The June calendar is definitely filling in. It is the most active month in memory. I’ll be attending five events – three in San Francisco, two in San Diego. As Richard Rogers says: “June is bustin’ out all over.”

In San Francisco, we’ll be at StreetFight Summit West on June 5. Get a 20% discount if you use Code “BIAKELSEY20.” On June 18, we’ll be at Converge Labs Social-Loco event June 18. Our own event, Mobile Local Media, of course, is June 27.

At MLM, Mike Boland has put together a great one day program, uniquely focusing on the big issues surrounding mobile monetization (even more important and timely, perhaps, given Facebook’s revelation that it can’t do as much with mobile monetization as it had initially suggested).

MLM will feature VCs Stewart Alsop and David Hornik, and top speakers from Google, Yelp, eBay/PayPal, AT&T, SuperMedia, others. For us, this is where the action is. We’ll do a free webinar around the event on May 22. Register for the Webinar here.

Converge Lab’s Social-Loco event, meanwhile, considers how brands work within the social-local ecosystem – a valuable approach. The event will feature social-oriented speakers from Facebook, FourSquare, Nokia, HearSay, Waze and others. Converge is providing a 25% discount to the BIA/Kelsey community. Click here for a direct link to the discount registration.

I’ll also be at The San Diego Venture Summit June 6, featuring a discussion with Elevation’s Roger McNamee, and San Diego Interactive Day, which is a strong agency-oriented event June 15. I’ll look forward to seeing speakers from ExactTarget and others there.

The local event calendars are filling up. A new event we’ll be attending is The Street Fight Summit West, which in June 5 at Bently Reserve in San Francisco, a classy location.

Street Fight head Laura Rich tells us that the event will be more tech-oriented than the company’s two day East Coast event, which takes place in late October, and is inevitably more media oriented. Both events ultimately aim to reflect the latest in hyperlocal developments.

Among the 30 speakers set to present are a number of our friends, including Topix CEO Chris Tolles, AOL Local SVP Mark Josephson, Where CEO Walt Doyle, Closely CEO Perry Evans, local pioneer Rick Blair, local and tech news pioneer Jon Weber, and Yelp Biz Dev leader Mike Ghaffry. There are also many companies that we are looking forward to learning about; and a Merger & Acquisition panel.

Readers can get a 20 % off rate using this code: BIAKELSEY20. Click here to register.

ILM East 2012 took place last week in Boston, and is now one for the history books. It was definitely a fun show that really showcased the fast moving local innovations that BIA/Kelsey focuses on.

There are many learnings we can focus on as takeaways, but in the interest of good reading, how about a Top 10 list?

1- The new currencies are time, attention and clickstreams. Payments can be in pixels, Facebook mentions or points and rewards (Ted Leonsis, Vice Chair, Groupon)

2- Email is for ecommerce push; phones are for texting (Ted Leonsis, Vice Chair, Groupon)

3- Local is all about scale. And the only way to achieve scale in local is by aggregation (Jay Herratti, outgoing CEO, CityGridMedia)

4- Creating a closed loop is the path to a seamless user experience. American Express is… the acquirer, the issuer and the network. (Leslie Berland, SVP, American Express)

5- Daily deals are fun, but Big Data that combines different databases is critical for targeting users and winning loyalty (various)

6- Focus on engagement, not new customer acquisition. Loyal customers are worth 24 times more than new customers (Charlie Kim, CEO, NextJump)

7- Email fatigue is probably out there, but social media complements email, rather than kills it. They are both forms of permission marketing (Mark Schmulen, GM, Constant Contact)

8- Video is a great local medium, but offers limited inventory opportunities, and really can’t compete as a standalone with a major metro newspaper for advertising (Lisa DeSisto, VP, Advertising, The Boston Globe)

9- National brands can’t go local without a platform. Otherwise, you can’t get engagement and you’ll see high churn. (Pete Gombert, Founder and CEO, Ballihoo)

10- You can’t herd 6,000 cats and come up with a digital strategy (Adam Epstein, President, Ad Marketplace.)

