News

Synercard Prepares For Rapid Growth With Appointment Of Experienced Industry And Business Executives To Company Advisory Board

Hull, Quebec-- November 30, 2000 -- Synercard Corporation, the software product company that recently signed major OEM and reseller agreements in the United States and Europe has announced the formation of a five person advisory board to help guide the company while it experiences growing demand for it’s products and technology.

"Our first step with Synercard was to make sure that we had an industry-leading product. Now, with the critical acclaim and market acceptance that our product, Asure ID™, has achieved, we wanted to put together a group of business people that can help us continue our momentum, " said Synercard President Bruce Bianco. "All these people bring not only a real belief in what we are doing, but also valuable, real-world experience that will help us take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in front of us."

Members of the Synercard Advisory Board represent a diverse range of skills, experience and backgrounds. Each board member will work, as a specialized mentor, with individual members of the company’s management group.

Synercard’s inaugural Advisory Board members are:

Ken Kivenko, former President & CEO of NBS Technologies

Ken Kivenko has been associated with the high technology sector for over 25 years and has acted as President & CEO for Bendix Canada, Canadian Marconi and Allied Signal Aerospace Canada. Most recently he was President & CEO of NBS Technologies, a global leader in card issuance systems.

Ken has been a Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, and an Advanced Card Technology of Canada Board member. Mr. Kivenko is also a Board member of Luxell Technologies Inc., a high growth flat panel display manufacturer, and on the Board of Governors of the National Quality Institute.

Peter MacKinnon, Managing Director, Synergy Technology Management

Peter MacKinnon’s career spans a wide range of experiences including: scientist, entrepreneur, bureaucrat, business executive, diplomat, and management consultant. His consultancy work and previous employment have involved consultations regarding advanced information technologies with corporations and governments throughout much of the world.

Mr. MacKinnon has been seconded twice to the Government of Canada. In the mid-1980’s he served with the Ministry of State for Science and Technology as Special Advisor for advanced information technologies. In 1992 he was seconded as a Special Advisor for Investment at the Canadian High Commission in London, U.K. In the interim he worked in venture capital and corporate development, the latter as Director of Corporate Development for Cognos, a leading international software company.

Andre Vaillant, Vice-President, Innovatech Grand Montreal

Andre Vaillant brings 15 years experience in the areas of business diagnostic, corporate finance and sales and acquisition as well as acting as strategic advisor for high tech companies. He is currently Vice-President of Innovatech Grand Montreal a 350 million dollar venture capital firm. Over his career, he has occupied a number of various senior positions from CFO to General manager in high tech, venture capital and the service industries.

Andre serves as member of the Board for a number of technology companies namely CML ATC, CML Versatel and Provance Technolgies.

Marc-Antoine Benglia, President, Hemera Technologies

Marc-Antoine Benglia is President and co-founder of Hemera Technologies Inc., a leading digital image content provider and digital image management tools developer based in Hull, Quebec. Marc-Antoine is also co-founder and partner of OE/One Corporation, an Internet appliance developer. Prior to co-founding Hemera, Mr. Benglia occupied a key managerial position in the European Public Relations Department of Corel Corporation. He also served as Director of Sales and Marketing at G&A Imaging Ltd., a developer of business-to-business software. Mr. Benglia actively participates on the boards of several Canadian high technology companies and founded TechPoint Alliance, an association of High-Tech companies based in the Outaouais. Marc-Antoine holds a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

Frederic Boulanger, President, Macadamian Technologies Inc.

M. Frederic Boulanger is President and co-founder of Macadamian Technologies Inc., an Ottawa-based company that provides web and e-business solutions. Prior to founding Macadamian, he worked at Corel Corporation where he held senior management positions in the commercial development of products such as Corel Paradox™, Corel Draw™, Corel Flow™.

About Synercard Corporation

Headquartered in the National Capital Region of Canada, Hull, Quebec, Synercard Corporation was formed in 1997 to address the emerging market opportunities in the areas of Internet and intranet-based card personalization for photo cards and the use of smart cards in secure electronic commerce applications.

In late 1999, Synercard launched its’ critically acclaimed Asure ID photo identity card software product. Asure ID is an innovative photo card database software product that allows companies of any size to design, produce and manage a variety of professional photo identity card applications. Asure ID can be quickly, easily and economically integrated into organizations in a number of ways including card printing service bureaus applications, standalone card production facilities, shared database environments and branch office applications.

Additional information on Synercard and Asure ID can be found at www.synercard.com or by calling 1-877-ASURE-ID

For More Information Contact:
Bruce Bianco, President
Synercard Corporation
Tel: (819) 777-6687, Ext.3122
Fax: (819) 777-8114
Email: bbianco@synercard.com

All trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders in Canada and/or other countries.