This Internet venture avoids obituary page

November 19, 2001 By Julie Johnsson

Death is recession-proof, it appears. Evanston's Legacy.com, an online obituary site, has seen explosive growth this fall, despite the slumping economy.

Backed by Chicago media conglomerate Tribune Co., the young company hosts customized obituary sites for newspapers (Crain's, Aug. 20). It's well on its way to inking deals with almost every major U.S. daily.

Over the past 90 days, Legacy.com has tripled its online traffic to more than 5.5 million page views per month. The firm launched a Web site for the Washington Post Nov. 11 and is slated to unveil a similar offering for the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Dec. 1. Other new partners include the Philadelphia Inquirer and its parent, California-based newspaper chain Knight-Ridder Inc.

Legacy.com's latest wrinkle is a messaging service that alerts users when death notices containing key words — say, one's alma mater — are posted. The company plans to roll out the service to Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times readers in December.

"Things are moving ahead very nicely for us," says President and CEO Stopher Bartol. "It is kind of stunning, given the rough economy."

Cause and effect: The slump in the number of visitors to Chicago online travel ticketer Orbitz LLC was short-lived. Traffic to the site soared 51% in October, to 7.8 million visitors, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Its competitors didn't see similar jumps: Travelocity.com's visitor tally rose 15% to 8.3 million, and Expedia.com saw traffic increase 2.8% to 9.7 million.

Bargain-basement ticket prices helped offset passengers' fear of flying post-Sept. 11. They flocked to Orbitz partly because its marketing saturated the Net. Last month, Orbitz's online ads scored 1.7 billion impressions, a measure of the number of times its ads were viewed, according to New York's Jupiter.

Never a good sign: Two top executives at Chicago's Inforte Corp. recently unloaded shares in the consultancy, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Chief Operating Officer Stephen C. P. Mack sold 150,000 shares for about $1.4 million, while Chief Financial Officer Nick Padgett sold 10,000 shares for about $95,000.

The IT consultancy's stock has fared relatively well, trading in the $10.50 range, off its 52-week high of $29.50 on Nov. 16, 2000. The firm managed its growth prudently during the late 1990s boom and, unlike some competitors, has avoided tumbling to penny-stock status.

Never too old: KPMG LLP today will present its Illinois High Tech Awards to Michael Krasny, founder and chairman emeritus of Vernon Hills-based CDW Computer Centers Inc.; Richard Forsythe, chairman and president of Skokie's Forsythe Technology Inc; Nathan Fineberg, president and CEO of Oak Brook's Interface Software, and Elaine Hodgson, president and CEO of Rolling Meadows-based Incredible Technologies Inc.

Mr. Krasny, who stepped down from CDW this year, isn't the first retiree to win the award. John Krehbiel Sr., who founded Lisle-based Molex Inc., was honored in 1990 at age 86, notes KPMG partner Richard Reck.

Prepping for a tech career: Comedy Central's "BattleBots" competition is no laughing matter. The semiannual death matches between robots are a cult hit on TV, while drawing hundreds of storied entrants, including engineers from Chicago's Boeing Co. So, it's all the more remarkable that 17-year-old Alex Slack, a senior at Winnetka's New Trier High School, won a round in the competition on San Francisco's Treasure Island earlier this month.

His father, Gary, managing director of Chicago business-to-business marketer Slack Barshinger & Partners Inc., describes the event as "legalized mayhem." That's because remote-controlled bots pound each other to bits while dodging "killsaws" — a nice analogy for Chicago's tech scene, really. In the end, the younger Mr. Slack's bot, Deus X Machina, didn't have a ghost of a chance. It was eliminated in the early going.

Send story ideas and tips to Julie Johnsson at techwatch@crain.com.