(Norwell, MA) November 8, 2001 - CAP Ventures, the leader in digital business communications research and consulting, announced a one-day forum entitled “Forum on Narrowcasting in Public Spaces: A New Media for Retail and Out-of-Home Advertising.” The forum will be held in Chicago on Wednesday, April 17th, immediately prior to the GlobalShop 2002 trade show. It is designed to educate and stimulate discussion among retailers, brand marketers, advertising executives, the press, and companies that provide technologies and services for this new media sector.  CAP Ventures defines Narrowcasting as the distribution, management and display of rich advertising and informational content in public spaces over a high-speed network. Narrowcasting networks are assembled using a variety of enabling technologies including gas plasma, LCD, LED and CRT displays, video playback systems, content management and scheduling software, and high speed communications. These networks are being used to display dynamic images, audio and video to enhance Out-Of-Home, Visual Merchandising, and Point Of Purchase advertising. Narrowcast networks allow retailers and advertisers to directly control the content that is displayed at hundreds of locations - often in real time. "Narrowcasting in Public Spaces allows marketers to target the right message to the right audience at the right time, in retail and in out-of-home settings,” stated Bill Collins, a Senior Analyst at CAP Ventures. “These messages can be delivered to public venues such as shopping centers, retail stores, elevators, public transportation centers/vehicles, fast-food restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, and automatic teller machines. Retailers, brand managers and advertising executives need to understand the applications, economics and technology partners to successfully participate in this new media opportunity. This forum will help them do that." As the first forum organized to serve this new media sector, the Chicago event will: * Describe the benefits of narrowcasting in comparison with other media    * Describe the structure of the narrowcasting market and its components    * Identify critical market segments for narrowcasting technology and services    * Highlight the key business drivers for rapid adoption of narrowcast media    * Provide insights for the development of new products and services in this market space    * Offer interested brand managers, retailers, and ad-agency people an opportunity to network with narrowcasting technology and service providers In addition to presentations from leading technology vendors and network service providers in the narrowcasting sector, CAP Ventures will present key findings of its landmark study entitled “Narrowcasting in Public Spaces: The Outlook for Out-Of-Home Television and Digital Signage.”   The Chicago forum will be held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place on Wednesday, April 17th, 2002 – the day before GlobalShop 2002. For more information or to register for the forum, please visit our Web site or contact Ronda Kelly at 781-871-9000. CAP Ventures is a strategic consulting firm for providers and users of business communication technologies and services. We deliver key research, analysis, forecasting, benchmarking, and strategy recommendations to make a competitive difference in our clients’ businesses. Additional information about CAP Ventures is available on the Web at www.capv.com.