January 17, 2003

Contact: Sarah Ray

802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: January 17, 2003

MIDDLEBURY,
VT - On Jan. 25-26, students will join the public at a Middlebury
College conference, “DigitalBridges2003,” that will focus on
whether or not an Internet that is truly accessible to the masses has
arrived, and explore what implications a pervasive Internet has for businesses
and individuals. Software, cyber-security, technology and manufacturing
company executives, venture capitalists and legal experts will participate
in a series of six panels on topics ranging from how business will be
conducted in the future to entrepreneurship and cyber security.

Panelists will
include Anne Schott, group manager of Microsoft’s Web site, Microsoft.com;
George C. Lee II, managing director of investment bank Goldman Sachs;
and Randy Brock, former executive vice president of risk oversight at
Fidelity Investments. Local business figures, such as Vermont Teddy Bear
President Elisabeth Robert, Verizon Vermont President Louise McCarren,
and FreshTracks Capital Managing Director Charlie Kireker will also participate.

All events will
take place in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall on Bicentennial Way off College
Street (Route 125), and are free and open to the public.

The two-day
conference was organized by Michael Claudon, Middlebury College David
K. Smith Professor of Economics, in conjunction with the course he is
currently teaching during January term titled “DigitalBridges2003.”
Claudon, who wants to encourage participation by the students and the
public, said, “At all of these panels, we will welcome questions
from the audience and encourage everyone to engage in the discussion.”

The keynote
event of the conference is a “town meeting” that will take place
from 6-7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, and will include a panel with several
representatives of venture capital firms. Moderated by Kireker of Middlebury-based
Fresh Tracks Capital, the panel features Jed Smith, managing partner of
the San Francisco-based Catamount Ventures; Rory Riggs, managing partner
of New York-based Balfour; and Jeffrey Schutz, managing director in the
Denver office of Centennial Ventures. Also joining the discussion will
be Rich Silton, former president and chief executive officer of Boston-based
Kaon Interactive, a provider of three-dimensional photo-realistic product
imaging technologies for the Web.

The first panel
of the conference on Saturday morning, “The Usable (Pervasive) Internet-An
Internet That Can Actually Be Used by the Masses?,” will take place
from 9:30-11:45 a.m. and include Wing Pepper, vice president of marketing
strategy at Modem Media, a Norwalk, Conn.-based marketing firm with clients
such as General Motors; Jamie Gorman, director of finance and business
development at Denver-based DigiTerra Broadband; Ian Barkin, senior research
analyst in the San Francisco office of Harbor Research; and Molly Campbell
Voorhees, an analyst who works at San Francisco-based Telephia on the
company’s AT&T Wireless account. Telephia provides the wireless industry
with technology that collects customer data.

From 1:15-2:45
p.m., there will be a panel titled “A New Digital Paradigm?-Revisited-Doing
Business in a Pervasive Internet.” Taking part in this panel will
be Aaron H. Abend, founder and chief technology officer of Boston-based
start-up Viapoint Software; Elaine LeBlanc, co-founder of a new start-up
company, Top Dog Solutions; George C. Lee II, managing director of Goldman
Sachs; and J. Brooks Fisher, vice president for business development at
Denver-based CenterStone Technologies, a provider of business-to-business
software for consumer products companies.

“Entrepreneurship
and Growing Businesses” will be the topic of the next panel from
3-4:30 p.m. The panel will focus on the opportunities and challenges for
women as they launch or develop new or existing businesses. Krista Lincoln,
founder and former chief executive officer of Cambridge Translation Resources,
which she sold to Boston-based Language for Industry Worldwide in 1998,
will join in a discussion with Elisabeth Robert, president of Vermont
Teddy Bear; Katie Schiller Ward, director of marketing at Randolph, Mass.-based
Fetco Home Décor, a picture frame and home accessories company;
and Anne Schott, group manager of Microsoft’s Web site, Microsoft.com.

