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Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) (web site)
Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce
7130 W. Grandridge Blvd.
Suite C
Kennewick, WA 99336 (map it)
General Description
The Procurement Technical Assistance Center's (PTAC) mission is to maximize the number of capable U.S. companies participating in the government marketplace. Through no-cost counseling sessions and/or training workshops, we guide companies through the entire process of applying for and fulfilling government contracts, from helping you determine what kind of products and services the government needs, to registration, bidding and more.
Assistance Available
PTAC hosts several training sessions and seminars throughout the year to provide the practical, hands-on information you need to do business with the government. Please visit www.washingtonptac.org/events for a current schedule.
General Management/Business Planning
PTAC assists businesses with market research to determine if the government marketplace is a potential customer for their products and services. PTAC can help you locate key markets and how to best access those markets.
Information Source
PTAC will help you understand government contracting opportunities at the local, state and federal levels. We help with registrations and certifications, locating opportunities, proposal development, post-award assistance and more. We will also teach you how to market your products or services to government agencies and prime contractors.
Marketing Services
PTAC works with you to determine the key government markets for your products and services and how to best access those markets. We can also teach you how to develop a capability statement, which is a marketing piece specifically used for government contracting.
PTAC offers a computerized Bid Match service that will search numerous government databases for bid leads that match your company's criteria and capabilities. Bid leads are sent via email on a daily basis. This is an optional fee-based service.


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The purpose of the Journal of Managerial Issues is to contribute to the advance of information, ideas, and concepts related to the theory of organizations and the practice of management. The Journal is interested in publishing a wide range and mix of topics from any field of practical interest to the business community. Practical applications and empirical studies, as well as methodological and theoretical developments, are welcomed. The Journal will strive for a balanced content that will include the full range of subjects taught in business school and related disciplines that is applicable to management functions and practice.
The Journal is interested in research which:
Contributions from both the general trend of contemporary scholarship as well as those not following orthodoxy are welcomed.
The JMI is directed to both academicians and practitioners. It is interested in cultivating a readership of university faculty and administrators, business executives, and governmental administrators.
The JMI seeks the following types of articles: those that have direct practical application to business; articles that, though not necessarily applied in nature, would be of interest to both business managers and academicians; and those that explore public policy issues related to business. Articles should be scholarly but not overly technical or specialized. It should not be assumed that the readers are completely familiar with the concepts and terminology of a specific subject under study.
The goal of the JMI is to disseminate the results of new and original findings of both the academic and the business community, and, of particular importance, to serve as a bridge between them.
Journal of Managerial Issues

subset: commoncrawl


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Infants and Children
They Grow With Their Feet!
Start them out right in shoes that cradle little feet in comfort and support. Infants and Newborn to Size 3 are made with soft leather and no sole to allow tiny feet freedom to move. Size 4 and up have flexible soles to aid in those first steps. They adjust for perfect fit and expand for more toe room as little ones grow.
Newborn size fits American Girl dolls!
We are currently updating the shopping cart to serve you better. To place an order, please call us at 1-877-891-3550.


