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Women in Consulting Becomes Newest Affiliate of SVASE

San Mateo, CA – May 18, 2004 – The Silicon Valley Association for Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE), and Women in Consulting (WIC) today announced that the two organizations have entered into an affiliate agreement to co-market their networking and educational events. In addition, WIC will extend its role as a resource to Bay Area companies by contributing articles on how to work with consultants to SVASE’s Entrepreneurs’ Workbook, an on-line publication that delivers operating advice and instructions for setting up enterprises.

“WIC is one of the Bay Area's premier resources for companies searching for expert consultants, and we are delighted that they are joining our affiliate network,” said Laura Roden, president of SVASE. “Startup enterprises rely on consultants to advise them on all facets of business and to do the day-to-day work while they ramp up personnel. WIC members have collectively served more than 1,000 Bay Area companies, with a wide range of expertise, and clearly have a lot to offer startups.”

WIC President Deborah Henken considers SVASE a perfect complement to WIC. “The first half of our mission is to provide companies seeking business talent with access to top tier consultants. This affiliation opens the door to working with members of the largest and fastest-growing non-profit association in Northern California focused on technology entrepreneurs.”

Each organization sponsors many events over the course of a calendar year, including a monthly meeting. SVASE’s The Main Event is held on the first Thursday of each month and is routinely attended by nearly 400 entrepreneurs, VCs and service providers. WIC holds a monthly meeting on the third Thursday of each month, attended by almost 100 consultants. Both meeting formats include networking, dinner and a headliner speaker.

About SVASE
SVASE, the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, is the largest and fastest growing nonprofit association in Northern California, dedicated exclusively to helping early stage entrepreneurs across all technology sectors build successful companies. Founded by a group of software engineers in 1995 and growing steadily ever since in spite of general economic downturns, SVASE hosts 6–10 events each month attended by 400–600 technology executives and press. Our weekly emailing reaches 9,000 executives, making ours one of the largest, most powerful targeted lists in the Valley. With our web based services, including "24 Hour Networking," the online "Resource Center," the unique, searchable "Entrepreneurs’ Workbook," and the new SVASE International portal, SVASE is able to help constituents build their businesses around the clock and around the world.

For more information, please visit us at www.svase.org.

About WIC
Women in Consulting is a dynamic organization of seasoned professional consultants in more than 30 specialties, ranging from engineering to financial advising and marketing. Our dual mission is to provide companies seeking consultant talent with access to a premier resource to top tier consultants and to provide a forum for consultants to share information and to effectively manage and grow their consulting practices. A non-profit corporation, WIC was established in 1998 as a collaborative community to foster successful consulting practices for its members. For more information, visit www.womeninconsulting.org.