The Charleston Digital Corridor held its first "Fridays @ the Corridor" event on September 17th, 2004.

Individuals and organizations that play an important role in shaping Charleston's growing knowledge-based economy were invited to hear from and engage Blackbaud attorney, Andy Howell, on the company's recent IPO. Andy presented guests, including folks from the financial, legal & venture capital communities and company CEO's, with a brief background on Blackbaud followed by a comprehensive account of the company's bid to go public.

The overall feedback from the attendees was positive with a few comments on how the Charleston Digital Corridor could improve these valuable engagements:

"The subject was perfect and Andy was able to elucidate in a short time-frame the major issues pertaining to their IPO. I was impressed by the openness of the information..." (Johan Prins).

"Thanks for a great meeting. I thought Andy did a great Job. I think an open forum, free of too much structure, is good. One thing that I think would be helpful would be to have a theme. A theme would give attendees some time to think of questions for the speaker as related to that month's theme, but allows the speaker a lot of autonomy on how they would like to cover the them as it relates to their own business/experience..." (Matt Walsh, QuickFarm).

"I thought it was very good information, topic and company. I think Andy hit most of the interesting points. The two slides he discussed were good information. Every company needs to have a concise business strategy and focus. Only negative is to allow a little more time for Q&A" (Ron Owens, Kiawah Capital).

"I thought Andy did a great job...if the group would be willing to open up, try to get a consensus of what issues each business is facing, e.g. raising capital, expanding markets, recruiting talent etc. and bring in some speakers who could talk on these specific issues. Over time it may address some issues that are always prevalent, a confident for CEO's and an opportunity for the Corridor to provide assistance" (Bill Milo).

"I loved his candor!" (Jamie Posnanski, Sans Locus).

The insight gained from the "Fridays @ the Corridor" monthly series is beneficial to the participating guests and the Digital Corridor. "Companies are able to hear from experienced speakers while also sharing ideas and soliciting input from their peers in the knowledge-based community, while the Corridor gathers strategic information that allows us to be more effective," said Ernest Andrade.

The subject for the October "Fridays @ the Corridor" is "Talk 2 Action," an interactive discussion focusing on the Digital Corridor's execution strategy thus far and brainstorming new ideas for future implementation.

About the Charleston Digital Corridor

The Charleston Digital Corridor is a creative effort to attract, nurture and grow technology-intense and knowledge-based companies and industry professionals to the City of Charleston through a combination of City initiatives and business incentives, private business support and member-driven programs.

CONTACT:

Ernest G. Andrade
843.724.3773
ernest@charlestondigitalcorridor.com

Kimberly Demetriades
843.579.7659
kimberly@charlestondigitalcorridor.com