By newswire

March 30th, 2011

Prompt Communications wins Grouptree UK PR account

Prompt Communications wins Grouptree UK PR account

London-headquartered software developer appoints Prompt Communications as public relations consultancy

London, UK – 28 March 2011 – Grouptree, a London-headquartered developer of content management system (CMS) software, has appointed Prompt Communications, a leader in digital PR, marketing and social media communications, as its UK public relations consultancy.

Grouptree was formed in 1994 and produces software based on Microsoft’s .NET platform. It helps companies to simplify the maintenance of web-based content and speed up development time. Projects include corporate websites, intranets and online publishing systems. The company has string relationships with creative and marketing agencies and boasts a broad client base of household names and leading businesses such as AMEC, BskyB, NCP and Johnson Matthey.

Prompt Communications is a digital PR and communications consultancy with offices in Boston, London and San Francisco. Formed in 2002, and with a strong technology background, Prompt has provided clients such as Oracle, smartFOCUS, and Sogeti with PR, copywriting, social media and marketing initiatives to improve brand recognition, drive sales and shorten the sales cycle.

Working with Grouptree’s management team to highlight the company’s commitment to the rapid development of online solutions and investment in R&D, Prompt will also draw on the diversity of Grouptree’s client base to demonstrate the usability and scalability of its products in the development and management of feature-rich websites.

Prompt will create and execute a tailor-made PR and copywriting strategy to communicate Grouptree’s products and services to press, industry influencers and analysts through news releases, product updates, partnerships and market commentary.

Matthew Wallis, founder and managing director for Grouptree said: “We’re very pleased to be working with a team as enthusiastic and tuned-in to our industry as Prompt. We had reviewed other agencies but until we selected Prompt, we didn’t feel we had found an agency that had the industry slant, the sheer persistence and the understanding of new media. We are excited to begin what’s sure to be a bountiful relationship.”

Hazel Butters, managing director of Prompt Communications said: “Our team is eager to help Grouptree reach its goals of an increased presence in the media and are ready to make Grouptree’s products, services and team receive the recognition and coverage that they deserve.  There’s so much happening in the content management space, and the team at Grouptree have the perfect combination of industry experience and interesting opinions to be a great PR client – I am sure this will be an engaging and fun account.”

About Grouptree www.grouptree.com

Grouptree is the developer of Grouptree CMS, a highly-innovative, modular content management system and development framework that makes it easier and more cost-effective for developers and administrators to manage and publish online content for websites, intranets and online applications.

Powered by Microsoft .NET, Grouptree CMS modules slash the development times traditionally associated with feature-rich websites, delivering enterprise-level functionality at a fraction of the cost of less flexible systems. As well as benefitting from full version control, unrivalled multi-language support and agency-friendly licensing costs, Grouptree customers only pay for the modules and functionality they need. With an open API to the framework and a fully-extensible architecture, Grouptree CMS accelerates content delivery by enabling developers to create custom features defined by new object types and actions without ever touching the database layer.

Headquartered in London Grouptree works directly with its clients as well as through strong partnerships with industry-leading design agencies and web development firms. Established in 1994, Grouptree’s customer base includes household brands and business leaders such as AMEC, BSkyB, NCP and Johnson Matthey.  It is owned and managed by brothers Matthew and William Wallis.

About Prompt Communications

Founded in January 2002, Prompt Communications is a communications agency with European offices in West London and US offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. Prompt Communications offers expertise across all marketing disciplines, teaming its consultants’ extensive knowledge of start-ups, technology market with experience of pan-European and American media, analyst and marketing campaigns. Using highly targeted marketing, PR, analyst relations, social media and corporate copywriting initiatives, Prompt helps its clients gain the visibility they need to achieve their business objectives, from increasing sales to enhancing reputation with stakeholders. www.prompt-communications.com

By PromptBoston

March 28th, 2011

We we we (still) so excited!!!

We we we (still) so excited!!!

Having trouble at the start of another tough week at work? End of month targets to meet? Deadlines to hit? Budgets to slash? Demonstrations to attend?

