Are you looking for an exciting way to deploy your Internet talents? Consider working for an organization that owns, sponsors or supports Web sites covering major events like sports tournaments or trade shows. Event-centric sites seek talent ranging from programmers to designers on a temporary or permanent basis.

Teeing off with BellSouth

Why would a telecom company want to create Web sites devoted to golf? The company wants to burnish its brand, of course. And that's what Atlanta firm BellSouth Corporation had in mind when it began sponsoring two PGA tournaments, the BellSouth Classic and the BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland.

As media relations manager for BellSouth, Patricia Kushner oversees these two Web presences. When the sites were launched in 1997, they provided only basic information about the tournaments, Kushner says. But now they serve a variety of audiences with diverse data, including player standings, images of tournament play, parking information and up-to-the-minute information about rain delays.

"My role is coordinating a variety of vendors to make sure technologies work together," says Kushner. BellSouth hires vendors to shoot still and video content for the site, and then the in-house team posts text and images to the site.

"All of our content is original," she says. For Internet services, Kushner goes to BellSouth's standard list of vendors.

Although the tournaments only last a few days, Kushner and the BellSouth team start work on the Web sites four to six months ahead. "Timeliness and on-site presence are key," but so is advance preparation. Beyond the professional satisfaction, Kusher reaps at least one perk all golfers would envy -- the chance to rub elbows with Hale Irwin and other greats.

Build It and Hope Web Gurus Will Come

When the event is all about the Web and the attendees are Web professionals, your Web site better be good. That's the view of Diana Stanich, who oversees the site for the Web2001 Conference and Exposition, an annual meeting put on by CMP Media since 1996.

Ironically, Stanich, who is marketing director for the San Francisco show, mainly uses traditional media to promote the high tech show and site: direct mail, catalogs, brochures and advertisements in technical publications. But to register for this education-oriented, five-day event, which costs up to $2195, Web professionals must use the conference site. This enables organizers to efficiently capture valuable marketing information for future use.

This strategic value should bolster the Web site's standing in the eyes of parent CMP. That's important given that "our expo traffic is equal to what it was last year" compared to increases in previous years, says Stanich.

Stanich works with a large team to put together the site, which includes everything from blurbs on speakers to an interactive tool users employ to build an individualized schedule of conference events. "The content manager, marketing team and Web development team all work together on graphics, surveys and so on," says Stanich.

Event Site Outsourcer

Much of the behind-the-scenes work for event-centered Web sites is outsourced to companies like Paragon New Media of Tallahassee, Florida. For clients including Miller Freeman and CMP, "we provide a variety of Web-based applications for trade events and conferences," says Alan Hanstein, president of the five-person firm.

These applications range from an individual agenda planner that allows attendees to download their daily schedule to a handheld PC to an exhibitor services management system that tracks the complex logistics of shows that include hundreds of exhibitors. "But our core business is online registration," says Hanstein.

Some of the most useful database technologies for event site production are Macromedia ColdFusion, Microsoft SQLServer and WebTrends, says Hanstein. The talent he seeks includes database programmers, graphic designers and professionals with experience laying out Web sites.

How are event sites faring in troubled 2001? Better than a lot of dotcoms that have tied their fortunes to less substantial content. And if you find work in this niche, the sites' high visibility could make the move a major event in your career.