Community Associations Network Industry News

ATLANTA, Aug 06, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----F3 Technologies, Inc. (Pink Sheets: AUMN), an Atlanta based software developer, announced today immediate availability of Version 2 of the Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) Community System, enabling Homeowner's Associations (HOAs) to deploy Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) with the latest upgrades.

"The availability of the Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) Community System has spurred Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) deployments at HOAs such as at Sentinel Lake in Marietta, Ga., and the availability of v.2 will further drive Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) deployments," said Rainey Shane, President, F3 Technologies.

"Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) allows an HOA Board to properly communicate and share information with its members, decreasing the likelihood of homeowner disputes so common within these organizations" said Ms. Shane. "In addition, it decreases the cost of HOA management by an average of over $1000 per month over the cost of using an outside management company. That money can then be used for more important community needs."

Record Rate of Customer Deployments

Sentinel Lake, a single family residential neighborhood in Marietta, has already benefited from deploying Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) Community System. It committed to deploying Interaction(TM: 86.45, +0.34, +0.39%) Community System over a year ago and this enabled Sentinel Lake to transform its HOA management into an "e-culture," creating a Web-based productivity infrastructure that allows Board members to publish critical information and documents directly to the community intranet. In addition, it allows the homeowners to become more involved in the community through image galleries, email, discussion boards, online dues payment, online facility reservations and shared vendors.

"The Interaction Community System has successfully brought our neighborhood community closer together," said Loren Volk, former Board president at Sentinel Lake. "Using Interaction, our residents are able to create community events, pay dues, reserve facilities, and recommend preferred vendors while simultaneously keeping up to date with our local community and neighbors."

Version 2 Availability

Version 2 is a collection of updates driven by customer feedback and has been deployed across all customers currently using the subscription based service at no additional charge. The addition of a more user-friendly dashboard and interface, an enhanced Accounting module, the ability to broadcast requests for home workers such as babysitters, tutors and pet sitters, and the ability to manage notices and violations are all included in the Version 2 release. A free 30-day trial of the on-demand software is available at http://www.interactioncs.com .

About F3 Technologies

F3 Technologies, Inc. (F3) is an Atlanta-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) development company and application service provider created to provide on- demand internet solutions to consumers and small to mid-sized companies. F3 Technologies currently has three distinctive products: FargoTube.com, Ascend Global Systems and Interaction Community Systems. It is the goal of F3 Technologies to provide the necessary systems and tools to help its end users realize personal, professional, social, and business-oriented goals.

About FargoTube: www.fargotube.com is an online video sharing software engine for users seeking to profit from their on-line video content in three different ways. First, FT allows users to upload proprietary video content and sell it to other users resulting in income for the host and video owner. Second, FT will share ad revenue generated by videos offered for sale or for free with the video owner. Lastly, FT will share a portion of any profits made by users they referred to FT as an affiliate commission.

About Ascend Global Business System: www.ascendgbs.com is an online Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product created specifically to help businesses improve customer relations, track employee performance, and support overall revenue opportunities. The Ascend SaaS solution contains customizable modules for accounting, human resource management, project management, website creation, online store creation (e-commerce), knowledge sharing, survey building, and customer relationship management.

About Interaction Community System: www.interactioncs.com provides neighborhoods, communities, church organizations, homeowner's associations (HOAs) and other similar type groups with a reliable, online solution for valuable services such as residential directories, accounting, voting, website creation, facility management and scheduling, newsletters, announcements, vendor sharing, e-commerce, accounting, classifieds, and message boards. Interaction offers features that allow residents of these communities to stay informed and become involved.

Safe Harbor

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking information made on the company's behalf. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address the company's expectations of sources of capital or which express the company's expectation for the future with respect to financial performance, operating strategies or business plans, can be identified as forward-looking statements. Such statements made by the company are based on knowledge of the environment in which it operates, but because of the factors beyond the control of the company, which include but are not limited to the ability of the company to implement its business plans, the company's ability to successfully compete, market conditions and the ability of the company to raise any necessary working capital financing, actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Contact: Paul Knopick
E & E Communications Pknopick@eandecommunications.com 949/707-5365 SOURCE F3 Technologies, Inc.

http://www.interactioncs.com

Posted by Joe at 5:32 PM | Permalink

Suwanee, GA - March, 2008 Georgia based Community website firm AtHomeNet, the nation’s leading Community Association Website provider, is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this March. In commemorating 10 years of providing innovative service to over one million households nationwide, the company is embarking on a series of promotional and development activities focused on enhancing their services.

