The Horizon Interactive Awards, a leading international interactive media awards competition, announced the 2009 award winners to highlight this year’s “best of the best” in interactive media production.

The Carlsbad Department of Development, located in Carlsbad, New Mexico, was recognized for their excellence with a Bronze award for the government website category.

“This is a fantastic honor,” said John Waters, Executive Director of the Carlsbad Department of Development. “We spent many hours planning and designing our website to be as user-friendly to site selectors, current residents and people moving to Carlsbad. Our entire team works very hard to make our website as up to date and accurate as possible. Receiving this award was a surprise and I am glad the efforts of our entire team are recognized.”

The eighth annual, international competition saw just over 2000 entries from 32 countries around world and nearly all 50 of the United States of America. An international panel of judges, consisting of industry professionals with diverse backgrounds, as well as an end user panel evaluated 19 different categories ranging from online advertising to video games. The 2009 winning entries showcase the industry’s best interactive media solutions including web sites, CDs and DVDs, online ads, video and more.

“The 2009 competition was an all new level for the competition,” said Mike Sauce – Founder of the Horizon Interactive Awards. “The overall quality of entries was far and away the best we have ever had and judging was very competitive. Year after year, we are amazed at the level of creativity and overall technical excellence of the entries that are recognized by the competition. They truly are the best of the best!”

In its 8th year, the Horizon Interactive Awards was created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. Since 2001, the competition has received many thousands of entries from countries around the world and nearly all 50 US States. Each year, those entries are narrowed down to the best of the best to be recognized and promoted on and international stage for their excellence. The judging process involves a Horizon Interactive Awards advisory panel, end user panel and a worldwide panel of judges consisting of industry professionals. For more information, visit www.horizoninteractiveawards.com.

The Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD) is a private non-profit agency incorporated as a 501(c)(6) organization in 1966. The membership of the CDOD represents over 100 chief executive officers in industry, business and finance, the City of Carlsbad, Eddy County Board of Commissioners, New Mexico State University-Carlsbad, and the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the CDOD is to promote the economic and general welfare of the citizens of the City of Carlsbad and South Eddy County through job retention and creation by recruiting new industry, identifying new job opportunities, expanding and retaining existing business and diversifying their economy. For more information, visit www.developcarlsbad.org.

The Carlsbad Department of Development promotes the economic and general welfare of the citizens of the City of Carlsbad and South Eddy County, New Mexico.

PRESSMART, a global leader in the interactive digital publishing solutions, today announced the availability of its eMag 3.0, a highly advanced digital publishing and delivery solution, to enable publishers world over offer a new, compelling and enriching experience to their users over the web.

The new version provides faster rendering engine and a striking new interface making Pressmart a very powerful-hosted print-to-online publishing service.

The feature rich eMag 3.0 offers 3D Thumbnails, Superior caching technology, Article text view and Multi-format XML based delivery that place the news back in a format that users can use on a multitude of devices including Mobile, RSS and Audio. It also enables management of Subscriptions, Ads, Analytics and Support in a single view.

“The eMag 3.0 offers deep analytics into the digital edition online traffic and user reading behavior, giving invaluable insight to the editorial and ad marketing teams of a publication.” said Sanjiv Gupta, Founder and Executive Chairman of Pressmart. “Customers can also launch their new media platform faster, far more efficiently and cost effectively”.

Readers demand for content that is more interactive, rich and ‘now’, scattered across different virtual channels is rapidly increasing. Traditional online sites do not carry the print brand online and lack the interactivity and richness of the eMag 3.0 interface.

With Pressmart’s on-demand digital platform Publishers can go digital on web, mobile, podcast and RSS in a matter of minutes even if they do not have technical knowledge. Additionally it offers access to state-of-art marketing, subscription and advertising tools using which Publishers can start monetizing from digital delivery from almost day one.

About Pressmart
Pressmart (www.pressmart.com) powers the digital editions of publications in 22 languages from 47 countries on Web, Mobile, RSS, Podcast, and other digital channels. Millions of users across the world access a digital edition powered by Pressmart. Publishers get Conversion, Hosting, Subscriptions, Ads and Analytics – packaged in a single easy-to-use service.

