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AWS Convergence
Technologies, Inc. 12410 Milestone Center Drive Suite 300 Germantown, Maryland 20876 Phone: 301-250-4000 
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Press ReleasesPress > January 17, 2006 Release American Meteorological Society Presents WeatherBug® Prestigious 2006 Corporate Award for Outstanding Services AMS Recognizes WeatherBug Leadership and its Nationwide WeatherBug Network for “Providing Real Time Data for Education, Government and Industry, Thereby Furthering the Science and Enhancing the Applications of Meteorology Significantly” Germantown, MD – January 17, 2006 – WeatherBug®, the leading provider of live, local weather information services, today announced that the Council of American Meteorological Society (AMS) has presented its prestigious 2006 “Award for Outstanding Services to Meteorology by a Corporation” to its parent company, AWS Convergence Technologies. AMS officially recognizes the corporation to its leadership and nationwide WeatherBug Network for “providing real time data for education, government and industry, thereby furthering the science and enhancing the applications of meteorology significantly”. WeatherBug founder and CEO, Bob Marshall, will accept the award during a formal presentation at the AMS Annual Awards Banquet at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia. WeatherBug owns and operates the world’s largest weather network. Approximately 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and 1,000 WeatherBug Cameras across the U.S. stream crucial weather conditions to enable organizations and individuals protect their property and lives. What makes WeatherBug so unique is its network and neighborhood level data (generated every two seconds) and the diverse industries that rely upon its depth and granularity. Alternative weather sources offer computer modeled forecasts and data based upon hourly reports from area airports. The National Weather Service incorporates data from WeatherBug’s nationwide, real-time weather sensor network to improve weather forecasting and support them in issuing severe weather warnings. The public/private sector partnership is the subject of an AMS symposium in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, January 31, 2006. WeatherBug Director of Weather Services Jan Dutton will participate in a panel discussion about the private sector at 1:00 PM. The panel will address the concerns, benefits and challenges faced by the private sector in such partnerships for weather organizations. Last year, nearly 250,000 teachers and students logged onto WeatherBug, and the WeatherBug Achieve educational program has continued to educate and excite both teachers and students, garner awards while boosting classroom morale and performance. Government agencies, including Homeland Security, first responders and law enforcement also rely upon WeatherBug. The WeatherBug Network and WeatherBug Streamer allow these users to precisely assess the impact of current weather conditions and determine which municipalities to evacuate, select approach routes for first responders, and choose the type of equipment to dispatch to a disaster site. Energy firms, energy traders and facilities managers also depend upon WeatherBug to assess weather fluctuations, so they can manage their businesses with greater efficiency and profitability. Since its inception in 1992, WeatherBug has collaborated to help build communities with area schools, local broadcasters, emergency management agencies and consumers. Live weather conditions provide critical information to these organizations, enabling them to protect property and lives. The innovative, interactive WeatherBug Achieve program and the live WeatherBug data consistently educate and excite teachers, students, local broadcast partners and the community. The WeatherBug Community fosters relationships between local meteorologists, local schools and area viewers, helping families and businesses plan their day with confidence. Many television and radio broadcast meteorologists belong to the American Meteorological Society and, as council members, may participate in the awards process. WeatherBug has established partnerships with over 100 television stations across the country and in Puerto Rico, offering broadcast meteorologists a competitive edge in weather reporting and forecasting on-air and online. With WeatherBug, broadcast meteorologists can deliver live weather conditions right from viewers' own neighborhoods and issue timely severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service or dramatic changes in weather conditions. WeatherBug has established a variety of ways for consumer and business users to access its rich, proprietary weather information. This includes free and premium versions of its downloadable software application WeatherBug, as well as SMS alerts, a Windows Mobile™ Smartphone application, and on-air distribution through broadcast partnerships with over 100 local TV station affiliates. WeatherBug, available at www.weatherBug.com, had 16.5 million unique visitors in December, 2005, according to comScore Media Metrix. It is the #2 ranked news and information property, in terms of daily reach, and ranked among the top ten properties overall in terms of days visited per user per month, which is a key indicator of consumer loyalty. To subscribe to WeatherBug, go to www.weatherbug.com. About About WFAA-TVWFAA-TV is part of Belo Corp., one of the nation’s largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. A Fortune 1000 company with 7,600 employees and $1.5 billion in annual revenues, Belo operates in some of America’s most dynamic markets in Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, Rhode Island, and the Mid-Atlantic. Belo owns 19 television stations, six of which are in the 15 largest U.S. broadcast markets. The Company also owns or operates seven cable news channels and manages one television station through a local marketing agreement. Belo’s daily newspapers are The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) and the Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). The Company also publishes specialty publications targeting young adults, affluent populations and the fast-growing Hispanic market, including Quick and al dia in Dallas/Fort Worth, and the d, El D and La Prensa in Riverside. Belo operates more than 30 Web sites associated with its operating companies. Additional information is available at WFAA.com or by contacting David Muscari, Vice President/Product Development at 214.977.6490. About WeatherBug®WeatherBug ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and government agencies receive the most precise live weather information, the most relevant weather reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard property, lives and to plan with confidence. With 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and over 1,000 cameras primarily based at neighborhood schools and public safety facilities across the U.S., WeatherBug maintains the largest exclusive weather network in the world. The live, local weather conditions are delivered to millions of consumers via the Internet and mobile devices, more than 100 state and local government agencies including the National Weather Service, and to broadcast television stations, schools, and businesses. As such, WeatherBug is the #1 distributor of severe weather alerts to the public. WeatherBug data is unique as it is the only live, neighborhood weather available anywhere. WeatherBug is a brand of AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. # # # Press Contacts:Debra Eisenberg Alyce Menton Davie Muscari |
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