Web Marketing Association Names Best Web Sites in the Investment Industry During 2006 WebAward Competition

West Simsbury, CT (PRWEB) October 4, 2006

http://www.webaward.org -- The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce the investment-related Best of Industry Winners for the 10th annual international WebAward Competition, the Internets premier Web site award competition.

The investment and finance industries represent significant categories in the WebAward competition including Best Investment Website, Best Mutual Fund Website and Best Credit Union Website among many others.

Web sites are extremely important to company success in the investment industry because both individuals and companies crave the ability to track their money online. Being able to do so gives investors peace of mind, said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. Investment companies benefit from the independent evaluation and recognition of their online efforts provided by the WebAward competition allowing them to make changes to better benefit end-users.

Investment websites entered in the WebAward competition are judged on the following seven criteria:

OpenSesame Wins 2011 Oregon Entrepreneurs Network's Angel Oregon Investment Award

Portland, OR (PRWEB) March 17, 2011

OpenSesame (http://www.OpenSesame.com ), a Portland-based elearning startup, today announced it has been named the winner of a $ 185,000 investment prize from the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) Angel Oregon Conference.

OpenSesame was selected from a field of nearly 40 competing companies based throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. The selection process involved due diligence, research and debate among the more than 30 angel investors who provide the majority of the competitions investment award of $ 210,000. Angel investors participating in the OEN's Angel Oregon investment prize selected the top two companies to receive investment awards -- $ 185,000 for OpenSesame, which was named the winning Launch Stage company and $ 25,000 for Soothie Suckers, the winning Concept Stage company.

Were gratified to receive industry wide recognition for the excellence we have achieved with our elearning marketplace, said Don Spear, OpenSesame Founder and CEO. Companies worldwide spend more than $ 7B a year on off-the-shelf elearning content. Were solving their problems by making it easy to find, research, select, purchase, and use elearning content in minutes instead of months.

OpenSesame is a fast-growing online marketplace for buying and selling off-the-shelf elearning content. eLearning sellers from all over the world can upload their courses to the OpenSesame marketplace, set prices and sell their courses to new customers. eLearning buyers shop in the OpenSesame marketplace to access the broadest and freshest selection of elearning content from a worldwide set of publishers.

This is a great day not only for our company, but for the Oregon tech community, said OpenSesame Founder, SVP & General Manager Josh Blank. The excellent group of 2011 Angel Oregon entrants demonstrates that Oregon entrepreneurs are working hard to develop new companies, new ideas and new investment opportunities in our state.

Each year, the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network organizes the Angel Oregon conference, one of the premier angel investment competitions in the United States, in order to foster the growth of a vibrant entrepreneurial community in Oregon. Oregon-based startup teams are invited to submit their businesses for potential funding from OEN members. Participating OEN angel investors evaluate the slate of potential investments at the concept and launch stages, culminating in a day-long presentation session, after which the investors vote on a winner in each class to receive an equity investment.

Through the investors rigorous due diligence and screening process, OpenSesame clearly emerged as a great idea being implemented by a talented and experienced management team, said OEN Executive Director Linda Weston. Theyre just one of the great businesses investing in the Oregon startup community.

Since we launched in November, weve been overwhelmed by the positive response from elearning buyers and sellers, said OpenSesame Founder and VP of Business/Community Development Tom Turnbull. They instantly understand our value proposition and how we can enable them to use elearning resources to invest in their workforce and keep their employees up to date efficiently.

OpenSesame has a strong management team with a track record of successful Oregon-based entrepreneurship, as well as 10 years of experience in the elearning industry. Among them, the OpenSesame founders have launched nine businesses, two of which have had IPOs.

About OpenSesame

Based in Portland, Oregon, OpenSesame is an open marketplace for elearning that connects elearning buyers and sellers. Buyers browse thousands of courses in a wide variety of subjects from workplace safety to business skills all compatible with any Learning Management System. For more information, visit http://www.opensesame.com or follow @OpenSesameNow on Twitter.

About Oregon Entrepreneurs Network

Founded in 1991, celebrating 20 years of service to entrepreneurs, the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) is a 501c3 non-profit corporation and the largest entrepreneur assistance organization in Oregon and Southwest Washington. OEN fosters the flow of entrepreneurial ideas, services, and capital to entrepreneurs and helps connect emerging Northwest businesses to growth-stimulating expertise and valuable resources.

OEN is a people-oriented network that helps cultivate, nurture and develop emerging businesses and entrepreneurs. Our network of members and breadth of services, offers business education, access to capital networks, support and contacts who can mentor and nurture startup companies growth and development. OEN also helps small and mid-sized companies develop and implement strategies for community involvement that jointly meet the goals of the company, the passions of the employees and the needs of the community via its program, EFNW. For more information on OEN and its programs visit http://www.oen.org.

