ICCM, Canada's Most Comprehensive Call Centre Event, to be Held March 21 - 23, 2005 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Business Wire, Feb 10, 2005

NEWTON,Mass. -- Advanstar Technology Group

--Keynote speakers include Judy E. Nelson, first vice president of Merrill Lynch Global Private Client, and Dr. Jon Anton, director of benchmark research at Purdue University's Centre for Customer-Driven Quality

Advanstar Technology Group announced today that ICCM Canada, the largest and most comprehensive event for contact centre, customer care, and customer management professionals, will take place March 21 - 23, 2005 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Keynote speakers include Judy E. Nelson, first vice president of Merrill Lynch Global Private Client, and Dr. Jon Anton, director of benchmark research at Purdue University's Centre for Customer-Driven Quality. More than thirty content-rich sessions will focus on creating and managing the high-performance contact centre.

Formerly Call Centre Canada, ICCM Canada offers industry and technology experts numerous opportunities to learn about and discuss the transformation taking place in today's call centres. With topics ranging from the evolution of the multi-channel contact centre to the latest technologies paving the way for improved efficiency, effectiveness and return on investment, the ICCM Canada conference program delivers practical and actionable guidance.

Kerry Gumas, Vice President, Advanstar Technology Group, said, "As today's businesses extend across continents, channels and partners, the role of the call centre continues to evolve; as such, executives are seeking ways to leverage these important operation centres to increase revenues, slash costs and improve customer satisfaction. ICCM Canada provides more than 30 content-rich sessions about customer care, management and service, and gives attendees opportunities to share ideas with the industry's most visionary managers and leaders."

In the keynote address "The Journey to World-Class Call Centre Certification", Judy E. Nelson and Dr. Jon Anton will share a unique case study about how Merrill Lynch leveraged its call centre operations to become a world-class Centre of Excellence. Attendees will learn: how to determine where they are on the journey to becoming a Centre of Excellence; how best practice benchmarking makes the journey tractable, manageable, and achievable; and, the critical steps involved in the journey to certification. The keynote address will be held on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 9:15 am.

Judy E. Nelson has held various positions with Merrill Lynch for the past 24 years. Currently she manages the Direct Client Services Group that provides direct client support for all Client domestic retail, retirement and corporate sponsored products. Judy is an active member in the contact centre industry and has participated in numerous forums.

Dr. Jon Anton specializes in enhancing customer service strategy through inbound call centre, and e-business centres, using the latest in telecommunications (voice), and computer (digital) technology. He also focuses on using the Internet for external customer access, as well as Intranets and middleware.

To register for ICCM Canada or for more information, visit www.iccm.com or call 800-265-5665.

About Advanstar Communications Inc.

ICCM Canada is produced by Advanstar Technology Group, a division of Advanstar Communications, Inc (www.advanstar.com). Based in New York, NY, Advanstar is a worldwide business information company serving specialized markets with high quality information resources and integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 77 business magazines, 19 directories, 7 electronic publications, 54 tradeshows and 40 conferences, numerous Web sites, and a wide range of print and electronic direct marketing, database and reference products and services. Advanstar serves targeted market sectors including the automotive, beauty, e-learning, call centre, digital media, entertainment/ marketing, healthcare, fashion & apparel, pharmaceuticals, powersports, science, telecommunications and travel/ hospitality industries. The Company has roughly 1,500 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.