This article appeared in the Technology Section newsletter of the International Public Relations Society of America in the Fall of 2008.

Working in our profession, personal relationships cannot be sacrificed at the altar of technology for the cool factor. That’s why when you reach into your personal technology toolbox, the tool you select had better simplify rather than intensify the time you need to execute an action. There are five relatively quiet, newer players on the scene that do simply tasks smarter, and save time. Targeting Leads: Jigsaw We’ve all called around trying to find the right person inside a large organization for business development either for ourselves or our clients. This can be frustrating and time-consuming. Now there are thousands of others who also have had the same experience willing to share their electronic rolodexs with you at Jigsaw (www.jigsaw.com). The system does allow for a trial period to get a “taste” of what is available. When looking for contacts in large corporate environments, such as Google, for instance, there are a number of valuable listings that can assist in that target marketing. It is a salesman’s best friend, and the expense structure is attractive. For every verifiable contact name you put in, you get credit to look for your own. Of course, you can pay to assemble what you need as well. They list their objective as, “Aims to increase efficiency in the buying and selling process by providing a collaborative database of business contacts.” I say it eliminates headaches, and gets you to target names of real people real fast. 5 million contacts with phone numbers and email addresses available now. Cost: $25 a month or add 25 contacts a month.

Charitable Giving: Community Plus If you are working with a non-profit, sign them up to benefit from online shoppers. At this point, there is no avoiding shopping online for every manner of good or service, so if you are going to do it, then do through a site that generates charitable donations with each click to your favorite charity.

This site, www.communityplus.com, allows anyone to create a profile and shop at more than 600 merchants, such as Walmart and The Gap, while giving up to five percent to favorite charities through those regularly-priced purchases. Founder Jeff Tietzer had a simple model of creating a loyalty program for shopping online to benefit nonprofits, proving that one person can make a difference. Each merchant designates the level of giving based on your purchases. Old-Fashioned Cards: SendOutCards We all send email now as routinely as waking up in the morning, but remember the days when you used to get greeting cards in the mail? One company has determined a great many people still enjoy opening up snail mail when it’s a greeting card or even a postcard. SendOutCards (www.sendoutcards.com) is a new network marketing company that allows you to sign others up and make money on everyone in your line who seamlessly sends out cards to business contacts after events, for special occasions, or just for fun. The system will take excel or Microsoft Outlook databases, for example, and you can set up groups. A record is kept of each card sent. If you gave out wrong information after you assembled a quick mailing, delete the campaign before midnight and it won’t go. Cards are batched and go through a Salt Lake City distribution system. Then start with your template and begin again. Once you have contacts in the system, sending the cards is simple, and direct. There is a card catalog or you can upload your own creations for special events, leads generation, or any number of other mailings. The fee structures are based on points. You pay for postage through credit card or Paypal. You can cancel anytime the monthly fee for cards, and you can roll them over to do a large mailing, such as Christmas cards. To get in to the network, you must sign up through another registered user. www.sendoutcards.com/aspectx Another Toolbar Bringing Community: Conduit We’ve all gotten used to Google and Yahoo toolbar technology, and it makes quick work of searching and navigating at will. In the last two years, another toolbar has become the new digital platform for instant community. Conduit (conduit.com) was just recognized for its breakthrough innovation in creating a game-changing, persistent digital media channel by AlwaysOn as a top 100 private company selection. It now has over 12 million users with 130, 000 publishers and a new user every 2 seconds. Anyone can create, and instantly launch, their community toolbar. Here is a way to reach people that gives social search mainstream staying power. The operative word is free, so there is nothing to lose in using it to promote even a small business client with this search monetization model. Key players with Conduit include ReMax, Greenpeace, and Major League Baseball. Pushing Video Ads: AOL/PointRoll Video Advertising Gannett Co. and AOL with its partner, PointRoll, will develop several versions of ads online being delivered as video exclusively this year. It appears another rendition of popup-style ads with video, where you must watch it, before moving to a news clip, and it will take over our traditional news sites. The deal was announced in March of this year, and should bear fruit shortly. Whether this is a hot new way to push messaging, or just another stop on the Internet personalization train, remains to be seen. But knowing what is happening, may lead you to opportunities for your clients. Public relations practitioners operating in the technology sectors are increasingly moving into full integrated communications services. Marrying the best of the technologies that simplistically open up new audiences can be key. Experiment for yourself. Your tech toolbox essentials will continue to grow. Dawn Marie Yankeelov is president of Louisville-based ASPectx with more than 20 years experience in high tech business-to-business sectors, tying marketing and technology together with expertise in search, security, community, and software solutions.

ASPectx, based in Louisville, provides competitive intelligence, public relations, marketing, web consulting, and business development services to companies in growth sectors, particularly high technology and healthcare. The firm works with Fortune 1000 companies as well as startups in the business-to-business sector from strategy through to tactics. www.aspectx.com

Header:  January 23, 2007
Innovative Brain Scanning for Alzheimer’s Disease Screening Unveiled Clinical Trials with the Neuronetrix’ COGNISION headset at the University of Kentucky Begin in 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Innovative Brain Scanning for Alzheimer’s Disease Screening Unveiled
Clinical Trials with the Neuronetrix’ COGNISION headset at the
University of Kentucky Begin in 2008

Neuronetrix Partners with the University of Kentucky in an Alzheimer’s Disease Screening Study.

