• Enhanced e-commerce functions for managing the sale of online and classroom training. Among the new functions are streamlined tools to: assign discounts; check out courses; and, collect credit card payments.


• A system for bringing new users, and updated user profiles, into the LMS when a company has no "data feed" from its human resources information system (HRIS).


• Design palettes for creating customized training certificates, which a manager can attach to specific content or transcripts.


• Customized search profiles, embedded within the LMS search function, that training managers can create to help learners find courses, catalogs or transcripts faster.

• Abbott Nutrition (Most Innovative Use of an LMS)


• Land O' Lakes, Inc. (Best Launch of an LMS)


• Mazda North America (Best Graphical Interface for an LMS), and


• TeleTech (Best Marketing of an LMS)

• non-profit educational institution that has trained more than 150,000 healthcare professionals,


• world-famous research and development organization, which funds projects ranging from biology to neuroscience,


• pharmaceutical maker,


• global developer and implementer of skills management and training systems,


• consultancy providing products and services ranging from program management to engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies,


• 350,000-member association focused on financial certification training,


• benefits organization supporting development and educational needs of more than 80,000 workers, and


• federal agency focused on ensuring the safety of U.S. government personnel.

• For the second consecutive year, readers of Elearning! Magazine gave Meridian Knowledge Solutions' Meridian Global LMS (Learning Management System) a Best of Elearning! Excellence Award in the category "Best Enterprise LMS,"


• listed in "visionaries" quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Corporate Learning Systems,


• ranked by IT Training magazine as a "Top-5 LMS provider," and


• named a "Top Training and Simulation Company" by Military Training Technology magazine.

• Listed in "visionaries" quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Corporate Learning Systems; and,


• Named a "Top Training and Simulation Company" by Military Training Technology magazine

• New, streamlined ways to buy content
• Innovations in delivering and managing content
• Fresh approaches to instructing learners
• Requirements for transferring knowledge

• a Japan-based automaker
• an international transportation company
• a global manufacturer for the food and beverage industry
• a state government, enterprise-wide
• a nationwide provider of technical training for the automotive and marine industries
• a 110,000-member labor union representing service industry workers

• an easy-to-use interface for finding, evaluating and taking learning


• an enhanced e-commerce function to buy (and collect payment for) instructional products or online training


• protocols (e.g., LDAP) and tools for simplifying the process by which users of all kinds sign on to the LMS to take training


• a creative approach to "custom roles." Custom roles offer an employer an easy way to build a complex menu of functions and content for different users to tap into. For instance, if a manufacturer wants distributors of, say, its hydraulic products to create and sell online training and resellers of its electromechanical products to simply handle online registration for classroom courses, then the custom roles function in the LMS nimbly handles the job


• a one-step approach for importing courses from a server to the LMS, as long as the courses meet one of two e-learning industry standards such as SCORM or AICC.

• First, SEI offers product and marketing training. Manufacturers of specialty automotive equipment find it difficult to effectively provide product training to all of the retailers selling their products. The LMS will provide SEMA-member retailers of all sizes online, on-demand product training and marketing assistance from hundreds of manufacturers.


• Second, Price and Walker say the LMS will augment professional development.


• Third, SEI sees the Meridian LMS as helping to deliver and track the courses necessary for gaining professional certifications.


• Fourth, SEI sees outreach programs as critical to attracting young people in high schools and technical colleges to the specialty equipment industry.

• Listed in "visionaries" quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Corporate Learning Systems;
• Rated Number One in "ease of use for learners," "ease of use for administrators," and "usefulness" in The eLearning Guild's "Guild 360º Report on Learning Management Systems;"
• Named a "Top Training and Simulation Company" by Military Training Technology magazine; and
• Earned a Gold "Excellence in Customer Service Award" from Chief Learning Officer magazine.

• "ease of use for learners,"


• "ease of use for [LMS] administrators,"


• "integrating with LCMS (learning content management systems),"


• "support for different models of learning,"


• "support for complex business process models,"


• "helping people perform their jobs better,"


• "support for talent management," and


• "support for immersive learning simulations."

The embedded Workforce Analytics provide executive dashboards for compliance, skills gaps, learning productivity, and LMS ROI as well as comprehensive workforce reporting.  Executive dashboards include the C level dashboards, LMS administrator dashboard as well dashboards for all first line supervisors.

Underlying this functionality is industry leading technology. Meridian Global consists of 100% .NET managed code (C#), with over 1,300 API methods exposed via SOAP WEB services (as well as .NET Remoting and COM).  “This approach provides ease of integration at any point in the application, not just the typical user profile and content integrations.  No other LMS supports full integration with corporate portals or embedding LMS functionality within other applications,” said Dave DeVaux, Meridian’s Chief Technology Officer.  

“Organizations experienced with LMS implementations will immediately appreciate the impact Meridian’s technology has on the total cost of ownership while allowing complete customization.  Meridian Global has been specifically designed with ease of customization and upgrades in mind,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian’s Founder.  The product employs a Meridian developed application architecture, the Dynamic Instantiation Service Map Architecture, which allows all calls to any base product object to be remapped to an alternate custom object via a simple change in configuration (service map).

This architecture keeps all customized code completely separate from the base product code.  Upgrades are made to the base product code, leaving all customizations completely intact and operational. If desired, the client may also choose to migrate upgraded functionality that was previously modified, simply by changing the service map.

Early adopters of Meridian Global 2008, desirous of the multi-lingual features, dashboard and analytics capabilities, and ease of configuration, include General Services Administration, AutoZone, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc., and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Realizing that all aspects of end-of-life care need to be thoroughly and systematically addressed, Respecting Choices^® has developed a systems approach that includes: 1) community engagement, 2) professional education, and 3) organization/community standards of practice.

Elizabeth Harris, a Meridian founder, said, “We are excited with the opportunity to support Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation in this worthy initiative.”  The hosted Meridian Knowledge Centre LMS will: 

·     Deliver quality online professional development to the desktop.

·     Manage the certifications of advance care planning instructors worldwide.

·     Foster communication and collaboration between certified instructors worldwide.

·     Provide a marketing and e-commerce engine to sell content to health systems and individual healthcare professionals.

 Meridian was selected over seven other LMS vendors, after a very rigorous and competitive solicitation process.  Roy Haythorn, Meridian’s Vice President of Sales Operations, said, “Partnering with Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation enhances Meridian’s already strong presence in the healthcare industry and externally facing e-commerce initiatives.  Increasingly healthcare organizations are selling and certifying their specialties to other healthcare organizations and professionals.  Meridian is the perfect partner to support and enhance this growing trend.”

About Gundersen Lutheran Health System and Medical Foundation

Comprised of more than 500 medical, dental, and associate staff, Gundersen Lutheran Health System is a physician-led, not for profit healthcare system that includes a comprehensive healthcare network, one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group medical practices, regional community clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, home care, behavioral health services, vision centers, pharmacies, and air and ground ambulances.

Located throughout wetern Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa, and southeastern Minnesota, Gundersen Lutheran cares for patients in 19 counties.  They have been named among the Top 100 hospitals in the nation 10 times in the last 10 years.  They have a staff of over 5,000, a teaching hospital with 325 beds, and a Trauma and Emergency Center. They are also home to the designated Western Clinical Campus for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School and School of Nursing.

Internationally recognized in advance care planning and bereavement, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation is Respecting Choices parent organization.  It is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. Its mission is to enhance and support quality health care with an emphasis on medical education, health/wellness education, clinically-based research, and community health outreach.

In the study, customer loyalty was measured by the number of customers indicating a likelihood to switch vendors.  Meridian was the only vendor which had no customers who indicated a likelihood to switch vendors.  The overall average rate for this category was 24%.  A total of 13 LMS vendors were included in the study.

Within its market segment, Meridian was also rated as a leader in content integration and a co-leader in long-term platform support.  Meridian was an out performer, with ratings that exceeded the category average, for overall satisfaction, ease of use for administrators, ease of upgrading, scalability, e-learning content, and content development tools.   

“While Meridian’s recognition in these areas is impressive, we are most proud of our recognition for customer loyalty,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian’s founder. 

“The fact that Meridian had no customers considering a switch is quite a testament to the company’s ability to meet its customers’ total needs,” said Josh Bersin, president and founder.   “As many business books state, customer loyalty is the number one  measure of a highly successful company,  With customer loyalty, customers vote with their dollars, which is the ultimate recognition for any vendor.” 

“This highly favorable recognition in the Bersin & Associates study will add significant momentum to Meridian’s expansion into commercial markets,” added Roy Haythorn, vice president of sales operations. “We are focused on building a presence in the retail, healthcare, and financial markets that will mirror our leadership with federal, state, and local government clients across the country.” 

Meridian has also initiated international sales efforts corresponding with release of its Meridian 2007 LMS, a globally enabled, multi-lingual offering.


For more information about the Bersin & Associates study, go to http://store.bersinassociates.com/lms-custsat.html.  

Air Education and Training Command (AETC), which administers the ADLS, is headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas.  AETC provides basic military training, initial and advanced technical training, flying training, and professional military and degree-granting professional education. AETC is the first command to touch the life of almost every Air Force member.  The Advanced Distributed Learning Branch (AETC/A3ZA), under the direction of the AETC Director of Intelligence & Air, Space, and Information Operations AETC/A/2/3, is responsible for the LMS implementation, and has been working diligently with Meridian for the past three years to provide quality online training to the United States Air Force. 

