Tycoon Systems Inc. today announced a new educational business game application built on Facebook Platform. Tycoon Systems’ IndustryMasters application is a real-time multiplayer business game, which provides hands-on entrepreneurial experience for Facebook users worldwide.

“IndustryMasters is an opportunity for Facebook users to challenge their management skills and to grow their business acumen,” said Tycoon Systems CEO Thomas Lehnert. “Players can compete 24/7 in real-time with users from anywhere in the world in this very realistic, multiplayer business simulation game. IndustryMasters is a serious game, an empowering and fun educational experience.”

The IndustryMasters application allows Facebook users to build up their own corporation and to manage their products within a virtual economy, while competing with other players for the highest share price. As they play, users learn and absorb important elements of finance and accounting, corporate strategy and economics. By playing multiple rounds this learning is strongly grounded and embedded.

IndustryMasters on Facebook Platform is open to anyone with an interest in business. Facebook users can easily and instantly access IndustryMasters using their already established Facebook account, without leaving the Facebook Website. They can invite their Facebook friends to join the business game and to become their shareholders. They can also team up with friends to play simultaneously and coordinate strategies using Facebook Chat.

Facebook gives companies and the developer community access to the social graph through Facebook Platform. Using a rich set of tools and online services, developers such as Tycoon Systems are able to build an application that is deeply integrated into the Facebook Website.

About Tycoon Systems

Tycoon Systems was founded in 2005 and is a leading business education software company. Tycoon Systems’ business simulations are used in business education around the globe, in a variety of formats – from custom simulations used in executive education to ready-to-use SCORM compatible business e-learning modules – and now on Facebook Platform.

For more information please visit http://apps.facebook.com/industrymasters

Gigya, Inc., the leading technology for connecting content and consumers with the social web, today announced that its Socialize technology is now available as a module for Drupal. The Socialize module was developed in conjunction with Acquia, the enterprise guide to the Drupal Social Publishing System.
The new Socialize module enables site owners to authenticate users with a single point of access to Facebook Connect, MySpaceID, Sign in with Twitter as well as OpenID providers like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL Mail. Publishers using Socialize have increased site registrations by more than 30 percent.

“The Gigya Socialize Drupal module is a perfect complement to Drupal’s social publishing features,” said Rooly Eliezerov, President and co-founder, Gigya. “The module makes it easy for any site built on Drupal to add powerful social features, including pushing content and user activity out beyond the site and into the social networks, driving interactivity and viral promotion.”

Powerful Authentication, Social and Promotional Features

Gigya’s new Socialize Module for Drupal makes it easy for Drupal site owners to:

Enable users to link existing accounts with social network and OpenID identities, and personalize the user experience by making it easy for sites to integrate user profile and social graph data.
Increase user acquisition by enabling users to invite friends to the site, or to share site content or a specific event. For example, using the Socialize module users can choose to invite their Facebook friends to comment on a new post they created.
Increase site traffic through viral promotion, enabling users to send status updates, tweets and newsfeed events to their social networks. The Gigya Socialize module has been fully integrated with Drupal’s user action and trigger core modules so Drupal site owners can configure the viral promotion channels to work dynamically.
Easily configure the user experience, design, and module functionality using the Drupal administration panel.
“Content and community are the critical components of many Drupal websites and the Gigya Socialize Drupal module connects Drupal-based communities with the leading social networks on the web,” said Dries Buytaert, Drupal project founder and Acquia CTO. “Simplifying site authentication processes and integration with various networks and platforms can improve the user experience and extend the reach of every website.”

The new Gigya Socialize Drupal module is fully configurable and installs in minutes with no programming. The module is available, free of charge, on Drupal.org at http://drupal.org/project/gigya.

To learn more about how to use Socialize on your Drupal website, Acquia and Gigya are jointly hosting a webinar on August 4th, 2009 which will cover product features, implementation, and best practices. To register go to https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/550274306.

About Acquia

Acquia helps organizations of all sizes build social publishing websites quickly, easily and with a lower total cost of ownership by leveraging Drupal, the open source social publishing platform that blends content and community. Our products, services and support enable companies to leverage the power, technical innovation and economic value of Drupal while simplifying the experience, removing the complexity and minimizing the risk. Please visit: http://acquia.com. Download Acquia Drupal, the completely free Drupal distribution, at http://acquia.com/downloads.

