NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Alan Shulman, DCI Media Relations
(508) 470-3870

Release Date: July 24, 1997

21st Century Tools and Strategies To Be Spotlighted
At DCI’s Sales Force Automation Conference and Expo

Trade Show To Feature Industry Experts; Tom Peters Will Keynote

Andover, MA -- Over 10,000 persons are expected to attend DCI’s Sales Force Automation Conference and Exposition at New York’s Javits Convention Center, July 29-31, the world’s premier event focusing on sales and marketing automation technologies, tools, and strategies.

On the roster of leading-edge products being demonstrated at the show are the newest Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), the world’s smallest and lightest printer, and the most powerful laptop computers. Also on the conference agenda will be sessions dealing with selling on the Internet, the industry’s most current sales management technique. More than 100 of the world’s leading technology companies will offer live demonstrations of the newest automation solutions.

The conference will feature presentations by best-selling authors Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence), and Al Ries (Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It). Mr. Peters’ presentation, The Pursuit of WOW, scheduled for Wednesday, July 30, at 9:45 a.m., will provide advice on how to succeed in today’s constantly changing business world. Mr. Ries, who will speak at 2 p.m. on July 30, will address the issue of the focusing of a company’s branding, citing examples such as BMW (driving), Coca-Cola (cola), and Federal Express (overnight), among others.

The DCI event will include more than 100 educational sessions, including the chief executive officers of many of the world’s leading sales automation companies. Keynote presentations will be delivered by Mary Coleman, President and CEO, Aurum Software; Curtis Faith, Founder and Chairman, Borealis Technology Corp.; Tom Siebel, Chairman and CEO, Siebel Systems, Inc.; Barton Goldenberg, Conference Co-Chair, President, ISM, Inc.; and Tim Bajarin, Conference Co-Chair, President, Creative Strategies, Inc.

Two all-new tracks dedicated to the importance of using the Internet as a strategic sales and marketing tool have been incorporated into the conference agenda. The Net: A One-to-One Selling Vehicle will present the latest Internet marketing and sales techniques developed to help companies generate more sales by meeting the specific needs of their specific customers and prospects on a personal basis. Internet Technologies That Empower Marketing and Sales will provide an insight into the new and emerging technologies that will enable businesses to realize the vast sales and marketing potential on the Internet.

DCI and Sales and Marketing Management magazine will co-sponsor the Sales Management Conference and Expo that will run concurrently with DCI’s Sales Force Automation Conference, and will include more that 40 in-depth sessions within the following four highly focused tracks: Sales Leadership Strategies; Marketing Tools and Solutions; Motivation and Training; and Managing the Impact of Technology.

Also running concurrently with DCI’s Sales Force Automation Conference will be DCI’s Data Warehouse World, the leading data warehouse conference and exposition, featuring an all-new conference agenda and more than 100 educational sessions.

DCI is the largest U.S.-based producer of information technology conferences, trade shows, and expositions, and a leading worldwide provider of high-technology education and management consulting. DCI’s next Sales Force Automation Conference and Exposition will be held at the San Jose, CA, Convention Center, September 16-18, 1997.