April 13, 2004

The May Report: 4/13/2004: Efoora board member Howard Lucas demanded bribe,
sources say; Coney quits at Evanston ITEC; Robb Hendrickson’s Jellifish
presentation; ShipNow sold; Slack’s three dozen; and “Secrets of The May
Report” revealed at Costa’s on the 20th

Editor and publisher: Ron May, ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com,
773-525-3944.
_________________
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__________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

— ShipNow sold (2 messages)
— Efoora story includes request for bribe on the part of board member Howard
Lucas, sources say, by Ron May
— Briefly noted, by Ron May

1. READER COMMENTS AND RESPONSES
1a. Efoora mail (3 messages)
1b. Mike Jackson: good seeing you
1c. Marc Cohen: Symbian OS/Nokia Series 60 developers needed

2. OTHER (Events)
2a. Tuesday, April 13: SMA meeting, Tony Paoni on IT
2b. Friday, April 16: Presenter registration deadline for CSA’s May 26
Partnering Conference
______________________
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______________________
The Scoop section:
________
ShipNow sold (2 messages)

#1: From: Name withheld upon request.
To: “‘ron@themayreport.com‘”
Subject: ShipNow’s acquisition…big gamble for Kewill
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:51:01 -0500

Ron,

Please keep my identity and email confidential.

In lieu of ShipNow’s acquisition, I thought it may be a good time to remind
everyone that this company continues to make enemies and treat employees and
past employees unprofessionally and dishonestly. I have knowledge that some
employees of then ShipNow have still not been paid dating back to at least
2002.

Kewill is in danger here of soiling a solid industry reputation if ShipNow can
not rid its ghosts of the past. Just a warning for Kewill and its faithful
following.

Thank you.
+++++++++++++++++
#2: From: Name withheld upon request.
To:
Subject: ShipNow disposition….
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 08:40:16 -0500

Dear Ron,

Please do not publish my name or any contact information. I’m merely
pressing along reference to material. Having talked about ShipNow in
past issues, thought you’d be interested in the following announcement
of where their stuff seems to have finally ended up.

www.eyefortransport.com/print.asp?news=41284

Keep up the good work.
__________________
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___________________
Efoora story includes request for bribe on the part of board member Howard
Lucas, sources say, by Ron May

In a dramatic revelation yesterday, The May Report has learned from sources
close to Efoora that Howard Lucas, one of the two outside board members, asked
for a $250,000 bribe as a condition for his participation in a proposed funding
deal. The deal, which has come to be called “the Sig deal,” referring to a
proposed $20MM investment in Efoora by a local investor, Sig Weiler, was on the
table late last year. That deal, which has now been revised and is for a
proposed $15MM, has become the focal point of much internal debate.

Howard Lucas, my sources indicate, was present at a meeting with Grosky and
Rappin in late November 2003 at which he stated that in order to go along with
the original Sig deal he would need to be paid $250,000 and my sources indicate
that the request for the $250K was at the initiative of Howard Lucas. Lucas is
rumored to have a troubled financial situation and made the argument that if
Grosky and Rappin were benefiting from the deal with Sig, that he, Lucas,
should too. Lucas, who is a financial advisor, has brought a number of his
clients in as investors in Efoora. Stan Bazilian, a psychiatrist, the other
outside board member, was not in the meeting, my sources indicate, and did not
ask for a payoff. I have not been able to confirm whether Grosky and Rappin
agreed to the request from Lucas.

On the matter of the 37 million shares that were issued to Grosky and Rappin,
there were two justifications given, my sources indicate. One of the so-called
“fig leaves” for the issuance of the shares was that the shares were
compensation for Grosky’s and Rappin’s 20% ownership in Virotek, the
manufacturing arm of Efoora, and a large part of the justification for the
“value” of their share in Virotek was the putative IP.

The board approval appears to be based on false representations to the board,
and a key person behind the orchestration of those false representations turns
out, my sources indicate, to be the CFO, Jerry Hansberger. The key
misrepresentation upon which the share issuance was based was that there was IP
in Virotek. My sources indicate that initially Hansberger prepared a document
stating that there was intellectual property in Virotek and then after the
shares were issued, he “found” a “smoking gun” document stating that there was
no IP. I have confirmed once again that there was in fact no IP in Virotek. It
had all been assigned to Efoora and that fact is in the PPMs. Thus, regardless
of what valuation was put on the Grosky/Rappin share in Virotek, its basis
could not be the IP.

