Top Brands Turn to Gather’s Free New ‘Gather Groups’ Platform to Create Social Networks

Showtime Networks Inc., Atkins, and American Public Media Create Customized Groups on Gather to Engage Audiences Online

BOSTON, March 25 /PRNewswire/ — Gather (www.gather.com), the social network with substance, announced that three of the country’s top brands — Showtime Networks Inc., Atkins, and American Public Media — have created their own customized social networks on Gather, leveraging Gather’s new free groups service. These brands join hundreds of other organizations — from prominent national companies to local nonprofits — that have turned to Gather to share exclusive content, engage in conversations with consumers, and create special events such as live talks and promotions.

Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. has just joined Gather as a strategic partner launching a customized Gather group with content and tips for healthy living. Atkins leaders will use the group to answer questions and engage in conversations about weight loss and healthy eating.

American Public Media is using Gather Groups(SM) for its Public Insight Journalism network, a community of over 40,000 active citizen journalists sharing personal perspectives on national and local news. American Public Media kicked off the Gather group partnership with a community for Minnesota Public Radio’s Minnesota Economy citizen journalist bloggers.

“People are looking for ways to have meaningful conversation online about the things that matter to them,” said Tom Gerace, Gather CEO. “Gather is pleased to join forces with our partners to extend their conversations to custom social spaces.”

Launched in February, Gather’s free groups service makes it easy for anyone to create a social network, with template designs that meet the needs of brands, bloggers, families, and special interest groups. Gather Groups templates can be easily customized with photos, posts, discussion spaces, videos, widgets, and graphics. Each social space can be as public or private as the creator desires.

Key features of Gather Groups include:

• Customizable group appearance to give owner layout and design control
• Fourteen configurable modules that allow content organization and conversation
• Three rich HTML modules that allow for creativity and customization
• Group Conversation Space for group members to share comments
• Group Stats updates on new members, photos, comments, posts
• Group Archive for access to 12 months of shared group content
• Group Links, where owners can list up to 50 links to favorite sites
• Inbound RSS feeds from other sites
• Group Search that allows people to search a group for members and content

Media, entertainment and consumer brands, and charitable and community organizations have created customized groups on Gather. These include Cafe Media; BzzAgent; The Victory Fund, a group dedicated to raising political contributions for gay and lesbian candidates; the Massachusetts chapter of Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the U.S.; and The Downtown Women’s Club, a national professional networking group for women.

About Gather

Gather is the social network with substance, the site where busy people go to keep up with the people, conversations, and moments that matter. Gather has half a million members and more than one million unique visitors to the site each month. Approximately 90% of visitors to Gather are older than 25. Several of the world’s most prominent brands partner with Gather to interact online with consumers and reach a more adult and affluent audience. Gather 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.

SOURCE Gather