CeBIT America 2003 Takes Initiative in Conducting Trade Show Attendance Audit 2003 Event Audit Reflects Goal to Provide More Precise Marketing ROI; Organization Also Taking Part in New Initiative To Raise Technology Show Auditing Standards Industry-Wide NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- CeBIT America, the premier information and communications technology (ICT) event for the enterprise business marketplace, today released details of the attendance audit conducted following its debut 2003 exhibition, held June 18-20 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The audit, based on input from technology exhibitors and recommendations made by members of the Computer Event Marketing Association (CEMA), addresses information and metrics technology company marketing executives need and want to make informed decisions, including audience demographic profiles and attendee-buying power. CeBIT America is breaking new ground in responding to exhibitors' need for credible, quantifiable facts to help them more precisely measure the return on their trade show investment dollars -- a commitment made to the industry in early 2002 when Hannover Fairs USA initially announced the creation of CeBIT America. Exhibit Surveys, Inc. of Red Bank, New Jersey, conducted the audit, under the direction of Skip Cox, President. The CeBIT America audit reported a qualified enterprise buying audience of 8,510 verified attendees. Of these, 43% were representatives of an enterprise buyer, government agency or educational institution, and 32% were trade resellers (channel), systems integrators, developers or IT consultants. Of the enterprise buyers, government agencies and educational institutions, over 60% projected that their organization's expenditures on IT solutions would exceed $5 million in the following 12 months. Approximately 90% said they impact buying decisions within their organization. These audit results confirmed the CeBIT America plan to attract a business technology buying audience, the primary target for the New York City event. Additional information collected in the audit includes type of business, job title/function, size of company, gross annual sales and geographical distribution. In addition to surveying attendees, the audit included people who had registered for the trade fair but did not attend. "Our audit criteria came directly from our customers," commented Mark Dineen, Managing Director, CeBIT America. "We are committed to helping our exhibitors evaluate their trade show participation based on concrete metrics, and giving them the tools to compare marketing vehicles based on real facts and data. The depth and breadth of this information will provide exhibitors with more complete information on the quality of attendees -- thus improving the value proposition and enhancing participants' business results." "Our industry has been talking about a better way to monitor and report trade show attendance for over 25 years, and it's time for some progress," continued Dineen. "In addition to our own audit commitment -- initiated at our very first show here in the United States in June 2003 -- we are pleased to participate with the development of the IT Event Measurement and Audit Council. We will be there when the Council convenes for the first time next month at COMDEX in Las Vegas, to reinforce the need for realistic measurement across the industry. We believe that our foresight, commitment and actions, along with the IT EMAC initiative, will enhance the way events are perceived by exhibitors, buyers, and the media industry in general." For an audit summary, contact Mark Dineen at . About CeBIT America CeBIT America is the premier Information & Communications Technology (ICT) event for the enterprise business marketplace. Emphasizing the entire spectrum of enterprise technology -- systems, applications, networking and communications -- this is the only US forum to explore the full range of next generation global technologies and solutions. CeBIT is the world's largest and most influential information and communications technology trade fair. The flagship event, CeBIT Hannover, runs for seven days each spring and takes place at the Hannover Fairgrounds in Hannover, Germany. CeBIT Hannover 2003 used 3.7 million square feet of net display space and hosted 6,602 exhibiting companies, 556,200 visitors and 10,711 journalists. CeBIT America joins the annual roster of international CeBIT events that includes -- in addition to the original CeBIT in Hannover -- CeBIT Asia (Shanghai, China), CeBIT Australia (Sydney), and CeBIT Bilisim Eurasia (Istanbul, Turkey). Visit http://www.cebit-america.com/ for more information. DATASOURCE: CeBIT America CONTACT: Laura E. Wilker of Makovsky & Co. for CeBIT America, +1-212-508-9656, Web site: http://www.cebit-america.com/

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