Data Mining Leader SAS Hosts M2002 Conference

October event will feature SAS and other world-renowned experts

CARY, N.C., Oct. 11, 2002 -- SAS, the leader in business intelligence, will host the fifth annual M2002 conference, the world's premier data mining and analysis event, happening Oct. 22-23 at the company's world headquarters here.

SAS consistently receives recognition as a data mining industry leader from highly regarded analyst firms. According to Henry Morris, IDC's group vice president for application and information access, "SAS is the worldwide leader for data mining software based on 2001 license and maintenance revenues. It's evident that as businesses look to leverage existing information and answer complex business questions, they increasingly are applying the advanced analytics and data mining that SAS provides."

In addition, SAS' Enterprise Miner(TM) was listed in the "leader" quadrant in the highly coveted Gartner Magic Quadrant report on data mining products*.

Chaired by Will Potts, chief statistician for Data Miners, Inc., and SAS analytical strategy director Anne Milley, M2002 offers participants the opportunity to learn from highly respected leaders in the data mining community. The conference will provide first-hand, expert knowledge on the latest trends in data mining, helping attendees discover new ways to turn their organizations' data into their most powerful asset. Nearly 300 participants from more than a dozen countries attended last year's event, with many commenting that the educational content, exchange of ideas and intellectual environment far exceeded their expectations.

Keynotes addresses will be delivered by Robert Blattberg, distinguished professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; Ed Wegman, distinguished professor and director of the Center for Computational Statistics at George Mason University; Gordon Linoff, author and founder and principal of Data Miners, Inc.; and Foster Provost, an internationally recognized professor at NYU's Stern School of Business. These thought leaders will share their views on a range of topics such as how to successfully apply data mining to help maximize ROI, anticipate resource demand, predict customer behavior and retain profitable customers. More than 20 speakers from financial services, pharmaceutical, retail, government and academia will present research and host forums.

"The M series of conferences is designed to provide a forum for the open exchange of ideas, methodology, new innovations and directions in data mining," said Potts. "Feedback we have received from past attendees shows that we are offering a valuable service to the data mining community. We expect that M2002 will continue to set the industry standard for unsurpassed educational value that data mining practitioners need and want."

Immediately before and after the conference, M2002 will offer additional training courses that highlight the latest data mining technology. Scheduled course titles include: "Two-stage Modeling Using Enterprise Miner Software," "Survival Data Mining: Modeling Customer Event Histories" and "Predictive Modeling Using Enterprise Miner Software."

For more information, visit the M2002 Web site at http://www.sas.com/news/events/dmconf/, or contact the conference manager at (919) 531-1276 or (919) 531-7053.

About SAS

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 39,000 sites - including 98 of the top 100 businesses on the Fortune 500 - to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For more than 25 years, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know(R). Visit us at http://www.sas.com.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (C) 2002 SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.