Nonetheless, my sources indicate that Jerry Hansberger offered the
justification for the granting of the shares that contained very
detailed information and a financial analysis and computation for the
justification for the issuance of the shares based on the Virotek IP
issue mentioned above. I have not been able to ascertain how much of that work
was initiated by Hansberger and how much was a matter of taking orders from
others, but Hansberger was and is the Chief Financial Officer of the firm and
holds an MBA.

My sources indicate that even though the IP issue was a phony one, there was, I
am told, some justification for value being assigned to Grosky’s and Rappin’s
share of Virotek, although no one would argue now that it was worth 37 million
shares. One of those justifications, I am hearing, is that there was cash flow
in Virotek derived from contract manufacturing which ran through Virotek and
that would translate into Efoora shares.

My sources indicate that one of the problems with the initial “Sig deal” is
that it would have resulted in complete control of the firm by Weiler, Grosky,
and Rappin.

Another person who appears to have been involved was Efoora’s accountant,
Harvey Shapiro, but my sources indicate that he was minimally involved in
constructing the deal.

The role of the securities attorney is still unclear. My best information is
that much of the Sig deal was negotiated without the lawyer, and that the
lawyer involved was Mitch Roth of the local law firm Much Shelist. My best
information is that Roth put the documents together and did not play a major
role in constructing the rationale for the deal. His role was entirely one of
preparing securities documents.

My best information is that Howard Lucas has offered to step down as a board
member over the last two months and will be replaced at the next board
meeting.

There are also several other players here. One of them is Tom Brown, who I have
confirmed was brought in initially for $10K a week, but that was only for the
first couple of weeks. Brown’s background is in investment banking and he has
been helpful, I hear, in calming fears o9f the employees. A second player here
is Tim Hoeffner, a lawyer at the Philadelphia law firm of Saul Ewing, whom I
have confirmed was hired to handle problems with Craig Rappin and the board
with the primary focus being on Rappin. Both Brown and Hoeffner were
connections brought in by Howard Lucas.

So, to sum up: it appears now that Howard Lucas and Jerry Hansberger had a role
in the scheme (both for the share issuance in the case of Hansberger and the
Sig deal in the case of Lucas) as well as David Grosky and Craig Rappin. The
bribe request by Lucas appears to demonstrate first how weak the justification
for the original Sig deal was and how antithetical to the interests of the
shareholders in Efoora it was, or Lucas would logically not have demanded a
bribe for his participation, and it also indicates how weak the corporate
governance has been at Efoora, as Lucas and Bazilian have been described to me
as “puppets,” although my information is that Stan Bazilian did not sign off on
the authorization of the shares.

Stay tuned for further developments.
__________________
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Secrets from the archives of The May Report
A one night only special presentation by Ron May, Publisher of The May
Report

Where: Costa’s, 340 S. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL (map)
312-263-9700
When: April 20, 2004, 6:00 – 10:00 PM
Food: Greek, but you’ll be so enthralled you’ll probably forget to eat
Cost: FREE (includes food, and the best stories you’ll ever hear)
Attire: Required

Get the inside scoop on all those stories you’ve always wondered about from
the scoopmeister himself, Ron May, in this exclusive, one night only live
presentation. Hear inside stories on Flip, Bob Bernard, Howard Tullman, Michael
Ferro, Efoora and a host of other famous Chicago technology players who have
truly made us the Third City (at least). Due to legal reasons Ron May has
been unable to print these stories, but can speak about them to a
semi-private audience. Hear tales, ask questions, enjoy a FREE Greek food
feast. Space is extremely limited, and groups of thirty will be admitted on
an hourly basis. Ron will be taking reservations for the following times:

6:00-7:00
7:00-8:00
8:00-9:00
9:00-10:00

No recording devices, and no note-taking will be allowed for attendees of this
event. This is a no holds barred, bare-all night
of secrets revealed; presented as a public service for May Report readers.

