AeANET : AeA Monthly News, May 2008

A Focus on the Environment: Green/Clean Technology, Teleworking, and Earth Day

One of the most critical issues facing our industry and our country is the environment. AeA�s Board of Directors is committed to our initiatives in educating and advocating locally, nationally, and internationally on multiple environmental fronts � including:

green and clean technologies;
the global Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS);
the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive;
the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Registration of Chemicals (REACH);
teleworking initiatives that reduce fuel consumption, traffic, congestion, and air pollution;
eco-design, energy efficiency, mandatory labeling, and more.

Therefore, I wanted to take this opportunity to ask you to get involved today as your company�s technologies can offer solutions to many of our environmental challenges. Not to mention, these tools also provide the hope of creating thousands of new green and clean jobs in the U.S., thus improving our country�s global competitiveness.

On April 22, while our country celebrated Earth Day, AeA did its part by releasing a new edition of our acclaimed four-page Competitiveness Series on telework. We provided them electronically (to save paper) to every Member of the U.S. Congress. The report �Telework in the Information Age: Building a More Flexible Workforce and a Cleaner Environment� discusses how:

more than 45 million U.S. workers telecommute at least once a week;
44% of U.S. companies offered telework options in 2005, up from 32% in 2001;
teleworking is the second best way to recruit and retain talent, only behind salary; and
1.35 billion gallons of fuel, worth $4.5B at current prices of $3.33 a gallon, could be saved annually if everyone with the potential to telework did so just 1.6 days per week.

I would like to thank the numerous AeA member companies � including Citrix, Intel, and Microsoft � for their assistance in developing this paper. I feel strongly that it will have a profound impact on how Congress and many state legislatures view telework.

But the environment is not just a U.S. issue, it is global. Therefore, in mid-April AeA's Chairwoman of the Board, Deirdre Hanford, Senior Vice President, Global Technical Services, Synopsys, led a delegation with my assistance of U.S. and European executives with in a series of meetings with EU officials in Brussels and Paris. More information on this event can be found below in the International Government Affairs section.

Green technology isn�t just good for the environment, it�s good for your company�s top line. AeA hosted two green events recently dealing with this issue in Seattle and Los Angeles. Additionally, I am excited to announce that on May 6, for the first time in the AeA Micro Cap Financial Conference�s 10 year history, we will host a special track focusing exclusively on alternative energy and green tech companies. Ted Kundtz, Senior Research Analyst, Clean Tech and Industrial Growth, Needham & Company, LLC will host a fireside chat at the Micro Cap conference focusing on, "Investing in Innovative Clean Tech Solutions.� Panelists include:

Jeffrey Ciachurski, Chief Executive Officer, Western Wind Energy
Douglas Lawson, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Alternative Energy for BTU International
Reuben Richards, Jr., Executive Chairman, Chairman of the Board, Emcore Corporation

Currently, the green tech and alternative energy companies that will be featured at the conference include:

Company Name	Ticker	Industry
Blue Fire Ethanol, Inc.	BFRE	Alternative Energy
BTU International, Inc.	BTUI	Electronics
EAU Technologies, Inc.	EAUI	Non-Toxic Cleaning Products
Electro Energy, Inc.	EEEI	Advanced Battery Technologies
Neah Power Systems	NPWS	Fuel Cells
Odyne Corporation	ODYC	Alternative Energy
Open Energy Corporation	OEGY	Renewable Energy
Quantum Fuel Systems	QTWW	Hybrid Vehicles and Solar
Renegy Holdings, Inc.	RNGY	Alternative/Renewable Energy
Western Wind Energy Corp.	TSX: WND	Alternative Energy
ZBB Energy Corporation	ZBB	Energy Storage

If you were unable to present at the financial conference or missed the Seattle or Los Angeles events, below I have provided an upcoming schedule of additional AeA environment events around the U.S. I hope that you can attend to help us continue to promote our environmental goals.

