Daily Archives: October 1, 2009

Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading spend management solutions provider, is gearing up to make a difference. The company today announced its participation in theDonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge, a unique charity event in which the Blogosphere’s elite will compete to solicit donations from their online communities to support critical educational projects across the nation’s schools.

“The DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge is a fun way to involve online communities in bringing classroom wishes to life,” said Jonathan Evans, Vendor Relations Director, DonorsChoose.org. “It’s a friendly but fierce competition to find out which bloggers have the most engaged and generous readership to drive support for school projects that benefit students from low-income neighborhoods around the country.”

Ariba has long recognized the value of building online communities. In 1999, the company launched the Ariba Network to help buyers and suppliers around the world connect and do business more efficiently. In 2003, it began tapping social media outlets to fuel even greater collaboration among people and organizations, starting a blog,SupplyExcellence.com, creatingLinkedIn Groupsand establishing a presence onFacebook,TwitterandYouTube.

“The Internet has completely revolutionized the way that people and businesses connect and communicate,” said Justin Fogarty, manager, online communities, Ariba. “At Ariba, we’ve built a strong network of online communities through which professionals from around the world freely share insights, information and best practices to advance their own objectives and those of their peers. We’re now challenging these communities to
target=”_blank”>extend their supportto one of our nation’s most critical objectives – the education of our children – and a worthy charitable organization – DonorsChoose.org.”

An online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need, DonorsChoose.org enables public school teachers from every corner of America to post classroom project requests, from pencils for a poetry writing class to violins for a school recital. Donors can search requests and give any amount to projects that speak to them. Once a project reaches its funding goal, DonorsChoose.org delivers the materials to the school, and donors hear back from the classroom in the form of thank-you notes and photos.

Throughout the month of October, members of Ariba’s various communities can donate to classroom projects at DonorsChoose.org by visiting the
target=”_blank”>Ariba DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge site, where participants can also ask Ariba to feature specific projects or areas of interest.

Last year, more than 165 of the country’s most prominent bloggers, including Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark, venture capitalist Fred Wilson, and Wall Street Journal reporter Kara Swisher rallied in support of DonorsChoose.org and raised over $275,000. “We’ve got some heady competition, but we’re more than up to the challenge,” Fogarty said. “With more than 25,000 unique visitors to our communities each month, we’re confident we can make a difference for DonorsChoose.org and the schools and children that they support.”

About DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.orgis an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests, from pencils for a poetry writing class to violins for a school recital. Then, you can search requests and give any amount to the project that speaks to you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school, and you hear back from the classroom in the form of thank-you notes and photos. Learn more abouthow it works.

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of on-demand spend management solutions. Our mission is to transform the way companies of all sizes, across all industries, and geographies operate by delivering technology, service, and network solutions that enable them to holistically source, contract, procure, pay, manage, and analyze their spend and supplier relationships. Delivered on demand, our enterprise-class offerings empower companies to achieve greater control of their spend and drive continuous improvements in financial and supply chain performance. More than 1,000 companies, including more than half of the companies on the Fortune 100, use Ariba solutions to manage their spend from sourcing and orders through invoicing and payment. For more information, visitwww.ariba.com

The Washington Post and Bloomberg will launch a global news service, The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News, which will offer a selection of content from The Post and BLOOMBERG NEWS® stories to newspapers, Web sites and other subscribers daily.
The Post, the leading source of news about Washington, and Bloomberg, the world’s most influential financial news organization, will also produce a co-branded Web-based business news page on washingtonpost.com, incorporating content from the Post and from the BLOOMBERG.COM® Web site.

In addition, the Post’s entire news content, including breaking-news alerts, will be available in real time as part of the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL® service, which is the world’s leading source of data, news and analytics with more than 300,000 users.

“Professionals worldwide rely on Bloomberg News for accurate and timely perspective, while Washington’s decision-makers depend on The Post’s thorough reporting on politics and policy. As politics and economics converge on a global scale, this association will create the go-to source for news and analysis of today’s critical issues,” said Matthew Winkler, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News.

“This is a formidable collaboration,” said Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Washington Post. “It brings together The Post’s vast expertise on politics and policy news in Washington with Bloomberg’s highly regarded global financial, economic and political news franchise. It also brings together The Post’s prize-winning feature writers and columnists with Bloomberg’s team of top-notch journalistic talent.”

“Bloomberg’s incredible geographic reach and wide range of coverage topics, from business to entertainment to culture and the arts, provides a perfect complement to The Post’s content for subscribers seeking a smart, high-end, comprehensive news service,” Brauchli said.

The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News will be available starting January 1, 2010 to news organizations around the world. With 120 stories available daily, the service will offer an expansive selection of news across topics to subscribers along with photos, graphics and other story elements.

About The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com)

The Washington Post provides award-winning news and understanding about the politics, policies, personalities and institutions that make Washington, D.C. the world’s seat of power, and is a critical tool and information source for those who call Washington, D.C. home. In digital form, The Washington Post combines its world-class journalism with the latest technology and tools, and encourages participation and customization across all platforms so readers can engage with The Washington Post anytime, anywhere. The Washington Post is owned by The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), a diversified education and media company.

About Bloomberg

Bloomberg is the source of critical information and tools with which to analyze, customize and use it. The BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL® service and Bloomberg’s media services deliver data, news and analytics that create transparency and allow users to transform knowledge into success.

