Talk:Vocus (software)/Archives/2013

PRWeb Section

The first sentence in the PRWeb section of the topic reads, "In August 2006, Vocus acquired PRWeb,[3] an online press release distribution service that contains social media functionality such as the ability to Digg the article or bookmark it with Del.icio.us." This may be a semantic point, but it seems as though Vocus is the subject of this statement and may warrant being included in the Vocus section of the topic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vocus (talk • contribs) 17:13, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Good resource on PRWeb

There is a very informative interview with David McInnis, creator of PRWeb, on the Search Engine Guide Web site. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vocus (talk • contribs) 17:13, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

New draft for this article

Hi, in case anyone is watching this page, I'm posting here to note that I have written a new draft for this article and am looking for editors to review it. As I've written the draft on behalf of Vocus, I'd like to have impartial editors check that it is non-promotional, neutral and otherwise meets Wikipedia's guidelines, and ultimately move the draft live once it is ready.

The current article is not in the best shape:

• Two sections are timeline-like lists of events
• Most information in the article has no citation to support it
• Details throughout are out of date
• The Products and services section sounds very promotional and the only citation is a link directly to the Vocus website

The draft I've written aims to address these issues and overall provide a better summary of key information about the company and its services. Major differences between my draft and the current article:

• The details regarding PR Web are not in their own section, but in my draft are summarized under Products and services, along with descriptions of the company's other service brands.
• The History section is developed into a more detailed overview of the company's notable developments and is separated under three subheadings: Early history, 2000s and Recent history from 2010.
• I have added a new Corporate overview section in my draft to include information about the company's leadership and locations.

If any editors reading this are able to, I'd really appreciate you reviewing the draft, which is in my userspace here: User:16912_Rhiannon/Vocus

Please don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions or feedback on the draft. Feel free to make edits in the draft or let me know if you think that changes are needed before it is ready to be moved live. Thanks, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 21:52, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I removed some big chunks that were not NPOV.

1. This is a direct link to the company itself: VocusConsulting www.vocus.com/content/prprofessional.asp |title=Consulting Services |work=vocus.com |publisher=Vocus
2. Can't use PRWeb, as it is a fully owned subsidiary of Vocus. Violates NPOV.
3. This is tentative, says that Vocus PLANS to build new office, not that it did: Vocus to Build Premier Work Destination with New Headquarters Office Location www.dailyfinance.com/rtn/pr/vocus-to-build-premier-work-destination-with-new-headquarters-office-location/rfid316420610/
4. This article only describes intent, not fact. It says "Beltsville-based technology company is on track to hire around 500 people this year at its headquarters and other locations. And it intends to hire at least 200 more..." Vocus tackles digital marketing, hires hundreds |author=Gus G. Sentementes articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-10-13/business/bs-bz-vocus-hiring-beltsville-20121013_1_market-share-social-media-search-engine

I added financial info, other content.--FeralOink (talk) 19:40, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your review Feral Oink. Just to clarify, I see that you made the following edits:

• Edit one: removing the PRWeb source for the headquarters; removing information on the headquarters being built as a replica of Seaside, Florida and its amenities; adding "president and chairman of the board" to details about CEO Rick Rudman; changing revenue info to be more exact and compare 2011 to 2010, rather than 2011 with 2005.
• Edit two: removing the source linking to the "Consulting services" page for the Vocus website that supported the detail about IT consulting services; removing the press release used as a source for acquisition of Datapresse.

I totally understand the edits to remove the PRWeb source for the headquarters, but I'm a bit confused about your point above relating to the Baltimore Sun article. If you scroll down you'll see the Sun article says: "The company employs 1,200 people worldwide, including 700 in Beltsville." also "Rudman demonstrated the company's bold ambitions last year, when Vocus spent $12 million on a new 93,000-square-foot headquarters building, which was modeled after the town of Seaside, Fla." Both of these details are reported as fact. Using this source, would you be able to add back the detail about the headquarters? Thanks, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 22:47, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

The section about a 93,000 square foot headquarters building modeled after the town of Seaside, Florida is excessively promotional. It was reported by a Baltimore Sun business writer, not an architect! The Baltimore Sun business writer, Mr. Gus Sentementes, wrote a fine and honest post. I only removed that single reference to it, about the Seaside extravaganza. As for the actual worker count, I don't believe that I changed that. The Baltimore Sun reports current and intended hiring. If I accidentally removed the current headcount, I apologize.

In the future, please remember that it is not appropriate to compare 2005 revenue with 2011 revenue for a publicly listed company. Every year was available, and yearly comparisons are meaningful, whereas a single percentage spanning six years is not.

There are many facts omitted from this Vocus article, such as a controversies section. For example, all the other officers of the company have sold their shares according to the Hoover's entry that you linked to. Similarly, I can not find any indication of any other management, board members or other executives associated with this company, besides Mr. Rudman. I would suggest adding something e.g. the Chief Financial Officer or Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Rudman is already CEO, Chairman of the Board and President.

