New stuff: buzz on AFP exhibit floor was tech integration.

Annual conferences might as well be titled "fresh fish" for exhibitors that roll out new products or upgrades to existing offerings in an attempt to attract the attention of the captives, err, conference attendees. Conference goers often have to make a choice, run the gauntlet of vendors in the exhibit hall where lunch is being served, or go hungry.

The recent Association of Fundraising Professionals annual conference in Dallas was no exception, with vendors wing for the attention of the 4,000 or so attendees. Note for the record, The NonProfit Times was an exhibitor at the event. Some of the product launches or updates included:

* Auctionpay, based in Portland, Ore., has launched a professional services group called Auctionpay Event Services. The Event Services group will provide on-site and pre- and post-event support, as well as individual consulting for clients around the nation. The Event Services team will be part of the Client Services group and consist of event consultants experienced in running nonprofit and school auctions. Different service levels will be available.

The firm helps charities automate event fundraising. Auctionpay has processed more than $500 million in credit card payments for more than 4,500 organizations and schools across the United States. For more information, visit www.auctionpay.com.

* Blackbaud announced it is releasing a new version of its Web site management solution, Blackbaud NetCommunity. The new version incorporates numerous enhancements. Its email marketing component enables A/B split testing, seeds lists to ensure accurate performance tracking and improve internal communication, and exclusionary lists to drive automated list changes. A Windows-driven content management interface improves ease of navigation and organization, and new administrative controls. There are also upgraded personal pages, supporting administration and creation of multiple pages while maximizing social networking opportunities.

The company was also talking up Blackbaud Interactive, which was formed to help nonprofits with Internet strategy, design, development, and site management. The team, comprised of experienced consultants, designers, developers and project specialists, helps nonprofits maximize their Internet presence. For more information, go to www.blackbaud.com

* Convio and Heller Consulting were talking about the completion of their first real-time data integration for a mutual client, the American Red Cross--Mile High Chapter. It allows, they said, the organization to conduct more effective multi-channel marketing and fundraising initiatives. The Mile High Chapter provides services to more than 420,000 people and responds to more than 300 disasters each year.

Prior to implementing Convio's integrated marketing solution and DataSync Connector, the Mile High Chapter manually processed event participation and donations, including surges in online donations after disasters, which limited its effectiveness. For more information, go to www.convio.com

* Representatives of eTapestry were talking up a Spanish language version of the product, which will allow individual users to select if they want the eTapestry system to display in English or in Spanish. The firm was also talking about new Cross Data base Reporting that provides side-by-side reports comparing fundraising results against other organizations' results. Filters will let users select comparisons by type, size, and location of organization. And, eTapestry's Google Maps Integration, from eTapestry donor reports, display a Google map showing the location and selected donors' giving information. For more information, go to www.etapestry.com

* Kintera announced a deal with TMA Resources, a provider of member relationship management software to the association and community-based markets, to join the Kintera Parmer Network as a Platinum Solutions Provider. TMA Resources will be trained and certified to market and sell the full suite of solutions on Kintera's social CRM platform, including Kintera Sphere CRM, Kintera Sphere CMS, Friends Asking Friends Kintera Thon, Kintera P!N and Kintera Advocacy. For more information about TMA Resources, visit www.tmaresources.com. For more information about Kintera, visit www.kintera.com

* Oaktree Systems released communitEbuilder, its new Web-based work and information center. It's a comprehensive platform to coordinate and manage multiple revenue channels and staff activities, communitEbuilder.

"We have taken what was once called a CRM/database system and evolved it into a sophisticated yet easy to use enterprise-wide work center and information resource. It is designed to be used by every revenue-involved or donor service staff member and manager in the organization," said John R. Carroll, CEO at Oaktree System.

communitEbuilder enables nonprofits to integrate all donor, gift, online and event databases and CRM systems into a single work and information center. Web-accessed, this is a multi-location, multiuser capable system. With everyone working in one system, nonprofits will reduce the cost of development, eliminate waste, duplication of effort and overlap of prospects, and improve productivity and the results of their revenue generating activities.

The system has many specialized modules available for things like online donations and events, but also allows new custom modules to meet client requirements. Scalable, it manages Files with 15,000 to more than 10 million records, according to Carroll. For more information, go to www.oaktreesys.com

* Sage Software was showing its latest version of Sage Fundraising 100, its donor relationship management solution for medium to large nonprofit organizations. Representatives were also demonstrating what's next for Sage Fundraising 50 and its Millennium product. Along with new online donation capabilities, there is a new, integrated Sage Payment Solutions (formerly Verus Card Services) functionality, which helps users increase both the efficiency of their payment and donation processing, and the security of their donors' credit, debit, and bank account information.

The new Directed Giving Campaign module, an optional add-on, enables customers to record communications with the donor and disburse funds to the appropriate programs, tracking how the "ask" is progressing from initial request to fulfillment. For more information, go to www.sage.com

* Serenic Corporation, publisher of financial management and business operations software for nonprofits, released Serenic MinistryView.

MinistryView is a software that allows semi-autonomous business units within faith-based organizations to have single-point-of-access management of budgets and available funds. MinistryView is the newest segment of the Serenic Navigator suite.

Navigator, powered by Microsoft Dynamics NAV, is the company's flagship financial management solution. It combines core financial functionality with a host of fully-integrated ERP applications, such as MinistryView. Additional information is available at www.serenic.com