The Ektron playbook is designed to address a few different areas of the sales process:

1.) Giving some conversation criteria and helpful questions for different personas to determine requirements and position Ektron as a great fit.

2.) Showcasing customer successes and industry validation of our approaches for each product type and persona.

3.) Keeping alignment between our marketing message, our product capabilities, and how they can help our prospects, customers and partners.

April 18, 2012 @ 1:00 PM Eastern Time

*Please use your corporate email address to register. The webcast login information will be emailed to your corporate address within 24 hours of the event.

Register today: http://partners.ektron.com/Webinars/Ektron-Corporate-Update/

·         Monthly Technology Blog Posts

·         2 Monthly Developer focused Webinars

·         A monthly Developer Newsletter

·         Developer Meet Ups

·         Technology Summit

·         Ektron Developer MVP Program

Ektron’s Developer Community Program is an asset to our partners. You should make sure that all your developers are aware of this program. 

Go to http://ektron.com/company/newsletters/ and sign up for the developer newsletter to keep up to date on the latest updates.

Release Notes: 

http://documentation.ektron.com/current/release%20notes/ReleaseNotes_WebHelp.htm 

Downloads: 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/CMS400Basev85.exe  (full)

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/CMS400v850SP1.exe  (service pack only – must have 8.50 installed)

StarterSites 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/OnTrek.exe  (requires 8.5sp1)

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/eIntranet.exe (requires 8.5sp1)

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/EktronTech.exe (requires 8.5sp1)

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/CMS400Developer.exe (requires 8.5sp1)

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/cms400/v85/StarterSites/v850Mvc.Sample.zip  (this is the MVC sample site for Sales Engineers and requires the ontrek site of the same version to be installed first – manual install w/instructions included)

 
Utilities (v850sp1) 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/850SP1/v850_help.exe 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/850SP1/EktronDiagnosticsUtility.exe 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/850SP1/eIntranetUpdates_8.5.0.356SP1.zip 

http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/850SP1/OnTrekUpdates_8.5.0.356SP1.zip 

 http://www.slideshare.net/ektron/presentations 

Additional info from the Synergy 2011 can also be located here: http://www.ektron.com/synergy

The v8.5 Enterprise Dashboard

A Consolidated View of System Health

In v8.5, Ektron released the Enterprise Dashboard to provide deeper insight into system configuration and status within deployment architecture.

In this developer interview, Bill Cava speaks with Aniel Sud, Director of Enterprise Architecture and creator of the Enterprise Dashboard, to discuss goals, implementation, and to provide a visual walkthrough to highlight the value of this module within the Enterprise.

Aniel Sud, Director of Enterprise Architecture at Ektron

Aniel's primary responsibility at Ektron is the Ektron product's performance and scalability. Aniel also co-authored the Ektron Developers Guide, with Bill Rogers and Bill Cava.

Register Now: http://www.ektron.com/campaigns/webinars/85-enterprise-dashboard/

CMS400.Net v8.5 was officially released late last week, and everyone here at Ektron is pleased to make this available to our entire partner network.

Here's the download links:

• Base Install 
• OnTrek 
• eIntranet 
• EktronTech 

We'd love to hear your feedback,

~Chris

• Insider look into 8.5 Search (podcast episode)
• 8.5 Search APIs and Architecture (webinar)
• Your 8.5 Search Questions Answered (blog post)

As I said, a *lot* of information. But why stop there? Exclusively for our partners, we're making available a series of videos on 8.5 created for Internal Ektron Employees as part of our employee education and training processes. These videos, while less polished, have a lot of information of use to our partners, so we're making them available exclusively to you. We think you'll be able to pardon the rough-edges given the great content available through them.

The Internal Training Videos currently available to download are:

• Internal Training - 8.5 Search - Installation & Configuration
• Internal Training - 8.5 eSync
• Internal Training - 8.5 Framework API

Additionally, as we continue our internal training sessions, we'll have more available and will share them with you here.

[Update]

Some additional 8.5 Developer Webinars you will find useful:

• Developer Webinar - 8.5 Localization
• Developer Webinar - Search Architecture and Framework API

This MQ covers the usage of social software for external customer communities.  Example use cases include:   

• A pharmaceutical company providing communities for care givers who focus on the diseases their drugs treat, so that they can share experiences.
• A product company interacting with users about improvements that they want to see in the next version of a product, or that would help them use products in innovative ways.
• An intellectual property owner that runs a community for companies which license its patents and designs, so that they can share ideas about how to use technology.
• An insurance or financial services company that operates a community for affiliated financial advisors, so that they can share experiences and learn more about the company's products.
• Government agencies that collect feedback about potential regulatory or policy changes.

Ektron was included as a Niche vendor.  While this is the same quadrant we appeared in last year, we moved closer to leader, and significantly eclipsed our web content management peers like Adobe/Day, EPIServer, and OpenText. 

