PROFNET WIRE: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY: High Price of Gasoline

  ROUND-UP

  High Price of Gasoline (continued, 1 expert)
  The Mommy Wars (continued, 1 expert)
  Housing Market (continued, 2 experts)

  LEADS

  1.  Marketing: Customers are the New R&D Teams
  2.  Non-Profits: A Nonprofit Look at Corporate Social Responsibility
  3.  Personal Finance: Young People Should Not Carry More Than One Credit
      Card
  4.  Personal Finance: Parents Need to Learn Insurance Options for Grads
  5.  Technology: The Changing Landscape of Enterprise Search
  6.  Technology: Get 80% of ITIL Benefits With a Fraction of its Controls
  7.  Workplace: Spanking on the Job? It's Not the First Time

  ROUND-UP: HIGH PRICE OF GASOLINE (continued)

ProfNet has added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=13977

1. MONIQUE ELWELL, vice president/consumer strategist (travel) for ICONOCULTURE, a consumer trend research center: "The reality for a majority of Americans isn't the cost of oil, but rather how it has impacted their lives. An increase in transportation costs is affecting prices across the board, and consumer cynicism, coupled with general uncertainty, is translating into consumer action to help inoculate themselves from fuel fluctuations. These actions are changing the short- and long-term business landscape, across categories." Elwell specializes in identifying consumer trends that shape behavior in the travel, transportation and leisure industries. News Contact: Laurie Healy, lhealy@iconoculture.com Phone: +1- 612-642-2207 (5/9/06)

ROUND-UP: THE MOMMY WARS (continued)

We've added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=13586

1. KIMBERLY STRASSEL, co-author of "Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws": "The most significant economic change over the past 60 years has been the entrance of women into the workforce. Yet our major economic institutions -- including tax, labor and employee benefits law, etc. -- were designed for families with a full-time worker and a stay-at-home mom. By contrast, they punish every other type of arrangement." In "Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws," the authors suggest reforms to meet the needs of modern women, who are more likely to work part-time so they can also take care of family members, and who move from job to job and in and out of the labor market more frequently than men. News Contact: Sean Tuffnell, sean.tuffnell@ncpa.org Phone: +1-972-308-6481 (5/9/06)

ROUND-UP: HOUSING MARKET (continued)

We've added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=9497

1. JANET SMITH, co-director of the UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO's Voorhees Center for Neighborhood Improvement, can address the gap between housing costs and the influx of lower-income households, largely due to immigration: "Building for the high end of the market isn't working. High- income people don't necessarily want the most expensive units. Housing is seen as a commodity: Buy low, sell high. Some higher-income households live in units that are affordable to lower-income households. As a result, there's a growing mismatch between the supply and the market." News Contact: Anne Brooks Ranallo, aranallo@uic.edu Phone: +1-312-355-2523 (5/9/06)

2. RUSS WHITNEY, the best-selling author of "The Millionaire Real Estate Mindset" and CEO of WHITNEY INFORMATION NETWORK, a provider of post-secondary education that delivers real estate and investment training for all levels, can provide commentary on the impact of the real estate "bubble" and tips for real estate investing in shifting markets, building wealth through real estate investing and getting in the right frame of mind to become a successful entrepreneur. News Contact: Emily Zyborowicz, ezyborowicz@mww.com Phone: +1-212-827-3749 (5/9/06)

LEADS

1. MARKETING: CUSTOMERS ARE THE NEW R&D TEAMS. DIANE HESSAN, CEO of COMMUNISPACE, which builds and runs online customer communities: "Customers are the new R&D teams. Companies depend on a constant stream of new products to drive growth and revenue. Yet 80 percent of all new product ideas fail. Marketing and R&D at major corporations are now using online customer communities to co-innovate -- collaborating with customers in new ways to speed new product development and improve the odds for success. Killing bad ideas is just as important: one customer summed up the dismal prospects for a new personal care product by stating he'd 'rather eat glass' than use the product dreamed up by a brand manager." News Contact: Janet Swaysland, jswaysland@foghound.com Phone: +1-617-549-9366 (5/9/06)

