Social Networking Watch

FBI's Special Agent Joins College Tonight

PRESS RELEASE -- May 6 -- College Tonight has brought renowned and respected crimefighter John Douglas onto its board of advisors. During his 25-year career in the FBI, Douglas pioneered the modern techniques in psychological profiling and behavioral science now used by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States; his expertise will help guide the use of technological tools being created and implemented by College Tonight to make it the safest and most private network of its kind. FULL ARTICLE @ PR INSIDE

Lauren Conrad Partners With College Tonight

BUSINESS WIRE -- Apr 24 -- "The Hills" star joins College Tonight as a national spokesperson. College Tonight is an online community and networking platform for the college market, founded to promote social activity in the real world, away from the computer. "Lauren has one of the most mature brands in young Hollywood and is a positive role model for young adults," said Zachary R. Suchin, CEO of College Tonight. FULL ARTICLE @ SYS CON MEDIA

The Student Entrepreneurs

SPLURGE MAGAZINE -- Fall 2007 -- A study by the Entrepreneurship Monitor reveals that the US has a higher business start-up rate within the 19-24-year-old age range than among 35-44 year olds. 30 to 40% of young entrepreneurs are successful. The Emory University Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth provides a foundation for entrepreneurs to launch new ventures through conversation, special events and access to resources, says co-president Jason Schutzbank. With Zach Suchin (class of 2006) Shutzbank created College Tonight, a social network for college nightlife. "The real obstacle for us was lack of funding. It took us nearly year to secure funding", said Schutzbank.

Get On, Get Up And Get Out - CollegeTonight.com

THE MIAMI HURRICANE -- Apr 3 - CollegeTonight allows students to gather information about events, nightlife and promotions within the campus and community. All college students are eligible to make an account with their college e-mail address for no charge. Bars and nightclubs pay $50 a month to have access to a campus. They advertise, post events and blogs on the site. FULL ARTICLE @ THE MIAMI HURRICANE

College Tonight Helps Students Get Away From Their Computers

CHICAGO FLAME -- Mar 31 -- CollegeTonight.com helps college students get information about social events and activities that are happening on campus and around their area. In addition to events, the website also offers promotions for events exclusively to college students throughout the week. CollegeTonight teamed up with mobile provider Jangl and offers a 'drunk dial' feature that allows members to leave a complimentary drunk voicemail to a friend with the power to take it back whenever they want. FULL ARTICLE @ CHICAGO FLAME

Entrepreneurs Think Niche With New Social Networks

MIAMI HERALD -- Feb 5 -- SplashVision.com is a social network for people who work and play on the water. Can this new site be successful with so many other established social networks in cyberspace? Mark Brooks, editor of Social Networking Watch, said it's ''very difficult'' for social networks to be successful, unless it is a niche or does something very different. There is a growth of smaller, more focused social networks popping up. And there's especially a need for one to target the original Facebook users -- a college-only audience", Brooks said. "At some point, students are not going to want to hang out where their mothers are.'' Collegetonight.com is trying to be just that, but with a twist. It's more about letting your real-life college entourage know where everyone is hanging out. ''It's not about being a social networking site,'' said Zachary R. Suchin, chief executive of College Tonight. "It's about a social network.'' FULL ARTICLE @ MIAMI HERALD

College Tonight Is Expanding

BUSINESS WIRE -- Jan 23 -- College Tonight will be expanding its social networking community to students at 51 additional colleges. Currently the service is available to students at 63 schools, and unlike other social networks, fosters real-world activities by providing information about nightlife, campus and community events and connecting students by encouraging them to "Get On, Get Up and Get Out". FULL ARTICLE @ TRADING MARKETS

College Tonight Taps Rogers & Cowan for National Expansion

BUSINESS WIRE -- Jan 8 -- College Tonight has selected Rogers & Cowan, the entertainment public relations and marketing agency, to provide strategic planning and media relations in the technology, business and consumer sectors. College Tonight is an interactive service and networking platform for the college market, targeting both active students and alumni. FULL ARTICLE @ FOX BUSINESS

New Speakers Announced For Social Networking Conference

PRESS RELEASE -- Jan 2 -- Imbee founder and CEO Jeanette Symons, and College Tonight CEO Zachary Suchin will be speaking at the fifth annual Social Networking Conference (socialnetworkingconference.com). Both Symons and Suchin will participate in a panel discussion entitled, "Growing up on Social Networks". The Social Networking Conference takes place in Miami, Florida on January 31 to February 1. Topics will include new technologies, revenue models for social networking, mobile, venture capital, social networking and online personals marketing, social networking software, online personals software, global business strategies, partnerships, legal issues and payments. FULL ARTICLE @ THE WHIR

Mark Brooks: (Full Disclosure, College Tonight is a client of Courtland Brooks). I'll be moderating this panel.  Please leave questions you'd like me to ask the panelists as a comment under this post.

