Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Canadian Web Hosting donates $5,000 to Union Gospel Mission

Canadian Web Hosting donates $5,000 to Union Gospel Mission

It was losing a family member to drug abuse that inspired Tony Chu, CEO of Canadianwebhosting.com, to donate $5,000 on behalf of his company to Union Gospel Mission. While his family member is now gone, Chu's vision is to help others who are up against similar challenges rise above their current predicament.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) March 3, 2009 -- It was losing a family member to drug abuse that inspired Tony Chu, CEO of Canadianwebhosting.com (www.Canadianwebhosting.com), to donate $5,000 on behalf of his company to Union Gospel Mission. While his family member is now gone, Chu's vision is to help others who are up against similar challenges rise above their current predicament.

"I understand what our homeless brothers and sisters go through day after day," explains Chu. "That is why we have chosen Union Gospel Mission as our charity of choice. I wish to thank UGM for their dedication and hard work as they help people get back on their feet and rebuild their lives."

In addition to emergency and prevention assistance, UGM has alcohol recovery programs for both men (in Vancouver) and women (in Mission).

Founded in 1998, Canadianwebhosting.com (www.Canadianwebhosting.com) is a privately-held web hosting company focusing on customer care. Canadianwebhosting.com provides 24/7/365 support through Toll-free telephone, email and live online chat. The company is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Union Gospel Mission has been reaching hungry, hurting and homeless men, women, youth and children for nearly 70 years. Through its 12 locations in Metro Vancouver and the city of Mission, UGM provides counseling, education, safe housing, and alcohol and drug recovery to those struggling with poverty, homelessness and addiction.

To find out how to make a difference in the lives of people affected by homelessness, poverty and addiction in Metro Vancouver visit Union Gospel Mission's website www.ugm.ca.

Media Contact:

Tony Chu

1-888-821-7888

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Contact Information Tony Chu

Canadianwebhosting.com

http://www.Canadianwebhosting.com

1-888-821-7888



David Plouffe to Speak at Vocus 2009 Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

David Plouffe to Speak at Vocus 2009 Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

Political Strategist Behind Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign to Discuss the Power of Social Networking and the Importance of Leadership

Lanham, MD (Vocus) March 3, 2009 -- Vocus, Inc., (NASDAQ: VOCS) a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations (http://www.vocus.com/content/publicrelations.asp) management, today announced that Campaign Manager of Obama for America David Plouffe, will present the keynote address at its annual Users Conference (http://www.vocus.com/uc2009/) on June 4, 2009. Plouffe will explore how to harness the power of social networking to build brand loyalty and leadership.

"This year's conference will offer our customers techniques to not only increase the momentum of communications campaigns in today's economic climate but also demonstrate their impact on company success," said Bill Wagner, chief marketing officer at Vocus, Inc. "Credited with the 2009 presidential campaign's successful overall strategy, David will offer our customers insight not only into his winning campaign strategy but how they can leverage many of the techniques to navigate social media and deliver an effective message."

David Plouffe was the campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After winning the election on Nov. 4, President-elect Obama credited Plouffe in his acceptance speech, calling him "the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the . . . best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America."

The eighth annual Vocus Users' Conference will take place June 3-5, 2009 at The Mandarin Oriental in downtown Washington, D.C. Vocus customers will gather to explore how their organizations are using Vocus to increase the effectiveness of their public relations, government relations and PAC campaigns. Register by April 3, 2009, and take advantage of a $100 early-bird discount on normal conference registration rates. For more information, please visit the Vocus Users Conference (www.vocus.com/uc2009) page.

About Vocus, Inc.

Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 3,300 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information please visit www.vocus.com or call 800.345.5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Contact Information Robin Lane

Vocus, Inc.

http://www.vocus.com

301-683-6022



PRWeb Goes Mobile

PRWeb Goes Mobile

Leading Online News Distribution Service Makes Business and Technology Headlines Available through New iPhone Applications

Lanham, MD (PRWEB) March 3, 2009 -- PRWeb, the leading online news distribution service, today announced it that has extended the reach of its press release distribution (http://www.prweb.com/) to more than 3.6 million iPod Touch and iPhone users worldwide. Through applications available for free download in the iTunes store, breaking business and technology news published by PRWeb will be accessible directly via mobile device.