LEXINGTON, KY (Jan. 23, 2008)—Researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging are launching an Alzheimer’s screening clinical trial with Neuronetrix’s innovative brain scanning system, called COGNISION™. The study will involve brainwave assessments using a technology called event-related potentials (ERP’s). The study is expected to validate the performance of the COGNISION™ system and to demonstrate the system’s applicability in a primary care setting. Up to 100 Alzheimer sufferers and controls will participate over the next 6-12 months.

During the study patients will wear a sophisticated electronic headset which will record brain activity in response to an auditory stimulus. The process is similar to hearing screening tests performed on newborn infants throughout the country. The data is then uploaded to an online database where a powerful pattern recognition engine will correlate the ERP tests with known brainwave patterns.

The COGNISION™ test is expected to be the first approved Alzheimer’s disease screening test which directly evaluates a patient’s cognitive performance. “We are not looking at a surrogate biomarker which may or may not correlate with Alzheimer’s, instead, we are directly measuring the cognitive deficits caused by the disease.” says K.C. Fadem, co-founder of Neuronetrix.
It is generally believed that the drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s, such as market leader Aricept® from Pfizer, are most effective early in the disease process. Because of this, a national focus has been placed on the importance of Alzheimer’s screening to determine optimum treatment paths in the early stage of the disease. At least one organization of medical experts, the AD Screening Discussion Group, has advocated that Alzheimer’s disease screenings become a routine part of the application for Medicare.

Alzheimer’s disease affects about 5 million Americans with 500,000 new cases reported each year. This number is expected to grow to 16 million by 2050. The CDC recently reported that Alzheimer’s disease moved up to 7th place from 8th place among the leading causes of death in 2004, passing influenza and pneumonia.

The Sanders-Brown Center at the University of Kentucky is one of only 32 Alzheimer’s Centers of Excellence in the country. Neuronetrix is planning a follow on study to evaluate the COGNISION™ System on a commercial scale that will be performed at other Alzheimer’s Centers of Excellence including the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University.

For more information, go to www.neuronetrix.com.

Dawn Marie Yankeelov,Aspectx
PR Consultant

Header: May 12, 2006
Read To Me Launch Coordinated By Founder Dawn Marie Yankeelov of ASPectx

Summer Program Pairs Young Readers in Day Camp under Metro Parks and Beta Club Students at Area Schools

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Summer Program Pairs Young Readers in Day Camp under Metro Parks and Beta Club Students at Area Schools

(Louisville, KY)—May 11, 2006—A new summer pilot program has been created by ASPectx Founder Dawn Marie Yankeelov, her daughter, Melissa, and her cousin, Caitlin, to assist young readers (6 to 10 years old) and teens in area Beta Clubs in pairing up for self-esteem, communications, a sense of achievement, and skills-building.

Read to Me participants will meet up at pre-selected Louisville Metro Parks Dept.’s Summer Camp sites twice a week. Each teen will be assigned a minimum of 2 children at each camp, one for each 30-minute period to have the young reader read aloud. “The mentoring from the teens will assist in the readers developing their skills, and having a partner for encouragement during the summer months,” said Yankeelov. “Our intention is to rollout this program to all interested Beta Clubs for year-round participation upon completion of the pilot program.”

Approximately 40 to 80 teens from area Beta Clubs are anticipated to participate with recruits coming initially from Kammerer Middle School and Ballard High School.
Beta Club teachers are constantly looking for service projects to recommend, and coordinate. The program called Read to Me will have its own website by summer’s end 2006, developed by and for students, at www.readtome.tv.

This project grew out of Ms. Yankeelov’s current participation in the Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership Program www.landmarkeducation.com

Program Premise:
Currently the school year end is approaching and many young children will be sent into environments where they are just not reading, since it is not a scheduled activity. While books may be available at summer camp, and, at times, they are read to as a small group, they may not be reading aloud themselves and building on their skills. Meanwhile, middle and high school students long for some way to make a difference. Those that are not yet old enough to work, may simply find themselves watching a lot of TV, talking on the phone with friends, surfing the Web, and generally bored.

As the summer progresses, young readers may actually slide back in their skills-building, and need the first few weeks of school to become accustomed again to learning to read basics. Many teens in the months of July and August begin to feel underfoot at home, and not appreciated. The prospect of summer could be very different if they are paired in the Read To Me program. A sense of accomplishment and pride can occur for both groups.

For more information on participation, contact Dawn Marie Yankeelov at 502-292-2351 or dawny@aspectx.com or Greg Davis, Coordinator of Summer Camp Programs for Louisville (KY) Metro Parks at 502-574-2795 or Greg.davis@louisvilleky.gov. All Beta Club student volunteers in the area are encouraged to sign up.

For More Information:
Dawn Marie Yankeelov
ASPectx
(502) 292-2351

Header: May 12, 2006
“911, Iraq, & Bin Laden: US’s $60 Billion Intelligence Failure”
Presented by Former Intelligence Officer Robert D. Steele from Washington, D.C.
The World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana’s Global Economic Forum
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“911, Iraq, & Bin Laden: US’s $60 Billion Intelligence Failure”

Presented by Former Intelligence Officer Robert D. Steele from Washington, D.C.
The World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana’s Global Economic Forum

May 2, 2006—(Louisville, KY)—Former Career Intelligence Officer Robert D. Steele will come to Louisville, Ky. on June 14 to detail how and why open source intelligence methods should be used more frequently to track high priority issues and military enemies. ASPectx founder Dawn Yankeelov, and a member of the organizing committee for the area World Affairs Council’s Global Economic Forum Series, extended the invitation to bring perspective to Kentuckians in this the area.

