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Jaman and The New Global Niche

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on February 21, 2007 - 1:03pm.
I2m_jaman2 Ethnicity has always been an appealing niche for foreign language newspapers and magazines to local cable television programs.  Restaurants, churches and temples are all centers for exploring global cultures in the real world.  Yet on the Internet, the most successful ethnically focused sites seem to be the online dating sites such as Shaadi.com, JDate and Corazones.com - as well as online communities targeting ethnicities for networking.  The problem with this is that most of these sites are not inviting others outside a particular ethnicity to interact and learn about a culture.
tags: Internet | Video | Marketing | Movies | Film | International | Online Communities | Social Media | Jaman |

Flixster: The Ultimate Social Network You've Never Heard Of

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on February 14, 2007 - 1:48pm.
I2m_flixster_screen_1 Ok, maybe you have ... and it just might be Flixster, a social network dedicated to film, actors, Hollywood and movie fans.  The obvious question you could be wondering is how it can be "the ultimate" when there are so many other social networks that have been around longer, pull more traffic, have more users and generate more buzz?  The main reason is because after using the site, you realize that they have taken what seems like every trick from every other social network, and integrated it into their own site to add to a user's experience. For example, visiting an artist's profile page with it's aggregation of images and videos has a look that reminds you of a cross between a Technorati search and a MySpace profile page.  In fact, you can select a skin for your own page or add one to the system - just like you can with MySpace.
tags: Internet | Video | Online Publishing | Social Networking | Movies | Online Communities | Web 2.0 | Flixster |

10 Secrets of Successful Online Communities

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on February 12, 2007 - 11:23am.

Community Next Conference Program via FlickrThis past weekend I was moderating a panel at CommunityNext, a smart event focused on everything about online communities coordinated by Noah Kagan.  The event was a fun gathering of extremely smart folks from some of the hottest online communities today - and panelists/speakers shared many great thoughts on topics ranging from how to be more awesome, to the genesis behind HotorNot.com.  Through the day, I took several notes and during the flight back to the east coast, started to aggregate the day into some central lessons about online communities gained from listening to many of the speakers, as well as looking at what is making many of the sites from attendees stand out.  Here's my list of 10 lessons that I took away from the event, as well as a few great sites that are worth visiting for further exploration:
tags: Internet | Marketing | Online Publishing | Social Networking | Events | Online Communities | Social Media |

How Yelp Beat Judy’s Book

Authored by Peter Krasilovsky on February 8, 2007 - 12:55pm.
There is no better guide to how to avoid the potholes in hyper-local than Judy’s Book Co-Founder Andy Sack, who has been writing a series of “don’t do this at home” posts about Judy’s Book’s failed efforts building an online review site. (The site is now refocused on local promotions). In the most recent installment, Sack talks about how Yelp came into the game with a better strategy.
tags: Internet | Advertising | Online Publishing | Reviews | Local | Online Communities | Yelp | Judy's Book |

The Future of Online Communities: A Panel and a Poll

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on February 6, 2007 - 10:23am.
I2m_communitynextlogo This coming weekend, I will be moderating a panel during Community Next, a very interesting day long event focused on the evolution of online communities.  The topic of the panel is on exploring some of the smartest do-it-yourself tools out there for “creating, analyzing, and marketing your own online community" and I will be joined by Hiten Shah of Crazyegg, Matt Roche of Offermatica, Mike Jones of Userplane, and Joe Hurd of VideoEgg .  The focus of our session will be to identify what makes an online community successful and what tools are out there for helping launch, manage or optimize your own community.
tags: Internet | Marketing | Social Networking | Events | Online Communities | Social Media |

Online Social Network PatientsLikeMe Raises $5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2007 - 10:39am.

Cambridge, Mass. - PatientsLikeMe, a provider of online social networking services for patients with serious diseases, has raised $5 million in its first round of venture capital, VentureWire reported on Monday.

tags: Deals | Internet | VC | Social Networking | Health | Online Communities | PatientsLikeMe | Astrology.com |

First Annual Virtual Worlds Conference Set for March in New York

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 9:29am.