About Drupal

The Drupal social publishing system has been downloaded over two million times since its inception and powers more than 400,000 web sites globally. Drupal includes an enterprise class content management system and is used to deliver a wide variety of web applications including single or multi-user blogs, wikis, community networks, digital media portals, e-commerce, and many more. Assisted by a thriving ecosystem of consultants and developers, a diverse set of organizations use Drupal, including SonyBMG, Warner Brothers Records, the New York Observer, Forbes, Disney, Intel, Harvard University, and Amnesty International. A huge community has grown up around Drupal, with thousands of active contributors to the open source technology. For more information, visit http://drupal.org.

About Gigya

Gigya’s technology opens the social web for publishers and marketers, providing powerful tools that increase audience reach and engagement. Gigya reaches more than 250 million people each month on its rich media social advertising network, enabling marketers to engage consumers in social environments and enlist them as brand advocates. The company’s Wildfire and Socialize products enable publishers to syndicate and track their content across more than 70 unique platforms and to integrate and promote their own websites with social networks including Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Publishers and advertisers working with Gigya include: CBS, Coca-Cola, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts, Hyundai, JCPenney, Levis, MTV, Photobucket, Samsung, Turner, Unilever and Walmart. For more information, please visit: www.gigya.com.

Wrike Inc., the leading provider of on-demand, online project management solutions, today revealed a free application that will change My Yahoo! users’s everyday experience by letting them work on tasks and projects together in real-time.
Wrike Simple Projects (http://apps.yahoo.com/-JOaEL34s) is the first My Yahoo! app that lets users keep track of changes made in projects by their friends. Thanks to the ability to see who created, edited, reassigned and completed tasks in real time, they can always stay in the loop. Wrike Simple Projects lets anyone who has a personal My Yahoo! page easily create and assign tasks, organize tasks into projects, invite people to work on projects together and keep track of changes.
Saving time and making people all over the world more productive is a part of Wrike’ss mission. We developed Wrike Simple Projects for free specifically for Yahoo! to help millions of people become more effective in getting things done together, said Wrike’ss founder and CEO, Andrew Filev.
Wrike Simple Projects features basic task management and collaboration functions, such as sharing projects and assigning tasks. People who need a more powerful solution for managing business projects are invited to use Wrike’ss main product, which features the patent-pending Intelligent E-mail Engine, unique Flexible Structures and Dynamic Timeline. A free, 30-day trial is available at http://www.wrike.com.
About Wrike:
Wrike, Inc. is a provider of an award-winning, on-demand, online project management solution. It provides executives with a unique platform for gaining productivity for the whole team and getting things done throughout the company. Wrike helps companies from SMBs to global corporations stay in control of their business (http://www.wrike.com/stories.html). Its e-mail integration is the most advanced in the project management space. Wrike, Inc. has patents pending. Wrike was named a winner of RedHerring’ss Top 100 Global Company Award and a winner of eWeek’ss Excellence Award. Founded in 2003, Wrike Inc. is a privately held corporation located in California.