Cyber-Duck, a multi-award winning London web design agency today announced that is has won two prestigious, international Communicator Awards 2009, for the second consecutive year.

LONDON, UK- Cyber-Duck, a multiple award winning London web design agency today announced that is has won the prestigious, international Communicator Award 2009, for the second consecutive year.

The Communicator Awards are endorsed by the highly-renowned International Academy of the Visual Arts and recognise outstanding achievement and excellence in media production, honouring the media projects that demonstrate the highest level of international skills and expertise.

The judging panel awarded Cyber-Duck their Award of Distinction accolade for Anton Kreil – The Blog. Judges were impressed by the clean, corporate feel of the blog which is beautifully juxtaposed between intelligent and witty writing and sleek flash animation.

The 2009 Communicator Awards, held in the US, received over 7000 entries, making it “the most prestigious award of its kind,” according to Linda Day, Executive Director of the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

She continued, “Being honoured with a Communicator Award is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to the work that [the winners] do.”

The London web design company received its second Communicator Award this year for its design and development of the Halcyon Gallery website. Halcyon required a sleek, clean and uncluttered design to support the fine artwork being showcased via the site.

Thanks to Cyber-Duck’s user-centred web design ethic, the new Halcyon website (http://www.halcyongallery.com/) is incredibly easy to use with a tailor-made navigation system and an overall look and feel that supports the gallery’s existing branding. Judges were impressed with the site’s simple interactive slideshow system used on the homepage which allows user to browse the collections currently on show at the gallery.

This is the second consecutive year in which Cyber-Duck has won this prestigious accolade. Cyber-Duck first won the Gold Communicator Award for its Ajax-driven company website back in 2008. The site combines user-centric design and fun flash animations with clear and concise messages.

Matt Gibson, Head of Production at Cyber-Duck commented, “We are delighted that our hard work has been recognised again by the Communicator Awards panel. I work with a fantastic team of highly-skilled individuals who continue to delight our clients with their innovative ideas and superb attention to detail. The Cyber-Duck team is dedicated to consistently maintaining high standards and we aim to raise the bar year on year.”

To learn more about award winning London web design agency Cyber-Duck please visit: http://www.cyber-duck.co.uk

The Agriculture Industry now has support from the Rogers Online Business Management website to help them learn how to use the Internet to grow their business. Sue Rogers, Owner of Rogers Executive Administrative Services recently launched the site to support this industry as she becomes more involved in the Agriculture Industry Partnership that was formed on behalf of the Northwest Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board and the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence. This partnership was formed to identify a plan of action to assist the agriculture community in providing the necessary workforce, economic developments, and education/training supports necessary for retention and growth within the Pennsylvania Counties of Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Venango, and Warren.

Rogers says, “I wanted to bring the web to the Agriculture Community by educating them on how easy it is to build an effective online marketing campaign that will help them become known through their expertise. I also thought it was important that we reach out to the younger generation by using the technology that has become a big part of their everyday lives. By utilizing what the Internet has to offer, we can create interest within the younger generation that just might get them more involved in agriculture.”

When you visit the Online Business Management for the Agriculture Community website you will find information such as how to ease your record keeping, book keeping, what to include in your employee handbooks and safety manuals, how to write press releases, book resources, and much more, but most importantly how to generate income from your expertise using the Internet. And as long as you’re part of the Agriculture Industry, Rogers has created the Ease Your Workload Agriculture Business Directory where you can list your business for Free!

For more information on the Online Business Management for the Agriculture Industry website go to http://agriculture.easmyworkload.com. You can also contact Sue Rogers at [email protected]. For more information on the Agriculture Industry Partnership go to www.nwpawib.org.

AW Media Group, an Atlanta-based lifestyle public relations agency specializing in fashion, beauty, entertainment, and luxury brands, announced today the signing of a new client, D.R. Elite.

Founded by Dawn Dickson and LaTish Roach, D.R. Elite is a national event management, non-profit business development, fundraising and marketing consulting firm with divisions in Atlanta, GA; Miami, FL; and Phoenix, AZ. Combined, they have sourced and secured more than $350,000 in grants, sponsorships, in-kind donations, and advertising revenue for clients through 2008.