“It is an amazing achievement for AETC and the Air Force to lead our military services into the next generation of learning and education.  With over one million course completions and over 760,000 users, the ADLS has become an important part of our nation’s ability to sustain military readiness and national security.  The A3ZA team and AETC leadership are demonstrating a real commitment to improve the quality and reach of training regardless of the student’s geographical location.  The end result is a capability that provides tremendous value to service members on a daily basis.” said Malcolm Patel, a founding Partner of Meridian. 

Using the ADLS, AETC offers derivative portal sites for a multitude of Air Force organizations and Combatant Commands, all via the Meridian Knowledge Centre™ LMS platform.  The use of derivative sites allows Air Force organizations to share references, resources, and training across the enterprise, while providing a uniquely branded portal tailored to each organization and function.

About Air Education and Training Command (AETC)  

AETC is the executive agent for all Air Force sponsored international training and education. The command implements and approves Air Force sponsored security assistance training, monitors the progress of training and the welfare of USAF-sponsored international students, and provides guidance for implementation of the DOD Informational Program. Each year AETC members train or facilitate training for more than 4,400 students from more than 130 countries attending flying, technical, medical and professional education and training. AETC was formed in 1942 as the Army Air Corps Flying Training Command with headquarters in Washington, DC. Less than a year later, the headquarters moved to Fort Worth, Texas. During World War II the command provided technical and flying training at more than 600 installations, factories and institutions of higher learning. The headquarters moved to Barksdale AFB, LA., in 1946, to Scott AFB, IL., in 1949 and finally to Randolph AFB, TX, in 1957. To represent the command’s growing mission in education, training and recruiting, it was re-designated the Air Education and Training Command in 1993. Over the years, more than 25 million students have graduated from AETC training and education programs.

As an approved OPM e-Training Provider, the NTIS provides program management, help desk, hosting, and other services. Under the agreement, Government Agencies will have streamlined access to Meridian’s complete suite of products, including the learning mangement, knowledge management, performance management, and offline LMS products. Meridian will also support NTIS’ customers with product training, software maintenance, content development, and other services. "We have long been the leading provider of learning management systems to the Federal market and I’m very excited at how our customers will be able to leverage this agreement." said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. "Not only will they be able to streamline their compliance with OPM’s e-Training requirements, but they will also have access to all of the NTIS offerings."

About NTIS

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is an agency of the Technology Administration at the Department of Commerce that offers a wide range of professional services to Government Agencies. NTIS works with Government Agencies to provide complete e-Training solutions tailored to accomplish the e-Training objectives of the Agency. In 2004, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) selected NTIS as an approved e-Learning Service Provider for the Government. In addition, NTIS serves our nation as the largest central resource and repository for Government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information. For more information on NTIS, please contact Patricia S. Gresham at 703-605-6123 (pgresham@ntis.gov) or Betty L. Lagundo at 703-605-6185 (blagundo@ntis.gov), or go to http://www.ntis.gov. 

“We take great pride in our accomplishments thus far in 2006”, said Paul Somerville, Meridian’s President and CEO, “the very strong demand for our enterprise Learning Management System has us on track to deliver our 8^th consecutive year of profitability and double digit revenue growth.  The continuing financial health of our company has permitted sustained investment in new product development and the scalability of our professional services team.”

Some additional first quarter milestones include:

As part of this robust growth, Meridian added numerous client partners across the commercial, Federal, state, and local markets. A sampling of new organizations partnering with Meridian in 2005 included America 's Health Insurance Plans, Commerce Bank, Job Corps, TalentKeepers, Barnes & Noble, multiple Department of Defense customers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, New York City , and the states of Idaho , Montana , North Dakota , and Ohio.

Meridian also received several accolades and awards throughout 2005. Some examples of this recognition:

• Meridian was rated as a "Market Outperformer" across every measure of customer satisfaction in Bersin & Associates' 2005 LMS Customer Satisfaction Study: An Industry Analysis of the Customer Experience with Learning Management Systems .
  
• Meridian was named a "Cool Vendor" by Gartner, Inc.
  
• Meridian was named "visionary" in two Gartner Magic Quadrant reports.
  
• Meridian earned SCORM 2004 certification for both the Meridian Player and LMS.
  
• The Knowledge Centre was named a "Best Value LMS" by Brandon-hall.com
  
• Meridian won the Federal Government Distance Learning Association's Pioneer Award.
  
• Meridian was listed in the Military Training Technology Top 100.

"Meridian has maintained a record of consistent, managed growth and profitability in this highly competitive market space," said Paul Somerville , Meridian KSI President and CEO. "Our eight consecutive years of double digit profitability are remarkable in our industry, and our extraordinary level of customer satisfaction and loyalty over that time period is no coincidence."

Meridian continues to build on its past successes, with 15 LMS placements projected for the first quarter of 2006. "This is shaping up to be our finest year ever," Somerville added.

Meridian partnered with AETC and C2 to successfully deploy the Air Force Training Record (AFTR), the next generation of competency modeling and training for the Air Force. AFTR is a component of AETC's implementation of the award-winning Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ enterprise LMS suite, called the Advanced Distributed Learning System.

The Advanced Distributed Learning System (ALDS) is expected to reach 700,000 learners by the end of 2006. It provides the Air Force with a comprehensive .NET-enhanced tool to launch and track training.

"The deployment of AFTR within the ADLS puts AETC at the forefront of e-Learning by utilizing unparalleled expertise in learning management with an enterprise learning strategy," explained Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO.

The AFTR project integrated, automated, and streamlined virtually all of the transactions required for documentation and retrieval of training records for thousands of Air Force personnel.

The Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) gives the Pioneer Award to Government agencies and associated contractors for outstanding achievement in the design and development of technology-based products used in association with distance learning.

About the Federal Government Distance Learning Association

The Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) is a nonprofit association formed to promote the development and application of distance learning and to actively foster collaboration and understanding among those involved in educational and training within the Federal Government. Focused on supporting Federal Government agencies involved in distance learning, the Federal Government Distance Learning Association is embarking on innovative ways to incorporate instructional technologies for the new millennium. Our membership is derived primarily from people employed by the various agencies within the Federal Government or on contract with the Federal Government to support its distance learning programs.

The list, announced in the November 2005 lauded Meridian for "successfully implement[ing] the next generation of modeling and training," noting AETC's use of the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ for advanced competency management tasks and credits that for putting AETC "at the forefront of e-learning."

In an interview with Military Training Technology , Paul Somerville, Meridian 's President and CEO, spoke of the company's support of the military. "We have been involved with the Training Transformation initiative through a number of our implementations, our work with the ADL Co-Lab, and work with the Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability," he explained.

"We believe our experience of over 50 Knowledge Centre implementations in the federal government and front-line experience with SCORM since its inception are discriminators that help our clients meet and exceed their requirements," Somerville said. "These are very exciting times, and we are very happy to be right in the thick of it."

Companies listed on the Top 100 are judged on the criteria of total military sales, end-user feedback, innovations, and the need for the solution. Meridian was one of only three LMS providers to make the cut.

About The MT2 Top 100

Kerrigan Media International and Military Training Technology are proud to announce the 2005 MT2 Top 100. The Top 100 is a listing of companies that have made a significant impact in the military training industry this fiscal year—whether in live, virtual or constructive simulation, training or education. Military Training Technology invited almost 300 candidates to provide information for the awards and invited any company interested to apply. Based on submissions and additional information, our editorial board and a panel of independent experts then selected 100 winners. Companies were selected based on various criteria, which, in part, included total military sales, end-user feedback, innovations and need for the solution.

Meridian will deploy the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ enterprise LMS suite for Qualis in support of the CMS Quality Improvement Organization, a group consisting of agencies in all 50 states, as well as private contractors who administer Medicare across the country. The potential audience for the Knowledge Centre will top 50,000 users upon full deployment.

Meridian already has a presence at CMS, through the agency's existing Knowledge Centre implementation. Through their use of the Knowledge Centre, CMS has already increased audience awareness of - and access to - course offerings, increased the cost effectiveness of their training, and improved customer service as well as overall satisfaction.

Qualis will use the Knowledge Centre to dispense timely information to a large, geographically dispersed audience, to communicate with first responders, and to bring together training and certification data from a number of different legacy learning management systems.

Following the initial deployment, Qualis plans to expand the Knowledge Centre's use to other organizations within CMS. Qualis has purchased an enterprise license, one of several flexible licensing options that make the Knowledge Centre accessible to organizations of any size.

About Qualis Health

Qualis Health is a private, nonprofit organization based in Seattle , where the company has operated since its founding in 1974. Qualis' collaborative relationships with providers, practitioners, managed care plans, employers, and community groups define the way they do business. Under a contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Qualis Health serves as the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Alaska , Idaho and Washington . Qualis Health offers a suite of programs and services designed to help manage healthcare cost and quality for a diverse clientele of consumers, employers, providers, managed care organizations, third-party administrators, insurance carriers, and government agencies.

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals was recognized as the Best Business Solution Use for their combined use of the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ and the Meridian Player. The Meridian Player is a personal LMS application deployed to support the field sales team, whose limited connectivity made training a challenge.

The Commonwealth of Virginia won an award for Best Launch. Virginia consolidated requirements across multiple state agencies to select the Knowledge Centre as its enterprise LMS. This effort was led by the Virginia Information Technology Agency, with the Department of Human Resources Management as the functional project lead. Virginia 's LMS selection and implementation team consisted of stakeholders from eight different agencies with input from several additional organizations.

The U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command (AETC) received the Best User Interface Branding award. AETC's Knowledge Centre implementation served as an intensely visual representation of their mission. This branding and user interface was carried throughout the LMS with an intended target audience of over 700,000 users.

