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News About The Netpreneur Program

1. THE RUSH IS ON, AND HERE'S THE RIGHT LOCATION
Our pals at The Smithsonian Associates just got off the phone to let us know, with more than a bit of enthusiasm, that seats were filling up fast for "Networking With The Netpreneurs." We just wanted to give you a quick heads-up: please register soon if you're planning to attend. This one looks like a sell-out and there are only a few seats left and walk-up potential looks unlikely. "Networking With The Netpreneurs," 7:00 pm on March 11, features Susan DeFife, founder & CEO of Women's Connection Online; Raul Fernandez, founder & CEO of Proxicom, Inc.; Nat Kannan, founder & CEO of University Online Publishing; and Rob McGovern, founder & CEO of Career Builder discussing what it was like starting their businesses, and the f uture of commerce on the Net. Esther Smith will moderate and Mario Morino will provide the summation. A wine & cheese reception follows the discussion.

http://www.si.edu/youandsi/join/tsa/rap/otomar/net.htm

Or call 202/357-3030 during business hours. When registering, the code for the event is 1L0-815. The cost is $15.00 general admission, $12 if you're a Smithsonian Resident Member.

BTW, a past issue of Netpreneur News listed the wrong location for the event. It will be held in the Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue in DC.

2. JUST SET US OVER THERE NEXT TO THE T-REX. WE'LL BE FINE.
We owe a big thank you to AOL President and CEO Steve Case. Recently he nominated Morino Institute and The Netpreneur Program for the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards. In a ceremony to be held on the Mall on April 6, information on the Netpreneur Program will become part of the Smithsonian Institution's Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology when the 1998 Information Technology Innovation Collection is formally presented to the Institution.

Innovation Network: http://innovate.si.edu

3. TEN QUESTIONS THAT NEED HONEST ANSWERS
Yikes! We've been swamped with requests for the notes from Mario Morino's presentation on "10 Questions Businesses Need To Address" from the most recent Coffee & DoughNets, so we've put the complete text up at the Netpreneur Exchange Web site. We also gave it a more provocative title to reflect Mario's inimitable, in-your-face style. Look for "Do You Need A Business Plan?" at:

http://netpreneur.org/10points

4. NEWLY ASSEMBLED AT THE FAQtory
Look for new FAQs on "Content Blocking Software And Your Site" in the Marketing area and Clawback Strategies in the Funding area, the latter is courtesy of our friends at KPMG's ICE Practice. The usual FAQtory caveat applies: these are not necessarily complete explications. They reflect recent discussion among our netpreneur community and are added to regularly. Please contribute your comments.

FAQtory: http://netpreneur.org/netcorner/faqtory

Regional Netpreneurs

1. COLLECTIBLE SALES ARE GROWING AT ANOTHERUNIVERSE.COM
(Manassas, VA) Responding to dynamic growth in its online commerce, the largest retailer of collectible entertainment merchandise has officially changed its name from American Entertainment to AnotherUniverse.com (AU). The change brings the company's 10-year-old catalog operation, its chain of mall-based specialty stores and Internet commerce division under one brand. Said President and CEO, Stephen Milo, "The change reflects the increasing percentage of current sales being generated online and the prospect for even greater future sales volume. The company is undertaking a major marketing and branding campaign to reflect the shift. With the announcement, AnotherUniverse.com officially launched its new parent Web site, a network of sites previously produced by the company. Since launching its first online store in early 1996, AU's online sales increased by over 1200% in 1997. In 1998, the company anticipates that 40% of its sales will be from the Internet -- an increase of 400% from 1997.