AW Media Group will be responsible for creating and implementing a media relations program for the 2nd Annual Back 2 Camp Charity Weekend scheduled July 9 – 12, 2009 in Atlanta, GA. Originally a weekend to mark the time when NFL players would leave their homes and return to their team cities for training camp, D.R. Elite has evolved the event into a charity weekend dedicated to promoting philanthropy. The 2nd Annual Back 2 Camp charity recipient is Communities in Schools of Atlanta (http://www.cisatlanta.org).

“We are excited to have D.R. Elite as one our clients,” said Angela Watts, Director of PR & Special Events of AW Media Group. “D.R. Elite is unique not only because they create successful events with a purpose, but because they actually deliver.”

AW Media Group and D.R. Elite anticipate a successful, effective relationship because both firms are focused on the delivery of a well-defined marketing communications plan that will increase awareness for the 2009 charity recipient and generate positive exposure for all organizations involved.

For more information about AW Media Group or the 2nd Annual Back 2 Camp Charity Weekend, visit www.awmediagroup.com .

www.kent.co.uk is a new social networking website aimed at business and consumer audiences in the county of Kent in south east UK.

It’s the latest in a line of new niche social networking sites to have emerged over the last 12 months.

Kent.co.uk has been created using the free Google Maps API to integrate users’ personal data about their friends and favourite places with on screen mapping, creating a custom visual social networking map for each user.

The resulting social networking map is interactive – data such as friends, places and events can be toggled on or off the map, and clickable icons can be used to access more information about each element or initiate actions like joining groups or becoming a fan.

Due to the geographic focus of Kent.co.uk, the categories of data have been intentionally broadened to include physical Places, which can range from a popular bar to a favourite beach or scenic spot.

The social networking map also features suggested places, groups and events, which are intelligently matched to the users own interests based on a range of different criteria, from content keyword matching to postcode proximity and linked user behaviour.

User privacy and security have also been carefully considered. The social networking maps only display personal user icons to accepted friends, and there is an auto cut out of icons at closer zoom levels, so specific address locations can never be identified. Furthermore users of kent.co.uk can choose not to be displayed on the map at all.

The unique structure of Kent.co.uk presents a range of interesting commercial and marketing opportunities. Discussions are underway with a major chain of pubs to show their sites on social networking maps with specially branded icons, and link their sites with other nearby data and events. Local business organisations are investigating using Kent.co.uk to operate private business to business networking groups linked to specific venues and events.

Kent.co.uk is currently undergoing a soft launch phase with new users being gained through targeted viral marketing to key user groups. A wider regional press launch will take place in the summer.

Dinkum Interactive, a premier Search Engine and New Media Marketing firm, announces that Rick Simmons will be presenting a Workshop on Social Media on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at the breakfast and networking meeting of SMEI. The meeting is being held at the Plymouth Meeting Country Club from 7:30 AM until 9:30 AM and is being sponsored by The Philadelphia Business Journal.

“It’s 2009 and most people have heard of Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn,” Simmons explains, “but few know what to do once the account is created. Fewer still have an understanding about the differences between them and the different audiences that they reach. With so many ‘experts’ trying to tell you what to do, getting good information is a daunting task.”

During the workshop, Rick will discuss what every business needs to know about social media to ensure future success, what changes need to be made by businesses looking to leverage social media marketing, and what costs and returns can be expected from involvement in social media.

About Rick Simmons
Rick Simmons is the President of Dinkum Interactive. With over 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and over 10 years working with the Internet, Rick brings an ideal combination of talents to the technology firm. For the past 6 years, he has merged his marketing expertise with his Internet knowledge through his work with search engine optimization, and numerous other Internet Marketing strategies. Dinkum has recently been named Internet marketing firm for all of Eastern University and much of that initiative is geared towards social media and embracing the Internet in the best, most cost effective manner.

About Dinkum Interactive
Founded in 2006, Dinkum Interactive is a full service SEO and new media marketing company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dinkum Interactive primarily serves clients in the Eastern Pennsylvania region but has international clients as far as Sydney, Australia. Dinkum has also partnered with several of Philadelphia’s most prominent advertising agencies to address the various and customized interactive needs of their clients.

http://dinkuminteractive.com

The phenomenon surrounding the inspiring novel, GIV—THE STORY OF A DOG AND AMERICA continues with an innovative joint marketing venture between the book’s publisher, HighTop Publishing, and Yana Berlin, founder of http://www.Fabulously40.com.

