[Hidden-tech] Here's online version of Gazette new media article

[A - Z International]

Pioneer Valley also a digital marketplace
  BY NICK GRABBE STAFF WRITER

AMHERST - Animator Raf Anzovin can offer his work at lower prices 
than competitors in Los Angeles because his Amherst studio has lower 
overhead, he said.

'Being here has been a huge help to growing our business,' he said.

Jon Reed, of Northampton, calls it 'grass-roots economic 
development.' As vice president of an online technology-resources 
publication, he enjoys communicating with Fortune 500 companies while 
wearing a basketball jersey, he said.

Hundreds of Pioneer Valley micro-companies, typically with fewer than 
five employees, work in the 'digital marketplace,' said Amy 
Zuckerman, of Amherst. She's the founder of Hidden-Tech, a network of 
about 1,500 virtual companies, most of them in the region and many home-based.

Last week, several new-media entrepreneurs got together with 
government and academic leaders to discuss ways they could help each other.

Larry Jackson, of Amherst, a former Hollywood producer and director, 
was the keynote speaker. He said technology was producing a 
democratization of media.

'We are living in a world of niche marketing,' he said. 'Now you can 
make your own radio station, your own TV network, you can digitally 
download movies and make your own movie theater in your house.'

Meanwhile, radio stations are closing, newspaper circulation is down, 
movie box-office receipts are shrinking, and the top TV show is seen 
by only 35 percent of households, he said.

Jackson predicted that in five years films would no longer be shot on 
celluloid, and in 10 years most movie theaters would have 
disappeared. Those that survive will have to offer a 'social and 
lifestyle experience.'

Several new-media entrepreneurs described their 21st-century businesses.

Claudia Gere, of Shutesbury, provides publishing services for 
nonfiction writers. While traditional publishing emphasizes mass 
markets, new technology lets anyone become an author, she said.

These books can be printed digitally in any quantity and can be sold 
on amazon.com. Authors can bypass 'Oprah!' by promoting their books 
on virtual tours, online seminars and blogs, she said.

Nancy Fletcher, of Belchertown, talked about Knowledge Matters, a 
Northampton company that produces software-based materials for 
schools and makes use of her public relations business. A new social 
studies product uses video technology to get students interested in 
ancient Egypt, she said.

'They have to build a village and plant crops before the Nile floods, 
and if they do it, they get to build a pyramid,' Fletcher said. 'This 
is coming out of Northampton, and it will revolutionize learning. 
These simulations are less expensive than books, easier to teach 
with, and motivate students to learn.'

Carlyn Saltman, of Montague, is a personal history videographer whose 
business is called Your Story Matters. A growing portion of her work 
involves financial planners and 'ethical wills,' which she said 'pass 
on values as well as valuables.'

These new-media businesses are perfect for the Pioneer Valley because 
they are clean, emphasize creativity and can be run from computers 
instead of offices, Zuckerman said.

Her goal is to help these entrepreneurs learn from one another and 
work with academic, government and business organizations, she said.

Colleges can benefit by giving students and faculty real-life 
experiences and in turn can provide facilities for staging events, 
Zuckerman said. Government can benefit from clean economic 
development and alternately can streamline the permitting process for 
businesses, she said.

'We have to work regionally,' she said. 'The trouble with the Pioneer 
Valley is we tend to work in fiefdoms in different towns. It's hard t 
o get people to relinquish their power. There's a huge amount of work 
people can be doing, but one town can't go it alone in the global economy.'