RSVP with your time to: ron@themayreport.com Indicate what time slot you
would like to be registered for. You must receive a confirmation to
complete your registration.
||||||||||||||||||advertisement||||||||||||||
__________________
Briefly noted, by Ron May

* I heard last night that the Women Advancing BioScience gathering that Jeff
Coney, who heads up the Evanston ITEC, is stepping down to assume the position
of President and COO of B2P, an accounting software firm for not-for-profits
started by Jason Saul. This is one of the firms that Coney and the Evanston
ITEC has been working with. Coney has been by far one of the most active ITEC
managers and can be seen all around town at various networking events. A party
will be held for Coney on Friday afternoon at the offices of the Evanston ITEC
from 4 to 6 pm (I believe at 1812 Maple). Both Jim Bray and Bret Johnson were
at the talk last night and Jim Bray was at the ARCH/Coalition meeting yesterday
morning. They have been on Coney’s staff at the ITEC.

* Continuing the theme of people changing jobs, I have confirmed that Misty
Gruber did leave Sonnenshein Nath Rosenthal within the last month. I am still
working on getting information on the circumstances of her departure, but
talking to one lawyer from Sonnenshein, I got the impression that she went to a
smaller law firm and that she took with her the IP work for Arryx, a firm run
by her husband, Lew Gruber.

* Paul Hartge, the co-founder of Callisto Software, a mobile enterprise
software firm, has left Novell and is networking for a new position. He was at
the ARCH/Coalition meeting yesterday. He sold Callisto to Novell a few years
back and can be reached at phartge@wowway.com.

* HotSpotHere is a mobility engineering and infrastructure build-out firm that
specializes in hotels. They have done the Holiday Inn in Itasca, the Hampton
Inn, McHenry, and the Homestead in Evanston and they have started work with the
Carlton Hotel. They have one full time employee, Chris Wright, the founder, who
came out of seven years at CCC Information Services and they have five people
total. they had a profitable first quarter because they are not taking
salaries, and they incorporated May 19th of last year.

* Duo Design changed its name to Duo Consulting and Michael Silverman tells me
that they now have fifteen employees. Their lowest number was twelve, Silverman
told me. Sonny Cohen is still one of them, and I saw him at the MEF meeting
last night. Silverman was at the ARCH meeting.

* Much more to come from the meetings yesterday, but I heard that the comedian
Jackie Mason went to The Bagel restaurant today for a corned beef sandwich.
Also, I happened to see the cab driver last night whom I wrote about more than
a week ago and his credit card processor was fixed by BITSPoint.

* I met with John Maxson yesterday in his office and discussed many things. The
Coalition will know in two months whether they are getting an additional $1MM
starting in October 2004 from the SBA. The decision is made in Washington, D.C.
They only get $150K in contributions from the private sector, a figure that
Maxson is not pleased with.

* As many of you know, Robb Hendrickson, the founder of Jellifish, presented
yesterday at the Monday Morning Meeting, sponsored by ARCH Development Partners
and the Illinois Coalition. (Yesterday’s presentation was co-sponsored by David
Weinstein’s group over at the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center.)

Since Robb gave a dynamic presentation and evidently impressed Churchwell so
much that Tom suggested that the $700K raise Robb was proposing was too low and
that the firm should be eligible for a vanity venture investment, I’ve taken
the time to transcribe my recording of yesterday’s Jellifish presentation. I
correlated the talk with the slide titles with the help of Jellifish employee
Ron Kovar. Thanks Ron.

TITLE SLIDE

Good morning!

My name is Robb Hendrickson and I am the founder of Jellifish guitar
accessories.

Music products is an industry in which I have both personal and professional
experience. I have been an avid guitarist for 29 years and, while an investment
banker at Gerard Klauer, advised several “MI” clients.

I am here this morning for 3 reasons:

* First, to tell you about the opportunity that led me to start a
music-products venture.
* Second, to tell you about what we have accomplished to date.
* And third, to solicit feedback as to how we can better communicate this
opportunity to early-stage investors.

SLIDE 2: THE NEED

There are 4 needs guitarists consider with respect to the accessories they
purchase:

* First, a product should contribute to the guitarist’s ability to create a
distinctive “signature tone”
* Second, guitar products should aid creativity
* Third, guitarists want products that accomplish these needs simply
* And fourth, guitar should be fun…it doesn’t matter how powerful a product
is if the learning curve takes away from the fun.

How are these needs being met?

