1. Office Web Sites--The People Connection. ... One of my favorite quotes about the Internet comes from Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong, "Like any communications network, the Internet is all about establishing and reinforcing connections between people." ... I thought of that quote as I visited two new office-building web sites this week: the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco and Transamerica Center in Los Angeles, both managed by LaSalle Partners. These are pretty snazzy sites, complete with slide shows, floor plans and beautiful panoramas. But both web sites could to a better job of connecting you to a real person. In fact, at the Transamerica Pyramid site, I couldn't find one name or e-mail address. Oops. Yes, you can fill out a form and submit it. But where does it go? Who's going to read it? ... Hey, if I were a marketing professional, I'd want my name, picture, e-mail, phone number and fax numbers plastered all over the site!

More office-building owners are now developing web sites for their individual properties. For example, Sumitomo Life Realty has recently posted web sites for three separate buildings, each with a unique web address: 101 East 52nd Street, NYC and Atlanta Plaza and One Atlantic Center both in Atlanta, GA. You'll find physical descriptions, tenant information, space available data, leasing contact information, and even a calendar of building events.

Developing an authoritative web site is a difficult job. It's probably going to be hard just to get the leasing, property management and information groups to work as a team. And it's particularly difficult to develop it in the abstract. So put something up. You'll learn a lot, and, remember, you can always improve it. In fact, you'll never finish it!

2. Web Success--R.B. Murray Automates Web Listings. ... Last week I wrote about the new linkage between ARES for ACT 4.0 and LoopNet. ... Well, it sounds like Rob Murray at R.B. Murray Company in Springfield, MO, has taken ARES to a whole new level. In addition to posting his listings at LoopNet, here's how he also uploads them automatically to his web site daily:

"We use ARES for our in-house database to track current listings and prospects. Generally we have about 100 active commercial listings in our database. By utilizing Microsoft Access and Cold Fusion, we have created a simple integration program between ARES and our web page. My assistant clicks her mouse a couple of times at the end of each business day and every change in our in-house listings database (ARES) is uploaded to the Internet."

Wow. ... Do you have a Web Success story? Send e-mail to Peter Pike . ... Visit recent Web Success stories.

3. Knowledge Base--Capturing Images for PowerPoint. ... Several readers wrote to me last week after I had mentioned the SnagIt program for capturing images on the web. They pointed out correctly that you could capture any graphics image simply by right mouse clicking on the image and saving it to your hard drive. ... Yep, I do it all the time for PowerPoint presentations. But you're stuck with actual size of the image. If you want to capture only a portion of an image, you'll need a program like SnagIt (or you'll have to edit the image using a graphics program like PhotoShop--no piece of cake). ... For step-by-step instructions on capturing entire images using the Save Picture As command, go to the Web Related section of the PikeNet Knowledge Base (top of home page) or use the URL below:

4. Season's Greetings! ... Thank you for subscribing to the PikeNet Dispatch. Each week I try to present the best real estate tools and resources available on the Internet. I try to analyze their impact on our industry. And, most of all, I try to convey a sense of how technology will re-shape your professional life. As Alan Kay has said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." So I like to think that you, my Dispatch readers, are inventing the future of the commercial real estate industry. Maybe that's too grand a vision, but somebody's going to do it. Why not you? ... May your family enjoy peace and prosperity this holiday season.

-- Peter Pike