Open source intelligence or “OSINT” refers to an intelligence gathering discipline based on analyzing information collected from open sources, i.e. information available to the general public. These sources include newspapers, the internet, books, phone books, scientific journals, radio broadcasts, television, and others.

Robert David Steele, a career intelligence officer who went on to found the Marine Corps Intelligence Command and then the international Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) movement, believes that 80 percent of the threats to the U.S. can be monitored through open source intelligence methods. However, Steele contends, $60 billion a year is spent on the 20% of the threats amenable to secret sources and methods.

The kickoff event for this year’s Global Economic Forum Series will be held on Weds., June 14th with a general lecture at 5:30PM open to the public and a business dinner at 6:30 PM. Tickets will be sold in advance and at the door: $20 for the main event; and $100 for the business dinner. The general lecture will be held in the Greenbaum Room, at Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, 3500 National City Towner, followed by the business dinner at Vincenzo’s Italian Restaurant, 150 South 5th St. Tickets for both events are on a first-come basis, and seating is limited.

In November 2005, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) announced the creation of the Open Source Center (OSC). The OSC’s functions include the collection, analysis and research, training and information technology management to facilitate government-wide access and use of open source information. The center builds on the expertise of the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), which has provided the U.S. Government a broad range of open source products and services since 1941 (including world media content available to the public through World News Connection). The top operational open source intelligence unit in the US military is the Open Source Intelligence Branch of the Special Operations Command Joint Intelligence Center (SOCJIC).

Many other nations maintain open source intelligence gathering operations, for example Australia’s Office of National Assessments, the UK’s BBC Monitoring Service, and the Swiss Army. Collection and analysis tasks are allocated in different ways by different agencies.

To hear more on how this approach effects homeland security and you, join the general public and World Affairs Council members at this exciting event. may be purchased by calling the World Affairs Council at (502) 561-5422. Checks for tickets can be mailed to World Affairs Council, 200 West Broadway, Suite 607, Louisville, Kentucky 40202. Space is limited, and tickets for both events are on a first-come basis. Please include a daytime phone number, type of tickets and quantity desired, if ordering by mail.

About Robert Steele
Robert David Steele is a former career intelligence officer who founded the Marine Corps Intelligence Command and is the leading voice of the Open Intelligence Movement. He has been featured in Year in Computers 2000, named one of the Microtimes 100 industry leaders and unsung heroes shaping the future, and is the central character in Alvin Toffler’s chapter in War and Anti-War on “The Future of the Spy”. Steele has hosted over 6,000 multinational intelligence professionals at his annual Global Information Forum, and trained an additional 1,500 at various tailored events hosted by 19 different countries. He is the primary author of the DIA, NATO, and SOF Open Source Intelligence Handbook, and the primary sponsor for the 30,000 pages of substantive training materials on open source information that are offered free to the public at www.oss.net. Steele is the author of On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (2000); The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political (2002); and Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (2005). He is also the publisher and a contributing editor to Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future (2003), and, Peacekeeping Intelligence: The Way Ahead (2006). For more information, go to http://www.oss.net.

The World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana is a community-based, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational programming on international and intercultural topics throughout the state and community; and to fostering linkages between the people and institutions of Kentucky/Southern Indiana and their counterparts throughout the world.
To learn more about the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana as well as the Global Economic Forum, visit our website at: http://www.wacaky-in.org

For More Information:
Ben Jones
World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana
director@licc.org
502-561-5422

Six Factors for Assessing your ASP Needs

Deciding whether you should lease your software applications today through a hybrid ASP will resemble the process you go through to determine whether you should lease corporate cars for everyone on the team. However, just like tire kickers who see the latest make and model, then act impulsively, business owners tend to knee-jerk react to their next IT decision. Certain road signs can and should tip you off even in the ASP landscape. ASPectx, a Louisville-based consulting firm, has experience with counseling clients on ASP choices. Topping the ASPectx list of reasons why to avoid ASPs:

• Don’t “get one” because it’s trendy.

• Not all ASPs can run applications better, faster, cheaper. They are always tradeoffs in migrating a system.

• Don’t select an ASP option because it will “solve problems” for internal IT staff. No software choice solves problems.

ASPs known as application service providers have remained largely undefined and like the endless pile of paperwork that often goes with leasing, just what they are delivering can be hard to nail down. ASPs are now known as full service providers, internet business services, managed service providers and digital service providers to name a few hybrid terms. The number of the “special terms” will continue to grow as companies try to differentiate themselves from the more than 650+ companies in the ever-mushrooming industry.

A quick review in the trends of IT computing may help to show how we got to this point in history.

The Internet has meant certain business opportunities can be setup immediately affording customer loyalty in cyberspace. With it came the interest in web-based delivery of applications. Business owners while tempted to enter the fray with an ebusiness initiative, perhaps commerce-based, were unfortunately unable to scale quickly with a large enough IT infrastructure, much less understand all the buzz words to develop a web strategy that reflected more than a new software tool.