Finally, you need to provide some citations regarding the other locations in the U.S.A. and overseas. Some do appear on the footers of the Vocus (or Vocus owned) website, but many do not.

This was not an easy task, to write up an entry for Vocus. They've been in existence for a long time, were primarily established as a political lobbying (PAC) service provider, and are trying to transition from, or diversify/ expand from that role, insofar as I can tell. That is a sound business strategy, but it is very complicated to write about it, as the company was privately held from 1992 (or earlier) through 2005. I am sympathetic to the difficulties involved in writing this article! --FeralOink (talk) 13:10, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi Feral Oink, thanks for your detailed feedback here. Regarding the Baltimore Sun article, I just wasn't sure what you were saying there, but I do understand about the detail on the headquarters, it's fine by me to remove if you felt it was too promotional. Thanks for your explanation about the revenues, I was basing the wording on what I'd read in a source and I can definitely appreciate that having each year is preferred.

For other executives, by all means, please add a few other folks:

• James Bruno, Senior Vice President Here's the citation:

<ref>{{cite news |title=In Prince George's, marketing veteran James Bruno joins Vocus |author=Lindsey Robbins |url=http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/01072011/businew183038_32534.php |work=Gazette.net |date=7 January 2011 |accessdate=2 May 2013}}</ref>

• This source has Mark Heys, Chief Technology Officer; Holly Paul, Chief Human Resources Officer; and Stephen A Vintz, Exec VP/CFO/Treasurer/Secy. Here's the citation to add:

<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/VOCS:US |title=Vocus Inc |date= |work=Bloomberg |publisher= |accessdate=2 May 2013}}</ref>

Regarding controversies, when I was researching this article, I didn't come across much in the way of controversies. If you think the issue of selling stocks should be included, maybe it could go in the History section somewhere? What do you think? Also, I should note that the Hoover's source was added by another editor, and I'm not able to view the full details so I'm not sure exactly what it says on this issue.

For office locations, I've been looking for sources and found the following:

• The Vocus website's "Contact Us" page notes the offices in Beltsville, London (UK), Herndon, VA, Morrisville, NC and Manila (Philippines), although I'm not sure if you feel like this can be used as a citation.
• The Hoover's source currently in the article states "Vocus has offices in North America, Europe, and Asia" so can be used to support that information in the introduction.
• This San Francisco Business Journal article is a more recent citation for the offices in Herndon, VA and London. Here's the citation to add:

<ref>{{cite news |title=Vocus buys Facebook app firm North Social for $7M |author= |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2011/02/25/vocus-buys-facebook-app-firm-north.html |work=San Francisco Business Journal |date=25 February 2011 |accessdate=2 May 2013}}</ref>

• I can't locate (non-Vocus / PRWeb) sources to confirm the other U.S. locations, so feel free to go ahead and remove those.

Finally, regarding the logo—as with many company logos—it is copyrighted but can be used on Wikipedia under a "fair use" rationale. When I uploaded the image, I provided the required fair use rationale, so it should be good to go. Again, I really appreciate your help here and thanks for all your feedback, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 13:05, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Quick request: logo and 2 small edits

Hi, as I explained above, I wrote a new draft for this article on behalf of Vocus. The draft was reviewed by several editors, one of whom moved it live earlier this week. I would like to ask if an editor watching this page could make a couple of small edits, concluding my requests here.

1. My first request is very straightforward: Can someone add the company's logo to the infobox? I have uploaded this here File:Vocus_logo.png

2. Secondly, before they moved the draft live, User:Funandtrvl asked if I would add the most recent revenue and references for details in the infobox. However the article was taken live before I was able to do this and I would prefer not to edit the article myself due to my COI. I've provided the reference and detail to add on Funandtrvl's user page; if they're not able to make this addition, please can someone make these two edits? Here is the info:

• The company's full year revenue for 2012 was reported as $170.8 million.
• The following reference supports the year the company was founded, headquarters location, Rick Rudman as CEO, product types, number of employees: <ref name=Sentementes>{{cite news |title=Vocus tackles digital marketing, hires hundreds |author=Gus G. Sentementes |url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-10-13/business/bs-bz-vocus-hiring-beltsville-20121013_1_market-share-social-media-search-engine |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=13 October 2012 |accessdate=24 January 2013}}</ref>

Done by Funandtrvl. 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 14:37, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks again to the three editors who reviewed the draft: Rouenpucelle, Funandtrvl and FeralOink. I hope someone is able to make these edits, let me know if you have any questions. 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 23:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I've added the revenue statistics and the relevant ref. --Funandtrvl (talk) 03:51, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks so much! Would you also be able to add the logo to the infobox? 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 14:37, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Added logo. --Funandtrvl (talk) 19:18, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, Funandtrvl, really appreciate your help. 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 20:07, 2 May 2013 (UTC)