Lyris Signs Tavis Smiley

National Talk Show Host Uses Lyris ListHosting to Promote Premier Event Featuring
Magic Johnson, Maya Angelou, Suze Orman and Barack Obama

BERKELEY, Calif.—Sept. 21, 2005—Lyris(R) Technologies, pioneering developer of email marketing solutions, and subsidiary of J.L. Halsey ( JLHY.ob), today announced the addition of Tavis Smiley, the award winning PBS talk show host and producer of the annual SuccesSoul event, to its growing customer base.

"SuccesSoul 2005 is America's premier success and empowerment event, so we of course wanted to work with the premier email solution provider in order to promote it," says Denise Pines, executive director, Tavis Smiley Presents. "Lyris ListHosting makes it incredibly simple to create mailings and manage our lists, so we're able to keep our audience in the loop about new speakers and workshops as we add them. It's proving to be a great marketing tool. Our first email blast generated double digit registrations."

Smiley's journalistic accomplishments include being granted an exclusive interview with President Clinton during the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as well as interviews with Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II. He is known for emphasizing content over controversy as well as easygoing interviewing style that makes him a favorite among A-list public figures. Recently, Smiley's event production company has offered a series of high level conferences focused overcoming barriers to achievement. The SuccesSoul 2005 event, focuses on economic empowerment through entrepreneurship and other means, takes place in Chicago on October 28th and 29th.

"Whether you're talking about his television and radio shows or events like SuccesSoul, Tavis Smiley is known for producing the kind of world class content that characterizes the entire Lyris customer base," said Dave Dabbah, director of marketing at Lyris. "His work is always entertaining yet empowering, and we're simply delighted to be working with such an accomplished journalist and event producer."

About Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley provides a unique mix of news and pop culture to combine for thought provoking and entertaining radio and television programs. His shows are a hybrid of news, issues and entertainment, and feature interviews with newsmakers, politicians, celebrities and everyday people. For its first season, Tavis Smiley television show won the 2005 NAACP Image Award as "Outstanding Television, News, Talk, or Information (Series or Special)." Tavis Smiley Presents is an event production company dedicated to bringing thought provoking discussions, engaging town hall meetings, and exciting consumer expos to communities across the country.

About Lyris Technologies

Lyris Technologies, a subsidiary of J.L. Halsey (JLHY.ob), is a pioneer in the email technology industry. Since 1994, the company has been at the forefront of developing world-class email marketing software and services, as well as high performance email filtering and anti-spam solutions. Lyris' flagship product, Lyris ListManager, is the world's best-selling software for email marketing, while Lyris ListHosting offers the same powerful capabilities in the form of a convenient outsourced service.