LinkedIn Group “Sales and Marketing Professionals Promoting HighTech and Technology in Los Angeles” invites you to the first group’s networking reception and panel which is produced in association with iHollywood Forum at the conclusion of their 7th annual Digital Media Summit. Over 200 are expected to attend from LinkedIn members and the Digital Media Summit attendees. The cocktail party is from 6pm-9pm on Wednesday, July 29 at UCLA Covel Commons.
Qualified press can receive a comp ticket by contacting event organiziers. Qualified press include editorial press only for commercial print, news, blogs, online, or trade outlets and must apply in advance for approval.
All others can purchase tickets for only $20 at:
http://www.linkedin7-29.eventbrite.com
To learn more about the Digital Media Summit from 9am-6pm, go to www.ihollywoodforum.com/digitalmediasummit or you can register at:
:www.digitalmediasummit.eventbrite.com. You can also call 310 736 1541 or send an email to [email protected].
The LinkedIn “Sales and Marketing Professionals Promoting HighTech and Technology in Los Angeles and its Vicinity”,
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1827… is the largest LinkedIn group in Los Angeles with about 4000 members. Or call Tommy Orpaz at 818 825-8167.
Address: UCLA , Covel Commons, 200 De Neve Dr. , Los Angeles, CA 90024 . Parking permits can be puchased from kiosk for adjacent UCLA lots.
Register now at : http://www.linkedin7-29.eventbrite.com
Program:
6:00 – 7:30 pm – Networking reception.
7:30 – 9:00 pm – Panel discussion on Using Social Networking to Generate Revenue
Our panelists will share the ways that social media is utilized for branding companies and individuals and social networking as a business strategy.
The panelists:
Fernando Espuelas , Host & Managing Editor at Cafe Espuelas on 1020am in Los Angeles
This is a radio talk show broadcast live M-F on 1020 AM. It is the number 1 rated Spanish language AM station in Los Angeles, part of the Univision Radio Network. Espuelas founded StarMedia, the first multi-platform digital media company for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking people worldwide. StarMedia transcended national barriers, becoming the most recognized pan-Latin new media brand, eventually serving 25 million people per month. Espuelas went on to raise $500 million dollars for StarMedia in a combination of private and public offerings, including raising the first dollar of venture funding and the first IPO for a Latin Internet company.
Lane Soelberg, President – COOP Media Ventures
Creating engaging story systems around a brand and its community are his specialty.
The COOP is a brand entertainment boutique, which has served clients such as Ford, Mazda, Gateway, Virgin Mobile, Microsoft, Intel, and Chili’s.
Majid Abai, Chief Executive of Pringo, Inc.
This is an Enterprise Social Networking platform provider located in Los Angeles. His topics:
• What Are Enterprise Social Networks (ESN)?
• Effects of ESN on Business
• Convergence of ESN and Enterprise Portals
• ESN as a Marketing tool
• How Bank of America, Jack-in-the-Box, and other companies established successful ESNs
Neal Schaffer, Author
Author of “Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn” . His topics are: LinkedIn LIONs and the benefits of open networking.
Brian Selzer , Executive and digital/social media producer ; Founder of Omgento .
Brian Selzer is a creative executive and digital media producer who has made a career pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment. He has created, produced, and distributed multimedia content to a client list that includes Fox, Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony, Activision, EA, Marvel, Hasbro, Nike, Lego, Honda and many others. His topic: Augmented Reallity, as recently featured in the NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/business/12proto…
Contacts:
For more information about the Linked In Group, please contact Tommy Orpaz, [email protected] , (818) 825-8167 or join the LinkedIn Group Sales and Marketing Professionals Promoting HighTech and Technology in Los Angeles, at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/business/12proto…
The LinkedIn “Sales and Marketing Professionals Promoting HighTech and Technology in Los Angeles and its Vicinity”
For information about the iHollywood Forum and the 7th Digital Media Summit held on July 29 from 9am-5pm at UCLA, contact Zahava Stroud at [email protected] or call 310 736 1541. Qualified editorial press can apply for a comp press pass. Send full contact info with links to articles and “press pass” in subject line.

RealWebMarketing.net (http://www.realwebmarketing.net), a website marketing firm specializing in working with small to medium-sized businesses, has launched a new “Social Media Gateway Page” for clients.

The purpose of these gateway pages is to make it easy for visitors to connect with and follow a person or company on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and to include links to all the person’s or company’s web sites and blogs, and to all the products they sell. It becomes a gateway to all of their activities. The service can also include setting up accounts in Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social media sites if the client doesn’t already have them. Readers can see a sample of a Social Media Gateway Page here: http://www.flourishandprosper.com/

John Eberhard, President of RealWebMarketing.net stated “These social media gateway pages are perfect for people who have a number of activities or businesses, or for companies who have a lot of news and other things going on. It gives you one central gateway page which links to all your various websites and activities. This is perfect for celebrities, giving one page that links to all their various activities and allowing people to connect up with them on social media sites. It’s also perfect for entrepreneurs or any company that wants to connect more with customers, followers or fans.”

John Eberhard has been involved in marketing for a wide variety of businesses for 20 years. RealWebMarketing.net was founded in 1999 in the Los Angeles area, and has clients all over the U.S, in a wide variety of fields such as health care, consulting, construction, personnel recruitment, court reporting, drug rehabilitation and detoxification, publishing, software, jewelry, residential and commercial real estate, dance instruction, tax consulting, plumbing, dentistry, pool remodeling, and many others. The services offered by RealWebMarketing.net include social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising campaign management, web design and blog design, search engine optimization, link building, article syndication, optimized press releases, and video production.

Vodafone customers will be able to access Facebook for free on their mobile or their computer using Vodafone’s mobile broadband service for a whole week starting on Friday 24th July.