SLIDE 3: COMPETITIVE OFFERINGS

Since the ’60s, accessories manufacturers have become increasingly hi-tech in
their offerings. Analog electronics have given way to digital signal
processing. Many of today’s guitar accessories are designed by double-Es and
PhDs. Not surprisingly, you need near that level of education to work through
the owner’s manual.

600-page tomes such as this gem ensure THAT power lies untapped by all but the
most masochistic of guitarists.

Therefore, the practical result of this increased complexity has been sonic
homogenization. It is far easier to use a factory preset than to invest in the
skills required to use these new digital tools as intended.

Consequently, “new and improved” violates 3 of our 4 needs requirements.

Moreover, because digital effects are parameter-based and can be easily copied,
there is a disincentive to investing the effort required to create “signature
tones” with these products.

The other side of the accessories market is “no-tech”: strings, straps and
picks. In essence, accessories that haven’t been subject to serious
reconsideration for several decades. The advantage, of course, is that there is
no learning curve. Guitarists already know how to use these products.

Having followed guitar sector trends most of my life, the disconnect between
these 2 directions strikes me as a significant opportunity.

SLIDE 4: OUR SOLUTION

What I see is this:

No 2 players interface with an instrument in exactly the same way. So
mechanical tools for the guitar have an inherent advantage in meeting the first
need, a “signature tone.”

Also, in theory, any electronic or digital effect has a mechanical analog.
Admittedly, not all of these analogs are practical, but enough of them are to
be of interest.

Thus there are 2 paths worth pursuing:

* First, figure out how to make practical mechanical effects; ones that aren’t
cumbersome to use.
* And second, reexamine every accessory taken for granted by the industry and
figure-out where and how to make technological improvements.

Now that I’ve covered this premise, I’d like to give you some more background
on our industry.

SLIDE 5: THE INDUSTRY

Music products are a 7-billion dollar specialty retail market. Therefore it is
possible to build a very strong consumer brand without the resources of an
800-pound gorilla, as required for general consumer goods.

With compounded annual growth approaching 10% for almost a decade, guitar
products are the dominant revenue-driver in the industry.

Driven by demand from more than 52 million guitarists, the accessories segment
accounts for a substantial portion of those dollars.

Although the industry remains highly fragmented, consolidation has begun,
presenting yet another compelling reason to start a music products venture.

SLIDE 6: COMPANY STATUS

Over a quarter-million dollars have been invested in building this company.
Since launching the first product, we’ve sold over 14,000 units – most of those
since beginning national advertising this past July. [Ron May here. After the
meeting, Robb told me that sales totaled $155K last year, but he pointed out
that because this is a consumer products firm, those numbers can ramp up very
quickly.]

Until recently, we were solely focused on our e-commerce channel,
jellifish.com. We began transitioning to a more traditional retail sales model
on March 1st and now have approximately 80 dealers carrying the initial
product, known as the Jellifish, which I will briefly demonstrate.

SLIDE 7: [PRODUCT IMAGES]
As most of you know, this is an ordinary guitar pick & it sounds like this.

[May here: At this point, Robb played 3 passages using a regular guitar pick.]

And this is the Jellifish.

[May again: Now Robb played all 3 of these passages again using the Jellifish.
Each passage demonstrated one of the Jellifish sounds. The sound they call
"Chorus!" made the 6-string guitar sound like it had 12-strings. The "Pluck!"
sound is similar to a music box. And "Bow!" not surprisingly makes the guitar
sound like a bowed instrument. Robb then returned to his talk.]

SLIDE 8: NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
This Jellifish product is now in its fourth-generation from an
engineering-and-manufacturing standpoint.

Our second product can be in the market within 90 days of closing the current
capital raise.

And we have over 10 other products at various development stages in our new
product pipeline.

All of these products fit the 2 models I described previously: Mechanical
effects devices, such as the Jellifish itself, or quantum improvements on
existing accessory products.

Two such examples of “quantum improvements” embody applications of Carbon Thin
Film and Combinatorial Optimization.

SLIDE 9: ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY (AMT)

The Jellifish product / exemplifies our use / of advanced manufacturing
technologies.

Specifically, the insert molding tolerances are measured in 100-thousandths of
an inch. Likewise, the subassembly of this product is manufactured using Nd:YAG
lasers for welding, cutting & fusing operations. Both Chicago-area vendors
primarily service the aerospace and medical device industries.

