Photo voltaic energy is this decade?s buzzword for corporations who?re looking towards implementing forward-thinking policies that could preserve them money while reducing their carbon footprint with renewable, clean, risk-free vitality in the sun. Photo voltaic vitality protects your bottom line by lowering your month to month electric bill. Moreover, our government presents monetary incentives to businesses while in the kind of federal investment tax credits (which could cover up to 30% with the set up cost of your respective technique) coupled with tax pros for instance modified accelerated depreciation. State and regional governments also provide some incentives, typically during the form of economic help.
Solar Financing Possibility #1 ? Operating Lease
On the list of biggest rewards with the operating lease would be the reduction in paperwork typically created inside a federally taxed circumstance. In this style of lease, you don?t should make any first investment; as a substitute, a finance company purchases the photo voltaic power process and leases it back to you on the monthly basis. These leases function significantly like car leases in that with the end from the term (commonly five to twelve many years) you may have the alternative to invest in your program outright at fair market value, which generally amounts to 10-20% in the system?s complete price. Within the meantime, the finance organization realizes any tax incentives and added benefits, however they do pass these along for you inside the kind of reduced month to month payments.
Solar Financing Selection #2 ? Capital Lease
Do you operate a for-profit business enterprise that generates taxable income? You then might be interested in accomplishing your dream of constructing a solar power undertaking devoid of outlaying a sizable amount of capital through a loan structured being a capital lease. This sort of loan is usually 5 to 10 years in length and it is comparable in nature to a house mortgage. Your provider receives any tax incentives, there is no dollars down, and you can get out the loan with the lease?s end.
Photo voltaic Financing Selection #3 ? Municipal Lease
A municipal lease is most proper for anyone government or non-profit companies that desire to consider benefit of the benefits of photo voltaic energy. These leases are commonly extended in duration, 10 to twenty-five years, and offer you the lowest rates of interest of all potential solutions. In addition, you can buy out your photo voltaic power project with the finish of the lease just as using the other solutions.
Solar Financing Alternative #4 ? Electrical power Acquire Agreement
A PPA gives the longest feasible loan phrase at twenty to twenty-five years. Within this arrangement, the financing corporation sells you vitality from the solar electrical power procedure at a contracted price. Although you pay out only for power created, tax added benefits are passed on to you as lowered payments. In this arrangement, upkeep of the system is integrated. You might even now opt to purchase your procedure for fair market place worth with the end of one?s lease.
No matter what sort of financing you select, most organizations would agree that a solar energy venture can supply several benefits, each monetary and environmental.find out businessess
(LONDON ? October 17, 2012) For the third year running, The Economist?s Which MBA? rankingnamesHult?s MBA program as the undisputed leader in percentage salary increase ? ahead of all other business schools.
The Economist, which bases its scores on feedback from recent graduates, also ranked Hult first for the diversity of recruiters. This ranking measures how broadly students were recruited from companies across 11 sectors, including consulting, financial services, pharmaceuticals, technology, and non-for-profit.
Hult was also acclaimed for the internationalism of its alumni, making it into the top five. Just a handful of the schools in The Economist?s three-year study have campuses in multiple countries. Of these, Hult (which has campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai, plus rotation centers in S?o Paulo and New York City) is best equipped to offer its students a truly international experience. At any given time, Hult has students from more than 140 different countries studying at its campuses, taught by world-class faculty with extensive business experience. Students can also benefit from being part of a diverse network of more than 8,000 alumni.
?By embracing diversity, welcoming new technology and giving our students the chance to study in the world?s most exciting economies, we?ve developed a truly unique and global learning experience,? said Hult President Dr. Stephen Hodges. ?Graduates are increasingly expected to enter the employment market with an understanding of subtle cultural differences, and these results show that we?re helping them achieve that.?
He added: ?Only the best business schools are selected for inclusion in the annual Which MBA? ranking, and I?m delighted that our learning environment ??so often praised by students and global corporations ? has been awarded such an impressive overall score.?
The 2012 Which MBA? ranks Hult as the 21-best MBA program in the United States and the 31-best in the world ? beating out respected institutions like Oxford and Boston University.
About Hult International Business School
Hult is the world?s most international business school with campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai, Shanghai, and rotation centers in New York City and S?o Paulo. The School offers a range of business-focused programs including MBA, Executive MBA, Master and Bachelor degrees. Hult?s one-year MBA program is ranked 1st in International Experience and 3rd in International Business by the Financial Times, and 31st the world by The Economist. www.hult.edu.??