This enormously popular interactive site for women 40 and over “and the men who want to understand them,” features advise on beauty, family, health, lifestyles, and, most recently, books. In an unprecedented move after reading the novel by the enigmatic and award-winning author, Boston Teran, and Ms. Berlin decided that this expansive novel about a noble animal wandering through post 9/11 America was a must-read for all of her audience. Therefore, she placed a link on virtually every page of her site to offer the book for sale to her readers. “Since women buy books at a 70:30 ratio over men, it stands to reason that the “Fabulously40” site would be ideal for selling this book. Further, it would be like having an Oprah’s Book Club selection featured not just for one day but for a significant length of time. This is not like an author creating a web site to sell a book; rather, Fabulously40.com is a major social networking site devoting its efforts to promoting a single book.” says Berlin.

A review of Giv on the site by literary critic, Sis Howell, says of the book:

“A most unique, beautifully written and enriching book, it is to literature what the great murals are to painting and art. For that is what Giv is—an American mural. Murals have sweep and theme. They are a vision of life. A testament to ideas. This is Giv.”

Boston Teran is the author of four previous novels. He has been nominated and won numerous awards including the John Creasy Award, International IMPAC Award, Book of the Year in France, Book of the Year in Japan, and Reader s Digest Best First Novel of the Year. Two of his novels are being developed into major motion pictures. God is a Bullet, Teran’s first novel, is currently being adapted for film by writer/producer Ehren Kruger (Reindeer Games, Blood and Chocolate, The Ring). His fifth novel, The Creed of Violence, which is to be published by in the fall of 2009, was bought by Universal Studios for the second highest price ever paid for an unpublished manuscript. Giv—The Story of a Dog and America is his sixth novel.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Ms. Berlin, High Top Publishing, or possibly the reclusive Boston Teran, contact: Jocelyn Kelley: [email protected]

OgilvyOne China has announced the addition of OBuzz and the Ogilvy Digital Lab to its arsenal of digital tools that will help marketers to better understand, reach and interact with Chinese consumers online and on the go.

OBuzz: The Ogilvy Digital Influence Solution
Jointly developed by OgilvyOne and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, OBuzz is a powerful new Internet Word-of-Mouth (iWOM) tracking system that enables efficient, real-time monitoring and measurement of online conversations across Chinese social media including BBS, forums, blogs and Web 2.0 sites.

The proprietary technology solution, which has already been deployed for clients in China including adidas, Intel and GSK, crawls thousands of blogs and social media sites to give marketers an unadulterated glimpse of discussions around their brands and competitors, as well as an instantaneous view on consumer sentiment related to a product or category.

Armed with this knowledge, marketers are empowered to shift from a reactive to a more proactive marketing response by engaging consumers in timely, relevant and meaningful conversations that drive greater brand affinity – and importantly, stretch marketing budgets and enhance overall program effectiveness.

Chris Reitermann, President of OgilvyOne China and Ogilvy & Mather Group Shanghai, said, “Marketing today is all about engagement. With OBuzz marketers have the ability to constantly be at the pulse of consumer sentiment. This allows us to not only react to positive and negative buzz, but to anticipate, preempt and become a meaningful and relevant part of the conversation. This is particularly crucial in China where online opinions have a major impact on a brand’s reception in the market.”

Statistics from a November 2005 GMI Poll support this claim as 40% of Chinese netizens cite WOM as a leading purchase influencer, a significantly higher percentage than in other countries. This is particularly important in the context of an economic downturn as consumers are being much more careful with their spending and are relying more than ever on the opinions of others when making purchasing decisions.

Scott Kronick, President of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide/China and Ogilvy & Mather Group Beijing, added, “From a pure cost perspective, OBuzz helps marketers to get the most out of their communications budgets by enabling on-the-fly campaign optimization, detecting crisis signals that avert potential PR crises and allowing marketers to integrate powerful consumer insights into marketing programs that will be more effective as a result.”

For a first look at OBuzz, please visit: http://www.obuzz.com.cn.