The client/server computing trend in the 1990s stepped away from legacy and mainframe systems in that client applications were stored on a server and typically accessed with a PC that sat at a user’s workstation. The benefits included the ability to extend functionality to many more individuals, as well as a way to improve performance and make rapid changes to applications. This worked out fine for the largest of enterprises, however in the late 1990s interest in hosted environments for those not willing to have it all in-house took the spotlight.

Before you head off down the path after an Application Service Provider, there are several road maps to observe, and tests you may want to put your think through. After talking with consultants and users about this grueling process, there are six primary factors to weigh in assessing your ASP needs.

Factor #1: Stability of internal IT Operations. If your internal IT department is large, relatively well-organized and using one platform of choice for most critical applications run in-house, then there may not be a need at all.

ASPs are designed to accommodate specific application needs, and a company’s inability to provide for these needs within an organization. They are not necessarily trying to assist a company in migrating from a legacy system, or eliminate a successful IT department. For companies with limited resources, an ASP approach may make sense, however if there is stability in internal IT than an ASP may only be useful for a particular new functionality needed.

Factor #2. Cost Control. Evaluate Costs. Look at the total cost of ownership for the particular applications that an ASP could provide. Not all ASPs are created equal. A comprehensive pricing analysis completed for a client by Arnold Information Technology of 20 top-ranked ASPs indicated tremendous disparity in pricing options, dependent upon applications and support services. The range begins with free for simplistic email management or introductory offers to thousands of dollars per month for an ERP-type solution.

Stephen Arnold indicated that most ASP firms require a three-year contract with 10 percent of the estimated value of the customer’s three year contract paid upfront. When a company cancels a contract, the upfront fees are non-refundable. And upfront fees are revealed many times only with careful questioning.

Factor #3. Customer Loyalty Keys. Ask the question, “How will this improve customer relationships and to what degree?” Most ASPs are designed to generate customer loyalty. Certainly there is value in enhancing or adding value to a relationship, not just maintaining. Some software tools only catalogue activity, but do not provide any real customer relationship management functionality.

Capitol Wings of Austin, Texas, a charter airline, caters to the needs of high-end business executives and turned to Agillion, an ASP for a more sophisticated internet-based customer channel approach. President Jerry Garrett realized that two of his company’s top priorities needed to be an improved internal communications system and better-managed customer relations. He cited the ease of use of Agillon’s system as the reason for his signing up. Advantages of using Agillion’s services included checking the latest flight schedules and assignments at any time, day or night, from Internet terminals in airports around the world and customized client requests could be communicated using Agillion notes immediately.

Factor #4. Security, Backup and Upgrade Paths. Determine the level of network security, backup, version control and support your shop needs on the applications you are considering in a hosted environment.

Internal IT departments vary in their need to deliver real-time access, 24/7 help desk support, and in their need to keep up with technology. A doctor’s office for example may choose not to outsource its basic tools of communication because it may not be large enough to see any benefit from freeing up its two IT professionals’ time for other activities. A manufacturing firm may see more of a need for ecommerce and internet-based decision-making, but depending on the industry, there may not be an immediate rush to force upgrades. A primary advantage of most ASPs is their ability to provide backup, and some base level of security and 24/7 help desk support with regular upgrades being automatic.

Factor #5. IT Recruitment in the Region. Review your IT personnel needs and recruitment possibilities in your area first.

If existing people are cheap, but the software solutions in place are still not working, there may be re-engineering occurring around the problems without an assessment of what they are. A robust ASP environment can bring to the table, an IT infrastructure needing minimal or no babysitting. Training and staffing up are major reasons cited for choosing an ASP model for growth, particularly for email, messaging, and groupware needs. A 2000 Zona Enterprise Usage Study involving a sample of 83 IT professionals found that more than a third were already using an ASP for ecommerce, financial services, and accounting as well as communication tools. But less than a third were pursuing an ASP model for training, education, or CRM to date—areas with anticipated big growth for ASPs.

George Koch Sons, a privately owned and operated firm with more than $160 million in annual revenues, is representative of the trends seen ASP acceptance for outsourcing. The company is based in Evansville, Ind., with key offices in Germany, England, Mexico, and Brazil and is a designer, manufacturer, and installer of complete paint, powder, and flatline finishing systems. Koch Sons decided to turn to a hosted approach for its financial services through Vobix Corporation, a Midwest ASP. One of the greatest challenges, according to Jim Oskins, controller and company treasurer for George Koch Sons, was to add this software to the MIS operations already underway without placing a new burden on the departmental staff or the current legacy systems. In addition, use of the Internet in operations appeared to be a useful way to approach moving the company to a more real-time-oriented accounting approach.
Oskins said he understands the impact that Microsoft’s Windows 2000 will have on future business applications, so he wanted a financial management system that was designed for Windows, to easily integrate all applications.

Factor #6 Scope of New Technology Drivers. Internal business needs will dictate just what types of applications are now needed that may not have been called for prior to the company’s growth. A vertical ASP can may provide the appropriate toolset in the industry without the headache of data management, and migration as well as change control management.