text:
Mexico drug war's latest toll: 49 headless bodies
MONTERREY, Mexico Authorities struggled Monday to identify the 49 people found mutilated and scattered in a pool of blood in a region near the U.S .border where Mexico's two dominant drug cartels are trying to outdo each other in bloodshed while warring over smuggling routes.
The bodies of 43 men and six women with their heads, hands and feet chopped off were dumped at the entrance to the town of San Juan, on a highway that connects the industrial city of Monterrey with Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas.
At the spot where authorities discovered the bodies before dawn Sunday, a white stone arch that normally welcomes visitors to the town was spray-painted with "100% Zeta" in black letters - an apparent reference to the fearsome Zetas drug cartel that was founded by deserters from the Mexican army's special forces.
Only one couple looking for their missing daughter visited the morgue in Monterrey where autopsies were being performed Sunday, a state police investigator said. Authorities said at least a few of the latest victims had tattoos of the Santa Muerte cult popular among drug traffickers.
The bodies, some of them in plastic garbage bags, were most likely brought to the spot and dropped from the back of a dump truck, Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said.
Domene said the dead would be hard to identify because of the lack of heads, hands and feet, which have not been found. The remains were taken to a Monterrey auditorium for DNA tests.
The victims could have been killed as long as two days ago at another location, then transported to San Juan, a town in the municipality of Cadereyta, about 105 miles (175 kilometers) west-southwest of McAllen, Texas, and 75 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of the Roma, Texas, border crossing, state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said. San Juan is known as the cradle of baseball in Mexico.
The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said none of the six female bodies matched the missing daughter's description. He said some of the bodies were badly decomposed and some had their whole arms or lower legs missing.
De la Garza said he did not rule out the possibility that the victims were U.S.-bound migrants. Authorities said they also may have been brought from other states, because there had been no recent reports of mass disappearances in in Nuevo Leon state.
The killings appeared to be the latest salvo in a gruesome game of tit-for-tat in fighting between the Zetas and the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
Mass body dumpings have increased around Mexico in the last six months of escalating fighting between the Zetas and Sinaloa, which is led by fugitive drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and its allies, the federal Attorney General's Office said in statement late Sunday.
The two cartels have committed "irrational acts of inhumane and inadmissible violence in their dispute," the office said, reiterating it is offering $2 million rewards for information leading to the arrests of Guzman, Ismael Zambada, another Sinaloa cartel leader, and Zetas' leaders Heriberto Lazacano Lazcano and Miguel Trevino.


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|Let Us Be Your Label Department
Custom labels are our specialty. Just tell us what you need.
Fast 4 Color Process Roll Labels. Three to five day production
Stock labels for thermal, laser, ink jet, and dot matrix printers.
Fun Stickers include New Baby Labels for new mothers, Smileys,
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|Welcome to Flexible Label Group's Home Page


text:
FREE – Suspense Thriller – 4.5 Stars – 137 Reviews
(FREE – Limited Time)
The Santa Shop (The Samaritans Conspiracy Series: Book 1) by Tim Greaton.
The Samaritans Conspiracy Series in Order:
Red Gloves (Book 2).
The Santa Shop's Hollywood Ending is an extended ending to The Santa Shop written for one of the major Hollywood Studios (Print Length: 51 pages). The Santa Shop Anniversary Edition is the newly expanded edition improving on and recreating certain aspects of events within the original and includes The Santa Shop's Hollywood Ending.
Her Yearning For Blood Serial by Tim Greaton & Angelica Raea:
Episode 1, Episodes 1-3, Episode 4.
The Zachary Pill Series by Tim Greaton & Amanda Gill:
Of Monsters and Magic (Book 1), With Dragon Fear (Book 2), Against the Troll (Book 3), The Dragon at Station End (Books 1-3), Water Golems (2 Short Stories).
Additional Books by Tim Greaton:
1 – Under-Heaven, 2 – The Halloween Caper (Novella), 3 – Bones in the Tree (Novella), 4 – Dustin Jeckle & Mr. Hydel (Short Story), 5 – The Pheesching Sector (Short Story), 6 – The Shaft & Two Other Stories (Short Stories), 7 – For the Deposit & Two Other Stories (Short Stories), 8 – Distilled Shadows (A Collection of Dark Stories).


text:
Anna Wiernicki joined the KAMC news team in June 2014. She graduated from The George Washington University in May 2014 with degree in political science and a minor in journalism and mass communications.
After four years in the nation's capital, Anna is happy to be back in the Lone Star State. She grew up in the Woodlands, Texas and spent two years at The American School in London.
Anna has interned at CNN, ABC's Good Morning America, Fox 26 KRIV in Houston, Fox 5 WTTG in Washington D.C., and the office of Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Tx.)
Outside the newsroom, Anna enjoys catching up on politics, spending time with her family and friends, running and playing sports.
If you have a story idea or just want to say hi, you can email her at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Copyright 2015 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