The CLIO Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious international advertising and design competitions honoring creative excellence and innovation in the industry, today announced the winners for the Communications Awards, which recognize Print, Direct Mail, Radio, Poster and Billboard mediums, as well as the new Strategic Communications/Public Relations medium. The Communications Awards were held at The New Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas on May 12th.

In honor of the monumental 50th Anniversary CLIO Awards, the 3-day CLIO festival featured decade-themed award shows. The Communications Awards celebrated the 1960s with a video montage of the advertising and design techniques that shaped the marketplace during that decade. The show also featured a musical performance by American singer/songwriter Spencer Day, and the presentation of an Honorary CLIO Award to Matthew Weiner, winner of four Primetime Emmy(R) Awards and Executive Producer and Creator of AMC’s MAD MEN. Weiner was recognized as being one of the most powerful storytellers to ever tackle the rise of advertising in America through a critically acclaimed original television series. The show, set in 1960s New York, follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive world of Madison Avenue advertising executives.

The evening’s list of Grand and Gold CLIO winners are as follows:

2009 PRINT: 77 CLIOs Awarded (1 Grand, 12 Gold, 22 Silver, 42 Bronze)

Grand and Gold CLIO Awards are as follows:

— CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt, Pharmaceuticals, Dissolve Your Problems
“Bear, Paparazzi, Magician, Prison” for Alka-Seltzer (Grand
CLIO Winner in Print)
— Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner
Child” for Museum of Childhood
— AlmapBBDO, Sao Paulo, Automotive, Volkswagen Customized Trucks
“Volkswagen Customized Trucks – Beer Box, Volkswagen Customized
Trucks – Fruit Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks – Milk Box, Volkswagen
Customized Trucks – Egg Box” for Volkswagen Trucks
— BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman &
Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
— Clemenger BBDO, Wellington, Public Service, Crashed Beds “Bridge,
Tree, Creek” for Driver Fatigue
— Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services,
“Children – Tree” for Hospital Aleman – Kinder Plan
— Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Thailand, Bangkok, Home
Furnishings/Appliances, “Chicken, Fish, Lobster” for WMF
— McCann Erickson, Madrid, Public Service, “Woman Shoe” for
Greenpeace
— Miami Ad School Europe (Student – Sandra Nicolas), Hamburg, Student,
Inspired By Life “Porridge, Brother, Aunt” for IKEA
— Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Petaling Jaya, Public Service,
“Stop” for Guinness
— TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Black
“Mir Black – Spider, Mir Black – Arms” for Henkel

— TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Laine
“Mir Laine 1, Mir Laine 2, Mir Laine 3, Mir Laine 4” for
Henkel

2009 DIRECT MAIL: 13 CLIOs Awarded (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 7 Bronze)

Gold CLIO Awards are as follows:

— Lowe Limited, Bangkok, Dimensional, “Torture Test” for Breeze
Excel Washing Detergent

— Philipp und Keuntje GmbH, Hamburg, Collateral, “Balloon” for
Chubb Nord-Alarm Security Systems Company

2009 RADIO: 23 CLIOs Awarded (6 Gold, 6 Silver, 11 Bronze)

Gold CLIO Awards are as follows:

— DDB Chicago, Chicago, Beverages/Alcoholic, Real Men of Genius “Mr.
Rain Delay Tarp Roller Outer, Mr. Golf Quiet Sign Holder, Mr. Football
End Zone Painter, Mr. Football First Down Marker” for
Anheuser-Busch
— Grey, Melbourne, Public Service, Pictures of You “Anne, George,
Martin” for Anti-Speed Message
— Grey South Africa, Sandton, Public Service, “Shark Attack” for
Shark Life
— Grupo Gallegos, Long Beach, Media, Subtitles “Epic, Robinson,
Horror” for Comcast CableLatino
— Network BBDO, Johannesburg, Travel/Tourism, Plain Insanity “Ferret,
Dancer, Dog” for Virgin Atlantic Airlines – Upper Class Suites

— Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, Business Equipment/Services,
Compression Radio “Soap Opera Romance, Eating Candy, Calling Tech
Support” for StuffIt Deluxe