Ektron

Ektron, a Niche Player, provides a single platform for managing corporate websites, communities and social workspaces. During 2010, the company invested in expanding its technology and geographic reach. Consider Ektron when looking for a single platform for managing corporate websites, communities and social workspaces.

Strengths

• Community development: The Ektron developer community has more than 7,000 registered users. Ektron Exchange is a code- and widget-sharing site where Ektron employees, partners and customers share add-ons.
• Ecosystem: Ektron has a well-designed partner program that gives it an extensive global partner network. Its Partner Portal supports an established partner management methodology for system integrators, digital agencies, and technology, training and translation partners worldwide.
  

References: Ektron received positive comments from references for its ability to consistently move its product forward and use of an open .NET framework with well-documented APIs that allows customers to make modifications as needed.

Social Software for the Workplace

This MQ covers the usage of social software for internal deployments, e.g. employee collaboration. 

Example use cases include: 

• Sharing team information and coordinating project-related activities by adding permanence and structure to ad hoc communications.
• Empowering communities of experts and interested parties (bonding people by specific interests, capturing best practices, disseminating lead-user innovation and providing an informal support network).
• Facilitating social interaction by helping people to establish and strengthen personal relationships and develop trust, and, ultimately, reduce friction and accelerate the business processes in which people are engaged.
• Accessing relevant knowledge and expertise that can be used to formulate a plan of action when decisions need to be made.

Again, Ektron was included as a Niche vendor, with our placement improving slightly over 2010.  Note that EPIServer is our only traditional competitor to be placed in this MQ, and we enjoy a significant lead over them. 

Ektron

Ektron, a Niche Player, provides a single platform for managing corporate websites, communities and internal social workspaces. During 2010, the company invested profits in order to expand its technology and geographic reach.

Strengths

• Ecosystem: The Ektron developer community has more than 7,000 registered users. Ektron Exchange is a code- and widget-sharing site where Ektron employees, partners and customers share add-ons. Ektron has an extensive global partner network supported by a partner portal and a partner management methodology for system integrators, digital agencies, and technology, training and translation partners worldwide.
• Functionality: Ektron has strong content authoring and management, video and rich-media support, email integration, dynamic activity streams that track 30 types of events, and an optional search engine with relevance raking on the basis of "social distance."
• Customer experience: Ektron received positive comments from references on its ability to consistently move the product forward and on its use of an open .NET Framework with well-documented API that allows customers to make modifications as needed.

RC2 was just released and represents the 2^nd release candidate for version 8.5 in efforts for a final release in September.  

The download process is the same as RC1.

Download links: 

• http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/CMS400Basev85.exe
• http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/OnTrek.exe
• http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/eIntranet.exe
• http://downloads2.ektron.com/software/released/CMS400/v85/startersites/EktronTech.exe

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mike

Are you thrilled with your website, intranet, or extranet? We want to hear from you!

Make your Nomination today 

I'm happy to inform you that we are now accepting nominations for the 2011 Ektron All-Star Awards. Ektron would like to recognize our valued customers for their innovative and successful use of Ektron's Web Content Management (WCM) platform. Tell us your success story and you could be an Ektron All-Star winner! The Nomination period closes Friday, September 30th, so nominate your Website(s) today.

Judging will be on the following criteria:

• Smartphone and Tablet Support
• Quantifiable Business Impact
• Best Use of Ektron Functionality
• High Visual Appeal
• Integration with External Applications

All submissions will be in contention to win the Site of the Year award, which will be revealed and featured at Synergy 2011, our worldwide customer conference that takes place from November 6 - 9th at Bellagio Las Vegas.

If you have any questions about the 2011 All-Star Awards, don't hesitate to contact Monica Peguri at +1 603 589 5256 or Monica.peguri@ektron.com.

Make your submission today!

As you may have seen yesterday, Ektron announced availability of Ektron 8.5 Release Candidate: http://www.ektron.com/Ektron-Unveils-Ektron-8.5-Web-Content-Management-Platform/

To view our Public facing information and documentation concerning the New Workarea design, Framework API, Search, 3-Tier Architecture, eSync Diagnostics, Localization, Templated Control Servers and other new functionality, please view our main site here - http://ektron.com/New_in_8.5/

Public Video's - "The Making of Ektron 8.5"

To help educate your employees and clients learn more about what is now the most advanced WCM platform, our Marketing team has also worked tirelessly to prepare the following resources for you to leverage:

8.5 Sales tools:

o   What’s New in Ektron 8.5 Brochure – Great looking, easy to read overview of what is in Ektron 8.5

o   Strategy Guides  – Strategy guides have been updated with Ektron 8.5 Screens and new copy where appropriate – They are posted at http://www.ektron.com/Resources/Strategy-Guides/ and Mimeo is up to date.

