Customers & partners make social real as the 2013 edition of NewsGator Collective wraps in Denver and Amsterdam

DENVER, March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A record number of NewsGator customers and partners met this month for a highly interactive three day gathering to share insights, best practices and advice on driving user adoption and engagement for social in the workplace. The NewsGator Collective events were held in both Denver and Amsterdam to accommodate the large global interest.

In his keynote address, NewsGator President & CEO Daniel Kraft pointed to past revolutions in manufacturing and information technology, telling the audience that the emerging social workplace will be a requirement not just for success, but survival.

Kraft said that the emerging social workplace will go beyond the "network of minds" that information technology made possible to a new truly connected workforce able to find purpose and engagement through community. Those organizations that do not embrace this social revolution, he contended, will be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace and will struggle to survive against their more social and productive competitors.

"The excitement and energy in the room at this year's Collective was electric," said Kraft. "It was amazing to hear the ways that our customers and partners are creating social workplaces that are not only providing real business benefit but also fundamentally changing for the better the way people engage with their job," he added.

Kraft also surprised the crowd by announcing general availability of native Social Sites mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 8, as well as an HTML5 version for BlackBerry. Noting the rapidly growing importance of workforce mobilization and the need for mobile social to be a seamless part of the connected workforce experience, Kraft said the company has increased its focus on the mobile Social Sites experience and capabilities.

On the partner side, for the second year in a row, Perficient was named NewsGator Partner of the Year for work that has consistently earned rave customer reviews.

"Social collaboration has become a very powerful channel for enterprises needing to drive community engagement, customer and employee retention, and innovation," said Rich Wood, director, National SharePoint Practice at Perficient. "We're honored to receive NewsGator's Partner of the Year award for the second year in a row. This recognition exemplifies the commitment NewsGator and Perficient share in helping our customers modernize their social platforms, creating a dynamic environment that drives richer dialogue and effective collaboration."

Definity First, though a NewsGator partner for less than a year, was selected partner of the Year 2012, Emerging Markets. The company has made great headway in a short time; bringing innovative social solutions to several customers in Latin America.

Asia-pacific is a rapidly emerging market for Social Sites and NewsGator partner nSynergy was chosen Partner of the Year 2012, APAC for their remarkable work.

And, in a speed round of pitches showing off the power of custom Social Sites extensions partner companies had developed for customers, Hector Martinez from Definity First won the audience vote. Martinez's extension, called Sway, gives users insight into a current snapshot of their social influence within their organization and allows them to compare their Sway with others in the organization.

Direct customer input drove a two day hackathon wherein attendees worked directly with NewsGator developers to envision and create extensions to Social Sites. The brainstorming and intense coding paid off in a number of new capabilities that will ship with the next version of Social Sites.

And, in keeping with the latest in social trends, this year's Collective event ensured it was in step with the times by engaging attendees in a surprise Harlem Shake.

About NewsGator
NewsGator is helping over four million paid users in industries across the globe propel the future of productivity. NewsGator Social Sites delivers robust social technology to the enterprise with proven scalability and security to flagship clients like Accenture, Adidas, Deloitte, Ericsson, General Mills, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kraft Foods, Merck & Co., Unisys Corporation, and the US Army. NewsGator delivers advanced social computing capabilities to Microsoft productivity and collaboration platforms, including SharePoint, Windows 8, SQL, Azure, Windows Phone 7, Lync, Office 365 and Dynamics and was honored as Microsoft's 2011 U.S. Partner of the Year. Follow us on Twitter @newsgator and at www.newsgator.com.

SOURCE NewsGator