NETSEA to Explore Best Practices for Creating Solution-Centric Organizations at Quarterly Event.

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Hundreds of Sales, Marketing and Business Development Leaders to Gather for Interactive Discussion of Establishing Value with Prospects and Customers

NETSEA, the New England Technology Sales, Marketing and Business Development Association, today announced its quarterly educational and networking event for technology executives, which will take place on Thursday, May 5, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m in Burlington, Mass. This event will bring together technology sales, marketing and business development leaders from the Northeast region to discuss the key processes necessary for creating solution-centric organizations and establishing legitimate value with prospects and customers. The meeting will include an interactive panel presentation featuring keynote speaker Robert Kear, chief marketing officer for Sales Performance International.

NETSEA is the fastest-growing association exclusively for senior technology sales, marketing and business development executives in New England. The association provides a unique opportunity for the exchange of ideas among top-level technology executives. Participants in NETSEA's upcoming event will learn how to implement critical "revenue engine" transformations to raise sales performance ceilings, including ways to:

--Think Differently--Defining yourself by the problems you solve versus the products you make

--Communicate Differently--Aligning all aspects of marketing execution with a well-defined problem/solution framework

--Engage Differently--Applying solution (or value-based) selling disciplines effectively across both direct and indirect channels

--Reinforce Differently--Providing comprehensive, cross-functional reinforcement for solution-centric disciplines

Expert panelists for this event include:

--Robert Kear - Sales Performance International (CMO)

--Philip J. Harrell - Akamai (VP Sales Eastern Region)

--Mike Kozub - MarketSoft (EVP Worldwide Marketing and Sales)

--Rainer Gawlick - SolidWorks (VP of Marketing)

"Companies are continually grappling with how to best position their products and services to the market for maximum impact. To succeed, their efforts must extend beyond sales execution to marketing and business development," said Sham Sao, board chairman and president of NETSEA. "NETSEA's latest event will provide attendees with actionable advice for how sales, marketing and business development executives can work together to enact positive change within their organizations and become more solution-centric."

Location and Registration Information

This NETSEA event will take place at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington, Mass., on Thursday, May 5, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Participation is free for registered NETSEA members. Non-Members may attend for $65 at the door of the event, or for $45 if they register early via http://www.netsea.org/events_eventreg.shtml#regform. Invitations for media are also available.

About Robert Kear

Robert Kear has over 20 years of extensive, hands-on experience in all facets of technology industry management, including marketing, sales methodology, software engineering, professional services delivery, and P&L accountability. Before joining SPI, he was VP of Marketing Strategy and CRM Strategy for JD Edwards & Company, where his role was the development of CRM strategy and deployment of methodologies to drive value-based marketing disciplines. From 1994-2001, Robert was co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of YOUcentric, an enterprise customer relationship management (CRM) software company, where he was responsible for all aspects of corporate strategy, market planning and execution, and product direction. In 2001, he was awarded the Ernst & Young eBusiness Entrepreneur of the Year for the Carolinas. YOUcentric received numerous industry awards, including world's best Enterprise Relationship management solution in 2000 by the Denali Group, and was acquired in November, 2001 by JD Edwards. Mr. Kear holds advanced and undergraduate degrees in mathematics from East Carolina University. Mr. Kear's new book, "The Solution-Centric Organization", will be published by McGraw-Hill this year.

About NETSEA

NETSEA is the premier association for technology executives in New England. The organization provides collaboration, networking, continuous learning and development for high-tech sales, marketing and business development executives in a peer group setting. NETSEA delivers a unique blend of business resources and personal support that helps to make the challenge of developing and growing a business both fulfilling and worthwhile. With more than 200 members, NETSEA can be found on the World Wide Web at www.netsea.org.