McGettigan Partners, a Philadelphia-based meeting management company, is working with software giant Microsoft Corp. to shake down the latest version of its meeting consolidation software. After Microsoft's field consulting group completed a substantial upgrade of McGettigan's CORE Discovery, the software giant signed on as one of the primary beta test sites for the product.

CORE Discovery is designed to drive meeting consolidation by having anyone in a company who plans a meeting, whether in the meeting department or not, register that event. Version 5.0, slated for a fall 1998 release, runs on local area networks, the Internet, and corporate intranets. Its capabilities include registering and reporting on meeting spending; searching for meeting sites; creating and sending requests for proposals; and generating name badges and reports. The new release includes more sophisticated budgeting tools, attendee registration and management modules, and a system for managing air and ground travel. Core Discovery 5.0 is only available to companies that use McGettigan for at least a portion of their meetings business. Installation of the software usually includes a full-time McGettigan staff person, as well.

In other news,McGettigan acquired World Class Incentives in May, a full-service incentive company whose key markets include technology and financial services. With its main offices in Swampscott, Mass., and branches in San Francisco and Colorado Springs, the incentive company will now be called McGettigan World Class.