Authoria Leads the Talent Management Revolution at Eighth Annual User Conference

Business Wire, April 19, 2006

WALTHAM, Mass. -- April Event Focuses on Future of Talent Management as a Strategic Business Initiative

Authoria, Inc., the leader in strategic talent management solutions, today announced that it will host its eighth annual Authoria User Conference (AUC) in Orlando, Florida, April 23-26. The premier user event attracts more than 300 customers, partners, and prospects each year. This year's theme, "The Talent Management Revolution," reflects the conference's focus on how forward-thinking organizations are using talent-management strategies and practices to transform human capital into a source of competitive advantage.

Keynote speaker and best-selling author Larry Winget will share his insights and principles on achieving success and leadership, and driving customer focus. His most recent book, Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life reached number-one on the Wall Street Journal business books list.

Among other featured speakers, Fred Alvarez, a Partner with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, will examine the implications of new government regulations for current business practices and processes. David Foster, Research Director of Human Capital Management at AberdeenGroup, will present the results of the firm's latest market-research survey.

"Sixty-four million workers are eligible to retire by 2010, representing 40 percent of the nation's workforce," said Tod Loofbourrow, president and CEO of Authoria. "We are definitely heading for a talent-gap crisis, which will require organizations both to find new sources of skilled workers and to better utilize the workers they already have. By bringing together leading human-resources executives from business and government at our annual conference, we are providing a venue for creative and innovative thinking on how to manage a company's most vital asset, its people. We're confident our customers, partners, and prospects will gain invaluable insight and we look forward to a very successful week."

This year's interactive sessions are designed to prepare attendees for the future of talent management. Authoria customers presenting include AHOLD/Stop & Shop, Carlson Companies, Compass Group, CUNA Mutual Group, JohnsonDiversey, MassMutual, Medtronics, Raytheon Company, Reuters, Safeway, and Wachovia. Discussions will address approaches to global talent management, and strategies for selecting best-in-class solutions that meet corporate requirements as well as human-resources demands. Specific sessions will focus on:

--"Our Talent Management Vision and Beyond" - Debby Kristiansen, Director of Global HR Systems, Amerada Hess

--"CUNA Mutual's Strategic Talent Management" - Barb Meyer, Senior Compensation Consultant, CUNA Mutual

--"Building a Business Case for Talent Management" - John Malanowski, Vice President, Talent Acquisition and Corporate HR, Raytheon Co.

--"Performance Designed to Move JohnsonDiversey Forward" - Debra Lake, Vice President of Global Organizational Effectiveness, and John Dreyer, HR Functional Manager, JohnsonDiversey Inc.

--"Compensation On-Demand" - Daniel Buffaloe, Compensation Team Lead, Wachovia, Inc.

The 2006 AUC is sponsored by Authoria partners including AON, CedarCrestone, Iconixx, Knowledge Infusion, Lominger, Novotus, Personnel Decisions International, and HRWorX LLC. For more information and a complete AUC conference agenda, please visit http://www.authoria.com/auc/.> About Authoria

Authoria(R) is the leading provider of strategic talent management solutions, helping employers increase the productivity of their workforce in driving their business strategy forward. In October 2005, Authoria beat three leading competitors at the HR Technology Conference Performance & Compensation Shootout. In addition, Authoria's products have been awarded Top Product of the Year by Human Resource Executive Magazine seven times, more than any vendor in the history of HR technology. Authoria(R) 2006 includes recruiting management, performance management, compensation management, succession planning, and benefit and policy communication, while providing just-in-time knowledge and coaching for managers and employees. Authoria's award-winning solutions have proven successful for more than 300 large employers, representing more than 10 million employees. Customer companies include Boeing, Pfizer, Reuters and Unocal. For more information, visit www.authoria.com.

Note to editors: Authoria and Authoria 2006 are registered trademarks of Authoria, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product names and references contained herein remain the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.