| Going global a virtual nightmare |
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| Monday, 11 February 2008 | |
  
 Imagine being told that the system you’ve perfected through years of hard work would need a complete overhaul in order for your business to progress. This was the situation faced by the technical team of my247.com.au when they announced plans to go global last year. Co-founder and head of strategy Chris Kettle said the success of the company continued to surprise him. “When we started these guides just for Brisbane back in 2000, I often wondered if we would ever do the rest of the world – and now we are,” Kettle said. This year the company launched their Facebook application, My Guide, which allows users to add, review and rate over 330,000 restaurants, bars and clubs in 19 countries worldwide. Co-founder and chief technical officer Andrew Leask says there were a number of challenges to overcome in the process of going global. “Basically, the original search function of the site was built around the Australian address system with numerical postcodes, and this wasn’t going to be viable in the UK where postcodes are alphanumerical,” Leask said. The pair had further challenges to overcome with multiple currencies, languages and world time zones. “While it’s Saturday in Australia, in other parts of the world it’s still Friday night. Our server is in Melbourne and therefore runs on AEST time, so we had the task of reprogramming our system so that the correct date and time would appear on the site in each respective location around the world,” Leask said. Undeterred, the my247 team have geo-coded over 300,000 venues and soldiered on in the pursuit of their dream of global expansion. “In a way it’s been one thing after another… it’s amazing we haven’t killed each other really,” Chris says. “I see the opportunities and want things done, and Andrew heads up the technical team to work out the complexities of getting those things done,” Chris said. With the growth of the site, the founders have taken on a bigger and better hosting environment to cope with the increase in the number of visitors – now almost half a million each month. Andrew said the biggest challenge for the founders is yet to come. “With the forecasted growth the Facebook application will allow, we’re going to have to be on top of our game to ensure the technical side of things is well administered and the reliability and speed of our system holds strong,” Leask said. Kettle said the Facebook market was definitely worth tapping into. “With 40 million Facebook users world-wide and 200,000 more joining every day, most of whom love to go out just like we do, it’s a huge market we’re aiming to capture,” Kettle says. The prospect of running a system to serve the world’s entertainment needs is a headache the team is looking forward to.
About My Guide My Guide allows anyone on Facebook to create a personalised entertainment guide where they can share, rate and review restaurants, bars and clubs anywhere in the world. About 247Network Founded in 1999, the 247Network publish my247.com.au - Australia’s #1 guide to going out. The service provides comprehensive dining, event, movie, nightclub, arts and lifestyle guides online and on mobile phones around Australia and the world. The 247Network develop, maintain and manage online and mobile hospitality solutions and marketing tools, for hundreds of award winning Australian restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
Media inquiries – For interviews or photos please contact Chris Kettle
Elizabeth Mabin
247Network / my247.com.au 7/31 Duncan Street Fortitude Valley 4006 QLD Australia
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