BELTWAY BIZ

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World Congress Countdown: The 1998 World Congress on Information Technology organizers have added sponsors. They include Prince William County, CACI, GMU's Entrepreneurship Center, Reliable Integration Services, Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge and Washington Gas. A press release heralding the one-year countdown to the biennial event should hit the streets this week.

Gone Hollywood: Ron Cassoni and Tim Connelly, formerly of Dell Federal, are in the film production company business when they're not high-tech consulting. The duo recently purchased the film production company Big Picture Films Inc. from Ted Turner. Word has it the Austin, Texas-based film production outfit is optioning scripts.

Baron Musings: The 'Barons of the Beltway' - Jim Kimsey, Bill Melton, Mario Morino and Russ Ramsey - regaled an audience of netpreneur wanna-bes June 12 with tales of real life on the road to success. Among the crowd's favorites were America Online chairman emeritus Jim Kimsey's comment to the mom-and-pop businesses, "All big companies will screw you. It's their nature." The Potomac KnowledgeWay's Mario Morino shared this advice: "Build a team you would want on your ship when torpedoes are coming at you."

It's Trading Time: Scott & Stringfellow, a sponsor of the June 16-17 Capital Region Technology Investors Conference, offered a free trade in the shares of any company presenting at the Lansdowne event. The deal? Minimum shares 100, maximum 1,000; trades must be completed by June 27. The offer, which went out in the form of a simulated stock certificate, was made by Al King, vice president of the Warrenton office and producer of Thursday's Regional Money Talk at 5:30 p.m. on Business Radio 730.

When You're Hot ... Prize for the most prestigious board among local companies may go to Jeong Kim, chief executive of Lanham, Md.-based Yurie Systems. He snared former Defense Secretary Bill Perry, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, former Ex-Im Bank President Ken Brody and University of Maryland Engineering Dean Herb Rabin.

No Bias Here: TechNews and Washington Post executives were surprised to see the Washington Times June 16 business tab write-up on the "Evening with the Barons of the Beltway." It gave lavish mention to the barons cover feature in the premiere edition of TechCapital magazine, published in April by Post subsidiary TechNews.