and CPC basis), in some cases working with in-house agency. Trafficked buys using Doubleclick DART. Responsible for Search Engine Optimization and registration. Pioneered a cost-per-click keyword buying program, testing it in the L.A. market and then submitting a white paper to our corporate marketing department. The program was embraced company-wide, soon accounted for over 30% of the company's total online spend. As a result, Cox Interactive's 2001 "acquistion cost per visit" metric dropped by 57% compared to 2000.

• Online Marketing (Email) - Oversaw (and at times produced) and tracked results of a weekly opt-in CRM newsletter using Doubleclick DARTmail. Managed several geotargeted direct email campaings, including Yahoo! Delivers and Advertising.com.

• Publicity - The site launched three weeks before the controversial 2000 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Los Angeles. Rented the rooftop of a carwash overlooking the designated "Protest Zone" and set up a live Web-cam. Lainsider was mentioned on two local CBS radio stations and was linked from Yahoo. The result was record site traffic during the convention, and an email from Cox Interactive's President: "Just a quick note to thank you for such a successful launch. Getting to 30,000 page views just two weeks after launch... is amazing. ... Congratulations, and thanks again. We're all watching in admiration."

• Promotions - Planned and managed event promotions, including a joint promotion with three Clear Channel radio stations and the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival which resulted in over 1,000,000 pageviews over three days (half LAinsider's total monthly pageviews).

• Sales Support - Helped organize our launch party, partnering with Beyond Interactive, Forbes.com, Business.com and The Industry Standard. Attended weekly sales meetings and went on calls with our account executives.

• Internal Awards - Nominated for Cox Interactive Media's annual "ICON" awards in Marketing (LAinsider Launch Plan) and Content (Best Local Voice).