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WVUA hosts LawCall every week on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. This week the topic will be ?18 Wheeler Accidents? with Bob Prince hosting. Attorney Coe Baxter will be the guest speaker. Please email us your legal questions anytime at lawcall@wvuatv.com. Each week, questions will be answered on the air. LawCall can be found on channel 6 if you have Charter Cable, or channel 3 if you have Comcast Cable and live in the Tuscaloosa area. It can also be found on channel 23 if you have satellite and live in the surrounding areas.
Mitt Romney laughs while riding his campaign bus in Ohio on Monday. More than 20 newspapers who endorsed President Obama in 2008 have backed Romney this time.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Newspaper endorsements don?t matter in presidential campaigns, until the campaigns say they do. On Oct. 27, nanoseconds after the Des Moines Register endorsed Mitt Romney, the Republican campaign hot-lined an ?In Case You Missed It? email to reporters. As if any of them had missed it. The political press was already in full sweaty-palm tweet-mode about the Iowa paper?s first GOP endorsement since Nixon ?72. Stephanie Cutter, the Obama campaign?s master of the can-you-believe-this-crap snicker, had to sit and listen to George Stephanopolous read the endorsement to her before she could say it wasn?t ?based in reality.?
She was wrong. It was based in a brighter, more optimistic version of reality. ?Romney had to tack to the right during the primary season,? argued the paper?s editors. ?Since then, he has recalibrated his campaign to focus on his concern for the middle class, and that is believable if the real Mitt Romney is the one on display as governor of Massachusetts who passed a health care reform plan that became the model for the one passed by Congress.? The Romney campaign?s email excerpted most of the editorial. It skipped the ?ifs.?
At least 21 newspapers that endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 have endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012. Half of these endorsements are couched in the hope that Romney hornswaggled Republican primary voters and will govern as a moderate. ?Like his primary rivals,? editorialized Florida Today, ?we never bought Romney?s newfound conservative purity. During the presidential debates, Romney wisely resumed his identity as a pro-growth pragmatist.? And ?pro-growth,? in the Space Coast region covered by Florida Today means helping out NASA. Romney has pledged to do that without pledging to increase the budget.?
The ?flip-flop? charge has cursed Romney for most of his national political life. It was the easiest hit on the candidate who, in 2007, was trying to introduce himself to skeptical Iowans and D.C. opinion leaders. A man in a Flipper costume shadowed Romney at the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference, and if I rummage around I?m sure I still have the green ?Romney flip-flops? handed out by his enemies. This was the start of the YouTube era. Finding video of Romney taking contradictory positions was downright easy.
That continued until the evening of Oct. 3, right before Romney took the debate stage in Denver and promised ?not to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people? and not to repeal popular parts of Obamacare. The next day, when Romney stopped by the micro-Conservative Political Action Conference in Denver, he got an ovation that didn?t end until his speech was over. The right got it?Romney could flip-flop all he wanted as long as it meant he was beating Barack Obama.
The newspaper endorsements are just the icing. ?Romney has famously flip-flopped on abortion rights, the need for Planned Parenthood, access to contraceptives and health care reform in general, which disproportionately affects single mothers and lower-income women,? editorialized the Nashville Tennessean. ?During his bruising primary campaign he veered to the right; in the debates, he has swung back to his moderate stances as governor of Massachusetts. The Romney who was governor reflected the attitudes shared by a majority of Americans; this is where he should stay, if elected, and resist pressure from the ?tea-vangelicals? in his party who want to take this country back to the repressed 1950s.?
Would he resist? The editorial writers don?t know. But they know that he should. And to be overly fair, this was the thrown-together logic that got a record number of newspapers behind Obama in 2008. But the biggest reversals come from papers that now put more faith in Romney than they ever put in Obama. ?The worst thing that many critics say about Romney is that he is too flexible,? argued the Los Angeles Press-Telegram, ?that he bends his policies to the situations in front of him. As president, Romney would not be restrained by foolish consistency. He would be expected to do the right thing no matter where the solutions originate.? The flip-flops are part of the reason why Romney can now be trusted.
It?s an odd view of the president and the presidency. The switchers pay almost no attention to Romney?s advisers. One example: His running mate is Paul Ryan, who led the budget committee in the House for the last two years. Ryan is rarely mentioned in these editorials, which means his voting record on spending or social issues never gets mentioned. ?We've been turned off by his appeals to social conservatives and immigration extremists,? wrote the Orlando Sentinel?s editorial board, before asserting that these appeals were phony. Romney had shifted his focus, which ?at least shows he understands that reviving the economy and repairing the government's balance sheet are imperative,? and so he got the endorsement.