text:
Group buy for new tool
View Single Post
Gnarly Adventurer
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Center of the Smokies
Oddometer: 126
30 gallon grease barrell
I have owned a Coats 220 manual tire changer as well as. No-mar pro and a Hammond full auto tire machine . But my favorite low tech solution is. 30 gallon grease barrell with split radiator hose on the rim. I started out with my old scuba weight belt in the bottom to steady the barrell and threw hundreds of old wheel weights in as I changed hundreds of tires. I use two irons and three rim protectors . I made a bead breaker out of square section tubing . I use RU- glide for tire soap. Properly lubed I can mount the first bead totally by hand and close to 3/4 of the second bead. Bought a static balancer for 90.00 and some tire tools like valve core remover and a good pressure gauge. I still have the No-Mar but I use the barrel most often . If you look around you can find free barrels. For me at 5' 10 it is a perfect working height.
KTM 1190 KTM 690 E KTM 200 Exc
View Public Profile
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The Mississippi State Bulldogs will be one year older and have more experience when they hit the basketball court in the fall for head coach Rick Ray's second year with the program.
Even though the fact is true that there is more familiarity with everyone associated with the Bulldogs, Ray warns that there is still some work to do.
Ray doesn't want there to be any assumptions as far as where everyone stands moving forward.
To subscribe to the E-edition, please click here [3].
[1] http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/sites/default/files/Ray and Bloodman_0.jpg
[2] mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com
[3] http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/eedition


text:
General Info | Sponsors | Faculty | Program | Schedule | Travel | Accommodations | Registration | Gift Form | Youth Workshop | Post-Conference Workshop | Area Activities | Manuscript Reviews | Contact Us | Reviews from 2013 |
Back to Faculty
Peggy Shumaker
Peggy Shumaker's new book of poems is Toucan Nest. Her lyrical memoir is Just Breathe Normally. Professor emerita at University of Alaska Fairbanks, she teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program. Shumaker is the editor of Boreal Books, publishing literature and fine art from Alaska, and series editor for the Alaska Literary Series at University of Alaska Press. She served as the Alaska State Writer Laureate from 2010-2012.
Kachemak Bay Campus - Kenai Peninsula College/UAA


text:
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We also collect and store information that is generated automatically as you navigate through the site. For example, to enhance your experience on the site, we use a standard feature found in browser software called a "cookie." Cookies are small files that your web browser places on your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. By showing how and when visitors use the site, cookies help us track user trends and patterns. They also prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences on certain areas of the site where you have entered preference information before.
We use the information we collect from you while you are using the site only to provide certain site features such as text size and Irish, and to assist us in improving the site.


text:
HSBC "lift" by Grey London
Agency: Grey London
Rating: 5.0
By Staff, campaignlive.co.uk, Monday, 02 April 2012 12:00AM
|Agency factfile: Proximity London
|Type of agency
|Direct and digital
|Company ownership
|Key personnel
|Mike Dodds chief executive
|Lou Barber chairman
|Chris Slough managing director
|Caitlin Ryan executive creative director
|Nielsen billings 2011
|Nielsen billings 2010
|Declared income
|Total accounts at year end
|Accounts won
|3 (biggest: Braun, Zoom)
|Accounts lost
|Number of staff
|232 (+2%)
Proximity also began working on its new and biggest client, Lloyds TSB, which it won at the end of 2010.
One of Proximity's strengths is a solid management team, driven by its chief executive, Mike Dodds. Recent promotions have also strengthened the agency's proposition. These included the elevation of Lou Barber from managing director to chairman, with the deputy managing director, Chris Slough, replacing Barber as the managing director.
Caitlin Ryan, the executive creative director, has also been behind some strong work for the agency in 2011.
A campaign for Volkswagen included a business-to-business e-mail campaign that allowed recipients to take a test drive in the e-mail. The campaign brought the VW models to life in digital form, which included more than 12,000 combinations of the car. The personalised drive was VW Group's best-performing CRM programme to date.
Despite spending most of the year bedding in Lloyds, the agency also picked up new business for Braun, Wrigley and Max Factor, and increased existing client business with Orange, Kraft and Procter & Gamble.
Proximity has proved over the past two years why it's hot property as a direct marketing agency. The challenge for the agency in 2012 will be to raise its game even further by winning lots more new business to make sure it remains on fire.
Score last year: 8
How Proximity London rates itself: 8
"Incredible year, including double-digit growth across seven of our ten accounts, the number-one spot in the new-business league tables for direct agencies, and exceptional creative performance in DMAs, DMA Echos, Caples, Grocers and Campaign Big with 19 awards. Strengthened the team with the managing director Chris Slough, a new head of content, technical director, e-commerce specialist, senior planners and creative teams. Named a top 50 'best place to work' and our 20th year ended up being our best yet."
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
Before commenting please read our rules for commenting on articles.
If you see a comment you find offensive, you can flag it as inappropriate. In the top right-hand corner of an individual comment, you will see 'flag as inappropriate'. Clicking this prompts us to review the comment. For further information see our rules for commenting on articles.
Agency: Grey London
Rating: 5.0