Ted Leonsis, Groupon Vice Chair, American Express Board Member and Internet Pioneer , emphasized the importance of scaling for local in a global economy during a keynote at ILM East yesterday. “Indiana really matters. India matters more,” said Leonsis, pointing out that for larger companies, most growth will come from outside the U.S.

The way that growth is measured, however, is rapidly changing. “I try to follow the new currencies: time, attention and clickstreams,” he noted. “Now you see payments in pixels, facebook newsfeeds, or points and rewards. Amex has trillions of points.

While growth for “the biggest companies” comes from serving the entire international marketplaces, local needs are universal.

“I love local; we built Internet on businesss created about ‘you,’ said Leonsis. There is no bigger business imagineable. He noted special opportunities in “MoSoLo….the convergence of mobile, social, video.” Mobile will make up 88 percent of digital advertising, he suggested, citing analyst projections. “One thousand cities are ready for MoSoLo.”

Leonsis believes that the largest companies will soon be making spending sprees in the local arena. Local entrepreneurs should realistically shoot for selling their companies because only a couple of companies end up IPO’ing in the public market, added Leonsis, who is, of course, a major investor.

Leonsis noted that the largest companies such as Google, Microsoft and Cisco are sitting on almost a trillion dollars of retained earnings. “That’s pent-up cash. They will want to fill in their value chains.”

Channels are also changing, and quickly. Email usage is way down and has “become a deliverer for ecommerce push. Email is for manicure or pedicure deals,” said Leonsis, noting that Groupon and Facebook are really poised to leverage this with their massive email lists. Phones, meanwhile, are for texting. The average teen sends 70 texts a day and barely use any minutes to talk.

But Leonsis predicts that video will emerge as the new killer app as it becomes the core medium for self expression and sharing. “The YouTube phenomenon is truly amazing. We’re all become Cable MSOs.”

Video also will be key to the future of retail and education. Retail site visitors who view video are likely to stay on site two minutes longer on average and are 64 percent more likely to purchase than other site visitors, says Leonsis. Video is a foundation for “next generation commerce.”

The pursuit of closed loop network is the really big game here, Leonsis noted. Amazon has made everyone an affiliate and a reseller. Similarly, PayPal made made everyone a small business with 100 million plus accounts for money transfers and payments. eBay has made everyone an entrepreneur.

Moreover, Google has eight million advertisers on file, and invoices 20,000 advertisers. Amex has developed a closed loop system of its own, and Groupon has created “curated local commerce.”

But Leonsis is skeptical that the world of interactive local commerce is something that startups can gain traction in. “No one will give an eight person startup their social security number. Payments are not for the faint-hearted. Startups are better off looking for margin opportunities.

“I don’t want to see any business plan saying ‘I’ll be the next Groupon.’ Verticalization happens.”

During the first ever public presentation of Google Offers at ILM East today, Google Offers head Nitin Mangtani noted that Google Offers is now live in 40 cities, but he emphasized that Google’s after more more than just deals. The local commerce space is much broader and richer than deals, although deals are very exciting, he said.

Google wants to “enable an ecosystem that connects consumers more seamlessly, and drive ecommerce for all,” added Mangtani. Publishers should work with Google to “get noticed, get customers and get paid,” he said.

Google’s local vision is to help local businesses connect with consumers, noted Mangtani. Deals are part of discovery, but so are other promotions; just as Places are part of Locate, Wallet is part of Purchase; and Adwords is part of Research. The company also wants to work with external partners. A company such as Idea Labs’ Punch’d could be part of Become Loyal, he noted.

Google Offers currently works with 30 partners, including such as companies as Gilt City, Zozi and KGB Deals.

IAC announced today that SeamlessWeb founder Jason Finger will take over as CEO of its CityGrid Media unit April 12. CItyGrid Media includes the CityGrid ad network and Citysearch, Urbanspoon, Insider Pages and BuzzLabs.

Finger was a founder of SeamlessWeb in 1999. The company grew to 21 U.S. cities plus London during his tenure. SeamlessWeb, now known as Seamless, was acquired by food services giant Aramark in 2006, with Finger leading the business while serving on Aramark’s executive leadership council.

He’s served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Bessemer Venture Partners since 2010, focusing on SaaS, local businesses and e-commerce. Seamless currently competes for food delivery and restaurant online services with GrubHub and others.