Webinars:

o   Ektron 8.5 Developer Introduction – Wednesday 7/27 at 1PM (Eastern US, AUS and UK times) – Bill Cava will speak to issues that developers face when designing a website, and how Ektron 8.5 will make their jobs easier with the new Framework API, templated controls, search, and more.

o   Ektron 8.5 Overview – Thursday 7/28 at 1PM EDT – Join Tom Wentworth (live!) to learn how the new interface in 8.5 provides users with a modern, intuitive, and fun Ektron experience.  Tom will cover additional new features including expanded web analytics integrations, localization enhancements, and search. 

Initial Press coverage

o   CMS Wire: Objective article highlighting Ektron 8.5

o   Ektron 8.5 Enterprise Ready: New Architecture, Search & a Refined Interface

If you have any other questions, please let your Partner Account Manager know. We will be posting additional documentation in the 8.5 Release (Build Candidate) folder as they become available.

Mike

I have recently posted some new documentation to the Partner portal within the "Marketing - Collateral area. Including the Partner program overview document, as well as a "Sharepoint vs. Ektron" piece that I am sure that you will all enjoy.

I will be updating and adding new documents frequently, so please make sure to check that area, as well as this area (partner announcements) for important information.

Thanks

Mike

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11176998/1/ektron-chief-evangelist-bill-cava-to-present-at-microsoft-worldwide-partner-conference.html  

Also, myself, Ben Schilens, John Swanson and Bill Chandler will also be there to man the booth, so please stop by and say hi.

In an effort to improve our Developer training, we would like to reach out to all of our Partners and collect some feedback from you as far as what you would like to see changed with the training (if anything), as well as provide direct and honest feedback around what may/not be working.

If you would like to participate in this “survey/interview process” please send me an email (mike.pascucci@ektron.com) with the name, email and phone # of the individual who you would like us to contact. We will be setting up calls next week for the week after.

Thanks Mike

If you could please go into that area, and register the opportunities, I can then assist in assigning the appropriate sales and development resources on our end to assist you in any way/shape/form. This will also help to resolve overlap. Once the deal is registered and the appropriate sale member is assigned, we can then have the opportunities registered within Salesforce, and they can count towards your pipeline and eventually revenue goals (once the deal is closed as won) within the Premier and Elite levels. 

If you are already working on deals with a sales manager, please make sure they have registered them for you. 

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks

Mike Pascucci

mike.pascucci@ektron.com

http://www.ektron.com/Resources/Webinars/Edge-The-Competition/

Give Your Agency an Edge on the Competition

with Ektron Web Content Management

Consumers are demanding more from websites than ever before. Is your agency considering how next generation content management systems will help your clients achieve their digital marketing goals?

Learn how Ektron web content management will help your agency develop digital experiences for your clients with predictable simplicity.

In this webinar, we will highlight why developers at some of the largest agencies rely on Ektron, including:

Ektron, Inc . 542 Amherst Street . Nashua, NH 03063 . +1 (866) 4-EKTRON . info@ektron.com
If you do not want to receive emails from Ektron,
please send an email by clicking here.

In speaking with Bill Cava, who is presenting at our LUG's this year, he would like to reach out to some of our Developers within our partner landscape and receive some feedback from those of you who have used the Framework API and would like to send some feedback to us regarding your experience.

Please email me at mike.pascucci@ektron.com with any information that you would like to provide, and I will have Bill contact you directly. We look forward to hearing from you.

Mike

please let me know by emailing me @ mike.pascucci@ektron.com. I look forward to hearing from each one of you and will develop a schedule based on your feedback.

Mike

* Note, initial post mentioned the incorrect dates for the conference, the above dates are correct.

Mike

NASHUA, New Hampshire – Ektron, a provider of web content management, social software and marketing optimization solutions, today announced another record year for the company, with a 30 percent year-over-year growth in 2010; several major product announcements and continuing adoption of Ektron technology by enterprises and interactive agencies.

Customer Highlights

Ektron saw accelerated new customer acquisition and installed base investment in 2010 across all worldwide regions with customers such as Darden Restaurants, Valassis (The RedPlum™ Network),  the Medical Group Management Association, Docklands Light Railways, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arriva UK Bus, the Australian Taxation Office,  Golf Business Magazine and Eurotunnel Group.

 “We chose Ektron because it is flexible and easy to use for content authors, fully compatible with our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) objectives, and has very powerful features, such as the taxonomy-categorization feature,” said Jean Brunier, IT director at Eurotunnel Group of their Ektron implementation. “Ektron is compatible with our .NET IT standards, which allows us to run our three main websites on one platform.  Since we implemented Ektron, it has been very stable and fast, and upgrades have been easy. All of these features are key for us as we sell 80 percent of our travel tickets for cars on www.eurotunnel.com, representing around 50,000 site visits every day.”

