In addition to having a steller line up of customer presenters at JiveWorld, we also launched our 1st annual Jive SBS Awards.

Six customers were called out for their outstanding efforts in exemplifying the business outcomes that Social Business Software can generate during a main stage presentation at the event.

Checkout the winner highlights.

Business Impact – United Business Media, a global media company with brands such as PRNewswire and TechWeb, was selected for its community deployment of Jive SBS, and its role in the strategic vision of the company. UBM’s community is not simply an “after thought" for the organization, but has the support and attention of the company’s senior leadership. Within the first year of deployment, its community has grown to over 5,000 users, working in 35 countries; users have created around 25,000 pages and generated around 3 million page views and the results: greater efficiencies, cost reductions and revenue increases to the organization.

   UBM and Jivers presenting the award -- more photos coming to the JiveWorld community shortly

User Experience - NIKE, Inc. was selected for its innovative use of Jive to better connect its global network of marketers with the digital assets they need to drive the brand forward. Although NIKE has a sophisticated Content Management System (CMS) in place, it was difficult to navigate for marketers who weren't yet trained on the CMS application. By using Jive as a social layer above the CMS, NIKE marketers around the world can quickly access and share approved media assets in a single location.

Community Innovation – The National Journal Group, the leading source of non partisan reporting on the current political environment and emerging policy trends, was selected for its ground breaking 3121 platform, powered by Jive.  3121 is the first professional networking tool designed exclusively for members of congress and their senior staff, federal agency executives and government affairs professionals.

Community Adoption – CSC, a global leader in  providing technology-enabled solutions and services, was selected for the launch of its internal community "C3: Connect. Communicate. Collaborate."  Through the  tenacity, credibility and trustworthiness of those involved, the CSC team  secured a phenomenal level of executive endorsement from the onset and  established a clear linkage between its "enterprise 2.0" initiatives to the  company’s core business strategic objectives. Through enabling a strong global  advocate network and allowing collaboration patterns to emerge, C3 enjoyed viral  success in only 20 weeks, achieving 25,000 registered users, over 2000 new  groups and generating over 1 million page views a month.

Social Business Software Champion(s) – Two winners were selected in this category: Kaiser Permanente and Swiss Re.

• Kaiser Permanente's IdeaBook, powered by Jive, is an internal online community aimed at capitalizing on the strength of its 165,000 employees and 14,000  physicians by facilitating knowledge sharing and increasing collaboration  and productivity. IdeaBook's rising adoption among employees -- it's  adding more than 2,000 users per month -- has been made possible by the efforts of a dedicated and thoughtful communication and technology planning  team, key leader participation and advocacy efforts such as real life case studies and user anecdotes.
• Swiss Re operates  in more than 20 countries and provides its expertise and services as an  reinsurer for property and casualty as well as life and health business. Traditional reinsurance products are complemented by insurance-based corporate finance solutions.  Swiss Re took a community centric  approach to collaboration and provided a business platform for virtual  teams, expert networks, projects, learning groups and other communities. More than 10,000 employees got access to the tool and within two weeks after the launch, more than 130 new groups were created.

(You can also read the official press release.)

We've been talking about hosting a customer event for a couple years now, but for a variety of reasons we decided to hold off. We just didn't want to do an event unless it was going to be insanely great. Well, now we're ready.

All the pundits believe this is the year for Enterprise 2.0. At Jive, we know it. We have seen first hand the transformational returns on investment from companies that are embracing social business software. The revolution has started: employees are demanding a new way to work, boards are demanding more efficient organizations, and customers and partners are demanding a voice. There's no doubt in our minds that 2009 is a turning point for how work gets done in the enterprise.

But this tipping point remains largely an abstract concept when you've got your own deployment to consider. And we're no exception. At Jive, we practice what we preach and have always strived for one world in which everyone has a voice, whether you're an employee, customer, prospect or partner, and that this cacaphony of voices helps us build a better product, make smarter decisions and form deep connections where none would have existed before. But as much as we love our software, we know that this can't all be done online and in fact, SBS can be amplified when augmented with face to face connections. So I can only imagine what's in store when we all come together to learn from each other, share ideas and best practices and form those connections.  At JiveWorld09. Together.

Judging from how hard everyone at Jive is working on this event, I can tell it's going to be a conference experience unlike any other, and well worth your time.

I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco this October.

We've created this community to help you connect with Jive customers and product experts before, during, and after the live event. It's a year-round experience. Use this group to:

• Network with industry peers, product experts, and thought leaders to get the most out of Jive SBS.
  
• Keep up-to-date with conference news & announcements via the community blog.
• Access conference powerpoints, videos, and more as they are made available in the documents section.
  
• Make this YOUR conference -- what do you want to see? (We also took a customer survey.)

What else would you like to see in this community? Just drop a comment below and we'll get to it...