Case Studies: MonthlyBuzz.com

Prior to the creation of MonthlyBuzz.com, young adults everywhere were forced to hunt through newspapers or work the grapevine to find worthwhile things to do in their cities, but now they can have all the latest social news delivered to their email boxes just by logging on to the Internet.

Founded in 1996, MonthlyBuzz.com is a leading online social service for young adults. Primarily targeting professionals from the age of 21 to 35, MonthlyBuzz.com delivers social news to subscribers through a free email newsletter and their web site. Features include monthly event listings, bar scene news, social highlights and an extensive database of online photos from premier local events and venues.

In 1998, the number of subscriptions to MonthlyBuzz.com's email newsletters surpassed 10,000. This continually increasing number of subscriptions was more than MonthlyBuzz.com could handle. As a result, they decided to search for an outsourced email list management solution that could host their newsletters. "At that time, we were not ready to devote the resources necessary to administer email newsletters of that size on our own server," explained Lauren MacDonald, President of MonthlyBuzz.com.

"We wanted to be sure that the outsourced solution we chose could efficiently manage our increasing newsletter memberships, while dealing with bounces that become more apparent with larger lists," said MacDonald. "At the same time, it was also imperative that all of our subscribers' information be kept private and secure. We basically required a scalable, efficient, reliable and secure software solution."

After evaluating several vendors, MonthlyBuzz.com concluded their search by selecting L-Soft's EASE^SM email list hosting service. MacDonald stated, "We were confident that L-Soft's servers would be completely dependable and that L-Soft's LISTSERV software, used by their hosting services, would provide the functionality, reliability and security that we required."

MonthlyBuzz.com currently has three email newsletters hosted by EASE that service the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Delaware beach areas. The total number of subscriptions to these lists is approximately 50,000. "We are very happy with the service that L-Soft provides," said MacDonald. "Thanks to LISTSERV, subscribers can easily keep up-to-date with all the latest local social news, and we don't have to dedicate extra resources on managing the lists ourselves."

Within the next year, MonthlyBuzz.com intends to expand their email newsletter service by entering new markets and possibly adding some advanced features to their web site. MacDonald said, "We feel very comfortable that this essential part of our business is being maintained efficiently and securely. This has given us the ability to expand into new markets."

Lists for Philadelphia and Boston have already been established. "While these lists are still small, and do not yet require hosting, we know that they will grow quickly. We will then add them to the lists we already host using EASE services," explained MacDonald.

MonthlyBuzz.com is now considering licensing LISTSERV software and running it on their own server. "We are certain that we will receive the technical and customer service support that we require in order to help us make this transition seamlessly," emphasized MacDonald. "We are always confident that with L-Soft's solutions, our email operations are working as they should be."

Case study written in April 2001 with the assistance of Lauren MacDonald, President, MonthlyBuzz.com.

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