SEATTLE -- Bill Gates urged CEOs of some of the world's biggest companies to raise their expectations of how computers can be used to spread information within corporate walls. In particular the bad stuff because, as the Microsoft chairman noted, "bad news is generally more actionable than good news."
Gates and his software company are well acquainted with bad news and the speed at which it travels, from the steps of the US Justice Department to the greener-than-money lawns of the Microsoft corporate campus, all thanks to the lightning-fast clarion called the Internet.
But in addressing the corporate leaders at Microsoft's second annual "CEO summit" on Thursday, Gates didn't dwell too much on his company's current problems. He referred only briefly to antitrust action by federal and state regulators while describing how Microsoft was thrown into crisis in late 1995 when it became clear that the company had missed the sudden rise of the Internet and failed to incorporate it into its operating system or other products.
"The ending is almost ironic, you could say, which is today we've got a situation where the US government thinks we have too much Internet support in our products," Gates told the gathering at the Seattle's posh -- and for this event, heavily guarded -- Four Seasons Olympic Hotel.
Gates was careful to limit the flow of any bad news from this conference. Security was tight, and the media was kept at a distance. Gates' comments got out only through Microsoft's Web site, where the text of his keynote was posted.
But the executives in attendance weren't there to hear about Microsoft's travails anyway. They were focusing on the future of technology and schmoozing with fellow corporate types.
"I honestly haven't spent much time even thinking about it," said Marilyn Carlson Nelson of Carlson Cos., a Minneapolis-based restaurant, hotel, and travel company. She has, however, spent time thinking about Microsoft as a competitor through its own Expedia online travel service.
"Technology is changing our competitive environment dramatically," she said. "I think they come from a technology point of view. We come from a service point of view."
Eckhard Pfeiffer of Compaq Computer Corp., one of Microsoft's strongest supporters, said the summit was a chance to meet with customers and potential customers in an environment devoid of hard sales pitches.
"That is highly valuable: meeting other CEOs, understanding their business plans, their concerns, understanding their needs," he said.
While Microsoft clearly hoped the event would bolster relationships with the top executives of some of the company's major customers, the two-day event featured few formal product demonstrations.
Instead, the executives themselves were asked to share their views of technology and its impact on business.
"These CEOs get a good opportunity to share information with their peers," said Deborah Willingham, Microsoft's vice president for enterprise customers. "It's a small sort of intimate event where everybody gets to participate in the discussion."
Last year's inaugural event featured political luminaries, including Vice President Al Gore and Republican presidential hopeful Steve Forbes. They were notably absent this year. But Microsoft stressed that the guest list is more a function of the company's decision to hold a separate annual meeting for heads of state and other top government officials than any fear of attracting political attention to the company that's become the popular focus of federal and state regulators.
Today, the executives were to reconvene at Microsoft's corporate campus for a firsthand look at some of the company's internal business systems.
Reuters contributed to this report.