Finally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) won for Best Overall Use of the Knowledge Centre. The FBI currently has separate implementations, one supporting the internal enterprise of 29,000 FBI agents and staff with the second supporting the FBI Academy . The combined implementation is used to manage all facets of learning within their extended enterprise.

The recipients were honored at Meridian 's Annual Users' Conference in Chantilly , VA in August. “Selecting award recipients was very difficult with so many customers that are deserving in each of these areas,” said Paul Somerville , Meridian President and CEO. “We already have a number of customers who have announced their intention to garner awards at next years Users' Conference.”

CHANTILLY , VA – October 6, 2005 : Meridian KSI, the LMS partner for organizations of every size, has been selected to deploy the Knowledge Centre nationwide for America 's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national trade organization representing 1,300 member companies serving 200 million Americans.

Meridian will enable AHIP to deliver continuing education and certification credentialing services for insurance providers in each of the 50 states. “This is an intricate task since each state requires different levels of compliance,” explained Paul Somerville, Meridian President and CEO. “Each insurance company has different business rules and branding/reporting needs, so we've had to help AHIP tweak the training they offer to best meet the requirements of each discrete organization.”

Each of AHIP's member companies will be able to access a uniquely branded version of the site, with discrete tracking, filtering, and revenue generation reporting powered by Meridian 's innovative Domain Manager module.

E-commerce functionality was a crucial element of AHIP's requirements, and Meridian 's shopping cart solution will enable discrete pricing, promotional discount codes, companywide billing accounts, and credit card processing for individual users. Competency modeling tools generate additional revenue for AHIP.

The Knowledge Centre was selected for AHIP's Insurance Education Program due to its proven stability and robust array of learning management tools. The organization will utilize functionality including registration and enrollment, finance, e-commerce, workshops, automated reporting, and four types of testing.

AHIP will take advantage of Meridian 's industry-leading blended learning expertise. The Meridian solution gives them a powerful platform to deliver and manage self-study courses, online training, skills assessments and online testing, workshops, and live training that includes over thirty individual offerings representing ten courses of study. Some of the classroom courses will have online support provided exclusively through the Knowledge Centre.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About AHIP
America 's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is the national association representing nearly 1,300 member companies providing health insurance coverage to more than 200 million Americans. Its member companies offer medical expense insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, dental insurance, supplemental insurance, stop-loss insurance and reinsurance to consumers, employers, and public purchasers. For over 40 years, AHIP's Insurance Education Program has provided current, comprehensive, and economically priced self-paced courses for professionals seeking to advance their understanding of the health insurance industry. Since 1958, over 520,000 people have taken its self-study courses.

Meridian had previously sponsored a number of donation campaigns supporting the Red Cross and other charitable organizations during natural disasters and following the 9/11 attacks. The response to Hurricane Katrina marks Meridian 's most significant contribution to date.

“All of our lives have been touched in some way by this devastation,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian President and CEO. “Commitment to our community during times of need is a large part of our corporate culture, and I am proud to see the high level of participation from the individual employees at Meridian .”

In addition to the cash donations made to the American Red Cross, the company encouraged participation in food and supply drives organized by non-profit and faith-based organizations to which Meridian employees belong.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

About Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
The American Red Cross estimates that Hurricane Katrina relief efforts will exceed $2 billion, meeting the urgent needs of nearly one million families in three key areas: food and shelter ($744 million), emergency financial assistance to disaster survivors ($1.4 billion), and physical/mental health services ($78 million). As of Sept. 27, approximately $1.1 billion has been spent already or has been committed to hurricane relief efforts in the wake of Katrina. More than 163,000 Red Cross workers from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have responded to Katrina.

How to Help
Contact your local Red Cross chapter to become a volunteer. Well-meaning individuals are urged not to report directly to the affected areas. Making a financial contribution is the best way to help. To donate, call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish); make at secure, online donation at www.redcross.org ; or visit an Official Red Cross (Cash) Donation Site (retailer locations or online), or contact your local Red Cross chapter.

''Gartner's continued recognition of Meridian as a visionary reflects our rapid growth in the commercial sector,'' said Paul Somerville, Meridian President and CEO. “Over a hundred companies are in the LMS industry, so to be one of only six firms to be recognized as visionary is a testament to our rapid growth and successful expansion into commercial markets.”

Meridian 's inclusion in the quadrant recognizes the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ for its best-of-breed LMS functionality, and for the comprehensive suite of learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling/management tools that surround the Knowledge Centre's LMS core.

''We have always believed that successful learning management begins with the recognition that knowledge exists in many forms throughout an organization,” Somerville added. Our LMS suite provides the means to identify, capture, and codify these resources into discrete learning objects and easily apply them to various blended learning interventions.''

Criteria for selection include customer satisfaction and support, management, vendor viability, and installed base. The report emphasized the growing importance of LCMS functionality, interoperability of components, and integration of other applications as key factors in the selection process for organizations seeking e-learning suites. The report urged organizations to consider a system's capabilities in the areas of modularity, integration, and personalization.

The Knowledge Centre's proven, robust, and versatile integration capabilities; industry-leading support for SCORM; and the award-winning Meridian Player mobile LMS application further echo the report's classification of Meridian KSI as a Visionary firm.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™

Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

The NYC DOHMH selected the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ because of its ability to meet the department's specialized needs through robust functionality, including scheduling, competency management, collaboration, performance support, and knowledge base search.

Thanks to extensive experience in the unique requirements of state and local government at dozens of agencies from coast to coast, Meridian will be able to deploy and scale up the DOHMH's Knowledge Centre rapidly.

“Meridian KSI is the preeminent provider of learning management systems to state and local training organizations, helping them renew focus and increase preparedness for bio-terrorism and emergency management contingencies,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian CEO and President. “The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is a leader in incorporating innovative solutions to training issues. We're proud they've selected Meridian KSI after an exhaustive search of all available LMS solutions.”

DOHMH's deployment of the Knowledge Centre is part of a nationwide initiative funded by the Centers for Disease Control to train first responders on how to respond to a chemical or biological attack, and to enable state, local, and Federal agencies to share knowledge and content.

Meridian has been instrumental in the training efforts of organizations responsible for America 's homeland security, including Customs & Border Protection and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ohio 's Knowledge Centre implementation will support over 4,000 internal users and up to 40,000 external customers. It provides Web-based access to learning, enhanced registration capabilities for customers, maintenance of records for continuing education programs for professional certification, and enables virtual classroom survey interactivity and assessment capabilities.

Ohio will join Virginia , Texas , California , Idaho , and several other state and local clients on Meridian 's roster. “Our extensive experience in the Federal, state and local sectors makes Meridian the most trusted partner of government at all levels.”

CHANTILLY , VA – June 15, 2005 : Meridian KSI, the LMS partner for organizations of any size, has been included in the list of “Cool Vendors” in the March 25, 2005 report “ Cool Vendors in Knowledge Support, 2005” by James Lundy of Gartner, Inc.

Meridian KSI was listed in the Gartner report, which spotlighted companies that offer "clever new solutions to persistent problems." The report cited the difficulty of training traveling knowledge workers as a pressing challenge, and described mobile learning a "must have" capability that will likely become mandatory for enterprise e-learning systems by year-end 2007.

The Meridian Player is a desktop application that acts as a mobile learning management system, providing offline access to SCORM-conformant courseware for users with limited or no Internet connectivity. It allows learners to import and launch courses, tracking progress which is later reported to and synchronized with any SCORM-conformant LMS.

"We believe there is a tremendous demand for this product," said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. "The Meridian Player strongly differentiates Meridian from other vendors in the LMS market. Any organization with a mobile or distributed workforce will find great value in permitting their workforce to enjoy the benefits of ‘anytime, anywhere' e-Learning. The Meridian Player can be used as a kiosk supporting multiple learners or by an individual employee on a laptop, making it a valued learning and productivity tool for field sales and service organizations, retail establishments, construction firms, deployed Armed Forces, and many others who could not access e-Learning before."

Meridian is the first LMS provider to release a SCORM-conformant content player, a head start that reinforces Meridian 's market position in support of the SCORM standard. Meridian has embraced SCORM since its initial release, and released the first SCORM-certified learning management system as well as the first SCORM-certified content player. The Meridian Player was certified as conformant with SCORM 2004 in March by the ADL Academic Co-Lab in Madison , WI .

About Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process

Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.

Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.

About the Meridian Player

The Meridian Player is a mobile learning management system that brings e-learning's benefits offline, making learning material available for those with limited Internet access. It plays, assesses, and tracks SCORM content offline with the same functionality as when taken through the Knowledge Centre, tracking user progress, and updating online transcripts.

The Meridian Player is a mobile learning management system that brings e-learning's benefits offline, making learning material available for those with limited Internet access. It plays, assesses, and tracks SCORM content offline with the same functionality as when taken through the Knowledge Centre, tracking user progress, and updating online transcripts.

In a press release promoting the report, Bersin & Associates noted that "overall satisfaction is highly correlated with a vendor's implementation and support services." Meridian's comprehensive set of implementation best practices, dedicated project teams, and client-focused working processes ensure the highest levels of customer satisfaction throughout the entire life cycle of each project.

"Meridian KSI had very high customer ratings in overall customer satisfaction. In fact, its ratings were among the highest in the study," said Josh Bersin, president and founder of Bersin & Associates. "These results prove the company is keenly focused on support, services, and features which meet customer requirements."

