ELC Technologies Helps Launch Sweety High, New Social Media Site for Tween Girls

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Leading Software Developer Combines Cloud Computing and Agile Development to Create Scalable, Multimedia Social Media Site as Proof of Concept

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (March 15, 2010) – ELC Technologies (www.elctech.com), the creative team behind some of the most successful interactive web applications for Global 2000 companies, has been working with Sweety High to launch SweetyHigh.com, the new social media web site for “tween” and teen girls. Sweety High is the most advanced social media application of its kind, combining an innovative social networking platform with original content and social games. Thanks to ELC’s use of the latest web application development techniques and a cloud computing deployment strategy, SweetyHigh.com was up quickly with a robust proof-of-concept site.

Using ELC’s Core software library and agile development process, the ELC Technologies engineering team was able to help Sweety High founders Veronica Zelle and Frank Simonetti realize their vision of a new kind of online destination for tween girls. Sweety High offers quality, original content for the tween demographic, including a unique approach to online networking in an environment that functions as a social game, including allowing users to earn virtual currency that can be spent on items in the “Sweety Store.” The Sweety High site also includes a new interactive web series, “Sweety,” which follows four girlfriends through their high school experience.

“We have created the most advanced web application for this demo, bar none,” said Simonetti. “It’s a one-stop social media destination developed specifically for tween girls; one part Facebook, one part Farmville, and one part YouTube, but more private and boutique. With the help of ELC, we have created a web experience that is very rich and robust. We hope to attract millions of girls, and we don’t want Web performance to be an issue.”

Simonetti was particularly impressed with ELC’s ability to not only deliver working web applications, but with the developers’ insights in the user interface design and interface capabilities. “They definitely made the product better,” he said. Simonetti also notes that ELC helped eliminate much of the risk of a start-up by providing a cohesive development strategy and managing the necessary cloud computing assets.

ELC Technologies’ team are experts in cloud computing. Using Ruby, Rails, and agile software development techniques, ELC shortens time-to-launch and provide out-of-the-box scalability for new web applications. Deploying applications using Amazon Web Services (AWS) greatly reduces capital costs for new ventures and enabling elastic scaling for when ventures succeed. In fact, ELC has worked with the largest platform clients to harness AWS to test new commercial applications and scale successful brand websites.

About Sweety High
Sweety High was created by Veronica Zelle and Frank Simonetti. Veronica Zelle has been a thought-leader in the entertainment field for the past 20 years, producing videos and commercials for the tween and teen demographic. Clients include: Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Celine Dion, Nike, Coke, and Toyota. Most recently, she sold a television show about youth culture to HBO.

Frank Simonetti has over 18 years experience as a writer and director in the motion picture industry, having created film and TV projects for Warner Brothers, Fox Studios, Maverick, and Appian Way, among others. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Frank spent five years in New York working in fine art and graphic design, completing campaigns for clients that include Calvin Klein, New Line Cinema, and DKNY.
About ELC Technologies
Founded in 1991, ELC Technologies (www.elctech.com) delivers the value of next-generation Web technologies to today's businesses, harnessing the power of mobile applications, cloud computing, and software as a service (SaaS). ELC Technologies' leadership in agile software development processes has brought success to business-critical implementations for clients ranging from Cisco to Tribune Interactive to LiveNation. The company is a worldwide leader in Ruby on Rails development and has pioneered dynamic language development across multiple platforms. Short iterations, demos early and often, and constant client communication regarding vision and progress are all part of the ELC promise and what makes them such a valuable development partner for Global 2000 companies.
ELC Technologies is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

Contact:

Tom Woolf
Woolf Media & Marketing
(415) 259-5638
tomw@woolfmedia.com