For Fast Company magazine and Seth Godin, author of the NewYork Times bestseller "Purple Cow", Prasena is one of the 500 companies worldwide that "can help you make something happen".

Prasena Named to Bestselling Author Seth Godin’s
2004 Bull Market Directory

- Guidebook of 500 Innovative Companies and Freelancers
to Make May 2004 Debut -

Bangkok, May 17, 2004 – Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author of the bestselling book Purple Cow, announced the inclusion of Prasena in his 2004 Bull Market Directory, a resource for connecting organizations with some of the world’s most creative thinkers. In early 2004, Godin issued a call for entries seeking the world’s most innovative copywriters, brainstormers, advertising agencies, prototypers, designers, artists and more. Set to make its debut this month, the 2004 Bull Market Directory features Prasena and is expected to reach more than one million people (Godin’s Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most downloaded e-book in history).

“Prasena has demonstrated that it is a Purple Cow catalyst, helping clients shake things up and think innovatively,” commented Godin. “Prasena has challenged its clients to become spectacular and invigorating. Smart companies realize that they can create Purple Cows faster with a bull.”

In Purple Cow, Godin argued that the only effective marketing strategy is to build innovation into a product or service from inception, ultimately creating a Purple Cow to stand out among a marketplace of traditional brown cows. The 2004 Bull Market Directory is the next step for Godin in questioning traditionally accepted corporate strategies and inspiring business success by uniquely communicating his vision and expertise.

“We are delighted to be included in the 2004 Bull Market Directory. To receive recognition from a respected thought leader such as Seth Godin validates our commitment to opening new paths towards competitiveness and sustainable development in a fast-changing global environment, and to helping our clients be successful in a unique and remarkable way,” commented Philippe Kopcsan, Business Director of Prasena.

Godin’s Purple Cow was a BusinessWeek bestseller for five months. It also appeared on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. The launch of the 2004 Bull Market Directory coincides with the release of Godin’s new book, Free Prize Inside, due on shelves this month as well. In Free Prize Inside, Godin expands upon the Purple Cow concept, divulging the secrets of companies that have succeeded by creating a product or service that is fundamentally remarkable.

About Prasena:
Prasena is a global consulting company specialized in change management and sustainable development through efficient and integrated resources management, adaptation to change, and generation of human capital. Prasena’s pioneering Competitiveness Surveys are becoming a reference for any organization that wishes to improve its ways of working towards better and more sustainable profitability. But Prasena not only identifies patterns and trends in a confused, fast-moving socio-economic environment; it also helps clients take concrete improvement measures, particularly regarding the integration of ICTs in people’s working and learning life, and the securing of return on investments.

Prasena Services:
- Change management, Human and ICT resources management
- Survey design, development and statistical analysis
- Online communication tools and knowledge portals
- Digital divide bridging, education, sustainable development

Prasena Clients:
Hundreds of public or private organizations, commercial or non-profit, small or large, in Asia, Europe and the USA, including: Singapore’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Community Development and Sports, Thailand’s Software Park and Ministry of Education, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, National Institute of Education of Singapore and Asian Institute of Technology, Schools and Universities in France, Switzerland, USA, Thailand and Singapore, ADB and UNICEF, Benton Foundation and Digital Divide Network, ECPAT and Digital Partners, Singapore Infocomm Development Authority and the Association of Thai Computer Industry, Air France and Singapore Airlines, Societe Generale, Bangkok Bank and Deutsche Bank, Colgate, Mars and Gillette, Unocal, Total and Shell, Accor and Starwood, LVMH, L’Oreal and Shiseido, Seagate, Alcatel and Motorola, SAP and Inet Asia, Aventis and Sanofi-Synthelabo, , Manpower and Adecco...

About Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com)
Seth Godin is a bestselling author and entrepreneur, changing the way in which people think about marketing and modern day business in his international bestsellers, Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, Unleashing the Ideavirus, The Big Red Fez and Survival is Not Enough. Godin is a renowned lecturer and was named one of 21 “Speakers for the Next Century” by Successful Meetings Magazine in 2003. He was the founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. Godin holds an MBA from Stanford and was named the “Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age” by BusinessWeek.