Product and Industry Leadership Highlights

Ektron's technology continued to garner acknowledgment from industry analysts with the company’s placement in three Gartner Magic Quadrants and Ektron’s selection by KMWorld Magazine as one of its “Trend-Setting Products of 2010” among other awards and accolades. During 2010:

Ektron launched the eIntranet, a complete information delivery, knowledge management, and social business intranet portal application. Ektron delivered the Marketing Optimization Suite, empowering marketers to create relevant, personalized, and engaging web experiences.  Ektron released CMS400.NET 8.02 with social networking enhancements and GeoIP content targeting.  This release introduced Ektron eMobile Tools, providing developers with a complete set of tools to deliver personalized web experiences for mobile devices. Ektron announced a plug-in built with Seesmic, allowing people to view Ektron eIntranet enterprise activity streams directly on their desktops. During its 2010 Synergy Customer Conference Ektron announced its Enterprise Technology Partner Program, aligning the company’s marketing and sales initiatives with industry leaders Brightcove, Lionbridge and Webtrends to provide comprehensive and integrated solutions for customers.  “Ektron clients realize that every day the Web becomes more critical to the success of their business strategies,” said Bill Rogers, Ektron founder and CEO. “For example, more of their customers are accessing their information and services through Smartphones and other Web-enabled devices. Their employees look to the corporate intranet as the key tool in getting their jobs done. CIOs need to ensure their websites are aligned to business objectives and are contributing to corporate revenues. The capabilities that Ektron provides not only makes enterprises more efficient, but ensures that they are bringing the full potential of their business to the Web.”

About Ektron

By integrating web content management (WCM), marketing optimization and social software, Ektron’s software and solutions improve operational efficiency, drive revenue growth and build customer loyalty. Ektron empowers marketers to create, publish and optimize web content that engages, converts and retains customers. Developers benefit from Ektron's extensibility and commitment to the Microsoft .NET framework. Headquartered in Nashua, New Hampshire, with offices in Australia, Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom, Ektron has more than 8,000 customers worldwide including Carnegie Hall, Diageo, Home Depot, International Chamber of Commerce,  Kodak, Microsoft, NASDAQ, National Health Services UK, Saint-Gobain, The Law Society, and the University of Notre Dame. For more information, please visit www.ektron.com, www.ektron.co.uk or www.ektron.com.au.

Nicole Rogers of Ektron, Inc.

603.589.5288
nicole.rogers@ektron.com

Kyla Ruane of PAN Communications

978.474.1900
ektron@pancomm.com

WASHINGTON, DC, February 28, 2011 - Globalization Partners International (GPI), a provider of comprehensive document, software and website translation services, announced today the release of its Ektron Connector which enables users of Ektron-based websites to initiate translation workflows with a single click and gain access to an array of reports to track and manage global translation projects.

"The Connector built for Ektron's Web CMS ensures seamless content translation capabilities all within the Ektron work area," said Marcelo Volmaro, Director Website Globalization Services at GPI. "The Connector provides many useful translation service features including easy CMS widget-based activation, simplified import/export process for content and tight integration with GPI's Translation Portal complete with a dashboard of useful reports to help manage global translations."

Globalization Partners' comprehensive website translation services include:

• Ektron CMS strategy, development / implementation and training
•  Website translation strategy
• Multilingual glossary and style guide development
• Translation and copy writing
• Country-specific multilingual search engine optimization (SEO)
• Localization QA and website testing
• Localization workflow and training under Ektron for ongoing site maintenance

"Ektron's clients require the capability to manage web properties across multiple regions, making strong translation and localization support an essential element of the online solutions we power," said Savas Gunduz, VP of Alliances and Channels for Ektron.  "We are pleased that GPI is a Certified Implementation Partner and has now joined our Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Technology program as well. The connector allows GPI and Ektron to facilitate translation workflows and management of multilingual sites helping clients communicate on a global basis."

As always, thanks for reading.

Mike

I just wanted to take this time and let you know that we announced the location and dates for Ektron Synergy 2011.

 NASHUA, New Hampshire – March 10, 2011 – Ektron, a provider of web content management, social software and marketing optimization solutions, today announced that its fifth annual customer conference – Synergy 2011 – will be held at Bellagio Las Vegas from October 30th through November 2nd 2011.

For the full release --> Ektron Synergy 2011

We hope to see you there, and if you are interested in Sponsorships, please contact mike.pascucci@ektron.com

Thanks everyone

Are you attending one in your area? Please check out my blog post and register today for the one that is on your area. Thanks

Mike

Download  

Mike

Please let me know if you have nay questions. Thanks

Mike & Savas 

Please let me know. Thanks

mike.pascucci@ektron.com

Please check here for the official announcement though, and also send me your recommendations for what you would like to get out of such an event, so that we can meet your needs.

