Microsoft and Success Magazine Announce “Most Innovative Web Site” Contest Winner

REDMOND, Wash., July 22, 1996 — Rockwell Institute, a Bellevue, Washington real estate education company, has been named winner of the
“Most Innovative Web Site” contest sponsored by Microsoft Corp. and Success Magazine. The contest, which kicked off in February and concluded June 30, recognized the most creative web sites created by small businesses using any of the Internet Assistants for Microsoft®
Office. Rockwell Institute was recognized for designing an easy to navigate, content-rich site that extends virtually every aspect of the company’s business-from training tools to course information to its monthly newspaper-to new and existing customers via the World Wide Web.

“Smaller companies now see the value of the Internet to their businesses,”
said Scott DeGarmo, editor-in-chief and publisher of Success Magazine.
“The playing field has been leveled by the speed and ease of getting on the web, and access to easy-to-use publishing software. Now, even the smallest company can do really innovative things online, adding value for customers and reaching new markets in a truly cost-effective way.”

John Hunt, program manager for the 12-employee Rockwell Institute, designed the entire site in about four days using Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word. (Internet Assistants are free add-ons for the Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint®
, Schedule+, and Microsoft Access applications that make it easy to create great-looking Internet documents right from within these Microsoft Office programs.) Hunt took advantage of many of the features built into the Internet Assistant, such as the ability to easily add sounds, moving text (or
“marquees”
), and video files, to create an engaging, easy-to-navigate site.
“The greatest thing about Internet Assistant is how easily you can add tables,”
said Hunt.
“We have our course schedules on the web site, and creating the tables for them is just like doing a table in Microsoft Word; I didn’t have to hassle with building them manually.”

According to Hunt, the web site is fast becoming an important way for this small yet highly successful training organization to expand its business.
“It’s a great way for us to generate interest in our courses. Also, we offer training software, and people can go up to our Internet site and demo the product online. It’s a cost-effective way for us to market our product.”
Rockwell Institute also publishes a monthly newspaper for real estate professionals that is now available over the web, and the company has plans to actually deliver courses online within the next year.

Rockwell Institute’s Internet site (http://www.realestateeducation.com/) was among five that were selected by a panel of experts as finalists from hundreds of contest submissions. Links to the finalists’ sites were posted on the Microsoft Small Business Resource web site http://www.microsoft.com/smallbiz/ for one month, during which visitors to the site could vote for their favorite of the five. The finalists also will be profiled on the Small Business Resource web site, beginning with Rockwell Institute on August 1.

Other finalists in the
“Most Innovative Web Site”
contest include:

  • Dealer Resources , a company which offers a security product called Home Access, that gives people access to home functions such as lights, alarms, and gates while in the safety of their cars;

  • Drag Racing Specialties , an international manufacturer of slotcar drag racing equipment;

  • Internet Truck Sales , a company that specializes in the sales of heavy duty and medium duty trucks;

  • Bobbie the Realtor , a realtor based in Bend, Oregon.

All finalists and the winner received a free one-year subscription to Success Magazine and a copy of Microsoft Office Professional for Windows 95. As the grand prize winner, Rockwell Institute also received a Hewlett-Packard Vectra 500 personal computer, a Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet LX Printer-Fax-Copier-Scanner, and Microsoft Small Business Pack for Microsoft Office and Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

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Microsoft, PowerPoint, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

For more information, press only:

Erin Hiraoka, Microsoft Small Business PR Manager, (206) 703-6941, [email protected]

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages

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