Executive Director Incorporated

For Immediate Release:
August 4, 2006

Contact:
Michele Martinez, mmartinez@execinc.com
Elizabeth Dooley, edooley@execinc.com
(414) 276-6445

EDI Preferred Provider Network will provide clients enhanced service and efficiencies

(Milwaukee) - The creation of a Preferred Provider Network (PPN) for contracting hotel meeting and room space will offer enhanced levels of service and greater planning efficiencies to clients of Executive Director, Inc. (EDI).

EDI provides professional services for national and international medical, trade and scientific associations.

"Our new hotel Preferred Provider Network will streamline our clients' search and contracting processes for meeting space, facilitate greater economies of scale and give the preferred providers priority access to our clients," said David Baumann, EDI principal and Chief Operating Officer.

EDI's 24 clients held 85 meetings in 2005, in excess of 36,354 room nights (an estimated value of $4.3 million), $2,695,000 worth of food and beverage and $1,170,000 worth of audio visual services. The majority of these meetings and conventions are annual events.

Companies selected for the PPN were: Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Marriott; Starwood; and Hinton & Grusich, an independent hotel representation firm.

Potential PPN members underwent a rigorous evaluation process, that assessed: willingness to participate in a 360 degree post-event review for each meeting; ability to streamline and standardize search and contracting; sharing of information about corporate programs, renovations or changes that impact meeting planning; demonstration of commitment to EDI clients; and city/property demographics relative to planned EDI client meeting locations.

"This is the first PPN EDI has developed, and our review process was extremely deliberate, based on what we thought would best serve all of our clients," Baumann said. "As a standard practice, EDI does not accept commissions from hotels or any other service provider, and we wanted to extend the value of that commitment in a new way to our clients."

Baumann anticipates that within two to three years, eight out of 10 EDI client meetings will be booked through the Preferred Provider Network.

About EDI
Established in 1962, EDI is one of the top 5 association management firms in the United States . EDI has 140 employees overseeing 24 clients. For more information, visit www.execinc.com.

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