Most of these papers have this in common: They stop the clock on Romney?s ?real? beliefs in 2006, and they restart it on Oct. 3. ?He stated his unequivocal support for women?s contraception rights,? wrote the Quad-City Times, ?knowing it would incense a huge number of Christian and Catholic voters.? This was a reference to a terrifically slippery Romney answer in the Hofstra debate: ?I don't believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not.? Before that debate, Romney had dramatically opposed the HHS rule that mandates contraceptive coverage in employer-run health care, telling audiences that it amounted to ?an attack on religious freedom.? Florida Today told readers that Romney ?showed support for women and gay people? in the debates. This is true. He?s also pledged, to the National Organization for Marriage, to keep judges away from the bench if they don?t oppose gay nuptials.
These newspapers are convinced: The Real Mitt Romney is a moderate who got one over on conservative primary voters. But Romney himself can?t ever say this. In March, Romney?s key strategist Eric Fehrnstrom told CNN that the old, conservative stances of the primary would be easy to shake off, just like a drawing can be shaken off an Etch-a-Sketch. And what did Fehrnstrom do for a living before he started working for Romney? He was a newspaper reporter.
With the growing popularity of mobile devices equipped with instant internet access, retailers need to adapt to keep up. Making your retail site mobile-accessible allows you to reach millions of potential customers whose primary means of accessing the internet is through their mobile devices. If your site?isn?t?mobile-ready, you could be missing out on potential customers and sales.
There are a number of methods for creating a mobile website. Which option is right for you depends upon your retail specific needs, how much you?re willing to spend, and how well you avoid potential pitfalls.
Mobile Website Options
Knowing your needs, especially for browsing and purchasing, can help you determine which development option is best for you.
What are the specific needs of your retail site? Some sites can be converted to be mobile-friendly, depending on their size and how they are built.
How much are you willing to spend? Some sites, even though they function well on a desktop computer, don?t lend themselves to being converted to mobile. In that case, you may want to outsource the work to a reputable web design company with experience in building and optimizing product heavy mobile sites.
Ease of Use
You want your mobile site to be easy to use, both for you and for your customers. Whether your mobile site simply offers the bare essentials about your company or provides a plethora of products available for immediate purchase, it has to be easy to navigate.
Customers prefer to browse products that are displayed catalog style. If your mobile site looks cluttered or disorganized, this will reduce its effectiveness as a marketing strategy.
Near field communications (NFC) technology makes it easier than ever for customers to make purchases from mobile retailers. Consider adding this feature to your mobile site.
Potential Pitfalls
Having a mobile site is a great way to reach new customers and advertise your product, but if not executed properly it can also be detrimental to your business. High-speed wireless internet access has accustomed users to fast page load times. If your mobile site takes more than 3 seconds to load, potential customers will ?surf? somewhere else.
Test your mobile site on a variety of devices to ensure that it is compatible with various platforms and both older and newer phones. Nothing drives a customer away faster than glitches, broken links, and failed code.
Beware of object and java script, which drains both bandwidth and batteries and can interfere with customers? ability to receive calls while browsing.
Don?t forget to set up analytics software for your mobile site. Analytics software helps you optimize your site for turning high traffic into effective purchases.
Whether you develop your mobile site with a plugin, downloadable tool, conversion software, or outside web design company, it can directly increase your business? online presence and sales. Consider your site?s needs and your company?s budget before deciding on an option. No matter what option you choose, be sure that your site is easy for customers to use and navigate.
Megan Webb-Morgan is a web content writer for Resource Nation. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as call center software and small business loans.?
Carphone Warehouse is now taking pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 820 handset, and there's good news for the cash bereft -- it's free on contract, and the reseller will toss in a £45 wireless charging plate to boot. You can commit £29 per month toO2, Vodafone or Orange to avoid paying up front, or grab an unencumbered handset at £380 for the 4.3-inch Windows Phone 8 device in black, red or white. For that, you'll get a 4G-capable smartphone with an 800 x 480 OLED screen, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8-megapixel camera. The free extra offer will expire when shipping starts, so if the WP8 launch has you all charged up, hit the source.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)? today announced the nearly 25 percent growth of digital health and fitness technology at the 2013 International CES?. More than 215 exhibitors will showcase the latest digital health and fitness technologies at the world?s largest annual innovation event. The 2013 International CES will run Tuesday, January 8-Friday, January 11, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?Health and fitness technology is booming, and will continue its dominance on the CES show floor with the future of fitness tech that combines data aggregation, social elements and convenience,? said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. ?Health, wellness and technology converge at the International CES where there are solutions for diagnosing, monitoring and treating illnesses with games that let people take responsibility for their own health and reinforce healthy behavior.?
More than 215 exhibitors will showcase devices beyond weight, body mass index (BMI), exercise and calorie tracking. The next generation of health and fitness devices and apps offer access to complete medical history, comprehensive biometric data and remote access to medical professionals. The companies displaying these technologies will be showcased in the FitnessTech and Digital Health Summit TechZones and conference tracks, plus Silvers Summit.
