Saturday, June 19, 1999, 1:00 pm  
E-Commerce Book Talk: 
Striking It Rich on the Web 
Presentation/Discussion Leader: Toby Perkins 

Come to a review and open discussion of the recent book StrikingItRich.com, the best seller that analyzes in detail 23 successful e-commerce Web sites that "you've probably never heard of." They started on shoestring budgets and now just gush money. What makes them work? The book's answers are specific. Author Jaclyn Easton, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, chose her examples using the toughest standards for e-commerce success--minimum investment, maximum return, and immediate personal wealth. Then she persuaded the owners to tell her exactly how they did it: visiting rates, gross sales, profit margins, and the owner's detailed 
anecdotes about what really scooped in the customers. 

Just as you suspected, most of these businesses run contrary to perceived opinions about e-commerce on the Web. How about a jewelry store? a carpenter? yet another print shop? a store that "sells everything"? or a steel company? If you are a jaded Web user, the book will also return you to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when you discovered magic and enlightenment in odd corners of the Internet. Browse the 23 sites. Discover new and ever more delightful places to shop. Come to this CPCUG Entrepreneurs and Consultants SIG discussion and consider other important issues, such as-- 
 

• Are there common principles or insights for e-commerce?
• How were the Web sites for the book selected?
• Is this book really any good, why or why not?
• How do these businesses seem to be doing after the book's publication?  (In the past, being listed as a "business success" in a best seller has been a mixed blessing for some "successes" that rocketed to the bottom of their markets following publication.)

Discussion Leader: Toby Perkins, Chief Systems Engineer for AlliedSignal Technical Services Corporation, is the "organizer" of its boisterous eCommerce SIG. His special interest is radically flexible software. He holds an MBA with Distinction from the Wharton School, and is also an enthusiastic inline (and online) speedskater. Contact Toby at tobywan@ari.net and on the Web at his home page http://www2.ari.net/tobywan.

Saturday, June 19, 1999, 1:00 pm 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
Lipsett Amphitheater 
Clinical Center (Building 10) 
9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland (area map; NIH campus map) 

During NIH Construction: It may be easiest to enter the NIH campus from Wisconsin Avenue. Turn west onto South Drive (about 1 mile south of the Beltway, south of Wilson Drive). Pass Center Drive and turn right onto Memorial Drive and then left into the entrance to the garage within Building 10, the Clinical Center. 

Free Parking: Because of the extensive construction underway at NIH, be sure to arrive early. You may park in the inside parking garage of Building 10. Enter from Memorial Drive. Tell the parking attendant you are attending a CPCUG event (there will be no charge). 

Metro--Medical Center Stop on the Red Line (about 4 blocks across the NIH campus) 

Free (but door prizes are for CPCUG members only)