In a letter to clients, Jeff Sanders, Director of Technology stated, “We have had many exciting times over the past 10 years. The best part has been having the chance to talk with and share ideas with many of the thousands and thousands of hard-working volunteer community web site administrators and association management professionals that we work with on a daily basis. Without you we could not have made it this far and we would like to thank you all for giving us the opportunity to work with you and hopefully make some small part of your life a little bit better.”

AtHomeNet was founded in 1998 by husband and wife team, Jeff & Susan Sanders. It began as a small service operating out of their family home, and in late 2007 crossed the milestone of serving over a million homes spread across 48 states. The company is technology based, dealing primarily with building and hosting websites for Homeowner and Condominium communities as well as Association Management companies. AtHomeNet boasts a diverse staff that combines talented support and technology developers with sales and marketing specialists who carry the company mantra of treating every client and every community as they would their own.

For the remainder of the year AtHomeNet is launching a series of events and new innovations to mark the 10 year milestone. First and foremost, AtHomeNet is near completion in the development of “Elite,” which is the latest version of their industry leading community website service. AtHomeNet Elite features web 2.0 technology, highlighting major enhancements in their Association Management website functionality, particularly helpful to managers responsible for multiple websites.

“We are very excited, especially considering how far we’ve come. The first version of our service was a little lean, consisting of perhaps 5 total features. With 10 years of hard work and the help of our fantastic family of staff and clients across the country, we grew that functionality to more than 50 interactive features, with virtually endless adaptability in the new version. Even more importantly, we have also grown the relationship between our company and our clients into a nationwide community,” added Director of Marketing, Susan Sanders.

A host of other events culminating in the annual AtHomeNet Training Camp, to be held in September in Duluth, Georgia at the Gwinnett Convention Center; will round out the remainder of what the company has called “A banner year in community website technology.”
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For more information on AtHomeNet’s ten year anniversary commemorative activities, please contact Susan Sanders, Director of Marketing for AtHomeNet at 1-800-556-7852 or susans@AtHomeNet.com.

Posted by Joe at 10:00 PM | Permalink

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CondoCompare Inc., a web site for researching, buying and selling condominiums, today announced the launch of its new Web 2.0 site with added features that make it easier for consumers to research, buy and sell condos online. CondoCompare.com is the only real estate website that lets consumers select both condo buildings and condo units, and then compare those buildings and units using a wide variety of criteria, including neighborhood, price, amenities, size, cost per square foot, and user-generated comments and rankings.

“Traditional real estate web sites list individual condo units and not the actual condominium buildings, making it very difficult to do an ‘apples to apples' comparison of one unit to another or one building to another building,” said Casey Sullivan, CEO of CondoCompare, Inc. “CondoCompare provides analytical tools that allow consumers to select condos that meet their exact requirements, and compare those condos and buildings to hundreds of others. The site even provides historical pricing information so consumers can determine the realistic market value of a property to help them negotiate the very best deal.”

CondoCompare's “secret sauce” is its ability to aggregate disparate data about hundreds of thousands of listings from multiple listing services (MLSs) and format this data so consumers can compare one unit or condo building to another. This is difficult to do because there are over 880 MLSs across the United States, all of which have proprietary systems with differing data formats and listing requirements. CondoCompare connects data about the various condo units with their respective buildings, which then allows consumers to compare units and buildings using more than 30 different criteria, including neighborhood, price, size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, view, pet policy, and building amenities.

“The buying and selling of condominiums is typically a much more complicated purchase than buying a house,” said Brett Frosaker, president of CondoCompare, Inc. “We only work with the top agents in each market, those in the top 20 percent of their office and with a proven expertise in condominium sales. We even offer a Chat button on the site where you can talk with an agent and arrange for a tour of the property within 30 minutes.”

Consumers can register for free on the site and build a personalized profile in the “My CondoCompare” section. They can then post messages and photos about a favorite condo, share their knowledge of neighborhood amenities such as shops, dog parks or favorite dining destinations, and rank condo buildings on a one-to-five scale.

Once registered on the site, users can save their search criteria in My Saved Searches and save favorite condos and/or buildings in My Watch List, which will send them an email alert whenever there is a price reduction or new listings on the market.

