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AMD Reaches Out To Consumer, Small Business Advocates
to Drive Discussion on Improving the Technology Experience
AMD Forms Global Consumer Advisory Board, Selects Initial
Members
AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced
the formation of its Global Consumer Advisory Board (GCAB) to evaluate and
improve the quality of the home and small business computing technology
experience. Leading consumer and small business advocates from Asia, Europe,
North America and South America will identify and seek to resolve key
challenges in computing technology facing home and small business users.
"Consumers and small businesses have not felt the need to completely
embrace existing technologies despite the tremendous benefits they bring to
our professional and personal lives," said Pat Moorhead, vice president
of Customer Advocacy and chairman of the GCAB. "Through the GCAB, AMD
is bringing together consumer and small business advocates who are
passionate about making technology more relevant to users."
"Consumers often find it very time consuming and extremely confusing
to determine what technology suits their needs," said Ken McEldowney,
executive director of Consumer Action. "I look forward to engaging in a
dialogue on technology issues with AMD and the GCAB members from other parts
of the world."
"Technology can have a substantial impact on a small business by
increasing efficiency and profitability. However, it can also be
intimidating," said Don Wilson, president and CEO for the Association
of Small Business Development Centers.
"The GCAB will study these issues and work together to develop ideas
so that everyone can take full advantage of the innovation that technology
brings."
The GCAB members announced today represent five U. S. members and one
Canadian. AMD will announce representatives from Asia, Europe, Mexico and
South America in the near future.
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Jim Blasingame is the creator and host of
the nationally syndicated, weekday radio/Internet talk show, "The
Small Business Advocate," and author of Small Business Is Like A
Bunch Of Bananas. He brings the GCAB a comprehensive background in
small business issues, and an intense passion for small business, which
is evident in his extensive multi-media activity. Fortune Small
Business identified Blasingame as one of the 30 most influential
people in America representing small business, and he is a 2002 nominee
for the SBA's Small Business Journalist of the Year award.
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William Halal is a professor of management
at George Washington University and on the board of directors of the
World Future Society. He is an authority on emerging technology,
strategic management and institutional change, a renowned author and
developer of the GW Forecast - an electronic network of global experts
who forecast emerging technology trends. Halal brings an expertise on
future technologies and trends.
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Ken McEldowney is executive director of
Consumer Action, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy and education
membership organization. He can offer the GCAB consumer perspective on
technology solutions and the challenges consumers face with other
industries. Consumer Action has worked on food, insurance, utility,
privacy, toxics, health care, banking and telephone issues for 30 years.
He chairs consumer-focused committees with the California Public
Utilities Commission and the FCC.
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Tricia
Parks is the founder and president of Parks Associates, a
consulting firm providing competitor, technology and consumer research
to help clients deliver products and services that improve the quality
of their customers' lives. She brings to the GCAB research-based
knowledge of consumers and emerging technologies. Parks also founded
Wiring Americas' Homes, a consortium advocating for improved wiring
capable of handling future digital needs in North American homes, now
under the auspices of the Home Automation Association.
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Barry Wellman is a sociology professor at
the University of Toronto, as well as director of the University's
NetLab. Wellman studies social networks, collaborative work and the
integration of the Internet into community on and offline. Last year,
Wellman was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution Award by the
Canadian Sociological and Anthropological Association. Wellman has
co-edited a new book, The Internet in Everyday Life, to be
published by Blackwell this summer. He will bring knowledge on
technology and its impact on society from his research.
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Donald Wilson is the president and CEO for
the Association of Small Business Development Centers, which represents
the SBDC network delivering nationwide educational assistance to
strengthen small/medium business. Wilson brings a knowledge of small
business needs and a desire to help small businesses succeed.
"The GCAB is part of AMD's ear-to-the-ground customer advocacy
initiative," said Moorhead. "We are committed to providing home
and small business consumers with the best computing technology experience
and the ability to make the best technology purchasing decisions. The GCAB
will take our long-standing appreciation and respect for the customer one
step further by putting us directly in touch with home and small business
advocates."
The GCAB is the second customer advocacy initiative announced by AMD in
recent months. In October 2001, AMD announced the True Performance
Initiative (TPI), through which AMD will assist customers in understanding
the benefits of PC performance. TPI also will help define a new, more
accurate measure of processor performance for standard applications.
The GCAB plans to meet four times annually. If consumers or small
businesses have questions or would like to provide information to the GCAB,
they can e-mail amd.gcab@amd.com.
About AMD: AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the
personal and networked computer and communications markets with
manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Asia. AMD,
a Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor's 500 company, produces
microprocessors, flash memory devices, and support circuitry for
communications and networking applications. Founded in 1969 and based in
Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of $3.9 billion in 2001. (NYSE:
AMD).
AMD on the Web: For more AMD news and product information, please
visit our virtual pressroom at www.amd.com/news/virtualpress/index.html.
Additional press releases are available at www.amd.com/news/news.html.
About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is an
internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing
in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks
Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to
small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research,
custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service
subscriptions.
The company's expertise includes new media, digital
entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services,
digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, energy
management, and home
control systems and security.
Each year, Parks Associates hosts executive thought
leadership conferences CONNECTIONS™, with support from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®), and CONNECTIONS™ Europe. In addition, Parks
Associates produces the online publication Industry Insights in
conjunction with the CONNECTIONS™ Conference series.
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