HiveLive announced today that it is working with three new customers to provide uniquely branded and customized online communities.

“The heart and soul of each of these communities is unique,” said John Kembel, CEO of HiveLive. “The ability of the LiveConnect platform to support custom interactions and manage diverse memberships lets Blackboard, the Designers Accord and TrackVia build communities that are tuned to their needs and membership, which in turn drives participation and engagement.”

HiveLive’s LiveConnect platform is designed to facilitate genuine connections through custom-fit online customer communities. The platform’s Web 2.0 building blocks, or hives, can be configured as a familiar application — a blog, a wiki, or a forum — or as a custom application. This building block approach allows each community to grow organically and evolve as membership expands and changes.

Blackboard, a leading provider of educational enterprise technology, is set to announce the launch of its HiveLive-powered customer community at EDUCAUSE 2008, October 28-31. The effort will enable Blackboard to better connect and engage with individuals in its diverse community of practice, which includes representatives of universities, community colleges, K-12 schools and districts, and professional, corporate and government organizations that use the company’s Web-based teaching and learning solutions. Through the new platform, individuals and institutions will collaborate, share best practices, form local user groups, and highlight exceptional and innovative examples of teaching and learning from the global Blackboard community.

Jan Poston Day, senior director of client engagement at Blackboard, notes, “After an extensive search, HiveLive was the only provider to give us the flexibility we needed to support all of our different audiences with varying levels of access. Our new community site, Blackboard Connections^TM, will support a diverse and growing community of nearly 80 user groups worldwide.”

For the Designers Accord, a global not-for-profit coalition dedicated to sustainable design, the HiveLive LiveConnect platform provides a way to connect their community of more than 100,000 designers, educators, and corporate leaders from around the world. Members log onto the online community to share case studies, best practices, and other resources — with the goal of making positive social and environmental impacts through design.

“Our online community allows members to interact in the ways that suit them as designers and as individuals. And it will evolve as our needs change,” says Valerie Casey, founder of Designers Accord and head of digital experiences at design and innovation firm IDEO. “Plus, HiveLive helped us get off the ground fast — in about two weeks — and gave us invaluable strategic guidance as we set up the online platform.”

TrackVia’s setup was similarly speedy, with a launch in less than two weeks. The Denver-based online database company uses the HiveLive-powered community to enable a forum-like environment where customers can collaborate and share best practices. The community also allows TrackVia to engage its user base in a one-to-many format. It’s an approach that matches TrackVia’s online business model and extends its ability to connect with customers.

“Customer support and product development are two of our top priorities. The online community helps us excel at both,” comments Chris Basham, president of TrackVia. “HiveLive’s expertise in building communities puts us one step closer to the customer.”