Baltimore, MD – On August 15th, Baltimore’s City Paper alternative newsweekly launched “CP GO” – a daily Internet version of the paper’s popular “Baltimore Weekly” event calendar. Robust and amazingly full-featured, CP GO is now an integral part of City Paper’s Web site (citypaper.com).
“CP GO is far and away the most comprehensive guide to what’s going on in the Baltimore-Washington area,” says City Paper publisher Don Farley. “Plus, it’s truly fun to use.” Designed by award winning Detroit Web firm Drillbit (drillbitonline.com), CP GO sports powerful interactive functions and features many hundreds of events not available in the newspaper. “As the area’s premier entertainment weekly,” notes Farley, “We felt it was very important to offer the best online calendar around.”
The CP GO site uses a Yahoo-style Web interface, allowing users to easily drill-down to anything they might be interested in – from poetry readings to art openings to electronic music concerts. Individual event pages feature an exclusive “See Also” section that links to relevant stories and other related events. Plus, users can email interesting events to friends, or even add their own events online.
Perhaps the most innovative part of CP GO is the “Critic’s Choice” function. With the help of a colorful icon, the site automatically recommends events by using the accumulated knowledge of City Paper editors. “The Web site knows which events, bands, and even locations our writers like,” says Farley. “For example, if you’re searching for theater, it instantly recommends a play we think you’d enjoy.”
From an industry perspective, CP GO positions City Paper to become the area’s Web publishing leader. “CP GO will grow our audience share while connecting advertisers with the niche lifestyle segments they value most,” says Farley. For example, an advertiser can now effectively reach and identify with only City Paper’s jazz audience. “This level of targeting is only possible with the Internet,” adds Farley. “It opens up a host of new marketing and sales opportunities that advertisers will love.”
City Paper is Baltimore’s leading arts and entertainment newspaper, with over 300,000 weekly readers. CP GO can be reached from a link on City Paper’s Web site at citypaper.com.
CP GO is powered by technology invented by Drillbit. Drillbit is a Detroit-based consulting firm that provides arts & entertainment publications with innovative content and marketing solutions to repurpose content, create efficiencies, and generate new revenue streams. For more information on Drillbit, contact Brian Boyle at 313-202-8038 or visit drillbitonline.com.