2009 POSTER: 42 CLIOs Awarded (6 Gold, 17 Silver, 19 Bronze)

Gold CLIO Awards are as follows:

— Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner
Child” for Museum of Childhood
— BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman &
Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
— Big Ant International, New York, Public Service, “What Goes Around
Comes Around” for Global Coalition for Peace
— Contract Advertising India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Public Service,
“Family Name” for Aadhar Association
— Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services,
Children “Tree, Cookie, Stairs” for Hospital Aleman – Kinder
Plan

— KNARF (Students – Annie Chiu, Anna Echiverri), New York, Student,
“Subway Bench” for Victoria’s Secret

2009 BILLBOARD: 20 CLIOs Awarded (2 Gold, 7 Silver, 11 Bronze)

Gold CLIO Awards are as follows:

— DDB London, London, Media, “Global Downturn” for Financial
Times

— Leo Burnett Canada, Toronto, Beverages/Alcoholic, “Share Our
Billboard Campaign” for James Ready

For the first-time ever, the CLIO Awards introduced a new Strategic Communications/Public Relations medium to the awards show. The new medium honors the innovative and creative use of any form of unpaid publicity and messaging that drives credibility, awareness, reputation, and relationships between a company or organization and its consumers or constituents. Richard Edelman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Edelman, served as the 2009 Executive Jury Chair for this category. The Gold winners for this category are as follows:

2009 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC RELATIONS: 9 CLIOs Awarded (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze)

— Edelman, Chicago, Consumer, “FilterForGood: Better Water, Less
Waste” for Brita

— Ketchum, San Francisco, Consumer, “Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees:
Let’s Lick This Problem” for Haagen-Dazs

To see a complete list of all Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze CLIO Award winners in all categories, please visit www.clioawards.com.

Check out and share our interactive micro site, www.clio50.com. Find us on our page on Facebook, our group on LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter.

About The CLIO Awards

The CLIO Awards is one of the world’s most recognized awards competition for advertising, design and interactive. Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2009, the CLIO Awards has maintained its original commitment to celebrate and reward creative excellence, honoring a powerful form of communication and its impact on modern culture. At the same time, the CLIO Awards remains focused on evolving with the industry in order to acknowledge the most current, breakthrough work. To this day, CLIO’s iconic statue is the most widely recognized and coveted symbol of the industry’s creative accomplishments. The CLIO Awards are produced by Nielsen Business Media, a part of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.

NeuStar, Inc. , a provider of market-leading and innovative services that enable trusted communication across networks, applications, and enterprises around the world, announced today that it has received approval from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to make one- and two-character .BIZ domain names (such as www.i.biz, www.my.biz and www.3.biz) available to the public.

In a phased rollout, NeuStar will now make these highly desirable domain names available to the global business community through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, followed by an offering at auction of those domains not allocated to RFP respondents. Specifically, NeuStar will begin accepting RFP responses for the 36 one-character letters and numbers on June 1, 2009, with a response deadline of July 30, 2009. Once the one-character RFP round is concluded, NeuStar will proceed to an auction phase for those names and will begin accepting RFP responses for the two-character domains. Proceeds from the auction of the remaining one- and two-character domains will be used to further promote the .BIZ brand for the benefit of all .BIZ domain users.

“The decision by ICANN to approve NeuStar’s one- and two-character marketing effort within the .BIZ domain represents an important opportunity for the .BIZ registry to generate greater brand recognition in today’s TLD marketplace, particularly among the global business community,” said Tim Switzer, NeuStar’s vice president of Registry Services. “Through the initial RFP round, we will identify the candidates who present plans that best exemplify innovation, creativity, brand recognition and financial commitment.”

“The hyper-competitive domain name sector is far from commoditized, with some bits of DNS real estate having far greater values than others,” said Daniel Golding, vice president and research director at Tier1 Research. “It isn’t very often that precious one- and two-letter domain names become available. Tier1 anticipates heavy demand among content providers, software-as-a-service vendors, entertainment and social networking companies, retailers, and numerous others.”

According to VML, one of the top digital marketing agencies in the United States, the new .BIZ domain names present a unique opportunity for businesses to build their brands and open new revenue streams online.

