Welcome by Mark Eppinger, Director of the Annenberg Center

How about a round of applause for IVI publishing?

Welcome everyone, I am Mark Eppinger, Director of the Annenberg
Center.

We're very pleased to have the growing family of participants back
for a second year.  I want to give a special thank you to those
mothers who are here in the audience tonight and those that had to
stay at home as well.  Could we give them a round of applause for
Mother's Day?

And the other thing I have to do is at least extend my regrets for
the excessive heat that we're having.  Usually we have this weather
in June or July, but not in May.   Please make the best of it and
dress casually.

It's my job to introduce tonight's co-host that I think most of you
know already.  She's the Chairperson for the steering committee for
the Second Annual Partnerships for Networked Consumer Health
Information.  She's the Director of Health Communications for the
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.  She's
responsible for "cross-cutting" in the areas of policy and
coordination related to heath information and communications
technology.  She chairs the Department of Health and Human Services
committee responsible for developing policy recommendations on the
Internet.  I've had the pleasure of knowing her for nine years now.
Please welcome Dr. Mary Jo Deering.