Over the next five years, wearable devices in sports and fitness will grow to 169.5 million devices, with the body becoming an input/output device where everything can be tracked, and more than 27,000 net square feet of exhibit space will be dedicated to those technologies at the 2013 CES. The FitnessTech TechZone is the premier 2013 CES show floor destination focused exclusively on the newest innovations and tools for the sports enthusiast. Spotlighting key trends that impact the multi-billion dollar sports, fitness and outdoors markets, FitnessTech will be located in the Las Vegas Convention Center/World Trade Center (LVCC), South Hall 2.
The FitnessTech Conference Track will explore what works and what doesn?t from augmented reality devices to new exercise options, and from bionic parts to peak performance monitors. The conference programming dives into what it takes to become the next big thing in wearable technology.
An easier path to your doctor will be revealed in the LVCC?s Grand Lobby at CES. New exhibitor HealthSpot will unveil its cutting-edge tele-health system for providing high quality medical diagnostics to acute care patients. Redefining clinical healthcare through digital technology, HealthSpot is pioneering today?s health services through convenience, efficiency and efficacy for both providers and their patients. Other key health and fitness exhibitors include: Body Media, Life Technologies, Omron Healthcare, Scosche Industries and United Health Group.
The Digital Health Summit, produced by Living in Digital Times, is focused on one of the fastest growing markets where health, wellness and technology come together. The TechZone, located in South Hall 2, will showcase tele-health systems, robotic aids, electronic medical records, therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices and monitoring devices for the home. The conference programming will bring together more than 800 senior health and technology executives to examine and analyze the fast-paced digital health landscape. Innovators in the technology health services industry will examine consumers? seamless integration with health and fitness products in their daily lives. Now in its fourth year, the Digital Health Summit with showcase the following speakers:
Jeff Arnold, CEO, Sharecare
Paul Slavin, SVP and General Manager, Everyday Health Studios
Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Founder and Director, Center for Connected Health
Ron Andrews, President Life Sciences, Life Technologies
Dr. Gregory Bayer, CEO, Brain Resource
More, the Silvers Summit TechZone in South Hall 2 will showcase the products and services that keep baby boomers engaged, entertained, connected and healthy.
The 2013 CES will feature 3,000 global technology companies unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services across 15 product categories including the latest in audio, automotive electronics, connected home technologies, digital imaging/photography, electronic gaming, entertainment/content and more. Visit CESweb.org for more information on the 2013 International CES.
Note to Editors:The official name of the global technology event is ?2013 International CES.?Subsequent references to the show can be shortened to ?International CES?, ?2013 CES? or ?CES.?Please do not use ?Consumer Electronics Show? to refer to the International CES.
About CEA:
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $206 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.?CEA also owns and produces the International CES ? The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA?s industry services.?Find CEA online: www.CE.org and www.DeclareInnovation.com. Follow CES at www.CESweb.org and through social media: http://facebook.com/InternationalCES; http://twitter.com/IntlCES; http://blog.ce.org/.
UPCOMING EVENTS
CES Unveiled STOCKHOLM October 29, 2012, Stockholm, Sweden
CES New York Press Preview featuring CES Unveiled NEW YORK November 12, 2012, New York, NY
CES Unveiled LONDON November 15, 2012, London, UK
2013 International CES January 8-11, 2013, Las Vegas, NV
Remember the simple days of Internet browsing, when you only occasionally emailed with your one relative that also had the Internet, and simple games of Oregon Trail were the best online entertainment available?
Those first days of the Internet weren?t that long ago, so it is hard to believe that by the end of the decade there will be over 2 billion users online.
The Internet has certainly progressed over the last decade. It is now considered the cornerstone of our very lives. But along with the advancement in technology comes an increase in users, and an increase in users creates an increase in security risks.
Even social networking puts your personal information at risk, and vicious malware can destroy a system in the blink of an eye. Though protecting your system has become a more difficult feat in the day and age of piracy and spyware, it is still possible.
The Internet in itself is an insecure channel. When you log on, your computer sends a message over the Web identifying your computer as the place to send back the requested information.
Security software can make this process safer (especially when there are financial transactions or personal information being relayed) but there are other techniques you can use to keep your information safe.
Simple steps to protecting your network from Internet threats include routine monitoring and scanning your computer regularly. Delete cookies and browser history weekly and be sure to steer clear of any email that guides you to you click on a link to get to the reason for their email.
Set up pop-up blocker too and use anti-spyware to keep your system free of threats.
An effective firewall also plays a part in extra security for your Internet connection. It blocks anyone trying to access your network without your permission.
Firewall protection gives you an additional sense of security with your personal information.
