June 28, 2002

Software Targets Public Affairs Industry

By Greg Lohr, Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Jeremy Shields and his colleagues always had to manually search through each day’s newspapers – either online or by hand – to keep up with hot topics and trends.

Then his D.C. company, FH/GPC, the government relations arm of Fleishman-Hillard, tested a new product created by WashingtonLive. The product, Illumen, uses Web-based software to aggregate news content and “push” relevant stories to users every day.

Illumen is a subscription-based information management tool similar to online news services such as Dow Jones Interactive.

“It sped out time up considerably,” says Shields, a legislative assistant at FH/GPC. “The technology has existed for a while, but for us it was just huge.”

Illumen, the product, essentially is WashingtonLive, the company. Four partners, including Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and Morton Kondracke of Roll Call, formed WashingtonLive in May 2000 simply to create the product. They started marketing the product this month and are still negotiating with prospective buyers.

Although WashingtonLive executives hope Illumen appeals to everyone from lawyers and lobbyists to brokers and associations, they’re primarily targeting the public affairs industry. And they say Illumen could stand out, thanks to a few added features, which allow users to:

  • Search 3,200 different sources of news and information not just by keyword but for larger concepts;
  • Be notified electronically – via BlackBerry or other device – when news breaks or when articles of interest are published; and
  • Search not just well-known newspapers, but also niche and issue-specific publications such as a bimonthly journal on waste management.

    • “That way you’re seeing some of the grass-roots issues as they develop,” says Peter Anthony, CEO of WashingtonLive. “You don’t have to wait for it to be in The New York Times. The associations love that, because their members are spread out across the country, and their issues are spread out across the country.”

    Users already can track congressional bills through Illumen. The company expects in July to add a feature allowing customers to track specific legislation in each state. A few months later, Anthony says, partnerships with broadcasters should enable Illumen users to watch congressional hearings unfold online.

    “The content is like our gasoline,” he says. “We’re constantly adding it.”

    Illumen also needs to add customers. The cost to companies or associations will depend on the number of users and the features they want. One pricing plan, $850 monthly for each user, allows for an unlimited number of search categories and an unlimited number of electronic alerts. A less expensive option, at $450 monthly per user, includes three search categories and three alerts.