Press Releases

Emeryville – 29 July, 2010 – Lithium Technologies, the leading provider of Social CRM solutions to power the customer network, today announced that Lithium will host a webcast for interactive marketers on August 10th entitled “The Changing Face of Community Management.” Guest speakers include Melissa Parrish, Analyst at Forrester Research, Inc., who will share her key elements for deep and continuous customer engagement across the social web. Laura Buchanan, Social Community Specialist at Future Shop, will provide a real-world look at managing an award-winning retail community and how to leverage the shopping experience with community knowledge. Joe Cothrel, Chief Community Officer at Lithium Technologies, will moderate.

This 60-minute webcast will cover:

• Best practices for internal consensus-building and for planning, launching and maintaining your community
• Tips on integrating community into a transactional website and the business rhythms of multiple internal departments
• How to break down overwhelming endeavors and unexpected challenges into practical next step

Webcast Speakers:

Melissa Parrish – Analyst – Forrester Research, Inc.
Melissa Parrish is an analyst serving Interactive Marketing professionals. She covers social media community, technology, and organization as well as marketing on emerging interactive channels such as mobile devices and eReaders. Melissa has been quoted frequently in the media including contributions to CRM magazine and has spoken at SXSW and Social Media Week as an authority on social media execution. Before joining Forrester, Melissa was the director of community strategy at Time Inc. Lifestyle Digital group, where she was responsible for community and social media initiatives across the network's 10 titles, which include Cooking Light, Real Simple, and Southern Living. Prior to joining Time Inc. in 2007, Melissa was part of Crayon, a conversational marketing consultancy, where she managed social media projects for brands like Coca-Cola and American Airlines. Previously, Melissa held senior product and community roles at Meetup, the world's largest network of local groups, and Bolt.com, a community of more than 10 million teenagers and young adults. 

Laura Buchanan – Social Community Specialist – Future Shop
Laura Buchanan started working with online communities in university while participating in her program’s co-op program and has been working in the online space ever since. Now Social Community Specialist at Future Shop, Canada’s #1 consumer electronics retailer, she is responsible for the strategy and management of the Forums, Blogs, webcasts and a variety of other social media initiatives. If not in front of her computer it’s likely you’ll be able to find her in Whistler snowboarding. Find out more about Laura on LinkedIn at ca.linkedin.com/in/laurabuchanan, or follow her on Twitter @lauralbuchanan.

Joe Cothrel – Chief Community Officer – Lithium Technologies
Widely recognized for his pioneering work in online communities in business, Joe Cothrel serves as Lithium's Chief Community Officer. In this role, Joe is responsible for thought leadership, research, and innovations that will drive the next generation of successful enterprise customer communities. 

About Lithium Technologies
Lithium is the leading provider of Social CRM solutions to power the customer network. Working with market leaders such as Best Buy, Sony, AT&T, Research In Motion Limited (RIM), Univision, and PayPal, Lithium solutions harness the power of online customer communities and social web interactions with traditional CRM business processes to inspire customers to innovate, promote, and support on the company's behalf. As a result, businesses measurably improve their marketing and sales, accelerate innovation, and increase customer satisfaction. Lithium's platform is proven in high-volume, growth environments and provides the security, analytics, APIs, and multi-language support that enterprises demand. Founded in 2001, Lithium is privately held with headquarters in Emeryville, California.For more information, visit www.lithium.com. Or, engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, and our community – the Lithosphere.

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Lithium Media Contacts:

Michael Paige, Corporate Headquarters & Global, michael.paige@lithium.com , +1 (510) 318 7014
Sandra Teuber, Central & Southern Europe, sandra.teuber@lithium.com , +41 (79) 223 7356
Prelini Chiechi, UK & Northern Europe, prelini.chiechi@lithium.com, +44 (7826) 912788
Imogen Riley, APAC & Australia, imogen.riley@lithium.com, +61 413 274 210