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STELLAService Secures $2M Investment

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 21, 2011

STELLAService (http://www.stellaservice.com), the first independent customer service ratings provider for online retailers, today announced that it has raised $ 2 million in early stage funding, led by institutional investors Battery Ventures and DFJ Gotham Ventures. RRE Ventures, Consigliere Brand Capital, Doug Lebda, Mark Wachen and other angel investors also participated.

STELLAService objectively measures, rates and highlights the service quality of online businesses. The company was founded in 2009 with the dual goal of helping online shoppers make more informed buying decisions, while also helping Internet retailers grow their businesses through insightful customer service data and marketing services. Many of the worlds leading ecommerce sites, including Diapers.com, Zappos.com, and 1-800-Flowers.com, now showcase the STELLAService SEAL on their sites.

Until now online shoppers have lacked a reliable ally for sorting through thousands of websites and uncovering retailers that offer great customer service, said co-founder and CEO Jordy Leiser. With this funding, STELLAService can play a critical role in building transparency for online shoppers and shine light on those online stores that truly employ best practices when it comes to the overall customer experience.

STELLAService will use the proceeds to leverage its rigorous evaluation system to rate several thousand online retailers. The company will also significantly expand and enhance its website with new tools and features aimed at making it an indispensible, trusted resource for online shoppers.

STELLAService is bringing unparalleled transparency to ecommerce customer service, said Satya Patel, Partner, Battery Ventures. Prices and product selection are moving towards parity in ecommerce, so customer service is the basis on which the leading ecommerce sites will differentiate themselves over the long term. STELLAService is already working with some of the top ecommerce companies. With this financing, we look forward to working with the company to provide consumers with much deeper and broader customer service data across all ecommerce sites.

We are very excited about working with the talented team at STELLAService to address this important need in the huge and rapidly growing ecommerce market, added Ross Goldstein, Co-Founder and Managing Director at DFJ Gotham Ventures. The company has quickly penetrated the market with its innovative solution, and we look forward to it further expanding its product offering and market presence with this financing.

About STELLAService

Dedicated to helping consumers make more informed online shopping decisions, STELLAService is the first and only independent provider of customer service ratings for online retailers. Using its proprietary, rigorous evaluation system, STELLAService rates thousands of retailers each year across a broad array of criteria, including usability and online tools, shipping and returns and customer support. To maintain its independence and objectivity, STELLAService pays for all products it purchases and relies on its staff of trained, full-time customer experience analysts to test the companies it evaluates. Based in New York City, the company also publishes reports and other research to help companies worldwide improve their service operations. For more information, visit http://www.STELLAService.com. Follow us on Twitter at @STELLAService.

About Battery Ventures

Since 1983, Battery has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a companys life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts. Battery has supported many breakthrough software and digital media companies, including: Akamai Technologies, Inc., Infoseek (acquired by Disney), Internet Brands and Omniture (acquired by Adobe). Current companies in Batterys portfolio include: Angies List, Bazaarvoice, BlueKai, Freewheel, Glassdoor.com, Gogobot, Groupon, and Skullcandy. Batterys investments range from as little as a few hundred thousand dollars in seed and early stage financing, to $ 50 million or more for late stage/expansion deals. From offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, Battery manages $ 4B in committed capital, including its current fund of $ 750M. For more information, visit http://www.battery.com. Follow us on Twitter at @BatteryVentures.

About DFJ Gotham Ventures

DFJ Gotham Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City focused primarily on early-stage information technology companies on the East Coast. DFJ Gotham Ventures partners with extraordinary teams of entrepreneurs to build strong and successful businesses that make a huge impact in their industries. DFJ Gotham Ventures takes pride in being an active partner, leveraging its experience, knowledge and relationships to provide substantial value to its portfolio companies. DFJ Gotham Ventures is proud to have backed such category leaders as Massive (acquired by Microsoft), XOsoft (acquired by CA), Q-Link (acquired by Adobe), Drop.io (acquired by Facebook) and Mimeo.com, among many others. For more information, please visit http://www.dfjgotham.com.

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Faculty Training Is An Investment for Online Programs; ADA Compliance a Major Vulnerability

Boulder, CO (PRWEB) November 12, 2010

Fully half (51 percent) of the 183 two-and four-year colleges and universities participating in the 2010 Managing Online Education (MOE) Survey, sponsored by the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) and The Campus Computing Project report that faculty who teach in online programs must complete a mandatory training. The mandatory training, which averages 22 hours, reflects a significant investment of institutional resources and also a significant comment of time from faculty who want to teach online courses.

The survey data highlight a key difference between on-campus and online courses, says Kenneth C. Green, founding director of The Campus Computing Project, the organization that conducted with survey with WCET. In contrast to their peers in traditional classrooms, both part-time and full-time faculty who teach online courses often must complete significant, specialized training.

Wagner continues, The all-too-common and unfortunate practice of hiring part-timers and handing them a syllabus, textbook, campus map, and parking pass will not suffice for faculty who teach online courses.

