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What's UP - Press Releases Utility Partners Wraps UP 6th Annual Customer Conference TAMPA, FL (May 31, 2001) - Customers, partners, and vendors from three continents converged on sun-drenched Clearwater Beach, Florida earlier this month for four days of product education, customer interaction, and meetings with UP executive and development teams at Utility Partners’ 6th Annual Customer Conference. The conference, UP’s largest ever, was held May 6th through 9th at the Radisson Sand Key Resort. In addition to the sharply focused, in-depth industry track sessions, this year’s event featured a keynote presentation from Dave Kelly of EnerTech Capital Partners, a technology expo, golf tournament, and post-conference “boot camp” dedicated to maximizing customers’ return on investment. In his State of the Company address, Utility Partners’ President and CEO, Tim Reed, emphasized the company’s continuing commitment to build strong, mutually profitable relationships with customers, resellers, and vendor partners. “UP is stronger than ever financially,” Reed said. “We’re consistently hitting our quarterly projections, receiving solid financial backing from investors, and making continuous innovations to the products that are putting us head and shoulders above the competition.” Reed reserved a special acknowledgement for those customers and partners who came from Canada, Germany and Australia, and have been helped UP expand its international presence. The highlight of this year’s conference was the debut of WorkUP™ version 6 and FlexUP™, a groundbreaking flexible design engine that enables the user to create or modify templates for work-type database definitions, on-screen presentations, facility database record definitions, and more. Utility Partners’ WorkUP™ product line, which includes the popular MobileUP mobile data dispatch solution, is an integrated system for work, outage, resource, and mobile workforce management. Updated features and functions for GasConnect™, UP’s gas management product line, were also detailed in small, workshop-style sessions. “With the unveiling of FlexUP, we delivered a powerful response to our customers’ requests for flexibility in database and screen design for the types of work present in the system,” said Ed Krufka, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management. “We’re excited about our customers’ enthusiastic response to FlexUP. The development of this tool is another example of a UP innovation born out of the constant dialogue and exchange of ideas we enjoy with our customers.” The conference’s educational focus was augmented by presentations from Paul Wilson, President of MapFrame and the conference’s Platinum Sponsor, and Dave Kelly of EnerTech Capital Partners. Wilson’s address, “Maps in the Field,” explained how his firm’s mapping technology, interfaced with a mobile dispatch system such as MobileUP, enables users to view spatial data associated with individual work orders. The system is set up so that, once a work order is received, the user simply taps a button and the project map is displayed. "This conference provided a great way to build on the synergies between MapFrame and Utility Partners,” Wilson said. “Plus, it gave all of us the opportunity to talk 'field computing' in a fun and relaxing atmosphere." In his keynote address, “Selecting Technologies: An Insider’s Perspective,” Kelly shared EnerTech’s criteria for identifying winning technology providers from the myriad offerings in the marketplace. EnerTech is a $285 million private equity firm focused on technology, services and infrastructure investments in the energy, utility and communication markets. Through its extensive network of strategic partners and industry professionals, EnerTech provides financing and domain expertise to enhance the success of the companies in which it invests. Kelly was joined by Juergen Ehrle, Head of Service Controlling for Main-Kraftwerke AG, a subsidiary of Germany’s foremost utility, the RWE Group, and Stephen Hazel, Program Manager, Service Delivery for Nova Scotia Power, Inc. for a follow-up panel and question-and-answer session. Perhaps one of the most pleasurable aspects of the 6th Annual Utility Partners’ Customer Conference—for the customers and Utility Partners team alike—was the chance to spend time socializing, enjoying a golf game or dining at one of Tampa Bay’s many fine restaurants. “It was very exciting for me to be part of this year’s user’s conference,” said Robert Letzeisen, UP’s Vice President of Sales. “This was my fifth event, and I’ve been privileged to see the UP community grow stronger in both their influence and their camaraderie. I’ve always felt that the highlight of these conferences is the gathering of UP customers. This year was no different.” “This year’s conference was a great success--time well spent learning and networking with other MobileUP users and UP people,” said Vinny Lazzaro, veteran Steering Committee member and Project Manager with United Illuminating. Lazzaro received an award in recognition of three years of outstanding service as a Steering Committee member. He will remain with the Steering Committee, renamed the Utility Partners Customer Advisory Board, in the capacity of Senior Advisor. Newly-elected Customer Advisory Board member Curtis Popp of Citizens Gas and Coke was a first time participant at this year’s conference. “My colleagues and I appreciated the level of detail of the presentations,” he said. “We were glad to have the opportunity to delve into the nitty-gritty of the GasConnect and MobileUP software—and see the direction in which the products are going.” Conference Manager Judy Marshall is busy planning for the 7th Annual Utility Partners’ Customer Conference, to be held May 5th through 8th, 2002, at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida. “It was good to see the months of planning finally come to fruition,” Marshall said of the 2001 conference. “This was my first endeavor, and I could not have done it without the support of our Customer Advisory Board and conference team members.” About Utility Partners, Inc. Utility Partners, Inc., headquartered in Tampa, Florida, provides software solutions exclusively for the gas, electric, and water utility industries, including mobile computing, work management, and gas management. The company’s customer list includes utilities throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada. For more information about Utility Partners products, visit the company’s web site at www.utilitypartners.com, or contact Michelle Bauer at (813) 282-8828 or via email at michelle.bauer@utilpart.com.
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All information is ©2001 Utility Partners Inc. unless otherwise credited. All rights reserved. | www.utilitypartners.com
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