In the LMS study, Meridian was also designated as a "market outperformer," with customer satisfaction levels above the industry average in all six measured categories:

• Overall Solution Value (LMS solution meets business needs and improves productivity)
  
• Business Partnership (Customer has input to product direction, vendor understands business and training needs)
  
• Total Installation (LMS was installed on schedule, installed on budget, and ease of installation)
  
• Total Customer Service (Overall customer service for all interactions, quality of technical support)
  
• Ease of Ownership (Ease of customization, ease of upgrade)
  
• Ease of Use (Ease of use for learners, ease of use for administrators)

Out of the sixteen participating LMS vendors, only four others were rated as above average in every category. "We strive to support our large and demanding clients by combining best-of-breed LMS/LCMS technologies with outstanding customer service", said Paul Somerville, Meridian President and CEO. "Meridian's future successes depend on the same factors that have driven our achievements to date - the determination to be the best LMS provider in the market, not just the biggest. Our people work diligently to maintain our outstanding reputation by delivering the quality products and services that our client partners have come to expect from Meridian."

The customer satisfaction study also identified Meridian KSI as a company that "delights customers." The study defines as such companies whose average overall customer satisfaction rating is a 9 or 10 on a ten-point scale.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Bersin & Associates
Bersin & Associates is comprised of senior marketing, product, and sales executives with extensive experience in e-learning, enterprise software, and enterprise services. They also draw upon resources from an extensive partner network of seasoned e-learning and software professionals. Bersin & Associates' mission is to help clients make faster, more effective decisions which reduce cost, reduce risk, and increase the business impact of their training investments.

About the 2005 LMS Customer Satisfaction Study
The 2005 LMS Customer Satisfaction Study: An Industry Analysis of the Customer Experience with Learning Management Systems is a broad-based industry study based on survey results from 660 system administrators and training managers and executives. This study, which will be repeated annually, evaluates a wide range of categories - product performance, technical support, customer service, business partnership, and implementation - all from the customers' perspective. The 2005 study covers offerings from 16 LMS vendors and analyzed 28 different measures of customer satisfaction.

The study was completed funded by Bersin & Associates. Information in the study is based solely on Bersin & Associates' analysis of results; no information included in the study was provided by vendors.

All responders to the 2005 survey have one or more LMSs implemented in their organizations; the average length of LMS "ownership" is 2.5 years. Respondents represent organizations of all sizes, vertical segments, and number of learners. Seventy-percent of respondents are from corporate organizations; 16% are from government organizations, and 11% were from non-profit organizations. The 2004 study was conducted in the winter of 2004 and early 2005.

The Grading the States 2005 report, which appeared in the February 2005 issue of Governing magazine, rated Virginia 's government management as an A-. Virginia earned straight A-'s in every category, Money, People, Infrastructure, and Information.

The report's introduction stated, “Strong workforce planning, as well as solid succession planning that is fueled by the innovative Learning Management System, highlight the People (A-) category.”

“This report's recognition validates the Knowledge Centre's integral role in the ongoing performance of government,” said Paul Somerville, CEO and President of Meridian KSI. “Our extensive experience with the unique requirements of state and local organizations gives Meridian unmatched insight into how to forge them into better-trained, better-informed workforces.”

The report praised Virginia 's workforce plan as “an example for all states” for including “future workforce needs and action plans for accomplishing those needs … Employees have access to career tools online and senior management programs.”

The report, Low-Cost Learning Management Systems: 17 Products for Limited Budgets, was based on the company's current LMS KnowledgeBase research. From that list of 50 systems, they selected those that "consistently rate lower than average in price across small, medium, large, and very large implementations." Meridian's flexible licensing options and scalable solution have long made the Knowledge Centre a cost-effective solution for organizations of any size.

"Meridian has consciously priced our products and services to offer best value for organizations of any size," said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. "We continue to serve customers ranging from those with only several hundred users to organizations with several hundred thousand learners."

The report additionally noted that the Knowledge Centre "provides several ways to get the most learning value from the system, which brandon-hall.com described as a "well-integrated solution for content development, delivery, learning management, and competency management."

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI's flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About brandon-hall.com
Located in Sunnyvale, Calif., the independent research firm brandon-hall.com provides insight and advice through their publications and consulting on best practices and learning technologies for companies both large and small. The company also sponsors the Excellence in Learning Awards, the first recognition program dedicated entirely to the e-learning industry. For more information, contact kim@brandon-hall.com. For more information about this particular report, visit the website at www.brandon-hall.com.

Through this fusion of innovative technologies, organizations can maximize their human capital management abilities at a significant cost savings over standalone components, while reaping the infrastructure benefits of a fully integrated software platform.

''Meridian is honored to be selected by CGI-AMS to complement and expand its AMS Advantage® suite,'' said Paul Somerville, Meridian’s President and CEO.
''We look forward to supporting CGI-AMS' efforts to provide their customers with the comprehensive and innovative technology they require in order to maximize the intellectual capital within their organizations.''

Key to the CGI-AMS selection of Meridian KSI as its LMS partner was Meridian's robust technology and extensive experience supporting state and Federal organizations. Meridian KSI has implementations at over half the agencies in the Federal government and all four branches of the military, as well as enterprise-wide deployments in three states.

''Both CGI-AMS and Meridian are dedicated to providing software solutions optimized for the specific needs of government organizations,'' added Somerville. ''This partnership allows CGI-AMS to better serve its Advantage® clients, while providing Meridian with tremendous opportunities for growth.''

The Knowledge Centre’s learning management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality will be seamlessly integrated with AMS Advantage®, complementing and enhancing its financial management, HRM, procurement, and budgeting capabilities.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About CGI-AMS
CGI and AMS have combined their expertise to form an even stronger company: a world-class leader in information technology and business process outsourcing. CGI-AMS is now better positioned to help its clients maximize the value of IT through the delivery of a full range of complementary services and industry-specific, tailor-made solutions. Under the CGI-AMS banner in the United States, clients gain the advantage of a knowledgeable, dedicated partner working to develop and implement IT oriented solutions to address their business and technology challenges. Clients also have access to a greater breadth and depth of solutions and services in the government, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, utilities and services, manufacturing retail and distribution sectors. By joining forces with AMS, CGI has doubled its critical mass in both the United States and Europe. With 25,000 professionals and $3 billion in revenue, CGI is one of the largest independent IT and BPO companies in the world. For more information, visit http://www.cgi.com.

CHANTILLY, VA – September 20, 2004: The Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) has selected Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. as its LMS partner, the enterprise learning industry leader announced. The company will implement JSOU's behind-the-firewall implementation of the award-winning Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ LMS suite.

JSOU's Knowledge Centre, the Joint Special Operations Virtual University, will provide Army, Navy, and Air Force servicemen with access to courseware, team rooms, knowledge repositories, and expertise to support CONUS and OCONUS special operations personnel.

Meridian KSI's selection by JSOU reinforces the company's status as the LMS partner of choice for military and Federal organizations. Meridian has deployed Knowledge Centres for over half the agencies in the Federal government, including all four branches of the military.

“Satisfaction with Meridian’s products and people has driven the deployment of our Knowledge Centre across the entire Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and civilian agencies. We now support more than 50 LMS implementations within these organizations,” added Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Joint Special Operations University
Established in 2000, Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) was established by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) commander in chief, as a focal point for meeting the unique educational needs of special operations forces and enhancing the understanding of the utility of special operations to national security decision makers. JSOU trains special operations forces representing the Navy, Army, and Air Force.

CHANTILLY, VA – July 27, 2004: The State of Idaho has selected the award-winning Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ enterprise LMS suite for two statewide deployments, Meridian KSI announced today. The LMS partner for organizations of any size won five-year contracts on two separate bids – one for an ASP implementation, and one behind-the-firewall, client server based solution.

Initially, the Knowledge Centre will be deployed to three state agencies: the Department of Commerce and Labor (IDCL), with 800 users at 24 field offices; and the Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW), with 3,000 users scattered in 45 field offices.

The State of Idaho was searching for an LMS with robust LCMS functionality, and emphasized the need for tight integration, interoperability, scalability, and security. During the evaluation process, Meridian was judged as providing both the most effective solution and the best value.

Following the first-year roll-out, the Knowledge Centre will deliver blended learning opportunities, including ILT and e-learning, to all 20,000 Idaho employees. Each of the state’s 80 independent agencies can choose whichever implementation best fits their individual requirements based on business needs, network capabilities, and available bandwidth.

''Our enterprise LMS suite is an optimal solution for organizations with diverse and distributed needs such as state governments," said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. "One key factor in Idaho’s selection of Meridian is the Knowledge Centre’s flexibility to support the diverse needs of the state's many different agencies. This powerful functionality offers larger enterprises flexibility and cost savings, making Meridian KSI the ideal LMS partner.''

