If You Publish, They Will dlvr.it
It seems that with so many online channels today (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, WordPress, the list goes on …), there are limitless ways to get your message out there, but no easy way to manage how you do it. For example, if you write a blog post, how much extra time in your day should it take to make sure it gets to your audience? It can take some serious effort to update, manage and customize all of these channels.
This week, a new client of ours, dlvr.it, announced that their social media syndication service is now open in public beta for anyone to sign up, useful for anyone who creates content and wants to get it to the social Web, instantly.
The goal is to make it easier to distribute content and navigate today’s complex media landscape. Unfortunately, most people rely on manual updates, making it really tough to reach their audience wherever they are. dlvr.it takes content from RSS feeds and a number of other inputs and then automates the distribution to outputs including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Identi.ca and Tumblr (with many more to come). The best part about dlvr.it is that you can distribute in real time – just hit publish and it’s automatically out there. They have also built a broad suite of measurement stats, because measurement and growth is more important than ever on the social Web. TechCrunch has some more details.
Click here to sign up and try it out.
Towerstream to Acquire Sparkplug Communications
Earlier this year, LaunchSquad started working with its second public company – a leading provider of wireless broadband for businesses – Towerstream, based in Rhode Island. We’re excited to share that they just announced their acquisition of Sparkplug Communications Inc.’s Chicago and Nashville business assets, including all customer contracts and network infrastructure. Based on the transaction, Towerstream expands its Chicago market to become their third largest nationally and launches their 11th market, in Nashville. LaunchSquad is thrilled to join the Towerstream team at this pivotal moment in the company’s history. Broadband has never been as pervasive or top of mind as it is today, with the advent of new networks, faster speeds and government mandates, and Towerstream is moving fast on the opportunities in the industry.
There’s already been some media enthusiasm around the transaction, including Mass High Tech, Connected Planet, and GoingWiMAX.
Jeff Thompson, CEO, Towerstream - Photo credit: Vincent Laforet/The New York Times
Eyes on the Enter(prize)
At LaunchSquad, we love to work with companies who keep their eyes on the prize – The Enterprise, that is. One example is a company we recently started working with called Crowdcast, which is helping businesses socialize the way they operate.
Crowdcast is a way for large companies to harvest knowledge from their employees easily and anonymously. Based on the concept of “wisdom of the crowds,” Crowdcast’s markets allow employees to place bets on what they think the outcomes of key business operations will be. The thinking is, if a project is running a bit behind schedule, who better to ask than the team “on the ground” working on it? This allows managers to refine strategy in real time and make better business decisions directly based on employee knowledge and feedback.
This week, Crowdcast announced a partnership with enterprise software giant SAP where they will provide SAP clients with a way to harness intelligence and better manage risk as early as possible. Employee bets will help contribute to more accurate decision making and company strategy around product launches, shipping dates and project deadlines.
These markets let managers tap their greatest resource – their employees – reaching information that was previously at their fingertips, yet inaccessible until now. This is an exciting time as enterprise companies embrace “the social.” Alex Williams from ReadWriteWeb said in this recent piece, “Crowdsourcing makes sense in our social world. Decisions no longer need to be only made by a few. The tools are there to filter out the wisdom of the crowds.”
Michael Vizard of IT Business Edge also pointed out the obvious gap between employees and their managers, leaving room for markets to make a big difference in organizational communication: “Given the usual gulf between the views of employees who deal with customers every day and senior management teams that spend their time looking at spreadsheets, chances are crowdsourcing might provide some interesting revelations.”
And just think, who knows where the enterprise will go from here? Try asking your employees.
Hello Boston, Meet LaunchSquad
Boston. Birthplace of the Revolution. Home of the Sox, the Pats, the C’s and the B’s. Clam chowder — the white kind. The original Tea Party. Harvard. MIT. The Pike. The Kennedys. And now us, LaunchSquad. We’re launching in Boston. Get ready, Beantown.
At LaunchSquad, we’re bullish on Boston. And today we’re officially announcing that Mike Farber has joined our team as GM and Founder of LaunchSquad Boston (click here for our official release).
This is an exciting announcement for us and I can’t say how thrilled we are to have Mike on board. In the late 90s, Mike was a close colleague of all four LaunchSquad partners, and we’ve stayed close with him throughout the past ten years. He was a great sounding board for us in the very first days of our firm, and many of our foundational values and philosophies stem in part from our collaboration with Mike during those pre-LaunchSquad years.
Mike’s passion in working with startups, his deep understanding of story and the media, and his success in embracing the new channels and opportunities within PR and social media align perfectly with what LaunchSquad is all about. Before joining us, Mike had a long tenure as a senior team member at Waltham-based Schwartz Communications.
As for the Boston opportunity, there is perhaps no better area in the country that unites education, invention and entrepreneurial spirit. Similar to New York (we recently made some news there as well), there is renewed energy in the region for the next wave of innovation, particularly in the area of clean and energy technology, which is becoming a core practice area for us. Our history of helping innovators spread the word and emerge into market leaders is an ideal match for what’s happening in New England. (Of course, I’m also selfishly hoping this new venture will get me back to beloved Fenway more frequently!)
Huge welcome to Mike from everyone at LaunchSquad. Here’s a brief video about Mike and our Boston launch.