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The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies
Edited by Mark J.P. Wolf, Bernard Perron
Routledge – 2014 – 544 pages
Series: Routledge Companions
Routledge – 2014 – 544 pages
Series: Routledge Companions
The number of publications dealing with video game studies has exploded over the course of the last decade, but the field has produced few comprehensive reference works. The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, compiled by well-known video game scholars Mark J. P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, aims to address the ongoing theoretical and methodological development of game studies, providing students, scholars, and game designers with a definitive look at contemporary video game studies.
Features include:
Each essay provides a lively and succinct summary of its target area, quickly bringing the reader up-to-date on the pertinent issues surrounding each aspect of the field, including references for further reading. Together, they provide an overview of the present state of game studies that will undoubtedly prove invaluable to student, scholar, and designer alike.
1. Artifact (Olli Sotamaa)
2. Artificial Intelligence (Robin Johnson)
3. Controllers (Sheila C. Murphy)
4. Emulation (Simon Dor)
5. Interface (Vincent Mauger)
6. Platforms (Bobby Schweizer)
7. Resolution (Mark J. P. Wolf)
8. Art and Aesthetics (Grant Tavinor)
9. Color (Simon Niedenthal)
10. Conventions (Bernard Perron)
11. Design (Richard Rouse III)
12. Dimensionality (John Sharp)
13. Levels (Martin Picard)
14. Perspective (John Sharp)
15. Sound (Mark Grimshaw)
16. Worlds (Mark J. P. Wolf)
17. Casualness (Julia Raz)
18. Challenge (Robert Furze)
19. Cheating (Mia Consalvo)
20. Competition / Co-operation (Emma Witkowski)
21. Conflict (Marko Siitonen)
22. Interactivity (Lori Landay)
23. Ludology (Espen Aarseth)
24. Objectives (Louis-Martin Guay)
25. Players / Gamers (Frédéric Clément)
26. Repetition (Christopher Hanson)
27. Single-player / Multiplayer (Daniel Joseph & Lee Knuttila)
28. Action (Dominic Arsenault)
29. Adventure (Clara Fernandez-Vara)
30. Role-playing (Andrew Burn)
31. Shooting (Gerald Voorhees)
32. Simulation (Seth Giddings)
33. Sports Games (Andrew Baerg)
34. Strategy (Simon Dor)
35. Convergence (Robert Alan Brookey)
36. Culture (Frans Mäyrä)
37. Cut-scenes (Rune Klevjer)
38. Death (Karin Wenz)
39. Education (Rick Ferdig)
40. Media Ecology (Kevin Schut)
41. Research (David Myers)
42. Retrogaming (Michael Thomasson)
43. Violence (Peter Krapp)
44. Characters (Jessica Aldred)
45. Community (Carly Kocurek)
46. Femininity (Carrie Heeter)
47. Masculinity (Michael Z. Newman & John Vanderhoef)
48. Performance (Michael Nitsche)
49. Race (Anna Everett)
50. Sociology (Andras Lukacs)
51. Cognition (Andreas Gregerson)
52. Emergence (Joris Dormans)
53. Fiction (Grant Tavinor)
54. Ideology (Mark Hayse)
55. Immersion (Carl Therrien)
56. Meaning (Christopher A. Paul)
57. Ethics (Mark Hayse)
58. Narratology (Dominic Arsenault)
59. Ontology (Espen Aarseth)
60. Transcendence (Mark Hayse)
Mark J. P. Wolf is a Full Professor and Department Chair in the Communication Department at Concordia University, Wisconsin. His books include Abstracting Reality, The Medium of the Video Game, Virtual Morality, The Video Game Theory Reader, The Video Game Explosion, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Myst and Riven: The World of the D'ni, Before the Crash, The Encyclopedia of Video Games, and Building Imaginary Worlds. With Bernard Perron, he is the co-editor of the Landmark Video Game book series.
Bernard Perron is Full Professor of Cinema at the University of Montreal. His books include The Video Game Theory Reader, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Horror Video Games, Silent Hill: The Terror Engine, and Figures de Violence. With Mark J. P. Wolf, he is the co-editor of Landmark Video Game book series.
Name: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies (Hardback) – Routledge
Description: Edited by Mark J.P. Wolf, Bernard Perron. The number of publications dealing with video game studies has exploded over the course of the last decade, but the field has produced few comprehensive reference works. The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, compiled by well-known video game...
Categories: Video Games, New Media, Media Theory, New Media, Popular Culture, Media Studies, Cyberculture, Sociology of Media, Media Entertainment