"Every day more people are using mobile devices to access news and information regardless of where they are," said Jiyan Wei, PRWeb product manager at Vocus, Inc. "Through our iPhone applications, we'll ensure that the reach of our distribution network extends to this rapidly growing audience."

PRWeb is the world's leading online news distribution service. News releases are distributed through search engines (http://www.prweb.com/sharenews.php), directly to more than 250,000 RSS subscribers, more than 30,000 journalists and editors, and published on more than 30,000 websites. Through its online network that includes prominent news outlets like the Associated Press, Yahoo! News and AOL, PRWeb news releases (http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php) are available to an online audience of more than 70 million unique visitors in the United States alone.

PRWeb Business and Technology News are currently available for free download through the iTunes store. PRWeb Healthcare and Advertising News will be available in April.

About PRWeb

PRWeb is recognized as a leading online news and press release distribution service worldwide. Since 1997, PRWeb has been changing the way businesses, marketing departments and public relations firms think about press releases. PRWeb was the first company to develop a distribution strategy around direct-to-consumer communication and to build and offer a search engine optimized platform for press release distribution. PRWeb, located in Ferndale, WA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vocus, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand public relations management software. For more information please visit www.prweb.com.

About Vocus, Inc.

Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 3,300 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information please visit www.vocus.com or call 800.345.5572.

This release contains "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Contact Information Robin Lane

Vocus, Inc

http://www.prweb.com

301-683-6022



PowerDNN Adds DotNetNuke Security Notification Services

PowerDNN Adds DotNetNuke Security Notification Services

PowerDNN adds security notification service for DotNetNuke. This service provides customers weekly reports on the health and security of their DotNetNuke website.

Omaha, Neb. (PRWEB) March 3, 2009 -- Today, PowerDNN, the nation's leading provider of advanced hosting services for the DotNetNuke(R) community has launched its DotNetNuke Security Notification Service (http://powerdnn.com/Security/UpdateNotifications/tabid/365/Default.aspx) for the DotNetNuke 4.x and DotNetNuke 5.x platform. The DotNetNuke Security Notification Service provides weekly security reports on the status and health of DotNetNuke websites.

"In the history of the DotNetNuke platform, there have been many updates, new versions, new features, and security updates. Our DotNetNuke Security Notification Service allows customers get a detailed report on the health and security of their website," says Tony Valenti, CEO and founder of PowerDNN. "Combined with the DotNetNuke Core update system, this is an extremely valuable service that will ensure that our customers are always running the most stable and secure version of DotNetNuke."

"Content management systems and web application frameworks are just like web-based operating systems," says John Grange, PowerDNN's Chief Operating Officer. "Just as you should always apply Microsoft Updates and Windows Updates on a regular basis, it is just as important that you apply updates for your content management system as well."

PowerDNN is the only company offering free DotNetNuke security scans to its DNN hosting (http://www.PowerDNN.com) customers.

DotNetNuke and DNN are Registered Trademarks of DotNetNuke Corporation.

PowerDNN used with permission.

About PowerDNN.com (http://www.PowerDNN.com):

Founded in 2002, PowerDNN.com (http://www.PowerDNN.com) is the full circle DotNetNuke solutions provider, servicing organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 Companies to the Federal Government of the United States of America. Specializing in high-reliability, business-critical DotNetNuke solutions, Power DNN is the clear choice of business and technology experts who demand exceptional customer service and enterprise engineering support for DotNetNuke. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.powerdnn.com.

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Contact Information Tony Valenti

PowerDNN

http://www.PowerDNN.com

877-743-8366



Monday, March 2, 2009

Webhost Pioneer Netfirms Gets Bigger -- Expands Office & Data Center

Webhost Pioneer Netfirms Gets Bigger -- Expands Office & Data Center

Leading Web Host, Domain Name and Cloud Host Netfirms, Inc. Continues to grow - expanding into new offices, new 40,000 server capacity Data Center and hiring campaign to support 2009 opportunities.

