January 6, 2000 - Showdown at the Capitol, by Martin Kady
Washington Business Journal
GalleryWatch to square off in cyberspace with incumbent congressional trackers
Brent Golemon walked onto the Capitol Hill scene last fall sporting lizard cowboy boots and a Texas-size idea.
He believes his company, GalleryWatch.com, can carve a niche in the world of online legislative tracking. It worked in Texas, where GalleryWatch is now one of the Lone Star State's leading online legislation databases.
But it's not clear yet whether GalleryWatch will fly with the demanding clients on Capitol Hill.
"The key will be to find a good niche and that's it," said Rick Rockelli, the associate publisher of Congressional Quarterly, the dominant force in legislative tracking and analysis. "You can't be all things to all people. It's a very rich, competitive environment."
But Golemon is willing to take a chance. GalleryWatch looks like a typical start-up now, tucked into a small office above Capitol Lounge, a popular pub on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. It has a small staff, and the backbone for its network will work from its main server in Austin, Texas.
Golemon's father is a lobbyist, and he has childhood memories of watching debates from the gallery of the Texas Legislature -- hence the name GalleryWatch.
He started the company in 1996 with Haider Khazen, who founded Austin Computer Systems and brings the technical know-how.
Now all the company needs is name recognition. That will be a tough task when most people in the legislative world already know about the free Library of Congress legislative site called Thomas and the massive engine that is Congressional Quarterly's online service, CQ.com. Another local competitor is Capitol Advantage, a Web-based legislative service that also licenses software that helps companies track issues in Congress.
"I don't see us as competition with Congressional Quarterly. It's like apples and oranges," Golemon said. "CQ is a publishing company and has reporters and analysis. We don't do that. We want to make data useful to our clients and give them the tools to use that information."
GalleryWatch's main emphasis will be in packaging the information. Customization is important to private-sector clients who do not want to filter through the tons of information that comes from the Hill. An environmental lobbyist, for example, may want a legislative tracking service that packages only environmental bills and sends out alerts when a relevant vote is coming up. GalleryWatch also will offer a paging service that electronically signals customers about votes on the Hill.
"We're trying to give timely data and a better set of tools," Golemon said. "That kind of functionality is incredibly important. Our model is a pure [business-to-business] model. Packaging will be the main thing."
GalleryWatch clients in Texas who may use the company's federal service include PC giant Dell Computer and pharmaceutical companies Merck and Pfizer.
One competitor in Texas believes that GalleryWatch is overpromising in its D.C. venture.
"I can only say that they have offered a lot of things to people in Washington, and if they can perform on that they'll do well," said Andy Fish, managing partner of the Texas Legislative Service. "You can't just walk in and say we're from Texas and we've got a great service. It's going to be a formidable task."
Golemon already has had a stroke of luck with timing the launch of GalleryWatch. Legi-Slate, one of the leading competitors in online legislative services, was bought out by Congressional Quarterly last year. Legi-Slate left behind a void and some extra employees.
Golemon hopes to fill that void and has hired some of his technical help from Legi-Slate. He also hopes to divide his clients between associations, lobbyists and other private firms with legislative interests, especially law firms. GalleryWatch will not focus as much on government clients at first.
Back in Texas, one major client said GalleryWatch changed the way people track legislation in Austin.
"They revolutionized the process in Texas," said Troy Alexander, the director of political education for the Texas Medical Association. "Lobbyists and those who followed legislation were very skeptical at first. But GalleryWatch is setting the standard for legislation tracking in Texas. They have stabilized costs. That will be key."
Cost is one advantage that GalleryWatch appears to have on CQ.com. GalleryWatch's basic monthly service starts at $300, with an additional $30 per user and various fees for customization. The average Web package costs $4,000 a year.
Congressional Quarterly's services average around $12,000 a year and offer in-depth analysis of legislation and much more editorial content than GalleryWatch.
Golemon emphasized he does not want to compete with CQ and would like to see clients subscribe to both services for different reasons.
Rockelli, the Congressional Quarterly executive, agreed the two companies are not in the same game but said CQ's attempts to reach out to more private-sector companies like lobbyists, law firms and associations may prompt competition with GalleryWatch.
"That squarely lines up with where we're going," Rockelli said. "We have 150 people working 24-7 and we can barely cover the waterfront. But I think GalleryWatch could add value to the legislative tracking market. Demand is growing, but you'll have to show the customer that your information is a better substitute."
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