Christopher Hansen
President and CEO
AeA, Advancing the Business of Technology

Learn the latest global environment developments on RoHS, WEEE, Energy Efficiency, and more at AeA's annual compliance roadshow. For your convenience, AeA has planned three events across the United States to give you the vital information that you need to remain compliant to international manufacturing standards.

For more information or to register visit www.aeanet.org/environment2008.

May 8, 2008: AeA Southeast Going Green...Think Globally, Profit Locally (Atlanta, GA)
Going Green...Think Globally, Profit Locally is a comprehensive program to help you learn best practices, laws & regulations that may affect your company, how to implement cost savings while greening your company, and how you can make a difference by positively affecting the environment. Speakers include:

Martin Rickerd, British Consulate General, UK Trade & Investment
Mike Williams, Program Manager, Georgia Clean Air Campaign
Ramsay Battin, Director, Venture Capital, Arcapita Investments
Robert Shults, Strategic Public Sector Programs, Intel
Jonathan Bragdon, Tricycle
Chuck Ros, Emerald Software

May 19-21, 2008: CIRCA 08 (Albany, NY)
Join global nanoelectronics and technology industry leaders by attending or sponsoring CIRCA 08 (Convergence of International Research & Commercialization in Albancy). CIRCA 08 is an industry-leading annual conference at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York, and at the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering's state-of-the-art, $4.2 billion Albany NanoTech Complex. Panelists will discuss open innovation challenges facing energy, transportation, and security.

For more information contact Michelle Scott at 518.273.3407.

May 21, 2008: AeA Midwest Presents a "Go Green!" Breakfast (Chicago, IL)
Hosted at Microsoft's office in Chicago, this event will discuss the best practices, regulations, and information on the greening of the high-tech industry. Confirmed speakers include:

Vince Albanese, Senior Vice President, Fuel Tech
Hardik Bhatt, CIO, City of Chicago
Lewis Curtis, Senior Infrastructure Architect, Microsoft Corporation

For more information or to register, contact Michelle Scott at 630.613.7739.

August 27, 2008: Energy Technology Conference (University of Texas at Dallas)
The AeA Texas Energy Technology Conference, held in partnership with the University of Texas at Dallas, will explore the developments and opportunities in the energy field, including within the oil & gas industry as as alternative and green energy. For more information contact Tiffany Sefton at 972.386.6540.

October 14, 2008: 2008 Medal of Achievement, Green Technology Dinner (Silicon Valley, CA)
Bringing together top high-tech industry innovators focused on Green Technology, this is an opportunity for AeA to recognize global leadership in helping to advance the business of high tech and the development of new Green Technology. For more information contact Colette Gonsalves at 408.987.4200.

AeA Lobbies EU and French Government Officials on Environment & Other High-Tech Priorities

Deirdre Hanford, Senior Vice President, Technical Services, Synopsys, and Chairwoman of the AeA Board of Directors, led an executive delegation along with Chris Hansen, AeA President and CEO, on April 15 -17, for a series of meetings in Brussels and Paris with European Union and French government officials. The delegation included AeA Board Members from Freescale Semiconductor, Pipeline Software, and Xerox; as well as European representatives from Agilent Technologies, GE, HP, Microsoft, Symantec, and United Technologies.

In the Brussels meetings we had the chance to talk with the Commissioner for Environment, Stavros Dimas, as well as the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding. Other Commission meetings included Andris Kesteris, Chief of Staff for the Energy Commissioner, and David O�Sullivan, Director General for Trade. We also had a very engaging and enjoyable dinner in the European Parliament with seven members of the Parliament organized by Jonathan Evans, Chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the U.S.

Since the French Government will be taking over the EU Presidency on July 1, the AeA delegation also sought to persuade them to address our concerns as part of their Presidency agenda. In preparation for the French meetings, we were honored to have breakfast with Craig Roberts Stapleton, the U.S. Ambassador to France, and C. Boyden Gray, Special Envoy to the EU, at the Ambassador's residence in Paris. From there the delegation moved to successive meetings with senior staff at the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Planning and Development.