text:
Breastfeeding Your Baby: How Long Should You Do It?
- Home
- Health Info
- Breastfeeding Your Baby: How Long...
Breastfeeding Benefits
Plan for Success
Thinking About Weaning
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
World Health Organization (WHO)
La Leche League
Healthy Children—American Academy of Pediatrics http://www.healthychildren.org
World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada http://www.sogc.org
Women's Health Matters http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca
Breastfeeding. DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated September 11, 2013. Accessed September 13, 2013.
Breastfeeding: hints to help you get off to a good start. American Academy of Family Physicians Family Doctor website. Available at: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/pregnancy-newborns/caring-for-newborns/breastfeeding-formula/breastfeeding-hints-to-help-you-get-off-to-a-good-start.html. Updated August 2010. Accessed September 13, 2013.
How long should a mother breastfeed? La Leche League website. Available at: http://www.llli.org/FAQ/bflength.html. Accessed September 13, 2013.
Up to what age can a baby stay well nourished by just being breastfed? World Health Organization website. Available at: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/breastfeeding/en. Updated July 2013. Accessed September 13, 2013.
US Dept of Human Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health. Your Guide to Breastfeeding. US Dept of Human Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health website. Available at: http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/breastfeeding-guide/breastfeedingguide-general-english.pdf. Published January 2011. Accessed July 18, 2013.
7/6/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Schwarz EB, Ray RM, Stuebe AM, et al. Duration of lactation and risk factors for maternal cardiovascular disease. Obstet Gynecol. 2009;113:974-982.
3/18/2013 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Martin RM, Patel R, Kramer MS, et al. Effects of promoting longer-term and exclusive breastfeeding on adiposity and insulin-like growth factor-I at age 11.5 years: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2013 Mar 13;309(10):1005-13.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Brian Randall, MD
- Review Date: 09/2013 -
- Update Date: 09/13/2013 -


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In the late sixties & early seventies, the Ethiopians were one of Jamaica's most popular vocal trios, but their spell at the forefront of the island's music scene was cut tragically short in 1975 with the death of founder member, Stephen Taylor. Here are 25 of the hits - including their international chart-buster, 'Train To Skaville' - that made the group such a major draw. Trojan. 2002.
There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!


