I think Microsoft needs to make sure things like these are easy for the local Internet companies to offer to the local businesses. Another area that should not be forgotten is the ability of such a service to provide for urgent information. Stored at the Microsoft Local Internet Center equipment, if that's what fit's into your business plan. For example, vegetarians should only have to tell the system once that they don't eat their friends, and from then on from login to login, no matter where they login from, it knows not to suggest a place for eating ribs. Everyone here is investigating it.
Companies recognize that it is a powerful communication media for advertising, and for support.
Savvy media companies know that the web will only grow, and that even at this infant state, it is a very useful tool. Convincing them of this, at least convincing San Diego companies, has largely been done already. It's just a matter of helping them figure out what they need to do to fit into a grid of information. But if the information isn't concise, which would require some level of cooperation among all the theaters in this example, then the whole project is, at least in part, a failure. There has to be cooperation, because if the user has to click on each theater to figure out who's playing something they want to see, they will go scan the paper.