CondoCompare.com began its service in the greater Seattle and Portland markets and will soon be expanding into California, followed by Texas, Nevada, Colorado and Utah in the coming months. A national rollout is planned within the next year.

About CondoCompare.com

CondoCompare.com is the premier condominium web site and real estate brokerage that allows buyers and sellers to research and buy or sell condominiums from the comfort of their office or home. CondoCompare Inc., a privately funded company, is based in Seattle, Washington and was founded in May 2007. For more information, please call 866-582-2667 or visit www.CondoCompare.com.

Posted by Joe at 7:28 PM | Permalink

Celebrating 10 years of innovative service to clients nationwide, community website firm AtHomeNet is poised to introduce new technology to commemorate the milestone.

Suwanee, GA (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 24, 2008 -- Georgia based Community website firm AtHomeNet, the nation's leading Community Association Website provider, is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this March. In commemorating 10 years of providing innovative service to over one million households nationwide, the company is embarking on a series of promotional and development activities focused on enhancing their services.

In a letter to clients, Jeff Sanders, Director of Technology stated, "We have had many exciting times over the past 10 years. The best part has been having the chance to talk with and share ideas with many of the thousands and thousands of hard-working volunteer community web site administrators and association management professionals that we work with on a daily basis. Without you we could not have made it this far and we would like to thank you all for giving us the opportunity to work with you and hopefully make some small part of your life a little bit better."

AtHomeNet was founded in 1998 by husband and wife team, Jeff & Susan Sanders. It began as a small service operating out of their family home, and in late 2007 crossed the milestone of serving over a million homes spread across 48 states. The company is technology based, dealing primarily with building and hosting websites for Homeowner and Condominium communities as well as Association Management companies. AtHomeNet boasts a diverse staff that combines talented support and technology developers with sales and marketing specialists who carry the company mantra of treating every client and every community as they would their own.

For the remainder of the year AtHomeNet is launching a series of events and new innovations to mark the 10 year milestone. First and foremost, AtHomeNet is near completion in the development of "Version 2" of their industry leading community website service. Version 2 features web 2.0 technology, highlighting major enhancements in their Association Management website functionality, particularly helpful to managers responsible for multiple websites.

"We are very excited, especially considering how far we've come. The first version of our service was a little lean, consisting of perhaps 5 total features. With 10 years of hard work and the help of our fantastic family of staff and clients across the country, we grew that functionality to more than 50 interactive features, with virtually endless adaptability in the new version. Even more importantly, we have also grown the relationship between our company and our clients into a nationwide community," added Director of Marketing, Susan Sanders.

A host of other events culminating in the annual AtHomeNet Training Camp, to be held in September in Duluth, Georgia at the Gwinnett Convention Center; will round out the remainder of what the company has called "A banner year in community website technology."

For more information on AtHomeNet's ten year anniversary commemorative activities, please contact Susan Sanders, Director of Marketing for AtHomeNet at 1-800-556-7852.

Posted by Joe at 6:46 PM | Permalink

February 11, 2008 – Portland, Oregon – Strateja-XL has developed an innovative online voting service, VOTE HOA NOW (http://www.votehoanow.com), for Home Owner Associations and Home Owner Management Companies. Strateja-XL offers web solutions, strategies, and online marketing tools for business.

Strateja-XL’s new HOA online voting service, VOTE HOA NOW, is designed to increase homeowner participation, to save time and money, to enhance security, to ensure homeowner privacy, and to be “greener” by reducing paper use. Strateja-XL will work with Home Owner Associations and HOA Management Companies to provide them with services and technical support that meet their specific requirements.
Strateja-XL, as a leader in web development and online communications, identified the need for HOA electronic voting while working with Home Owners Associations. Strateja-XL President, Scott McKeel, stated, “Homeowner Associations and HOA Management Companies spend a lot of time and money coordinating, managing, and tabulating homeowner voting. Their most difficult challenges include achieving full homeowner participation and reaching a quorum. VOTE HOA NOW, with its ease, efficiencies, and privacy, helps boast homeowner voting significantly, while cutting overall costs.”

About Stratja-XL - Strateja-XL was launched in 2006, merging the award-winning Anderson Buckle Creative (ABC) with Strateja. The firm has more than 50 years combined experience in web design and development, search engine optimization, marketing communications, and branding.