Giving customers free access to Facebook is part of Vodafone UK’s Free Friday series, which launched with Free Mobile Internet in May to mark the start of a flat daily rate of just 50p to browse the mobile internet, and continued with Free Music Friday in June when Vodafone became the first mobile operator in the UK to launch DRM free music. This time the only difference is that Free Facebook is the first offer to last seven days.

To check out what you can do with Facebook on your mobile click here to see the N97 in action

Connecting to Facebook on a computer or laptop using Vodafone’s mobile broadband service will also be free. Customers who use their mobile will not pay any data when they look at their Facebook account. Browsing other sites will be chargeable at Vodafone standard rate – 50p per day for pay as you go customers and customers without data bundles. Anyone using mobile broadband to access Facebook will see their data counter stop for the time they use and browse Facebook.

Free Facebook marks the start of Facebook text alerts from July 24. Vodafone customers will be able to sign in to www.facebook.com/mobile and select those notifications they wish to receive as free text alerts, from status updates to pokes, and from which friends. They will also be able to respond to these alerts by text. These texts will be charged at the standard text rate.

To find out more about the promotion and how to set up alerts go to www.vodafone.co.uk/facebook. To get you or your Facebook friends set up simply text ‘Friends’ to 97886. You’ll receive a link that will take you straight to Facebook. To view Vodafone’s full mobile phone range and find out more about mobile broadband, please visit our website at vodafone.co.uk

For more information visit http://www.vodafone.co.uk

MyTrybe.com – a social network that connects users to like-minded people today announced its launch. Users can now communicate with their like-minded people – a.k.a. their “Trybe” – like they currently do with friends and colleagues on Facebook, Twitter, and other networks.

“People naturally gravitate to others who share personal values. They become friends, colleagues, lovers, and sources of valued information,” says CEO Daniel Gluck. “MyTrybe’s main focus is now on facilitating communication between you and your most like-minded people.”

MyTrybe’s interface highlights a simple, real-time newsfeed from a user’s Trybe. Users can post thoughts, ask questions, share ideas and links as they do with people they know on Facebook and Twitter – but with their most like-minded people. Users can also send private messages, follow, poke, and interact in other ways.

“People are excited to discover and build social connections to others who share their personal opinions, values and behavior. It’s like going to a friend’s party or social event where you don’t know anyone personally but do know they share your sensibilities,” says Gluck. “MyTrybe enables users to connect to their personal psychographic of users and interact with them as they do with known friends and colleagues.”

MyTrybe believes people increasingly value quality over quantity in their social connections. Whereas Twitter, Facebook and other networks can encourage mass follows and friend fatigue, MyTrybe offers users the ability to build meaningful social networks by vetting only the most behaviorally similar people.

A user’s Trybe is built through the processing of ratings, quizzes, and other user behavior with its patent-pending algorithms. MyTrybe’s engine continually searches for and refines a user’s Trybe in real-time, keeping them connected to the activity of their top 200 most similar people in areas like style, art, humor, and more. Users can check see a visual compatibility breakdown between themselves and any other user by visiting their profile page.

About MyTrybe: Founded in 2007, MyTrybe’s mission is to bring together like-minded people based on their shared values. Anyone can sign up for MyTrybe and interact with people like themselves, based on their behavioral similarity. MyTrybe is privately held and headquartered in New York, NY. www.mytrybe.com

Small businesses account for 99.7% of all employer firms in the United States. On August 10, 2009, Greenergy2030.com will launch its free media network as a place to bring “green change” to the world through education, legislative efforts, media outreach and the dissemination of information about alternative energy and sustainable business practices. Through the Greenergy2030 Business Alliance, Greenergy2030.com will serve as a catalyst for entrepreneurs and business professionals seeking to take an active role in their community/industry while positively impacting others’ lives and the world. Green Change is what the Greenergy2030 Business Alliance is all about.
“Our vision is to have 1 million entrepreneurs/professionals on this network by 2030 representing a conservative $2.5B in overall annual energy savings/reductions. Through the power of technology and real member commitment to green change, we CAN accomplish these goals,” says JD Carr, Co-Founder Greenergy2030.com.
With Greenergy2030.com, a small business will positively impact others by bringing sustainable business practices to their community and life. It is entirely possible for small business owners to realize an average cost savings of $2,500 or more per year when implementing energy saving initiatives. In every industry, it is increasingly important for entrepreneurs to understand sustainable business practices and how to deploy them effectively in their organizations.
The Greenergy2030 Business Alliance also offers an eco-certification program which is designed to step a small business through the process of becoming an eco-friendly organization while implementing sustainable business practices that will positively impact a company’s bottom line.
For more information contact Lisa Parelli at 972-342-9331 or visit their web site at www.greenergy2030.com

dotSyntax, the startup behind Digsby, announced today that Digsby has passed 1 million users with over 3 million managed accounts. Digsby, an innovative product that integrates all your instant messaging, e-mail, and social network accounts into one application, has shown explosive growth as users look for an easy way to manage their social connections.

