May 20, 2005

Yesterday, Verticalnet provided a glimpse at the speaker list and agenda for its 2005 user group and customer conference, "Verticalnet Summit 2005" which will be held May 23 to 25 at the Sofitel Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA.

The theme of Verticalnet Summit 2005 is "Beyond Reverse Auctions: How Sourcing Can Deliver Continuous Value to the Bottom Line".

Verticalnet Summit 2005 brings together executives and practitioners from many of the world's leading supply management organizations to share best practices, discuss supply management issues and trends, and network with their peers. The conference combines the benefits of previous yearly events, including Verticalnet's Customer Conference with B2eMarkets' International User Conference.

Presented with assistance from sponsors BearingPoint and Cirqit, the Summit 2005 agenda features industry thought leaders, executives from Verticalnet's Global 2000 customer base, and sourcing practitioners from Verticalnet and its customers and partners.

Tim Minahan, SVP of Supply Chain Research for the Aberdeen Group and Lora Cecere, Research Director for AMR Research will be the keynote speakers.

The speaker list also includes sourcing professionals from the following Verticalnet customers:

-- Alcan
-- Delta Air Lines
-- Hewlett Packard
-- MasterBrand Cabinets
-- PepsiCo
-- Verizon
-- Wyeth

Conference attendees will hear about today's most pressing supply management issues that include:

* Spend visibility and analysis
* Sourcing program management
* Contract management and compliance
* Category-specific sourcing approaches
* Supplier performance management
* Moving from reverse auctions to category management
* Creating the business case for supply management

Conference attendees will also learn how the selection of On-Demand supply management solutions can reduce risk, lower cost, increase user adoption, and drive more value to the bottom line.

"Verticalnet's community of global customers provides a great forum for sharing supply management successes," said Nathanael V. Lentz, President and CEO of Verticalnet.

"We are pleased to host Verticalnet Summit 2005 and enable our customers to share their best practices, as well as talk about today's supply management challenges and how Verticalnet solutions help them conquer them to improve their bottom lines.

The combination of industry thought leaders, presenters from world class supply management organizations, and Verticalnet supply management experts makes Verticalnet Summit 2005 a 'can't miss' event for Verticalnet customers and partners."

Conference registration and information can be found at www.verticalnetsummit.com.

Source: VerticalNet