Bloomberg Media Services

Bloomberg’s media services cover the world with more than 2,200 news and multimedia professionals at 145 bureaus in 68 countries. Five hundred media organizations subscribe to BLOOMBERG NEWS® content, which is integrated onto the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL service. The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® 24-hour network reaches more than 200 million homes around the world. BLOOMBERG RADIO® services broadcast via XM, Sirius and WorldSpace satellite radio globally and on WBBR 1130AM in New York. The award-winning monthly BLOOMBERG MARKETS® magazine, the BLOOMBERG.COM® financial news and information Web site and BLOOMBERG PRESS® books provide news and insight to investors. For more information, please visit http://www.bloomberg.com.

The BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL service and data products are owned and distributed by Bloomberg Finance L.P. (BFLP) except that Bloomberg L.P. and its subsidiaries (BLP) distribute these products in Argentina, Bermuda, China, India, Japan and Korea. BFLP owns and distributes Bloomberg Markets Magazine. BLP provides BFLP with global marketing and operational support and services. Bloomberg Tradebook is distributed by Bloomberg Tradebook LLC and its subsidiaries. BLP owns and distributes Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, the Bloomberg Website and Bloomberg Press.

Organizers of the 2009 BlogWorld & New Media Expo, which will gather the leading voices of social media in Las Vegas from October 15 to 17, announced today a panel to explore the need for standards and ethics in social media, particularly in the area of public journalism and political opinion. The panel, devoted to The Future of Journalism, will feature CNN anchor Don Lemon; award-winning critic, NYU journalism professor and PressThink blog author Jay Rosen; conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt; and Current TV COO Joanna Drake Earl.
As online content, developed and published by self-described citizen journalists, has grown exponentially over the past year, it has also established itself as the originator of misinformation, distortions and accusations often picked up and given a wider audience by a mainstream media scrambling to feed a 24-hour news cycle, as well as bitterly divided partisan politicians looking to gain political traction.

“From the Obama birth certificate controversy, to rumors of FEMA concentration camps, to the death panel claims made by Sarah Palin on her Facebook account, to accusations of 9/11 cover-ups—all were spread online and then widely disseminated by mainstream media, often as substitute for serious discussion of issues such as health care reform and foreign policy that could undercut the profit motives of corporate owners and sponsors,” said Brian Solis new media analyst and architect and author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and the PR 2.0 blog.

“At times encouraged and supported by well-funded think tanks and then broadcast globally by television news stations or e-mailed to extensive subscriber lists, online content is disseminated faster than regulations can be legislated, and even faster than any specific corrections or examinations can be offered,” he continued.

Despite many examples of devoted and highly disciplined citizen reporters, can online content even be called journalism if it continues to lack basic standards? And given the increasing revelations of controversial and high profile inaccuracies of a press imbedded with political and corporate interests, does online content even want to be called journalism? As comedy shows become more trusted than mainstream news outlets, and newspapers suffer cutbacks and closings all over the country, what role does online content now play—and what ethical responsibilities should it abide by?

While Twitter, blogs and other platforms for self-publishing are rivaling traditional media, what is the role of journalism in the era of the real-time, “now” Web? As social media lowers the barriers to entry, empowering individuals to emerge as pundits and experts, is it also lowering the standards of investigation, fact checking and due-diligence? These far-reaching and difficult questions will be paramount at the 2009 BlogWorld & New Media Expo’s Future of News panel. Brian Solis will lead a discussion with leading authorities on the subject including Jay Rosen of NYU’s journalism department, Don Lemon of CNN, Salem Radio Network host and social conservative Hugh Hewitt, and Current TV COO Joanna Drake Earl.

“BlogWorld & New Media Expo has no interest in shying away from tough questions or heated debate,” said Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder. “We are in uncharted territory in terms of democratized content creation and its influence, and there is no better place to have this conversation about the need for standards, accountability and ethics.”

Now in its third year, the BlogWorld & New Media Expo is dedicated to promoting and supporting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media as a mainstream news source, the most powerful and effective means of online communication and as a highly targeted and traceable advertising medium. BlogWorld attendees are aggressive technology consumers and mobile professionals, as well as the world’s most influential online content creators, citizen journalists, technology consumers, marketers and online community leaders.

In 2008, BlogWorld attendees had a combined monthly audience of more than 100 million readers, viewers and listeners. For the 2009 Expo, BlogWorld anticipates more than 3,000 attendees with a reach in excess of 200 million.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo conference sponsors include Ford, Ebay, PayPal, Johnson & Johnson, Collective Bias, Rockfish Interactive, Procopio, ShareASale, Calacles Consulting and Blame Society Productions. The Light Group is title sponsor of evening parties, with Anheuser-Busch as beverage sponsor. Media partners include Alltop, Mashable, Technorati, Fast Company, MacObserver and iPodObserver, Webgrrls, WomensRadio and more. Sched.org is social media scheduling sponsor. Yubby is the official video aggregator.

Additional information on BlogWorld & New Media Expo, including speaker topics, session descriptions and registration details, is available at www.blogworldexpo.com.”

About BlogWorld & New Media Expo

BlogWorld & New Media Expo is the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of new media, including: blogging, podcasting, social media, online video, music, TV, radio, gaming, entertainment and communities. In addition to the only industry-wide new media exhibition, BlogWorld & New Media Expo features the largest new media conference in the world, including more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and internet-savvy business. The 2009 BlogWorld & New Media Expo is designed to give participants the crucial strategies, tools and technologies they need to leverage social media for publishing, broadcasting and growing brands and businesses through online presence and community engagement. More information can be found at www.blogworldexpo.com.