A few words with early adopters of OnSite Conference technologies.

	Try it Today - FREE Download!
	Ready-to-View PDF Product Brochure

A sense of community at CYBERplex
Dean Hopkins - CYBERplex Interactive Media - Toronto, Canada.

To successfully market on the Internet requires more than just placing information on a Web site; it means creating a sense of community amongst your audience," said Dean Hopkins, president of CYBERplex Interactive Media, Inc., an Internet service provider based in Toronto, Canada. "And the only way to add this sense of 'community' is to allow users to interact with each other."

Hopkins should know: his company counts among its clients some of Canada's largest companies. All of them look to CYBERplex to help them find innovative ways of making the Internet an integral part of their marketing and communications programs. To do this, CYBERplex works closely with each client to understand its current marketing plans and define the role the Internet can play in that marketing scheme.

In addition to this strategic planning process, CYBERplex handles many of the tactical elements associated with building an Internet presence, including designing and constructing a company's Web site, recommending and installing the software to be used, and maintaining the Web sites on CYBERplex's own AlphaServer systems.

We emphasize that it's easy to attract someone to your site, but once they are there, you have to be able to keep them coming back," explained Hopkins. "One way is it to give them an opportunity to discuss issues and exchange ideas and views. The problem that we have faced in the past is that we couldn't find a product that would allow us to easily support, customize, and manage this kind of interaction among users."

That is, until the company discovered AltaVista Forum, a software product that allows companies to easily establish discussion groups among employees, suppliers, partners, and customers in a secure environment. "We were impressed with how easy it was to create and operate discussion groups for our clients, and how easy it was for users to join and participate in on-line conferences with AltaVista Forum," stated Hopkins.

One of those unique solutions is a project designed to improve the editorial process at a large publishing company. Before implementing AltaVista Forum, the editorial staffs of the company's 17 magazines ran their own separate editorial processes for submitting and reviewing copy. Now, using AltaVista Forum, stories for all the publications can be placed in one location so that staff members from each magazine can review the content and highlight any issues.

Based on its positive results with AltaVista Forum, CYBERplex is testing other AltaVista products, including the tunnel and firewall technologies, for use in its own site and with its customer base. In addition, CYBERplex employees exclusively use the AltaVista Search Public Service to complete on-line searches.

"The AltaVista suite of products benefits customers because they fill very specific needs of customers," concluded Hopkins. "With Forum you don't have to build something from scratch - it has the features and attributes that you need immediately. That turnkey aspect is really important to customers. And every day we find a new application for the software."

Enhancing its role as a news and information provider through AltaVista Internet Software technology
Phil Kincade - Assistant Managing Editor - Foster's Daily Democrat

"The very future of this newspaper depends on our ability to join the information revolution on the Internet. Digital has assisted us in this effort by providing a product, AltaVista(tm) Forum, that is helping to distinguish us online, and with their Internet expertise and services that enable us to remain focused on new business opportunities."

"A disturbing trend for the newspaper industry as a whole is low readership with young people," said Tom Salvetti, Manager of Information Systems. "Yet, if you look at participation in online services, it's just the opposite. Young people are adapting to it very quickly. As a newspaper, we need to adapt to this technology as well if we want to grow our subscriber base."

Connecting people to information is not new to Foster's Daily Democrat, southeastern New Hampshire's largest daily newspaper. In fact, it has been doing just that for more than 100 years. Today's technology advances played a pivotal role in strengthening Foster's reputation as a leading-edge news provider.

For Foster's, the 1996 first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary was the perfect vehicle to explore the intricacies of the Internet. "This is a product unlike anything else," said Phil Kincade, Assistant Managing Editor, referring to AltaVista Forum. "It's a tool we're using to enhance a person's ability to interact. And the possibilities are endless."

"Digital has really helped us define where we go next. After the primary, we transitioned to providing other online local news services in addition to being a resource for information on the candidates." -- Tom Salvetti, Manager of Information Systems, Foster's Daily Democrat

Kincade agreed. "The real opportunity came after the primary when we started applying this technology to our own marketplace," he said. "We realize our continuing strength is local coverage and are now doing online locally what we were doing with the primary. We are applying the technology to town elections, teacher contract debates, and so on."

AltaVista Forum's post-and-reply and polling features facilitate easy and open dialog among participants. And the full-text search provides users with complete news and commentary on specific topics -- a great way, according to Salvetti, for a person to track a particular issue over a period of time.

According to Salvetti, Foster's online adventure will continue for a long time. "We hope to have a continuing presence on the Internet. And we believe that our relationship with AltaVista will help us move forward with various online services."

Kincade agreed. "Foster's wants to set the pace for others to follow," he said. "This project has been a creative boost for the entire staff. With Digital's help, we're continuing to help people understand issues so they can make more thoughtful decisions about their communities and the world at large."