MILFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In under 18 months, commonground, the online community for environmental and commercial real estate professionals, has been recognized with an esteemed Forrester Groundswell Award. The social networking site was honored for its explosive success and personal support offered through the first peer-to-peer networking site for environmental professionals. Environmental Data Resources, Inc. (EDR), the leading provider of real estate environmental risk information and developer of commonground, was presented with the award in the Business-to-Business Supporting category it was announced today.
Commonground received the coveted award for the opportunities it presents to a global network of real estate and environmental professionals in a year in which the economic recession hit the commercial real estate market hard, with business off by more than 70 percent vs. 2008. Environmental professionals have turned to the social network for help with difficult questions, jobs searches, education, advice, networking and business opportunities. For many members, commonground has become an integral part of the business day.
“We are thrilled to be recognized by Forrester Research,” said Jay Gaines, EDR’s chief marketing officer. “As a company that is closely tied to the commercial real estate market, we saw an opportunity to create a new method for professionals working within the commercial real estate industry to gain access to one another. At the end of the day, we wanted to give something back to the industry that has given us so much. Our success is directly attributed to the commitment of our members to contribute essential and valuable information to share with their peers.”
The Forrester Groundswell Awards recognize excellence in achieving business and organizational goals with social technology applications. The awards program was developed to support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester Research book Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008).
Following the award announcement, EDR applauded the social media contributions of the 13 other companies nominated in the Business-to-Business Supporting category, including communities created by NetApp, Aflac and Pitney Bowes.
Commonground was launched in April 2008 by EDR to be a community for environmental professionals. It has since grown into the global social network for professionals with 5,200 members from more than 2,200 companies, and 70 countries. There are over 600 blog posts and 3,000 active discussions ranging from US and international environmental due diligence, green building, and climate change, to business issues, risk management, and even travel tips for those in the field. Members are involved in all aspects of environmental and commercial real estate property due diligence and include environmental lawyers, health & safety, lenders, appraisers, insurers, builders, and consultants.
“Every year the quality of business social applications goes up, and marketers become more sophisticated,” said Josh Bernoff, Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester and coauthor of Groundswell. “This year’s winners stood out in a very competitive field; all of them demonstrate not just creative use of social technologies, but impressive, measurable results.”
Since September of 2008, EDR’s Alexa ranking has increased by over 400,000. Since commonground version 2.0 was launched on June 1, 2009, Google indexed pages have increased by over 3,000 percent.
About EDR
Environmental Data Resources, Inc. is the leading provider of environmental risk information services and related workflow applications in the United States. As the innovator of the most comprehensive database of environmental and historical land use information, the company provides reports, subscription services and other solutions to help its customers reduce environmental risk. EDR, whose customers include commercial and residential real estate professionals, environmental consultants, lenders, corporations, attorneys and government agencies, is also the creator of commonground (http://commonground.edrnet.com) – the first global, online community for property due diligence professionals. Established in 1991, EDR is headquartered in Milford, Connecticut with regional offices located throughout the United States. EDR is wholly owned by DMG Information Inc., the business information division of Daily Mail and General Trust, plc (DMGT). For more information, visit www.edrnet.com
Contact for EDR
Joe McGurk (203) 378-1152 x 121
jmcgurk@cjpcom.com
