SPSS Directions User Conference Celebrates Widespread Use of Predictive Analytics

SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS), the leading global provider of Predictive Analytics software and solutions, today announced its 2009 Directions User Conference agenda and keynote speakers. Keynote presentations will be delivered by Richard Thaler, U.S. economist and author of "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness," and journalist and statistician Nate Silver, one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2009.

Directions is the premiere Predictive Analytics event for business, government and academic organizations to see the latest trends and best practices in Predictive Analytics, preview new technologies, train with experts and attend hands-on workshops about turning data into knowledge. Directions will be held Nov. 8 -- 12, 2009, at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas.

Thaler is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics and Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He will explain how recent research in behavior can be utilized to improve decisions about health, wealth and happiness.

Silver has repeatedly produced uncannily accurate predictions on his website FiveThirtyEight.com -- from the performance of Major League Baseball players to politics --- successfully predicting the winner in 49 of 50 states in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He will share some of the lessons learned about turning mountains of data into nuggets of gold and will address how to effectively work with data to generate more accurate predictions.

Directions User Conference also features:

-- Organizations such as Advance Auto Parts, First Tennessee Bank, Procter & Gamble and Southwest Airlines delivering best practices and successes achieved using Predictive Analytics Software (PASW(R)).

-- More than 90 breakout sessions providing insight into new product developments in Predictive Analytics Software -- data collection, statistics, modeling, text analytics and deployment.

-- SPSS Expo showcasing applications, services, and cutting-edge technology from partners and product experts.

-- Product Experience Room offering valuable one-on-one time to ask SPSS experts --from development, product management, training, and tech support -- the most pressing questions.

Stephen Gold, vice president of worldwide marketing at SPSS, said, "Directions is a unique opportunity to experience thought leadership in Predictive Analytics and discover how leading organizations are transforming themselves from a 'sense and respond' workplace to a 'predict and act' enterprise. Attendees will learn how to empower their organization to gain competitive insight and optimize outcomes, including maximizing customer profitability, retention, and satisfaction; predicting fraud before it happens; and detecting risk in real time."

Registration

For more information and to register for Directions, please visit: http://www.spss.com/spssdirections/na/

About SPSS Inc.

SPSS Inc. is a leading global provider of Predictive Analytics software and solutions. The Company's complete portfolio of Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) products -- data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment -- captures people's attitudes and opinions, predicts outcomes of future customer interactions, and then acts on these insights by embedding analytics into business processes. SPSS Solutions address interconnected business objectives across an entire organization by focusing on the convergence of analytics, IT architecture and business process. Commercial, government and academic customers worldwide rely on SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing fraud and mitigating risk. Founded in 1968, SPSS is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, please visit www.spss.com.

SOURCE: SPSS Inc.

Christina Preiss, SPSS Inc. 
(312) 651-3437 
cpreiss@spss.com

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