Posted by Joe at 9:31 PM | Permalink

In order to provide their diverse properties with superior communications capability using the latest on-line technology; Bowen Property Management has partnered with AtHomeNet Inc. to provide their communities with innovative new web sites.

Bowen Property Management Company, founded in 1977, is a full-service management organization specializing in the management of multifamily property investments. Bowen has developed an excellent reputation for professionalism by consistently providing quality property management services through effective, result-oriented management. Bowen manages over 5,000 units located throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Montana. Bowen offers a diverse group of different property types, furthering their mission to provide professional management services tailored to the individual goals and objectives of each client.

AtHomeNet is an industry leader in providing Community Web Administrators, Home Owner’s Associations, and Management Companies with individually customized websites at affordable prices. AtHomeNet sites can be found all across America representing Apartment, Condo, and Homeowners in a way that reflects both the beauty and the technology of their communities. Known for their knowledgeable support staff, excellent customer service, and monthly product updates; the AtHomeNet team’s reputation precedes them as they continue to turn the corner in pioneering easy user friendly web site design and enhancement.

With this exciting new partnership, the Oregon based company is poised to seize the momentum of an industry that continues to expand using the expertise of a proven veteran company. This relationship will undoubtedly cater to the growing demands in technology and communications that communities and property managers face daily.

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If you would like more information on Bowen Property Management and AtHomeNet please contact Sales@AtHomeNet.com or call AtHomeNet at 1-800-556-7852

Posted by Joe at 8:16 PM | Permalink

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) March 16, 2007 -- www.newcondosonline.com has been building the most comprehensive real estate blog on the Internet today for the last 3 months. CEO, Brandon Fishman states, "Every new project posted to the site will receive its own section of the blog. Local agents in over 30 markets will also be posting to our blog valuable information every day. We will have poll questions each week finding out answers to important questions regarding the state of the real estate market and different developments."

President Brent Gleeson added, "We feel this is the perfect time to launch the Condo Blog. We have spent the last 3 years building a profitable company and striving to serve our clients and produce the greatest results possible for them. Now that we have the largest web traffic in the industry today, it makes sense to leverage that traffic and provide new condo news and information to our users and to everyone in the real estate field. Without the proper amount of web traffic, we would not be able to support such a community. With over 60,000 terms optimized in the search engines, we draw thousands of home buyers, agents, and developers to our site every site each day. The new NCO Blog strengthens our online community.

www.newcondosonline.com announced that they will strive to get their users the latest information on every real estate market as well as offer unique condo investing programs. They also have the ability to discuss financing options for developers and purchase up to 50% of a condo project. NCO has partnered with some of the top companies in the world to be able to offer such services.

If you are an agent, please feel free to sign up at no charge for the blog and contact NCO regarding becoming a lead blog partner. In exchange, agents will receive free banners and advertising on www.newcondosonline.com.

About the company:
www.newcondosonline.com is in its third yeard of operation and based in San Diego. We are currently the largest and most visited new condo advertising site in the country with over 1200 new developments in the United States. We are the preferred online vendor for many of the nation's leading sales and marketing firms such as The Ryness Company, The Marketing Directors, and The Condo Store.

We look forward to engaging our users on our blog and creating a new online community for agents, developers, and consumers.

Posted by Joe at 8:42 AM | Permalink

CHICAGO, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- ZedZone.com is out of its beta phase and now offers online users the ability to easily create or participate in community or group websites. To join, users fill out a brief form. They can then create a "CommZone," a group website that is loaded with world-class functionality. It includes:

* A forum: The communication center for a community where users can post
or read announcements, have discussions or debates, create or vote in
polls, and more.

* An album: For sharing files of any kind (for example: photos, PDF
files, word documents, or excel files).

* A wiki: Allows users to create documents that can be edited multiple
times, by multiple users, for the purpose of group collaboration or
presentation.

* Mail: Users can broadcast messages to members of a CommZone via group
e-mails or "ZedMails." ZedMail is a private messaging system for
communication between ZedZone.com users.

"The site was designed," Mike Dolan, President and CEO of ZedZone.com, said, "due to an online need for users to communicate and network within a fun and powerful virtual environment that offers functionality and versatility for communities and groups."

The website is suitable for communities or groups, including: businesses or business organizations; schools, classes, alumni associations, or other school organizations; religious groups; teams or clubs; interest-based groups; event-planning committees; families or friends; or any other type of group with a common goal.

ZedZone.com is free. Users can create new CommZones or find existing ones of interest.