After the keynote
event on Saturday evening, the conference will continue on Sunday, Jan.
26, from 9:15-10:45 a.m. with a panel titled “IP Management-New Technologies
Confront an Old Paradigm.” Panelists, who will discuss the proposed
peer-to-peer privacy prevention act, will include Mark Friedman, group
counsel at Intel Corporation; Tom Knox, partner at the Washington, D.C.,
law firm Shaw Pittman; Rich Silton, former president and chief executive
officer of Kaon Interactive; and Louise McCarren, president of Verizon
Vermont.

The conference
will conclude at 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a discussion about “Cyber
Security-Who Really Owns My Desktop, My Proprietary Information and My
Databases?” Panelists will discuss the race to secure cyberspace,
efforts to prevent unauthorized access, and illegal activity such as the
sabotage of data and networks. Participants include Randy Brock, former
executive vice president of risk oversight at Fidelity Investments; Howard
C. McCausland, director of network design and operations in the Middlebury
College information technology services office; Jim Stuart, director of
information technology and infrastructure at Burlington-based Daybreak
ICS, which specializes in providing content management and XML; and Chris
Wraight, technology consultant in the United States office of anti-virus
software developer Sophos, located in Lynnfield, Mass.

For more information, contact
Elizabeth Robinson of Middlebury College at erobinso@middlebury.edu
or 802-443-5435 or visit the Web site, http://www.digitalbridges20.net/,
where the full conference proceedings and student-authored reports on
each of the panel topics will be available for viewing following the conference.

To follow are events calendar
listings:

“DigitalBridges2003”

January 25-26
Room 216, Bicentennial Hall

Saturday, Jan. 25

9:30-11:45 a.m.
The Usable (Pervasive) Internet-An Internet That Can Actually Be Used
By the Masses?
Wing Pepper, Vice President of Marketing Strategy, Modem Media
Jamie Gorman, Director of Finance and Business Development, DigiTerra
Broadband
Ian Barkin, Senior Research Analyst, Harbor Research
Molly Campbell Voorhees, Account Analyst, Telephia

1:15-2:45 p.m.
A New Digital Paradigm?-Revisited-Doing Business in a Pervasive Internet
Aaron H. Abend, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Viapoint Software

Elaine LeBlanc, Co-Founder, Top Dog Solutions
George C. Lee II , Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
J. Brooks Fisher, Vice President for Business Development, CenterStone
Technologies

3-4:30 p.m.
Entrepreneurship and Growing Businesses
Krista Lincoln, Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge
Translation Resources
Elisabeth Robert, President, Vermont Teddy Bear Company
Katie Schiller Ward, Director of Marketing, Fetco Home Décor
Anne Schott, Group Manager of Microsoft.com, Microsoft

6-7:15 p.m.
Keynote Panel-“Town Meeting”
Moderator: Charlie Kireker, Managing Director, FreshTracks Capital
Jed Smith, Managing Partner, Catamount Ventures
Rory Riggs, Managing Partner, Balfour
Jeffrey Schutz, Managing Director, Centennial Ventures
Rich Silton, Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaon Interactive

Sunday, Jan. 26

9:15-10:45 a.m.
IP Management-New Technologies Confront an Old Paradigm
Mark Friedman, Group Counsel, Intel Corporation
Tom Knox , Partner, Shaw Pittman
Rich Silton, Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaon Interactive

Louise McCarren, President, Verizon Vermont

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Cyber Security-Who Really Owns My Desktop, My Proprietary Information
and My Databases?
Randy Brock, Former Executive Vice President of Risk Oversight, Fidelity
Investments
Howard C. McCausland, Director of Network Design and Operation, Information
Technology Services, Middlebury College
Jim Stuart, Director of Information Technology and Infrastructure, Daybreak
ICS
Chris Wraight, Technology Consultant, Sophos

All events will take place
in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall on Bicentennial Way off College Street
(Route 125), and are free and open to the public. For more information,
contact Elizabeth Robinson of Middlebury College at erobinso@middlebury.edu
or 802-443-5435 or visit the Web site, at www.digitalbridges20.net,
where the full conference proceedings and student-authored reports on
each of the panel topics will be available for viewing following the conference.