Through the use of the Knowledge Centre, the State of Idaho will support business objectives including centralizing training opportunities; tracking and managing education delivered through varied channels; empowering learners to self-register and obtain the necessary approvals; improve the registration process’ ease, reliability, and security; giving learners easy access to training resources; improved reporting capabilities; and developing individualized training plans.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

• A clearly articulated, efficient instructional development process. Optimized from the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model, Meridian’s fastidiously-documented courseware development process is a structured and efficient methodology, with a team-oriented production approach that provides cost savings, transparency, accuracy, and multiple layers of quality control during each step of the process.
• Experienced staff. Meridian courseware teams are comprised of effective instructional systems designers, veteran quality control specialists, and efficient and accurate Web designers, all with an average of five years' experience in the field.
• Successful past projects and happy previous clients. Meridian delivers polished, effective, engaging courseware on time. All of Meridian’s courseware clients are reference accounts.
• Experience with similar projects. Meridian has developed courseware for public sectors such as the military, the acquisition community, and the intelligence community; as well as commercial sector organizations in the banking, pharmaceutical, and childcare industries, as well as non-profits. No matter what your organization’s training goals are, chances are Meridian’s courseware teams have helped others reach those goals.
• Project management and communication skills. Meridian assigns a single point of contact and a single dedicated project manager who works with each client throughout the entire project life cycle.
• Rapid prototyping. Key to the Meridian courseware development process is the creation of a prototype lesson, which demonstrates the functionality of the course and allows clients to validate the design and style guides.
• Understand the costs. Meridian’s Tool Kit of over 100 courseware templates and utilities streamlines the production process and results in the best possible value for the client.
• No page-turners. Meridian’s courseware suite includes over 20 interactive templates. Meridian has also created software simulations and other customized and customizable techniques, like review questions, thought questions, small group exercises, and interactive workspace scenarios.
• Experience with standards-based Web development tools. Meridian KSI has been a leading supporter of the SCORM specification since its introduction in 2000. Meridian’s courseware resumé includes over 1,500 hours of SCORM-conformant courseware and hundreds of hours of AICC compliant courseware. All of Meridian’s courseware templates are compliant with Section 508, ensuring accessibility for your entire organization.

''Our company continues to enjoy immense success complementing our best-of-breed learning infrastructure products with high quality, affordable content development services,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. “It is rewarding to see Brandon Hall emphasize the very factors that make Meridian the courseware development partner of choice.''

CHANTILLY, VA – June 23, 2004: The American Bankers Association has deployed its Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ to its member organizations after a successful one-month pilot, the LMS partner for any size organization announced today.

''The financial services market is among Meridian's fastest growing business segments,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. ''The ABA's selection of Meridian as its LMS partner strongly validates how effectively our software platforms and related services support the needs of this demanding market segment. Meridian's partnership with the ABA has provided the opportunity to build industry specific functionality into our software, which can now benefit other clients with similar needs.''

ABA replaced its previous LMS with the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ in order to take advantage of greater flexibility and exclusive functionality to pursue its short- and long-term e-learning objectives. Integrated into the ABA's system is a full-featured e-commerce module for bill processing and credit card payments.

''The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre will enable us to provide ABA’s standard setting, industry specific education and training to our clients along with a wide range of other types of content,” said J. Douglas Adamson, Executive Director of the Professional Development Group of the American Bankers Association, “The Knowledge Centre also incorporates features that will be highly useful to our clients in building individual and organizational competencies and will allow them to add their own content in a very cost-effective way.''

Meridian KSI built several innovative new features into the ABA's Knowledge Centre in order to enable the delivery of courseware in different ways for its three distinct user bases, totaling 15,000 at launch: ''walk-in'' customers who purchase individual access to courses on a just-in-time basis; contract customers and member banks, who purchase by the bundle; and content resellers and aggregators.

Key to this effort is the Domain Manager, a Web-based console which allows ABA to present multiple user interfaces, as well as to identify access to content and function by domain, greatly increasing the granularity of the Knowledge Centre's already impressive reporting capabilities.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the American Bankers Association
Based in Washington, DC, the American Bankers Association (ABA) represents banks of all sizes on issues of national importance for financial institutions and their customers. The ABA, founded in 1875, brings together all categories of banking institutions, including community, regional and money center banks and holding companies, as well as savings associations, trust companies and savings banks. The association's mission is to serve its member banks and enhance their role as pre-eminent providers of financial services. ABA accomplishes this mission through federal legislative and regulatory activities, legal action, communication and consumer education, research and products and services that promote, educate, train, inform and support members. For more information, visit http://www.aba.com.

CHANTILLY, VA, May 17, 2004 – Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc., the LMS partner for any size organization, announced today that the independent Wisconsin Testing Organization, in conjunction with the Academic ADL Co-Lab, has certified the Meridian Player for its conformance with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) standard.

Winner of the 2003 Brandon-hall.com Excellence in E-Learning Award, the Meridian Player is a revolutionary desktop application that allows organizations to deliver SCORM-conformant content to anyone, anywhere, without connectivity to a learning management system.

''By providing the industry's first SCORM certified mobile learning application, Meridian has once again proven its commitment to innovation and responsiveness to our client partners' needs", said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and Chief Executive Officer. "The Meridian Player will provide organizations with mobile workforces the opportunity to enhance productivity and training efficiency. Deployed military personnel, field sales, and service providers represent just a sampling of the type of organization that can benefit most from this exciting new technology.''

The Academic ADL Co-Lab in Madison, WI issued the certification for ADL conformance with SCORM version 1.2 at the highest possible level, LMS-RTE 3 (Learning Management System Run-Time Environment 3), encompassing all required and optional data model elements. The Meridian Player was tested against the SCORM Version 1.2 Conformance Test Suite Version 1.2.3.

Meridian is a long-time proponent of the SCORM specification. The award-winning Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ enterprise LMS has included support for SCORM since its introduction in January 2000.

''We are fully committed to SCORM and the resulting content interoperability, having implemented it within our LMS, our mobile learning player, and in over 1,000 seat hours of custom courseware,'' said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at http://www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About SCORM
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards were established by Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), the public/private e-learning arm of the Department of Defense. As the single largest purchaser of online courseware and training, the Department exerts enormous influence over the courseware development and delivery marketplace. Over recent years, SCORM has been accepted as an industry standard, through collaborative efforts with other certification organizations overseeing courseware development and LMS guidelines. For further information, visit the ADL website at http://www.adlnet.org.

CHANTILLY, VA – April 1, 2004: Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. has released version 4.1 of the award-winning Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ LMS suite, the enterprise learning industry leader announced today. The newest release features major enhancements for learners, administrators, and managers alike, with new features supporting certification, blended learning, reporting, system integration, and more.

Named a best-of-breed LMS by US News & World Report in conjunction with Brandon-hall.com, the Knowledge Centre is a unique and powerful LMS suite that integrates learning content management and competency modeling functionality with the only true knowledge management tools available in any enterprise-class system – a distinction proven by the Knowledge Centre's 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System.

"Meridian is committed to product leadership in the dynamic enterprise learning management space", said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. "With this release, we have incorporated into our core product many enhancements requested by our customers. By consistently building customizations into the base product we simplify migration paths to new versions while offering additional functionality to all our client partners."

Specific enhancements to the 4.1 release of the Knowledge Centre include:

• Web Services Integration Broker (APIs) using SOAP/xml to expose APIs for integration with legacy systems;
  
• Enhanced user interface with three distinct options – learners can select the one most conducive to their learning preferences;
  
• Enhanced certification support including administrator-defined certification profiles, association with online and classroom-based training, and new reporting capabilities;
  
• Enhanced personal training plan providing learners with consolidated access to active training and certification progress history reports;
  
• Enhanced reporting capabilities with new reports for learners, managers, and administrators plus a Microsoft® Excel® export utility;
  
• Integrated blended learning capabilities streamline and automate the creation of collaboration spaces and calendars to support classroom courses;
  
• Enhanced Research Assistant search capabilities that allow search by content type or peer rating;
  
• New administrator tools for global email and batch registration; and
  
• Optional Microsoft® Outlook® integration for course events.

"The Web Services Integration Broker will be especially valued by our clients," Somerville added. "It will save time and money for all customers who require integration with other technologies, enterprise applications, and legacy systems".

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM-certified and Section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

CHANTILLY, VA – March 24, 2004: Gartner, Inc has positioned Meridian KSI in the Visionary quadrant of two new Magic Quadrant reports, the enterprise learning industry leader announced today. Meridian KSI was included in the Visionary quadrant in the research firm's 2004 reports on learning management system (LMS) and e-learning suite providers. Gartner's Visionary designation recognizes companies for their clear vision of the market direction and their focus on preparation.

"Meridian KSI's addition to Gartner's Magic Quadrant reflects our sustained profitable growth and success," said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. "Gartner's evaluation recognizes that the same innovative products and client focus that have made Meridian KSI the LMS partner of choice across the Federal government are equally critical factors for achieving success in the commercial sector."

Meridian's inclusion in the quadrants is recognizes the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ both for its best-of-breed LMS functionality, and for the comprehensive suite of learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling/management tools that surround the Knowledge Centre's LMS core.

"Gartner's classification of Meridian as visionary is very gratifying," Somerville added. ''We have always believed that successful learning management begins with the recognition that knowledge exists in many forms throughout an organization. Our LMS suite provides the means to identify, capture, and codify these resources into discrete learning objects and easily apply them to various blended learning interventions.''

Criteria for selection include customer satisfaction and support, management, vendor viability, and installed base. The report urged organizations interested in an LMS to "pay close attention to a provider's e-learning suite capabilities, as well as their support for open architectures and mobile learning."

The Knowledge Centre's proven, robust, and versatile integration capabilities; industry-leading support for SCORM; and the award-winning Meridian Player offline learning capability further echo the report's classification of Meridian KSI as a Visionary firm.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Gartner, Inc.
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,000 clients leverage technology to achieve business success. Gartner’s businesses consist of Research, Consulting, Measurement, Events and Executive Programs. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and has over 3,800 associates, including approximately 1,000 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. Fiscal 2002 revenue totaled $888 million. For more information, visit http://www.gartner.com.

CHANTILLY, VA – March 11, 2004: Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. has been selected as the new LMS partner for the American Bankers Association (ABA), the enterprise learning industry leader announced today. Meridian will deploy its award-winning Knowledge Centre LMS suite and convert 117 seat-hours of courseware for SCORM conformance in support of ABA's member banks, content resellers, and independent learners.