C/N Group, a Chicago-based healthcare services company operating 14 healthcare facilities throughout the US selected a vertical ASP called Andalon.com LLC. based in Buffalo, N.Y. Ravi Chopra, C/N’s CEO said, “Because of the C/N Group’s recent growth, our information technology needs have changed dramatically. For that reason, we must begin streamlining and centralizing a number of functional groups such as billing and collections.” Andalon specializes in several vertical software areas including education, legal, insurance, and medical.

With an applications evolution continuing and companies looking to web-enable as many functions as possible, these factors should be reviewed. Executives and consultants speaking on hosted services at national conference often refer to this powerful equation as: Technology + Process = Repeatability and Reliability.

Header: April 20, 2005
The Patient Connection Sponsor-Research Program Launches With Title Sponsor, KORT, and the Program’s First Signed Physician Practice, Louisville Orthopedic Clinic
(Louisville, KY)—Benchmark research, entitled The Patient Connection 2005, will begin in mid-April 2005 on the state of the doctor-patient relationship in the Golden Triangle region of Lexington, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Click for more…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Patient Connection Sponsor-Research Program Launches With Title Sponsor, KORT, and the Program’s  First Signed Physician Practice, Louisville Orthopedic Clinic

(Louisville, KY)—Benchmark research, entitled The Patient Connection 2005, will begin in mid-April 2005 on the state of the doctor-patient relationship in the Golden Triangle region of Lexington, Louisville, and Cincinnati. The patient survey-based program, developed by ASPectx, and Innovative Quality Solutions (IQS), analyzes the current state of doctor/patient relationships in the region.  The initial target audience is drawn from patients attending offices of orthopedic physician practices.

The process has been streamlined to allow patients to finish the 1-page questionnaire anonymously in under five minutes, at the doctor’s office, or in the privacy of their own home through a pre-paid mailer.  Comments will be allowed, in addition to rating-type questions, and other multiple-choice answers.  Surveys will be handed out during intake or at the conclusion of patient visits for a period of 2 to 3 weeks for each participating orthopedic surgeon.

“Physicians have begun to realize that the practice of medicine involves serving the whole patient from their outlook to their outcome.  What lies just below the surface in patient relations, can make or break a practice and have a bearing on a patient’s overall care,” said Dawn Marie Yankeelov , president of ASPectx.  Her marketing communications company, and IQS have teamed up to examine this important relationship across a several key specialties in the next few years.

“We choose the orthopedic surgeons as our first study group since they face rising competition, and the value of the doctor-patient relationship is critical to overall patient satisfaction,” said Herbig, president of IQS.

This benchmark research for the region will be underwritten by select, key sponsors that support the doctor-patient relationships in the three markets.  The Title sponsor for The Patient Connection 2005 is KORT, Kentucky Orthopedic Rehab Team (KORT).  Owner Dr. Larry Benz , PT, DPT, ECS, OCS believes in qualitative research in his specialty area because it improves the overall patient experience and the ultimate best outcome in the end.  “We have done patient satisfaction surveys for over 14 years and published the largest study in the physical therapy marketplace in 2000.  We have found that the feedback from these surveys has vastly improved our service.  Patients are happy to tell you what your good at and where you need to improve,” Dr. Benz said.

He added, “We were happy  to contribute to the  study  by assisting with the underwriting. Our region has fantastic orthopedic care and this study will both affirm that and allow individual practices to obtain feedback in non-clinical areas that can be improved.  It will also allow practices to participate in a patient satisfaction process by an independent organization in a very affordable way.” KORT, begun in 1987, is a private practice physical therapy group specializing in orthopedics, sports and industrial medicine, and has 31 physical therapy centers in the Kentuckiana region.

The survey instrument, and a summary of tri-market results will appear in a supplement to be inserted into Business First in late summer.  In addition, the final detailed reports will be available to the general public for a fee, at www.thepatientconnection.net in the Fall 2005.

The first physician practice to be signed to participate is the Louisville Orthopaedic Clinic, with all nine physicians involved.  Practice Administrator Deborah Martin indicated, “We are delighted to be a part of significant, new research that studies our region.”  All individual physician results will be maintained by The Patient Connection 2005 team as confidential.

The Patient Connection program will involve at least 50 physicians in the region, as a minimum requirement.  Sponsorship inquiries, and physician requests to participate, should be directed to:  Shawn Herbig , Innovative Quality Solutions, at 502-244-6600, or sherbig@innovativequality.com or Dawn Yankeelov, ASPectx, at 502-292-2351 or dawny@aspectx.com.

About The Patient Connection

The Patient Connection is a collaborative effort between two Louisville Kentucky based companies, ASPectx and Innovative Quality Solutions. As leaders in their respective disciplines, ASPectx and IQS have combined  their knowledgebase to produce a powerful information solution for the healthcare industry.

About ASPectx

ASPectx, a nationally-noted marketing communications firm,  provides guidance to companies or organizations seeking growth in the technology and healthcare sectors  The firm provides competitive intelligence, marketing, public relations, and technology solutions.  Under the direction of President Dawn Yankeelov, ASPectx team members evaluate client needs, respond with appropriate counsel, and organize a plan of action. Based in the Metro Louisville area in Kentucky ,USA, ASPectx serves clients nationwide, in addition to Canada , and the United Kingdom. ASPectx emphasizes that strategy and tactics must be determined based on defined short-term or long-term objectives.  www.aspectx.com

About Innovative Quality Solutions, Inc.

