Anyone going to Business Week CEO "Summit"?

["George N. Schmidt" <Csubstance@AOL.COM>]

August 21, 2001

Hello Colleagues:

Trolling the business press, I note the following conference (A CEO Summit,
sponsored by McGraw Hill's "Business Week" magazine) scheduled for a month
from now in Washington, D.C. Note how integral the media are in this process
(New Yorker, McNeill New Hours, Irving Kristol, etc.).

It sounds to me like the "CEO" crowd has figured out how to reap ideological
hay on either side of the business cycle.

When the cycle is on the "up" they tell you how it's their genius that
brought "us" all this prosperity.

And when the cycle goes "down", they convene "uncertainty" conferences to
analyze things and tell us how it is their genius that brought us all this
insight into how to get to "up" again. They are as certain about "standards
and accountability" today in 2001 as they were about the unlimited prosperity
guaranteed by the "New Economy" back in 1999. One of the reasons for studying
these guys first hand is to watch how they can say two completely opposite,
untrue, and ridiculous things simultaneously out of both sides of their
mouths with absolute certainty and in a way that dares you to question or
contradict that certitude (and rectitude, since this whole thing has a
theological aspect).

Either way, their goal is to control. (That's also why they need to have
secret priesthoods and secret tests as the basis for their version of
"educational accountability").

Alas, I will be unable to attend next month's Business Week "CEO Summit".

If anyone here on ARN wants to cover the event for Substance, let me know and
we'll try to make arrangements to try to get you a press pass. As usual, we
can't afford to pay correspondents, but we'll guarantee a byline. All we ask
is that you write it up (a) first to post here to ARN and (b) with
photographs for Substance.

We can focus on the local politicians and crazies who are pushing
"accountability" in each city and state, but there are only a couple of
places where their central committees meet, and it's always good to get a
look at them first hand. My bet is that each of the summit things we get to
cover in the coming year will be a lot of very wealthy white guys surrounded
by think tankers and public relations spin masters who are helping them spin
things.

George N. Schmidt
Editor, Substance
5132 W. Berteau
Chicago, IL 60641

773-725-7502



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BusinessWeek to Present CEO Summit, "Mastering Uncertainty," On September
19-21, 2001 In Washington, DC


--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

WHO:  Topping the list of speakers are:
--  Gregory A. Brady, Chief Executive Officer, i2 Technologies, Inc.
--  Craig Conway, President and CEO, PeopleSoft, Inc.
--  Peter R. Dolan, President and CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
--  Richard D. Fairbank, Chairman and CEO, Capital One Financial
Corporation
--  Mark Hoffman, Chairman and CEO, Commerce One
--  Kenneth D. Lewis, Chairman, CEO, and President, Bank of America
Corporation
--  Michael J. Mandel, Economics Editor, BusinessWeek; Author, The

Coming Internet Depression
--  James C. Morgan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Applied
Materials, Inc.
--  Michael Saylor, Chairman and CEO, MicroStrategy, Inc.
--  Ivan Seidenberg, President and co-CEO, Verizon
--  Dr. Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Associate Dean, Yale School of
Management; President and CEO, The Chief Executive Leadership
Institute
--  Keiji Tachikawa, President and CEO, NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
--  John W. Thompson, Chairman, President, and CEO, Symantec
Corporation

WHAT: BusinessWeek's CEO Summit will tap into the knowledge and
expertise of top CEOs in all areas of business. These CEOs will
discuss timely issues including the current economic environment,
management, geopolitics and human behavior -- giving attendees
insight and information on how to navigate through times of
uncertainty. As investment, profits, and the overall economy face
a slowdown in 2001, the conference will focus on the main
leadership issues that concern CEOs.

Dinner and "Inside Washington" panel discussion will include (evening of
Thursday, September 20th):
--  Elizabeth Drew, Journalist and Author, The Corruption of American
Politics: What Went Wrong and Why

--  Joe Klein, Author and Washington Correspondent, The New
Yorker

--  William Kristol, Founder, Publisher, and Editor, The Weekly
Standard

--  Mark Shields, Political Correspondent, The
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Moderator, CNN's The Capital Gang

--  Lee Walczak, Senior Editor and Washington Bureau Manager,
BusinessWeek

WHEN: September 19-21, 2001

WHERE: The Ritz-Carlton - 1150 22nd Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20037, Tel: 202-835-0500

TO OBTAIN A PRESS PASS or FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Christine
Fountaine (Christine-Fountaine@Businessweek.com; 212-512-3121).  For a
detailed agenda and speaker list or for more information on  BusinessWeek
Events, go to  http://conferences.businessweek.com/2001/ceo/

CONTACT:

BusinessWeek, New York

Christine Fountaine, 212/512-3121

KEYWORD: NEW YORK DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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