Group deals became all the rage in 2010. But don't plan on "deal fatigue" causing these programs to burn out and disappear. Groupon, which started partnering with local media companies last year, continues to have huge momentum and still leads the pack by far. This session explores what has made Groupon so successful - and what it's doing to push deeper into existing markets and expand to others.

An established brand and vast media experience aren't prerequisites to getting into the local online business. In fact, they could be a liability. This panel hears from three operations creating a lot of buzz without the legacy media ties - Patch.com, Examiner.com, and Outside.in. Moderating the discussion will be a local maverick in her own right - Terri Bennett, a former TV weather anchor in Charlotte, N.C., who created Doyourpart.com now gaining national prominence.

Local media companies held three-fourths of all locally spent Internet advertising in 2004. As the economy ratcheted down, companies such as Knight Ridder, Tribune, Cox, Belo and others began shutting down their separate digital divisions and folded those staffs under their print and broadcast operations. Within five years, pure-play companies gained 35 points of share. Clay Christensen, author of the best-selling "Innovator's Dilemma," will describe what it will take for local media to survive the next wave of disruptive innovation -- mobile media -- and whether "converged" staffs can work, or whether "online-only" staffs and divisions are vital to success.

The big coupon buzz about mobile marketing is in browsers vs. apps, but the local money is still in something as simple as SMS/text. Will this change? Who will win out in the next few years? We'll hear the experience of some of the most successful sellers of local mobile couponing through all methods, how much they're making, and the results they're driving for customers.

There’s no doubt that the Internet is transforming into more of a video medium. As both Web and mobile users go from “surfers” to “viewers,” local broadcasters face the biggest disruption. A handful of broadcasters are doing some ingenious things to meet this growing video audience – as well as use the web to battle with their print competitors by offering classifieds, directories and coupons. This panel taps the best of the best, offering perspective from three stations that have achieved exponential growth from the Internet ventures.

Local.com’s aggressive growth strategy continues to drive the company forward. It continues to be a company to watch, now boasting more than 20,000 proprietary websites, an estimated 1,000 local partners, and over 60,000 small-business clients. Renowned search advertising analyst and blogger Greg Sterling interviews CEO Heath Clarke about Local.com’s strategy to continue growing market share.

Local advertising is a $91 billion category with an interesting future. Online continues to spiral upward, corkscrewing holes into yellow pages, newspaper, direct mail, radio and, soon, TV advertising. Will it continue, or will it reached a plateau? How will mobile affect everything? In this opening session, Gordon Borrell deciphers the digital future for local media with the help of the foremost authority on local marketing, Kip Cassino - a man with an uncanny record for predicting trends that everyone else seems to miss. Finally, we get a glimpse of the mobile future from Greg Stuart, an author and pioneer in digital advertising who now heads up the Mobile Marketing Association as their Global CEO.