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- Web Host, Domain Name and Cloud Host provider Netfirms, Inc. (www.netfirms.com) announced today it has completed its office space expansion and move into their new data center and headquarters allowing for continued expansion in staffing and hosting solutions to meet the opportunities found in this market.

The new office provides over 200% more space to handle Netfirms' growing team. This expansion, the fifth since 1998, includes a hiring campaign to attract the a range of new positions to capitalize on the tremendous growth Netfirms continues to see. Netfirms will be expanding its talent team in customer care team, marketing, software innovation team and senior executives. In addition to the new office space, and hiring campaign, Netfirms will also be launching a 40,000 server capacity Tier 1 Datacenter in Markham, Ontario in June. The current operational mission critical datacenter serves the banking industry and will be upgraded to provide further features for Netfirms customers.

"We are in a challenging times, when trust, security and peace of mind is increasingly important to our clients. Our reputation for a solid service offering coupled with our strong incentives we have seen a tremendous growth in all of our services and look to support more small and medium businesses in the coming year." says Thomas Savundra, Netfirms' CEO and founder. "We have seen unprecedented demand for our award winning web hosting solutions with over 1 million client websites under management- and we intend to continue to capitalize on this success."

With this growth Netfirms will be able to accelerate their customers ability to build their vision online. We offer a comprehensive solution to achieve success online right from domain registrations, site building tools, grid web hosting, e-commerce and mission critical business email solutions.

About Netfirms

Netfirms, Inc., founded in 1998, provides Web hosting solutions and Grid Web Hosting technology to successful small and medium-sized businesses, startups, entrepreneurs and individuals worldwide. Netfirms hosts over 1,000,000 websites and has offices in the U.S. and Canada

For more information about Netfirms, visit: http://www.netfirms.com/

Media Contact: Tawnya Mahoney, Netfirms Inc. 1-866-317-4678 x 221

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Contact Information Thomas Savundra

Netfirms

http://www.netfirms.com

416-661-2100



Why Pay $$s to Xero When You Can Have Ubikwiti for Zero $$s?

Why Pay $$s to Xero When You Can Have Ubikwiti for Zero $$s?

Building on last month's offer of a free, "no strings" online alternative to Intuit's single-user QuickBooks Online Basic, Ubikwiti™ now extends the same free "no strings" offer to single-user, single company users (or prospective users) of Xero accounting system. According to Xero's own pricing information, Xero requires a monthly subscription fee of NZ$49/month (US$$25 per month at the exchange rate prevailing as at Feb. 25, 2009 of US$1.00 = NZ$1.96).

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- Ubikwiti offers free, "no strings" software-as-a-service (SaaS) for SMBs - hosted on US-based Amazon.com servers - as an alternative to single-user, single company users of Xero accounting system.

Click here (http://www.ubikwiti.com/apps/free_offer.html?type=nav_app) to find out more.

Ubikwiti's announcement will save single-user Xero customers NZ$499 (US$255) (http://www.xero.com/pricing/) per annum for the first year, and NZ$588 (US$300) per annum subsequently. Xero offers new signups a 30 days free trial period and a one-time discount of NZ$89 (US$45), but ONLY if customers pre-pay for twelve months.

According to Ubikwiti CEO Tim Loving, "Ubikwiti's Online Software for single-user SMBs - now offered as a free "no strings" alternative to single-user Xero customers - is simple, intuitive and easy to use. Neither accounting knowledge nor technical programming skills are required to setup and customize the software."

"Ubikwiti Online Software for SMBs™, although free, does not skimp on features and functionalities (http://www.ubikwiti.com/apps/features.html?type=nav_app). It has all the functionality needed to enable SMBs providing products and services to manage customers and customer-related activities, as well as vendors and vendor-related activities. Full financial reports are available, including Profit & Loss Report and Balance Sheet. A base time zone can be set to ensure consistency of reports and operations across multiple time zones."

