InfoPro members, who communicate via worldwide e-mail, include internationally active private investigators, business intelligence analysts, business and law librarians, investigative reporters, and information brokers from many countries. The diversity of expertise among InfoPro members is reflected in the diversity of associations to which they belong, including:
Society of Competitor Intelligence Professionals
Association of Independent Information Professionals
National Association of Former Intelligence Officers
Japan Investigative Services Association
American Association of Law Libraries
American Society for Information Science
California Association of Licensed Investigators
Special Libraries Association
European Information Brokers Association
MecklerWeb will be a very large Internet-based corporate communication
and marketing system serving the needs of business and commerce worldwide.
It will enable companies to powerfully position themselves relative to
fast-emerging, pre-qualified and highly attractive online market sectors.
The MecklerWeb initiative has been developed in direct response to
widespread business demand for a simple and effective way to intersect
with these new online micro-markets.
The purpose of the InfoPro network is to provide a private, international forum for discussion, resource sharing, comparative database analysis, and professional networking among a select group of information professionals who, collectively, support most of the specialty information and business intelligence needs of the corporate and legal communities. While professions of InfoPro members are largely unique with respect to methodology, expertise, and work product, they also have increasingly overlapping needs in terms of computerized databases and investigative resources.
Active networking among these information professions, facilitated by the Internet, leads to new synergies and insights which may otherwise remain invisible. In addition to the interdisciplinary make-up of the group, its international membership creates valuable opportunities for rapid development of contacts and information resources in many countries and specialties on short notice. Members help each other with referrals to many different information resources, including those on the Internet, in proprietary investigative databases, or to particular publications or experts.
Here's an example of how the network works. When an investment banker approached Cook to explore the credentials of an investment candidate located in Shanghai, China, several network members helped him to round out an investigative team by referring reputable, Mandarin-speaking intelligence professionals in Hong Kong, plus a Mandarin-speaking American investment banker with necessary Shangai political contacts.
In another case, a Pennsylvania legal investigator seeking information on a company in the U.S. Virgin Islands was quickly offered help by a Florida investigator whose two associates were coincidentally then on business in the Islands.
And in Connecticut, an attorney specializing in public records research explained for members throughout the U.S. the subtle nuances of research in federal courts via P.A.C.E.R., a federal government network for PC-based research of current federal court dockets. The system enables investigators to quickly collect financial intelligence about prospective business associates or investment candidates involved with federal civil and bankruptcy courts.
Says Cook, "Before good business can be done, or good investments made, good advance information is needed. The InfoPro network enables its members to serve the information needs of their clients better by linking each to a global web of intelligence gathering resources and coalitions. It's exciting. It's powerful. It reflects and enhances the collective intelligence of MecklerWeb. We look forward to being a productive part of this important endeavor."
Admission to the InfoPro network is handled on a case-by-case basis following an informal application process. Information professionals may apply for InfoPro membership via e-mail from their accounts on Compuserve, Internet, and other online services.