Do your research to determine the best Internet Security for your needs and don?t let the technical jargon sway you from learning more about online safety.
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Terms to Know (and in plain English):
Adware ? a form of spyware
Broadband ? the internet connection you use and the easiest to be hacked
Cookies ? these nifty little bits allow others to store information on your system secretly so that they can monitor your activities.
Firewall ? a software based barrier against those trying to hack your system to obtain your personal information
Hackers ? those thieves that like to break into your network, steal your personal information and use it for their own purposes
Identity Theft ? this occurs when those pesky hackers gain access to your information and pretend to be you online for as long as they can get away with it
ISP ? Internet Service provider
Phishing ? usually occurs through emails asking for your personal information, nothing will ever come from your email communication other than the scammer now has your information
Spyware ? tracking cookies, Trojan Horses and adware are just to list a few of the dangerous software out there, destroying your system before you even realize it
Virus ? the dreaded word for all computer owners, they can destroy data and disrupt your entire life while causing you to lose everything of value on your system.
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Knowing the differences in security, security risks, and the different levels that are associated with each will help you make an informed decision when it comes to protecting your network.
When choosing the best Internet Security for your system, there are many choices to make so be diligent. There is always someone out there just waiting for you to be unprepared.
About the Author: Ryan Franklin is a writer and small business owner. He blogs about small business and tech issues on behalf of Ordoro.com.
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Sunset Beachis Going Green with their Solar Trash Compactors located in the Gazebo parking lot at the beach.?
The Sunset Beach Solar Trash Compactors work by compacting the refuse and then, through sophisticated software, signal the Sunset Beach Public Works Department when the units need to be emptied. The compaction reduces the bulk volume of items to about one-fourth of non-compacted material.
The Sunset Beach Solar Trash Compactors will result in cost savings in manpower, fuel, and wear and tear on equipment as well as removing material from our landfills.
The town of Sunset Beach has decided to decoratively wrap the compactors for the first year they?re in use.?
We personally think they should stay wrapped as they are rather than using "tacky" advertising that people and companies will pay for.? Just sayin'
Barclaycard Commercial has launched a web-based rail travel booking tool which allows businesses and their employees to pay for train travel using a single-use virtual card.?
The new tool ? developed in conjunction with MyTrainTicket for Business ? consolidates rail spend across the business, giving companies greater visibility and control over their travel expenditure, benefitting from the savings that brings.
The online self-booking tool streamlines the purchasing process to save employees and businesses time, with tickets available for collection within 15 minutes of booking.?
Spend data is also easily uploaded to accounting and expense management systems, automating cost reconciliation and overall reporting on rail spend.
A new addition to Barclaycard?s award-winning Tracker Solutions suite - which covers other essential areas of business travel expenditure ? hotels, low-cost flights, meetings and events ? the virtual card approach of Rail Tracker makes payments secure and minimises the risk of fraud.
Dennis Bauer, managing director of Barclaycard Global Commercial Payments, said: ?Travel can be one of the biggest expenses for business, with forecasts showing that UK companies? rail travel costs could amount to ?2 billion this year ? not including administration costs.?
?Barclaycard is committed to providing innovative and industry leading payment solutions to make our customers? lives easier and, along with our existing Tracker applications, the Rail solution will help businesses effortlessly capture, control and reconcile travel spend.?
MasterCard is set to consolidate all U.S. PR and corporate communications work within Omnicom's Ketchum following a competitive review, Ad Age has learned.
IPG incumbent Weber Shandwick competed with Ketchum in the final round. Initially, the brief went out to independents Ruder Finn, Edelman, Taylor Strategy and APCO, as well as Next Fifteen's Bite and WPP's Public Strategies and Cohn & Wolfe. After the initial briefing, at least a few of these agencies decided not to participate, according to people familiar with the matter.
Cohn & Wolfe has supported various digital and social efforts for the company, APCO has provided reputation and issues-management services and Taylor has worked on various consumer efforts. The move is a blow to incumbent Weber Shandwick. The agency has worked with MasterCard for at least a few years and continues to work with the company in various global markets, including Asia and Europe.
Andrew Bowins, senior VP and group head of external and worldwide communications at MasterCard, told Ad Age that Ketchum will support U.S. and corporate PR business. "This is part of a continued evolution of communications at MasterCard to advance the business through consumer and customer-engagement models that allow MasterCard to integrate digital, social, online and traditional communication vehicles in a manner that engages people, merchants and governments in a more meaningful way," he said.
"As we move into 2013 beyond," Mr. Bowins said, "we will continue to energize our corporate and U.S. PR programs and leverage all channels to meet our goals while creating direct and high-impact engagements that help the MasterCard value story come to life and be top of mind."
