Slate has launched “The People’s Inaugural Address,” a collaborative, interactive feature that lets users compose, edit and vote for the speech they would want President-Elect Barack Obama to give at his inauguration. Guided by a database of inaugural addresses from past presidents, users will be able to select favorite phrases from previous inaugural speeches and use their own words to create an ideal address.

Powered by cutting-edge technology from MixedInk, “The People’s Inaugural Address” is more than a wiki since it allows anyone to write, remix and rate speeches while synthesizing a variety of opinions to determine the most popular. Slate will feature the top-rated speeches, and visitors can search for other user-generated speeches by author or phrases.

Users can create, edit, remix and rate inaugural addresses now through January 16, when Slate will highlight the top-rated speeches and ask users to cast final votes for their favorite ones. On January 19, Slate will publish the top-rated address that is truly of, by, and for the people.

Originally posted on January 6, 2009 @ 4:19 pm

TheKnot.com closed the year end 2008 with its highest number of new registered members in the company’s history.

The Knot posted membership increases over the previous year of more than 40% for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2008 for an overall increase of 12 percent for the year. This is the highest number of new members on record for the company.

With a combined annual membership base of 1.9 million new registered members across their wedding brands, The Knot captures the names, email addresses and wedding dates of the vast majority of the 2.2 million couples getting married in the US. Despite the recent economic downturn, brides and grooms continue to plan for significant wedding, gifting and home-related purchases in 2009.

Pageviews for the site also increased 11% over 2007, while time spent on the site increased 13% over the prior year. These numbers demonstrate that, despite growing online competition the site continues to increase user engagement with this incredibly loyal user base. TheKnot.com maintains its position as the unparalleled leader in the online wedding category.

The company attributes this year’s success to its investment in new platforms and system upgrades, along with a strong increase in rich and interactive features, like enhanced video and new planning tools.

Originally posted on January 5, 2009 @ 11:05 am

UpDown.com, the online community that allows young people to practice investing, has partnered with Young Money to power YoungMoney.com’s “Stock Market Game.”

The Young Money “Stock Market Game” features real-time trading simulation and multiple contests. Beginning investors can practice stock market trading, compete with friends and investors, and even win real money.

UpDown.com is a free community for investors that allows members to practice trading in a lifelike brokerage simulation. By participating in the community, UpDown.com members learn the ins and outs of Wall Street by investing $1,000,000 in virtual money. UpDown.com also provides a platform for investors to improve their financial analysis skills by sharing stock tips with other members.

Originally posted on December 29, 2008 @ 4:12 pm