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Brand Velocity CEO Jack Bergstrand to Discuss Managing Enterprise Technology Risk at Corporate Board Member’s Audit Committee Forum

ATLANTA (December 8, 2008) – Jack Bergstrand, CEO of Brand Velocity, Inc., the Atlanta-based project acceleration company, will speak as a panelist at Corporate Board Member’s 2008 Audit Committee Forum. The panel, entitled “Audit Committee Relations with the Internal Audit Department,” will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago.

In his presentation, Bergstrand will discuss how audit committees and boards can best manage enterprise technology risk and overcome the five red flags that can lead to project failure. According to the Standish Group, 70 percent of large-scale IT projects struggle – or fail completely – and 50 percent of projects cost up to three times their original estimates. Because project delays and cost overruns occur so often, Bergstrand will offer suggestions of how audit committees and executives can proactively combat the five red flags by:

• Using a solid business plan in business language;
• Increasing independent project facilitation; and
• Utilizing an operational contingency process.

Bergstrand will be joined on the panel by J. Bailey Jordan, southeast partner-in-charge of internal audit services at Grant Thornton LLP. Keynote speakers include Michael J. Halloran and Conrad W. Hewitt of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The 2008 Audit Committee Forum will address the audit committee challenges that many companies are facing and provide practical, first-hand tips from knowledgeable officers, audit committee chairs and veteran advisers.

With more than 25 years of corporate change leadership and cross-functional management experience, Bergstrand has led several large strategic change projects in the enterprise technology, supply chain and corporate communications areas. Prior to founding Brand Velocity, Bergstrand ran the global information technology function for The Coca-Cola Company, served on the board of Coca-Cola Nordic Beverages and was CFO of Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd.

About Brand Velocity

Atlanta-based Brand Velocity, the project acceleration company, offers Fortune 500 firms a faster path to improve large-scale technology projects. By combining independence, senior experience on the ground, and an accelerated approach, Brand Velocity helps clients rapidly identify and overcome the business issues that cause 70 percent of large technology projects to fall behind or fail completely. Comprised of former Fortune 500 C-level executives, Brand Velocity advisors help companies implement enterprise projects better, faster, and at a lower cost. For more information, please visit www.brandvelocity.com.