Did you make it to the webinar? This Wednesday, MCH Strategic Data hosted a webinar that covered the most frequently asked questions about our recent acquisition of QED assets from MDR. A recording of the webinar is now available.

Members of the MCH leadership team, including CEO Peter E. Long, President John F. Hood, and Sales Director Joan Whitney, discussed about how the acquisition came about, the nature of the database assets that were acquired, and when the integrated database will be available.

“The whole MCH team has been working furiously and continuously with great focus to prepare to bring this whole comprehensive, alternative solution back to the marketplace,” Long said in his opening remarks.

During the webinar the presenters made several key points:

• MCH Strategic Data acquired a bundle of QED assets from MDR, including an updated K-12 database, other QED education-related databases, the QED trademark, and other intellectual property.
  
  
• This purchase was prompted as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against MDR’s parent company, Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), charging that their purchase of QED in 2009 was anti-competitive. The FTC’s stated goal is “to create a viable and effective competitor who… is able to provide a range of data products at least equivalent to those provided by QED” prior to MDR’s acquisition.
  
  
• MDR provided a database that was updated and current as of September 10, 2010, the date of closing. The K-12 database acquired by MCH includes approximately 2.8 million active records sourced from QED in 2009, updated by MDR with the latest information, including an additional 250,000 emails. The file also includes 725,000 new records added to MDR’s database since the 2009 acquisition, including email addresses where they are available.
  
  
• MCH is integrating the MDR/QED data into the existing MCH database of more than 4 million educators, keeping the best and most recent information from the three data sources. The process also eliminates records that MCH’s ongoing compiling process has identified as no longer valid.
  
  
• MCH expects the result to be a School file with 4.5 million contact records and at least 2.5 million email addresses. 75% of the integration is expected to be complete the week of October 11, 2010.
  
  
• MCH also compiles high-quality databases for School Districts, Early Childhood, and Public Libraries, which are available now. Potential enhancements to the MCH college file and the introduction of a teachers-at-home database are currently under evaluation.
  
  
• Under the agreement that D&B made with the FTC, certain categories of MDR customers have the option to terminate their contracts through June 15, 2012. These customers will be notified by October 15, 2010 by MDR.
  
  
• MDR is obligated to help these customers convert from MDR unique identification numbers to QED unique identification numbers.
  
  
• Database from MCH will be fully differentiated from the MDR database. This is due to the integration into the comprehensive MCH database and our on-going compilation efforts. MCH has compiled education databases since the 1930s.
  
  
• MCH has an experienced team of professionals to serve you. Our Sales Director Joan Whitney and our Client Services Director NL Barnes are both former MDR/QED/MCH customers who have decades of experience as education marketers.
  
  
• Our sales staff includes some of the most knowledgeable education professionals, including most recently Jim Holt. Jim comes to MCH from MDR. In the past he has served as Vice President of Sales of MDR and Vice President, Business Development of QED.
  
  
• MCH is prepared to provide friendly, flexible, and reliable service along with a K-12 database that exceeds the QED offering at the time it was acquired by MDR.

You can listen to a recording of the webinar at this link.

Feel free to contact MCH if you have any questions about this webinar or the services we offer.

Note: It’s important to note that D&B and MDR do not agree that the acquisition of QED was anti-competitive and their settlement with the FTC should not be construed as an admission of wrong doing on their part.