TechLearn 2005 To Be Held at Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas, September 25-28; Advanstar Also Announces the Launch of Learning On Demand Conference & Expo in Philadelphia, May 17-19, 2005.

NEWTON, Mass. -- During the recent highly-successful TechLearn Conference, Advanstar Technology Group announced that this year's event will be held at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, September 25-28, 2005. TechLearn 2004 brought together more than 2,000 learning executives from business, government and academia at the Marriott Marquis, November 14-17.

"We had a great event in New York, attracting many new attendees. We're looking forward to expanding on this momentum by bringing TechLearn to the most exciting city in the country," explained Kerry Gumas, vice president of Advanstar Technology Group. "We expect that by moving to Las Vegas, we will continue to keep this key learning and networking event fresh for our many loyal attendees, some of whom have been attending since 1996. The Bellagio was recently ranked the leading hotel in the Americas by Conde Nast, so it's the ideal venue for us."

TechLearn has become the most valuable gathering of vision, implementation and intelligence for learning executives and the recent event was no exception. Learning and training professionals from around the world heard from a dynamic list of keynoters, including Elliott Masie, CEO of the MASIE Center; Tom Peters, the World's Leading Management Guru; Tom Davenport, Best Selling Business Author; Wayne Hodgins, Strategic Futurist; Don McMillan, Visionary and Humorist; and Dr. Paul Mayberry, U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Readiness. A highlight of the event was the Chief Learning Officers Panel, where CLOs from IBM, Accenture, Marriott International, GEM Corp., and Hewlett Packard participated in an open dialogue about the realities of e-learning within their organizations, focusing on the need for close alignment with business goals and strategies.

Mike Parmentier, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton, presented the TechLearn 2004 Trip Report, the annual conference closing event that encapsulated the key topics, issues and events that took place during the event. "During the last four days we have been educated, enlightened, entertained, and inspired. Now it's time to take all of this valuable information and excitement back to our offices to share with our colleagues and bosses," commented Parmentier.

Also held at the Marriott was the Learning Officers Forum, a separate two and a half-day workshop of personal development and leadership training for top-level learning and human resource executives. The Learning Officers Forum was an exclusive program, designed and taught for leadership development experts. The program included hands-on workshops, interactive sessions, and individual and team exercises.

Attendees had the opportunity to visit the Learning Showcase, where many of the industry's leading vendors demonstrated their newest products and services for the HR management, learning, training, organizational development and performance management disciplines. Among the products and services featured were e-Learning Technology, HRIT, HRMS, Recruitment Services, Assessment and Benchmarking Tools, Benefits Programs, and much more. Platinum Sponsors of the event included Accenture Learning and SAP. Gold Sponsors were Centra Software, Inc., IBM, Knowledge Planet, Saba, SkillSoft, SumTotal, TEDS, Thomson NETg, and THINQ Learning Solutions.

Advanstar Communications also announced that they have launched the Learning On Demand Conference & Exposition, which will take place May 17-19, 2005, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Learning On Demand is designed for business and government leaders, who utilize learning, training and technology to develop workforce skills, strengthen employee and customer relationships, improve organizational performance and provide educational programs in their organizations.

The conference and expo will be held during Business Technology Week, which will draw more than 30,000 business and technology professionals to Philadelphia. Other events include AIIM ON DEMAND, RFID Systems, Publishing On Demand, and Messaging On Demand.

ABOUT TECHLEARN

TechLearn brings corporate learning, e-learning, training, HR, and executive management professionals from across all industries together to compare corporate learning practices, share key strategies for employees, and review and evaluate the latest in technology-based and traditional learning methodologies, tools and strategies. TechLearn is produced by Advanstar Technology Group. TechLearn 2005 will be held Sunday, September 25 through Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. For information on the conference, please call 800-829-3400 or visit the official conference website at www.techlearn.com.

ABOUT ADVANSTAR

TechLearn is produced by Advanstar Technology Group, a division of Advanstar Communications, Inc. Based in New York, NY, 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, 72 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 the automotive, beauty, e-learning, call center, digital media, entertainment/marketing, healthcare, fashion & apparel, pharmaceuticals, power sports, science, telecommunications, and travel/hospitality industries. The Company has roughly 1,400 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.