CLECexpo Fall 2000 Successfully Concludes as the Leading Event and Forum for CLECs.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

CLEC Expo Fall 2000

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2000

Penton Media's (NYSE:PME) CLECexpo Fall 2000, the leading event for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers, played host last week to over 1,700 industry insiders and market leaders in the competitive telecommunications industry.

CLECexpo Fall 2000 took place at the Adam's Mark Hotel, Denver, September 12-14, 2000.

"CLECexpo Fall 2000's keynote addresses by the Colorado Secretary of Technology, Marc Holtzman; Tim Burke of Qwest Communications and Catherine Hapka, chairman and CEO of Rhythms Netconnections, gave participants a view of the industry from the public sector, an incumbent carrier deploying in local markets and a national broadband provider," said Todd Judd Erickson, conference chairman. "Our educational sessions featured speakers from the FCC, startup communications and equipment providers and competitive access providers who shared their real-life experiences."

CLECexpo Fall 2000 hosted numerous educational conference sessions and conference attendees had high praise. "The trends in the CLEC arena are nicely summarized at this show and the look at the future ahead is compelling," stated Linda Lukaszka, Lucent Technologies Sales Director. "The quality of the the CLECexpo conference cuts to the chase, there's not a lot of sales hype." George Pfenenger, veteran conference attendee and president and CEO of Columbia, MO-based Socket Communications, an ISP evolving into a CLEC, concurred. "The CLEC Access to Cable/Telephony was topical as it covered the ever-changing FCC laws. I could have spent three hours listening to this informative session and I attend many shows."

Exhibitors successfully targeted their customers as well: "Samsung is a big name but we're a small telecommunications group," noted Al Ramirez, public network sales manager. "CLECexpo creates a level playing field for us -- we're not competing in a circus-like atmosphere. "CLECexpo is fantastic for us," commented Jerome Lozaw, vp of sales for Netrail, an Atlanta-based tier one Internet backbone provider. "If one or two leads work out, it will pay 4-6 times over. We weren't sure how this would play out but it is the perfect show for us. A lot of our partners are here as well." Sharon Rhodes, tradeshow manager for Boulder, CO-based Carrier Access added: "The quality of attendees was top notch. We came away with significant business opportunities."

CLECexpo Fall 2000 brought together key players and vendors that serve the burgeoning competitive communications market, including Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs). CLECexpo Spring 2001 takes place on February 21-23, 2001 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. The show will be co-located with ASPCON (Application Service Providers Conference) and Internet World Wireless.

CLECexpo (www.clecexpo.com) is produced by Penton Media's Service Provider Events Group. The Service Provider Events Group, located in Golden, Colo., also produces ISPCON (www.ispcon.com), the leading Internet Service Provider Conventions and ASPCON (www.aspcon.com), the leading event for Application Service Providers.

Penton Media, Inc. (NYSE:PME) is a leading diversified business media company that produces market-focused magazines, Web sites, trade shows, and conferences. Penton serves the Internet/broadband; natural products/food/retail; manufacturing; electronics; design/engineering; management; supply chain/aviation; government/compliance; mechanical systems/construction; and leisure/hospitality markets. For more information, visit www.penton.com