Louisville-based Innovative Quality Solutions, Inc. is an industry leader that provides direct customer, client and patient feedback to organizations wishing to increase satisfaction and loyalty while also improving the quality of services delivered. IQS programs deliver more than just data…the programs developed deliver real knowledge. Innovative Quality Solutions, Inc. brings together a broad range of talents to provide the most accurate picture of the current state of relations. With this information IQS clients become empowered to bring about positive changes within their organizations and accomplish new levels of client loyalty.   www.innovativequality.com

For More Information:

Header:
November  8, 2004
President of ASPectx Will Present on Blogs, Ezines, and RSS Feeds at Media Relations 2005
(Louisville, KY)—Dawn Marie Yankeelov, president of ASPectx, has been selected to present at Media Relations 2005 in April, a national conference sponsored by Infocom Group, publishers of BullDog Reporter and The National PR Pitch Book.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

President of ASPectx Will Present on Blogs, Ezines, and RSS Feeds at Media Relations 2005

( Louisville , KY )— Dawn Marie Yankeelov , president of ASPectx, has been selected to present at Media Relations 2005 in April, a national conference sponsored by Infocom Group, publishers of BullDog Reporter and The National PR Pitch Book. The session title is “Publishing Your Own News: Blogs, Ezines, RSS and Consumer-Generated Media.”  Additional speakers and panelists addressing the subject will include:  Peter Blackshaw of Intelliseek and Web Strategy Blogmaster Sally Falkow.

Yankeelov is a regular presenter at the International Virtual Communities Conference held in Europe annually on topics regarding communities of practice blogs, marketing, and public relations tactics online.  “The focus of blogging for expert status has risen to the forefront in Corporate America to sway opinion.  More than 3.5 million people are now blogging, including journalists and CEOs of all types of companies.  It is a tool of the trade not to be overlooked,” Ms. Yankeelov explains. For a sample list of CEOs who now blog go to: http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Resources/CEOBlogsList

“Our goal is to present actionable solutions to problems and untapped opportunities that confront senior-level PR executives,” said Conference Manager Stacy Dorter of Media Relations 2005. She added that Yankeelov has shown the ability to grapple with current and future PR challenges based on her credentials and clientele.
Media Relations 2005 will be held on April 10-12 in San Francisco , CA at the Westin St. Francis Hotel.  For more information, go to www.infocomgroup.com.

For More Information:

Header:  September 22, 2004
Three of the World’s Top Female Scientists Will Speak at the Kentucky Center – Ayanna Howard, Helene Andersson, and Erin Lavik
Louisville Women in Technology presents the first ideaFestival event in our market with short lectures and a panel discussion by three of the world’s top female scientists in Clark Todd Hall at the Kentucky Center.
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For More Information:
Dawn Marie Yankeelov
President, ASPectx and VP of Programs, Louisville Women in Technology
(502) 292-2351
dawny@aspectx.com

Louisville Women In Technology Presents the First ideaFestival Event in Louisville

Three of the World’s Top Female Scientists Will Speak on Sept. 22nd at the Kentucky Center—Ayanna Howard, Helene Andersson, and Erin Lavik

June 30, 2004–(Louisville, KY)—Louisville Women in Technology presents the first ideaFestival event in our market on Sept. 22, 2004, with short lectures and a panel discussion by three of the world’s top female scientists from 7 PM to 10 PM in Clark Todd Hall at the Kentucky Center. The general public is invited. The event is entitled, “Innovation and Transformation: Big New Ideas.” Tickets went on sale today from Ticketmaster, The Kentucky Center, and The ideaFestival (www.ideafestival.com). College students can receive discounted tickets direct at the Kentucky Center for $18. Online purchases can be made via www.ticketmaster.com or www.ideafestival.com. Or, purchase your tickets direct at the Kentucky Center for $25. There will be a free reception preceding the event at beginning at 5:30 PM in Barnes Hall at the Kentucky Center. The three women, Ayanna Howard, Helene Andersson, and Erin Lavik, were named to MIT’s TR 100 list (the top 100 scientists in the world) for 2003/2004 as acknowledged recently in MIT’s Technology Review Magazine. They will discuss their cutting-edge work as well as other important advances they “see” emerging on the horizon. The noted scientists will bring their diverse backgrounds to the panel discussion on trends and technology issues facing today’s lifestyles.

Dr. Ayanna Howard of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, has led research efforts on various projects utilizing robotics, and artificial intelligence. Last year she released to the public her Artificial Intelligence Toolkit, which has more than 80 users. In 2001, Dr. Howard received the Lew Allen Award for Excellence in Research—the highest honor possible at NASA JPL. Currently, she is a senior member of technical staff with the mobility systems concepts development section. She also holds the title of Deputy Manager for the Strategic University Partnership Office under the Office of the Chief Scientist.

Dr. Helene Andersson, Business Manager for Life Science at Silex Microsystems AB in Stockholm, Sweden, focuses her research on micro and nano-fluidic devices for biotech applications. She is also currently a research associate at the Royal Institute of Technology in the Microsystem Technology Group and at MESA + Research Institute in the Lab-on-a-chip group. She holds several related patents and is a member of the editorial board of Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

Dr. Erin Lavik, an assistant professor in biomedical engineering at Yale, currently works on applying principles of tissue engineering and drug delivery to the development of new environments which are capable of promoting repair in the central nervous system. She is also a playwright.