So, what army of engineers is responsible for all this innovation??

SLIDE 10: MANAGEMENT TEAM

A successfully managed network of more than 20 outsourced Chicagoland vendors
and suppliers has allowed two full-time employees to build the current platform.

We also rely on a team of senior advisors, including 2 Harvard and 1 Kellogg
MBA.

In the event we do a minimum raise this round, we will continue to rely heavily
on local outsourced vendors.

However, we have identified candidates from within the industry and intend to
hire veterans into Sales, CEO and Artist Relations positions as financing
permits.

SLIDE 11: BUSINESS MODEL: MFG & SELL

Our job is to make & sell products. We execute product development up through
the breadboard stage internally, after which the industrial design, engineering
& manufacturing functions are outsourced on a “project-fit” basis.

Our first product is proof that this approach leads to both continuous quality
improvements and faster back-integration of the manufacturing process.

We are already on the fourth-generation of our Jellifish product. In 18 months,
we have reduced the cost of goods by 53%. And, in this same interval we have
consolidated the number of steps (and vendors) by 40%. We expect to consolidate
all Jellifish product operations to a single-source supplier within the next 12
to 24 months.

SLIDE 12: BUSINESS MODEL: MFG & SELL

As I mentioned earlier, our initial sales efforts were focused upon driving the
end-user to our e-commerce site. We accomplished this through both online and
print advertising in targeted channels and managed to outsell our former
manufacturing capacity by the fourth quarter of 2003.

Validation was the main purpose of this initial direct-response phase: Validate
the market, validate the product & validate the price point. As the first step
in our go-to-market strategy, direct response also allowed us to build ongoing,
one-to-one relationships with thousands of early adopters.

While effective for validation purposes, this direct-response strategy does
have limited reach. According to The Gallup Organization’s most recent
“American Attitudes Towards Music” survey, only 18% of American musicians are
willing to purchase online.

Therefore, we’re now transitioning our focus to the North American independent
guitar dealers, of which there are over 5200.

SLIDE 13: EXIT STRATEGY

This brings us to, perhaps, the most important question for some of you: How do
we foresee our investors making money?

We build the line. We build the dealer base. And then we sell to a larger
company already in the music products market.

While it’s possible an acquisition could come from left field, it would
surprise me if we were acquired by someone other than one of the 18 companies
listed here.

Assuming we successfully close the private placement we’re now bringing to
market, I expect this liquidity event within the next 3 to 5 years.

SLIDE 14: PRO-FORMA FINANCIALS

No pitch would be complete without some presentation of the anticipated
financials.

[May here again. At this point, Tom Churchwell who emcee's the Monday Morning
Meeting, cut Robb off for running overtime. I spoke with Robb after the
presentation and he said that this was the final slide anyway. I still have to
go over the Q&A, but I can tell you that Bill Lear, one of the financial
advisors to the firm, told me that the next product is an easier to use "pick"
substitute since most guitar buyers are kids between the ages of 5 and 10.
Churchwell suggested that the demo be on the front end, right at the beginning
and that since it is easy to intuitively understand what the business is, more
time should be spent on other aspects of the presentation. The exit strategy
was clear and a strong point of the talk, Churchwell said.]

* This represents departures from Slack Barshinger during the past 30 months.
2/3 of the staff has turned over during that period. This level of churn is
unprecedented in most agencies and may represent a new low for the profession
of marketing. Note most of the departures are in Account Services (ACCT).
This indicates, at the very least, a high level of client turnover, which may
explain why fully one third of the clients on the SBP current client list are,
in actuality, no longer with the agency.