AnotherUniverse: http://anotheruniverse.com

2. NEW RELEASES OF DYNAMORPH ADDS DYNAMIC GRAPHICS
(Vienna, VA) Morph Technologies, Inc. released version 1.6 of DynaMorph, its server-side scripting language which enables a Web site or developer to incorporate CGI programming directly inside HTML documents without the need for PERL or C++ programming skills. With the new release, users can dynamically generate Web graphics, allowing designers to automatically create images based upon values present in a file, a database or a form submission. The new features also include the ability to read images from disk as the basis for a new image, draw geometric shapes onto the image, draw text onto a background image, resize images and create bar charts and progress indicators.

Morph Technologies: http://www.morphtech.com

3. COMPUTER STRATEGIES OFFERS CONSULTING SERVICES
(Vienna, VA) Computer Strategies, Inc. has begun offering consulting services to enhance the implementation of its WebTime product, a Web-based time recording application for project accounting, payroll and cost accounting. To make WebTime more effective, Computer Strategies is now offering time management process definition, design and implementation services. To leverage cost, the company provides systems integration services to ensure that the project and time data are integrated with customer applications including invoicing, cost accounting, project management and payroll.

Computer Strategies: http://www.unanet.com

4. NEW VERSION OF MICROLOG'S INTELA PRODUCT
(Germantown, MD) Microlog Corp. made available Release 6 of its Intela System, a UNIX-based interactive communications product. The new version includes new security and productivity features which speed development of applications. With Intela 6, Microlog's relational database product, IntelaDB, has been more tightly integrated and now supports a 100% Pure Java implementation of the Java Database Connectivity standard. The product's IntelaWeb option allows "publishing" of information to phone or Web "callers" using a single application designed for both purposes. Its desktop suite provides a set of tools which call center managers can use to deploy applications that integrate agent workflow with Web-based contacts and information stored on legacy systems. Its new SCBus-compliant architecture provides global resource sharing, including advanced speech recognition, text-to-speech and fax technologies across all system channels. In addition, Intela incorporates Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) technology which allow hearing impaired callers access to Intela applications through their TDD terminal or PCs.

Microlog: http://www.mlog.com

5. A FREE RESOURCE FOR JOB HUNTERS AND SEEKERS
InterMarket Associates has rebuilt DC's Resume Net from the top down, incorporating a new and easier to use database. DC's Resume Net is a service of InterMarket that has provided free resume posting to the DC area for several years. Over 3000 resumes have been entered into the systemduring the last three months. While the old system is being migrated to the new, both sites are still available. The old site will remain searchable for the next month while the resumes are converted. New resumes are accepted only at the new site. Job seekers can use an ID and password to modify their resumes at any time. Companies from AOL to Zyga have used the site for recruiting.

DC's Resume Net, New Site: http://www.dc-online.com/resume-net
DC's Resume Net, Old Site: http://www.worldcorp.com/resume-net
InterMarket Associates: http://www.intermarket.com

Funding & Finance News

1. CROSSMEDIA RAISES $850,000
(McLean, VA) -- CrossMedia Networks Corp. (formerly CrossMedia Corp.) announced that it has raised $850,000 in its two seed rounds of investment, closing those rounds. The seed rounds were received from individual investors, including among others: David Boast, Vice President, UUNET; Alan Wurtzel, Vice Chairman, Circuit City; James Dale Davidson, Publisher, "Strategic Investment;" and William Dunbar, President, Pebble Hill Capital. A new, multimillion dollar round of venture financing will now be sought to allow the company to continue to grow. CrossMedia's suite of products uses speech technologies to provide instant telephone access to Internet information. The UniSage system allows customers access to their email by any telephone when away from their computers. Other products include a voice dialing product and a real-time notification system which will deliver priority financial and other information directly to consumers by pager, phone screen or automated phone call.