College Tonight Partners With Jangl

USA TODAY -- Dec 6 -- College Tonight, a social network designed to promote social interactivity among college students to offer Jangl which will allow students to talk and text without revealing phone numbers. Jangl is developing a new feature specific to the College Tonight, a tool that recalls voicemails that have already been sent. This functionality has been dubbed "drunk dials". FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Make A Date With College Tonight

BOSTON -- Dec 6 -- "Get On, Get Up, Get Out." is a motto of College Tonight, an events-centered social network for students. The site is currently available in the Boston area to students at Boston College, Harvard, MIT, Emerson, Northeastern, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Brandeis, Harvard, Tufts, and Boston University. Starting a profile requires an e-mail address with an ".edu" ending. An interactive mobile plan is coming. FULL ARTICLE @ BOSTON

College Tonight Raises $1.6 Million

PR NEWSWIRE -- Nov 29 -- College Tonight, a social network for students focused on socializing and nightlife, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simex Technologies Inc, whose common stock is traded on the pink sheets. Simex issued College Tonight shareholders a total of 2,412,800 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. As a part of the transaction, before and at closing of the merger, College Tonight raised $1,639,500 in equity capital in private placements to accredited investors. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY

Getalife Urges Aussies To Get A Life

IT NEWS -- Nov 16 -- Getalife, an Australian-based online social networking site, is encouraging its users to get out and actually meet with their online friends. Getalife connect people to meet for a real cup of coffee or game of soccer. Getalife's calendar now features around 250 upcoming events across Australia's capital cities. FULL ARTICLE @ IT NEWS

Mark Brooks: College Tonight offer that as part of their mantra also. 'Get on, get up, get out!' Get a life, in short. (Disclosure: College Tonight is a client of Courtland Brooks)

Buddy University, Facebook With "Babes"

PRESS RELEASE -- Oct 29 -- As if college students needed a specific reason to party, BuddyUniversity.com is throwing a launch parties Indiana State students along with Ball State, Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame. Festivities include a "BuddyBabe" contest. BuddyUniversity.com is a social networking site restricted to users with an .edu email address. The site offers blogging, video and picture uploads, forums and rewards. FULL ARTICLE @ PR COMPASS

Mark Brooks: Buddy University, College Tonight and College.com all are competing for some of Facebook's market share, since Facebook opened up to the world. College Tonight (my client), has thrown launch parties around the country including in New York and California and has a big new announcement for next Tuesday.  Watch this space.  Press can call me at         212-444-1636        for the story on embargo. So far CollegeTonight.com has raised $2 million. 

College Tonight Continues To Promote Student Nightlife

DAILY NEXUS -- Oct 18 -- College Tonight, a social networking site for college students, plans to get students away from the computer and into the nightclub. The service includes something the other networking sites don’t have – the ability to meet online friends in person. The company considers the protection its users a priority and includes several privacy settings and standards to ensure that. FULL ARTICLE @ DAILY NEXUS

College Tonight Hosts An Evening At The Graduate

MUSTANG DAILY -- Oct 17 -- Wednesday night, College Tonight will continue the West Coast leg of its Disorientation Tour at The Graduate in San Luis Obispo, California. The event is being hosted by Trisha, one of the stars of MTV’s “The Real World: Sydney”, and is intended to introduce attendees to the new social networking site for college students which goes beyond the dorm room chair. FULL ARTICLE @ MUSTANG DAILY

Simex Technologies To Acquire College Tonight

PR NEWSWIRE -- Oct 16 -- On Friday, Simex Technologies announced that it entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with College Tonight and expects all conditions to be satisfied for a closing by October 31st. College Tonight, an online social network for college students, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simex. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY

How Many Social Networks Does A College Student Need?

INDIANA DAILY STUDENT -- Oct 8 -- On College.com, students can upload courses, rate and comment on professors, and create flashcards. Fraternities and sororities also can build group chapters and use a chapter-based messaging system. Future enhancements, like live chat, are creating excitement for some students, whereas others think the whole college niche already has been filled. FULL ARTICLE @ INDIANA DAILY NEWS

Mark Brooks: College Tonight (a client of Courtland Brooks) is the latest addition, and is focused on student nightlife. 

Get On, Get Up, Get Out

BOSTON HERALD -- Oct 5 -- CollegeTonight, which officially launched last Thursday, is attempting to take social networking to the next level by encouraging college students to get out from behind their computers and socialize off-line. Each college has a free online network where students can plan events and research what’s happening on campus and at nearby bars, clubs, and restaurants. FULL ARTICLE @ BOSTON HERALD

NOSO And Wannago Opposite Ends Of Social Spectrum

CNBC -- Aug 28 -- NOSO is an anti-social networking site, where users can "temporarily disengage" from socializing by meeting at non-events and not talking to each other. Wannago (formerly MatchActivity), on the other hand, is MeetUp meets Match meets Facebook. Like NOSO, users connect in real life. Unlike NOSO, they actually interact. FULL ARTICLE @ CNBC

Mark Brooks: College Tonight launches later in September and will help students get off their computer to go and socialize.