"Ubikwiti Online Software for SMBs screens, business forms and reports are easily and quickly customizable by SMB end-users by means of Ubikwiti's business-user-friendly DIY-GUI™ toolkit. Application navigation settings are also customizable by end-users using Ubikwiti's DIY-Configuration™ toolkit. The DIY-Configuration toolkit makes it easy to simplify the already simple, clean, easy-to-use Ubikwiti Online Software for SMBs by removing unnecessary components (replaceable at any time)."

"End-users can easily upgrade or add vertical market and other optional components and packages at any time from Ubikwiti's Online U-KwikShop™ (http://www.ubikwiti.com/shop/ukshop.html?type=nav_shop)."

In an otherwise complimentary post on Xero, Bevan Rudge wrote (http://drupal.geek.nz/blog/xerocom-online-accounting-done-right?page=1) "The only thing Xero hasn't got right is the platform. They wrote this from scratch on the .Net framework, and it shows in the many small but annoying bugs."

"In contrast to vendor-proprietary platforms like the Microsoft .Net platform used by Xero," said Tim Loving, "Ubikwiti's architecture is based on Open, SOA-compliant, definition-based (http://www.ubikwiti.com/shop/bcl.html?type=nav_shop) components. That means users don't get locked-in to proprietary platforms."

"In Ubikwiti, virtually everything can be customised on-the-fly by end-users to suit customer-specific business needs using our DIY-configuration and DIY-GUI toolkits. That includes country-specific and industry-specific business, accounting and sales tax needs (including New Zealand GST, Australian GST, UK VAT, as well as the multiplicity of sales taxes levied by US states and cities)."

He added, "While individual UK, NZ and Australian SMB customers can do that themselves as of now using our DIY toolkits, we can, subject to sufficient market interest, greatly simplify and shorten the customisation process by providing a free country-specific base template for SMBs, and even, free industry-specific base templates, including modifiable charts of accounts. The Open, SOA-compliant, definition-based architecture of our SaaS platform enables us to produce country-specific and industry-specific base templates within days.

In responding to queries relating to concerns of PaaS/SaaS customers raised by the recent demise of Coghead and the consequential problems for Coghead customers, Loving referred to a recent Ubikwiti blog post (http://www.ubikwiti.com/blog/?p=386) on the need for PaaS/SaaS customers to ask a few "caveat emptor" questions, such as:

•    Is the "real" hoster of my application and data robust, secure, trustworthy, and likely to be around for the long haul (e.g. a company like Amazon.com)? Ubikwiti response: Yes - we use Amazon.com EC2.

•    Is there an escrow provision in my agreement that allows me to continue running the application code myself if my PaaS/SaaS supplier succumbs, or, as in the case of Coghead, is swallowed by a whale sans existing customers? Ubikwiti response: Yes.

•    Does the escrow provision permit me to transfer my application and data to a secure hosted environment such as Amazon EC2? Ubikwiti response: Yes.

•    Does my PaaS/SaaS application toolset enable me (and/or my ISV) to continue to enhance and maintain the application on a DIY basis? Ubikwiti response: Yes.

•    Do my SaaS provider's platform architecture and contract termination processes optimize portability of my application and data to another SaaS provider? Ubikwiti response: Yes.

In terms of web browsers, Ubikwiti supports any major browser that supports JavaScript (e.g. Firefox).

In terms of operating systems, Ubikwiti Online Software for SMBs supports Microsoft Windows (XP and above), as well as Linux and Mac OS.

About Ubikwiti Ltd:

Ubikwiti is a leading designer and developer of online DIY component-based business application software. Amazon.com data centers in the United States host all Ubikwiti software and customer data.

Ubikwiti enables SMB businesspeople to quickly and easily define, configure, launch, modify and enhance business applications to meet their own business needs at the lowest possible cost. Businesspeople first select a business template and then add additional business components from U-KwikShop to tailor the template to their needs, using simple "point and click" methods.

Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBooks, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. Windows, Windows 2000, .Net, IE, Vista and XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Firefox, Linux and any other trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Ubikwiti applications interface easily to free office productivity tools, social networking sites, web hosting services (such as online stores) and online payroll services.

For additional information, please visit www.ubikwiti.com.

