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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Liz Bradley Kel & Partners 857.891.5531 (cell) liz@kelandpartners.com GATHER.COM LAUNCHES ELECTION
2008 COMMUNITY Social Media Site Empowers
Voters to Get Involved in the Political Discussion, Connect with the Candidates
and Participate in a National Search for “The People’s Press Corps” BOSTON,
MA — September
10, 2007 — Gather.com,
the leading social media site for adults, today announced that seven presidential
candidates have launched groups within its new Election 2008 community,
http://election08.gather.com. Gather.com has a highly educated, engaged, and informed
adult membership – a demographic elusive to most social networking sites.
This demographic has made Gather.com an exceptional choice for presidential
candidates to facilitate ongoing, interactive conversations
with American voters. In addition to live conversations with the
community, campaigns will leverage Gather.com’s article, image, and video-publishing
tools. A recent poll of Gather.com members
indicated that 98.8% plan to vote in the 2008 presidential election. Unlike most social media sites
whose memberships consist of a very young demographic of members, Gather.com
gives candidates from both political parties a platform to connect with an
older, more life-experienced American voter. Registered member demographics
include: – 46% male, 54% female – 73% of audience 30-59 years old;
median and mean age 42 – 72% college educated or higher (3X
national norm) – 86.3% of audience has $50K+ household
income – 20% of audience has $100K+
household income – 77% own a home “In partnering with Gather.com, the presidential
candidates will engage in sophisticated and interactive dialogue with a highly
desirable demographic of American voter,” says Tom Gerace (tom.gather.com),
founder and CEO. “Candidates will harness the power of social media to
communicate with adult Americans who vote at the polls and support candidates
financially.” Recently launched presidential
campaign groups within the Election 2008 community can be found at the
following URLs: Today, Gather.com also announced a nationwide search for six
bloggers to cover the 2008 presidential election as its People’s Press Corps. Potential
pundits are invited to develop and submit an article and/or video on an election
topic of their choice at http://election08.gather.com.
Finalists will be selected by the Gather.com community, with the final six
bloggers chosen by the Gather Editorial Team. The winning bloggers (2 Democrats,
2 Independents, 2 Republicans) will report on the 2008 presidential election
for Gather.com throughout the primary season, and will receive exclusive access
to candidates, experts, and events. Each blogger will be assigned to cover a particular
primary territory for the Gather community. Winners will also receive an
all-expenses-paid 3-day trip to report directly from their assigned primary
election as Gather’s official media representative. In order to be considered in the Gather.com Election 2008 Blogger
Search, entrants must join Gather.com, which is free, and post an article (500
words or less) and/or a video (3 minutes or less) to the Election 2008 group at
http://election08.gather.com. Multiple
entries will be accepted, but all entries must relate to the 2008 presidential
race. Entrants must also be able to cover the election for their party without
personal bias toward a particular candidate. GATHER.COM ELECTION 2008 BLOGGER SEARCH TIMELINE Submission period: 09/10/07 – 10/10/07 Entrants
post an article (500 words or less) and/or video (3 minutes or less) to the
Election 2008 group on Gather.com, http://election08.gather.com Community
Voting: 09/10/07
– 10/19/07 The
Gather.com community will vote for their favorite entries (article and video
submissions) by giving them a 10 rating; voting will continue for one week past
the submission deadline. Based on the community’s picks, 10 finalists will be
selected in each of the three categories: Democrats, Independents, and
Republicans. Winners
Announced: 10/24/07 The
winning six election ‘08 bloggers, selected by the Gather.com Editorial Team,
will be announced to the community and featured in an article on the Gather.com
homepage. About Gather.com Gather.com (www.gather.com)
is the leader in social media for adults. Gather.com members connect around
shared interests ranging from politics to books and from cooking to travel, and
they’re compensated for their activity on the site. Members can engage in
conversation with state and local politicians, health and financial experts,
personal coaches, bestselling authors, and more. Over one million people visit
Gather.com each month to read content created by Gather.com members. Gather.com
has a highly educated, highly informed adult audience membership – a
demographic elusive to most social networking sites. This demographic has made
Gather.com an exceptional partner to media companies, advertising agencies,
leading consumer brands, book publishers, and movie studios. Gather.com is a
privately held, privately funded company headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts. Investors include Allen & Company, The American Public Media
Group, Hearst, The McGraw-Hill Companies, and Southern California Public Radio.
For more information, visit www.gather.com
or call (617) 720-4000, x1032. ### |
