Candice Carpenter, CEO, iVillage.com, Featured Speaker at Women In New Media Lunch Series.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1998--Women in New Media (WIN), an organization for women in the new media industry, sponsored the latest luncheon in a series called "Conversations With..." on Tuesday, November 10 with Candice Carpenter, CEO of iVillage.com: The Women's Network.

Ms. Carpenter outlined her insights on the challenges of building iVillage.com into the Internet's premier online community network for women - a category industry research indicates is poised for tremendous growth. Her goal for iVillage is to provide the ever-increasing online female population with an "interactive kitchen table," or a place time-pressed women can continually visit for advice and support toward solving the real problems associated with the myriad roles women play today.

According to Ms. Carpenter, the bottom line wasn't her only concern the company's first year; Ms. Carpenter admits to having invested more aggressively than the average Internet start-up. But building a highly influential brand to help shape the dialogue of an emerging Internet generation takes money, she reasoned. "I view our first year as just getting permission to exist," she said.

During the past three years, Ms. Carpenter has focused her energy on the challenge of making the transition from being an Internet start-up to a legitimate player. Armed with hard numbers and a very competitive customer base, Ms. Carpenter has been able to refine her strategic position and execute against a number of goals.

Looking ahead, Ms. Carpenter believes the name of the game will be in creating membership and site loyalty, and keeping sponsors happy. "I have big dreams and ambitions for iVillage," she said. "I feel we will make it because our product is designed to keep our members happy. We let them decide what issues are important and provide them with that information. As long as you treat members with honesty and integrity, they will continue to come."

Women in New Media was founded in 1995 as a non-profit organization for women in the new media industry to provide a forum for professional growth, serve as a catalyst for the enhancement and advancement of women in the industry, and promote philanthropic endeavors. WIN provides a network for professional women to exchange information, share resources, and gain from each others' experience through executive workshops, round table discussions and networking gatherings. For more information on becoming a member of WIN, visit the WIN web site at www.winm.org or contact Trudy Elins at [e-mail] or [phone].