CrossMedia Networks: http://www.crossmedia.net

2. NETWORK ASSOCIATES ACQUIRES TRUSTED INFORMATION SYSTEMS
(Glenwood, MD) Network Associates, Inc. of Santa Clara, CA, has agreed to acquire Trusted Information Systems (TIS) in a stock-for-stock pooling of interest merger valued at over $300 million. Network Associates will offer 0.323 shares for each share of TIS stock. Both boards have approved the merger, and the companies plan to complete the transaction within approximately 90 days. Network Associates was formed late last year by the merger of McAfee Associates and Network General. With the acquisition of TIS, Network Associates becomes the largest security software company in the industry. TIS provides a broad line of security products and services including Gauntlet firewalls, the second most widely used firewall product.

Trusted Information Systems: http://www.tis.com
Network Associates: http://www.nai.com

3. ORBIMAGE CLOSES $173 MILLION FINANCING PACKAGE
(Dulles, VA) Orbital Imaging Corp. (ORBIMAGE), a provider of global space-based imagery, completed a financing package of debt and equity capital totaling $173 million. The money will be used to complete the construction and launch of ORBIMAGE's high resolution OrbView-3 and -4 satellites (scheduled for launch in 1999 and 2000 respectively), to upgrade the company's existing ground stations and for general corporate purposes. In addition to its imaging satellites, ORBIMAGE is developing OrbNet, a digital archive and electronic distribution system which the company expects to activate later this year. OrbNet will provide an online catalog for distributing images to customers over the Internet.

ORBIMAGE : http://www.orbimage.com

Netpreneurs Recognized

1. SETTING THE PACE IN ONLINE BANKING
(Fairfax, VA) Bank of Montreal's Internet mortgage application and approval system, developed in conjunction with American Management Systems (AMS), was ranked as the number one online banking milestone by Online Banking Report. "While most banks were trying to gain internal approval just to begin accepting loan applications online, Bank of Montreal leap-frogged the entire industry by providing near-instant approval of the most complicated loan of all, the home mortgage," wrote Jim Bruene, editor and publisher, Online Banking Report. "Nearly one year later, they are still in a class of their own, a remarkable feat on the Internet." The two companies introduced the mortgage service last year. Since then, it has been expanded to allow for online application and approval of MasterCard credit cards and student lines of credit. Collectively, the Internet-based lending products have received a nomination for this year's prestigious Computerworld Smithsonian Awards. Fairfax, VA-based AMS is the world's 13th largest consulting firm.

Online Banking Report: http://www.onlinebankingreport.com
Bank of Montreal: http://www.bmo.com
AMS: http://www.amsinc.com

2. VISIONFOUNDRY-BUILT SITE WINS EXCELLENCE AWARD
VisionFoundry recently redesigned and reengineered the Web site for Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA). Now, that site has won a Learning Fountain Award for Excellence. The CSA site won in the Content Providers category for sites where visitors can solve their own problems because they offer the proper context or problem solving environment or tools. CSA's "excellent" rating was based on high marks for being a learning catalyst, visitor-centric, focused, thorough, fast loading and transaction enabling.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: http://www.csa.com
VisionFoundry: http://www.visionfoundry.com

Regional News

1. GOT A TASTE FOR SOME HAGGIS?
The Virginia Scotland Partnership is looking for Virginia-based Internet companies (ISP's, Internet tools developers, Internet software developers, etc.) for one-on-one business meetings in Glasgow, Scotland in conjunction with Scotland's first major Internet conference and exhibition, online.scotland, March 25-26. Participating companies will receive a business briefing on the Scottish market, complimentary registration and free exhibition space for the online.scotland conference, invitations to Internet industry networking events and inclusion in press briefings and interviews with Scottish media. Your only cost will be travel and hotel accommodations. Show organizers expect 200 exhibitors and 5,000 attendees for online.scotland. CyberCash, PSINet, Client /Server Systems and SEVAnet have confirmed their participation in the mission and will be conference speakers at online.scotland. For more information contact Lisa Smith at smith@cit.org. The Virginia Scotland Partnership is a technology business development initiative created by the Virginia Economic Development Part nership and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology with Scottish Trade International, the export development agency for Scotland.

Virginia Scotland Partnership: http://www.virgscot.org