General Manager�s Report

December, 1999

CONTENTS

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�������������� Marketing Report����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3

�������������� Technical Report������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 6

����������� �� New/Outstanding Issues������������������������������������������������������������������� 7��������������������� ����������������������� �����������

MARKETING REPORT

Presentations

November and December have been heavy with InforME presentations.� All have been very successful.� Appearances have included the Technical Colleges in:

Bangor

Fairfield

Presque Isle

Auburn

York County

South Portland

Dan Gwadosky and his staff are to be commended on a very successful �road show.�� The meetings were all well attended by district legislators, who were the primary audience for the events.� It was presented as a chance for the legislature to see InforME firsthand, recognizing that were it not for them approving the InforME legislation, the network would not exist.� They all appreciated it.� Sec. Gwadosky�s staff organized the entire schedule, handled all RSVP�s and technical arrangements. �They did an excellent job.

Other presentations included:

11/30/99 - Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce � Techport Tuesday � Portland

This presentation was very well-attended by a diverse group of professionals including Portland city officials, Chamber staff including Executive Director Godfrey Wood, and representatives from high tech companies, information specialists, real estate professionals, and more.� It was very successful and holds great promise as a future platform for InforME marketing initiatives.

12/12/99 � Department of Conservation �

This presentation was well attended by the commissioner, deputy commissioners, and webmasters of the department.

12/16/99 - Society for Professional Journalists -� Portland

Migration

The migration of data from the UNIX box, named Webster, from BIS to InforME was successful. As of 12/8/99, www.state.me.us is now pointing to InforME�s server.� This change was transparent to all users, and for good reason.� See more under the Technical Report section.

Batch revenue

We have made great progress towards resolving the batch revenue issue.� BMV and the SOS office are working closely with InforME to see that as many services as possible are being funneled through the network. �We are promised that if the deficit is not resolved through these funneling issues that the BMV and SOS will work with us to find alternate measures for assuring that the financial base of the network is as sound as was originally intended.�

Web Design Projects

We continue to work very hard at our web design projects.� We have done two pro bono sites that are still in progress but will be launching very soon.

Secretary of State � Overall site and Kids Page

We have had the pleasure of redesigning the Secretary of State�s page, although so much input has come from Secretary Gwadosky and his staff; we feel they should take all the credit for this beautiful new design and navigation.� The Kids Page will feature a welcome movie and some fun new games for kids, in addition to the new design.

Governor King

As was mentioned in the November GM report, we took over the Governor�s redesign project from a marketing firm in Portland.�� A prototype of the site was shown to the Governor on the 14^th of December to rave reviews.� They will likely launch the new site sometime in early to mid-January.�

State of Maine

We are working on a new design for the State�s official homepage.� The decision was made NOT to launch the new design and navigation until after the migration was complete.� Depending upon the Janus migration, this will hopefully be in mid-January.

Bureau of Banking

We are working on a new marketing page for the Bureau of Banking that will be called �Venture into Maine�.� It will highlight the Universal Bank Charter and will encourage investors to do business in Maine.

Office of Licensing and Registration

OLR will be putting all their forms online within the next few months and needed a complete redesign of their site.� We have received initial layout and design approval and have begun work on this project.

Other Meetings

12/2/99 � Visit from Congressman John Baldacci.� Lobbyists for NEI/NIC are helping to forge national relationships in the house and senate on behalf of the NIC networks.� This is in response to the recent legislation involving privacy issues and in anticipation of further concerns from the Federal government surrounding security, privacy, and the Internet.� Thus, we invited both Congressman John Baldacci and Senator Olympia Snowe to visit the InforME offices.� These visits will be brief, but will hopefully be effective in helping legislators to understand the benefits the network brings to citizens.� Invitations will also be offered to Congressman Tom Allen and Senator Susan Collins.

12/6/99 � Deb Cook from Maine Science and Technology Foundation � Senator Carol Kontos facilitated a visit from Deb Cook, so that we could compare notes on our common initiatives.� The MSTF has received funding from the legislature to build a portal for science and technology for Maine.� Of course, InforME will be linking to the site and will include it in all marketing efforts.� The site is still in design phase, but looks very exciting even at this early stage.

12/9/99 � Dept. of Labor - Commissioner Valerie Landrey�s staff � DOL is planning on completely re-evaluating its website in order to make it more central and intrinsic to all departmental functions.� InforME was consulted as to the level of participation and input that would be possible with the network.

TECHNICAL REPORT

Server Migration

The major technical project during the reporting period was the successful migration of www.state.me.us from the BIS server Webster to InforME's systems.� The migration was accomplished with only very minor glitches, and most site users did not notice the transition.

Some special measures were required to support DOE's old WAIS service, since the WAIS software used on Webster is no longer available. A suitable replacement for the old WAIS software was found, and custom software written to implement the same user interface as the old system.

Additional work remains to be done in enhancing the hosting environment and providing mirror & backup servers.

Meetings

• Met with PUC representative regarding audio/video netcasting of Commission meetings.

• Met with Judicial Branch representative regarding Interactive Voice Response/WWW violations information & payment system.

• Multiple meetings surrounding migration.

Programming

In addition to the intense schedule of migration programming, the following was also accomplished:�

• Implemented new point-to-point protocol for BMV record retrieval for ChoicePoint.

• Added point-to-point services for TML & CU York.

• Diagnosed problem in BMV's interactive record retrieval system which caused corrupted data to be delivered to end-users.

• Completed Vanity Plate application, awaiting approval for launch.

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NEW/OUTSTANDING ISSUES

AND UPDATES

FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION

Final Draft of the Strategic Plan

The final draft of the strategic plan is attached to this report for the Board�s consideration.

Annual Report Copy

The final draft of the annual report will be discussed at the meeting.

ATTACHMENTS

� Project Matrix

� Strategic Plan Final

Respectfully Submitted,

Tamara Dukes

Network General Manager