The year long public development effort has resulted in what dotSyntax is calling a 360º communication tool, designed to facilitate online conversations across all mediums with an intuitive interface and feature-rich options. With the ability to communicate via email, two-way text messaging, IM, Facebook, Twitter, GTalk, and audio/video chat, Digsby eliminates the need to have several browser windows and programs open.
The continuing growth of social networks has made online account management seem like a part-time job as people dedicate more and more time to maintaining those networks. A recent Nielson Online report showed that in the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year in 2009. Similar trends can be found for other social networks such as Twitter, which saw over a 3700 percent growth in the same year.

“We built Digsby to simplify people’s lives so they can focus less on signing in and more on staying connected,” said Steve Shapiro, president of dotSyntax, “Our rapid growth shows the utility people find in Digsby and why it’s become the preferred platform for high efficiency digital communication.”

Digsby’s growth has been fueled by the word-of-mouth efforts of satisfied users. To encourage their users to keep spreading the word, dotSyntax is also announcing the launch of the Digsby Affiliate Program. A first in the IM industry, the program will pay affiliates up to $1.00 for every new Digsby user they bring. Affiliates can promote Digsby by placing banners or buttons on their blog or website, or by simply inviting their friends with their affiliate link.

To download this free software or to learn more about Digsby visit http://www.digsby.com.

About dotSyntax:
dotSyntax was founded in December, 2005 with the goal of simplifying online communication through its flagship product, Digsby. Digsby is the first desktop application which allows for simultaneous management of all IM, e-mail, and social network accounts from one easy-to-use application. dotSyntax was founded by Rochester Institute of Technology graduates in RIT’s Venture Creations Incubator. For more information, please visit http://www.digsby.com.

Twitter proves to be an effective way to get broadband problems solved as pioneering broadband providers venture into the Tweetosphere, according to Top 10 Broadband.

Customer service has, on occasion, been neglected by certain internet service providers, amid a backdrop of huge growth in the broadband sector in recent years. Principally the problems have arisen from complications when switching broadband supplier, opaque contract terms and technical faults.

Top 10 Broadband’s research shows that customers can dramatically improve their provider’s response time and eliminate costly phone calls by harnessing the power of micro-blogging service Twitter to air their grievances. Broadband providers including BT, PlusNet, TalkTalk and Be are currently posting up to 100 tweets a day in response to customers queries and problems.

The Twitter effect was highlighted recently when a Be Broadband customer Tweeted that certain file-sharing websites were inaccessible. Within minutes Be had responded that it was attempting to the get to the bottom of the issue. After discovering that a technical problem affecting some IP ranges of some networks based in Scandinavia, the issue that could have taken months to resolve was addressed almost instantly.

Oli White, Head of Marketing at Be Broadband, said: “The most important use of Twitter is to open another communication channel between Be and its members, which is why we’ve linked our team on Twitter directly into our customer services.

“Twitter is a channel that’s been adopted by a number of our members so it became pretty clear that it was a sensible thing for us to bring in to our business as usual because it’s how they wanted to communicate.”

Jessica McArdle, marketing manager at Top 10 Broadband, said: “Twitter is allowing broadband providers to reach out to their customer base as never before and address problems faster and more efficiently.

“Companies see the public forum of Twitter as a means of showing thousands of existing and potential customers the standard of service they can expect.”

Top 10 twittering ISPs

1. twitter.com/virginmedia
2. twitter.com/BTCare
3) twitter.com/VodafoneUK
4) twitter.com/TalkTalkTips
5) twitter.com/bebroadband
6) twitter.com/plusnet
7) twitter.com/OrangeWorldwide
8. twitter.com/OfficialTMobile
9. twitter.com/PostOfficeUK
10. twitter.com/O2

Rankings are based on number of followers, frequency of tweets, relevancy of the profile and interactivity levels.

Top 10 Broadband is the UK’s most popular dedicated broadband comparison site.
The website offers a range of comparison tools, allowing users to make quick and easy broadband buying decisions.