Currently, ZedZone.com has many CommZones that include: a homeowner's association, book club, bowling league, Minnesota Viking fan club, University of Chicago alumni group, and more.

"I can't imagine how I kept up with all my groups before ZedZone," Betty Schweizer, a ZedZone.com user said. "I will never go back to saving e-mails in one folder, and pictures in another, or passing word documents back and forth for editing. Having everything in one place for sharing, is not only convenient, but also creates a tangible group dynamic."

ZedZone.com was designed with flexibility to accommodate groups' differing needs. The site, launched in October 2006, has now been extensively tested to ensure its usability and functionality.

For more information, visit: www.ZedZone.com .

Posted by Joe at 12:20 PM | Permalink

AtHomeNet Marketing Division Expands to Meet New Challenges

AtHomeNet is proud to announce that North Carolina native and UNC graduate Imari Adams has joined the AHN marketing team in the position of Communications Specialist. Mr. Adams brings a wealth of experience and expertise to a professional environment that demands no less.

As we were preparing to turn the corner into the new year, AtHomeNet’s client base had evolved such that new challenges and responsibilities constantly arose within day to day operations. With marketing our products and the essential communications demands associated with any product/service based industry continuously expanding; the need for a staff member to specialize in these areas was more than apparent. Communicating the strength and value of our products to the valued AHN customers we serve is an essential part of our mission and a cornerstone of any successful company. Adams was selected to specialize in this function as well as assist in the enhancement of other areas related to marketing and sales.

Adams earned a degree in Management from the University Of North Carolina at Asheville in 2000. He also studied and interned in Audio Engineering and Events Coordination while attending. During his collegiate years, he served as editor of a campus magazine, leader of several musical ensembles, and was a student/teacher intern in special arts and culture studies. These experiences granted him a uniquely well rounded perspective in a variety of situations, which will undoubtedly be utilized in a work environment that often calls for a “Jack of all trades.”
His work experience has included over five years in television production, an additional five years in various marketing and promotional jobs, as well as a lengthy customer service history. An accomplished musician on several instruments, he has also done professional voice-over work for commercials and operates an independent recording studio and live sound reinforcement business in his spare time. We enthusiastically welcome him to the AtHomeNet family in what we anticipate will be a long and mutually prosperous relationship.

For more information on Imari Adams or the AtHomeNet Communications Specialist position please contact Susan Sanders at 1-800-556-7852 or email Susans@atHomeNet.com

Posted by Joe at 2:55 PM | Permalink

(PRWEB) November 6, 2006 -- condoDomain.com LLC today announced that the Company has reached an agreement in principle to merge its new condo project information contained within its www.condoDomain.com portal with Vancouver, Canada based Global CondoCenter Corp's portal www.globalcondocenter.com as well as provide future content of new U.S. urban condo developments to both sites utilizing Global's proprietary data and graphics uploading software.

Global CondoCenter Corp. founder, Cliff Bowman says "it is a win/win for both the general public and developers alike. Now the public can visit either site to see the same new condo product in the United States on either site or link directly through condoDomain.com to www.globalcondocenter.com to view new urban and resort condominiums across the U.S and around the world"

Tony Longo, founder of condoDomain.com LLC noted, "We are in a changing marketplace housed in a world catered to 'Search' (on the Internet). Through our combined strengths and the drive to offer the latest technological advantages in the digital world, we are both dedicated to one goal. That is to provide a greater, cost-effective and transparent way to market our client's condominium product via the Internet to the millions of homebuyers searching for condominiums today, both urban & resort, domestic and international.

By combining our services, developers receive a reduced rate for being on both sites, each of which direct visitors to a developer's sales teams. Now U.S. developers using Global CondoCenter's technology platform, allows them to access and edit their content and digital graphics 24/7 ensuring their information is current and accurate for the general public's benefit."

Bowman says, "this new arrangement allows Global CondoCenter to focus their sales efforts on attracting U.S. resort developments as well as attracting both urban and resort developments from across the world." This past week, Global has added new projects from UAE, Nicaragua, Columbia and Dominican Republic to other offshore projects ranging from Mongolia, India, South Africa, Brazil and Panama.

condoDomain.com also offers advanced Internet marketing initiatives and other "new media" such as video marketing services for condo developments that can be seen on either portal. Another service provided by condoDomain.com is a daily concentrated electronic distribution of condo product through a series of 10 other real estate partner websites as well as "The Condo Blog," a the 2.0 weblog highlighting the US condominium marketplace.

condoDomain.com LLC launched www.condoDomain.com in October of 2005 starting with Boston and has since grown to represent new urban condo developments and urban lifestyle trends now in 33 US cities with the goal to serve the top 200 regional condo markets in the USA. condoDomain.com operates out of 2 main offices in Boston and New York and several satellite offices in Orange County, CA & Atlanta, GA.

