Competitive Intelligence Society Announces New Board Members.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) announces four new members to join the 2005 Board of Directors: Fred Wergeles, Principal, Fred Wergeles & Associates, LLC; Sheila Wright, Principal Lecturer, Leicester Business School, UK; Dr. John Prescott, Thomas O'Brien Chair of Strategy, University of Pittsburgh; and Dr. Martha Matteo, Director, Knowledge Management & R&D Planning, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical.

SCIP is a not-for-profit association of more than 3,000 members worldwide, governed by a Board of Directors consisting of voting members including the elected officers, 12 directors at large, and one ex-officio voting position filled by the most immediate past president.

The Board welcomes the four new members: Fred Wergeles, Principal, Fred Wergeles & Associates, LLC, runs a successful consulting practice that specializes in competitive intelligence process improvement. He has over 25 years experience managing intelligence collection and analysis in both the federal government and a Fortune 100 corporation. He has advised both large and small companies in a diverse array of industries, including utilities, financial services, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, consumer products and high-tech startups. Fred has been the Hartford, CT chapter coordinator for SCIP, he is a frequent speaker, and was the recipient of the 2004 Catalyst Award winner for outstanding volunteer service.

Sheila Wright leads the CI and Marketing Strategy (CIMS) team at Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University, UK. She holds an MBA from the University of Warwick and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She has spoken at many conferences including SCIP, and has authored and co-authored numerous articles on CI and marketing-related issues that have been published in both academic and practitioner style outlets, including Competitive Intelligence Magazine and the Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management. Sheila is the European Regional Editor for JCIM and has been an active SCIP member for more than ten years.

Dr. John Prescott, returns to the SCIP Board for a second term. He is an international expert in the field of competitive intelligence and strategic management. His research focuses on competitor analysis, networks and designing competitive intelligence processes. He is a founder of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP.org), meritorious award winner, subject matter expert for the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC.org), Executive Editor of the Competitive Intelligence Review and international consultant. His research has been published in premier journals. His most recent book is "Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence". He has taught an award winning class in competitive intelligence for 18 years at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Prescott earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration at the Pennsylvania State University. His undergraduate and masters degrees were earned at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Stevens Institute of Technology.

Dr. Martha Matteo has been a practitioner of Competitive (Technical) Intelligence since 1988, when the first analyst position was created at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Since that time, she has helped to develop CTI expertise and practice. She has done this by demonstrating CTI value to local and global R&D management and forging complementary partnerships with internal scientific experts, commercialization and Business Intelligence colleagues, and Alliance Professionals. Dr. Matteo is currently Director of Knowledge Management and R&D Planning at BI.

The four new members join a distinguished Board, including the president of the 2005 SCIP Board of Directors, Tim Kindler, Director of Competitive Intelligence at Eastman Kodak. Tim has been a member of SCIP since 1993 and has been actively involved with the upstate New York Chapter, he has served on the SCIP Nominating Committee, and has authored several articles for SCIP.online and Competitive Intelligence Magazine. Tim has been a member of the Conference Board Council on Competitive Analysis since 1998 and served as Council chairman in 2000. He led the CI team at Kodak that was named recipient of the 2001 CI Team Excellence Award from SCIP.

The remainder of the distinguished members of the SCIP Board including Board Vice President, Dr. Craig Fleisher, Odette Research Chair in Business Strategy & Entrepreneurship, University of Windsor; and Board Secretary-Treasurer, Ruth Stanat, President, SIS International Research; Directors include: Dale Fehringer, Bill Fiora, President, Outward Insights; Alexander Graham, SCIP Executive Director; Arik Johnson, Managing Director, Aurora WDC; Judith Leavitt, Manager Competitive Intelligence Services, Rockwell Collins Inc.; and Rainer Michaeli, Managing Director, Die Denkfabrik GmbH.

The immediate past president and ex-officio voting member is Melanie Wing, Vice President, Competitive Intelligence at JP Morgan Chase, Card Services. Melanie is also the recipient of the 1999 SCIP Catalyst Award for her volunteer service to the Society.

About SCIP

The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) is the only global not-for-profit membership organization for everyone involved with the development and use of competitive intelligence. SCIP's mission is to enhance the success of its members through leadership, education, advocacy and networking. For more information, visit www.scip.org or call [phone].