CONTACT:
J. Howard Holan, Vice President
Western Regional Office, Lexitech Inc.
telephone: 415-490-8600
cell phone: 415-902-8683

MICROSOFT EVENT MANAGEMENT SELECTS LEXITECH NETKEY FOR PRODUCT PROMOTION & LEAD GENERATION AT COMDEX

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Microsoft has selected Lexitech Inc. to provide informational self-service kiosks it will use at trade shows and conferences.

These kiosks will integrate Lexitechs award-winning NetKey Event Technologies with a complete enterprise software platform from Microsoft. In development for the past several years at large technology shows, Lexitech event technologies allow for pre-event web communications, event-based web terminals and post event lead analysis.

The agreement will officially be launched at the COMDEX technology show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, which runs from November 16-20.

The event team at Lexitech, a software company based in Branford, Connecticut, and San Francisco, California, worked in partnership with Microsoft to create new web-based event software and lead database tools. Lexitech has been at the forefront of self-service electronic commerce for global enterprises since the industry's infancy.

Microsoft will be using 30 Lexitech NetKey interactive event kiosks at the show, both in their corporate booth and their Partner Pavilion, which will host more than 300 companies. Comdex is considered the premiere technology show in the world.

Lexitech NetKey Event Technologies enables companies to tailor the information they deliver to people visiting their booths at trade shows, or at their conference facilities. Lexitech NetKey Event Technologies also provides pre-event, on-site and post-event tools for targeted delivery of content and applications that serve attendees and gather qualified leads for exhibitors.

The offerings include pre-event web sites with schedule planning applications and interactive maps; on-site workstations providing product promotion and education; delivery of info directly to attendees via email; and post-event analysis and reports with advanced lead distribution and database creation. While using the Lexitech kiosks at COMDEX attendees will also be able to participate in electronic product offers.

Kim Kopp, Senior Event Marketing Manager at Microsoft, said, "These systems enable us to fulfill our key goal of enriching the experience of the visitor to the Microsoft booth by putting all of Microsoft's product information at their fingertips. It also allows us to gather terrific leads in the process. These leads are accumulated in a database that is accessible to the enterprise via a secure website. Events management has immediate access for analysis, and sales and marketing can search the database and distribute leads as needed based on several key criteria.

It's a totally flexible and scalable system."

Like the recent Fall Internet World trade show at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where Lexitech provided Microsoft with six self-service kiosks, people at the COMDEX show will have access to Microsoft's web site and all partner websites. They will be able to use the Lexitech kiosks to learn what presentations and workshops are available at the show and to locate specific demonstrations in the Microsoft display booth. There are also extensive product offers available via the kiosks that are fulfilled electronically.

Along with providing information, the Lexitech NetKey Event Technologies can provide a record of what specific information people visiting a trade show display are most interested in obtaining. In the process, new marketing leads can be developed and the ancient practice of collecting business cards in fish bowls can be eliminated. In addition, companies now have a tool to evaluate how effective their display was.

An exciting new addition to the program is the CE devices with wireless modems, which allow booth staffers to record their personal interactions with attendees. These are integrated with the same network as the kiosks throughout the booth, so each attendee's interests will be reflected when they visit the kiosks.

According to Jay Holan, VP of Lexitech, "Our patented NetKey technology and suite of events applications allows us to deliver key content and services to attendees while meeting Microsoft's objectives in the areas of generating leads. We have a partnership with Microsoft in that we have married our platforms to make this best of breed solution possible. And it's a total turnkey enterprise solution addressing the entire event cycle."

The Microsoft/Lexitech partnership stretches far beyond trade shows, though. Microsoft uses Lexitech interactive kiosks as "virtual recruiters" in the lobby of its Redmond, Washington, recruiting center. The Lexitech kiosks provide intranet capabilities that show job candidates what it's like to work for Microsoft and live in the Seattle area. Lexitech also does general internet development work for Microsoft in several of the company's divisions.

Along with Microsoft, other notable Lexitech clients include Traveler's Insurance, Fidelity Investments, Fuji Photo Film USA and the United States Government.

More information about Lexitech can be found at www.lexitech.com, or email [email protected] for more info about this solution.