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Contact Information Tim Loving

Ubikwiti Ltd

http://www.ubikwiti.com

(++60 3) 7620 8733



Ambient Insight Report: Recession Good for the Learning Industry

Ambient Insight Report: Recession Good for the Learning Industry

Venture Capital Flowing to Learning Technology Companies

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- According to a new report released by Ambient Insight, venture capital is flowing into learning technology companies at the highest rate since the last recession. There was a dramatic spike in private investments made to learning technology companies in 2007 and 2008.

"Private investment in 2008 totaled over $1 billion, higher than any other year in the last ten years except 2000," reports Sam S. Adkins, Ambient Insight's Chief Research Officer. "This report identifies the types of companies, products, and services that are attracting that investment. Over 160 learning technology companies were funded in 2008, compared to 50 in 1999."

A free Executive Overview is available at:

http://www.ambientinsight.com/Reports/LearningTechnology.aspx

The report is called, ''Private Investment Trends in the US Learning Technology Industry: 1999-2008 Longitudinal Analysis'' and includes a detailed analysis of the funding amounts across eight types of learning products. It also analyzes the capital flowing to the training outsourcing companies. The analysis compares the funding activity in the last recession to the patterns in the current recession. There are some similarities, but investment trends are different this time.

"In the last recession, the vast majority of investment went to Self-paced eLearning companies," comments CEO Tyson Greer. "This time capital is flowing to companies that are 'innovating their way out of the recession' with second and third-generation products."

The research provides evidence that the current recession is now a growth catalyst for both the sales of learning technology products and the investment in learning technology companies. While no industry is immune from a recession, education is known to be "recession-resilient" and investment firms are moving money into the industry in response to the downturn.

"There are discrepancies between total funding activity for specific product types and the product's potential revenue growth," adds Adkins. "On the other hand, there are clear revenue opportunities for both suppliers and investors that are targeting products with sustainable and long-term revenue streams."

For more information on this research, please contact:

Sam S. Adkins, Chief Research Officer

Ambient Insight, LLC

360-805-4298

# # #



Contact Information Sam S. Adkins

Ambient Insight, LLC

http://www.ambientinsight.com

360-805-4298



Vocus to Host Its Eighth Annual Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

Vocus to Host Its Eighth Annual Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

Leading Industry Experts to Gather in Washington D.C. for One-of-a-Kind Conference Exploring Techniques and Best Practices for Communications

Lanaham, MD (Vocus) March 2, 2009 -- Vocus, Inc., (NASDAQ: VOCS) a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management, today announced that it will hold its eighth annual Users Conference from June 3-5, 2009 at The Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. The 2009 Vocus Users Conference (http://www.vocus.com/UC2009/), "The Time is Now. Lead," will feature leading PR, GR and PAC experts offering techniques and best practices to help Vocus customers communicate effectively and emerge as a leader in today's world.

The 2009 Users Conference will offer customers new ways to leverage Vocus' software (http://www.vocus.com/) to improve results and demonstrate their contribution to the bottom-line. Professionals will

* Hear from industry leaders who will discuss how organizations can emerge as leaders in a tough economy.

* Gain a better understanding of how technology and social media are accelerating the convergence of PR and Marketing.

* Choose from Basic and Advanced PR, GR and PAC training sessions to help maximize the success of campaigns.

* Build relationships and share best practices with hundreds of other professionals to help grow business networks.

* Learn how to maximize the value of their investment in Vocus to meet the organization's needs.

"Today's tight budgets mean doing more with less without sacrificing results," said Bill Wagner, chief marketing officer at Vocus, Inc. "The Vocus Users Conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for our customers to learn new ways to leverage our software to not only increase the momentum of communications campaigns in today's economic climate but also demonstrate their impact on company success."

Register by April 3, 2009, and take advantage of a $100 early bird discount on normal conference registration rates. For more information, please visit the Vocus Users Conference page (http://www.vocus.com/uc2009/details.html).

About Vocus, Inc.

Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 3,300 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information please visit www.vocus.com or call 800.345.5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Contact Information Robin Lane

Vocus, Inc.

http://www.vocus.com

301-683-6022