dot coms report from ground zero, NYC

NY PUBLISHING TECHNOLOGY FIRMS COPE WITH AFTERMATH
______________________________________________________

Following Tuesday\'s tragic aerial strikes against New York
City, several small publishing technology vendors were left
scrambling to keep operations going, even as their office
buildings were closed.

Among the publishing technology firms with offices close to the
World Trade Center (WTC) are DeskNet and DeepBridge. Suppliers
of content-management and publishing-automation solutions to
corporate and commercial publishers, both firms are headquartered
in the financial district, close to some of their clients.

DeskNet\'s headquarters on the ninth floor of a small office
building at 81 Maiden Lane, just three blocks from the edge of
the WTC complex, were shaken by the explosions when the first
and second jets crashed into the towers, according to President
and Co-founder Mike Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons, who had left the
office earlier that morning with several colleagues to drive
to an appointment, learned of the tragedy when his assistant,
Judy Reis, called him in the car. \"Judy told me a plane hit the
tower,\" Fitzsimons said, \"and my first thought was of a small
commuter plane.\" He soon learned that the gravity was much
greater and that even a few blocks away, his employees might not
be safe. \"What if the building should fall?\" Reis asked him.
Given the uncertainty about whether the towers would stay standing,
all but three employees left the building while the fire in the
towers blazed above. Many employees were still on the street
close by when the buildings collapsed. (The other three were able
to evacuate after the towers fell, Fitzsimons said.) Although
many employees were covered in dust and ash, none were physically
injured. Emotionally, some were traumatized, especially after
seeing people jumping from the upper floors of the towers.

In the aftermath, with power out and its Maiden Lane office
building closed, DeskNet was able to stay operational by
switching its IT and support operations to its development
offices in Portland, Maine. It meant a five-hour trek for some,
like Fitzsimons, who ended up driving to Maine from Manhattan,
but it also provided essentials, like electricity and phone
service, that are still missing in some parts of lower Manhattan.
DeskNet made use of an alternate office in midtown Manhattan
until finally returning to its Maiden Lane office Tuesday,
exactly a week since the attack. Fitzsimons reported that msny
of the staff members were still understandably \"shell shocked\"
upon returning to the offices.

***Volcano of dust and dirt***

Also in the neighborhood is DeepBridge, headquartered at 61
Broadway, a few blocks south of the WTC complex. According to
Co-founder and Executive VP Tony Freeman, its headquarters
building was not harmed, but employees standing in the lobby
waiting to evacuate saw the debris sweep by \"like a volcano of
dust and dirt\" when the first tower collapsed. Their building,
like the whole area, lost power, knocking out the company\'s
email, Web and phone service. Fortunately, none of the 40 or so
New York employees were injured.

By Thursday, DeepBridge\'s New York employees had set up in the
offices of DeepBridge\'s financial backer, Jupiter Partners, in
Rockefeller Center, and the company\'s Denver office was serving
as clearinghouse for phone calls to New York employees. Employees
also set up Yahoo email accounts and used cell phones to stay in
touch with fellow workers and clients. Thursday afternoon, when
we reached Freeman at Rockefeller Center, the company\'s Washington
office was in the midst of restoring the company\'s email service
and Web site. But, Freeman said, the adrenalin that followed the
initial attack was gone. \"Today is a big emotional letdown for
people,\" Freeman said, describing the sagging sadness that has
overcome the city as New Yorkers face the prospect of dealing
with the effects of the air strikes for a long time. The company
hopes to return to its Broadway offices Friday.

______________________________________________________

TECH FIRMS BUY BACK STOCKS TO STEM THE TIDE
______________________________________________________

With the anticipated plunge in stock prices across the board
taking place right on cue Monday at Wall Street\'s reopening,
several firms have decided to stem the tide of dropping
valuations with major stock re-purchase programs. Vignette,
Interwoven, Akamai, and Stellent are among the publishing
technology heavy hitters that have taken advantage of the SEC\'s
decision to relax buyback guidelines in the wake of last week\'s
terrorist attacks.

Vignette\'s board of directors issued a $50 million buyback
program, which will be in effect for the next six months. Akamai
and Stellent will each repurchase $20 million of their respective
stock pools, also over a span of six months. The move appeared
to immediately benefit Stellent, formerly known as Intranet
Solutions, as its stock jumped more than $1 per share to just
less than $18 on a day in which stocks across the board took a
beating. Akamai and Vignette both dropped slightly on Monday
but appeared to be holding steady at press time.

Interwoven joined the ranks Tuesday, announcing a $25 million
buyback plan that it says could be suspended or halted any time,
at the company\'s discretion.

***Condolences***

Our deepest sympathy and condolences go out to our friends at
Akamai, who lost co-founder and CTO Dan Lewin in the World Trade
Center attacks last Tuesday. Lewin was aboard American Airlines
Flight 11 out of Boston, one of the two planes that crashed into
the Twin Towers in New York. Mr. Lewin\'s contributions to the
evolution of the Internet and World Wide Web are immeasurable,
and he will be greatly missed.