NCOF Reports from the Trenches with Case Study Results and Roundtables

February 28, 2007 — Compelling case study results and nearly 30 roundtables are on the confab agenda for operations and fulfillment professionals when they converge at the National Conference on Operations & Fulfillment (NCOF) (www.ncof.com), which will take place April 29 – May 2 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL.

Presented by Multichannel Merchant’s Operations & Fulfillment®, published by the new Penton Media, and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), NCOF is the premier gathering of direct-to-customer operations and fulfillment professionals.

Case Study Lineup

Results from case studies by industry leaders will include details of cost and payback as well as the hits and misses.

Monday, April 30

4:00 – 5:15 PM

Practical Solutions for Peak Season Contact Center Scheduling: An interactive session by Bob Webb, vice president, sales, Pipkins, Inc. and a 1-800-Flowers representative, will feature techniques and tips for managing peak season intraday scheduling issues, and secrets of how major online and catalog retailers handle intraday changes to agent scheduling during their peak seasons.

Tuesday, May 1

1:45 – 3:00 PM

How DVD Empire Uncovered Hidden Savings Using USPS: Alicia Berry, chief operations officer, DVD Empire, will lend insight into manifest shipping and explore methods for saving money by using the existing infrastructure of the postal system.

Tuesday, May 1

4:00 – 5:15 PM

ROI Revealed — How Hickory Hardware’s Warehouse Management System Delivered: Scott, Eggenberger, sales manager, Cornerstone Solutions, Inc., and Von Williamson, chief operations officer, Hickory Hardware, will share valuable tips for evaluating software and negotiating with vendors for the most effective results when developing an ROI estimate.

Tuesday, May 1

11:00 AM – 2:15 PM

A Real World Look at Customer Service Policies: Tim Holody, chief operating officer, Seta Corporation, will explain how to measure the financial impact of company policies and explore methods for conducting effective policy reviews.

Tuesday, May 2

8:15 – 9:30 AM

How Sanrio Improved Efficiency by 50% with Parcel Shipping Automation: When Sanrio, makers of the popular “Hello Kitty” merchandise, moved from a manual-based parcel shipping process to an automated shipping process it resulted in a 50 percent improvement in efficiency. Mike Parrilli, regional sales manager, Varsity Logistics, Inc., will discuss the shipping improvements leading to the successful switch.

NCOF Roundtables

Nearly 30 roundtables covering a diverse range of relevant topics to today’s operations will be featured, with lively, face-to-face exchanges with operations and fulfillment professional peers who will share how they're tackling issues and best practices.

To see the complete Roundtable lineup please visit: http://ncof.com/conference/2007Conference/07ncof_roundtables/

About Penton Media, Inc.

Headquartered in New York, the new Penton Media, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest business-to-business media and information companies, serving more than six million business professionals every month. Its market-leading brands are focused on 30 industries. The company was formed through the combination of Prism Business Media and Penton Media. The new company will adopt the Penton Media brand and expects to complete the transition to this new unified branding by March 15. Its growing portfolio includes 113 trade magazines, 145 Web sites, 96 industry trade shows and conferences, and more than 500 information data products. The privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and US Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its co-investors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.prismb2b.com and www.penton.com.

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates industry standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, including a majority of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2006, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — will spend an estimated $166.5 billion on direct marketing in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures will generate an estimated $1.93 trillion in incremental sales. This year, direct marketing will account for 10.3 percent of total US GDP. Also, there are today 1.7 million direct marketing employees in the US alone. Their collective sales efforts directly support 8.8 million other jobs. That accounts for 10.5 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

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