He added that the company is focused on "...the public dialogue around the benefits of a world that is moving beyond cash and the merits of digital payment and card-based systems. It's a dialogue that moves beyond traditional B2B conversations and places business and consumers at the center of the discussions."
Mr. Bowins explained that while Ketchum's remit does not dictate local and regional strategy needs outside the U.S., the firm will "help build program frameworks, shape strategy and develop content and engagement models across channels."
He didn't indicate specifically how the change will affect the incumbents but said, "Our incumbent agencies, Weber, APCO and Taylor, have been exceptional partners that have helped build our foundation today."
"Reputation and issues management is part of the U.S. and corporate remit, as is consumer," he added, implying that those PR duties, typically handled by the other firms, will be consolidated within Ketchum. "Ketchum will serve as AOR on these fronts."
The move breaks the company's tight circle of IPG shops, created when the company in 2010 ended its decade-plus relationship with Omnicom Group's GSD&M to consolidate U.S. media-planning and -buying business with Interpublic Group of Cos.' Universal McCann. The selection had united MasterCard's creative, media, PR and digital accounts under the IPG umbrella, with McCann Erickson Worldwide handling creative, R/GA managing digital, Weber Shandwick running PR duties and Octagon handling sports marketing and partnerships.
In addition to Mr. Bowins, the competitive review also likely involved Seth Eisen, senior business leader of communication in the U.S. markets. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Eisen has worked at a variety of major PR firms, including Ketchum early in his career, as well as WPP's Cohn & Wolfe, Publicis Groupe's MSLGroup and independent Waggener Edstrom. Mr. Bowins emphasized the review process was "comprehensive."
For Ketchum, it's also a return to the financial services big leagues, as the agency had worked with Visa for a number of years in the past. It's an accomplishment at a time when there aren't many accounts with seven-figure PR budgets up for bid.
MasterCard spent $119 million on U.S. advertising in 2011, a 4.1% decrease from 2010, according to Kantar Media.
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Wining through great customer service was a great theory. Sadly, it doesn?t seem to be working out that way. Business strategists, beware. IT strategists, take note.
By Bob Lewis | October 29, 2012 Topics: Industry Commentary, Organizational Effectiveness, Process Management and Improvement, Strategy and Tactics | No Comments ?
Entirely Irrelevant but I Just Can?t Stand It department: ?High-paying jobs are available for people who learn how to run a key software program used by retail companies, several executives told Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday. And they?d like to see the state establish a training program.? (?IT execs tout Oracle software, ask state to help train workers,? Adam Belz, StarTribune, 10/26/2012).
Want to bet that next week the same characters will be complaining about too-high tax rates and the need to shrink government? And here?s a surprise: One of the companies making the pitch provides exactly this sort of training.
Speaking of retailers ?
Not Entirely Irrelevant, but Close and I Can?t Stand It Either department: Just last summer Best Buy?s board of directors paid four of its top executives millions of dollars in ?retention bonuses? (?Do retention bribes make sense?? Keep the Joint Running, 7/2/2012).
Here we are, less than four months later, and Hubert Joly, Best Buy?s new CEO, has provided an exit-door instruction manual (?Don?t let it hit you in the glutes on your way out of it?) to three of the four executives bribed by the board to stay.
I don?t know whether Joly made the decision for the right reasons, the wrong reasons, or no reasons at all. It does seem likely the executives whose names are all over Best Buy?s current mess aren?t likely to be the right ones to guide it out of its current mess.
I?m skeptical, though, that Joly is the right person to guide it, either. He comes out of the hospitality industry, and is emphasizing improved hospitality (read ?customer service?) at Best Buy as its path to success. And like it or not, (I don?t), customer service seems to have fallen by the wayside as a business strategy.
Consider air travel. Do you choose the carrier that provides the best flying experience? Pay for the first-class upgrade? Or buy the cheapest ticket? Since industry deregulation began, ticket prices have fallen more than 40% according to the Air Transport Association, while the air travel experience has become 247% more unpleasant, according to everyone I know who travels a lot.
Want something more provably quantitative? Economy-class seats are 17? to 18? wide. The average male human is 21.7? wide. Do the math.
More math: Women are 15? wide on average, so the airlines are causing men to victimize women by overlapping into their seat space, whether we want to or not.
Next consider Pricegrabber.com. It?s quite successful; all it does is let you comparison shop so you can buy from the lowest-price provider that isn?t likely to swindle you.
But this is all business-to-consumer ? B2C for we acronym-besotted denizens of the 21st century. How about B2B? My one-word answer: China.
Before the advent of the world wide web, business supply chain theory focused on forming stable, long-term, trust-based relationships with suppliers. Now it focuses on shopping for the low-cost provider.