''The financial services market is among Meridian's fastest growing business segments,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. ''The ABA's selection of Meridian as its LMS partner strongly validates how effectively our software platforms and related services support the needs of this demanding market segment. Meridian's partnership with the ABA has provided the opportunity to build industry specific functionality into our software, which can now benefit other clients with similar needs.''

ABA replaced its previous LMS with the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ in order to take advantage of greater flexibility and exclusive functionality to pursue its short- and long-term e-learning objectives. Integrated into the ABA's system is a full-featured e-commerce module for bill processing and credit card payments.

“The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre will enable us to provide ABA’s standard setting, industry specific education and training to our clients along with a wide range of other types of content,” said J. Douglas Adamson, Executive Director of the Professional Development Group of the American Bankers Association, “The Knowledge Centre also incorporates features that will be highly useful to our clients in building individual and organizational competencies and will allow them to add their own content in a very cost-effective way.”

Meridian KSI built several innovative new features into the ABA's Knowledge Centre in order to enable the delivery of courseware in different ways for its three distinct user bases: ''walk-in'' customers who purchase individual access to courses on a just-in-time basis; contract customers and member banks, who purchase by the bundle; and content resellers and aggregators.

Key to this effort is the Domain Manager, a Web-based console which allows ABA to present multiple user interfaces, as well as to identify access to content and function by domain, greatly increasing the granularity of the Knowledge Centre's already impressive reporting capabilities.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI) is the LMS partner for organizations of any size. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian is a privately held and profitable leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,300 percent since 1998, earning the company the #134 slot on the 2003 Inc. 500 and the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Meridian KSI’s flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Bankers Association, U.S. Department of Energy, L-3 Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Brandon-hall.com as a Top Ten Learning Management System and winner of the 2003 APX Award for Best Knowledge Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the American Bankers Association
Based in Washington, DC, the American Bankers Association (ABA) represents banks of all sizes on issues of national importance for financial institutions and their customers. The ABA, founded in 1875, brings together all categories of banking institutions, including community, regional and money center banks and holding companies, as well as savings associations, trust companies and savings banks. The association's mission is to serve its member banks and enhance their role as pre-eminent providers of financial services. ABA accomplishes this mission through federal legislative and regulatory activities, legal action, communication and consumer education, research and products and services that promote, educate, train, inform and support members. For more information, visit www.aba.com.

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Meridian KSI grew revenues almost 1,200% from1998 to 2002. The company is also one of only eighteen of the top 150 on the list to earn the ''Highly Profitable'' annotation. Inc. bestows this accolade upon companies averaging over 16% profit during the five-year period.

''We are very proud to be the 134th fastest growing privately held company in America,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. ''This recognition for our business ability is a nice compliment to the various awards we have received for our products and services.'' Meridian KSI has remained self-funding since its inception in 1997. The company has been able to self-fund this rapid growth while also realizing significant profits, averaging more than 20% per year.

To be eligible for this year's Inc. 500, companies had to be independent and privately held through their fiscal year 2002, have had at least $200,000 in sales in the base year of 1998, and their 2002 sales had to exceed 2001 sales. Inc. verifies all information by using tax forms and financial statements from certified public accountants, and by conducting interviews with company officials.

''The entrepreneurs you'll find on the Inc. 500 have the type of attitude we need to get this economy moving again,'' said Inc. editor-in-chief John Koten. ''For them, a tough market is not an excuse for poor performance, but an opportunity to innovate and rise above the competition.''

In each case, the FDA is using the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, a competency-based learning management system to develop individual and organizational excellence within these the first two centers. The system provides skills assessments to identify skills gaps for the professional and scientific staff. Upon diagnosing the performance needs, the system prescribes an appropriate learning intervention. Learning interventions at the FDA include commercially available online courseware, developmental assignments, and non-traditional learning opportunities.

The two new Knowledge Centers will make agency-wide learning resources available to over 1,000 scientists, drug reviewers, and administrative personnel at CDER and OC, enabling many FDA personnel to meet the continuing education requirements necessary to maintain their accreditation. Through its Knowledge Centre usage, the FDA will also reap benefits of expedited record keeping and reporting of employee training.

''The implementation of the Knowledge Centre in two additional FDA Centers will help to further one of the FDA’s 2003 Strategic Action Plan goals to provide 'more effective regulation through a … world class professional workforce,''' explained Elizabeth Volk, Meridian KSI Executive Vice President. ''The Meridian KSI team is proud of our continued role in such an exciting initiative.''
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CHANTILLY, VA – September 23, 2003: Meridian KSI, an enterprise learning industry leader, announced today that it has won the Brandon-hall.com Excellence in E-Learning Bronze award in the Innovative Technology category. This acclaim was bestowed upon the Meridian Player, a revolutionary new desktop application that makes the benefits of web-based training available to those without consistent Internet access.

This marks the fourth time that Meridian KSI's accomplishments and excellence have been recognized by Brandon-hall.com. This recognition includes the research firm naming the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ to its current list of recommended high-value learning management systems.

The Meridian Player is a mobile learning management system that allows SCORM 1.2 conformant content to played, assessed, and tracked with all the same functionality as if it was taken online, including credit/not for credit options, enforcement of prerequisites, and search features for just-in-time learning.

"We developed the player to support our clients with large field sales forces and deployed organizations like the military," said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. "We also built in the ability to support multiple users through a single desktop in order to support learning kiosks in the retail space. This award echoes the market feedback we have received on this revolutionary product."

The Meridian Player also allows the learner to synchronize their student data with the LMS to maintain a single learning record. A powerful search tool also allows the learner to find and access individual learning objects and assets on demand as a performance support tool.

"The winning entries have done a terrific job this year. The innovation and desire to excel that is demonstrated in these programs gives us all something to celebrate," said Brandon Hall, Ph.D., of Brandon-hall.com and chairman of the Excellence in E-Learning Awards program. "These ground-breaking efforts and best practices benefit the industry as a whole."

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Brandon-hall.com
The Excellence in E-Learning Awards program is chaired by one of the leading authorities on e-learning, Brandon Hall, Ph.D. Dr. Hall is the CEO of Brandon-hall.com and author of the groundbreaking Web-Based Training Cookbook. Since 1992, Brandon-hall.com has been providing independent expert advice in the form of published reports and consultations on the tools and best practices of e-learning. Dr. Hall participates regularly as a featured speaker at the Online Learning Conference & Expo. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and has served on the faculty of San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Inc, and many other publications. For more information, visit brandon-hall.com.

About the Excellence in E-Learning Awards
The Excellence in E-Learning Awards are presented by Brandon-hall.com, one of the e-learning industry's leading research and consulting firms. Now in its seventh year (formerly the Brandon Hall of Fame Awards), the awards program showcases exceptional work in the e-learning industry by providing feedback and benchmarking to entrants in an overall effort to help advance the e-learning industry. This year, entries were submitted in three categories: Best Practices, Custom Content, and Innovative Technology. Entries were evaluated by judges with expertise in instructional design, online learning and the implementation of e-learning.

With the 4.0 release, the award-winning Knowledge Centre provides enterprises more powerful and versatile tools to forge better trained, better informed workforces. Recognized by U.S. News & World Report, Brandon-hall.com, and Online Learning for its excellence and value, the Knowledge Centre allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. Organizations in both the public and private sectors have used the Knowledge Centre to achieve training goals such as reducing costs, flattening learning curves, sharing best practices, and performing many more mission critical tasks.

Key new features of version 4.0 of the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ include the enhanced reporting through a powerful Reports Console, providing administrators with centralized access to all standard Knowledge Centre reports; Training Needs Analysis Reports, enabling managers to quickly identify training needs and support Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA) for training; Competency Proficiency Reports, allowing managers to view both high and low proficiencies for specified competencies to support succession planning and utilization; and enhanced Curriculum Reports, granting visibility into individual students' course loads. This release also includes enhanced integration with Microsoft Office® for exporting report data.

The Knowledge Centre also now supports multiple interface options enabling users to choose from campus map or more traditional interfaces and adds fully configurable optional fields for tracking organization-specific data on the user or course level.

“This major release provides configuration options for both administrators and the learner," said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI, "furthering our ability to quickly implement the product, tailored to the organizations' unique needs.”

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

CHANTILLY, VA – September 30, 2003: Meridian KSI, an enterprise learning industry leader, announced today that the company has been awarded the #17 position on the Washington Technology Fast 50 list of fastest-growing small businesses in the Government IT market.

Meridian KSI, the only company in the e-learning sector to make the list, earned its rank with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 96%. Over the same period, the company's total revenues grew over 1200%.

“We are very proud to be the 17th fastest growing company in this market, especially considering the thousands of companies eligible for this award,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. ''This recognition is a nice complement to the various awards we have received for our products and their implementation.”

To qualify for the list, a company must be considered a small business, and must have had at least $100,000 in Government revenue in 1998.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown total revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Washington Technology
Washington Technology is the only national newspaper for government IT systems integrators and resellers. It delivers essential business news to 40,100 business executives whose companies provide high-level technical services to the government. Published bi-monthly since 1986, each issue features the latest contracting wins, government initiatives and projects, case studies and analyses and fresh technology news. Washingtontechnology.com is the leading online resource for systems integrators and IT companies doing business with government. The Web site features current and archived issues of Washington Technology, information on the latest contracting wins, acquisitions and government policies, events, and links to related resources. For more information, visit www.washingtontechnology.com.

