Newmarket and Software Management Join Forces

Offer First-Ever Lead Automation Service for CVBs and Their Member Hotels

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. October 14, 2008

MARCH 4, 2008. The leading group sales, catering and events software provider and the leading software provider for the destination marketing industry sign partnership agreement. The two companies integrate top solutions to enable Convention Visitor Bureaus (CVBs) and their member hotels to automate groups and meetings lead distribution processes

Newmarket International, Inc., the leader in sales and catering solutions for the hospitality industry and Software Management, Inc. (SMI), today announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic partnership. SMI is the leading provider of sales, marketing, customer management and web technology for the destination industry. The partnership joins Newmarket's 20+ years of expertise and experience in the group sales and catering market with SMI's leadership in the destination marketing segment. The integrated solution between Newmarket and SMI will automate the lead distribution and management process for participating Convention Visitor Bureaus (CVBs) and their member suppliers. The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau will be the first CVB to go live on the integrated solution this month.

'We are always looking for new ways to innovate and by integrating with another best of breed vendor, SMI, we are doing just that. This is a first-of-its-kind solution now available to our joint customers,' said Marty Denning, Business Development Director at Newmarket International, Inc. 'The result of this effort is both the CVBs and their member hotels are able to better service their customers, market to prospects and understand the business opportunities available to them.'

This partnership will enable the direct connectivity between CVBs and suppliers, automating the distribution of all groups and meetings leads directly from the CVB to the participating hotel. Newmarket's MeetingBroker, an innovative web-based lead management solution, integrates with SMI's Destination 3000(TM), or D3000, a comprehensive set of sales and customer relationship management tools. Customers will benefit from the full range of lead management features that are offered by the MeetingBroker platform such as:

o Quick response to RFPs and capabilities such as assignment and escalation rules for leads

o Reporting capabilities to analyze leads and business coming from the CVB

o Property-to-property lead passing

o Seamless integration with Newmarket's leading sales and catering software, Delphi(R)

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, an existing SMI customer, recognized the inherent value and potential that the integration with Newmarket could provide and will be the first CVB to use the system. The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau is looking forward to streamlining processes and providing an additional benefit to their members.

'The opportunities this technology partnership presents for the CVB and hospitality communities are significant, said Jennifer Reichenbach, President of SMI. 'By directly integrating Destination 3000 with MeetingBroker, our CVB clients will now be able to more quickly deliver meeting and convention leads, get responses from their member hotels and meet the demands of the busy meeting planner.'