THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700



March 8, 2000

03 00050 61 00030801




Mr. Tom Fowler
tfield@den.wantweb.net
QuickPen International
384 Inverness Drive South, Suite 200
Englewood, CO 80112

Subject:   Project Management
Communication Metrics

Dear Tom,

Thanks for suggestions in your letter today on improving the Com Metrics web site. QuickPen's strong product line and commitment to innovation is clear from your web site. I liked the email system for contacting the firm about technical support, sales, etc.

My background in project management led to looking at communication, because that seems to be the weak link in getting things done. QuickPen's Job Center scope is comprehensive, and integrating everything accomplishes alot of what SDS strives to deliver for knowledge management, which I (loosely) defined recently as...

...all the little tasks you know you should do, and plan to do, but never have enough time nor bandwidth.

PMI's annual Asilomar Conference put on a case study one year that shows how important integrated solutions are to keep projects on course. You mentioned seeing Primavera in the SDS record, and so perhaps noticed that Joel Koppleman, founder and CEO of Primavera, underscored the importance of communication for effective use of tools, when he gave a talk on project management in 1995.

Thanks, again, for asking about SDS. It was gratifying to hear you recognized intelligence, as explained in POIMS, can be important, even though your work does not need help at this time. Many people feel the whole idea is "funny," "alien," and "off-the-wall." Some of this reaction is simply poor writing on my part, too much chaff. Another of Dick Karpinski's friends requested a simpler explanation, and reported yesterday that a second submission was helpful. So, I am passing it along. If time permits, please let me know if it seems easier to follow?

Thanks.

Sincerely,



Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net