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The November 29 Network World and CHEN PR fundraiser in support of the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, "Bridging the Gulf: A Technology Community Benefit for Hurricane Survivors," raised $15,000.

In addition to an iPod nano door prize attendees bid on silent auction items including Boston Bruins tickets, Boston Ballet Nutcracker tickets, vintage wines, fine dining, furniture and original artwork.

The 2005 hurricane season is the largest natural disaster in U.S. history. For the first time the Red Cross has been forced to borrow funds to aid survivors. The organization has raised only half of the $2.3 billion needed to provide relief. Thank you again to everyone who attended and contributed to this very worthwhile cause.

In this edition of our newsletter, CHEN PR looks at how to use strategic PR to ensure that corporate messaging and branding survive a merger or acquisition. Our clients tell us that CHEN PR is unique in providing the kind of strategic PR counsel, market knowledge and connections that help them get on the map and dominate their markets. This reflects the agency's strong momentum as it heads into its tenth year.

For more information, contact Chris Carleton, 781-672-3115. Thank you.

CHEN PR is Looking for Talent

As one of the US's most respected independent high-tech PR agencies, CHEN PR works with exciting, well-known companies from startups to billion dollar corporations. We're looking for energetic, enthusiastic, team-oriented high tech PR professionals. If you would like to explore opportunities at CHEN PR or know someone who would, email us at info@chenpr.com or fax your resume to 781-466-8989, attention HR Department.

Software Mergers: Strategy and Execution

While an IPO is the exit strategy many entrepreneurs aim for - and we've seen things loosen up a bit recently - the more likely outcome is an acquisition. Software M&A activity was up significantly in 2004 - with 1,630 mergers and acquisitions. We're on pace to top that number in 2005, with the Software Equity Group forecasting 1,925 by year's end. In fact, there have been 10 times as many tech M&A deals as IPOs since 2000, according to data cited by America's Growth Capital, a national investment bank.

If you work in the tech industry, the odds clearly are high that at some point in your career, your firm is going to be acquired. You may already have weathered multiple acquisitions. If you are a marketing or communications professional, you may be drawn into the clandestine team that is briefed in advance on the deal, so that you can help prepare the announcement strategy. You'll sign an ironclad NDA that prohibits you from discussing the topic with anyone outside the team - even with your significant other.

Here are key questions to consider when you develop your communications strategy:

What motivated the buyer and the seller?
Does the combination deliver something currently unavailable in the market? Improve competitive differentiation?
Does the acquisition fill a gap in the buyer's product line?
Do the companies have similar products, serving different markets?
Does one company have a stronger customer base in a specific geographic region? A stronger distribution channel in certain regions?
Why is this a good deal for both companies' customers?
Will customers get preferred pricing on the both companies' products?
Will the support team be expanded?
Why is this a good fit from a cultural perspective for both companies?
Were the two companies already partners, so that combining forces formalizes an already successful pairing?
Do members of the management team have work history or past collaborations?
Do the teams have similar visions?
How will the deal benefit shareholders?
Will it boost revenues/profits?
Will it save money by consolidating certain functions?

Once the team has hashed out these questions, it's important to develop a message hierarchy that will serve as the foundation for all materials your company and PR agency develop to support the announcement. You will need to tailor key points by audiences, including employees, customers, partners, financial and industry analysts, trade and business media, and bloggers and key influencers.

Here's a useful checklist of the materials the team will need to develop:

Communications plan encompassing all audiences
Employee, customer, partner and distributor communiqués
Press release
Presentations tailored by audience
Company backgrounders or fact sheets
Executive biographies
Joint customer contact information (If the deal is material, candidate customers should be identified in advance and contacted immediately once the deal is announced to discuss their willingness to serve as a reference.)
Q&A (external and internal)
Company logos

Of course, the real key to an effective acquisition announcement is selecting humorous code names for the entities involved. Logging long hours drafting materials and pondering Q&As for Homer and Bart or Whale and Guppie can lighten the mood.

Network World: Security Vendors Address Spyware
CNET News.com: Blue Coat to Cleanse Encrypted Traffic
BusinessWeek: Best-of-Breed Software Lives!
Boston Globe: US Mandates More Security in Online Banking
Network World: App IDS Guards Databases
CNET News.com: Enterasys, A Diamond in the Rough
InformationWeek: Protection Gets Granular
CRM Today: New Extraprise Customer Insight Service Delivers Revenue-Building Tool for Marketing Organizations
Computerworld: Spy Stoppers Fight Back
CIO Today: Enterasys Beefs Up WLAN Security
eWEEK: On Security, Is Oracle the Next Microsoft?
IDG News Service: Firms to Offer First Open Source Compliance Insurance
Information Storage + Security Journal: A "Virtual" Storage Revolution
InfoWorld: AppDetective Sleuths out Vulnerabilities
Healthcare IT News: Survey Points to Workforce Management as Key to Controlling Healthcare Costs
InformationWeek: SmartAdvice: Tracking Open-Source Code In Proprietary Apps
IT Architect: The Threat From Within
The Register: Black Duck and Palamida Plug-in to Eclipse
CNET News.com: Rivals in Open-source Purity Extend Reach
Boston Herald: Cities Hustle for Wi-Fi Service
Managing Automation: Kronos Update Tackles Workforce Absenteeism, Scheduling
Mass High Tech: Focus, Perseverance Pay off for Exec
Wireless Fidelity Magazine: Multimedia: Wi-Fi's Next Big Wave
RIS News: HQ-BASED CONTROL: Shifting from Store-Based to Enterprise-Level Workforce Management
Unstrung: Multi-Channel Magic?
CNET: Do You Own Everything in Your Software Portfolio?
eWEEK: Colubris Looking to Raise Wireless Networking Bar
SearchNetworking.com: Vendors Look to Fuse Wired, Wireless Networks
TechWeb: Boston Public Wi-Fi Is Growing Organically
WCVB-TV Channel 5: City Hopes Free Wi-Fi Access Pumps Businesses
Optimizing Infrastructure Newsletter: 3 Questions with Dave Therrien - Backup with Speed
Computerworld: Grid Storage is in the Eye of the Beholder (and Vendor)
SearchSecurity.com: Privacy Breaches: How to Avoid Making Headlines

CHEN PR is one of the country's leading independent high technology PR agencies. Under the direction of its four founding principals since 1996, CHEN PR has been delivering successful, strategic PR programs for companies ranging from venture-backed startups to multibillion-dollar organizations. Our staff of highly experienced and dedicated professionals build long-term client relationships that evolve and adapt with our clients' changing business models, as well as changing market conditions. CHEN PR offers clients three distinct advantages:

Partner-level client counsel and tactical implementation
Low client-to-employee ratio
Balanced, experienced PR teams

CHEN PR partners with our clients to market new and established technologies using clear, concise messages and proactive, results-oriented PR programs. If you'd like to talk with us about your communications program, please call Chris Carleton, 781-672-3115. Thank you.