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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Karamy Muessig
503.750.9041
Corporate Internet Strategist members report more than $7 billion in combined Internet-related budgets
Portland, Ore.— April 15, 2008 — Today, the Internet Strategy Forum (ISF) announced that its highly-targeted membership of corporate Internet strategists has reached 1200. Recently-added new members hail from organizations as diverse as Amnesty International, AT&T, Cisco, Coca-Cola, eBay, Eli Lilly and Co., Intuit, Lego, Lehman Bros., Newsweek, Nokia, Philips, Target, Washington State University and Whirlpool.
This marks the second year of more than 100% growth for the ISF, which has recently welcomed new chapters in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., adding to existing chapters in New York City, Los Angeles, Portland and Austin, Texas. Additional chapters are in development in Atlanta, Boston and in what will represent the organization’s first international chapter, London. The ISF’s membership represents more than 120 Fortune 1000 companies and combined annual Internet budgets topping $7 billion, according to data volunteered on member application forms.
“When we started in 2004, the ISF was on the forefront of recognizing this relatively new profession,” said Steve Gehlen, founder of the ISF. “Now, we are seeing an increase in demand for the ISF as a resource. In-house Internet professionals from marketing, IT, eCommerce, eBusiness and online product departments come together to discuss common challenges in developing and maintaining a strategic corporate Internet presence.”
In an additional development, the organization has recently elected a new Board of Directors President, Tim Peck of Tektronix, and added new board member and L.A. Chapter Director Mei Huang of the Walt Disney Internet Group.
“I was attracted to the ISF because there simply is no other resource that brings together such a targeted, peer-level group of enterprise Internet experts across various industries,” said Huang. “Now, with membership at a critical mass, we have the potential to broaden our areas of topical focus and expand our reach as a repository of collective knowledge.”
The recent increase in the ISF’s membership will provide a powerful sample group for the 2008 version of the organization’s original research project, “The Corporate Internet Strategist Study.” This survey dissects the profession in terms of titles, salary, skill sets, job descriptions, departmental segmentation and other factors, providing never-before-available data about this highly-influential group of business decision makers. Given the emergence of social media and social networking since the last study in 2006 (www.internetstrategyforum.org/research), the survey will also provide rare, “real world” data about its adoption in today’s corporate Internet environment.
Survey results will be unveiled at the 2008 Internet Strategy Forum Summit, taking place in Portland on July 17 – 18. Presenters for the annual event include:
“Our expanding membership gives us a chance to promote Portland as a logical destination for the Internet Strategy Forum Summit to a broader geographic base,” says Gehlen, producer of the conference. “Portland is increasingly recognized as a travel hotspot and a creative environment for the convergence of business, technology and design.”
The 2008 Internet Strategy Forum Summit will be held at the Governor Hotel (614 SW 11th Avenue, Portland, Ore.). Pre-registration is encouraged due to space limitations. For more information or to register, visit: www.internetstrategyforum.org/summit.
This year’s ISF Summit is supported by Premier Sponsor Intel and these additional sponsors: ATG, Covario, FatWire Software and StrongMail.
About the Internet Strategy Forum
The Internet Strategy Forum is a nonprofit professional association dedicated to peer networking, information exchange, professional development, research and thought leadership among senior Internet decision-makers at medium-to-large organizations. Visit www.internetstrategyforum.org.
