"Anyone who wants a peek at the future for New Media should plan on attending this year's awards celebration," said Mark Monaghan, CEO of the Software Council of Southern California, the host of the Software Industry Awards program. "Hassan is a much sought after speaker who clearly understands both the software and entertainment industries, and how the convergence of the two forces is helping fuel Southern California's growth. We are pleased to have him as our keynote speaker."

"I am extremely pleased and honored to have been selected by the Software Council to give this year's keynote address," Hassan Miah said. "Given that my new company, SloMedia, is providing key software to significantly improve the price performance of building and operating a digital media business, I have given a great deal of thought to the increasingly close relationship between the software and entertainment industries. This keynote will provide an excellent platform for me to articulate my vision about the digital entertainment revolution."

The 7th Annual Southern California Software Industry Awards program will honor those individuals and companies who are the software leaders of today and tomorrow. Awards will be presented for CEO of the Year, 2000 Software Entrepreneur, Developer of the Year, and Internet Company of the Year.

Event sponsors include KPMG, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Silicon Valley Bank and Bertelsmann Industry Services. Additional information about this year's program, and how to register to attend, is available at the Software Council's Web site at www.scsc.org

Hassan Miah - A Highly Visible Industry Personality

Hassan Miah, Chairman and CEO of SloMedia, is highly respected by the entertainment industry. He was the keynoter at the first MP3 Summit, and has spoken at several New Media conferences around the world.

Before starting SloMedia, Miah was president and CEO of Xing Technology Corp., a leader in core MP3 technology and developer of the software used to produce the vast majority of consumer MP3 files.

Miah also is well known for the role he played as the department head of New Media at Hollywood's leading literary and talent agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he established the CAA/Intel Media Lab. As a management consulting partner at KPMG Peat Marwick, he managed the acquisition of MCA/Universal Studios by Matsushita, the Polygram Records buyout of A&M Records, and MCA's acquisition of Geffen Records.

About the Software Council of Southern California

The Software Council of Southern California (www.scsc.org) is a non-profit industry trade association, comprised of software and Internet development organizations as well as those businesses that provide support and services to Southern California's software industry. The organization's mission is to bring people and information together to promote industry economic growth, encourage new technologies and enhance software and Internet entrepreneurism.