Small World Labs

Austin, TX, February 14, 2008 – Small World Labs, an established provider of enterprise social networking software and online community building expertise, announced today it will host a panel of online community managers at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. “Managing Communities That Work,” takes place on Saturday, March 8 at 11:30 am CST, featuring panelists with experience in managing online and offline communities for leading companies such as Lego, Fox Interactive, The Dallas Morning News, and AT&T.

Businesses and other organizations are increasingly looking to enterprise social networking as a means to better understand, engage and serve their key constituents. Industry analyst group IDC predicts that by 2015 the social networking application market will be worth more than $8 billion. But it’s also become evident that successfully creating and fostering an online community requires not only software, but expertise too.

“This panel features some of the most accomplished online community managers sharing their best practices, lessons learned and essential skills necessary to foster a vibrant online community,” said Miles Sims, director of product and community management at Small World Labs, and the panel moderator. “Done right, enterprise social networking is a powerful tool that provides value to customers as well as to the business. Done wrong, you’ll find your community atrophying to the point where it ends up on the shelf collecting ‘web dust’.”

Participants in “Managing Communities That Work” include:
- Oscar Martinez, managing editor for neighborsgo, a weekly citizen-generated newspaper published by The Dallas Morning News that covers about 40 communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area via 17 sections. He also oversees neighborsgo.com, which covers an additional 25 areas.
- Daniel Benner, an award-winning independent movie maker who recently spearheaded the launch of GINDIE.com (or Global INDIE), a professional networking site designed for the international community of independent movie makers.
- Jake McKee, a long time evangelist for online community building and founder of Ant’s Eye View, a customer collaboration strategy practice, which counts Texas Instruments, Dr. Pepper and the Los Angeles Police Department among its clients.

Small World Labs will also host a number of its customers in booth # 410 at SXSW Interactive, March 7 – 11. Companies such as Neighborsgo, Gindie and Beliefnet will exhibit their enterprise social networks, powered by Small World Labs.

About Small World Labs
Founded in 2005, Small World Labs is a proven enterprise social networking provider, best known for its unique combination of technology and community building expertise that helps customers better understand, engage and serve their key constituents. Small World Labs takes a hands-on approach to community building, providing a robust social-networking architecture and best practices gained through years of experience, so that customers are best positioned to create a successful and vibrant community.