In our meetings we focused on getting policy makers to recognize high-tech as part of the solution to energy efficiency and climate change challenges rather than the problem. Using the energy efficiency report released by AeA Europe last September, we raised awareness among the EU Commissioners and French officials of the many ways technology improves energy efficiency across industries. Policy issues we covered as appropriate included:

Energy Efficiency;
Climate Change;
Hazardous Substances;
REACH;

Breach Notification;
Private Company Levies; and
the Information Technology Agreement (ITA).

For more detailed information on our meetings, members can read the Chairwoman�s report on the AeA website at www.aeanet.org/Europe2008.

Rob Mulligan (bio)
Senior Vice President International

AeA delegation with Ambassadors Gray and Stapleton

James Lovegrove, Managing Director, AeA Europe; Chris Hansen, President & CEO, AeA; Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media; Deirdre Hanford, SVP, Global Technical Services, Synopsys, and AeA Chairwoman of the Board (L-R)

Deirdre Hanford, SVP, Global Technical Services, Synopsys, and AeA Chairwoman of the Board; and James Lovegrove, Managing Director, AeA Europe, in front of the Eiffel Tower (L-R)

For more information on the International Issues affecting your company, visit:

Participate in AeA Sarbanes-Oxley 404 Survey to Help Us Craft a Better Regulation

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon release a survey, gauging the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Section 404 on public companies. As was discussed at the AeA Board of Directors Meeting in February, we are supplementing there survey with our own to show how the direct compliance costs from the regulation have impacted high-tech companies and our industry. Click here to take the online survey today!

AeA has been the industry's voice in advocating and communicating the unintended consequences of SOX 404 to the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). In November 2004, AeA answered your cries for help and kicked off a grassroots initiative where executives from all of our 17 councils began to meet to help us modify SOX 404. Their feedback led to the publication of a February 2005 report, "Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404: The 'Section' of Unintended Consequences and its Impact on Small Business," which was the first comprehensive report on the regulation by any high-tech organization. Since then we have hosted meetings, roundtables, and fly-ins with member company CEOs and CFOs to tell their story to the SEC Chief Accountant, numerous SEC Commissioners, PCAOB Board Members, and other regulators and legislators. In October 2005, AeA partnered with NASDAQ for a Year Two Compliance Cost Survey.

I would like to thank Tom Brandt, CFO, TeleCommunications Systems, Inc, and Chairman of the AeA SOX 404 Working Group, for his efforts relative to this survey. Tom is an Executive Committee member of AeA's Board of Directors and has testified as an AeA witness to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Businesses regarding how SOX compliance has affected his company as a mid-sized early filer.

I encourage you to take this survey. The more data that we can obtain, the more proof we have to bring to the SEC and PCAOB in asking for relief. If you have additional questions on this survey or would like to become involved in AeA's work on SOX 404 or other fiscal policy issues, please contact Marie Lee, AeA's Director and Counsel, Finance and Tax Policy, at 202.682.4448.

Marie Lee
Director and Counsel, Finance and Tax Policy

California Online Media Tax Bill Stopped in Committee & Annual Tech Summit Lobby Day Recap

AeA's new and expanded State Government Affairs program was very active in April. We testified across the country on a broad range of issues. Details on our activity can be found in the AeA State Government Affairs Information Network, but I wanted to provide you with two specific details on what AeA is doing for you in regard to state policy that have direct top and bottom line implications to your company.

In Mid-April, AeA partnered with Apple and other member companies to voice our concerns with California State Assembly Bill 1956 (Calderon), which would have extended the state's sales tax to include new media and electronic goods -- such as music, movies, and books. The goal of the bill, which was killed in committee, was to raise state revenues as California is fighting with significant budget short-falls.

AeA argued that if improving the economy was the goal, the state should focus on preventing digital piracy and the lost millions of dollars of revenue from people downloading illegally instead of increasing the taxes of people who purchase media legitimately. More information on this bill and AeA's actions can be read in the April 15th Macworld article "Analysis: Is the taxman eyeing iTunes?"

