Offbeat Guides in Public Beta

David Sifry's new startup, Offbeat Guides, has entered their public beta. Dave was Founder and CEO of Technorati before starting this new company. Cool concept and products. More from Dave:

Our first product is quite simple: On-demand, Personalized Travel Books. Travel books that are tuned just for you, only about the place that you're going, with local information like festivals, events, and concerts that are going on during the dates of your stay. We put in local maps that are tuned to where you'll be, and we even customize the guide based on what we learn about you, like the timezone differences from your hometown, electrical plug differences, embassies and consulates nearby, differences in tipping policies, exchange rates, local weather forecasts, and much more.

We provide guides for over 30,000 city destinations around the world - of course we cover New York, Paris, Rome, and Tokyo, but we also have guides to Newark, Paradise, Romeoville, and Tokorozawa, and many more places.

We're trying to solve the problem that most of us have when we travel - you want to know where to go, what to do when you're there, and what's going on while you're there.

We're a company run by obsessive technologists who happen to travel a LOT. We don't come out of the travel industry. We're travelers, just like you. We value your time, so we focused on simplicity. To get started, we only ask you 5 questions:

* Where are you going: We currently cover over 30,000 city destinations

* When will you be there: So we can include information about local festivals, events, club meetings, sports teams, concerts, and other timely information

* Where are you coming from: With this information, we give you contextal information, like timezone differences, embassies and consulates for your home country, language guides, exchange rates, electrical adapters needed, and more.

* Where are you staying: So we can localize the maps that go into your guide, and put your hotel right at the center of things.

* The Traveler's Name: Well, we need to know who you are, so we can put your name right on the book cover! Makes for great gifts, too. (full post)