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Report #8 from Tom Vassos and Jacqueline Fortin

Sorry we're a little late with our last couple of reports.  We
finally got around to transcribing some of the handwritten notes
that were taken during the week.  (and hey, we had to take a break
to see a little of San Francisco while we were here.)

Jacqueline notes:

Stream:  "Buying and Selling on the Web"
Speaker:  Lisa Thorell, Vice President, Marketing, Spry Inc.
(lisa@spry.com)
Topic title:  "Electronic Commerce"

Electronic commerce realities are that the majority of the
customers are not on the Web yet and that we really are in
the early stages of making money.  Here are some interesting
stats...
6.7 million Web users today
66 million Windows PC users
120 million installed PC'S.
Only 4% online teleconsumers shop
(5 billion people on earth)

Another area lacking in cyberspace is compelling merchandising
in online stores.  Home pages should reflect practical yet attractive
store fronts.

With the amount of money you may end up spending to
put your business on the Internet, it's important to remember
who your target market is.  Your Web site must reflect this fact.
You also want to make sure that you make it as easy as possible
for the consumer to engage your sites once they find them.
Navigation and transactions should be easy and intuitive.


The next speaker was Daniel Eldridge, Vice President
ecash Business Development, DigiCash

For more information, send a note to info@digicash.com

"Introduction to ecash Business Development"

What is ecash?
ecash is a way to buy on the Internet without the security
risks of credit card purchases.  ecash works like a traveller's
cheque, so if they should get electronically stolen they will be
replaced.  It also provides anonymity when making a purchase.
You would also receive a record of each transaction should you have
any problems with the product you purchased, just like you would
if you paid cash in the physical world.

Daniel suggested that ecash would probably be best used for
smaller purchases.  Using your credit card for large purchases
is probably the best.  (This position surprised me a little bit.)

When will ecash be available?  Daniel was a little hesitant to
answer that question, however, we were able to pin him down
to a "maybe this year", but of course no guarantees.


Next stop was the Exhibit Floor.

Well, I had to check out the IBM booth, not just because Tom
works there, but because they were making so much noise!
Their theatre presentation was called "Dwayne's World".
I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with Wayne and Garth
of the skit "Wayne's World" on Saturday Night Live.  Well this
was a spin-off.  Their names were changed slightly to Dwayne
and Barth (excellent dudes).  There little song went something like
this... Dwayne's world! Dwayne's world! party time! IBM!
excellent!  (repeat phrase)  Of course if you are not familiar
with the duo, this will mean nothing to you.  They explored many
aspects of cyberspace, stopping every now and then to point out
that they were "chick magnets".  Their key message of course,
was that IBM can meet all of your Internet needs, whether it's
for hardware or software (Internet Connection for Windows,
OS/2 Warp (with automatic connection to the Internet)), firewall
software) or services (IBM Global Network, Advantis - Internet
access provider), etc.

In the booth, they also had some software (not an announced product)
which allowed anyone to create their own personal home page.  Photos
were created on the spot, and you could also create an audio clip to
add to your page as well.  The info on these home pages will be
accessible for about a month.  In fact, a few of our birds of a feather
session attendees (participants of this forum) created their own home
page.  Take a peek if you want to know what we all look like....

Jacqueline Fortin
http://www.ibm.com/friends/fortin

Tom Vassos
http://www.ibm.com/friends/vassos

Zena Monsour Weist
http://www.ibm.com/friends/weistz

Mona Escudero
http://www.ibm.com/friends/mona

Jim Sterne
http://www.ibm.com/friends/sternej

...nothing to write home about, but a little fun on the exhibit
floor....once again, trying to bring the show to you...

Jacqueline Fortin               Tom Vassos

***********************************************************************
TOM VASSOS, B.E.S., M.B.A., Part-time Instructor, University of Toronto

Internet Writer, Educator, Speaker:  Call for courseware, keynotes, etc.

Manager, Internet Marketing Strategies, IBM Software Solutions Division

E-MAIL: vassos@vnet.ibm.com  PHONE: 416-448-2189  FAX: 416-448-2893 (c)

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