Mike

We are planning to host our First annual Partner summit March 3rd and hope that you will be able to join us. We are in the process of setting a block of hotel rooms aside for everyone and are also beginning to build the agenda (Technical and Marketing/Sales). I wanted to take this time to get your thoughts on what you would like to hear from us. Are their specific topics that you had always wondered about that we have not covered in the recent past? We are planning to post an agenda in the near future, but that is definitely subject to change based on your feedback.

Please let us know, and we will do what we can to make this a successful Summit and year for all of us. We look forward to hearing back from you. Either post a comment to this blog or shoot me an email, mike.pascucci@ektron.com

Thanks

Mike

Ektron Partner Webinar:

Ektron Sales Enablement

Want to best leverage the Ektron solution to drive revenue for both your business and your customers? Then you won’t want to miss this webinar. Please join Ektron Web Solutions Evangelist Dave Scalera on Thursday February 3rd for a sales-focused webinar that will give you the ammunition you need to best present the Ektron platform to prospects.

You’ll learn:

	... The best way to position the various Ektron modules, such as eCommerce and Marketing Optimization.
	... How to frame the Ektron solution in terms of common customer business needs.
	... How to deliver an effective demo of Ektron CMS400.NET.

Register today for this Partner only webinar!

I wanted to reach out to all of you and highlight this post made by Peter Sejersen of the J.Boye Group. This post highlights how we work with our Partners to set up our clients for success. It was also a very nice win against all of the other WCM systems out there. If and when you are highlighted b/o an Ektron implementation, please let me know and I will do my best to share it with all of our Partners.

http://www.jboye.com/blogpost/darden-restaurants-cms-selection-in-an-enterprise/

While the main focus of the article is how to select a CMS vendor, it does display how important it is to show our clients that we have a great working relationship with our partners and how:

1. Ektron solves major problems for some of the World's largest brands
2. Ektron is an Enterprise solution and is being selected and recognized as such
3. Through the Partnerships that we have build, can set up our clients for success

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

I have had discussions with many of you, but I would like to know if any of you have expertise in Silverlight. Please shoot me an email if so, mike.pascucci@ektron.com. Thanks

Mike

Effective immediately, first year maintenance is no longer free with Ektron software, yet is mandatory with any Ektron purchase.  This brings us further in line with other Enterprise Software company’s policies in the market with respect to pricing.  Please set expectations when talking with prospects accordingly.  

Thank-you for your attention to this matter, and let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David Maffei, VP of Sales

Roadmap for Design Flexibility

Ektron is developing some exciting enhancements to how web designers are able customize the presentation layer of any Ektron-powered website. Join senior architects Ted Henry and Steve Mann on January 6, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. for a partner-only webinar and get a sneak peak.

By attending the webinar you will:

	... Learn how templated MVC controls empower web designers to directly write HTML mark-up that customizes how any Ektron website displays information.
	... Hear why Ektron is committed to jQuery and the jQuery UI and what that means for your own web projects.
	... See how Ektron’s JavaScript and CSS libraries improve performance and simplify development by allowing developers to package multiple files into a single include.

We hope that everyone had a safe Holiday season and Ney Year.

In order to avoid confusion and generate insight into the deals that you are working on that are specific to Ektron, I would like to ask you to please go into the Partner portal and Register the opportunities - within “Sales” in the top level navigation is the “Deal Registration” option.

If you could please go into that area, and register the opportunities, I can then assist in assigning the appropriate sales and development resources on our end to assist you in any way/shape/form. This will also help to resolve/limit overlap. Once the deal is registered and the appropriate sale member is assigned, we can then have the opportunities registered within Salesforce, and they can count towards your pipeline and eventually revenue goals (once the deal is closed and won) within the Premier and Elite levels.

If you are already working on deals with a sales manager, please make sure they have registered them for you.

If you have any questions, please let me know

I wanted to make sure that everyone had access to this document. It is an Independent Technology Audit of Ektron CMS400.Net v8.03 by Ovum has just been released:

Direct Link: http://www.ektron.com/Resources/Datasheets/Ektron-CMS400-Net-Technology-Audit-by-OVUM-Dec2010/

Mike

I wanted to send a quick update and let you all know about the documentation that I just uploaded to the Collateral section of the Partner Portal. http://partners.ektron.com/collateral.aspx?papers=1

CMS400 

Mobile

eMOS 

eIntranet

Non-Profit specific

Please check out the Collateral section for all of that and more.

Thanks

Mike & Savas 

Hey there,

I just wanted to post this note to our Partners around our 8.02 release that is scheduled to roll out later this week - I will link to the official announcement when that happens. As you can see, there is a major focus on Mobile:

Mobile

• Device management
• Device intelligence
• Device preview
• Device layout templates
• Device analytics
• Device content targeting
• Device email
• template support

Email Reply to activity notifications

Location Services based on User’s IP

Targeted Content

• Facebook Integration
• GeoIP
• Global Segments

For additional inforamtion around or Mobile offering, please visit www.ektron.com/mobile

Mike

Partner Webinar Series:

Ektron Marketing Optimization Suite

As Marketing departments' needs evolve, so does the Ektron Product Suite.