Some high-service exceptions remain. The Apple Store, for example, is legendary for its superb customer support. Bose has a similar reputation; I experienced its reality personally some years back. Apple and Bose can afford great support through a simple expedient: They don?t have to discount, or at least, they don?t have to discount so much that their margins are squeezed.
Quite the opposite: Apple and Bose products are perceived to be unique. For plenty of consumers they have no direct competitors.
Where is this taking most companies? Into a world where price and convenience are what matter most. The customer experience, no matter how phenomenal, will be the tie-breaker, nothing more. It won?t support much in the way of higher prices or better margins.
Which loops us back to Best Buy and Hubert Joly. If price and convenience are what companies win on, shouldn?t Joly be focusing on making Best Buy the best buy again, like it used to be?
Here?s why this all matters to you as an IT leader: Like it or not, our primary job in most companies is going to continue to be what it? has been for decades ? helping to keep incremental costs as low as possible in every part of the business.
All that other stuff ? business intelligence, improved decision-making, participation in strategy and so on? That still matters. It still matters a lot.
But it?s the surround, not the core, or at least, that?s how it is and will be everywhere IT supports businesses that win on price and convenience.
Sadly, that appears to be a growing fraction of the total.
Courtesy listing. Meet baby Ola Born approx 6/12 Her brother(Yella) and sister(Olive) were rescued with her pregnant mother from a bank in Dandridge. The day after the mother gave birth to 7 kittens on 9/22/12 the new babies will be ready for adoption when ready. Ola is spayed and up to date on shots. She is a sweet heart. She adores attention and loves to sleep on her own pillow with you all night long. You can clip her nails and handle her all you want.Ola is a true lap cat!! Please call her foster parents at 423-248-9665 or 865-397-1273
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ADDITIONAL INFO: Pet has been spayed/neutered
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British Library leads the way for sharing data as major institutions sign up to DataCitePublic release date: 29-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jia Liu liujia@genomics.cn BGI Shenzhen
Five major data centres have expanded their commitment to make research data more accessible through the British Library's DataCite service, a global initiative that addresses the problem of how to find, access and re-use the results of research. BGI is the first Asian data centre, alongside the UK based Archaeology Data Service, the UK Data Archive, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Science & Technology Facilities Council that have signed up to the service and are the first institutions to work with the British Library on this initiative.
Data from the participating organisations, which spans information derived from ice cores to gene sequences, cultural heritage to current populations, will be marked with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to enable it to be identified and cited, a system which has been widely used to provide persistent links to academic journal articles. This initiative provides a practical solution to one of the most significant challenges facing researchers today access to data an issue highlighted by the UK's Royal Society in a report published in June this year, 'Science as an open enterprise', which recommended that scientists should communicate the data they collect in fieldwork and research more widely. The report specifically highlights the first dataset DOI issued by the BGI, the genome of the deadly 2011 outbreak E. coli strain that killed 50 people in Europe, on its front cover and as an example of "the power of intelligently open data".
The benefits for researchers include:
Confidence that the link to the data (or information about the data) will be persistently and uniquely identified
Increased ease of citing data which will, in turn, increase its discovery and access, enabling others to verify the results and validate their own research
Access to a myriad of new research opportunities which have been out-of-reach until now
Acknowledgement and credit for sharing data and having it cited
"Enabling researchers to cite data, along with journal articles and other references, is becoming increasingly important, and DataCite has the potential to transform the way scientists communicate their research." said Dr Lee-Ann Coleman, Head of Science, Technology and Medicine at the British Library. "As an institution dedicated to providing information, as well as practical support to researchers, we believe that the British Library DataCite service is addressing some of the barriers to data sharing. We hope that the decision of these five institutions to participate will attract others to become involved, and will mark an important step towards changing community norms about sharing resources."
Professor Wang Jun, Executive Director of the BGI, said: "Being the largest genomics organization and one of the largest producers of biological data in the world, the aim of DataCite to create a scholarly structure that recognises and rewards data producers is very attractive to us. Releasing a number of our previously unpublished datasets with DataCite DOIs has already allowed them to be cited and credited in subsequent publications in high profile journals, such as Nature and Science, and we look forward to finally being able to track and follow our data's ensuing impact." As well as providing an incentive for data producers to release their data more quickly, data citation should also provide better mechanisms for linking and associating datasets to the publications using them, Relevant to this, BGI has launched a new "big-data" journal called GigaScience utilizing this functionality. For more on these developments, data publication and citation will be a topic of discussion at a special session on "Integrating Data & Literature" at BGI's upcoming International Conference on Genomics in Hong Kong on December 1st.
