Release 1.0 Announces Flight School: A Workshop for the Next Generation of Aerospace Entrepreneurs and Investors

Business Wire, Feb 23, 2005

NEW YORK -- Offshoot of PC Forum 2005 Seeks to Advance Aerospace Markets

Release 1.0, a property of CNET Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNET) and the organizer of the annual PC (Platforms for Communication) Forum technology conference, is launching Flight School, the first gathering for the entrepreneurs and financiers of two emerging aerospace sectors: commercial space travel and the on-demand air taxi business. Flight School will take off March 23, 2005, at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a one-day event following PC Forum.

Recognizing the success of the Ansari X PRIZE and other new business models in general aviation and aerospace, Flight School will address the practical realities of interacting technical, financial and regulatory changes in air and space. These changes, including new aircraft and rockets, engines and instrumentation, as well as new concepts such as space elevators, will create first-time-ever business opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. The disruption - and the opportunities - will be comparable to those of the PC/Internet revolution, where long-entrenched industry leaders faced unprecedented competition from more innovative, visionary companies and networks of collaborators.

"The technology and the specific challenges are different, but the trends towards decentralization and real-time operation, the constructive competition and the overall enthusiasm and innovation are driving a transformation in air and space travel very similar to what we witnessed in the IT industry when PC Forum began nearly 30 years ago," said Esther Dyson, Editor-at-large, CNET Networks, and the visionary behind Release 1.0 and PC Forum. "We want Flight School to do for this next generation of pioneers what PC Forum did for its community - providing a place where they could sharpen their ideas against their competition's, find partners and investors, and figure out where they can lead their market. It's the same excitement all over again."

Flight School will kick off at a joint evening reception with PC Forum on March 22 with comments by Jim Fallows, author of Free Flight and a well-known political and IT commentator who is an exemplar of the numerous cross-over entrepreneurs at PC Forum and Flight School who combine IT and aerospace backgrounds.

Representing the new face of NASA will be Bruce Holmes, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Planning and Management for NASA Langley, to discuss the impending changes in commercial air and space travel. This will be followed by a series of workshop discussions considering the promise and practicalities of on-demand air taxis and commercial space travel, featuring the following panelists and active audience involvement:

--Rick Adam, CEO, Adam Aircraft

--Eric Anderson, President & CEO, Space Adventures

--Donald Burr, CEO, Pogo Jet; founder, People Express

--Peter Diamandis, Chairman & CEO, ZERO-G and Ansari X PRIZE

--Freeman Dyson, The Orion Project and the Institute for Advanced Study

--Brad Edwards, President, Carbon Designs Inc.

--Lou Friedman, Executive Director, The Planetary Society

--Edward Iacobucci, CEO, Jetson Systems

--Charles Miller, Founder & CEO, Constellation Services International

--Vern Raburn, President & CEO, Eclipse Aviation

--Dan Schwinn, President, Avidyne Corporation

--Michael Simpson, President, International Space University

--Jess Sponable, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF Research Laboratory, Air Vehicles Directorate

--Gavin Stener, Founder & CEO, Corporate Clipper

--Robert Zubrin, President, The Mars Society

In addition to her role at CNET Networks, Ms. Dyson is a member of the private-sector advisory board that is advising the Federal Aviation Administration on its Next Generation Air Transportation System, and an investor in ZERO-G and Space Adventures.

PC Forum, the premier gathering for IT industry executives, investors, entrepreneurs, thinkers and policymakers since 1977, runs from March 20 to 22. This year's theme is "The World Wide World: IT ain't just the Web anymore!" Speakers include John Seely Brown, formerly with Xerox; Scott Charney, Microsoft; Howard Gardner, Harvard University; Carol Kovac, IBM; Dawn Lepore, Drugstore.com; Ann Livermore, Hewlett-Packard; Udi Manber, A9.com; Marissa Mayer, Google; Anne Mulcahy, Xerox; Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems; Andy Stern, Service Employees International Union; John Thompson, Symantec; Steve Ward, Lenovo; and Jerry Yang, Yahoo!.

For more information about PC Forum visit www.pcforum2005.com. For more information about Flight School visit www.flightschool05.com.

About Release 1.0

Release 1.0, formerly EDventure Holdings and a property of CNET Networks, Inc. since 2004, is spearheaded by Esther Dyson, CNET Networks' editor-at-large and an influential thought leader on emerging technologies and markets. Release 1.0 serves IT industry executives and users, investors, entrepreneurs, thinkers and policymakers by providing insight into emerging business and policy trends as they affect and are affected by IT. Release 1.0's products include the thought-provoking Release 1.0 monthly newsletter, the www.release1-0.com website, the annual PC Forum executive conference, and now Flight School. Recent topics covered in Release 1.0 include social networks, digital identity management, the accountable Net (fighting spam and fraud), attention management, and IT and health care.