Silicon Valley and AustinSan Antonio Chapters Win NIRI's Coveted Best Overall Chapter Awards

Business Wire, June 25, 2008

VIENNA, Va. -- The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) announced today that its Silicon Valley and Austin*San Antonio Chapters won the prestigious "Best Overall Chapter" awards for 2008.

NIRI Chair Bina Thompson, Vice President, Investor Relations, Colgate Palmolive Company said, "The work of our local chapters and chapter leaders is critical to furthering NIRI's mission of advancing the practice of investor relations and the professional competency and stature of our members. It is a privilege to recognize the outstanding achievements of our chapters and chapter leaders who provide so much to our members, and make a difference in enhancing and enriching the NIRI membership experience."

The awards were presented at the gala awards dinner in San Diego, California, where the 2008 NIRI Annual Conference was held from June 8-11, 2008, with more than 1,400 investor relations professionals in attendance. Winners of the 2008 Best in Category are:

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Individual Leadership Awards were presented to the following NIRI members: Vincent Keenan, Avnet Inc., Arizona; Quinn Hudson, Hudson Slaton Group, Inc., Atlanta; Rob Williams, Dell Inc., Austin*San Antonio; Barbara Koontz, Curran & Connors, Inc., Capital Area; John Chevalier, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati/Tri State; Rose Blessing, Atmos Energy Corporation, Dallas*Ft. Worth; Bethany Haley, Savage, Branding & Corporate Design, Houston; Hulus Alpay, Makovsky & Company, Inc., New York; Barbara Krauter, Philadelphia; Brenda Bell, Business Wire, Rocky Mountain; Sharon Johnson, Business Wire, San Diego; Allen Woodard, Woodard and Company, Seattle; Denise Franklin, Medtronic, Inc., Silicon Valley; David Myers, Express Scripts, St. Louis; Anita Novak, EMC Insurance Group Inc., Virtual.

Chapter Knowledge Leader Awards were presented to the following NIRI members: Karen Fisher, DivX, Inc., San Diego; Michelle Levine, JDSU, Silicon Valley; Anita Novak, EMC Insurance Group Inc., Virtual; Ruth Venning, Hospira, Inc., Chicago.

Dick Johnson, board member and former president of the Kansas City Chapter, was also honored with the University of Michigan Scholarship Award. Mr. Johnson, selected to receive this award based on an essay competition, will receive a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan's "Theory and Practice of Investor Relations" executive education program.

About NIRI

NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communications among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial publics. NIRI's 4,400 members represent nearly 2,100 publicly held companies and $5.4 trillion in stock market capitalization. For more information, please visit www.niri.org.