VerticalResponse Wins the 2010 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Ebbies Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- VerticalResponse, Inc., a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail solutions, today announced it was a winner in the 2010 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business "Ebbies" Awards in the 'Emerging Growth' category along with hi5 Networks, an online social entertainment destination, and Spigit, a leading innovation management platform.

The "Emerging Growth Award" was presented by Recology and Wells Fargo and was awarded to a San Francisco small business or emerging-growth company that has demonstrated a capacity for creativity and innovation, experienced growth and established itself as a leader in its industry.

"We're excited to win this award since we feel very aligned with the mission of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in their endeavor to help small businesses grow," said Janine Popick, CEO of VerticalResponse. "Our mission is to do the very same by offering easy-to-use and affordable tools that ultimately help small businesses be successful."

The Ebbies Awards Gala attracted 900 of the movers and shakers from large, mid-size and small San Francisco area businesses, along with key leaders from the city government administration, Board of Supervisors and community organizations.

"All of this year's finalists exemplify the spirit of innovation our city is known for," said San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Steve Falk. "These innovative entrepreneurs and business leaders are not only committed to the success of their companies, but to our city's communities and economy."

VerticalResponse maintains its industry lead and continued growth through product innovation, superior customer service, and customer referrals.  In 2010, the company completed a major upgrade of its Email Marketing service. The new formatting, editing and design tools save time and money, allowing non-technical small businesses to design and send professional, well-designed email in minutes. The VerticalResponse email marketing platform is integrated with popular social media platforms Twitter and Facebook to extend audience engagement. VerticalResponse is also part of the Google Apps Marketplace, enabling Google Apps users to easily build new mailing lists and access email marketing tools to help grow their businesses.

To keep up with growing customer demands, VerticalResponse doubled its customer service team and added new channels such as social media to give customers more ways to access support 7 days-a-week.  The company's customer-centric approach brings customer feedback into the product development loop to ensure that the features are built to serve real customer wants and needs. The result is professional email marketing campaigns that are effective, affordable and easy-to-execute.

To support philanthropy, the company offers 10,000 free emails to non-profits per month, plus discounts on additional mailings.

About The Ebbies Awards

The SF Chamber of Commerce is proud to honor local businesses for their vision and recognize their determination to improve the quality of life in San Francisco - the city that continues to thrive throughout times of adversity. The 2010 Excellence in Business Awards Gala is the pre-eminent celebration of San Francisco's entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders and exemplary corporate citizens.

The 18th annual Ebbies Awards were presented in six categories: Excellence in Business, Emerging Growth, Building San Francisco, Innovation Through Technology, Small Business, and Economic Development. The Ebbies were created in 1991 by the Chamber to honor San Francisco businesses for their innovation, to celebrate their vision and publicly appreciate their contributions to the quality of life in the community and for their employees.

About VerticalResponse

VerticalResponse, Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail services empowering small businesses to easily create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns. VerticalResponse bundles email, online surveys and postcards to offer customers an integrated Web-based direct marketing solution that's intuitive and affordable. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com.

SOURCE VerticalResponse, Inc.