CityGrid Media’s longtime CEO Jay Herratti told us he will be helping during the transition. During his eight year tenure at the company, he proved to be a pivotal figure in the evolution of interactive local media. In addition to acquiring UrbanSpoon, which should leverage Finger’s experience at Seamless, Herratti dealt head-on with the issue of building enough local user volume to attract merchants – a serious issue in the fragmented local world.

Next week, at ILM East in Boston, Herratti will provide insights into the evolution of local during his tenure at CityGrid. “Wrapping up my time at CityGrid Media with a BIA/Kelsey keynote seems like the perfect opportunity to reflect on the future of local,” he told us.

“During my session, I will share my thoughts on where local is heading,” added Herratti. “There is so much activity in our space right now, the next year should be just as interesting as the last.”

Here’s what we’ve been waiting to announce: Google Offers’ head Nitin Mangtani will join our great list of keynoters at ILM East March 26-28 in Boston. We believe Mangtani’s appearance marks one of the first public debuts of Google Offers, which is playing a major role in Google’s vital local strategy, along with Google Places, Google Maps and Zagat ratings and reviews.

Previously announced ILM East keynoters include Groupon Vice Chair +++ Ted Leonsis; American Express SVP of Social Media Leslie Berland; CityGrid Media CEO Jay Herratti; New York Times Research Ops VP Michael Zimbalist; and New York Magazine Digital GM Michael Silberman.

Mangtani joins Google Channel Sales BizDev Head Christine Merritt at ILM East. Merritt will provide Google’s perspective on its emergence in the local ecosystem, and the most effective way to work with Google as a partner.

The next wave of Deals is, in general, a key focus for us at ILM East, along with mobile local media, social local media, video local media, hyperlocal and locally targeted national advertising.

In addition to the keynotes from Google Offers and Groupon, we have a special Day 1 session dedicated to the next wave of deals, featuring EverSave’s Jere Doyle; Find n Save’s Christopher Tippie; Closely’s Perry Evans; and Boomtime’s Bill Bice. That session will be followed by a broader view of deals and ecommerce, which featured NextJump’s Charlie Kim; Cartera’s Jim Douglass; and Bundle.com’s Jaidev Shergill.

Other recent adds to the program include The Boston Globe’s Lisa DeSisto, who joins Boston.com VP of Digital Products Jeff Moriarty as a presenter; and MIT Sloan Associate Professor Catherine Tucker, who gives the low down on the effectiveness of local social media.

Before the show, we’re making a special trip to The Boston Globe’s R&D Lab (Limited Space, RSVP required). Or come to Andrew Shotland’s SEO for the Enterprise session, which also features SEO Expert Will Scott and Advance Digital Media VP John Denny. We’re looking forward to a great show.

Venture Capital
•David Hornik, Principal, August Capital
•Scott Maxwell, Senior Managing Director, OpenView

Mobile Local Media
• Walt Doyle, CEO, Where
• Doug McDonald, Director, dotMobi
• John Valentine, VP, East Coast, SCVNGR/LevelUp

Hyperlocal
• Merrill Brown, Principal, MMB Media
• Josh Fenton, CEO, GoLocal24
• Zohar Yardeni, CEO, Main Street Connect

Social Local Media
• Geoff Cramer, CEO, Social Made Simple
• Adam Japko, President, Digital Sherpa
• Jeff Moriarty, VP, Digital Products, Boston.com
• Mark Schmulen, GM, Social Media, Constant Contact

Video
• Juan Delgado, Managing Director, Americas, Perform
• John McIntyre, CEO, Pixelfish
• Randa Minkarah, SVP, Revenue, Fisher Communications

Deals and Promotional Ecosystem
• Bill Bice, CEO, BoomTime
• Jere Doyle, President and CEO, EverSave
• Perry Evans, CEO, Closely
• Christopher Tippie, CEO, FindNSave

Transactions
• Charlie Kim, CEO, NextJump
• Jim Douglass, EVP, Retail Advertising, Cartera Commerce
• Jaidev Shergill, CEO, Bundle

National/Brands
•Adam Epstein, President, AdMarketplace
•Pete Gombert,CEO, Balihoo
• Steve Sherfy, Local & Mobile Search, GroupMSearch
• Karl Siebrecht, President and CEO, AdReady

Elections 2012
• Andy Slater, VP, Digital Agency Sales, Katz 360

SMB Marketing
• Dave Galvan, President, Schedulicity
• Maria Kermath, Director, AT&T Ad Solutions
• Randy Parker, President, SMBApps
• Darren Waddell, EVP, Reply.com

Sign up now (and hint: reserve your room earlier rather than later).

