1stFriday.com Launches America's First Online Network of Local Black Communities in 24 US Markets

Top Quote "Connections" by 1stFriday.com launches with a unique "People Map" that enables members of the national First Fridays community to find other African-Americans with similar personal, social and professional interests. Its Groups functions empowers online networking among Black parents, skiers, fashionista's, doctors, lawyers and others. End Quote
  • Oakland, CA (1888PressRelease) November 09, 2010 - 1stFriday.com, Inc. announced the expansion of its Connections social and professional networking platform to support the empowerment of Black communities in 24 US markets. The expansion will enable African-Americans in the Black diaspora to network and connect with each other online, just as they do at monthly offline "First Fridays" mixers across the country.

    "Connections enables Blacks to expand their First Fridays networking experience online. It solves the problem of developing a network or community of Blacks in markets where there isn't a robust First Fridays chapter for the Black community to organize around," noted Jay Ward, CEO of 1stFriday.com, Inc. "There are almost 500,000 Blacks living in Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota and other 'Greenfield' markets that don't have an active First Fridays chapter. By joining Connections, members of those Black communities will be able to find, socialize and network with other African-Americans with like minded interests for the first time. Connections makes living in those markets a lot easier for African-Americans that desire a sense of community," Ward said.

    "Connections" is an online social and professional networking community for African-Americans, available at www.1stfriday.com/connections. The service is powered by technology from Leverage Software, Inc., a leading provider of community management software for enterprises. In addition to 1stFriday.com, Leverage Software community technology powers customer and employee communities for The Home Depot, Ingram Micro and HP.

    The Connections People Map brings the benefits of geo-location technology to the Black community. Using the People Map, African-Americans in markets with a dispersed Black population will be able to find other African-Americans with similar personal, social or professional interests. The People Map allows Connections members to search for other members by location, business objectives, relationship status or personal objectives. Connections is a unique and revolutionary service - it is the first and only service that enables local online social and professional networking among African-Americans.

    "We're excited to see the rollout of Connections to the Portland market," said Ken Mitchell-Phillips, an attorney and owner of Portland's First Fridays chapter. "The People Map has the ability to bring the Black community here closer together and facilitate deal making, socializing and charitable projects. I'm excited to see how it develops over the next few months."

    Joining Connections is free. Visit http://www.1stfriday.com/connections to take advantage of the social and professional networking tools available through the service.

    About 1stFriday.com, Inc.
    1stFriday.com, Inc. is an online media company for African-Americans. With its local focus and combination of editorial and user-generated content, 1stFriday.com is a unique online destination for 44 million African-Americans and the advertisers that wish to reach them. 1stFriday.com features news, information and online communities for 24 US markets. The 1stFriday.com platform now serves markets reaching over 3.4 million African-Americans.

    CONTACT: Alison Biggar, Media Relations
    +1 800 756 4071
    press ( @ ) 1stfriday dot com
    website: http://www.1stfriday.com/

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