Learn how our Ektron Marketing Optimization Suite (eMOS) Solution can move your clients closer to that one-to-one website relationship with their visitors, thus drastically increasing conversation rates, optimizing the web experience, and driving business results.

Join us Thursday, October 7 at 11 a.m. EDT, for a “Partners-only” webinar and learn how the Ektron Marketing Optimization Suite empowers marketing teams to:

	Create marketing campaigns and landing pages with a few simple clicks.
	Test different combinations of copy, images and page layout to maximize effectiveness.
	Enforce Search Engine Optimization best practices and identify areas for SEO improvement.
	Deliver personalized and targeted content in real time to site visitors and customer segments.
	Make your Google, Omniture and Webtrends data actionable.
	Score site visitors and prospects based on their activities.

The resulting incremental services revenue around these initiatives is quite easily justified with the strong ROI that moving to “personalized websites” nets your clients. Hence, learn how you can drive more value to your clients, and make more money from Ektron all at once.

Ektron, Inc,542 Amherst Street Nashua, NH 03063, USA T: +1.866.4.EKTRON begin_of_the_skype_highlighting             +1.866.4.EKTRON     end_of_the_skype_highlighting E: info@ektron.com

If you do not want to receive emails from Ektron, please send an email by clicking here.

“Choosing qualified Partners to deploy effective web strategies that ensure our customers’ brands are promoted in a protected, positive and integrated way is a core Ektron value.  The new portal gives our Partners direct access to the information, tools, methodologies and technologies to help customers achieve business-critical success with Ektron,” said Bill Rogers, founder and CEO of Ektron.  “We are dedicated to our Partners and have built an infrastructure to ensure that every deployment is a success.  We aim to increase our global account references a minimum of 20 percent by the end of 2010.”

With solutions for a wide range of industries including healthcare, media and entertainment, financial services, manufacturing and non-profits, the portal will:

• Leverage the Ektron Marketing Optimization and Social Software suites to facilitate Partner Forums and analyze Partner priorities for continued program improvement.
• Enable Accredited Partners to access the latest solutions data sheets, collateral, and whitepapers for effective and efficient customer response.
• Give access to the most current social tools and technology features within the Ektron platform.
• Provide a path for new global consultants and Partners to support client projects in conjunction with the Ektron team.
• Make available monthly Partner webinar series on the first Thursday of every month at 11 am Eastern to accommodate EMEA regions.  Webinars will be recorded and posted on the portal for ongoing global access.

“Partner feedback has played a significant role in the revamp of the Ektron Partner portal,” said Savas Gunduz, Managing Partner, Solsbury Partner Group.  “Ektron is listening and re-aligning with Partners to create an infrastructure that makes it easier to team with Ektron on customer engagements.  The redesign of the site itself is based on continual Partner feedback that Ektron has acquired via the use of its own social technology to create bi-directional communication streams.  Making it easier for Partners to work with Ektron ultimately will lead to tighter communication and collaboration in front of our mutual customers -- a better experience  for and ultimately higher referenceability from the customer.” 

More information about the Ektron Partner Program may be found at http://www.ektron.com/partners/

By attending this webinar you will get a chance to:

	Support the way your clients share, connect and collaborate through the Ektron eIntranet.
	Learn how the Ektron eIntranet is being adopted by large organizations such as Brookstone to improve operational efficiency, shorten time to innovation and drive revenue and profit.
	Understand how the extensibility of eIntranet can drive incremental services for you as you build out connectors to back-end systems, front-end widgets and overarching creative and design.

In this webinar you will learn how to:

• Display HTML/XML managed content in an RIA
• Add data to the CMS
• Create a mini app for data manipulation

Signup here: http://www.ektron.com/web-content-management-solutions.aspx?id=8095

Webinar links will be posted here: http://www.ektron.com/news/webinars/

1. Web to Lead functionality (collecting lead information through an Ektron form)
2. How to talk to the Salesforce® APIs to retrieve data for display purposes and building it into a widget
    
   

Is now available at http://www.ektron.com/news/webinars 

To view the webinar directly please see this page http://www.ektron.com/web-content-management-solutions.aspx?id=7682 

Search not only allows site visitors to find your content , but also can be used by a developer to retrieve data sets of content for use within your application.

The training will show how to:

• Create your own search control
• Search For content, metadata and taxonomies
• Search For Users

Learn About.... 

• Migrating Users
• Migrating Content

http://www.ektron.com/web-content-management-solutions.aspx?id=7436

http://www.ektron.com/news/webinars/

Thanks to all who attended, I got alot of good feedback.

http://ektron.vo.llnwd.net/o28/assets/uploaded_files/052109-DevelopersWebinar-3917.htm 

Phil Mickelson and Notah Begay both launched their personal sites on Ektron.