text:
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc to be offered by O2 UK in April
UK mobile operator O2 has thrown a special Coming soon page for the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc. According to O2 UK, the device will be available for sale in April, but the pricing still remains unknown for now.
As you have probably read in our thorough hands-on preview of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc, the phone features a 4.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and is powered by a 1Ghz Scorpion processor.
It seems like waiting is everything you could do right now. On the bright side, April is just a couple of months away.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc to be offered by O2 UK in April - reader comments
- 123
Finaaaaaaaallllllllllly :) best phone in specifications XD
- Reply
- 2011-03-09 22:30
- yangsterz
wow... when will it be released?... i'm planning to buy this phone
- Reply
- 2011-02-04 12:48
- t7Xi
- NavyBee
I suppose they are playing it safe. The Arc will serve as a flagship, but revenue-wise... against strong and innovative competition... i doubt its success. OTOH, SE have the Vivaz Hw design which is not so old after all and, as it seems, can be ad...
- Reply
- 2011-02-02 00:31
- 3vx9


text:
Sparkle this Holiday Season with Alima Pure's Limited Edition Jewel Box Collections
For the coming holiday season Alima Pure has wrapped up two dazzling mineral makeup gift sets: the Classic Jewel Box and the Modern Jewel Box. These beautifully packaged eye shadow collections unite luxury with mindfulness as eco-friendly (and budget-friendly) holiday gifts.
Classic Jewel Box
These stunning neutral shadows are the perfect foundation for any jewel collection and can be combined to create a sophisticated winter glow. The box includes:
18 kt., a bright, gleaming gold
Estate Diamonds, a sparkling silvery-white
Tahitian Pearl, a pearly grey with hints of brown
Chocolate Diamonds, a chocolate-toned taupe.
Modern Jewel Box
The bright colors are the prefect accessory to the Classic Jewel collection's soft tones. The box includes:
Pink Sapphire - sparkling light pink
Flawless Emerald - shimmering true green
Topaz - smoky gold with silver sparkle
Tanzanite - intense blue-violet with a pearly shimmer
The Jewel Box collections are available for a limited time and sold exclusively at www.alimapure.com, The collections are $25 each (a $36 value), and $2 from each purchase is donated to the Global Fund for women.


text:
The following is an archive of a post made to our
'vox-tech mailing list'
by one of its subscribers.
I discovered a great use for the large amount of HD space I have sitting
on my machine upstairs... apt-proxy!
What it does is allow all of my local machines to take advantage of the
100Mbit LAN in the house, when doing apt-get update/upgrades.
All four machines run Woody, so any security updates in the past would
require four separate downloads from various Debian mirrors, all over
the (relatively) slower DSL line.
With this proxy running, I just have all of my systems' /etc/apt/sources.lists
point to one machine, and when one system goes to grab a new DEB from the
Debian mirrors, it gets stored locally for the others to retrieve over the LAN.
A few machines also have Mplayer, Mozilla and some other stuff backported
to Woody, so I'll be setting up apt-proxy 'backends' so that any updates
to those apps will only need to be pull down the DSL line once, rather
than 2 or 3 times. :)
Debian Woody users can just "apt-get install apt-proxy" on the system you
want everything to be cached on, and then alter your "sources.lists" on
all machines to point to it. (Don't forget to update your /etc/hosts.allow
if you need to!)
It's already cached about 38MB of stuff that all of these boxes want,
which means I'm only waiting for ONE huge download, rather than 4!
Pretty cool!
email@example.com Got kids? Get Tux Paint!
http://newbreedsoftware.com/bill/ http://newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/
PS - Note: This is different from what Mike Simons did over at Worldcom whe
we were working there. There, he actually installed a FULL Debian mirror,
which meant even apps that were never installed by any of the various Debian
systems were still available locally, on the LAN. I believe he just had
a machine pulling full mirror updates on a nightly basis...
vox-tech mailing list
Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux
systems, remote system administration and
custom software development.
LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us
LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.