Even as institutions commit to faculty training, the 2010 MOE survey data reveal significant faculty resistance to online education. Almost three-fourths (73 pct.) of the survey participants agree or strongly agree that faculty resistance to teaching online courses impedes institutional efforts to expand online education programs. Three-fifths (61 percent) also cite the lack of key resources (training instructors support personnel) as a factor affecting program expansion, while just over half (56 percent) acknowledge that institutional budget cuts also impede program development and growth. In contrast, external factors apparently pose comparatively few challenges to program expansion: just 16 percent cite accrediting issues or agencies, 17 percent cite state regulations, 22 percent cite federal student aid regulations, and just over a fourth (26 percent) identify union agreements as factors that impede the expansion of online education at their institutions. Also of note is that just 13 percent of the survey participants report that employer resistance to hiring students who have completed online certificates or degrees inhibits program expansion.

The survey data document the continuing growth in online education. Almost all (91 percent) report that that online enrollment has increased over the past three years (2007-2010), and over half (52 percent) report that online enrollments increased by 16 percent or more during this period; 27 percent report online enrollment was up by more than 20 percent. Looking forward, the survey respondents are bullish about future growth: 96 percent expect online enrollments at their campus to increase over the next three academic years (2011-2013): 30 percent expect online enrollment to grow from 16-20 percent, while 13 percent expect online enrollment gains over 20 percent over the between 2011 and 2013.

Confirming data that first emerged from the 2009 MOE survey, the 2010 data reveal that many campuses do not have formal policies and procedures to assure that their online courses and programs are compliant with ADA mandates. Fully a third (34 percent) of the campuses report that ADA compliance for online courses and programs resides with the individual faculty who teach an online course, while almost a fourth (24 percent) report that ADA compliance responsibility resides with academic programs or departments. In contrast, almost a fifth (17 percent) report no institutional policy or procedure for ADA compliance and almost a tenth (9 percent) report that a central campus office examines a sample of online courses to ADA assure ADA compliance. One in six of the survey respondents (16 percent) indicate that their institution has a central office that examines each course for ADA compliance.

The 2010 Managing Online Education Survey is a collaborative initiative of the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) and The Campus Computing Project. The survey data are based on the responses from campus officials at 183 two- and four-year public and private US colleges and universities who were surveyed in October and early November 2010. Survey respondents were typically the senior campus official responsible for the management of online and distance education programs at their institutions. Copies of the survey report will be available from The Campus Computing Project (campuscomputing.net) on December 10th.

ABOUT WCET

The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (http://www.wcet.wiche.edu) accelerates the adoption of effective practices and policies, advancing excellence in technology-enhanced teaching and learning in higher education.

ABOUT THE CAMPUS COMPUTING PROJECT

Begun in 1990, The Campus Computing Project (campuscomputing.net) is the largest continuing study of the role of computing, eLearning, and information technology in American higher education.

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Your Trading Room Retains Investment Bank Dailey Partners to Assist In Raising $10 Million VC Expansion Capital Round

Santa Monica, California (PRWEB) October 20, 2011

Dailey Partners has trusted relationships with more than 1,200 venture, buyout, hedge and mezzanine funds as well as strategic investors. Principal partners have closed more than 60 transactions representing $ 600 million of cumulative capital raised.

Richard Waryn, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Your Trading Room said, "After a careful selection process, we determined that Dailey Partners provides us with the best opportunity to raise the capital that will enable us to achieve our ambitious growth objectives. The firm understands our space very well and their history of success with companies like ours gives us confidence that we will succeed."

Tim Dailey, Managing Director and co-founder at Dailey Partners, stated, "We have worked with many companies in the technology and financial services sectors, and we understand the space, particularly in terms of capital required for high growth companies. He went on to say, Your Trading Room is the ideal type of high growth company we look to represent and is perfectly positioned for institutional investment given the exceptional management team, differentiation in the market place, and projected growth in the Forex market over the next 5-10 years. We look forward to lending our expertise to the execution of the Company's strategic growth plans."

ABOUT DAILEY PARTNERS: Dailey Partners is a boutique investment bank that provides Private Placement and Mergers & Acquisitions services for emerging and middle market companies. The Company focuses on $ 5 - $ 75 million transaction sizes, including growth financings, acquisition financings, management buyouts, and sell-side advisory. Dailey Partners is a trusted referral source for more than 1,200 venture, buyout, hedge and mezzanine funds as well as strategic investors. The Company sources clients through a referral-only network and puts all companies through a rigorous screening process prior to engagement. The goal is to only work with high quality companies and management teams. For more information, please visit http://www.daileypartners.com.

ABOUT YOUR TRADING ROOM: YTR is an international provider of online foreign-exchange financial education, training and proprietary trading services. Dynamic and forward thinking, the Company empowers traders globally. The YTR difference is based on market leading solutions supported by four key disciplines: research and development; proprietary indicators and strategies; education and training; and live professional coaching. YTRs LIVE trading rooms provide a superb framework of real-time support throughout a 24 hour, 5