New York - Event producer Show Initiative on Wednesday announced plans to host its first annual Virtual Worlds Conference, an event for "Fortune 500 companies seeking to understand and maximize marketing, entertainment and business strategies within virtual worlds."

tags: Games | Events | Second Life | Online Communities | Virtual Worlds | Show Initiative | There.com |

MomJunction Raises $1.5 Million in First Round of Funding

Authored by dmw on January 4, 2007 - 2:48pm.
New York - MomJunction, a New York-based social networking website for mothers, has raised $1.5 million in its first round of venture capital, led by a group of media and technology investors, including PointRoll CEO Christopher Saridakis and founder Jules Gardner, as well as entrepreneur Pat Croce. Founded last year, MomJunction allows users to create or join online groups to coordinate schedules, exchange tips, share pictures and information, and trade items.
tags: Deals | Internet | VC | Social Networking | Online Communities | Parents | MomJunction | Mothers |

Napster Creator Fanning to Launch Game Community Site Rupture

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 4, 2006 - 2:46pm.
New York - Napster creator Shawn Fanning plans to launch a virtual social community for online gamers called Rupture in the coming weeks, Business Week reported.
tags: Games | Launches | Internet | Napster | Blizzard | Online Communities | WoW | Sean Fanning | Rupture |

Viacom's MTV Networks Acquires Teen User-Generated Site Quizilla.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 17, 2006 - 1:44pm.
New York - Viacom's MTV Networks announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Quizilla.com, an online community featuring user-generated content from teen authors, from Gorilla Nation Media. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2002, Quizilla is in the top five sites for teenage girls, and attracted 3.1 million unique visitors during September, according to comScore Media Metrix. The site's mix of quizzes, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, polls and other creative content will be added to The-N.com, part of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.
tags: Deals | Internet | Video | TV | MTV | Viacom | Teens | Online Communities | UGC | Acquistions | Quizilla |

World Poker Tour Launches Online Poker Academy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 11, 2006 - 2:14pm.
Los Angeles - WPT Enterprises, operators of the World Poker Tour, on Wednesday announced the launch of a Web-based poker education center and online community. The WPT Academy includes video tutorials hosted by poker pros, and a hand search engine and simulator called Handsim that lets users search the database for players, hole card values, card combinations, odds percentages and other data. The database contains over 1,700 final table hands from 13 World Poker Tour tournaments, and allows users to follow play-by-play recaps of top players like Scotty Nguyen, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. Los Angeles-based WPT said that its WPT Academy will initially be offered for free to subscribers, and did not provide details on future subscription fees.
tags: Games | Launches | Internet | Gambling | Education | Poker | Online Communities | World Poker Tour |

Local User-Generated Content Site Smalltown Raises $3 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 10, 2006 - 4:36pm.
San Mateo, Calif. - Smalltown, a new user-generated content site focused on geographic communities, announced on Tuesday that it has launched from stealth operations and raised $3 million in its first round of funding from Formative Ventures. The company's first sites will focus on Burlingame and San Mateo. "There really isn't one generalized platform where people in a local community can find and share information about all things local -- nannies, items for sale or exchange, local events, merchant coupons, weekend activities, you name it," said Hal Rucker, CEO and co-founder of San Mateo-based Smalltown. "Smalltown is building a platform for the Local Web, a network of hundreds of hyper-local sites that have the granularity to address the needs of local economies."
tags: Deals | Internet | VC | Advertising | Online Publishing | News | Online Communities | UGC | Smalltown |

Xfire Hits 5 Million Users for PC Game Online Community Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 29, 2006 - 1:51pm.
Menlo Park, Calif. - Xfire, a recent $102 million acquisition of Viacom's MTV Networks that provides a free, ad-supported online community for over 600 PC games, announced on Friday that it now counts over 5 million users. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Xfire's service includes in-game messaging, voice chat, friend tracking, peer-to-peer file downloading and a game server browser.
tags: Games | Advertising | MTV | Xfire | PC Games | Online Games | Online Communities | In-Games |

MTV to Create Virtual Worlds Around "Laguna Beach," Other Programs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 20, 2006 - 12:08pm.
New York - MTV Networks announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Makena Technologies, creators of the 3D social virtual world There.com, to create a series of virtual worlds based on its programs. Launched in beta mode today, "Virtual Laguna Beach" allows viewers to create an avatar for themselves, hang out at the beach or local surf shop, and chat with one another in real-time. MTV will also premiere episodes of "Laguna Beach" in-world before they can be seen on-air; an upcoming episode in which the teens attend their Winter Formal will be followed by an in-world version of the dance, where users can select a tux or prom dress for their on-screen identities. MTV partnered with Mediavest Worldwide and OMD to develop virtual advertisements within the online worlds, and said Pepsi is among initial sponsors. Viewers in-world will be able to interact with sponsors' content and also purchase virtual as well as physical goods. The company is also working with Doppleganger on virtual music environments. Later this year, MTV Networks plans to debut a second virtual world for its Logo network for the LGBT community.
tags: Video | TV | MTV | Online Communities | Laguna Beach | Virtual Communities |