Links:

Top 10 Broadband is run by Formula, a leading web design and marketing company.
Top 10 Broadband homepage: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/
Top 10 Broadband Twitter page: twitter.com/top10compare
Top 10 Broadband Be Broadband page: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/providers/be/

Kirstie Alley and philanthropic organizer Steve Woods will host Aquathon 2009 tomorrow, the first 24-hour telethon on micro-blogging site Twitter and Live Video Streaming Site Ustream. The event will raise money for clean water in Africa by purchasing water pumps from PlayPumps International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to clean drinking water to millions in Africa.

“Can you imagine your child drinking filthy contaminated water? Neither Can I. . .Let’s make sure NO child ANYWHERE ever has to. Thank you, Kirstie.”

Event URLS:
Aquathon Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/aquathon
Aquathon Direct Donation: http://www.knowh2o.org/aquathon
Aquathon Blog: http://aquathon2009.blogspot.com
Aquathon Ustream Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/Aquathon
Kirstie Alley Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/kirstiealley
Kirstie Alley Ustream Channel: http://www.ustream.com/kirstiealley

Aquathon 2009 is the first Twitter & Ustream 24hr fundraising telethon effort of its kind. Twitter users will be able to donate funds as little as one dollar or as large as one million dollars on Saturday, July 25, beginning at 6am EDT. Alley and Woods have been encouraging Twitter followers to donate via their tweets at @kirstiealley, @_stevewoods, and @aquathon. Twitter users can also add a Twibbon to their profile in support of the campaign. A “Twibbon” is a visual show of event solidarity via an Aquathon 2009 icon that appears over a Twitter profile picture overlay.

“Each PlayPumps structure costs $14,000 to install,” said Aquathon organizer Steve Woods. “It is our goal to raise enough donations to install 10 pumps.”

PlayPumps devices are roundabouts, or merry-go-rounds, attached to a water pump, a storage tank and a tap. When children play, the water pump provides clean drinking water to schools and communities. More than 1,300 PlayPumps water systems have been donated in South Africa, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia and Mozambique.

Over 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have reliable access to clean drinking water. One water pump can bring safe, clean water to thousands, improving sanitation and enhancing general public health.

About Aquathon:
Aquathon is a 24-hour Twitterthon to raise money for 10 fresh water wells in African communities using PlayPump(R) water systems. Together, our goal is to raise $140,000. That’s 10 PlayPump(R) water systems! On July 25, 2009, celebrity Kirstie Alley will join with 24 hours of tweets and live video dedicated exclusively to Aquathon and PlayPumps International. We hope that you can help us by tweeting and donating to this worthy cause.

Fringe Theatre Adventures, producers of North America’s oldest Fringe Festival have brought in one of Canada’s leading social media engagement firms, fusedlogic inc., for the 2009 Fringe Festival. The two organizations are excited about working together to draw more global attention to North America’s largest Fringe Festival.

The work performed within social media by fusedlogic inc. will be a part of Industry Canada’s Marquee Tourism Events Program. Its purpose is to increase awareness about the Edmonton Fringe Festival internationally, as well as, to increase tourism from regions outside of Alberta and Canada.

Founded in 1982, the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival regularly sees more than 500,000 Canadian and international visitors entertained by over one thousand performances over eleven days of the festival.
“We believe social media to be the perfect environment to describe why Edmonton is such a fantastic tourist destination. Specifically, it will allow us to share with the world why the Edmonton Fringe Festival is such an amazing event and well worth experiencing in person,” says fusedlogic inc. CEO Walter Schwabe. “Also as part of this project, we will encourage and enable Edmontonians to share with theatre-goers in places like Edinburgh, Scotland as to why everyone should consider Edmonton’s Fringe.”

“We know that fusedlogic’s excellent connection into the social web world will take full advantage of the excitement of the festival, promoting the on-site excitement to the on-line networking and viral opportunities,” says Fringe Executive Director Julian Mayne. “What a great addition to a festival that has been pushing the boundaries of human communication for 28 years.”

More information:
This year’s Fringe Festival is taking place from August 13 to August 23 in its usual area around the Transalta Arts Barns. Tickets for Fringe performances can be purchased online or in person at the Transalta Arts Barns anytime after July 28.

Fusedlogic is one of Canada’s leading social media engagement and Web 2.0 strategy firms. Based in Sherwood Park, Alberta just outside Edmonton, fusedlogic has operated since 2000. Their goal is to effectively engage the online community using social media and other Web 2.0 technologies.