La Jolla, CA - March 8, 2000 - ActiveUSA.com today announced its selection as winner of the UCSD CONNECT's 1999 Most Innovative New Products Award for its online event search and registration technology for sports participants and event directors nationwide. The company, the industry's largest and most comprehensive Internet site for participatory sports, also announced the debut of the first ED2K Event Director's Conference in San Diego, Calif., continuing its model of innovation.
ActiveUSA.com received the UCSD CONNECT award based on several factors, including the amount of innovation used, the substantial advance in technology the company's product represents over what was previously available, and the potential the ActiveUSA.com product has for commercial success. The annual awards competition is one of the most successful and rewarding programs, recognizing product innovation in the San Diego high tech and biotech region.
¡§We are honored to be recognized among such a competitive field of Web-based companies for our innovative use of Web technology," said Tim Scott, ActiveUSA.com senior vice president. "Online registration itself is not rocket science. The innovation lies in ActiveUSA.com's application of existing technology in a unique way that positively impacts tens of thousands of event directors, hundreds of thousands of events, and tens of millions of participants worldwide. Our online event search and registration, plus our entire line of Web-based services, are literally transforming event management."
Event directors from across the U.S. and Canada joined ActiveUSA.com for the company's first ED2K Event Director's Conference in San Diego, Feb 25-27, 2000. Taking an entirely new and innovative approach, ActiveUSA.com brought together for the first time panels of true industry leaders from the sponsorship, promotions, insurance and medical fields to provide insight targeted specifically to event directors. The result was lively, interactive discussions between the event directors and industry experts, hitting core issues close to every event director's business.
"Feedback from this event has been phenomenal," said Scott. "This was the industry's first progressive event director's conference, designed to focus on the future of event management while leveraging key industry leaders in informative panels and roundtables."
Representing more than ten different sports from running to rally car racing, ED2K attendees came from a range of cities - from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii to Toronto - and included both first-time event directors and seasoned professionals. Using the San Diego event as a model, ActiveUSA.com plans to launch a series of ED2K Event Director's Conferences across the country during 2000.
"This is the best conference I have ever attended," said Tim Becker, The Mountain Duathlon, Seattle, Wash. "The staff was experienced and knowledgeable, the topics were current and timely, the venue first class. Please get the word out to more race directors around the country to attend this excellent educational event."
ActiveUSA.com is the largest and most comprehensive Internet site for participatory sports, providing athletes, event and tournament directors, league administrators and sports participants worldwide a range of Web resources and services. The La Jolla-based company was started by athletes in search of a better way to handle the search and registration process for competing in sporting events. ActiveUSA.com features the world's largest online database of participatory sports events in as many as 60 sports, providing access to more than 50 million recreational athletes. Services include online event search and registration, event management resources, participatory sports calendars, community features, training tools and more. For additional information on ActiveUSA.com and its services, visit www.activeusa.com.