BELTWAY BIZ

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Hottest Invite in Town:
Word has it that some of the big joint ventures and partnerships of the future are forming among companies at the monthly "Mindshare" meetings held at the Tysons Corner Clyde's.

The soiree, which is upstairs in a private room and includes an open bar, brings together about 30 of the hottest area technology CEOs of start-up companies. They chat about plans and problems, offer each other advice and hear presentations from a tried and true expert such as July's guest, CyberCash CEO Bill Melton.

Harry Glazer, partner with the law firm Ginsburg, Feldman and Bress, and Anne Crossman, CEO of Completed Systems, run the show, which is invitation-only.

Mountain Comes to Mohammed:
WorldCom Inc., the Jackson, Miss.-based telecommunications giant that in 1996 bought MFS Communications, which in turn recently purchased local Internet service provider UUNet Technologies Inc. in Fairfax, Va., is planning a relocation to the Washington region.

Wearing Its Vertical Market on Its Sleeve:
Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif., is changing the name of its Bethesda, Md.-based government division to Oracle government, education and health care. The name change shows the company's dedication to those two lucrative vertical markets.

Money Makers:
Telogy Networks in Germantown, Md., has snagged $9.5 million from a group of venture capitalists including Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners in San Francisco; ABS Ventures, which is a unit of Alex. Brown in Baltimore; Reston-based Novak Biddle Venture Partners; and Unterberg Harris in New York.

Weiss, Peck & Greer was also an investor in local company Ciena Corp., Linthicum, Md., which boasts the biggest venture capital-based initial public offering in history.

No Hands, But Deep Pockets:
Wearable computer company Xybernaut Corp., Fairfax, Va., has finalized a $3 million private placement with institutional investors.

Xybernaut's products include computer devices designed to be worn on people's heads and arms; many are activated by speech.

Convention-Bound:
Bethesda, Md.-based Internet Interstate just signed a deal to be the only Internet service provider for exhibitors at the Washington D.C. Convention Center over the next three years.

Internet Interstate also recently announced its Total Building Internet service, which offers high-speed Internet access for an entire building at dial-up prices.