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contact:
Tricia Raynard
(617) 489-4084
tricia@hawthornemedia.com
Matt Tews
Bill Communications, Inc.
Phone: (612)-340-4747
Mtews@lakewoodpub.com
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September 28, 2000
DENVER--Sept. 28, 2000-- TrainSeek.com and TrainingSuperSite announced today an exclusive
partnership that will create the first complete vertical web site for the
$65 billion corporate training industry. TrainingSuperSite and
TrainSeek.com will launch in October a co-branded site that will enable
100,000 training professionals to utilize TrainSeek.com's transaction
engine to efficiently compare and buy training products while utilizing the
community-building features of TrainingSuperSite. The announcement was made
during the OnLine Learning Conference in the Denver Convention Complex. TrainSeek, Inc. of Salt Lake City, owner of TrainSeek.com, and VNU eMedia,
Inc. of New York City, owner of TrainingSuperSite, are joining forces to
link their two powerhouse training industry web sites. With the addition of
TrainSeek.com's transaction engine, corporate trainers can now purchase
virtually all their product and service requirements on one convenient "universal training e-marketplace."
"TrainingSuperSite has done an excellent job of creating a real training
community on the Web, while providing trainers with outstanding
information," said Rob Chipman, President of TrainSeek, Inc. "This
partnership provides us with immediate access to a large population of
knowledgeable and highly-qualified buyers and provides those buyers with
the best possible access to the products and services they need."
TrainSeek.com is the premier e-commerce aggregator of training products. It
offers more than one million videos, CD-ROMs, on-line courses, books,
seminars, and other services from several thousand leading developers. As
such, TrainSeek.com is the most comprehensive training e-marketplace and
offers training professionals the ability to efficiently find, preview,
compare and buy training products and services. The existing range of
training content available on the TrainSeek.com site covers the full
spectrum of training topics, from safety to soft skills, information
technology to human resources.
"Our strategy is to offer all things, but not to all people," observed Gary
Crocker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TrainSeek, Inc. "We focus
narrowly upon professional corporate trainers and compliance officers, who
spend $12 billion of their $65 billion annual budgets for outside products
and services, according to TRAINING Magazine's annual industry survey. By
efficiently aggregating this highly fragmented market, TrainSeek.com offers
the broadest possible array of training products. And now--with the new
TrainingSuperSite partnership--this universe of training products will be
available via the training industry's premier community-building site."
"TrainingSuperSite has a great reputation as an unbiased provider of
quality information and services for trainers," said Chipman. "It benefits
immensely from the experience, information assets, and credibility of its
creator, VNU--the leading publisher and trade show producer for the
training industry. Given TrainingSuperSite's status as the most frequently
visited training industry web site, we look forward to addressing the
product and service requirements of its 100,000 plus committed and
highly-qualified users each month."
TrainingSuperSite.com is a Web-based training industry community of
unparalleled breadth and depth. It provides trainers access to
publications, research, chat groups, a job bank and resume database, and
general industry information. "TrainingSuperSite has benefited immensely
from the intellectual property and financial backing of VNU," said Bryan
Powell, Divisional Vice President of Bill Communications, Inc. "We have had
complete access to the article archives of TRAINING magazine and VNU's
other training industry magazines and newsletters. And, relying upon
internal funding, we have been able to grow at a measured pace while
insuring quality."
"Now, after three and a half years, we have the platform for a quantum
leap," continued Powell. "Our parent, VNU, has created VNU eMedia, Inc., to
capitalize on e-commerce. As part of that venture, TrainingSuperSite is now
moving aggressively to enhance its revenues through key partnerships."
"TrainingSuperSite users will have seamless access to all the information
they need to select training products with just a click--and purchasing
will be as easy," said Matt Tews, Marketing Technologies Manager for Bill
Communications.
"We do not make partnership decisions lightly" said Powell. "Our reputation
in the training industry is our most valuable asset. TrainSeek.com brings
us a staff with decades of hands-on experience in the industry, a
reputation for integrity, and a state-of-the art e-commerce solution. We
are confident that the TrainSeek partnership will enhance both
organizations' reputations and capabilities."
About the Corporate Training Industry
Employee training and learning is increasingly viewed by businesses in the
US and around the world as a strategic necessity and opportunity, rather
than just a cost center. Trainers in US organizations with more than 100
employees (the core target market of both TrainSeek.com and
TrainingSuperSite) spend about $65 billion per year. Other buyers of
training products and services bring the US total to about $100 billion and
the global figure to more than $200 billion. The industry that develops and provides products and services to trainers
has long been one of the least concentrated in the US. Technological
innovation, along with interest by institutional investors and major
corporations, is stimulating fundamental changes. e-Learning is projected
to grow by almost 100% per year to a level of $11 billion by 2003,
according to IDC. But e-Learning is still a small factor in a large and
complex industry. The market for training products and services in more
traditional media will remain robust, even if e-Learning grows as projected.
The large number of developers and providers (many highly focused and
specialized) and the dispersed nature of the training profession (small
groups scattered throughout a large number of organizations) have made the
purchasing of products and services cumbersome and complicated and the
sharing of information difficult. TrainSeek.com and TrainingSuperSite have
each undertaken to solve part of this problem. "Our synergy creates a
wonderful market opportunity," said TrainSeek's Chipman.
About Trainseek.com
TrainSeek.com's slogan says it all: "Find, Preview, Compare, and Buy
Training. Fast." TrainSeek.com is an online marketplace that enables
training buyers to find products easily, preview and compare the products
online, and read relevant independent reviews before they buy. Offering the
full spectrum of training products from soft skills to safety, information
technology to human resources, TrainSeek.com has aggregated content from
the leading suppliers of online courses, videos, books, manuals,
instructor-led seminars, CD-ROM, software, training aids and more. The
company's target market is training buyers in business, manufacturing,
government, health care, and education. TrainSeek, Inc. was founded in 1999 by Crocker, an experienced venture
investor, and Chipman, a training industry veteran. They recruited a team
of other training industry veterans and launched the TrainSeek.com site in
February 2000.
TrainSeek.com is a trademark of TrainSeek, Inc., a Utah corporation.
TrainSeek.com can be reached through www.trainseek.com or at 295 Chipeta
Way, 1st Floor, University of Utah Research Park, Salt Lake City, UT 84108;
phone 1-888-779-3030.
About TrainingSuperSite and Bill Communications
TrainingSuperSite was launched in February 1997 by Bill Communications,
Inc. Bill Communications is a prominent and rapidly growing publisher of
leading business magazines including Training, Presentations, Online
Learning Magazine (formerly Inside Technology Training), Progressive Grocer
and Beverage World, among 60 other titles. Bill Communications is a
division of VNU Business Media, Inc., which also includes BPI
Communications, VNU eMedia, and VNU Expositions.
VNU Business Media is a subsidiary of VNU, Inc. Other subsidiaries in the
VNU, Inc. family include Nielsen Media Research, NetRatings (through
majority ownership via NMR), VNU Marketing Information, Inc. and SRDS.
VNU, Inc. is a subsidiary of VNU, b.v., one of the world's leading
publishing and information companies and has leading market positions in
business information, consumer magazines, directories and information
services, as well as educational publishing. Worldwide, VNU employs
approximately 16,000 people and has annual revenues of more than $2.6 billion.
TrainingSuperSite can be reached through www.trainingsupersite.com or by
calling Matt Tews at 612-340-4747.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including information contained in this document where
statements are preceded by, followed by or include the words "believes,"
"plans," "intends," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions. For
such statements, the companies claim the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from the results
predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of
future performance.
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