The 4 seat-hour, SCORM and Section 508 conformant module was launched in August 2002 in response to concerns of Purchase Card misuse. The GPC tutorial has made an impact on the Department of Defense personnel who have taken it: more than three quarters of users reported that they found the tutorial valuable and would recommend it. ''The purchase card tutorial is the flagship of the DAU’s more than 50 modules currently offered on the CLC,'' said Director of DAU Continuous Learning Bob Faulk.

Meridian KSI has a long partnership with DAU, launching the Continuous Learning Center with 30 modules in June 2001. Since then, over 104,000 registered users have relied on it to stay current in their career fields, learn about new policies and initiatives, expand experience and technical expertise, and comply with Department of Defense policies on continuous learning. To date, Meridian has developed over 20 modules for DAU, totaling approximately 45 seat-hours.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the Defense Acquisition University
The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) provides mandatory, assignment-specific, and continuing education courses for military and civilian acquisition personnel within the Department of Defense. Its mission is to provide the acquisition community with the right learning products and services to make smart business decisions. Authorized by 10 U.S.C. 1746 and chartered by DoD Directive 5000.57, the DAU was established on August 1, 1992. The DAU coordinates acquisition education and training programs to meet the training requirements of more than 140,000 DoD acquisition personnel. As the DoD corporate university for acquisition education, the DAU sponsors curriculum and instructor training to provide a full range of basic, intermediate, advanced, and assignment-specific courses to support the career goals and professional development of the Acquisition Workforce. In addition to providing curriculum-based training, both in the classroom and via the Internet, the DAU fosters professional development through publications, symposia, research, and consulting in areas related to the acquisition functions.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

CHANTILLY, VA, June 17, 2003 – Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc., the total enterprise learning solution provider, announced today that the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps has selected Meridian KSI to develop 90 credit hours of distance learning courseware, representing approximately 270 seat-hours of material. This contract, awarded through prime contractor Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), follows the successful development and deployment of over 700 seat-hours of courseware for the JAG Corps since 1999.

The JAG Corps and Meridian KSI partnership is steeped in success. "We have been a team with Meridian KSI since 1999 and the primary reasons we have been successful thus far are the tireless efforts and unbelievable technical competence of Meridian KSI's personnel," said Major George A. Figurski, the JAG School's Director of Training Development. "The new requirements and changing technologies associated with distance learning make such programs challenging to execute, but the JAG School continues to shine because of Meridian KSI."

By using their Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, JAG University, to disseminate distance learning, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps has become the Armed Forces’ leader in implementation of successful e-learning initiatives, and has been recognized within the military community for its efforts.

JAG University supports a worldwide audience of military judge advocates, civilian attorneys, and paralegals utilizing distance learning courseware for both resident credit and just-in-time mission support.

Through the continued support of Meridian KSI, the JAG Corps has been able to deliver SCORM and Section 508 conformant courseware under the Army’s Distance Learning 2001 (DLXXI) contract, realizing significant technical enhancements to their course offerings and building on established successes which have more than tripled their rate of course completions in two years.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the Army's Judge Advocate General School
Located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General's School (JAG School) conducts a graduate-level legal education program, culminating in the award of a master of laws degree, for all Army judge advocates, judge advocates from the other armed services, and Army civilian attorneys; offers resident and nonresident courses of study for judge advocates and attorneys employed by the Federal Government; develops and provides legal training for Army paralegals and senior Army commanders; prescribes legal curricula for other Army schools and activities; supports the military legal community by providing access to digital and written legal materials and other assistance; and develops doctrine for legal support of the Army. For more information, visit the JAG School website at http://www.jagcnet.army.mil.

The Academic ADL Co-Lab in Madison, WI issued the certification for ADL conformance with SCORM version 1.2 at the highest possible level, LMS-RTE 3 (Learning Management System Run-Time Environment 3), encompassing all required and optional data model elements. The Knowledge Centre was tested against the SCORM Version 1.2 Conformance Test Suite Version 1.2.3.

Meridian KSI has integrated SCORM support into the award-winning Knowledge Centre since the standard's introduction in January 2000. With this certification, this industry-leading support has been taken to the next level.

''We are fully committed to SCORM and the resulting content interoperability, having implemented it within our LMS, our mobile learning player, and in over 1,000 seat hours of custom courseware,'' said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at http://www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About SCORM
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards were established by Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), the public/private e-learning arm of the Department of Defense. As the single largest purchaser of online courseware and training, the Department exerts enormous influence over the courseware development and delivery marketplace. Over recent years, SCORM has been accepted as an industry standard, through collaborative efforts with other certification organizations overseeing courseware development and LMS guidelines. For further information, visit the ADL website at http://www.adlnet.org.

CHANTILLY, VA, April 21, 2003 – Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc., an enterprise learning industry leader, announced today that the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Acquisition's Using GSA Schedules – Customers course has gone live. This 16 seat-hour online course is the first of three to be created by Meridian KSI, through a Blanket Purchase Agreement, in order to train Schedule users in the acquisition community on how to utilize GSA Schedule contracts.

The course will be offered via the U-MAS Virtual Campus website, which serves as the online training hub for acquisition professionals in the Federal government, as well as members of the GSA's Federal Supply Service (FSS), and industry partners.

Meridian KSI is currently developing the second and third courses for GSA, which will detail the process for the use of GSA Schedules by FSS personnel and businesses. These two online courses are scheduled to go live during Summer 2003 and Fall 2003, respectively.

"The FSS program supports the annual acquisition of over $25 billion in goods and services. Launching these courses to train personnel on their use will deliver almost immediate return on investment," said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO. "The target audience spans the globe and includes well over 100,000 professionals."

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the General Services Administration Office of Acquisition
The General Services Administration (GSA) operates a worldwide purchase and distribution system that other Federal agencies use to buy billions of dollars’ worth of products and services for day-to-day operations. Its resource experts secure space, furniture, equipment, computers, and telecommunications systems from federal and commercial sources at best value. GSA also sells surplus federal property, such as real estate and vehicles, to the public. GSA develops and implements policies that promote the best management practices Governmentwide. GSA is also a technology leader - it is the managing partner for five of the 24 White House e-Government initiatives. Roughly 14,000 GSA associates support over one million federal workers located in 8,300 government-owned and leased buildings nationwide. For more information on the General Services Administration, visit http://www.gsa.gov.

The Academic ADL Co-Lab in Madison, WI issued the certification for ADL conformance with SCORM version 1.2 at the highest possible level, LMS-RTE 3 (Learning Management System Run-Time Environment 3), encompassing all required and optional data model elements. The Knowledge Centre was tested against the SCORM Version 1.2 Conformance Test Suite Version 1.2.3.

Meridian KSI has integrated SCORM support into the award-winning Knowledge Centre since the standard's introduction in January 2000. With this certification, this industry-leading support has been taken to the next level.

''We are fully committed to SCORM and the resulting content interoperability, having implemented it within our LMS, our mobile learning player, and in over 1,000 seat hours of custom courseware,'' said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About SCORM
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards were established by Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), the public/private e-learning arm of the Department of Defense. As the single largest purchaser of online courseware and training, the Department exerts enormous influence over the courseware development and delivery marketplace. Over recent years, SCORM has been accepted as an industry standard, through collaborative efforts with other certification organizations overseeing courseware development and LMS guidelines. For further information, visit the ADL website at http://www.adlnet.org.

50,000 training professionals were asked to make their selection for the best suppliers in the field as measured by four criteria:

• Value
  
• Ease of use
  
• Meet/exceed buyer’s expectations
  
• Exceptional customer service

Meridian KSI received the top award in the Knowledge Management System category, leading the pack of 20 companies nominated.

“At Meridian we have always viewed Knowledge Management as the backbone of enterprise learning - encompassing learning management, content management, performance support, and collaboration,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian KSI President and CEO, adding, “We believe that recognition from our customers is the highest praise, just as winning the APX award for the Knowledge Management area is the strongest kind of validation for an enterprise infrastructure company. In this award we have accomplished both.”

“To be selected by such a high-profile audience of training professionals is a significant endorsement,” said Training publisher Stacey Marmalejo. “We are pleased that we have created the APX program to further support the industry.”

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Training
Training magazine is a 37-year-old professional development magazine that advocates training and workforce development as a business tool. The magazine delves into management issues such as leadership and succession planning, HR issues such as recruitment and retention, and training issues such as learning theory, on-the-job skills assessments and aligning core workforce competencies to enhance the bottom line impact of training and development programs. Written for training, human resources and business management professionals in all industries, Training combines a primarily paid circulation with a small percentage of qualified, controlled recipients to deliver the strongest circulation in the market. For more information, visit the Training magazine website at http://www.trainingmag.com.

CHANTILLY, VA, February 12, 2003 – Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc., an enterprise learning industry leader, announced that it will release the Meridian Player and Mobile Learning Console, an integrated solution that makes online learning a reality for employees with limited or restricted access to the Internet or their intranet, at the Training 2003 show in Atlanta later this month.

The Meridian Player and Mobile Learning Console make the benefits of e-learning available to sailors on submarines, sales personnel in the field, retail workers, and other learners who don't have the connectivity that Web-based training has previously demanded.

The Meridian Player is a mobile learning management system that allows SCORM 1.2 conformant content to played, assessed, and tracked with all the same functionality as if it was taken online, including credit/not for credit options, enforcement of prerequisites, and search features for just-in-time learning.

To access learning materials, users can conduct a search and download available courseware through the Mobile Learning Console, a feature of the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™. Courses can also be imported via CD-ROM or LAN connection.