Following in the success of stopping the tax bill, AeA's Sacramento office hosted our annual Tech Summit lobby day on April 22-23, which was sponsored by Dell; Motorola; National Semiconductor; QUALCOMM, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth LLC; and Symantec. This is an annual AeA event where high-tech executives roam the halls of the state capitol to meet with legislators to directly communicate how state policy affects their businesses� ability to be competitive at the state, national, and international levels.

The event began at a networking reception and awards program on April 22, where AeA announced our 2007 Legislators of the Year. AeA's President & CEO, Chris Hansen, joined in the celebration to award Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D-CA 17th District) and Senator Lou Correa (D-CA 34th District) with AeA's State Government Affairs highest honor.
The following morning, the lobby day began with a breakfast keynote by Teri Takai, California State Chief Information Officer. Following Ms. Takai's keynote, member companies representing small-, mid sized-, and large-companies broke into groups to meet with 25 state Senators and Assemblymembers. Select companies participating included Google, Intel, Microsoft, MySpace, Red Hat, and Spansion.

I would like to thank the sponsors for making this event possible; our 2008 Tech Summit Chair Leslie Bar Ness of Symantec; Kevin McDonald, Executive Vice President, Alvaka Networks, and the Statewide Chair of the California Legislative Committee, for his assistance in organizing the event; and all other participating members for making this event successful.

Roxanne Gould (bio)
Senior Vice President, State Government Affairs

2008 Tech Summit Chair Leslie Bar Ness, Symantec, & Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D-CA 17th District)		Chris Hansen, President & CEO, AeA, & Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-CA 9th District)

Roxanne Gould, Senior Vice President, AeA State Government Affairs, & Assemblymember Greg Aghazarian (R-CA 26th District)		Ray Rossi, Intel; Greg Turner, AeA; & Pedro Reyes, representing Speaker Fabian Nunez (L-R)

AeA members participate in a lobby visit with State Senator Joe Simitian		Chris Hansen, President & CEO, AeA, & Senator Joe Simitian (D-CA 11th District)

For more information on State Government Affairs (SGA) Issues affecting your company, visit:

Steve Ballmer to Keynote AeA Technology for Government Dinner
Microsoft Partners Receive 25% off of Sponsorship Packages

On June 3, AeA will be hosting its Annual Technology for Government Dinner in Washington, DC. The dinner is the premier technology networking event in the nation's capitol bringing hundreds of industry, congressional, and government leaders together at one venue.

The keynote speaker for the 2008 dinner will be Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation. Mr. Ballmer joins a list of many of tech�s top executives who have spoken before this unique audience of Government and industry leaders, such as Jonathan Schwartz, President & CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc., who spoke last year before 600 attendees that included federal Chief Information Officers and procurement officials from countless federal agencies, Members of Congress and their staff, officials from the Bush Administration, and CEOs and senior executives representing high-tech companies.

Watch Jonathan Schwartz's 2007
AeA Technology for Government Dinner Keynote

FedEx Kinko's Discounts and Offerings for AeA Members from PartnerShip

PartnerShip, the firm that manages the AeA Shipping & Freight Savings Program, offers discounts for AeA members to help lower expenses and raise productivity.

FedEx Kinko�s is part of the FREE money-saving AeA Shipping & Freight Savings Program! You can save on all of your printing, copying and finishing services with FedEx Kinko�s�the leading provider of document solutions and business services! Save 20% on all color and B&W printing and copies. Save 10% on signs, graphics and finishing services.

Additional 5% discount on select FedEx Express services for members enrolled in AeA�s Shipping and Freight Savings Program who process their shipment online. Simply by arranging your FedEx shipment online at FedEx.com or through any FedEx approved electronic device, AeA members now receive an additional 5% discount on their shipments from FedEx.

If you are not currently enrolled in the AeA Discount Shipping Program and would like to take advantage of these new discounts, enroll online today at www.aeanet.org/Shipping. If you have any questions regarding the discount, or if you would like any information about the program, please call