CHICAGO, IL, Jan. 31, 2007 -- University of Chicago students and alumni have created ZedZone.com -- a flexible platform on which Internet users can create their own group websites with ready-to-use features that can be customized, privatized, and personalized.

"The site was designed," said Mike Dolan, President and CEO of ZedZone.com, "to fill a need for people to be able to define their communities for themselves and create functionality-rich websites that can be tailored to each of those communities."

Dolan had worked as CTO of Chicago-based financial market analysis firm Briefing.com for 10 years before returning to school at the University of Chicago in 2004.

To join ZedZone.com, users fill out a brief form. They can then create "CommZones," group websites that are loaded with world-class functionality. CommZones include, among other features:

* A Forum: The communication center for a community where users can post or read announcements, have discussions or debates, create or vote in polls, and more.

* An Album: For sharing files of any kind (for example: photos, PDF files, Word documents, or Excel files).

* A Wiki: Allows users to create documents that can be edited multiple times, by multiple users, for the purpose of group collaboration or presentation.

* Mail: Users can broadcast messages to all members of a CommZone via e-mail or "ZedMail." ZedMail is a private messaging system for communication between ZedZone.com users.

"I can't imagine how I kept up with all my groups before ZedZone," said Betty Schweizer, a ZedZone.com user. "I will never go back to saving e-mails in one folder and pictures in another, or passing word documents back and forth for editing. Having everything in one place for sharing is not only convenient, but also creates a tangible group dynamic."

A CommZone can be created for any community or group, including: businesses or business organizations; schools, classes, alumni associations, or other school organizations; religious groups; teams or clubs; interest- based groups; event-planning committees; families or friends; or any other group with a common goal.

For more information, visit: http://www.ZedZone.com