"My new mantra is simple: Make Something Happen. The only person who can actually do that is you, not a hired gun. But what the folks in this vast volume can do is open your eyes, clean the glass and make it clear that there are things worth doing", writes Seth Godin in his book's introduction.
Download the official Prasena Press release !!

What makes Prasena special
- We do as we preach. We have integrated ICTs in our way of living, working, teaching and learning. We work globally, responsibly, directly, in integrated networks, on real time, digitally and virtually, innovatively and knowledgeably. For us, the world is a global community - we ignore the traditional boundaries between public and private sectors, commercial and non-profit organizations, corporations and individuals, global thinkers and homeless kids: for us, all of them are partners, clients, research contributors, sources of ideas and inspiration, brought together through virtual communities of practice

They say Prasena is special
"Prasena provides a unique service : their inexpensive analysis of our organization's ICT performance and structure by using Q&A, resulted in a benchmark that was a clear help to evaluate ourselves (weaknesses and strenghs). Their analyses are quite embarassing since true facts are highlighted clearly. Since these analyses are not linked to a proposal of services, finally we can trust them. As a whole, the information they provide is unusual and pretty useful (vs. regular consultant activities)". Jean-Francois Vacherand, Chief Financial Manager, Sanofi-Synthelabo OTC

"Prasena is an original business company with a strong social backbone. As such, it has a really interesting and unique approach to research. It is a bit unsettling for traditional academics and researchers, but it is enormously useful in our fast-changing world. They have an impressive set of competencies, and what's more, it is fun to work with them. We always have a great time designing training programs and virtual conferences, or working on education projects. I wonder where they get their ideas sometimes!". Dr B. K. Passi, educational researcher, father of the Passi Creativity Tests, Consultant to UNESCO and Asian MOEs on the integration of ICTs in education, President of the All India Association for Educational Research, Consultant Learning Organization at King Mongkut's University of Technology (Bangkok).

"I have never met the Prasena team in the flesh, but we have been working together for quite a while through our virtual collaboration tools and we know each other as well as if they were next door. They are real professionals, fast, flexible, efficient, innovative, future-oriented. They listen and learn all the time. We have worked on very different things, from the organization of virtual events for the World Symposium on the Information Society, to the introduction of e-learning in schools, to the integration of virtual conferencing to support daily teamwork in business organizations, to the analysis of trends regarding ICT integration in private and public organizations. I like these guys, we'll be working together on many more projects in the future". Andy Pincon, Advisor to US Federal Government for eAuthentication and Digital IDs, Advisor to Illinois State Government for e-business, e-education and virtual networking, President of Alado Development, President of the Digital Workforce Education Society.

How Prasena makes its clients special
Success today goes through sustainable development. On the basis of years of research and market experience, Prasena, a global consulting company specialized in change management, contends that sustainable development requires efficient and integrated resources management, adaptation to change, and generation of human capital.
Prasena’s pioneering Competitiveness Surveys are becoming a reference for any organization that wishes to improve its ways of working towards better and more sustainable profitability. But Prasena not only identifies patterns and trends in a confused, fast-moving socio-economic environment; it also helps clients take concrete improvement measures, particularly regarding the integration of ICTs in people’s working and learning life, and the securing of return on investments. Prasena’s experts use on-going research, sophisticated audit surveys, integrated management model-based consulting methods, flexible IT and Internet solutions, and multi-level, multi-channel, multi-media communication and training techniques to tailor their services to each client’s needs.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT, HUMAN AND ICT RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Prasena specializes in change management, and focuses on the integration of ICTs and the development and sharing of knowledge in the daily life of individuals, students, employees, teachers and managers. This covers resources management aspects, technical structuring, integration and security aspects, skills development aspects, and mindset aspects.

Specific services include:

ICT competitiveness surveys, internal ICT audit surveys, ICT management policies, systems and tools design, development and implementation, integrated platforms and database development, website positioning improvement method, Internet-based virtual conferencing system, communication, awareness and user training programs on ICT management, change management and use of ICT;

HR competitiveness surveys, internal HR audit surveys, HRM policies, systems and tools design, development and implementation, corporate culture and mindset change programs, communication, awareness and training programs on HRM, change management, diversity management, knowledge, creativity and motivation development;

Employee/Computer partnership audit and improvement programs, knowledge management solutions and programs, human capital creation and development projects, awareness and training programs

SURVEY DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Prasena has developed a combination of expertise covering online technology, research, survey design and statistics enabling it to offer customized survey solutions for the purpose of research, fact-finding, marketing, benchmarking, SWOT analysis, policies’ impact analysis, patterns and trends analysis, perception analysis or other.

