A few years ago, a Website hit the Interwebs that was both funny and helpful called Let Me Google That For You. The idea behind it: To have somewhere to send people who ask questions they could easily find if they weren’t so damn lazy. (In a nutshell, you search at the site for whatever someone asks about; it then spits out a link you can send to that person.)
Let Me Google That For You became popular enough for the term “LMGTFY” to make it into Urban Dictionary, the popular keeper of other frequently used if unruly words, including, for example, “torrentard” (a person who doesn’t know what a bit torrent is).
Recently, when the dynamic duo behind the site – Jim Garvin and Ryan McGeary — sent out an announcement about a new iPhone app of the service, I called them to find out what else they’ve been doing with their lives.
I see you have a new iPhone app, though I suspect you have other jobs, too.
Ryan: We do, we both do freelance software consulting by day. We’ve also developed a new startup, BusyConf, to help organizers put on conferences. It’s something we’ve actively been developing and bootstrapping as we look for conference organizers willing to try it.
Why does the world need BusyConf?
Ryan: As attendees of conferences, we’ve been pained like everyone else by how most handle their schedules, in terms of handling multiday, multitrack conferences. Most are poorly organized, lack relevant information, and aren’t published in a way that conference attendees can easily access. So we’re trying to alleviate those problems through a dynamic, HRML5 schedule that’s easy to use, with different versions optimized for the desktop, iPhone, Android, iPad and printer.
Jim: We’re focused on the organizers’ pains, too. They usually have to collect proposals, rate them, choose them, and communicate the process with speakers. Our software helps them manage that process, then builds an online schedule instantly.
Ryan: We also help manage the process of attendee registration — that’s the basis of our revenue model. We’ll handle registration dues for a small percentage of each transaction. And longer term, we want to build a [content management system] for hosting the conference website, for making venue selection and sponsor matchmaking easier, and to make it easier to partner with other conference businesses like printing and T-shirt companies.
Are you talking with angel investors, or do you hope to?
We don’t have any current plans to take funding. That’s not to say we won’t in the future, but in the short term, we probably won’t.
Do you ever worry that people will always think of you as the LMGTFY guys? I’m mostly (but not entirely) kidding when I ask.
Ryan: You know, it actually still gets steady traffic and it’s steadily if slightly growing. We get millions of unique visitors a month, and the site has been translated into 30 different languages, all by volunteers. Someone would just call or email and ask if they could get, say, a Polish translation.
Why do you think it took off?
Jim: Back in November 2008, Ryan and I and a few of our friends were just joking around at lunch one day and one of them was lamenting the number of questions he was always fielding. When we left lunch, I thought we’d all race back to see who’d be the first to build this Website, but it turns out nobody else was doing it [but me]. Ryan helped me out and the next day, we posted it to Reddit and Digg.com and it took off on Reddit right away.
Did Google weigh in?
Ryan: Their lawyers have talked with us, but it’s not something we discuss. Wink, wink.
And you never worried that this site might put you out of commission?
Jim: They preceded us. They were first. But they took a different approach. Their site isn’t workplace friendly. Ours is a little more involved and playful.
Ryan: Apparently, it’s still a chronic issue for society at large. And I think people need this slightly unsociable response.
