Posts Tagged ‘pressitt’
Marketwire sues PR Newswire for $25 million
November 3rd, 2011
As you may have seen last week, war has broken out between two of the best known news wire services, as Marketwire filed a $25 million lawsuit accusing rival PR Newswire of causing irreparable harm by hiring away its workers and inducing them to divulge confidential information and trade secrets, violating confidentiality and non-compete agreements.
That’s quite a statement and I imagine pretty hard to prove. The action probably says more about Marketwire’s frustration at the issue rather than its chances of actually winning.
The main thrust of Marketwire’s legal action is based around an accusation that PR Newswire hired Marketwire’s former Chief Technology Officer, Shoeb Ansari, as part of what it alleges is a continuing campaign to steal its technology and gain access to customer data.
The complaint confirms that there has been a steady flow of staff from Marketwire to PR newswire since Ansari’s appointment as Chief Information Officer.
Newswire has responded with the following statement, which lays out its defence nicely:
“PR Newswire has every legal right to hire these employees and it has no interest in any trade secrets Marketwire may have. Marketwire is turning to the courts in an attempt to prevent fair competition between the companies. We are confident that the court will agree this case has no merit.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $25 million in damages and a permanent ban on any use or disclosure of confidential business information and trade secrets.
This is probably a case of two closely matched competitors paying a little too much attention to each other in an otherwise poorly differentiated market, however it certainly spices up the sector a little.
It’s fair to say i’m not a big fan of newswire services. Not because i don’t think they serve a valuable purpose for organisations that need to distribute news widely for earnings or corporate governance, but that fundamentally the services have evolved very little in my 14 years in the sector, and if you are not bound by relevant financial and stock market regulations, the services offer little value.
I should make it clear that I am part of the team at Pressitt and social media news release platform that takes the opposite approach to traditional news wires by promoting useful content via search engines, bookmarking and content sites to reach influencers directly rather than going through the traditional wires approach, so of course i am biased. However, this social approach was borne not only out of the changing way we consume media, but also fundamentally because existing news wires have neither evolved nor offer a useful return for what can be a very expensive service.
Free Pressitt Social Media Newsrooms for Charities
March 30th, 2011
Pressitt the free social media news release creation and publishing site, which was co-created by Liberate Media, is currently offering all registered Charities free newsroom and matching templates, as part of its recently created newsroom service - read the full news release here.
To register you interest and claim you newsroom and matching release template please email us on charities@pressitt.com
Michelle Gilbert, head of corporate communications at Eurosport, comments: “Pressitt is an excellent service offering companies and organisations fast and effective social media solutions for their digital PR needs. We at Eurosport have been particularly impressed with Pressitt’s enthusiasm, high level of customer service and help in establishing our newsroom and leveraging our social media news releases. We are looking forward to a fruitful working relationship on these and other projects in 2011.”
Pressitt is an advertising free platform which is highly moderated, meaning your news will only sit alongside recognised brands and organisations.
Current newsroom examples include the DFID and Eurosport.
Pressitt adds Customisable Newsrooms to Social Media News Release platform
January 12th, 2011
Today, Pressitt, which was co-founded by Liberate Media and Best Served Cold, announces the launch of a customisable newsroom functionality, which is something we’ve been working on for a while.
We’re also proud to announce Eurosport as one of the first brands to try out the new functionality. You can see Eurosport’s newsroom here
For further information you can click on the Pressitt SMNR, or read on.
Please have a look at Pressitt and let us know your thoughts. We would welcome your feedback.
Eurosport becomes the first brand to showcase Pressitt newsrooms
Pressitt, the free Social Media News Release (SMNR) creation and publishing platform, today announces the launch of customisable newsrooms. The newsroom functionality allows users to create their own online branded news environment.
Now journalists, bloggers and anyone online will be able to find news information published by brands and organisations in one central, branded online hub. Additionally, the newsroom template will also serve as a branded release template for all past and future releases that are indexed on Pressitt.
Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, has been quick to jump onboard and become one of the first brands to utilise Pressitt’s newsroom feature as part of its social media plans for 2011.
One individual newsroom is priced affordably at £15 per month, but is free to all registered charities.
Newsroom features include: the ability to customise the header, footer and background of the newsroom to match the brand’s look and feel, and add Twitter and Facebook widgets. Fonts, links and text colouring are also adjustable to create a branded social environment to host a brand’s latest news.
Michelle Gilbert, head of corporate communications at Eurosport, comments: “Pressitt is an excellent service offering companies and organisations fast and effective social media solutions for their digital PR needs. We at Eurosport have been particularly impressed with Pressitt’s enthusiasm, high level of customer service and help in establishing our newsroom and leveraging our social media news releases. We are looking forward to a fruitful working relationship on these and other projects in 2011.”
Andy Merchant, director and co-founder of Pressitt.com adds: “Over the past year the free Pressitt service has been highly successful at giving brands and agencies an excellent multimedia-enhanced alternative to the ageing press release. Now with the addition of the customisable newsroom, combined with a release template service, we hope to encourage brands to use Pressitt as an online hub of information to showcase their latest news.”
Users who blog about Pressitt will also receive a special discounted offer of £12.50 per month for the first year only.
Pressitt to announce New Year update
December 22nd, 2010
With Christmas on the horizon, and 2011 just around the corner, Pressitt the Social Media News Release and creation platform will have some exciting news for you in the coming weeks.
Pressitt, the Liberate Media co-owned service, will be announcing its latest major update in the new year. There will be a small monthly price to pay, but we think it’s worth it.
