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IRI and Symphony Technology Group Unveil 'Reinventing CPG 2004 Summit,' The Industry's First Annual Global CPG and Retail Summit Distinguished Industry Leaders from PepsiCo, 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart, And Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. Among Executives to Keynote Summit CHICAGO, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Information Resources, Inc. , a leading provider of content and analytic services to the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, and Symphony Technology Group, a leading investor in enterprise software and services companies, today unveiled plans for the "Reinventing CPG 2004 Summit," the industry's first global conference for leaders with vision and passion for reinventing the CPG and retail industries. The Summit will be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California, February 22-24, 2004. "Today's CPG and retail industries are facing many challenges, most importantly, linking real-time consumer and marketplace insight to collaborative execution to achieve faster growth and better profitability," said Romesh Wadhwani, CEO and Managing Partner of Symphony Technology Group. "This is a very unique time for these industries to reinvent their approaches to achieving maximum business performance and impact the bottom line. IRI is focused on helping facilitate this exciting transformation which is why we created Reinventing CPG 2004 -- the first broad-based global industry event that cuts across all key functions in CPG and retail to bring industry leaders together to focus on the future." The Summit features keynote addresses from some of the industry's most prominent leaders including: -- Indra Nooyi, President and CFO, PepsiCo -- Jim Keyes, CEO, 7-Eleven -- Kerry Pauling, Director of Information Systems, Wal-Mart -- Ralph Scozzafava, VP and General Manager U.S., Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. This Summit addresses the critical business transformation issues facing CPG and retail sectors including the need for complete real-time visibility into market and consumer buying patterns and responses, the emergence of the consumer-driven supply chain in the real-time CPG enterprise, and new processes and enabling technologies that create maximum business performance. Summit attendees will include CPG and retail corporate-level and business-unit level executives and senior managers of marketing, merchandising, research, sales, supply chain, and IT. Over thirty breakout sessions and a Technology Showcase highlighting the latest developments in enterprise solutions, marketplace content, and deeper consumer insights will be featured. Key session topics include: -- 20/20 Consumer Insight: Total Retail Visibility -- Turning Real-Time Consumer Insights into Real-Time Action -- RFID Action Steps Beyond the Wal-Mart Initiative -- Synchronized Supply Chain Execution -- Creating New Products That Change How We Live -- Insights into High-Value, Hard-to-Reach Segments -- Using Consumer Insights to Optimize Your Product Portfolio -- Real-Time Market Response: Automating Everyday Analyses to Respond Faster Designed to promote increased collaboration between buyers and sellers in CPG, attendees will be able to connect with key customers, colleagues and industry thought-leaders throughout the event. Registration Information The cost of the Summit is $1,500 per registrant. The registration fee covers admission to all Reinventing CPG 2004 Summit general sessions and the Technology Showcase, meals, and social events. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.cpgsummit.com/ or call Sue McConnell at (312) 474- 2638. About Symphony Technology Group, LLC Symphony is a leading investor in enterprise software and services companies. Led by entrepreneurs and executives with strong track records and deep experience in strategy and operations, Symphony invests in companies that are or can become market leaders. Symphony applies its strategic and operational expertise and capital to enable the business transformation of its portfolio companies. Through its portfolio company, SymphonyRPM, Symphony also provides proprietary performance management solutions and software for the real-time enterprise -- solutions that can help CPG manufacturers and retailers deliver the business outcomes they most care about such as revenue, margins and customer satisfaction by enabling and automating the analysis and integration of enormous quantities of data from retailers and from internal ERP and legacy systems, by making it easier to expand the use of marketing data throughout the company, and by linking marketing decisions to sales, operations and overall financial performance. More information is available at http://www.symphonytg.com/ . About Information Resources, Inc. Information Resources, Inc. is a leading provider of UPC scanner- and panel-based business solutions to the consumer packaged goods, retail, and healthcare industries, offering services in the U.S., Europe and other international markets. The Company supplies CPG and pharmaceutical manufacturers, retailers, and brokers with information and analysis critical to their sales, marketing, and supply chain operations. IRI provides services designed to deliver value through an enhanced understanding of the consumer to a majority of the Fortune 500 companies in the CPG industry. More information is available at http://www.infores.com/ . CONTACT: John McIndoe Information Resources, Inc. (312) 474-3862 DATASOURCE: Information Resources, Inc. CONTACT: John McIndoe of Information Resources, Inc., +1-312-474-3862, Web site: http://www.cpgsummit.com/ http://www.symphonytg.com/ http://www.infores.com/

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