After two years of beta testing, Global CondoCenter Corp launched www.condocenter.com to the general public on July of 2006. In October the company changed the portal's domain to www.globalcondocenter.com after Bowman's research showed there was growing international interest and need for one single global portal for all information on all new apartments, villas and condos for sale in both resort and urban developments beyond North America.

"This global portal presents many of the "Lock and Leave Lifestyle" options desired by global baby boomers as well as others with the financial resources and currency advantages who seek new ownership and lifestyle experiences both locally and globally" Bowman stated. Global CondoCenter operates out of Vancouver, Canada and satellite offices in San Diego, Mexico City and Capetown. Additional representative offices are planned for in Europe, South America and Asia as the company expands to service its global clientele.

Media Contacts:

Cliff Bowman
Global CondoCenter Corp.
604 681 9554

Posted by Joe at 11:29 AM | Permalink

TORONTO, July 5 /CNW/ - C3 Online Marketing is delighted to announce the company's involvement and contribution to MondoCondo, the brainchild of Denise Lash, a leading Toronto condominium lawyer and TV host, and Dale Tidd, Executive Producer of Inside Real Estate. MondoCondo, an obvious yet surprisingly unique initiative, brings together people, issues and commerce associated with condo living, a rapidly growing demographic in urban centres. Their plan for connecting residents and resources in a sustainable, forward-thinking manner involves several components.

While the highest profile element of MondoCondo's plan is likely the television show scheduled to launch in autumn 2006, C3 Online Marketing has been engaged to provide what will be the heart of the MondoCondo Community going forward; the web portal. The MondoCondo portal will be a dynamic window to residents, prospective buyers, property managers, agents, builders, suppliers, financiers and related professionals - for all things Condo. Way beyond a static website, C3's portal for MondoCondo will be a current and relevant gateway for information. Personal and business interests will be represented in and through the portal, which aside from housing basic information, will manage communications, databases, lists and provide distributed content management.

"The beauty of the technology behind MondoCondo's portal is that dynamic content will be managed by the stakeholders" said Terry Ham, President and CEO of C3 Online Marketing. "While the framework, creative, communication and commerce aspects of the portal will be provided by MondoCondo and C3, B2B community members will retain control of their messages and not get bottlenecked by central administrative control". President of the Toronto Canadian Condominium Institute, Janice Pynn thinks that "the entire condominium industry stands to gain enormous educational benefit through the focus on condominiums being consolidated by MondoCondo."

With 15 years experience as a condominium lawyer and topic advocate, Denise Lash, the host of MondoCondo explains, "We have seen explosive growth in the condominium industry in Canada over the past few years. In Ontari alone there are approximately 1.5 million residents living in condominiums, representing all walks of life, ages and income brackets. With a forecast for continued growth, more and more owners will be searching for resources to help them better understand the condominium lifestyle. C3's web portal will bring those resources together for all invested parties."

ABOUT C3 ONLINE MARKETING

C3 Online Marketing provides online solutions for marketers designed to attract and retain online relationships. C3's online marketing infrastructure uniquely integrates programs and applications into clients' business processes, or operates as outsourced service. Utilizing C3 technology, web systems, promotions, contests, surveys, email deployments, loyalty programs, online training and more are easily migrated to customizable follow-on customer touch campaigns. C3 is a privately held company based in Toronto. On June 6, 2006, C3 and True North Corporation (TSX-V:TN, "True North") jointly announced that the Companies intend to combine their businesses, creating a new platform from which to build a leading North American Digital Marketing Services company. Please visit www.c3onlinemarketing.com.

ABOUT MONDOCONDO

MondoCondo's mission is to provide resources and information required to maximize condo living experience. By connecting members and suppliers to condominium communities, topics affecting those communities are explored, creative solutions to old and new problems bring fresh perspectives, and collective commerce is driven. Denise Lash is presently Vice President of the Canadian Condominium Institute (Toronto) and Chair for the Condominium Management Standards Council of the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario. She is a driving force in the Canadian condominium industry and passionate about providing valuable advice to owners, board members, developers and other lawyers both in Canada and the U.S. As a condominium law expert, she uses her no nonsense approach to provide solutions to over 800 condo communities across Ontario.www.mondocondo.com.

