IBSystems Announces VirtualDACafe -- First in a Series of World Class Virtual Trade Shows

"Trade shows for the new millennium."

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2001-- IBSystems, a leading provider of web portals targeted at professional audiences, today announced VirtualDACafe, its first in a series of Virtual Trade Shows. VirtualDACafe 2002, scheduled for April 22 - 25, 2002 will deliver all the advantages of a physical trade show to worldwide attendees in the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industry. Hardware giants, such as Hewlett Packard will be exhibiting along with many of the same leading hardware and software providers that attend major EDA physical trade shows like DAC and DesignCon.

IBSystems pioneered virtual trade show technology in 1997 with its "Virtual Campus" project, a full-feature multimedia enhanced virtual trade show developed for Sun Microsystems. David Heller, IBSystems' President said, "We have the technology, but having the technology is only one part of the equation. You also have to have the audience. We get that by leveraging our EDAToolsCafe.com web portal."

More than 125,000 unique visitors visit EDAToolsCafe.com each month, and its companion newsletter, CafeNews, is emailed to more than 40,000 EDA professionals every day. Both these vehicles reach out to thousands of designers and engineers who work at nearly every company that designs integrated circuits. The list of companies represented is staggering, and includes designers and engineers from such industry leaders as Motorola, IBM, Intel, Cisco, 3-Com, Toshiba, Philips, and many more.

At VirtualDACafe 2002 show attendees will visit booths to chat directly with company representatives, experience a wide range of multimedia product and corporate presentations, take literature, download demonstration software, and if they get hungry, they can even order a pizza delivered directly to their office.

A representative from Hewlett Packard said that his division is looking forward to exhibiting at VirtualDACafe 2002. "Very few major companies sent engineers to the last show we attended in June 2001. We look at this virtual show as an opportunity to reach potential customers who won't be going to physical shows this year. We also feel that it gives us the opportunity to build traffic to our scheduled physical trade shows later in 2002."

Show registration is open, and visitors can now experience a virtual demonstration booth by navigating to http://www.VirtualDACafe.com .

About IBSystems

IBSystems is a leading provider of web portals targeted at computer modeling professional audiences. Its EDAToolsCafe.com, MCADCafe.com, GISCafe.com, AECCafe.com, PCBCafe, and CareersCafe web portals bring valuable resources and timely information and job opportunities to professionals in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA), Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Architectural Engineering (AEC), and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) industries. Its CareersCafe brings employers and jobseekers together in each of these high-tech fields. IBSystems complements their portals with four Vision online magazines. The company is building and launching additional industry-focused vertical portals and products on an on-going basis. For more information on IBSystems please visit http://www.ibsystems.com/

     IBSystems, Inc.
     David Heller, 408/850-9201 (President)
     Marketing@IBSystems.com