Great job and teamwork by both teams!

Ask and you shall receive - the first of Arden's webinars will be this coming Thursday.  If you are not yet registered for the webinar you should register now! 

As of 2:23PM EST today we had 457 registered attendees - an Ektron webinar record.

Former iCrossing Executive brings more than 20 years experience, will focus on increasing Ektron’s reach into the Fortune 500

NASHUA, NH April 21, 2009 – Ektron Inc., a technology and market leader in Web content management software, today announced that former iCrossing vice president of technology, Mark Willson has joined the Ektron executive team. Effective immediately, Willson will serve as the vice president of enterprise solutions.

“We are thrilled that Mark has joined the Ektron team,” stated Bill Rogers, chief executive officer at Ektron. “This is a very exciting time in the Web content management industry and for Ektron as a company. We have sustained a strong growth rate despite the economic climate and continue to lead the industry in the development of Web content management technology. Given Mark’s deep experience working with Fortune 500 clients in the Web solutions industry, he will play a critical role in growing enterprise sales and expanding Ektron’s market leadership.”

As the vice president of enterprise solutions, Willson will lead the development of Ektron’s enterprise market strategy and will be responsible for supporting enterprise sales, managing the delivery of high profile client projects, building strategic business partnerships and shaping the functional requirements and product enhancements contributing to future product road maps. 

“There are tremendous growth opportunities ahead for Ektron in the enterprise WCM market segment,” stated Willson. “I have worked with many WCM vendors and Ektron has uniquely positioned itself to excel in this market and I am excited that I am going to be a part of the company’s future success.”

Willson brings to the role more than 20 years of leadership experience directing Web development and delivery strategies for some of the world’s largest digital marketing agencies. Most recently Willson served as the vice president of technology for iCrossing, ranked as one of the top five digital agencies by AdvertisingAge. During his time at iCrossing, Willson managed client projects for Dolby, GMAC, Chrysler Financial and Nike as well as directed the Technical Architecture group and the Web Application Development team.

Prior to joining iCrossing Willson was a founding member and chief executive officer for Mission Air, LLC . He also held the position of chief technology officer at CIBER, Inc., leading business development initiatives and establishing the strategic direction for application development for clients including Ford Motor Company, Fujitsu and Alcoa.

About Gigs4Grads:  Gigs 4 Grads, Inc. was founded in 2008 with the belief that there was a better way for educated young professionals to find satisfying careers that offered increased professional stability. We created our website to not only allow job seekers to network with their peers, but to also allow them to get targeted information about various career opportunities. Our goal is to provide our members with a valuable tool to use throughout their employment search in a sleek and clean environment. By offering employers a range of products that lead the market in both affordability and value, we have created a network that brings young energetic professionals together with top employers across the nation.

Congrats to Ironworks - well deserved.

About Ironworks:  Ironworks is a management, IT and web consulting firm with one mission – never fail a client. Ironworks offers expertise to clients nationwide in the practice areas of Strategy and Program Management, Business Process Improvement, User Experience, Content Management, Portal Solutions, Enterprise Search, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Business Intelligence. Ironworks operates from offices in Richmond, Va., Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., and Tysons Corner, Va.

Ironworks provides the flexibility and dedication of a smaller firm combined with the broad experience and deep expertise of a large consultancy. Ironworks hires smart, honest people who measure personal success through the success of their clients.

For more information, visit www.ironworks.com.

A core key component of this announcement will be the way that Ektron will now be able to further enhance both product and services offerings for all of our partners who currently sell, or want to sell into the Enterprise space.   

Stay Tuned...  Our space in the CMS market hasn't seen a play like this before...

Sephora is a visionary beauty-retail concept founded in France in 1969 and acquired by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's leading luxury products group, in 1997.

Sephora's unique, open-sell environment features over 200 classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, bath & body, smilecare, and haircare, in addition to Sephora's own private label.

To build the most knowledgeable and professional team of product consultants in the beauty industry, Sephora developed "Science of Sephora." This program ensures that our team is skilled to identify skin types, have a knowledge of skin physiology, the history of makeup, application techniques, the science of creating fragrances, and most importantly, how to interact with Sephora's diverse clientele. To further enhance the education program, Sephora opened the doors to an expanded training facility – Sephora University – in San Francisco in October 2007.

"This is a very large and recognizable customer and one that we are glad to be working with.  Combined with Citrus, we will be delivering a rich and powerful content managed site for Sephora allowing them to continue to promote and build their brand." ~ Chris Crombie, Ektron Director of Operations.

Whereas a Developer in a Traditional (pre-PageBuilder) deployment of Ektron was responsible for Building and customizing the templates for a website, a Developer is now going to be able to focus additional attention on building functional widgets (.aspx User Controls) that will enable Marketers and Business Users to build their own microsites, campaign pages, etc.  This is no way will limit the importance of the Developer in the future Ektron deployments.  In fact, we see Developers racing to build the "next great widget".  Hmmm.....I think that might be a good idea for a Q2 Partner Contest.....