2. NON-PROFITS: A NONPROFIT LOOK AT CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. KYLE ZIMMER, president of FIRST BOOK, is an expert on social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility: "The future of nonprofit innovation in this country relies heavily on corporate social responsibility initiatives. By harnessing the power of the private sector, nonprofits are increasing their ability to serve their mission while integrating the needs and resources of their corporate partners. Together through these initiatives, the private and social sectors are beginning to solve some of our country's most pressing social problems." News Contact: Erika Denn, edenn@firstbook.org (5/9/06)

3. PERSONAL FINANCE: YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD NOT CARRY MORE THAN ONE CREDIT CARD. LARRY FRAZEN, partner in the bankruptcy group of BRYAN CAVE and a member of Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE): "There is no reason for young people to carry more than one credit card. They should probably start out with a debit card versus a credit card. They should not be using a credit card, for example, to pay for any kind of consumables, such as food and drinks." News Contact: Luis Mocete, luis.mocete@bryancave.com Phone: +1-212- 541-1141 (5/9/06)

4. PERSONAL FINANCE: PARENTS NEED LEARN TO INSURANCE OPTIONS FOR COLLEGE GRADS. DAVID ANDREWS, vice president of product management, short-term medical at ASSURANT HEALTH: "Graduation day is almost here, but it's the parents of these young students who still need remedial education on whether their health plans cover their children and the options now available for short-term medical insurance. New research shows that parents are concerned about their adult children's ability to find a job after graduation and their insurance needs, but are unaware of affordable options. We hope this sends a wake-up call to parents who do not realize they may be at great financial risk right after their children graduate." News Contact: Peter Duckler, pduckler@hlbcomm.com Phone: +1-312-423-4930 (5/9/06)

5. TECHNOLOGY: THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF ENTERPRISE SEARCH. ALAN SCOTT, chief marketing officer at FACTIVA: "Knowledge workers need to spend less time searching and more time driving their businesses. In the last few years, search has been roiled by change. Search engines of all types can now produce, in a matter of seconds, more results than the average person can comprehend. In today's business world, effective business search tools must do more than just provide information. They must deliver only the relevant search results to employees at the point of need -- helping them to quickly organize information and make better decisions, faster. Companies that use these tools will no doubt achieve competitive advantage." News Contact: Shannon Sullivan, shannon.sullivan@factiva.com Phone: +1-609-627-2312 (5/9/06)

6. TECHNOLOGY: GET 80 PERCENT OF THE BENEFITS OF ITIL WITH A FRACTION OF ITS CONTROLS. GENE KIM, co-founder and CTO of TRIPWIRE, INC: "With competing frameworks available, and a growing number of controls, it has not been self- evident or empirically proven which IT controls have the greatest impact on which business measures, making it difficult for executives to decide where to start and how much to invest. Our research finds the existence of a small set of foundational IT controls that, when implemented, simultaneously affect IT security, operations and compliance, resulting in IT's ability to better serve the business while delivering a stronger ROI." Kim can discuss the set of foundational IT controls and how they benefit business. He is co-founder of the IT Process Institute, is a member of ISACA, IIA, ITSFM, and SANS, and is ITIL Foundations and CISA certified. News Contact: Kim Beasley kbeasley@tripwire.com Phone: +1-503-276-7541 (5/9/06)

7. WORKPLACE: SPANKING ON THE JOB? IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME. AUDREY MROSS, employment attorney at MUNCK BUTRUS, P.C.: "In a recent California case, a female employee was spanked by her supervisors as part of a 'team-building' exercise, and she received a $1.7 million jury award at trial. As it turns out, the spanking was not a unique incident. What often happens is a spontaneous spanking as part of a birthday celebration. But in a 2004 case in Minnesota, the birthday 'boy' was smacked so hard that he ended up in the emergency room. It sounds like fun, but bosses need to know they can suffer consequences if spankings, planned or unplanned, happen on their watch." News Contact: Mark Annick, mark@legalpr.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534 (5/9/06)

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PRNewswire -- May 9

IN: AUT ENE OIL
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NOTE TO EDITORS: The following experts have provided direct contact information: Janet Smith, University of Illinois at Chicago, janets@uic.edu Phone: +1- 312-996-2151