Count yourself lucky you’re not faced with the torrent of abuse that continues to hurtle towards young Rebecca Black. Her Friday’s are of course impossibly great, but sometimes she still cant help worrying over which seat in her buddy’s car to sit in or how to spend her weekends. OMG. Will the pain never end?

Seriously , if you’re feeling stressed, then a good strong dose of banality can often work wonders, and poor little Rebecca, the new online queen of the trivial sensation, will keep bearing the woes of the world so that you don’t have to.

The reason I’m so late to share my thoughts on this recent ‘trending’ phenom, is that occasionally I’m old, cranky and downright British enough to wait to hear from Guardian columnists before committing thoughts to keyboard. If you’ve had better things to do of late than click on Twitter links, but now find yourself spinning with inexplicable ire after watching the clip, please pause for a minute.

Don’t jump on your favourite social media platform and start remorselessly slating this instant pop idol for making your ears bleed when you should really be wrangling with those finance spreadsheets. Before any of that, it’s definitely worth reading the latest sage advice from Charlie Brooker concerning this “excruciatingly vapid, albeit weirdly catchy” online star.

Poise, it seems, is the crucial word here for would-be commenters. And, there’s even a happy ending if you dig for it.

By newswire

March 22nd, 2011

Prompt Communications to sponsor TestExpo Spring 2011

Prompt Communications to sponsor TestExpo Spring 2011

Tech PR specialists lead media efforts for London software testing exhibition event; Event sponsors include IBM, Quotium and Seapine Software

London, UK – 22 March 2011 – TestExpo, the UK’s leading exhibition event for software testers, has announced Prompt Communications as the PR and media sponsor for ‘Automate and Innovate—the Road to Cost-Cutting’ – its spring 2011 event to be held this week on Wednesday, 23 March at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

Media relations for the exhibition, which is free to attend, has been spearheaded with a blend of both traditional and social media outreach by Prompt Communications.

Prompt was selected to lead TestExpo’s Spring 2011 event after successfully completing over three years of work in press relations with the event’s parent company, Sogeti UK as well as supporting PR activities surrounding TestExpo during this time.

The tech PR agency is headquartered in Chiswick, London, UK and Boston, Massachusetts, US with West Coast offices in San Francisco, California.

Since its inception, TestExpo has hosted leading organisations and experts for wide-ranging discussions on the latest innovations and developments in quality assurance and software testing.  This spring’s event will focus on how businesses can take advantage of the proven effectiveness of automated testing to enhance the speed, accuracy and results of software development – and to do this within budget.

The London-based team at Prompt, as the public relations sponsor, will be leading a live simulcast of the closing discussion live via Twitter. IBM joins this spring’s event as the premium sponsor, joined by some of the leading vendors in software testing, such Original Software, Quotium and Seapine Software, along with other prominent software testing companies.

Harreet Khara, event director for TestExpo said: “TestExpo is the premier industry event and making sure we promote it properly and continue to ride the wave of excitement and momentum up to, during and after the event was the reason we brought Prompt on board. Their professionalism, expertise and creativity made the selection simple. We’re pleased to have them as the sole agency for Sogeti UK and the entire TestExpo experience.”

Hazel Butters, CEO of Prompt Communications said: “Prompt prides itself as a leader in technology PR and our continuing relationship with Sogeti UK and TestExpo exemplifies that. It has been wonderful bringing ideas to promote the evolving software QA field and helping TestExpo keep its status as the preeminent event in the industry. We look forward to many more events to sponsor and service in the unique way that only we can.”

Prompt will be onsite at TestExpo on Wednesday, 23 March in London to provide event support for the TestExpo teams, exhibitors and sponsors.

For more information about Prompt, visit http://www.prompt-communciations.com today or email info@prompt-communications.com to schedule a free PR consultation with members of its Pan-European or US-based teams today.

Twitter: @PromptLondon and @PromptBoston

Blog: http://www.prompt-the-crowd.com/blog

Newsletter: http://www.prompt-the-crowd.com/newsletter-sign-up/

About TestExpo

Now in its 15th year, TestExpo is the premier conference and exhibition for professional software testers in the UK.  Free for attendees, TestExpo provides a learning and discussion forum for key testing and QA issues and challenges at its spring and autumn events.

