News Release

For immediate releases
June 17, 1999

BADDECK, N.S. -- Jim Carroll, an internationally recognized expert on the “wired world” and the Internet, will be in Baddeck on June 24 to tell small and medium-sized businesses how electronic commerce can give them a competitive edge.

Carroll, a business consultant, a best-selling author on Internet and e-commerce topics and a popular media authority, will headline a one-day e-commerce seminar at the Inverary Inn Resort in Baddeck, which will be co-hosted by Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Named one of the “new mandarins of the digital revolution” by Financial Post Magazine, Carroll is noted for his ability to cut through the “hype” surrounding the Internet, and put the future into crystal clear terms.

A prolific author, Carroll’s books have sold in excess of 650,000 in Canada, among them the critically acclaimed Surviving the Information Age, the national best-seller The Canadian Internet Handbook and Small Business Online.

Carroll’s weekly e-biz column in the Globe & Mail Report on Business examines how entrepreneurs can best benefit from technology. He regularly appears on a wide variety of television and radio shows, with frequent appearances on CNN, the CBC National News, BCTV, Business World, NewsWorld, Venture, As It Happens, Canada AM, TVO’s Studio 2, and Pamela Wallin.

A chartered accountant by trade with a successful consulting firm, Carroll has provided professional services to some of Canada’s largest and most prestigious organizations and excels at helping management map out an effective strategy for doing business in the new economy.

Among the other presenters at the seminar, which is titled “E-commerce: Your Business Advantage,” are Raju Sodhi and Heather Smith-Dacey from MTT who will explain the facts and fiction about how e-commerce can support a marketing strategy and how a business can use e-commerce. Robert Fraser from the Business

Development Bank of Canada will outline a new financing program which helps businesses get set up in e-commerce. John Ouellette from the Strait East Nova Community Enterprise Network (SENCEN) and Alan Leith, owner of Compact Disc Depot, will share their experiences with e-commerce and give participants practical tips and advice.

Participants will learn how e-commerce can help them extend their markets, improve customer service and reduce the cost of business operations and transactions, as well as how to get started with e-commerce. The seminars are aimed at those who are new to e-business and e-commerce, as well as those who have already been active in exploring business opportunities through the Internet.

The seminars get underway officially at 9:30 a.m. and finish at 3:00 p.m. with registration and networking starting at 8:45 a.m. Those interested in attending are asked to register in advance of the seminars, as seating is limited. To register, call toll free at 1-888-883-2544 or visit the following web sites: Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation: http://www.ecbc.ca and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA): http://www.acoa.ca

For Further Information Contact:

D.A. Landry
Director, Communications & Marketing
Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC)
(902) 564-3617

To set up an interview with Jim Carroll, contact:

Deborah Corey
Senior Communications Officer
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
(506) 851-2132