Penton Media's AC-U-KWIK announced last week that users can now access AC-U-KWIK information directly from their handheld mobile devices with Web access. By using equipment such as PDAs and cell phones, customers can easily view airport data such as airport listings, fixed base operator (FBO), airport phone numbers, fuel prices and Web sites, weather information and a distance calculator on the go.

According to a company statement, this new functionality was launched as a result of customer request. If you’re ever in doubt on what product or service to launch next, certainly take into account the input you receive from senior management. But don't discount the valuable insight your customers can offer. Oftentimes, they use your products and services in ways you never dreamed--but they're using your offerings 'in the trenches', so their feedback is invaluable.

Today's customers want their information wherever, whenever they need it and in real time. Technology enables such functionality and customers know it’s available. By offering AC-U-KWIK on mobile devices, customers can virtually take the information with them--and if you're an AC-U-KWIK customer, you’re definitely not tied to a desktop computer. Now, wherever these customers are, AC-U-KWIK will be top of mind. And isn't that, at the end of the day, what publishers want?

Equity investor Veronis Suhler Stevenson last week acquired Advanstar Communications for $1.142 billion. (Co-sponsors of the investment are Citigroup Private Equity and New York Life Capital Partners.) Among Advanstar's more prominent properties are the MAGIC Marketplace apparel market trade show and Dealer Expo, a powersports aftermarket trade show. Advanstar's slate of offerings includes 87 international and regional events, 58 publications and directories and 125 electronic publications and Web sites.

Advanstar also offers educational and direct marketing products and services with a customer base that comprises both business professionals and consumers.

The fact that Advanstar is a strong player in a variety of growing vertical markets likely appealed to VSS; and principals at the investment firm undoubtedly have a plan already in place to further increase the presence of Advanstar's slate of products. In announcing the deal, VSS officials suggested that growth will be sparked organically as well as through acquisitions. While the media industry, particular when it comes to magazine titles, has suffered some losses lately (the shutdown of Child magazine late last week is the most recent), expect some healthy gains from the Advanstar properties. VSS apparently sees plenty of potential and possesses the resources necessary to fuel that potential. It certainly won’t be a quiet year for Advanstar.

Thomson Healthcare, a unit of The Thomson Corp., last week launched the NeoFax neonatal drug dosing solution. NeoFax helps physicians, nurses and pharmacists more quickly access information about neonatal drug dosing and parenteral nutrition with the goal of ensuring that physicians are administering the correct medication and proper dosage to their youngest patients.

NeoFax's collection of tools consists of alerts, an interaction checker and a patient-specific dosing calculator. It includes more than 185 substances and a set of clinical decision support modules for patient specific dosing and parenteral nutrition order entry for neonates. NeoFax is available in a variety of formats, including print, PDA and a Web-based application designed for hospital neonatal intensive care units.

Thomson recently acquired NeoFax, which launched its first neonatal dosing and nutrition manual was released in 1987. With the strength of a powerful parent company behind it, NeoFax is positioned for growth during its 20th anniversary year and beyond, especially since malpractice remains a prominent issue within the medical community. Thomson is well-known for being at the forefront of electronic-based solutions and the professional publishing powerhouse will likely work its magic on NeoFax.

Wolters Kluwer Health has launched Integrated Facts & Comparisons. It's a combination of data from the company's Drug Facts and Comparisons and Medi-Span integrated software that serves Wolters Kluwer's pharmacist customers by enabling them to access referential drug information within their workflow.

The new product essentially makes it easier for pharmacists to access drug information by bypassing their need to log in and out of the system and enabling the pharmacists to find the information they need through fewer clicks. Users can also customize the display of the information.

Integrated Facts & Comparisons is another example of a publisher successfully leveraging the products already in its stable to bolster the quality of the company's overall offerings. Customers who were already satisfied with Drug Facts and Comparisons and Medi-Span will benefit from the combined strength of these products. And with professionals consistently demanding tools that are integrated into their workflow, the timing of this particular product launch couldn’t be better. Don't be surprised to see Wolters Kluwer duplicate this model again in its Health division as well as the company's other operating units.

LexisNexis recently launched a new version of its martindale.com Web site. The site originally launched 10 years ago as a platform to connect buyers and sellers (the law firms) of legal services. The new version promises to deliver an even better experience for buyers by providing more information they can use to make a purchasing decision.

Among the enhancements are: activities data (which includes information about litigation and mergers and acquisitions activity for individual law firms), capabilities data (provides an understanding of a law firm's operational infrastructure, a snapshot report (an executive summary of a firm’s offerings and capabilities) and an enhanced side-by-side comparison (a comparison tool that aggregates all of the new data to present a single view of selected firms). All of these features are designed to give buyers a richer, more complete look at the capabilities of the law firms they are researching. The new site will also include a series of Top 10 lists, highlighting the top 10 law firms in a particular category.

These enhancements emphasize the fact that, regardless of the history of your products, you can’t rest on your laurels. Customers are always looking for more and publishers have to offer it, especially if they have it. In this case, LexisNexis is leveraging data from its atVantage product to power the activities data feature. It just proves that publishers really don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make their products relevant for customers; but ensuring that products evolve with their customers' ever-changing needs is crucial in today's extremely competitive marketplace. If your product doesn’t have or do what customers want, they will find another product that will.