The ILM East program is shaping up as our favorite program in years, with cutting-edge BIA/Kelsey research and speakers. The event is teeming with new revenue and strategic opportunities for Internet and mobile advertising and commerce. The ideas keep coming and coming.

Keynotes include Groupon Vice Chair Ted Leonsis, American Express SVP Leslie Berland, CityGrid Media CEO Jay Herratti, The New York Times‘ research head Michael Zimbalist and New York Magazine Digital GM Michael Silberman.

What we’ve just added is a special session with Christine Merritt, the head of business development for Google’s Channel Sales team. Merritt will share Google’s perspective on its place in the local ecosystem, and effective partnership ideas. There’s always really good Q&A with the Google sessions, and why not? It impacts everyone in a major way.

Other new adds includes a Boston welcome from Boston Globe VP of Advertising Lisa Desisto; and a special solo session with AOL Senior VP Mark Josephson, who will provide insights into the wide range of AOL local activities – not “just” Patch, but Local Voices and other major initiatives. We’ve also got interviews lined up with two top VCs: David Hornik, August Capital, and Scott Maxwell, Open View. Follow the money, indeed!

Venture Capital
•David Hornik, Principal, August Capital
•Scott Maxwell, Senior Managing Director, OpenView
Mobile Local Media
• Walt Doyle, CEO, Where
• Doug McDonald, Director, dotMobi
• John Valentine, VP, East Coast, SCVNGR/LevelUp
Hyperlocal
• Merrill Brown, Principal, MMB Media
• Josh Fenton, CEO, GoLocal24
• Zohar Yardeni, CEO, Main Street Connect
Social
• Geoff Cramer, CEO, Social Made Simple
• Adam Japko, President, Digital Sherpa
• Jeff Moriarty, VP, Digital Products, Boston.com
• Mark Schmulen, GM, Social Media, Constant Contact
Video
• Juan Delgado, Managing Director, Americas, Perform
• John McIntyre, CEO, Pixelfish
• Randa Minkarah, SVP, Revenue, Fisher Communications
Deals and Promotional Ecosystem
• Bill Bice, CEO, BoomTime
• Jere Doyle, President and CEO, EverSave
• Perry Evans, CEO, Closely
• Christopher Tippie, CEO, FindNSave
Transactions
• Charlie Kim, CEO, NextJump
• Jim Douglass, EVP, Retail Advertising, Cartera Commerce
• Jaidev Shergill, CEO, Bundle
National/Brands
•Adam Epstein, President, AdMarketplace
•Pete Gombert,CEO, Balihoo
• Steve Sherfy, Local & Mobile Search, GroupMSearch
• Karl Siebrecht, President and CEO, AdReady
Elections 2012
• Andy Slater, VP, Digital Agency Sales, Katz 360
SMB Marketing
• Dave Galvan, President, Schedulicity
• Maria Kermath, Director, AT&T Ad Solutions
• Randy Parker, President, SMBApps
• Darren Waddell, EVP, Reply.com

Sign up now for earlier bird rates (and hint: reserve your room earlier rather than later).

ILM East Keynoter Ted Leonsis, in a BIA/Kelsey pre-conference Webinar, proclaimed a “ new generation and reinvigoration of local products.” The new opportunity in local is “where social, video and mobile intersect,” Leonsis said.

What surprises Leonsis, who currently serves as Groupon’s Vice Chair and a board member of Amex, is that VCs and entrepreneurs are correctly focused on local opportunities, but traditional local media don’t seem to believe in their core local products.

