WINDSOR, England, 24 February 2005 -- Three major meetings will make for a busy March schedule at the International Press Telecommunications Council.

Delegates representing news agencies and news system vendors from around the world will convene in California for the IPTC's spring 2005 meeting on San Diego Bay, 3-5 March.

On the agenda is the design phase of NewsML v2 and further refinement of IPTC NewsCodes, both of which are crucial for the fast and efficient categorizing and routing of news in the 21st century.

Among the hot discussion topics will be SportsML v1.5, IPTC's XML-based markup for sports tables, results, fixtures and rosters.
SportsML 1.5 is being used by The Associated Press and other major agencies, and its use is rapidly expanding. Among the improvements in version 1.5 are better tournament support and extensive support for wagering lines.

In the United States, attendees at the Nexpo Newspaper trade show in Dallas will have a chance on the 21 March to discuss IPTC's standards during a forum that will feature Michael Steidl, the managing director of IPTC, and Dr. John Iobst, who is retiring as chairman of the IPTC. Other IPTC delegates will join Michael and John in an open meeting with member delegates of the Newspaper Association of America.

For more information about Nexpo 2005 and Newspaper '05, see http://nexpo.com/

Meanwhile, plans continue for the News Standards Summit in Amsterdam on the 24 May 2005. The event is co-hosted by the IPTC, and highlights will include case studies of how IPTC's standards are used by news agencies around the world. Attendees will have a chance to talk directly with some of the talented people who help develop IPTC's standards.

For more information about the News Standards Summit, see http://www.newssummit.org