After meeting with over a dozen DC area partners, one thing that became quite clear is that our partners struggle with the cost of our solution.  We understand for you to sell more effectively, we need to be able to empower you with all of the information you need to effectively position both us and yourself in this marketplace.  Understanding the Ektron pricing (especially in an economy like this) is very important.  To that end: I have uploaded, for our certified partner community only, into the partner portal our 2009 Ektron price sheet.  You can find that sheet under the "What's New" section of the Portal. 

Ektron partnered with over 50 different agencies in Q1 to drive customer success on a large scale.  One-to-One Interactive, Winnercomm, Studio North and Creative Mischief are just a a few of the new names doing big business with Ektron in creating rich interactive web properties for major brand name customers.

As we head in Q2 Ektron expects the momentum to continue and will be rolling out a series of technical webinars specifically for our partners to dive deeply into such topics as using the power of the Indexing Service within Ektron, using Brightcove and Akamai to power multimedia content in customer sites and creating custom Ektron based .NET user controls that can talk to just about any third party integration.  Stay Tuned!

One of the most exciting parts of Synergy is the opportunity for our Partners to interact with the Ektron brass as well as over 300 customer attendees.  Sponsorships include speaking slots, customer case study presentations, exhibiting to the customers and exclusively sponsoring very specific and high profile Synergy based events.

Partners should check out the Sponsorship Datasheet and get in touch with their local Regional Sales Director.

All partners and partner prospects are invited to attend.  You can register on the Partner Portal - or by contacting your Partner Development Manager. 

The event will be help at The Westin @ Tyson's Corner.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

During that time a lot has changed in the world of professional golf - including most recently the USGA selecting Ektron and Certified Partner Clock Four to re-design their corporate web site and implement CMS400.NET as the new CMS backbone.

Ektron is excited about the opportunity to work with Clock Four on this enterprise implementation of our CMS for the USGA and look forward to re-defining the way golf enthusiasts interact with the game they love.

About Clock Four: Clock Four is a management and production agency specializing in cost-effective cutting-edge online application development, executive technology consulting, and digital marketing production for public interest organizations and commercial enterprise, and as a delivery partner to the interactive advertising industry.

We bring to our partnerships years of experience in the commercial, not-for-profit, and interactive agency sectors. We provide excellence in interface development and web application development, as well as a unique and specific management methodology that emphasizes stakeholder satisfaction, end-user needs, low overhead process, and iterative and effective production.

Winnercomm and Ektron agreed to terms on a partnership that will leverage Winnercomm's award winning front-end strategy and design, combined with Ektron's back-end professional services for new websites within 5 major Winnercomm customers.

Ektron is excited about this new relationship and the marriage between our PSG team and such a strong digital agency.

Winnercomm is America's largest independent sports production, program development, marketing services and sales representation company. We supply over 1,500 hours of programming annually to ESPN and 13 other national television networks, have earned 13 Emmy Awards, operate sales offices in New York, Chicago, Nashville, Dallas and Tulsa, and have one of the fastest-growing interactive, marketing services and marketing consulting businesses in the region. At its core, Winnercomm is in the emotion transportation business. We move people š to watch, to engage, to join, to purchase. We create fans š for television networks, for organizations, for business. And we do it by packaging and delivering interesting and useful content in new and different ways, creating unique opportunities for marketers to relate to and engage customers and prospects across multiple communications platforms.

In version 7.6.5 URL Aliasing will now be a part of the Standard Edition.

This is critical for successful use of the new Ektron PageBuilding technology.

Please join us next Wednesday March 4, 2009 at 2:00PM at The Westin Hotel in Waltham.  You will have the attention of Ed Rogers, Steve Sherkanowski, John Durant, John Swanson and myself.

We look forward to meeting each of you and discussing the 2009 Ektron Partner Program.

Partner Development Managers work with our partners to ensure that their experience with Ektron is a positive one.  From general partnership questions, yearly business goals to support escalations, your partner development manager is your advocate inside our organization.

If you are located in New England, the Tri-State, the Midwest and the West your partner development manager is:

John Swanson
John.Swanson@ektron.com
603.816.2081

If you are located in the Mid Atlantic, the Southeast and the South your partner development manager is:

Scott Major
Scott.Major@ektron.com
603.589.5210

I want to thank all of you for attending the Ektron 2009 Partner Kick-Off.  We are excited about what 2009 has in store for Ektron and our family of partners.  Many of you have expressed interest in having access to the PowerPoint slides that I used during the presentation.  You can access these slides by downloading the 2009 Kick-Off PowerPoint.  

Additionally, I know that some of you were unable to attend the webinar.  For your viewing pleasure, please download the Webinar Recording and get caught up on everything that is new in 2009 for Ektron partners.