November 12, 2008 09:00 ET

MarketingSherpa and ON24 Announce B-to-B Marketing Virtual Summit

First-of-Its-Kind Virtual Show Features Practical Tactics to Maximize Marketing ROI During an Economic Recession

WARREN, RI and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - November 12, 2008) - MarketingSherpa (www.marketingsherpa.com), a research firm publishing case studies and benchmark guides, and ON24, Inc. (http://www.ON24.com), the global leader in webcasting and virtual events solutions, announced today MarketingSherpa's first-ever Virtual Summit, "B-to-B Marketing ROI for 2009." Set for January 14th, this unique virtual event will showcase practical marketing tactics and planning to reflect today's economic realities and give marketers exclusive access to leaders in the industry.

Summit attendees will learn best practices across the complete marketing life cycle from the leading solutions providers for prospecting, demand generation, lead maturation, lead scoring, SEO/SEM and sales force automation. Vendors will be providing practical "how-to" guidance, sharing new marketing techniques that can be implemented immediately to jump-start programs or incorporate into 2009 plans. "The summit is designed for marketing professionals who need systematic marketing approaches that really work and which provide the quantifiable, tangible results that organizations demand," explained Jeanne Hopkins, MarketingSherpa CMO.

Virtual booths will give attendees direct one-on-one access to marketing industry experts who will be showcasing, for example, a variety of case study-driven topics, with quality research and meaningful statistics. Further enhancing the summit's value will be the comprehensive and varied marketing materials and research reports attendees will receive to help them build or finalize their 2009 marketing plans.

Attendees of MarketingSherpa's "B-to-B Marketing ROI for 2009 Virtual Summit" will be able to access the event from any computer platform without having to download any proprietary software. Once inside, attendees will see that the virtual show resembles an actual trade show, with an auditorium for live webcast keynotes from industry leaders, a communications center for networking with valuable contacts, a resource center for research and white papers, an information booth for questions, and an exhibition hall.

"Our marketing ROI virtual summit will give marketers the stats, inspiration and instructions to improve their results," said Hopkins. "We are the natural organization to spearhead this summit because we have been helping marketing professionals build best practices and increase ROI for nearly a decade. We're not just providing white papers, but toolkits -- the practical, b-to-b marketing techniques that will empower companies to get the job done. ON24 is the natural partner for us because of its reputation for quality, experience with b-to-b enterprises and back-end statistics and reporting capabilities."

"We're excited to power this event with ON24 Virtual Show and pleased to partner with MarketingSherpa in making this virtual show the 'gold standard' for virtual event best practices," explained ON24 Vice President of Marketing Denise Persson. "Marketers across North America will get access to the latest best practices in b-to-b marketing and inspiration from industry thought leaders, right from their desktops. They will also experience first-hand ON24 Virtual Show, an interactive, cost-effective marketing tool ideally suited for this economic climate."

About MarketingSherpa

MarketingSherpa (http://www.marketingsherpa.com) is a research firm publishing practical case studies and benchmark guides for its 237,000 weekly readers in the marketing profession. Topics covered include practical how-to and exclusive data and proven tactics in business-to-business marketing, ecommerce marketing, email marketing, search marketing, telemarketing, media relations, landing page design, marketing measurement and online subscription marketing. The firm also operates annual summits attended by thousands of marketers. MarketingSherpa, along with MarketingExperiments and InTouch, is part of the MECLABS Group.

About ON24, Inc.

ON24, Inc. (http://www.ON24.com) is the global leader of webcasting and virtual events solutions for demand generation and corporate communications. ON24 provides the most reliable and trusted solutions that enable organizations to plan, produce and deliver cost-effective online events, including lead generation webinars, virtual shows, internal communications, continuing professional education and executive announcements.

More than 700 global organizations in publishing, technology, life sciences, government, and financial services rely on ON24, including Business Objects, Cardinal Health, Cisco Systems, United Business Media, Credit Suisse, U.S. Department of Education, GE Healthcare, IBM, Motorola, National Science Foundation, and Samsung. ON24 is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, London and Beijing.