Greetings everyone,

I thought it would be useful to send you this email as a follow up to the meeting we had last week with the IPPNY PR Working Group.  

Background
As you know our efforts to form a PR campaign as the Empire State Energy Suppliers fell apart at the end of May.  Since then, I have been working with Sharon Stewart at Brown Olson and Wilson in order to pay SSK for their services from April 1, 2001 to May 31, 2001.  We are waiting for one last invoice (May expenses) from SSK.  Once we receive this invoice, Brown Olson & Wilson will send a lump-sum payment to SSK.  I will get you the total cost of SSK's services for April/May but $200,000 is an approximate number.  This comes to about $22,000 per each of the 9 companies that participated in the effort.  As you will recall, we each sent $25K to the Escrow account.  

IPPNY PR Working Group
Given the high profile of energy issues in NY, and the increasing dialogue taking place there a coordinated PR effoert can certainly be justified.  Those of us who participated in ESES, whose companies are also members of IPPNY, met last week in Albany to discuss whether IPPNY would be willing to expand their PR efforts if we joined forces.  (Thanks to all of you who were able to attend and participate in the meeting).  Since last week - Gavin Donohue, and the IPPNY Board of Directors, have given their full support to this expanded effort, and we are moving foward with a comprehensive NY-focused communications effort.  

I am working as liaison between IPPNY and SSK, and the following is a summary of how we are proceeding.  A meeting between SSK and Gavin and myself is scheduled to take place in NYC next week.  We intend to cover the following:  
We are targeting July 4th as our launch date
A press release will go out explaining IPPNY's 7-point Energy Solutions Program (ESP) for New York
A Q&A, Fact Sheet and other supporting documents for a press kit will be reviewed
We will discuss the scheduling of meetings with press outlets and third-party allies
We will also go over website issues, and other elements of the comprehensive plan

Essentially, the SSK comprehensive PR plan has been tweaked for IPPNY's purposes and will be implemented going foward.  Given our late start, SSK and IPPNY have been working extremely closely on all of the above-mentioned documents so that we can meet a July 4th launch date.  However, I don't want anyone to be out of the loop.  It is our intention to provide all of the members of the IPPNY PR Working Group with the documents prior to launching on July 4th.  The messages are in line with what we agreed to all along as part of ESES.  The difference is that we actually have a spokesperson - Gavin Donohue.  

Budget Issues
This is an extremely important issue and I am appealing to each of you to respond to me asap regarding the following.  As ESES, we agreed to put forth $50K to our PR effort - with the first $25K going into the Escrow Account managed by Brown Olson & Wilson.  Once SSK is paid for April/May services there will be some extra money in the Escrow Account.  I would like to proceed as follows - with your approval.

Coordinate with Brown Olson & Wilson and pay SSK for April/May services with Escrow Account funds
Wire the remaining Escrow Account funds to IPPNY's PR Working Group Account - also to be coordinated with Peter Brown (if the Escrow Agreement allows), and with your approval.
Work with IPPNY and have them invoice each of us for the additional $25K (assuming we are all still in for the original $50K).
Remaining Escrow Account funds + $25K will go toward SSK services going foward.  These funds in addition to the funds that IPPNY has already received from their PR Working Group members shall cover SSK's work beginning on June 1, 2001 through the extend of the contract.  
Additional costs - such as advertising - will have to be considered after we get the funds deposited into the PR Account and have an idea of how much we're working with and whether advertising is a possibility.  
Enron is willing to contribute additional funds (on top of the $50K) to this effort if necessary.  You and your respective organizations may want to consider this as well. 

IPPNY/SSK Contract Issues
As you may recall, a contract between ESES and SSK was never signed.  Contract discussions took almost 3 months, and SSK continues to work with us in good faith (considering they still have not been paid a dime).  Gavin is unwilling to sign a contract with SSK until he has funds in the PR Account to pay for SSK's services.  As you can see, we must expedite payment to IPPNY so that we can launch on July 4th and so that IPPNY and SSK can agree on contract terms within the next two weeks.  
Gavin is reviewing the ESES/SSK contract with IPPNY's lawyers 
Once the funds are deposited into the IPPNY PR Account, Gavin will sign a contract with SSK
We will provide everyone with a copy of the contract if you choose to review it (although most of you should be familiar with it). 

I think this covers the progress we've made since our meeting in Albany.  Please call me if you have any questions about the budget, contract or the comprehensive plan.  I'm interested in you're input so please weigh in with your comments.  Lastly, I want to emphasize that I need your feedback regarding budget issues asap.  I am in Houston all week and can be reached at the following numbers:

Direct Dial:  713-853-9104
Cell Phone: 713-851-3778

THANKS !!!!