This ideaFestival event, sponsored by Inter-tel, is only one of more than 40 events during the week of Sept. 21-25, 2004 as part of The ideaFestival. Events will be held this year in Lexington, Northern Kentucky, and Louisville. This is the third annual event which reached more than 7,500 people, students, and professionals in 2002 in the Lexington, Ky. region.

For more information on the ideaFestival, go to www.ideafestival.com. A full pass to all ideaFestival events, including Sir George Martin, Twyla Tharp, and Oliver Sacks is $220.

August 5, 2004
Silicon River GeoDesigns Announces Dawn M. Yankeelov As Chief Marketing Officer
“Dawn’s seasoned corporate branding and communications experience at global and high tech companies will add tremendous value as she directs Silicon River GeoDesigns’ Go-To-Market plans,”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Silicon River GeoDesigns Announces Dawn M. Yankeelov As Partner In Venture

Louisville, KY – August 5, 2004 – Silicon River GeoDesigns (SRG), LLC, the Who’s Who of Louisville Metro Hi-Tech, today announced Dawn M. Yankeelov as Chief Marketing Officer and Partner.

“Dawn’s seasoned corporate branding and communications experience at global and high tech companies will add tremendous value as she directs Silicon River GeoDesigns’ Go-To-Market plans,” said Shawn Riedling, Silicon River GeoDesigns President. “We are extremely pleased to welcome her to the team and will rely heavily on her expertise. We look forward to her contributions.”

Dawn have more than 18 years experience in web consulting and technology marketing sectors. Her clients as an independent practicioner have included: AMP Inc., General Electric Co., Microdyne Corp., as well as successful startups, like Intellon Corp. and Genscape Inc., among others. Her expertise in marketing, branding and public relations will be a strong asset as we execute our key strategic initiatives.

The Louisville Metro Tech Map
The Louisville Metro Technology Map is a new and exciting way to brand your company’s standing in the fast-growing and dynamic high-tech community of metropolitan Louisville. Designed to create a dramatic visual statement, the Louisville Metro Tech Map highlights innovative companies and helps people recognize the great number and quality of local high-tech organizations. The 2005 classic edition of the Louisville Metro Tech Map will be distributed in December 2004.

About Silicon River GeoDesigns, LLC
Silicon River GeoDesigns, LLC (SRG) is a new firm that seeks to foster and encourage the national recognition of the metropolitan Louisville region as a dynamic and progressive high-tech asset. Founded as a joint venture between T. Shawn Riedling and Angela Ciliberti-Riedling. SRG’s intention is to accomplish the following objectives:

*Promote the recognition of metro Louisville as a high-tech community to national & regional markets.
* Identify and highlight high-tech organizations within the metro area.
*Educate the general public on the high-tech competencies of local organizations.
*Develop a new branding tool that will graphically describe the wealth of high-tech companies and organizations within the metropolitan Louisville area.

For more information on the Louisville Metro Tech Map, please contact SRG at (502) 228-9053, or visit the web site at http://www.SiliconRiverGeoDesigns.com

Shawn Riedling, President
Shawn@SiliconRiverGeodesigns.com

ASP Selection Process

By Dawn Marie Yankeelov

Choosing to outsource part or all of your IT needs through an Application Service Provider can present a daunting task of now reviewing more than 630+ such named products worldwide. And, if you really want to be relatively thorough in your competitive intelligence you can visit The ASP Consortium website, a not-for-profit advocacy organization, (www.allaboutasp.org) and click on each member link. However, there is a less time-consuming methodology to follow to narrow the field.

IT Consultants and related web strategists suggest you use the following criteria for evaluating ASPs:

• Ascertain ASP’s primary business focus to make sure it meets your standards for the horizontal or vertical products selected.

• Determine the ASP’s size, coverage, and ability to provide service in the regions you need it.

• Evaluate the company’s operational excellence by discussing their automation processes for additional users and their available help documentation on products marketed.

• Review the technologies for (a) data management; (b) application management; and (c) change control management.

• Make sure you know how your data is secured in their system architecture.

• Know and understand the uptime you will require of a vendor and read the Service Level Agreements from each ASP under consideration.

• Discuss your company’s future growth with the ASPs of most interest to determine if they will be able to grow with you.

• Gather all financial information necessary to compare and contrast fee structures for installation of each desired application, help desk support, additional provisioning of new users, and monthly per user subscription fees.

“Choosing an ASP can save you money, but evaluate it as just another IT choice. . . Your ASP relationship should also be looked at in human terms. Where is this ASP going and what will it mean to our future,” explained Bill Martorelli, Vice-President of eServices and Sourcing for the Hurwitz Group, a consulting firm based in Framingham. Mass.

Martorelli indicated that security issues are high on his lists on evaluation factors. “It’s easy to show a physical approach to security like a state-of-the-art data center, but an ASP customer needs to ask about how his company’s data will be stored. Not all of the customer’s data will end up on a dedicated server. What are the possibilities of another customer having access to critical business data?,” he pointed out. “Often times, it will be true that an ASP can provide a higher-degree of security over than of most customer’s internal systems,” he added.