The update is currently being tested by a number of brands and agencies and once we have their final feedback we’ll put the finishing touches together ready for launch.
We hope to be able to announce the new Pressitt feature in January, and until then, here is what Pressitt SMNR platform currently has to offer.
November 9th, 2010
Pressitt, the Social Media News Release and creation platform, and Liberate Media tool has developed a new motion graphic video.
The video overviews exactly what Pressitt does and how it can help your brand to communicate via the social web, in just over one minute.
Social Media News Release creation and publishing platform - Pressitt from Pressitt on Vimeo.
Let us know what you think.
Social Media News Release creation and publishing platform - Pressitt from Pressitt on Vimeo.
Pressitt at the Mashable Awards
October 22nd, 2010
Just a quick heads up about the forth coming Mashable Awards (formerly known as Open Web Awards)
Goals of the Mashable Awards
- Create conversations around technology and innovation
- Encourage engagement within the Mashable Audience
- Set the standard for innovation around competition
- Identify and celebrate the best of the best!
There are 25 categories to choose from including “Best New Gadget” to “Best Music Discovery Service” to “Must-Follow Brand.”
Regular readers of our blog will know that Pressitt the free Social Media News Release and creation platform is part of the Liberate Media family, so if you like the service please consider clicking the button below to nominate Pressitt in the best small media service for small businesses category. If you haven’t used the service yet, please give it a try.
Pressitt social media news release most excellent examples
September 14th, 2010
Pressitt, the social media news release creation and publishing service, co-owed by Liberate Media has now been in action for well over a year.
Below are some of the most recent social media releases that Pressitt’s users have created, incorporating video, images and all the other elements found in a feature-rich Pressitt social media news release:
ROCK’N ROLL MAYHEM RETURNS AS ARBOR LIVE KICKS OFF SEASON 2
NEA President meets with Tampa-area educators on the heels of ‘Race to the Top’ announcement
Relief Efforts Continue for Victims of Flooding in Pakistan
Wanted: Web developer for Pressitt Social Media News Release service
July 19th, 2010
Pressitt the Social Media News Release service is searching for a talented web developer to learn the Pressitt system and help develop the platform further.
If the first project goes well there is plenty more updates/concepts/user feedback to be integrated into the current platform.
The Role: freelance/short term
To develop and improve Pressitt.com on a freelance basis or short term contract, as and when required.
Working closely with our lead developer and front end coder, you’ll be responsible for coding various parts of the site, including bespoke and custom newsrooms from basic php functions within Code Igniter down to in-depth classes.
Built on Codeigniter, Pressitt is a fully featured site with combined client-side and server-side technologies allowing users to create rich and detailed news releases.
Required Skills
- Object Orientated Programming
- Model View Controller/Frameworks
- Linux Systems Administration
- Content Management Systems
- Social Networking (Web)
- Internet usability
- Accessibility (Web)
- Front end coding and javascript
Required Products
- Codeigniter
- PHP
- MySQL
- jQuery
- XHTML/HTML
- CSS
- LAMP
- Wordpress (not essential)
- Zend Eclipse (not essential)
So, if you can deliver on the above, live preferably near London/the South East, are hard working and able to work to strict schedules, please get in touch via email at andy@pressitt.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
Pressitt Social Media News Release News/partnerships
July 12th, 2010
As you may or may not be aware, Pressitt, the Social Media News Release creation and publishing platform, is very much a part of Liberate Media and its partner Best Served Cold.
What is Pressitt?
Pressitt allows you to create and publish a rich multimedia asset-assisted news release. Your release acts as a hub of information, giving Journalists, bloggers, and your online community more information to easily research your brand.
Once you have created your release it’s then up to you to use it as part of your blogger/journalist outreach campaign. We are not a newswire. We are a platform to create and distribute content in a relevant and useful manner.
Once published, your release is made available via RSS, categorised and searchable via tags. It is also tweeted via the Pressitt account, indexed by Google news and all other major search engines.
Coming soon
We are currently in the process of adding an exciting new string to the Pressitt bow. The new element has been driven by the large amount of positive user and fan feedback we receive.
At this stage, I don’t want to give to much away, but all I will say is that this new element will take Pressitt to the next level and help brands further engage with target audiences. Watch this space!
Get involved
We are committed to furthering the Social Media News Release format, so if you like Pressitt, want to get involved, have feedback, or would like to talk to us about any potential partnership opportunities please get in-touch by emailing andy@pressitt.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
Distribution is only the first step for your Social Media News Release!
June 29th, 2010
As you might be aware, Pressitt the Social Media News Release, is co-owned by Liberate Media.
Today I wanted to highlight the fact that the SMNR is not a ‘fire and forget’ tactic. It’s not a newswire either.
The SMNR is useful because it opens up conversation and allow brand owners to engage with online users and vice versa. The conversation shouldn’t end after a few hours, days or weeks.
The beauty of the SMNR concept is that you can keep the conversation alive by re-visiting your SMNR and updating it with fresh content and then re-publishing and re-engaging with your audience. It’s the start of the conversation, not the end of your news.
Ideas to update you Social Media News Release:
- New quotes or updated quotes
- Fan videos/images
- Additional links to other news coverage or user generated content
- Update on the announcement
- New findings/research
- or even just to update your contact details
- Updated product shots
- Expert commentary from other sources
Standard newswires would charge to do this, but Pressitt allows you to make any amount of edits for free.
I hope this small snippet of advice allows you to use the social media news service of your choice more effectively, if you have any further queries, please get in touch.