New LV Internet company sees bright future for local dot-coms

Friday, April 21, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

A new Las Vegas high-tech company has created a computerized three-dimensional map of the city as an advertising vehicle and will receive a state award in June.

3DCityGuide.com Inc. is distributing a free CD-ROM containing an illustrated map of Las Vegas through its website, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and several other outlets.

The company, only about six months old, already has won the Governor's Industry Appreciation Award for 2000 and will be honored at a June lunch.

Jim King, the vice president of the company, moved to Las Vegas from Vancouver, British Columbia, where he worked for the Ford Motor Co. King is busy marketing the product through several business associations and memberships.

In addition to being available from the chamber and the Better Business Bureau, the CD-ROM is being passed out at some resort properties and is being direct mailed to hundreds of people identified as computer savvy.

The product, the brainchild of company founder and new Las Vegan Andy Jessa, uses a high-tech approach to a familiar means of advertising -- the city guide. King's staff has sold banner ads, listings in a computerized Yellow Pages section and placement in an alphabetical directory.

King said a one-year contract for inclusion on the CD and the website costs $795.

The compact disc on which the Las Vegas map is pressed includes an animated, interactive map and a search engine to easily find businesses, addresses and landmarks.

King said Jessa, an advertising and marketing expert who developed Cab Top Media in Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., assembled a group of computer experts to produce a vision of Las Vegas never seen before.

"The detail is incredible," King said. "If you look closely at some of the water on the map, you'll even see reflections."

The company manufactured 250,000 of the CD-ROMs and give them away to local business people, residents and tourists. For business people, there are ads that can link directly to a company website; for local residents, there's a section for coupons and a means to set up reservations for local shows and restaurants.

Visitors can use the map and listings to plan itineraries, routes and link to chat forums to get insider comments about Las Vegas facilities.

King said the CD-ROM also links to the 3DCityGuide.com website, so it is continuously updated. The site received 800,000 hits from users in March and the number of viewers has been tripling each month. King said viewers have hit the site from 50 countries.

King also said information from the guide can be downloaded to a Palm Pilot hand-held device, giving it portability.

Las Vegas was the first city to appear on a CD-ROM, but San Francisco and Seattle will be added in May and guides for other major U.S. cities will be produced by the end of the year.

"We started with Las Vegas because it is a premiere destination," King said. "The city is perfect for this medium because it's so visual. We have a tremendous amount to showcase."

The company is housed in a 6,000-square-foot office at the South Arville Business Complex at 4620 S. Arville St.

King, a major booster of the Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Development Authority, said the future of dot-com companies is bright in Las Vegas. The company employs about 20 sales representatives, technical experts and administrative personnel.

"Andy Jessa assembled a group of young computer experts here," King said. "They wrote the program and the manual right here."