This customized survey solution includes the design of the questionnaire structure with specifically adapted contents, the development of an online solution linked to a central database, the data processing, the statistical analysis of results, and the production of a report highlighting the desired facts, patterns, trends, issues, answers.

ONLINE COMMUNICATION TOOLS AND KNOWLEDGE PORTAL

To support all its activities, Prasena uses, and offers to its clients the use of a light and affordable virtual conferencing system that can be linked with countless other technologies, including satellite broadcasting, TV, radio, telephone call center, online forums and newsgroups, bloggs, etc.

Uses of this system include: organization of recordable virtual events, design of re-usable presentations, support to regular working sessions with remote participation, e-learning, customer support and services, audio-visual interactive hotline, networking, support to communities of practice, support to joint projects, knowledge management...

Prasena services include: connectivity audit, conference room rental and administration, user training, session moderation, virtual events organization and coordination, facilitation of virtual teamwork, training on re-usable presentations, e-learning programs design and conduct, hotline, integration with other technologies, assistance to creation and development of communities of practice, design and development of integrated knowledge portal including online databases and libraries, interfaces, project management platform, asynchronous communication systems, synchronous communication portal, and contents...

DIGITAL DIVIDE BRIDGING, EDUCATION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Prasena has been very active for 7 years in research pertaining to the transition from Industrial to Information Eras, and participates in projects and programs aiming at bridging the digital divide, integrating ICT in all aspects of life, improving education and extending it to disadvantaged populations.

Areas of research include: Generation gaps, Children in a bi-dimensional society, Opportunities and dangers of the Internet for young users, Challenges and stakes for the education sector, Multi-channel education, Changing role of media, Social and environmental responsibility for sustainable development, Organizational change, Role of creativity and innovation in our society;

Areas of actions include: raising public and youth awareness on the opportunities and dangers of the Internet, e-learning and multi-channel distance learning, assistance to schools and universities to integrate ICT and become knowledge centers, developing changing organization’s management model, guiding corporate leadership in private and public sectors, developing online communities of practice in education, providing poor schools with sustainable combined package of recycled computers, training and ICT integration guidance, offering training on all research areas.

Unsurprisingly, Prasena has over the years become more and more involved in national and global endeavors of public interest, such as bridging the digital divide and the knowledge divide. This explains why we have also become Asian Chapter of the Digital Workforce Education Society (http://www.digibridge.org), a US-based, UN-funded non-profit organization dedicated to providing digital infrastructure, training and curriculum development designed for distance education and the training of a global digital workforce.

It is as DWES that we have last December supported the Benton Foundation, Digital Partners, the Digital Divide Network and others at the WSIS, by providing the virtual dimension to their events in Geneva. Our WSIS archives are accessible at http://www.digibridge.org/id9.html and some examples of recorded, re-usable webcasts can be viewed at http://www.prasena.com/public/live/digitalpartners.htm. In a similar way, the way we have organized a face-to-face-cum-virtual event at ABAC University (Bangkok) in 2002 at the occasion of Global Learn Day is demonstrated at http://www.prasena.com/public/gld6/gld6images.htm.
We are using our virtual conference system not only to support events but also for many other purposes, such as:
- School networking (Community Colleges of Chicago at http://www.ccc.edu/)
- Online classes (Hawai Pacific University at http://www.alado.net/hpu, DCT International Hotel and Management School at http://www.dct.ch)
- Public services (US Postal Services at http://www.alado.net/usps, Small Business Development Center at http://www.alado.net/sbdc)
- Communities of practice (Tapped In at http://ti2.sri.com/tappedin/, Webheads at http://www.alado.net/webheads, Educacion Tras Fronteras at http://www.alado.net/dwes)
- Etc (for more examples, go to http://www.alado.net/digibridge/id12.html)