Combined ASPCON/CLECexpo Conference Announces Keynote Line-up; Show to Feature Wide-Ranging Educational Sessions.

Business Editors

ASPCON Spring 2001

CLECexpo Spring 2001

DARIEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2001

New York City Site of Spring Conference, Feb 21 - 23;

Keynotes Feature Industry Leaders AT&T, Onyx Software and Telseon

Penton Media (NYSE: PME) will bring together two highly targeted segments of Internet and telecommunications services when it combines two important industry conferences this month in New York City.

ASPCON Spring 2001 and CLECexpo Spring 2001 will run February 21 - 23 in New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

A joint-conference slate of more than 60 educational sessions will cover such diverse topics as regulatory issues, capital funding and marketing strategies, plus courses focused on state-of-the-art technologies.

With more than 130 top vendors, the conference exhibit hall provides another educational venue where conferees get to see, touch and explore the most current products and programs in today's high-tech marketplace.

According to Denise Kettler, group show director for both ASPCON and CLECexpo, the combined convention targets the crossover service communities of Applications Service Providers (ASPs), Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

ASPs provide businesses with software applications and support via the Internet, as opposed to packaged and licensed software, while CLECs and ISPs provide innovative telecommunications services for residential and business consumers in direct competition with Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), such as Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs).

"CLECexpo and ASPCON always draw strong representation from associated organizations, as well," said Kettler, citing telecommunications resellers and consultants, power utility companies, satellite and wireless service providers, RBOCs and Internet Exchange Carriers.

Both ASPCON and CLECexpo are staged bi-annually, featuring high-profile keynote speakers and drawing some of the largest crowds in service provider industry forums.

Featured speakers for the New York conference are Kathleen B. Earley, president of AT&T Data and Internet Services; Brent Frei, president and CEO of Onyx Software; and Steven Russell, founder and president of Telseon.

Kathleen Earley, scheduled to keynote at 10:00am, February 21, heads the $8 billion AT&T business unit that provides businesses worldwide with Internet Protocol (IP) services. The unit also provides Web hosting and data and managed network services.

Bret Frei, keynote speaker for Thursday, February 22, founded Onyx Software in 1994 after building an internal customer information system for Microsoft's international subsidiaries that is still in use today. Onyx provides enterprise-wide e-business systems to organizations worldwide.

Steven Russell, keynote speaker scheduled for Friday, February. 23, is the president and founder of Telseon. The company's metropolitan Gigabit Ethernet services change the way optical bandwidth is acquired and used by ASPs, ISPs and other Internet services companies. Telseon services break bandwidth bottlenecks between corporate Local Area Networks and cross-country fiber-optic networks.

The combined ASPCON and CLECexpo readies for its New York run as industry observers debate the future of both service segments.

"Obviously we didn't have to look far for substance for this event," said Kettler. "We agree with those who see a bright future for ASPs and CLECs, but some critical challenges have to be dealt with to get there."

The New York conference will address such challenges, Kettler added, including capital funding, a particularly crucial issue for CLECs in light of their greatly diminished market valuations over the past year.

"We view ASPCON and CLECexpo as ongoing forums for industry representatives to come together with a sense of community," Kettler said. "It's networking at its best - learning, teaching, sharing, partnering, buying and selling. It's a vital setting to develop strategies that advance the success of both industry segments."

ASPCON (www.aspcon.com) and CLECexpo (www.clecexpo.com) are produced by Penton Media's Service Provider Events Group. The Service Provider Events Group, located in Golden, Colorado also produces ISPCON (www.ispcon.com), the leading Internet Service Provider Convention.

More than 4,500 participants are expected over the three-day run of the combined ASPCON and CLECexpo Spring 2001 convention in New York City.

For additional information about attending or exhibiting at ASPCON or CLECexpo, visit www.clecexpo.com or www.aspcon.com or call 800-632-5537.

ASPCON is sponsored by Lucent Technologies and Sun Microsystems.

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.