Newspapers and other local media are budgeting for covering the Olympics and the presidential election, “but there are so many ways to get national news,” noted Leonsis. Meanwhile, if you want information or news about where you actually live — say, Potomac, MD, where Leonsis lives– you need to go elsewhere.

In this climate, American Express, with five or six million local touchpoints around the world, is a major conduit to the small business community, notes Leonsis. And a company like Groupon has absolutely “hit it” out of the park. “They have very compelling local offers in real time.

Groupon is a “much bigger idea” than a simple directory or city guide or newspaper, adds Leonsis. “It creates marketplaces for socially astute audiences” – an effort that Leonsis dubs “curated commerce.” “It’s a good example of social commerce,” he says.

Groupon also has proved to be a great friend of SMBs. Four years ago, during the financial crisis, banks had stopped lending to SMBs, and here comes Groupon asking for no money down and providing cash for products that are redeemed over many months. “Groupon’s helped float a lot of SMBs,” noted Leonsis.

Leonsis sees Groupon solidifying its hold on the market, as other companies begin to contract. The deals marketplace “is easy to enter but really hard to scale and be successful,” he said. “t’s hard to open offices in 500+ markets, build a data base and create demand.”

If you are not Groupon, Leonsis adds that the way to go may be to focus on verticals. Companies didn’t take on Google in search, he noted. They went to vertical niches. “They’re verticalizing shopping experiences and connecting with marketplaces,” he noted.

For a replay of the Webinar, click here.
For access to the Webinar deck (and special promotion for ILM East, click here.

The ILM East conference is shaping up as a major landmark conference. Since our last update, we have many new “adds” to the agenda, and it looks like we’re going to have a really big and prestigious event.

Even before it begins, there is lots of stuff happening. we’ve added an exciting trip out to The Boston Globe’s Media Lab, where the Globe’s innovative team will show off some of the thinking and products they’ve developed (limited seating.) And for those who want to stay at the venue, Local SEO Guide’s Andrew Shotland will provide a practical and compelling guide to cutting edge search and social strategies. Andrew’s insights are one-of-a-kind.

We’ve previously announced our conference headliners, which include Groupon Vice Chair and Amex Board Member Ted Leonsis; American Express’ SVP of Social Strategy Leslie Berland; CityGrid Media leader Jay Herratti; New York Magazine’s digital czar Michael Silberman; and New York Times’ research operations chief Michael Zimbalist.

Now, we’ve populated cutting edge sessions in key areas of the local revolution.

Venture Capital
• Scott Maxwell, Sr. Managing Director, OpenView

Mobile Local Media
• Walt Doyle, CEO, Where
• John Valentine, VP, East Coast, SCVNGR/LevelUp

Hyperlocal
• Merrill Brown, Principal, MMB Media
• Josh Fenton, CEO, GoLocal24
• Mark Josephson, SVP, Revenue, AOL Local
• Zohar Yardeni, CEO, Main Street Connect

Social
• Geoff Cramer, CEO, Social Made Simple
• Adam Japko, President, Digital Sherpa
• Jeff Moriarty, VP, Digital Products, Boston.com
• Mark Schmulen, GM, Social Media, Constant Contact

Video
• Juan Delgado, Managing Director, Americas, Perform
• John McIntyre, CEO, Pixelfish
• Randa Minkarah, SVP, Revenue, Fisher Communications

Deals and Promotional Ecosystem
• Bill Bice, CEO, BoomTime
• Jere Doyle, President and CEO, EverSave
• Perry Evans, CEO, Closely
• Christopher Tippie, CEO, FindNSave

Transactions
• Charlie Kim, CEO, NextJump
• Jim Douglass, EVP, Retail Advertising, Cartera Commerce

National/Brands
• Pete Gombert,CEO, Balihoo
• Steve Sherfy, Local & Mobile Search, GroupMSearch
• Karl Siebrecht, President and CEO, AdReady

Elections 2012
• Andy Slater, VP, Digital Agency Sales, Katz 360

SMB Marketing
• Dave Galvan, President, Schedulicity
• Maria Kermath, Director, AT&T Ad Solutions
• Randy Parker, President, SMBApps
• Darren Waddell, EVP, Reply.com

Sign up now for earlier bird rates (and hint: reserve your room earlier rather than later…).