Electronic Retailing Association Signs Custom Publishing Agreement with Response Magazine.

Business Editors

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2003

Publication Will Serve as the Association's Official Vendor for All

of Its Publishing Pieces, Including the ERA Membership Directory

Advanstar Communications announces that its business-to-business publication, Response magazine, and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) have forged a custom publishing agreement. According to the terms, Response magazine will provide exclusive U.S. publishing services to the ERA for specialized projects such as the ERA Membership Directory and the ERA Annual Show Guide.

"I believe the changes that the ERA is planning for 2004 will be a great benefit to the industry as a whole. The Response team is looking forward to working with the association on many upcoming custom publishing projects," says Gina Cohen, group publisher of the Response Magazine Group. "I am confident that our production and publishing expertise combined with the ERA's dedication and ongoing contributions to the industry will help make the Membership Directory, Show Guide and other future projects valuable resources for ERA members."

ERA President and CEO Barbara Tulipane said, "ERA is very excited with the innovative direction that Response magazine is taking and is pleased to become a partner during this time of industry expansion and growth. As ERA looks to increase its visibility in the direct response community, I feel that much can be gained by working with Response directly to support and enhance industry exposure and credibility."

In other news, Response magazine welcomes the ERA's Molly Alton as a designated member of the Response Advisory Board. She joined the ERA in September 2003 as director of communications. As a designated member, Alton will represent specific viewpoints of the ERA in regards to the DRTV industry. The publication also welcomes Ron Perlstein of InfoWorx to its board. Perlstein, an industry veteran, is an active member of both the ERA and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

A designated member from the DMA, to be named at a later date, will also be represented. The other members of the Response Advisory Board include: Timothy R. Hawthorne of hawthorne direct inc., Bob Greenstone of Permission Interactive, Hal Altman of Motivational Fulfillment & Packaging Services, Rick Petry of Euro RSCG Tyee MCM, David Savage of American Telecast, Digby Orsmond of ARM Direct Ltd., Toni Erickson Knight of WorldLink, Michael Medico of E&M Advertising, Jake Weisbarth of Content=Commerce, Norm Goldring of CPO Direct and Richard Stacey of Northern Response.

The purpose of the Response Advisory Board is to faithfully serve the direct response industry by providing a voice for industry associations, advertisers and readers, and by promoting cooperation between all direct response marketing professionals.

Advanstar Communications Inc. (www.advanstar.com) is a worldwide business information company serving specialized markets with high quality information resources and integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 100 business magazines and directories, 77 tradeshows and 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 in such industries as art, automotive, beauty, e-learning, call center, digital media, entertainment/marketing, fashion & apparel, healthcare, manufacturing and processing, pharmaceutical, powersports, science, telecommunications and travel/hospitality. The company has more than 1,200 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.