Updates on further event sponsorship, exhibitors and news that will be announced at the event, as well as breaking news and trends in software testing and in the quality assurance industry, can be found on the TestExpo blog at [http://blog.testexpo.co.uk|http://blog.testexpo.co.uk] and its Twitter feed @TestExpoUK  #TestExpo

For information on sponsorship and speaking opportunities, exhibiting information, or general inquiries, contact Alex Goulding (alex.goulding@sogeti.com) or Harreet Khara (harreet.khara@sogeti.com). Or visit the TestExpo website at http://www.testexpo.co.uk

About Prompt Communications

Founded in January 2002, Prompt Communications is a communications agency with European offices in Chiswick, London and US offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. Prompt Communications offers expertise across all marketing disciplines, teaming its consultants’ extensive knowledge of start-ups, technology market with experience of pan-European and American media, analyst and marketing campaigns. Using highly targeted marketing, PR, analyst relations, social media and corporate copywriting initiatives, Prompt helps its clients gain the visibility they need to achieve their business objectives, from increasing sales to enhancing reputation with stakeholders.

For more information, visit www.prompt-communications.com

By PromptBoston

March 21st, 2011

Is your supermoon full or empty?

Is your supermoon full or empty?

UK weathermen delight in telling us that after such a frozen December, we’re now experiencing the mildest March for decades. Well, great. On the whole ‘mild’ in this context appears to be happy-meteorologist-speak for damp, dreary, overcast, drizzly, muddy and gloomy.

But with so many people seemingly a bit SAD at this time of year with lingering winter blues, you have to begrudgingly admire these small attempts at optimism. It’s often easy to forget that our boring, predictable, disappointing weather is frequently the envy of many regions of the world.

So did you manage to get out into your garden on Saturday, then? Sunshine all day long followed by a clear night for the ‘supermoon – the largest in over 20 years’?! A bright start for the March Equinox? Spring finally on its way? Excellent stuff, you’d think.

Unless of course you work for The Daily Mail. In which case every silvery moon is inevitably concealing a tenuous bad news story that will worry the nation. ‘Blame it on the supermoon: Five ships run aground off British coast as lunar phenomenon lowers tide’ ran this morning’s cheery headline…

By PromptBoston

March 3rd, 2011

Typical! UK broadband speeds actually pretty average

Typical! UK broadband speeds actually pretty average

How happy are you with your broadband download speed? If Ofcom’s latest research is anything to go by, you’re probably not quite as happy as the people in the adverts that sold you on the service in the first place.

The BBC covered this story very nicely this week, with some good old-fashioned facts and figures thrown into the ring to confirm just how happy, or otherwise, we should all feel about our internet connections.

Ofcom reckons that very few of us actually achieve the speeds we think we are being promised when signing up to a new ISP. “There is a substantial gap between advertised speeds and the actual speeds people get in their homes,” Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told the BBC this week.

So I put it to the test. My own home broadband deal from BT promises ‘up to 8Mbps’ download speed. I seem to achieve about 6Mbps. Not bad compared to Ofcom’s national recorded average for this service of 4.1 to 4.8Mbps, but still 25 percent slower than I may optimistically have hoped to achieve.

So Ofcom has a plan. It wants ISPs to stop advertising headline figures that are theoretically achievable, and start using ‘typical speed rate’ figures, or TSRs, instead. Seems reasonable. Which is probably why we won’t see this measure coming in to effect anytime soon.

BT isn’t very happy with the plan, you see. It claims that typical figures would be misleading because lines differ from location to location.

Whereas ‘up to’ is suitably vague and woolly to encompass any reality? Well, BT does have some objective support. Andrew Ferguson, editor of broadband website ThinkBroadband, told the BBC that average speeds could encourage mediocrity, and that “providers who now go all out to get the best speeds could give up and make do with the average.”

But what do you think, more importantly? Would you prefer to be sold a broadband service based on what could be achieved, or what is typically experienced?

Let us know.