AutoConX Systems SaaS for Automotive Dealers and Media Companies Wins 2010 ICMA Innovation Award

BERLIN, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranking above 19 highly qualified submissions from 14 countries, Farm Country Trader Inc.'s SaaS, AutoConX, which serves automobile dealers and publishers, just won its first International Classified Media Association (ICMA) "Innovation Award."

The innovations and their creators were evaluated by the ICMA Committee, and the submissions were analyzed from four different points of view: novelty, creativity, sustainability and results.

"In a market of multiple small operators or multinational companies with local operations, this kind of networked approach is a worthy and value creating strategy. However, implementing such a strategy is not an easy task, which further confirms that the FCT's team has been not just innovative, but also very pragmatic with excellence in execution," according to the judges' comments on SaaS, AutoConX.

The original idea of the ICMA Innovation Award was born after the ICMA General Meeting held in November 2009 in Budapest. There, a vice president of marketing from a large publisher asked during a dinner conversation: "Who are the innovative companies in the classified industry?" As there was no clear answer, it seemed better to let the industry players answer this together: thus, an award was born.

"This is an incredible honor to receive this award from our peers in the classified industry, worldwide," said Farm Country Trader CEO Rob Hage. "I always knew our development team was among the best, but to receive such an award among international media giants is like bringing home an Olympic Gold Medal back to Iowa. I am incredibly proud of our team, and look forward to the release of our next innovation."

About Farm Country Trader, Inc.

Farm Country Trader, Inc. has been in the vertical niche publishing industry since 1989 with Farm Country Trader magazine, and in 1993 added Car & Truck Trader for used vehicles for sale. The SaaS, which later came to be known as AutoConX Systems, first grew out of the simple need to help dealers upload their inventory online. AutoConX now also helps hundreds of media companies across the United States offer this software as a service to dealers and viewers in their local markets as well.

About AutoConX Systems

AutoConX is a web-based, vertically-integrated SaaS that provides dealer websites and inventory management services to automobile, recreational and heavy equipment dealers, web to print tools for publishers, and front facing, classified vertical portals for consumers.

About ICMA

Originally founded as the FAPIA in 1986, today the ICMA, headquartered in Amsterdam, serves classified media industry members from more than 30 markets worldwide. www.icmaonline.org

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SOURCE Farm Country Trader, Inc.