ADVANSTAR LAUNCHES NEW CONFERENCE; ENTERS INTO DEAL W/MEDIABRAINS.

Advanstar Communications (Santa Ana, CA) has launched "Collaborate 2002," a new trade show and conference for the enterprise collaboration field. The new show was held in Boston from June 25 to 27. Advanstar said the new show is the first annual industry event dedicated to educating professionals on the benefits of collaborative tools in the workplace.

The conference was developed in association with the Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA), an industry trade group for collaborative end-users and vendors. Advanstar said the conference was designed to provide a forum to educate companies on how they can enable their organizations to work together across multiple geographies, disciplines and responsibilities. Related Advanstar assets include the "Telecon Conference & Expo" and e-learning magazine.

In related news, MediaBrains (New York) has signed a contract with Advanstar to build 15 online "Buyer's Guides" for Advanstar this year. Some of the guides are already on Advanstar Web sites, including "AfterMarket Business," "Hotel & Motel Management," "FrontLine Solutions," "Landscape Management" and the "Official Travel Industry Directory." MediaBrains said it has 200 clients in the U.S. and Europe, including nine out of the top ten b-to-b publishers.