Lithium Technologies Presents Webinar on The Groundswell in Enterprise Social Software; Features Independent Research Firm

Business Wire, March 12, 2008

Webinar to Present Research from Forthcoming Harvard Business Press Blockbuster, "Groundswell"

EMERYVILLE, Calif. -- Lithium Technologies today announced that it is hosting a webinar featuring Forrester Research analyst, Josh Bernoff, co-author of the forthcoming book "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies." The webinar, moderated by Lithium's Vice President of Community Management Joe Cothrel, will provide a preview of original research conducted for the book, which will be published later in April by Harvard Business Press. It will take place on Thursday, April 3rd at 10:00 a.m. PDT. To register for the webinar, please follow this link (http://www.lithium.com/groundswell).

Mr. Bernoff, a leading social media analyst for Forrester Research, will share his unique findings on return on investment (ROI) for online support communities, among other leading companies. Bernoff and his co-author, Forrester analyst Charlene Li, enjoyed unprecedented access to decision makers, financial models, and key performance indicators at the companies they surveyed. Their book combines research with a call to action.

The "groundswell" of Bernoff and Li's analysis refers to the embrace of participatory technologies such as forums, blogs, wikis, and social networking sites by consumers, who have changed the balance of power between themselves and the large corporations whose products and services they purchase. Corporations, the authors argue, can profit by this or be left behind - there is no middle way.

"Companies are seeing the impact of the groundswell and how successful online customer communities can transform traditional functions like support and marketing," said Lithium's Joe Cothrel. "Companies know they need to join the conversation, but they don't know how or where to start. Any decision maker looking for insight into incorporating enterprise social technologies into customer experience and support programs will benefit from this webinar."

The webinar promises to be a lively event, peppered by insights from Bernoff's research and from the hundreds of online community deployments that Cothrel has led over the past 15 years. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, audience members will be encouraged to participate through questions and comments.

About Lithium Technologies

Lithium Technologies provides market-leading solutions for building successful online communities, including forums, chat, blogs, search, polls and private messaging. Lithium's on-demand platform, backed by community management expertise, enables clients to increase brand loyalty, sales, and customer satisfaction while decreasing customer care costs. Lithium's solutions have been implemented by many of the world's largest organizations, including Dell, AT&T, Comcast, Sprint, DoubleClick, Real Networks and others. Founded in 2001, Lithium is privately held with headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, visit www.lithium.com.