###
Notes to Editors
BGI was founded in 1999 with the mission of being a premier scientific partner to the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible through its investment in infrastructure that leverages the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, which includes both private non-profit genomic research institutes and sequencing application commercial units, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and BGI Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications. BGI has established a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research which has generated over 250 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. These accomplishments include sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and German deadly E. coli, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, most recently, have sequenced the human Gut metagenome, and a significant proportion of the genomes for the 1,000 genomes project. For more information about BGI please visit www.genomics.cn and follow @BGI_Events
For more information about the British Library DataCite service, visit http://www.bl.uk/datasets
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It has the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection, including world-leading scientific, technical and medical information resources. These support researchers engaged in academic, commercial and public service research across all scientific disciplines. The Library runs regular science events and participates in major projects that enable better access to information for researchers, including the British Library DataCite service and UK PubMed Central.
www.bl.uk/science and follow @ScienceBL
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
British Library leads the way for sharing data as major institutions sign up to DataCitePublic release date: 29-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jia Liu liujia@genomics.cn BGI Shenzhen
Five major data centres have expanded their commitment to make research data more accessible through the British Library's DataCite service, a global initiative that addresses the problem of how to find, access and re-use the results of research. BGI is the first Asian data centre, alongside the UK based Archaeology Data Service, the UK Data Archive, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Science & Technology Facilities Council that have signed up to the service and are the first institutions to work with the British Library on this initiative.
Data from the participating organisations, which spans information derived from ice cores to gene sequences, cultural heritage to current populations, will be marked with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to enable it to be identified and cited, a system which has been widely used to provide persistent links to academic journal articles. This initiative provides a practical solution to one of the most significant challenges facing researchers today access to data an issue highlighted by the UK's Royal Society in a report published in June this year, 'Science as an open enterprise', which recommended that scientists should communicate the data they collect in fieldwork and research more widely. The report specifically highlights the first dataset DOI issued by the BGI, the genome of the deadly 2011 outbreak E. coli strain that killed 50 people in Europe, on its front cover and as an example of "the power of intelligently open data".
The benefits for researchers include:
Confidence that the link to the data (or information about the data) will be persistently and uniquely identified
Increased ease of citing data which will, in turn, increase its discovery and access, enabling others to verify the results and validate their own research
Access to a myriad of new research opportunities which have been out-of-reach until now
Acknowledgement and credit for sharing data and having it cited
"Enabling researchers to cite data, along with journal articles and other references, is becoming increasingly important, and DataCite has the potential to transform the way scientists communicate their research." said Dr Lee-Ann Coleman, Head of Science, Technology and Medicine at the British Library. "As an institution dedicated to providing information, as well as practical support to researchers, we believe that the British Library DataCite service is addressing some of the barriers to data sharing. We hope that the decision of these five institutions to participate will attract others to become involved, and will mark an important step towards changing community norms about sharing resources."
Professor Wang Jun, Executive Director of the BGI, said: "Being the largest genomics organization and one of the largest producers of biological data in the world, the aim of DataCite to create a scholarly structure that recognises and rewards data producers is very attractive to us. Releasing a number of our previously unpublished datasets with DataCite DOIs has already allowed them to be cited and credited in subsequent publications in high profile journals, such as Nature and Science, and we look forward to finally being able to track and follow our data's ensuing impact." As well as providing an incentive for data producers to release their data more quickly, data citation should also provide better mechanisms for linking and associating datasets to the publications using them, Relevant to this, BGI has launched a new "big-data" journal called GigaScience utilizing this functionality. For more on these developments, data publication and citation will be a topic of discussion at a special session on "Integrating Data & Literature" at BGI's upcoming International Conference on Genomics in Hong Kong on December 1st.
###
Notes to Editors
BGI was founded in 1999 with the mission of being a premier scientific partner to the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible through its investment in infrastructure that leverages the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, which includes both private non-profit genomic research institutes and sequencing application commercial units, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and BGI Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications. BGI has established a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research which has generated over 250 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. These accomplishments include sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and German deadly E. coli, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, most recently, have sequenced the human Gut metagenome, and a significant proportion of the genomes for the 1,000 genomes project. For more information about BGI please visit www.genomics.cn and follow @BGI_Events
For more information about the British Library DataCite service, visit http://www.bl.uk/datasets
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It has the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection, including world-leading scientific, technical and medical information resources. These support researchers engaged in academic, commercial and public service research across all scientific disciplines. The Library runs regular science events and participates in major projects that enable better access to information for researchers, including the British Library DataCite service and UK PubMed Central.
www.bl.uk/science and follow @ScienceBL
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Mitt Romney laughs while riding his campaign bus in Ohio on Monday. More than 20 newspapers who endorsed President Obama in 2008 have backed Romney this time.
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Public release date: 29-Oct-2012
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