Mobile learners can then take the courses right on their desktops, with no Internet connection necessary. The Meridian Player tracks user progress throughout the course. When a user connects to the Internet again, the Mobile Learning Console allows synchronization of course progress. Course progress can also be synchronized from the Knowledge Centre to the Player. Data can also be exported to a floppy disk and imported to the Knowledge Centre by an administrator. This functionality allows student transcripts in the Knowledge Centre to be updated to reflect offline course progress, supporting the Knowledge Centre's enterprise reporting capabilities.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI's paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

Meridian KSI President and CEO Paul Somerville said, ''It is our intention to build on the company's outstanding reputation for technology leadership and premier customer service, by dramatically expanding our global sales efforts. In attracting Roy to the Meridian team, we are certain to benefit from his vast experience and leadership in the successful execution of our high growth business plan.''

Haythorn's extensive experience in the learning technology space began when he assumed General Manager responsibility for Meliora Systems in early 1996. Meliora was responsible for the development of Ingenium, one of the leading competency-based learning management systems of its time. His stewardship of Meliora led to the company's eventual acquisition by Asymetrix, now Click2learn, where he has devoted the last four and a half years serving in various senior management assignments, most recently as Vice President of North America Sales.

Previously, Roy spent over 25 years at Xerox Corporation, serving in senior management, sales operations and marketing positions including Vice President of Marketing and Regional General Manager of Field Operations for the US. Following his Xerox tenure he was introduced to the world of software development, when he assumed the role of Chairman and CEO of a publicly traded linguistic products software company.

''Meridian is a company that has always impressed me greatly'', Haythorn said, ''they have always been a gritty competitor, with superior technology and highly satisfied customers. I have come to learn that Meridian measures it's success strictly on the feedback of their customers. In my view technology is important, but a reputation for the ultimate in customer service is what will determine who eventually wins in this exciting marketplace.''

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI's paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

Chantilly, VA, February 3, 2003 – Meridian KSI has partnered with Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON) to create Weston Solutions University, the foundation of a companywide learning and knowledge management initiative. The SCORM and Section 508 compliant site will provide the resources and tools to enable WESTON’s employees to develop their strengths and prioritize training to best serve their clients.

WESTON’s customized solution includes the Knowledge Centre enterprise learning infrastructure, Meridian’s Competency Management Suite, and an online Action Plan for personal development.

The Knowledge Centre will be WESTON’s key instrument in transforming the company culture to encourage and enable learning that aligns and supports both business objectives and individual employee development.

“As individuals, we will see new opportunities for learning, increased self-awareness, and job satisfaction,” explained William L. Robertson, WESTON’s chairman and chief executive. “As a company, we will benefit from increased employee retention, greater client loyalty, and improved productivity, resulting in increased shareholder value.”

Meridian’s powerful Competency Management module, Individual Development Plan (IDP), the Meridian Player Mobile Learning Console, and the company’s strong financial health were the key factors that led WESTON to choose Meridian. The IDP in particular is a cornerstone of WESTON’s team development strategy, empowering users to take ownership of their own professional growth.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held, leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. The company has realized five consecutive years of profitability in excess of 20% of revenue. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Institute for Supply Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About Weston Solutions, Inc.
Weston Solutions, Inc. is a leading environment and redevelopment firm, delivering comprehensive solutions to complex problems for industry and government worldwide. The company's services encompass environmental remediation, redevelopment, and management and compliance. WESTON’s emphasis on restoring resource efficiency to our clients' operations - including land, air, water, facilities, and staff - ensures that clients derive maximum value from their resources. Additional information regarding Weston Solutions is available at http://www.westonsolutions.com.

With the 3.1 release, the award-winning Knowledge Centre provides enterprises more powerful and versatile tools to forge better trained, better informed workforces. Recognized by U.S. News & World Report, brandon-hall.com, and Online Learning for its excellence and value, the Knowledge Centre allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. Organizations in both the public and private sectors have used the Knowledge Centre to achieve training goals such as reducing costs, flattening learning curves, sharing best practices, and performing many more mission critical tasks.

Key new features of version 3.1 of the Knowledge Centre include batch enrollment, enhancing user management (enrollment, waitlisting, cancellation) in classroom sections; access approval, permitting course administrators to require approval prior to course and curriculum access; and curriculum management, enabling the assembly of classroom and online courses into a single aggregated unit that can be taken in linear or non-linear fashion.

“This release reflects Meridian's five years of experience implementing learning management solutions for large organizations,” explained Meridian KSI President and CEO Paul Somerville, “specifically the value and need of a single, integrated system to manage and apply all of an organization's learning assets. The result is a single repository of learning objects, access to experts, and the tools to present multiple learning opportunities and modalities.”

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held and profitable leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI's paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

Meridian KSI continues to lead the Learning Management System (LMS) industry in financial performance and stability. Competing publicly traded LMS companies reported an average negative growth of 1% and average loss on revenue of 62% for the last four quarters reported. The employee-owned company has achieved this continued profit and growth without outside investment or long-term debt.

''Since inception our vision has been to be the best LMS company, not the biggest,'' says Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI, adding, ''Our continued success is the result of our approach of partnering with our clients, proven products, and talented people who deliver.'' As testimony to this commitment to excellence, return customers represented 51% of the company’s 2002 sales.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held, leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

Typical of a Meridian implementation, the site was delivered a mere two months after contract award. NCMA's customized solution includes the Knowledge Centre enterprise learning infrastructure, Meridian's Competency Management Suite, administrator training, and integration with association management software.

The full integration between the Knowledge Centre's learning management system (LMS) and competency management components was the key factor that led NCMA to choose Meridian. “I knew this software was powerful,” said acting executive vice president Neal Couture, “but it does even more than we thought it did.”

NCMA will use the Knowledge Centre as a “one-stop shop,” replacing classroom training and aggregating third-party educational materials. Contract managers within and serving the Federal government will use the site to access learning opportunities prescribed to them based on their competencies and their job responsibilities. Users can also network with others sharing similar interests through the Knowledge Centre's PeerNet and Teaming Center features.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held, leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. Meridian KSI's paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Institute for Supply Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About the National Contract Management Association
The National Contract Management Association is an individual-membership, professional society formed in 1959 to foster the professional growth and educational advancement of its membership, which includes over 20,000 procurement and contract management professionals in both the public and private sectors. Additional information regarding the NCMA and its programs is available at http://www.ncmahq.org.

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''Our focus on customer satisfaction and innovation rather than marketing and a large sales force have allowed us to maintain very competitive pricing while delivering exceptional functionality,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. This approach is evident in Meridian’s high customer satisfaction ratings and recent recognition at the LMS Shootout at Online Learning 2002, in which the Knowledge Centre took first place for reporting and classroom management.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held, leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. The company has realizing five consecutive years of profitability in excess of 20% of revenue. Meridian KSI’s paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Institute for Supply Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About brandon-hall.com
Located in Sunnyvale, California, brandon-hall.com is a research and advisory firm that specializes in providing a continuous stream of knowledge, as well as advisory strategies in all areas of e-learning technology. The company also works with the VNU Online Learning Conference and Online Learning Magazine to recognize advances in the e-learning industry with the Excellence in E-Learning Awards, the first recognition program dedicated entirely to the e-learning industry. For additional information regarding these, or other brandon-hall.com reports, visit their website at www.brandon-hall.com, or contact Traci Larson at (888) 28-BRANDON or customerservice@brandon-hall.com.

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''Our focus on customer satisfaction and innovation rather than marketing and a large sales force have allowed us to maintain very competitive pricing while delivering exceptional functionality,'' said Paul Somerville, President and CEO of Meridian KSI. This approach is evident in Meridian's high customer satisfaction ratings and recent recognition at the LMS Shootout at Online Learning 2002, in which the Knowledge Centre took first place for reporting and classroom management.

About Meridian KSI
Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian KSI), headquartered in Chantilly, Va., is a privately held, leading provider of e-learning and knowledge management products and services that has grown revenue over 1,200 percent over the past five years. The company has realizing five consecutive years of profitability in excess of 20% of revenue. Meridian KSI's paramount product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic online learning and knowledge management system that integrates courseware delivery, performance reporting and documentation, collaboration tools, knowledge capture and sharing, and specialized applications. Clients include Bank One, the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Institute for Supply Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Abbott Laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration. For further information, visit the Meridian KSI website at www.meridianksi.com.

About the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™
Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top Ten Learning Management System, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ offers a robust infrastructure and an intuitive interface for integrating online and classroom course offerings, learning opportunities, content management, student tracking and documentation, collaboration, knowledge capture and mapping, competency modeling, and performance management. This award-winning and standards-based (SCORM and section 508 conformant) product allows organizations to rapidly develop enterprise-wide learning and knowledge management solutions and permits integration of COTS courseware libraries as well as custom content. The Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™ has enabled organizations to realize training cost savings, employee performance improvement, and greater organizational efficiencies.

About brandon-hall.com
Located in Sunnyvale, California, brandon-hall.com is a research and advisory firm that specializes in providing a continuous stream of knowledge, as well as advisory strategies in all areas of e-learning technology. The company also works with the VNU Online Learning Conference and Online Learning Magazine to recognize advances in the e-learning industry with the Excellence in E-Learning Awards, the first recognition program dedicated entirely to the e-learning industry. For additional information regarding these, or other brandon-hall.com reports, visit their website at www.brandon-hall.com, or contact Traci Larson at (888) 28-BRANDON or customerservice@brandon-hall.com.

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