Global Event Information Provider Eventful Raises $7.5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 19, 2006 - 6:27pm.
San Diego - Eventful, a global events information website, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $7.5 in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Bay Partners. Previous investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Omidyar Network and Esther Dyson also participated in the round. Founded in 2004, Eventful.com allows users to discover events in their area, promote events of all types and create online communities focused on specific events. San Diego-based Eventful will use the funds to add additional staff in marketing, business development and engineering.
tags: Deals | Internet | VC | Online Publishing | Events | Online Communities | Eventful |

MTV Networks Unit Launches ParentsConnect.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2006 - 1:13pm.
New York - Viacom's Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group on Monday announced the public beta launch of ParentsConnect.com, an online community for parents. The site will feature content from Nickelodeon's recent GoCityKids website acquisition, and allow users to search for parental advice and activities sorted by children's age, location and personal interests. Parents can create a customized home page and blog that updates with local activities, relevant news and discussion board postings. The company plans to launch ParentsConnect TV, a broadband video companion site features user-created content, in the fourth quarter.
tags: Launches | Internet | Video | TV | MTV | Nickelodeon | Online Communities | Parents | ParentsConnect.com |

Broadjam to Offer Musicrypt Radio Delivery to Artist Community

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 11, 2006 - 1:14pm.
Madison, Wisc. - Broadjam.com, an online community of independent music artists, on Monday announced the launch of a service that will distribute promotional tracks directly to radio stations over a secure Internet network. The service will be powered by Musicrypt's Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS), which is also used by major record labels to deliver singles to radio. Broadjam artists will also be able to include broadcast-quality music, pictures, bios and other promotional materials.
tags: Tech | Radio | Music | Artists | Promotions | Musicrypt | Online Communities | Broadjam |

Paltalk Adds Social Network Features to Online Video Chat Community

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 25, 2006 - 1:01pm.
New York - Paltalk, an online video chat community with over four million members, announced on Friday that it has added social networking features to its service with the launch of Paltalk People 2.0. The site blends common social networking features like member profiles with the ability to add chat with other members -- as well as friends on AOL, Yahoo and ICQ buddy lists -- via video, voice and text.
tags: Internet | Video | Tech | Social Networking | Chat | Online Communities | Video Chat | Paltalk |

SellaBand Debuts New Online Distribution Model for Developing Artists

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 23, 2006 - 1:12pm.
Amsterdam - SellaBand on Wednesday announced the launch of its community music site that offers a new distribution model for developing artists. The site lets bands upload their self-recorded songs, and "Believers" in the online community can purchase "Parts" of the band in $10 increments.
tags: Music | Artists | Commerce | CD | Content Delivery | Online Communities | SellaBand | Super-Distribution |

A Gallery of Marketing and PR in Second Life

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on August 23, 2006 - 8:44am.
Amendment: Many Second Life residents commented that this gallery/list, which was originally positioned as "firsts" was inaccurate and left out much of the hard work of residents over the past three years before SL realized it's current media status. To amend, I have changed the title of this post to reflect the fact that this is a collection of examples - but not necessarily "firsts." Hopefully this gallery is still a useful resource for marketers interested in learning about some engaging efforts that have taken place in SL recently, however this should not be considered a true list of firsts.

I2m_secondlifelogo The virtual world has been getting a lot of coverage in the real world these days.  Second Life is becoming the new poster child for the rising popularity of avatars and virtual personalities that real people are taking on, and every day it seems there is a new development that causes those in marketing and media circles to issue another latest news bulletin, write a blog post, or move on the rise as del.icio.us tag candy.  As some have noted, Second Life and the concept of virtual worlds is not new.  This was an idea first explored in the dotcom days, but never really took off due perhaps to the limitations of PCs, and the lack of abilities for promotion.  Those barriers are gone as personal media allows word to travel farther and faster, and word has certainly spread about Second Life.

tags: Games | Internet | Marketing | Advertising | Avatars | Second Life | Online Communities | Linden Labs |
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