For further information: Toby Rosner, Vice President Marketing, C3 Online Marketing, (416) 534-5582 x245, toby.rosner@c3onlinemarketing.com

Posted by Joe at 10:27 AM | Permalink

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 5, 2006 -- Berwind Property Group, Inc. was presented with a Digie Award for ‘Most Digital Real Estate for Extreme Multi-family Residential’ building at the Realcomm 2006 conference held in Dallas, Texas last week. The Realcomm Honor Award recognizes outstanding individuals and companies for being among the most innovative in the Commercial Real Estate industry. These outstanding individuals and companies are credited with being pioneers in transforming the real estate industry into a 21st Century Digital Model.

Located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Barbizon/63 (formerly the Barbizon Hotel) is a luxury high-rise condominium. Berwind converted the Barbizon into 66 high-end apartment units equipped with state-of-the-art, fully interoperable technology.

ShoreGroup designed and implemented a fully integrated network connecting HVAC systems, lighting controls, card access controls, video surveillance, voice and data communication systems, and inclusive home automation services such as Internet access, Wi-Fi, intercom and eConcierge services supplied by a multitude of leading technology suppliers. Each condominium unit features IP telephones with touch panels that act as a thin client interface to systems on the network. The foundation for the design is a redundant IP network supporting voice-over-IP, broadband Internet access and all building management systems. The deployment enables the connectivity of all building management systems on a single network - avoiding the time-consuming and costly endeavor of having to implement and manage disparate proprietary networks for each building system.

Providing a complete solution capable of both monitoring and managing building systems via a single network operations console was a key differentiator in ShoreGroup’s participation in the Barbizon/63 development project. ShoreGroup’s CaseSentry System Management solution monitors all building systems, providing fast identification, visualization and communication of issues to enable immediate remediation efforts that minimize the impact to building residents. Integrated workflow and case management applications streamline the handling of issues and service requests within a unified CaseSentry Building Operations Center (BOC) portal.

“ShoreGroup has been a recognized leader driving the intelligent building effort as evidenced by this award to Berwind Property Group,” said Jim Young, the founder of Realcomm who presented the award. “This application truly stands out as the most farsighted and advanced in the nation."

The Barbizon/63 renovation project is truly a first for New York City. By taking advantage of technologically open standards and communications coupled with end-to-end systems management, ShoreGroup has successfully converged the network and building automation systems into one IP-based network providing Berwind with a real estate property that encompasses advanced capabilities while at the same time reducing maintenance and operating costs. “ShoreGroup has been one of our lead technology partners in integrating and monitoring our building’s advanced technology and infrastructure. We are proud to have been selected as one of the nations most advanced buildings,” said Cory Hilderbrand, Director of IT for Berwind Property Group.

“This award emphasizes that the Converged Intelligent Building is not only a reality, but a significant sign of exciting things to come in the real estate space,” said Carl Gambello, Director of Advanced Automation Solutions at ShoreGroup. “Advanced technology buildings are being sought after by customers and commanding premium prices. The future of healthcare, hospitality, education, commercial and residential buildings -- even stadiums -- will be changing. They’ll be migrating to a single, consolidated, all IP infrastructure with unified management. This award recognizes the Barbizon/63 as the blueprint for the future.”

About ShoreGroup, Inc.

ShoreGroup is an employee owned converged solutions provider delivering CaseSentry Systems Management applications, ShorePatrol maintenance services and infrastructure professional services. As a Cisco Gold Certified Partner with IP Communications Specialization, and a Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC) Enterprise Advanced Technology Provider (ATP), ShoreGroup designs, deploys, maintains and develops leading management and workflow applications for high availability converged networks, customer contact centers and intelligent buildings. Technology expertise includes IP Telephony, VoIP, communications systems and applications, systems and network management, LAN/WAN, building systems, physical layer infrastructure and wireless. Founded in 1999, with over 300 global and national customers, ShoreGroup is based in New York City and Syracuse, NY.

ShoreGroup and ShorePatrol are trademarks, and CaseSentry is a registered trademark of ShoreGroup, Inc. Cisco and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries.

