WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ektron today announced record attendance of over 450 developers, marketers and content authors at its sixth annual customer conference, Synergy 2012.  The event caps a momentous year for Ektron, with the company positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2012 "Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management."  Among other 2012 highlights, Ektron broadened its research and development team, added over 100 new customers and teamed up with inbound marketing pioneer, HubSpot.

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"2012 was a year which saw Ektron's momentum accelerate on several levels," said Bill Rogers, CEO and Founder of Ektron. "Ektron continues to focus on extending our web content management leadership.  We've grown Research & Development by 20% in 2012, and we've stepped up our efforts to build a world-class partner network of implementation and technology partners."  

Ektron customers now number more than 3,800 with the Ektron platform powering over 13,000 websites.  Companies and brands added to the Ektron community during 2012 include the American Diabetes Society; Apartments.com; County of Sonoma; Houston Grand Opera; Mercedes Benz; New York State Bar Association; National Geographic Society; Phillips 66; Oxford Brookes University; SiriusXM and Virgin HealthMiles.   

Synergy

With a record attendance of over 450 participants at the spectacular National Harbor Resort outside of Washington, D.C., Synergy 2012 is the Ektron event of the year for developers, marketers and content authors.  Session presenters include Ektron technical experts; the elite of Ektron technology and implementation partners; plus customer representatives from Johnson & Wales University; Fortune 1000 NACCO Industries; the international water treatment products brand, Culligan and the non-profit public service arm of cable television, C-SPAN.

Featured keynote speakers during the three-day event include internationally recognized digital product leader, Luke Wroblewski; godfather of the Responsive Design movement, Ethan Marcotte and President, Principal Analyst at the Digital Clarity Group, Scott Liewehr.

Synergy 2012 has also broken the sponsorship record of previous years, with over 20 Ektron technology and implementation partners sponsoring the event.  Synergy 2012 Platinum sponsors include the C2 Group, Ellucian and Fig Leaf Software.  For a complete list of Synergy 2012 sponsors, please visit http://www.ektron.com/synergy/sponsors/.

Products

In mid-2012, Ektron released Ektron 8.6, featuring a radically improved content authoring experience.  Two new products, the Ektron Digital Experience Hub (DXH) and Cloud Manager were released during 2012. The DXH integrates industry-leading CRM, marketing automation, and web analytics solutions with the Ektron platform while Cloud Manager allows Ektron customers to deploy websites and marketing campaigns in the Windows Azure cloud.  Both products will be showcased during Synergy 2012.

Leading national apartment internet resource, Apartments.com, chose the Ektron platform and Digital Experience Hub in 2012. "We expect the Ektron Digital Experience Hub to help us get the maximum value out of Salesforce.com," said Susan Bryant, vice president of marketing at Apartments.com. "With this technology, our goal is to convert more leads into opportunities and better measure the effectiveness of our online efforts."

Partners

With a strong focus on its implementation partner base in 2012, Ektron added several new digital agencies, technology companies, digital marketing specialists and web design and development organizations to its partner rolls, including LyntonWeb, Brightfire, Celerity, Thuzi, NorthPoint Solutions and Razorfish.

Earlier this year, Ektron and HubSpot formed a strategic alliance. The product integration of Ektron and HubSpot will allow the companies' mutual customers to acquire more prospects; deliver relevant marketing; integrate digital marketing channels; and optimize the performance of marketing campaigns. 

Ektron Elite implementation partner eDynamic announced a new integration between Eloqua and the Ektron DXH. The connector bridges the two solutions, and will help organizations deliver relevant content.

Company

In September 2012, Ektron announced it had been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2012 "Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management" research report.  Ektron was one of 19 vendors evaluated in the report. The evaluation criteria for a vendor's ability to execute included product/service, overall viability, sales execution/pricing, market responsiveness and track record, marketing execution, customer experience and operations. Ektron was also named "Top Performer" in Hypatia Research's annual Customer Content Management Vendor Evaluations and was identified as a Champion in Info-Tech Research's Web Content Management Vendor Landscape.

About Ektron
Ektron simplifies the creation, management and delivery of digital experiences for global organizations that are looking to drive revenue growth and improve customer satisfaction. Ektron helps companies deliver customer experiences to their audiences through digital channels by using content to engage consumers and drive business outcomes. Headquartered in Nashua, N.H., with offices in Australia, Canada and the U.K., Ektron has thousands of customers including: Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Las Vegas Sands, Microsoft, NASDAQ and National Health Services UK. For more information: www.ektron.com.

SOURCE Ektron