LAT: Too many tech groups?

One of the difficult things when I'm away is that I get to read the entire paper -- sometimes multiple papers -- and then I see things and forget where I saw them. I managed to chase this one down, however. A piece in the LAT from earlier this week:

Tech's mixed message [LAT, 12.31.2006]

The diverse trade groups representing computer and Web firms may need to consolidate to be more effective in D.C.

The old sports adage says there's no "I" in "team." But for the information technology industry, there's no "team" in "IT."

Unlike most major industries, high tech has no all-encompassing trade association to push its agenda at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Instead, about two dozen groups represent all or parts of the industry, with enough acronyms for a heaping bowl of alphabet soup: AeA, BSA, CCIA, CEA, EIA, SIA, SIIA, ITAA, ITIC and USIIA, to list some.

"When it comes to lobbying, everyone else is Snow White and we're the Seven Dwarfs," said Phillip J. Bond, president of the Information Technology Assn. of America (not to be confused with the Information Technology Industry Council).