CONTACT:
Glenn Yeeles
ShoreGroup, Inc.
The ShoreGroup Building
460 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 364-6800
http://www.shoregroup.com

Posted by Joe at 9:53 AM | Permalink

Skype announced a new service that allows up to 100 people to chat over the Internet. This service called Skypecast targets the growing social network phenomenon on the Internet. It will provide a virtual space for people to chat about computers, blogs, and other “stuff”.

If you’re worried about some people not going to shut up during a community chat, Skypecast has built-in functions that solve this problem.

“The service is moderated by a designated host who passes a virtual microphone to participants when they wish to speak. To keep conversations on track, the software allows the moderator to silence or eject detractors.”

Source: ‘Skypecast’ to bring 100 people in for a chat, IHT, May 3, 2006.

I think Skypecast is a really good idea. An application that I can immediately benefit is using it for my neighborhood’s Home Association meetings. Many people in the neighborhood don’t attend those meetings because they are lazy, which I don’t blame them. If we allow people to call in with Skypecast, I think more people will attend the meetings. Maybe I will bring up this issue the next time I go.

Posted by Joe at 10:12 AM | Permalink

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) April 21, 2006 -- www.newcondosonline.com, launched a little over a year ago, has taken the country by storm. Racking up close to 700 properties, users praise the ease of navigating through the website. With over 10 million hits each month, NewCondosOnline.com is the largest condo advertising and lead generation in the country.

Brandon Fishman, the CEO of www.newcondosonline.com says, “Right now is the perfect time to buy a condo. Developers are offering great incentives to buyers. Interest rates although rising, are still relatively low and should stay steady. Prices have stabilized and will continue to increase in the future. First time home buyers in Chicago and across the country will find it easier to get into their first condo this year than in years past.”

With a presence in major cities across the country, it’s no wonder why people are turning to this simple and free site to search for condos - especially in Chicago. Chicago condos and Chicago town homes are popping up all over the Chicago area and home buyers now have an independent website to browse and make their own educated decisions.

The website has had phenomenal success with builders. Builders are charged a small monthly fee for their property listing and the website has a 95% renewal rate. NewCondosOnline.com has over 60 Chicago condos listed on their website right now and that number is only getting larger.

Watch out for NewCondosOnline.com as the company continues its extraordinary growth. "It's our goal to have every condo, town home and loft development on our website. I think that goal is not only feasible but attainable within the next couple years," says Fishman.

About the Company:
NewCondosOnline.com was founded by New Condos Online, Inc. to provide condo, town home, and loft developers with a user-friendly forum in which to advertise their new, pre-construction, and conversion projects. In turn, New Condos Online provides the home buyer with a national one-stop resource to find and compare new properties. As an advertising tool, New Condos Online also provides real estate marketing firms with a valuable method of promoting the projects of the builders they represent.

We handle advertising for condo, town home, and loft developers, real estate marketing firms, and real estate agencies across the country. Condos have increased in popularity over the last ten years and are expected to play an increasingly important role in the housing market. With thousands of condominium projects planned for the next few years, New Condos Online realized the need to create a marketplace where home buyers and investors can learn about pre-construction and new condominium opportunities.

Condo, town home, and loft developers are constantly looking for new ways to market their properties. More developers are taking sales and marketing to the web but still have trouble bringing potential buyers to the websites. Consumers need a single access point where they can find the condo of their dreams whether it is a primary residence, second home, or investment property. New Condos Online provides greater exposure for the new and pre-construction projects of condominium developers, real estate marketing firms, and real estate agencies with our simple process. We feel strongly about providing the consumer with the best possible user experience. Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Posted by Joe at 10:52 AM | Permalink

Americas Watchdog, a national consumer advocacy organization, has just created what is believed to be the first homeowners center where the average homeowner or first time home buyer can pick up useful tips about becoming a better educated homeowner/consumer. To launch this site we have come up with a top five list of things that every homeowner needs to do before purchasing a home. This new web site is called The Homeowners Consumer Center and can be found at Http://HomeownersConsumerCenter.Com. The goal of the Homeowners Consumer Center is to protect homeowners and consumers from being overcharged, misled, or cheated. The intent of the site is to educate consumers/homeowners on a number of important issues. Our top five very important homeowner topics are as follows:
[Complete Press Release]

Posted by Joe at 9:36 AM | Permalink