1. Jim Brown EX PARTNER ACCT

2. Emily Hauer ACCT

3. Sean De Luna CREATIVE

4. Brett Kreisman ACCT

5. Mike Cacicio ACCT

6. Pat Yanahan EX PARTNER

7. Ken Crowhurst ACCT

8. Bill Bernahl ACCT

9. Karyn Dozeman CREATIVE

10.Carrie Brown ACCT

11.Scott Drucker ACCT

12.Jeff Burgeau EX PARTNER, PR

13.Melanie De Leon PR

14.Murad Sabzali ACCT

15.Donna Green EX PARTNER

16. Nick Andrus EX PARTNER

17. Nick Farina PR EX PARTNER

18. Lindsay True ACCT

19. Casey McDonald ACCT – BOSTON OFFICE – SOLE EMPLOYEE

20. Steve Lundin PR

21. Anne Bogusz PRODUCTION

22. Brad Hauck CREATIVE

23. Kyra Kyles PR

24. Dave Zapata PR

25. Sarah Crawford PR

26. Jennifer Duff PR

27. Dana Kessler PR

28. Terry Morrison EX PARTNER ACCT

29. Kristina Kakavas CREATIVE

30. Jamie Carter ACCT

31. Dennis James INTERACTIVE – SOLE DEPARTMENT MEMBER

32. Dan St. Martin ACCT

33.Stacey Reinking PR

34. Jim Sherman ACCT

35. Jill Sanders CREATIVE
___________________
1. READER COMMENTS AND RESPONSES
1a. Efoora mail (3 messages)
__________
#1: From: Name withheld upon request.
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 9:51 AM
To: Name withheld upon request.
Subject: New test approved

Please withhold my contact info.

I saw this on one of my news services. Is this the same business that Efoora
is in?

Date: Monday, April 12, 2004
Source: Medical Device Daily

Medical Device Daily via NewsEdge Corporation : Product Briefs

Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) reported that the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has given Abbott permission to sell and distribute its
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) test. The rapid Enfer BSE test provides
results within hours, is easy to use and addresses the workflow needs of
USDA-approved screening laboratories. The test detects the presence of the
abnormal proteins believed to cause BSE, or mad cow disease. Prior to the
approval of the rapid BSE test, the USDA used an immunohistochemistry BSE test
that took several days to perform and report the results.
+++++++++++++++++
#2: Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 16:54:18 -0600
To: ron@themayreport.com
From: Name withheld upon request.
Subject: Can You Spell Cop-out?

Boy:
You claim you have vital information and yet you cop out by not telling us
anything. Are you a reporter or just a hypster? Ron, it is time for all and I
mean all the dirt to be revealed. Grosky must go now. Rappin must be removed
from the payroll. It is time for Efoora to be cleansed or we are in trouble.

do not use my name.
++++++++++++++++++
#3: From: Name withheld upon request.
To:
Subject: Efoora
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 15:40:00 -0500

Ron,

Kudos to you for the great detective work into efoora. I have been growing
ever so curious over the past few years with all the broken promises out of
these guys. I have been calling Mel Dokish telling him that I want my money
back and nothing more, seeing as I wasn’t an accredited investor and and all he
does is says,”Call me next week buddy and we’ll see what we can do.” Do you
have any ideas as to what any course of action I can take against them? Please
do not use my name or email Ron and keep up the great work you provide a great
service.

Name withheld upon request.
____________________
1b. Mike Jackson: good seeing you

Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:21:30 -0400
From: MLJACKSON6@aol.com
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: Great running into you last night -

Ron,

It was good running into you last night on the street. You look like a new
man! You’ve lost a lot of weight & have a great energy about you. I am glad to
see your health has turned around and life appears to be treating you well.
Keep up the great work! Happy Spring!

Best,
Mike
__________________
1c. Marc Cohen: Symbian OS/Nokia Series 60 developers

From: “Marc Cohen”
To:
Subject: Symbian OS/Nokia Series 60 developers
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 12:19:56 -0500

Ron -

I am looking for people with Symbian OS/Nokia Series 60 programming
experience. If you could post this in your newsletter I would appreciate it.

Best regards,

Marc S. Cohen
SixtySeven Kilohertz, Inc.
847-491-4311, marc@67khz.com
____________________
2. OTHER (Events)
2a. Tuesday, April 13: SMA meeting, Tony Paoni on IT

From: “Christine Glatz”
To:
Subject: April 13, 2004 SMA Meeting Flyer
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 19:53:30 -0500

LAST CALL!

