Just in time for the end of the olympics, the team at sports focused social networking platform, 3eep, have launched their own sports community social networking site, SportsPassion.

Powered by 3eep, SportsPassion will provide sporting teams with access to a free social network designed specifically to offer them a range of online team management and collaboration tools.

3eep’s traditional distribution model has been to partner with organisations such as media companies, advertisers and sporting codes. This has already seen them strike deals with distribution partners in Europe, North America and Australia.

SportsPassion complements 3eep’s existing distribution partnerships, and will enhance future partnerships, by acting as an innovation lab for new technologies and learnings, the most successful of which will be built back into the 3eep platform’s offerings.

In announcing the launch, 3eep’s COO, Nick Gonios said that SportsPassion will remain in beta for the foreseeable future and demonstrates 3eep’s support of local sporting communities around the world

Rob Antulov, CEO of 3eep, believes SportsPassion extends the company’s global distribution model and will assist 3eep to build on its capabilities in servicing grass roots sports communities via social media technology.

3eep’s business model centres on the distribution partnerships we put in place with a range of organisations who engage directly with their local sports communities.  Launching this new site on 3eep’s technology platform will enhance the services, insights and expertise we offer to all of our distribution partners, and to local sports participants

3eep already has distribution partners in Europe, North America and Australia and the SportsPassion brand will complement these and accelerate the acquisition of members and distribution partners in other geographies.”

I like this move a lot. First of all it shows that 3eep are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Secondly, by testing the waters for new initiatives they remove a lot of the adoption risk for their more traditional B2B partners. Thirdly, by doing what their partners will be doing they’re getting a first hand look at the issues their customers face on a daily basis.

As long as they’re able to ensure they don’t cannibalise their existing partners’ markets it’s a move that will only result in more growth for this already fast growing startup. Smart move from a really smart bunch of guys. Probably explains why they were named in the top 5 Aussie web 2.0 apps recently.

You can check out the site yourself at www.sportspassion.com

As you may or may not be aware, TechNation Australia is part of Open Web Asia (OWA) a network of leading tech blogs from all over Asia (and Australia )

Well, just over a week ago, OWA head honcho (and netvibes business development director) Gang Lu sent me an email with the great news that the Open Web Asia conference, which has been in planning for some time now, has finally be formally announced.

The event positions itself as “The first pan-Asia web technology event bringing together executives, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from throughout Asia” and will be on October 14 2008, Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, Seoul, Korea in association with the 9th World Knowledge Forum.

Below are details from the official press release:

Open Web Asia ‘08 marks the birth of a new conference that will be the first truly pan-Asia web technology event. Top technology executives, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists from throughout Asia will gather for this premier event to be hosted in Seoul, Korea in its inaugural year.

The event is organized by members of the Open Web Asia Workgroup and other prominent entrepreneurs, thinkers, and bloggers from within the Asian web industry. It was spurred by a desire to create a high quality, informative and practical technology conference focused on the Asian internet industry. To date this has been lacking.

Open Web Asia will be held in association with the World Knowledge Forum (WKF). The WKF has established itself as one of the most prestigious conferences in Asia with speakers and attendees such as Bill Gates, Colin Powell, Jack Welch, Alan Greenspan, Michael Dell, and Paul Wolfowitz.

The theme of the 2008 conference is ‘The Social Web’. Socialization has been a game changing development in the internet industry and the social web is an area where Asia has its own strength and vibrancy. Asian countries have a distinct internet cultures and market players, so informative and educational cross-country comparisons can be made.

The one day conference will be divided into four sessions focusing on the following key areas: Insights and Best Practices, Innovations in Asia; Collaboration - An Introduction to Asia’s Social Web; and East Meets West - The challenges of Internationalization To and From Asia. The topics were chosen as a platform for information, education and debate.

Confirmed speakers include some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people from the Asian internet industry and a selection of business leaders and thinkers from outside the region.

• Kevin Day (CEO, Comsenz) (China)
• Arthur Chang (VP of Global Sales, Alibaba) (China)
• Yongjoon Hyoung (CEO of StoryBlender & Founder of Cyworld) (Korea)
• Yongseok Jang (Senior Director, eBay Asia Pacific) (Korea)
• Yozo Kaneko (Director and COO of ngi group, inc.) (Japan)
• James W. Kim (CEO of Yahoo!’s Korea Region) (Korea)
• Jimmy Kim (Executive Vice President, Nexon Corp.) (Korea)
• Loic Le Meur (CEO, Seesmic) (USA)
• Ram Lee (Head of Communities, NHN Corporation (Naver)) (Korea)
• Kent Lindström (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Friendster) (USA)
• Shusaku Maruko (General Manager, Corporate Strategy Department, Felica) (Japan)
• Jean K. Min (Communications Director, Ohmynews) (Korea)
• Akio Tanaka (Partner, Infinity Ventures) (Japan)
• Bill Wang (VP of Overseas Business, Perfect World) (China)
• Andreas Weigend (Consultant & Lecturer; Former Chief Scientist of Amazon) (USA)
• Kwan Yoon (Partner, Bluerun Ventures) (USA)

This premier conference will offer web professionals from inside Asia and those from outside with an eye on the Asian web market an opportunity to learn, network and create business connections that will benefit both the regional and global internet industry.

If you’re going to be around Seoul on the 14th, you should definitley check this out. Well done to Gang and the team for putting together such a phenomenal line up on their first attempt.

For more information and registration please visit www.openwebasia.com