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PRESS
RELEASE: NOVEMBER 7, 2000
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PARTICIPATE.COM
SELECTED BY MICROSOFT TO MANAGE MSN ONLINE COMMUNITIES
Participate.com
Will Provide Management Services for MSN People & Chat And Zone.com
REDMOND,
Wash. – November 7, 2000 – Participate.com, a Chicago-based company
specializing in the management of online communities, has been chosen by
Microsoft Corp. to manage the People & Chat and Zone.com (gaming)
communities of the MSN® network of Internet services. Microsoft selected
Participate.com because its online community management services allow
corporations to increase consumer loyalty while gathering insights from and
lowering the cost of acquiring customers.
"We’re
thrilled to announce that Microsoft has outsourced the management of its MSN
online communities to Participate.com," said Alan Warms, president and
CEO of Participate.com. "This relationship further validates the
competitive advantage and economic value companies place on using
professionally managed online communities to successfully conduct business on
the Internet."
Online
communities and chat rooms provide users with an easy way to share information
and receive support. Zone.com’s 18 million members utilize real-time, in-game
chat features while playing the site’s variety of free games. The growth in
the number of users who access MSN has escalated the importance and usefulness
of this communication channel.
"Using
Participate.com’s professional community management experts allows us to
expand and improve the quality of our online services while providing a safe
environment for our users," said Blake Irving, vice president of MSN at
Microsoft. "It gives us the ability to concentrate our resources on
developing and enhancing the leading services from MSN."
About
Participate.com
Participate.com
is a provider of outsourced online community management for corporations.
Along with its community management services, Participate.com delivers to its
clients strategic plans for building online communities and selecting,
integrating and deploying the technology for these online communities. Through
its Community Management Center, Participate.com offers Fortune 1000 and
dot-com companies the expertise and focus needed to manage the complex issues
involved with harnessing the power of online community. Participate.com’s
approach delivers the experience and resources that its clients — which
include Ace Hardware Corp., Cisco Systems, Microsoft and SAP AG — rely upon
to create and grow vibrant online communities.
About
MSN
MSN
gives consumers a new home on the Internet — a central place where they can
get everything they need from the Web and make the most of their time online.
With more than 210 million visitors in September 2000, the MSN integrated
network of content and services is the most popular destination on the
Internet. MSN is available in 33 markets and in 17 languages — a broader
global presence than any other portal. MSN takes advantage of the Microsoft
.NET Platform to offer leading services, any time, any place and on any
device, with the most integrated and personalized user experience for
communications, search, shopping, personal finance and entertainment. MSN
Internet Access and the recently introduced MSN Explorer offer the quickest,
most personal and exciting ways to get on to and take advantage of the Web.
Best-of-breed services include the MSN Hotmail® Web-based e-mail service, the
world’s largest e-mail system; MSN Messenger Service, one of the fastest
growing instant messaging services on the Web; MSN Search, the second most
popular online search service; MSN Mobile, the customizable wireless
information service; the award-winning MSN MoneyCentral(TM) online personal
finance service; MSN eShop, the one-stop online shopping resource; and MSN
Custom Web Sites, the easy way to share information on the Web. MSN is located
on the Web at http://www.msn.com/.
About
Microsoft
Founded
in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet
technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide
range of products and services designed to empower people through great
software — any time, any place and on any device.
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NOTE:
Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail and MoneyCentral are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The
names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks
of their respective owners.
a
r b u t h n o t c o m m u n i c a t i o n s, i n c.
(p)
415 431 2300
(f)
801 681 3906
http://www.arbuthnot.com
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