What Shapes the IT Strategy of a Company

Featuring guest speaker

Anthony J. Paoni

Professor of Technology and e-Commerce
Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management

April 13, 2004

410 Club ¨ Wrigley Building

5:30 p.m. Networking

6:30 pm. Program

Program Highlights

Why does Goldman Sachs spend three times market for their IT organization? Why
does General Motors spend under the industry average on their IT organization?
The factors that determine an organization’s IT strategy are important to
understand and they can make the difference between running an average
performing company or an industry leading company. How an organization’s
shapes its IT strategy are dependent on factors such as their value discipline,
growth strategy, leadership attitudes toward the IT function and many more.
This lecture will cover a framework to help senior executives effectively shape
their IT strategy.

About our Speaker

Anthony J. Paoni, Professor of Technology and e-Commerce at Northwestern
University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, is an expert in e-commerce
and information technology, strategic IT planning, and linkage between business
strategy and IT strategy, as well as information privacy, a subject he has
studied and taught. His professional career includes 28 years in the computer
industry in functional roles including VP Sales, VP Marketing and CEO, followed
by a distinguished tenure now encompassing more than six years as a member of
the Kellogg Graduate School of Management faculty. He currently is a member of
the Board of Directors of numerous U.S. companies including CompuCom Systems;
US Freightways; Chamberlain Group;

dekor; and E-Certify. A leading figure in both industry and academia, Professor
Paoni leads many major IT executive conferences for corporations such as Xerox,
IBM, and Gartner Group. He has also served in a consulting role for other large
organizations including BP/Amoco, State Farm Insurance, McDonald’s Corporation,
Kraft, Miller Brewing, and the U.S. Navy; and he served as a Diamond Fellow
before joining DiamondCluster International as Vice Chairman. Professor Paoni
holds a BSME from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

Registration Information

This program will be held on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at the 410 Club in the
Wrigley Building (410 N. Michigan Avenue). The evening will begin with
cocktails and hors d oeuvres at 5:30 p.m. and the presentation will start
promptly at 6:30 p.m. Free parking is available at the 410 Club after 5:00 p.m.

The cost of the event is $30 (pre-registered online) or $35 at the door for SMA
members and $50 (pre-registered online) or $55 at the door for non-members.
Reservations can be made through Chris Glatz, executive director of the
Strategic Management Association at (312) 375-4656 or online at
www.sma-chicago.org.

For email or phone reservations, please give your name, email address, and your
company for the reservation. Please remember that no shows will be billed.
For further information on the Strategic Management Association including a
membership application, click on www.sma-chicago.org.
____________________
2b. Friday, April 16: Presenter registration deadline for CSA’s May 26
Partnering Conference

Subject: CSA Partnering Conference: The Art of Alliances
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:08:32 -0500
From: “Katie Kaufmann”
To:

Hi Ron,
Hope all’s well! CSA Partnering Conference is coming up and the Premier
Presenter registration deadline is just around the corner ~ April 16th (the day
after your birthday!). Would you please add this to your newsletter?

CSA Partnering Conference 2004: The Art of Alliances ~ Premier Presenter
Registration Ends April 16th!
The CSA Partnering Conference facilitates bottom-line building of alliances and
strategic partnerships between today’s high technology companies, providers,
and service companies. New and improved, this year’s half day powerhouse event
offers the opportunity for all presenter applicants to present! Fifteen will
then be chosen to present to the entire conference following our keynote
speaker*. We hope you take advantage of the newly created opportunities this
year and register today to present, exhibit or attend.

How can the Partnering Conference be of value to you and your company? Because
the marketplace is crowded with new products. Vendor offerings are being released into the market every
day, while new providers emerge and new market leaders prevail. A key to their
success is cutting through the clutter with strong channels in which to promote
and distribute their offerings and strategic alliances to complement their
products.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 8:00a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago
REGISTRATION: To present, to exhibit and to
attend:http://www.csa.org/CSA/Event/partnering04/index.aspx
*HURRY…Register by April 16th to qualify as one of
the 15 Premier Presenters! Register by May 7th to present in
other areas of the conference.
2004 Partnering Conference ~ Don’t miss your chance to create valuable
alliances and extraordinary networking opportunities!

EVENT AGENDA:
8:00 a.m. Registration, Continental Breakfast & Networking
9:00 a.m. Welcome Note, Keynote Address followed by Premier Presentations
10:45 a.m Breakout Room Presentations
11:30 a.m. Exhibit Hall, Networking & Lunch Reception

Questions: Email at partnering@csa.org or by phone 847.358.0567 x12
____________________
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END OF REPORT.