TechCrunch and Kelsey, among a couple of others, have written about FatDoor morphing into Center’d. But most of the stories are incomplete or in some respects incorrect. Center’d relies on the same back end created by FatDoor. So FatDoor isn’t in the deadpool or shut down. It’s seen some structural changes and has a new face.
There’s also been a strategy change and the old CEO left and was replaced by former Yahoo executive (and briefly Yahoo Local GM) Jen Dulski. (Here’s my post from last year on the transition.) The CTO and co-founder is still there as well as many employees.
This is a case of a site that had one plan that didn’t get traction shifting and emphasizing other things. Thematically it’s still very much about local and community (key parts of the original vision). I’ve been talking to Dulski about the company’s strategy and approach for several months (they’re not a client) and was waiting to write something until their private beta was over. (I haven’t seen the site other than screenshots.)
The company was in a “friends and family” beta trying to work out some of the bugs and somehow someone from TechCrunch got access and Erick Schonfeld wrote up a generally favorable post. But it’s not really an “event planning” site, although organizing get togethers and group events is a prominent component of the overall functionality. There’s an emphasis on women so there’s a demographic/psychographic angle that didn’t exist before, though it’s not going to be entirely explicit. That and other things make it different than some of the sites it is being compared to.
I’ll write more in a couple of weeks or when the site is ready to launch.
Screenwerk 
April 16, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I can’t speak to what they’re doing now, and like all local web startups, I wish them the best of luck. But this is the company I wrote about a year ago here:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/blogs/pegasusnewsblog/2007/mar/20/fathead/
Hopefully they’ve learned a lot since then…
April 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm
How are you doing Mike?
April 18, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Pretty well — It was a slow hard slog ramping up sales, but things are starting to take off nicely. Basically the curve is what we forecast, but it started about four months later than I hoped. Client list is diversifying but what’s most encouraging is the testimonials/success stories we’re getting from advertisers making full use of The Daily You.
We’re learning a new trick and wiggling over a new hurdle every day 🙂
October 23, 2008 at 6:24 pm
[…] emerged from the flames of the somewhat ill-conceived Fatdoor. (Here’s my original post from April.) I had several conversations with Dulski before launch but haven’t talked to her […]