Huddle Launches on Ning, the Social Platform for Interests and Passions Online
September 10, 2009
With Huddle Workspaces, Ning Apps Empower Ning Networks with Even More Flexibility and Customization to Support Interests and Passions Online
Huddle.net today announced it is launching Huddle Workspaces on Ning, the social platform for interests and passions online. By joining forces with Ning, Huddle Workspaces is now available to more than 1.5 million Ning Networks and 33 million Ning Network members. Ning Network Creators now have even greater choice over the features and applications they can add to Ning Networks to create the perfect social experience for a given topic, interest or passion. Today, Ning Apps are available for e-commerce, information, education, causes and entertainment. To see Huddle Workspaces, please visit the Ning Apps Directory: http://about.ning.com/ningapps
Huddle Workspaces on the Ning Platform offers all the key features of its online collaboration platform including secure, private workspaces for secure team collaboration, Document Sharing and discussions. With Huddle Workspaces, Ning Network Creators can design intranets for their groups, share confidential information or store a networks’ documentation. Ning Apps extend the Ning Platform by providing more than 90 new diverse and rich applications like Huddle Workspaces for Ning Network Creators. With Ning Apps, a Ning Network Creator can now add Huddle Workspaces to expand the functionality of their Ning Network and increase engagement by their members.
“The size and diversity of Ning Networks means that we can get Huddle in front of more users than ever before. From a development point of view, the flexible OpenSocial implementation on the Ning Platform has allowed us to completely customize the Huddle application to seamlessly match each network’s look and feel,” said Andy McLoughlin, co-founder and Strategy Director, Huddle.net. “Huddle is opening new collaboration opportunities for Ning Network Creators and their members. It will enable them to engage with their users more effectively and empower them to build stronger connections with more content-rich experience.
With Huddle Workspaces, each user receives 1 GB of free storage and can invite and work together with unlimited connections. Ning Network Creators and members can take advantage of Huddle’s advanced document management tools and create and edit documents online in .doc and .xls format. They can post comments on files, request approvals and send notifications. Documents can be also locked and checked out of the system for offline editing. All activity in a workspace is recorded and can be delivered via an RSS feed.
Huddle users on Ning can also connect with people and share content in the wider Huddle network (my.huddle.net) and other networks where Huddle is available such as LinkedIn and Facebook. They also gain access to additional features including: audio and web conferencing, tasks, whiteboards, audit trails, version control and multi-lingual interface.
Inspiris, a social enterprise firm that connects the world’s leading businesses and governments to fight poverty in Africa, is one example of a Ning Network using Huddle Workspaces. Its Business Fights Poverty (http://businessfightspoverty.ning.com) Ning Network has more than 5,000 members.
“We’re Huddle fans already and this application offers integration between our Ning Networks and our enterprise Huddle account. Inspiris is all about bringing business people together to fight poverty, by creating collaborative networks of individuals,“ said Zahid Torres-Rahman, Director, Inspiris Limited.
Zahid continued: “At the highest level, our thousands of users can interact through Ning Networks. At the same time, two or three people can have private discussions and work together in Huddle Workspaces. The addition of secure private workspaces brings valuable functionality to my Ning Networks.”
DreamStake (http://dreamstake.ning.com) also used Huddle Workspaces to turn its 3,000-strong Ning Network into a ‘collaborative platform for creative entrepreneurs’. DreamStake’s goal is to help budding entrepreneurs find funding, assist with legal and marketing matters and source required development skills.
“Ning and Huddle give us a perfect combination of social networking and collaboration tools. It’s vital for our members to share advice and ideas, and work on business projects together, without stepping out of the Ning Network environment. This wouldn’t be possible without Huddle Workspaces,” Paul Dowling, CEO, DreamStake.
The Ning Platform provides a new way for Huddle Workspaces to reach more people, faster. Rather than being added by individual members, when a Ning Network Creator adds Huddle Workspaces to their Ning Network, by default it’s available to all members automatically, regardless of whether a Ning Network has 100, 1,000 or 1 million members.
“Ning is committed to being the social platform for the world’s interests and passions,” said Jay Parikh, senior vice president of product engineering. “Huddle Workspaces is a great example of the innovative and creative set of diverse features Ning Apps offer the more than 33 million members of Ning Networks today.”