There are numerous other selling points of an application service provider, according to the Mike Dahan, director of eBusiness Hosting for Breakaway Solutions which offers front-end ebusiness consulting and high-end ASP solutions as a full service provider. “First and foremost, with an ASP solution you should get a much lower upfront costs than doing-it-yourself, and a predictable, reoccurring charge you can afford.”

He cited three areas to make sure you investigate—an ASP’s people, process, and technology. Topping his list for going with an ASP model:

1. An ASP can be a quick way to add new applications without spending the dollars necessary to outright own the system.

2. An ASP often provides a method to create a relationship with a secure data center that should offer the stable, level of infrastructure that most companies need.

3. An ASP provides ongoing application support generally with help desk services, upgrades, and virus protection.

4. Implementation and integration answers are not always found within your organization for new applications.

The complexity of what is defined as hosted application management can be the real difficulty is finding the best ASP match for you, continued Dahan. For example, Breakaway Solutions categorizes its services this way: (a) Managed Hosting—racking and stacking hardware and internet connectivity management; (b) Application Infrastructure Hosting—support for the databases, web servers, but not the applications themselves; (c) Application Hosting—all above services mentioned including application hosting; and (d) Additional Managed Services, such as enhanced security; and enhanced monitoring.

The biggest “gotcha” that ASP users face, he explained, is the 24/7 support paradox. “Just because an ASP claims 24/7 support that doesn’t mean that it is true round-the-clock availability. A lot of companies put monitoring tools on the applications and the hardware, however your contract only include steps to alert you and not to fix the problems as they arise.” He added that many companies may equip a help desk representative with a pager and that’s your support. Dahan pointed out, “For a company to run a true 24/7 dedicated help desk there must be a minimum of seven employees in that area for round the clock coverage.”

Edina, Minnesota-based Cherry Tree & Co., which offers investment banking services for IT firms, in a recent report emphasized the changing value themes of ASPs and suggest that the wisest choices for companies purchasing services will be in choosing those with domain expertise. Companies like Peopleclick.com, and Employease have made domain specialization their model. Peopleclick delivers e-cruiting software that provides hiring process management, and applicant tracking functionality to HRP professionals who are managing high volume hiring campaigns, including Ericsson, and Morgan Stanley.

Employease offers a business-to-business network with access to human resources, benefits, and payroll applications via the Web. The network connects employees, insurance companies, managed care organizations, and other relevant service providers and has more than 1,000 clients.

ASPs as a whole will look to offer what customers want in the way of cross-application integration for turnkey ecommerce solutions and wireless access to devices via handhelds or smart phones.

Mobile computing will become another ASP way for an end user deploy its applications. Several companies have already begun to offer this type of service. A New York City-based ASP called Mi8 Corporation offers wireless connectivity to its Microsoft Outlook & Exchange mailbox functions through its Mi8’s Wireless Palm Service. Using a wireless Palm device, connected to a wireless network, users can send and receive email, view and schedule appointments, and manager their contacts and tasks from anywhere, anytime. Mi8’s service supports PDAs, the Palm VII and the Palm V and Vx with wireless cradle from Palm Inc.

As ASP players differentiate themselves even further, it will become more important to know where an ASP company begins and ends its services. Consultants say that pricing structures will vary widely due to emphasis of the company. Martorelli of the Hurwitz Group indicated that, “In this marketspace, there’s not a great deal of thorough total cost of ownership analysis yet. I think it is plausible to believe widely-accepted numbers of 20 to 40% cost savings with an ASP implementation.” Most pricing choices will include a monthly fee per user, but buyers beware of consulting fees, infrastructure investments, and connectivity charges that come along with subscriptions.

Infrastructure ASPs may call themselves Managed Service Providers or Infrastructure Management Providers and provide an additional layer of network and data center management software between ASPs and their Web hosting partners. Key areas of infrastructure management for companies like DataReturn, and Broadwing, may include: network and application monitoring and testing; database architecture and management; systems and network management and capacity scaling and load balancing with security.

The Full Service Provider, such as Breakaway Solutions and Millennia Vision Corporation, is often an ASP that started as an IT services firm and offers an end-to-end solution encompassing IT consulting, application development and hosting, systems integration, and ecommerce builds.

Internet Business Service Providers focus on delivering web-based solutions in a hosted model, such as Agillion, and other providing basic messaging services.

An ASP aggregator, such as Jamcracker, offers multiple platform solutions with some opportunity for a small to medium-sized business to get the best-of-breed applications while avoiding the need to manage multiple hosting contracts and systems. There is also a single point of contact for technical support issues.

Vertical Service Providers are ASPs that specialize in specific industries, such as Andalon in legal and health care services.

Once the type of ASP services is known and the capabilities are defined, the final measure in choosing an ASP, may well be its service level agreements. The ASP consortium has a short report available that discusses what to ask in detail. A company prepared to use an ASP must know just what they mean by “uptime,” and what will happen in the event of “downtime.” Many ASPs are willing to deliver 99% uptime, but the real task is in understanding the definitions in the SLA. Potential ASP clients should not be afraid to ask for addendums and make adjustments as they see fit. Martorelli of the Hurwitz Group said, “In the world of SLA witchdoctory, an ASP can usually meet an SLA terms, but this may not meet the customer’s needs. The notion that penalties take the place of performance is cold comfort to the end user. Every SLA should be reviewed with on eye on plausible escalation.”