“At VML, we increasingly employ innovative domain names as key ingredients for inspired digital marketing,” said Jon Cook, president of VML. “Single and double-character .biz domains open entirely new avenues for our creative process and the digital programs we deliver for our clients, which include many of the top global brands.”

The 1,332 one-and two-character domain names in .BIZ were reserved for use when the .BIZ top-level domain (TLD) was launched in 2001. Today, the .BIZ TLD has grown to over two million names and remains focused on small and mid-sized businesses around the world. For more information on NeuStar’s planned release of one- and two-character .BIZ domain names – including the list of domains, timing and the Request for Proposals – please visit www.neustarregistry.biz/announcements/announcement.

About NeuStar

NeuStar provides market-leading and innovative services that enable trusted communication across networks, applications, and enterprises around the world. For more information, visit www.neustar.biz

Interteam Content Services, a provider of quality written content for web sites; ARPU~UP, a provider of online marketing strategy consulting services; and SidEffect, a post production house for TV commercials, screen design and corporate videos, have joined forces to offer rich-media press releases.

The new service will allow companies, corporations and large organizations to submit press releases that include webcasting, webinars, video and audio, making it easier for them to deliver their marketing messages. Such announcements can contain a statement by the CEO, feature a new product or demonstrate a unique service.

The new alliance offers a solution that guarantees that the press release is well written, visually attractive and targeted at the right audience. The release will be viable on major news search engines such as Google News, Yahoo News and Topix, and will be distributed to leading bloggers who cover the specific industry in which the client is active.

Such a PR campaign will include guerrilla marketing, the usage of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in order to increase visibility and grow Web traffic.

“Well written press releases that include rich media have a much better chance of being read by the targeted audience,” said Dan Gerstenfeld, CEO of Interteam Content Services. “By offering a package that includes written and filmed features, we can assure that the message is delivered in a cost efficient manner, allowing clients to increase return on investment at times when budgets are tight.”

“The move is in line with the global shift in online PR and the move to social media marketing,” said Boaz Babai, ARPU~UP’s CEO. “Search engines are now ranking higher content that includes video. By providing this service, we expose our customers to a large audience that will easily find them on leading search engines and popular Internet venues such as YouTube.”

“By using cutting edge video technology we can significantly improve the content’s value in order to ensure that our press releases will stand out,” said Ilan Weissman, SidEffect’s CEO. “With our team members’ expertise in the different aspects of social media, we can offer a one of a kind solution.”

About Interteam Content Services
Interteam Content Services specializes in writing for web sites. The company assures that the information users obtain from its clients’ web sites is well written and presented, interesting, accurate and up-to-date. Interteam Content Services was founded by veteran journalist Dan Gerstenfeld.

The company specializes in business, finance and hi-tech, and provides services to a wide range of companies in Israel and abroad. Interteam’s clients include some of Israel’s leading financial institutions, real estate companies and venture capital and private equity funds.

For more information about Interteam, please visit, www.interteam.co.il.

About ARPU~UP
ARPU~UP is a Web marketing strategy consulting firm providing online marketing strategies to innovative business start-up companies. ARPU~UP provides an effective method of driving highly targeted visitors to web sites using Web marketing techniques, including: natural SEO, PR optimization and delivery, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign management, social media promotion and smart online guerrilla marketing.

For more information about ARPU~UP, please visit, www.arpu-up.com.

About SidEffect
SidEffect provides a “one-stop-shop” for corporate video productions. With a deep understanding of technology and a lot of experience in marketing and advertising, SidEffect translates the customer’s needs into effective, contemporary cinematographical language of video presentation that showcases the specific service, product or company.

The company handles production, concept developing, scripting, direction, graphic design, editing, special effects, 3D animation and sound. The result is a video presentation that visually presents a sharp and clear message. It draws an image of a professional company, and can best serve as the client’s vehicle to get its corporate message across.

For more information about SidEffect, and to view corporate videos examples please visit at, www.sideffect.com.

Interteam – Company contact:
Dan Gerstenfeld
+972-52-3745-989
[email protected]

ARPU~UP – Company contact:
Boaz Babai
+972-54-5700157
[email protected]

SidEffect – Company contact:
Ilan Weissman
+972-54-4688883
[email protected]