OIL & GAS

In what is sure to become a business model for all organizations involved in fundraising, development and ticketing, the University of Miami is developing a state-of-the-art knowledge repository destined to raise a few eyebrows. DataMentors, the fast-paced Florida-based database marketing enterprise, announced a new partnership with the University of Miami to create the nation's first integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business Intelligence (BI) and Intelligent Marketing Educational Laboratory. So how does this affect you and I? Profoundly. DataMentors CEO Bob Orf believes the Marketing Intelligence Laboratory of Technology, or MILT, will become the model for how universities, sports franchises and ticketing Operations manage, cross-sell and upsell existing and prospective customers. "MILT will have an enormous impact on how students and executives alike view the world of sophisticated marketing and business development. We are taking the theory out of the classroom and putting a real-life knowledge repository at their fingertips." Earlier this month, several announcements began hitting the trade journals announcing this collaboration. What is unique about this technology partnership is the core solution itself. The Lab will contain detailed profiles of up to 250 million individuals, 130 million households and 14 million businesses in the state-of-the-art national data repositories. The University of Miami's sports and development databases will then be data mined to identify hundreds of distinct patterns in their top customers' and donors' profiles, habits, lifestyles, demographics, socioeconomics, etc. This profile data is then overlaid against UM's primary geographical coverage area to identify the thousands (perhaps millions) of additional individuals, households and businesses who most resemble UM's top customers. Van Mayros, an industry database marketing expert and designer of the Lab, notes the Lab then does what no other can -- "MILT extends the usual CRM or Database Marketing Software solution by incorporating extensive data linkages and mining." For example, let's assume Mrs. Jane Q. Public is on Forbes' Billionaire List. Let's also assume Mrs. Public lives in Alaska and has no direct or indirect ties to UM whatsoever. MILT will utilize state-of-the-art data modeling and national recognition systems to identify Mrs. Public's extensive "electronic connections" to thousands of individuals and businesses. This includes business associates, investors, neighbors, friends and family. If any one of these thousands of Mrs. Public's "connected individuals" is also on UM's extended base of past customers, future customers, ticketing patrons, donors, students or alumni, MILT will correlate the connection and instantly provide the linkage data and individual profiles. In one example, MILT instantly identified that one of UM's current students is the son of a prominent entertainer on Forbes' Billionaire List. "This is just one small example of what MILT can do," notes Mayros. "The implications are rather profound for those institutions involved in fundraising or development. From a development perspective, imagine what these universities will be able to do with information like this," adds Mayros. In reality, UM's MILT will change the way development and even the Fortune 1000 do business in this country. MILT will be unveiled June 15-17 at the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors conference in Orlando. Ross Bjork, UM's Associate Athletic Director, says, "The university world has waited a long time for this kind of sophisticated marketing and development technology. This goes far beyond what currently is available from any other CRM or database marketing solutions provider." Adds DataMentors CEO Orf, "At first glance, many people might think MILT is a monster who is invading everyone's privacy. The truth is MILT is creating detailed information and knowledge about everyone in the coverage area. This will eliminate most people from receiving mail or phone calls about information that does not interest them. In reality, the days of receiving duplicate mailings, junk mail and offers we have no interest in may be over." Thank you, MILT!