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"We've always been impressed the capabilities of GCN's tools... This new one is definitely saving us time and money, while allowing us to provide our readers and users with more complete, more accurate information."
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– Robin Ashton
President of Gill Ashton Publishing
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If you would like more information on bg2go, send E-mail to Sean Fulton, or call 203.665.6211 x203
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bg2go is a product of GCN Publishing, which is the leading Internet design, development and consulting firm for publishing companies. We are known for developing custom, Internet-enabled  solutions that make money for publishers. We’ve developed a reputation in the industry for ensuring our customers make money off the products we build during the first year of operation.
In 2001, we noticed a number of publishers who simply did not want the overhead associated with a custom application. The goals for these clients were simply:
• A solution that would incorporate both print and online databases that could be updated by advertisers via the web.
• A solution that could be rolled out across 20 or more publications with clear standardization.
• A solution that could be hosted, managed, changed, and updated by the publisher’s in-house team as the design or needs of a publication’s web site changed.
• An application that was inexpensive enough to be rolled out on an enterprise basis.
• An application capable of producing and maintaining both print and online directories.
Our analysis showed that so-called, “shrink-wrapped” online directory solutions were anything but, and that other companies’ ASP business model left publishers at the mercy of outside vendors even when they had resources in-house to resolve simple, day-to-day problems.
We decided to build a better mouse trap. Through careful analysis, we developed a comprehensive, shrink-wrapped print and online directory solution designed to meet the needs of publishers who would normally not hire us to develop a custom application.
This product is called “bg2go.”
Because publishers have a variety of data reporting and analysis needs, we chose to keep all of the directory information in common, third-party databases such as MS Access, SQL Server and MySQL. This allows a publisher to use their own custom tools to do things like print address labels, develop mailing lists, etc.
We also took virtually all of the look and feel information, such as colors, fonts, font sizes, and wording, and put that information into configuration files that can be easily edited by a publisher’s in-house team to completely change the look and feel of a bg2go directory. We even developed the capability for your team to put custom HTML headers and footers around the application, giving your team the ability to make bg2go a seamless part of any publication web site.
And finally, we tagged our new application with a price tag that is extremely easy to accept: $8,500 per directory. This includes support for both a production and a development URL, and access by any number of users running on virtually any number of servers. With no ongoing maintenance or hosting fees required, this makes bg2go the least expensive online directory and buyer’s guide solution on the market.
GCN is a privately held company that has grown at a rate of more than 100-percent per year through revenues alone. GCN has no outside investors, no debt, and ample resources to carry the company for years to come.
Our clients include BPA Worldwide, Advanstar, National Glass Association, Meister Publishing, ITEM Publications, Keller Publishing, Questex, CMP Media, Haymarket and many more.
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