Dear Mr. Lay:

On behalf of The Economist Group, I have the pleasure of inviting you to join 
a select group of your peers at the second in our series of US E-Business 
Summits, "Strategic business transformation for chief executives in the 
digital economy". The E-Business Summit will take place at the JW Marriott in 
Atlanta on October 2nd-3rd and subsequently at the Ritz-Carlton Lenox in 
Chicago on October 18th-19th. To learn more about this event visit us at 
www.economistconferences.com.  Click on the Americas portion of the map to 
find this event.

Your name has been included on a short list of the nation,s most powerful 
corporate decision-makers invited to attend the Summit as our guest. If you 
wish to accept this invitation, please RSVP directly to Melissa Thoms on 
212.554.0605 or register online at www.economistconferences.com.  Click on 
the Americas section of the map and choose E-business Atlanta or Chicago.  
You can simply add $0 in the registration fee.

The Economist Group founded the US e-business series in March 2000 with 
summits in New York and California. Speakers and delegates at those events 
included the chief executives of Cisco Systems, Nike, Palm Inc, DoubleClick, 
Nordstrom.com, Fair Isaac, International Creative Management, Schlumberger, 
Block Drug Company and DLJdirect.

The purpose of the e-business series is to address the concerns of CEOs at 
corporations founded on old-economy principles as they struggle to respond to 
the imperatives created by web-enabled technology. Corporate leaders are 
invited to learn from their peers at blue-chip companies who are now setting 
the pace of change as they rethink vital business functions from supply chain 
to customer service.

Bill Emmott, Editor of The Economist, will serve as chairman of the Atlanta 
Summit, and John Peet, Business Affairs Editor of The Economist, will chair 
the Chicago Summit.

Other programme highlights can be viewed at www.economistconferences.com. or 
you can view the highlights below:

* A feature presentation from the DuPont executive leading the effort to 
align management and IT strategies
* The e-business thought leader who turned Delta Air Lines around on the 
company,s online relationships
* Unilever,s brand guru,s research and findings on Internet branding
* Ford,s head of e-business on efficiency, productivity and supply chain
* FleetBoston and Merrill Lynch on creating a new business model for 
financial services
* The venture capitalists behind Walmart.com and McDonald,s E-Mac on the 
relationship between vc and bricks and mortar
* Enron Net Works on how online marketplaces will transform the company into 
a new-economy player
* Sears on multichannel management and the integration of legacy and online 
businesses
* Case studies from senior strategists at American Honda Motor, Anheuser 
Busch and UPS

Please review the enclosed programme for more details. I look forward to 
greeting you in Atlanta or Chicago.

Best regards,
Lisa Weiner
General Manager