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TechNet Loses An Exec; Eisenach Eyes Virginia
Eric Sklar, vice president of membership services and finance for Technology Network is the latest staff member to depart the Silicon Valley lobbying group. Sklar, who is a founder of Washington, DC-based Burrito Brothers, left to join a high-tech start-up called infohaze.com, according to staff. TechNet has faced a number of high-level departures this year, including its former President Roberta Katz and Communications Director Ellen Stroud. Meanwhile, TechNet has hired an executive search firm to look for a replacement for Katz, and those close to TechNet do not expect the association to hire a new president until after the election in November.
In an e-mail sent late last week, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, announced that his committee plans to accelerate the number of e-mails per week it sends to supporters to keep them abreast of news on the campaign trail. "We have decided upon a shift in our Internet strategy that I would like you to know about. We have two goals: to better inform our supporters of the political changes and inner-workings of the campaign and to involve you in what is truly an exciting and so very critical time of his Election Year. Along those lines we are going to email you 2-3 times a week from now until Election Day. I know that is a lot of e-mail, but I promise you that each will be informative and give you the opportunity to really involve yourself in our Internet campaign," McConnell wrote. He gave e-mail users an option to opt-out if they don't want to receive the electronic messages.
Progress and Freedom Foundation President Jeff Eisenach has been appointed by Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, R, to a new state Task Force on E-Communities. The Task Force, an outgrowth of the Governor's Commission on Information Technology, was announced last week at the commission's final meeting, in Richmond, VA. "Local governments need to accelerate their efforts to deliver services and engage citizens through the Internet," Eisenach said when accepting the appointment. "They also need to create conditions — such as low tax rates — that will attract private investment, especially in the infrastructure needed for widespread deployment of next generation Internet services.
Infotech Strategies, a high-tech business consulting firm has hired Marc Cummings as director of its e-government practice. Cummings joins Infotech after five years at the Commerce Department where he directed business liaison activities on a range of high-tech policy issues including emerging technologies, e-commerce policy, and developing strategic partnerships between public-and private-sector organizations. At Infotech, Cummings will be charged with helping companies develop effective strategies to bring their latest high-tech business practices to government markets and advising executives and senior managers on how government policies could impact their businesses.
After seven years on the Capitol Hill, Phil Goldberg, former press secretary for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-CA, has left to join Bork and Associates, a boutique public relations operation within Shandwick Public Affairs. He will specialize in PR for companies involved in litigation. Goldberg just finished a degree in law at George Washington Univeristy and said he is looking forward to using his legal skills.
WorldCom Vice-Chairman John Sidgmore, who helped make a multibillion dollar business out of Internet service provider UUNet Technologies, has announced his departure so he can join financially-troubled software company MicroStrategy. Sidgmore will be the first chairman of the company's Strategy.com subsidiary.
Wireless software provider Phone.com named former Cisco Systems Executive Vice President Don Listwin as its president and chief executive, replacing CEO Alain Rossman. Rossman will remain chairman. Phone.com is in the process of merging with Internet software developer Software.com in a bid to jointly become a provider of the technology that delivers Internet access over cellular phones, handheld computers and other wireless devices.
In other Cisco Systems news, Chris Peacock, director of the press office at the Health Care Financing Administration, is going to work as Cisco's corporate public relations manager in Silicon Valley. Peacock's fiancee Michelle Mallory also will join Cisco to grow a state-government affairs program.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will visit India on Sept. 14 to address policymakers, state leaders and developers on his Internet strategy. Gates' one-day visit to New Delhi comes three years after his first visit to the country. One of the reasons for his visit in India is to celebrate Microsoft India's 10th anniversary, which coincides with Microsoft's 25th anniversary, according to Asia Internet News. Meanwhile, India's prime minister is visiting the United States and on Friday is scheduled to meet with President Clinton, where he is expected to bring up the issue of raising the caps on H-1B visas.
The United Kingdom will be losing its e-envoy, Alex Allan, at the end of the month. Allan cited personal reasons for his unexpected resignation, saying that his wife has been ill and he wants to spend more time with her. Allan was appointed by the British government to coordinate policy on e-commerce among different ministries and departments, as well as evangelize about the importance of the Internet to the prime minister. The government is planning to hold an open competition for a successor to Allan, which will be launched in a couple of weeks.
Linda Paris has been named acting director of the Federal Communications Commission's office of media relations, replacing Joy Howell. Howell has been director of media relations since March 1999. Paris, who has been associate director of OMR since March 1998, will manage the FCC's media relations and Internet services programs. FCC Chairman William Kennard also appointed Jay Heimnbach to be the acting director of the office of legislative and intergovernmental affairs. Heimbach, the legal adviser to the cable services bureau chief, replaces Sheryl Wilkerson. "I'm very fortunate to have these two members of my team, who know the commission so well, ready and willing to assume these new responsibilities," Kennard said.
President Clinton last week named 10 individuals to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Those who won the award "have been exemplary in their encouragement of minorities, women, and persons with disabilities to pursue careers in scientific and technical fields," the White House said. Winners include, Daniel Akins, City College of New York; James Cotter, University of Minnesota; Vallie Guthrie, North Carolina A&T State University; Glenn Kuehn, New Mexico State University; Juan Lopez-Garriga, University of Puerto Rico; Abdulalim Abdullah Shabazz, Lincoln University; Carlos G. Spaht, Louisiana State University; Michael Summers, University of Maryland; Luis Villarreal, University of California; and Maria Elena Zavala, California State University.
 | - by Bara Vaida |
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