text:
premium services
online directory
customer care
Chemical Week Magazine :: Basic Chemicals & Plastics
Talks End for Sale of Shell Refinery
8:51 AM MDT | August 6, 2010 | LINDSEY BEWLEY
Royal Dutch Shell says it will go ahead with previously announced plans to close its 130,000-bpd refinery at Montreal East and convert the site to a fuel terminal that will receive gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels. The site also has the capacity to produce about 55,000 m.t./year of propylene. The move comes after negotiations with a potential buyer fell through, Shell says (CW, June 14, p. 8). Shell last January said the refinery no longer fits the company's long-term strategy and that it would put the refinery up for auction. The company was in talks with...
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text:
SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's golf team continued its climb up the top-25 charts, as they claimed sole possession of the No. 23 national ranking, according to Golf Stat. The team improved one spot from last week's release.
Coming off a ninth-place showing at the Buccaneer Invitational, the squad upended three top-25 schools including region opponents, West Florida, Valdosta State, and Flagler.
Saint Leo also ranks ninth in the latest South Region poll. The top 13 teams in the south will earn region bids. In total, six Sunshine State Conference schools dominate the south region poll, including Barry and Florida Southern, which rank No. 1 and 2.
Individually, JP Albuquerque ranks 24th in the nation in par-three scoring, posting a 3.11 average.
The Lions will hit the links again on April 19th for the Sunshine State Conference Men's Golf Championships. The event will be held at the Grande Oaks Golf Course in Davie, Fla. It is hosted by Nova Southeastern.


text:
Creative Child Care Preschool opened in 1995, at its current location;
17150 East Amhurst Drive Fountain Hills, AZ 85268.
Creative Child Care Preschool offers quality preschool, kindergarten prep and full time programs for children, ages two and one half through five years old, year around. To enhance the rapid changes in your child's important preschool years the latest findings in brain development and gender differences are incorporated into the curriculum at Creative.
Our philosophy is to promote a love for learning through developmentally appropriate materials and play. Children are addressed individually and nurtured to build a positive self-esteem, with an emphasis on social, emotional, intellectual, physical and cognitive development. Establishing a pattern throughout our day and having students in attendance on a regular schedule promotes an environment that is predictable, stable and socially stimulating, which in turn leads to true learning experiences.
Our inspection reports on the Department of Health, Office of Child Care Licensure are available for viewing.


text:
Amazon to create 2,000 jobs in Britain
LONDON (AFP) - Online retail giant Amazon announced Friday that it would create 2,000 jobs in Britain over the next two years with the opening of three new fulfilment centres.
Amazon added in a statement that the new facilities would also create up to 3,000 temporary positions over the peak Christmas trading period.
The upbeat news came on the same day that Amazon opened its eighth fulfilment centre in Hemel Hempstead, with the creation of 600 permanent jobs.
"We have created thousands of jobs in the UK over the last few years and are delighted to announce that we plan to create thousands more in the next 24 months," said Mr Christopher North, managing director of Amazon.co.uk Ltd.


text:
In an article entitled "Instagram Marketing: The New Instagram Explore Page", Alex Ditty (author) discusses an update to Instagram that will improve the discovery of visual content – an advantage for marketers. In this Business2Community piece, Ditty details the changes and how it will impact brands and their marketing strategy.
TechCrunch reporter, Lucas Matney, shares details on a report issued this week by USA Network. This article called "Report Suggests Young People May Abandon Social Media if Privacy Breaches Continue" shows that 55 percent of young people would eschew social media entirely "if they could start fresh." With the increasing number of privacy breaches, this report further emphasizes the concern by the younger population with protecting their privacy.
The ever-popular topic of content marketing is discussed by Jeff Sierra in his MarketingProfs article entitled "These Mistakes Can Make Your Content Marketing an Epic Failure (but You Can Avoid Them) . Sierra covers three common content marketing mistakes and some ideas for how to avoid them.]]>
Recent research by Wayin finds that real-time marketers are funneling more money toward such tactics (RTM), and they're reaping the benefits. This emarketer article called As Real-Time Marketing ROI Increases, Spending Follows evidences that Real-time marketers are in it for the relationships, event promotion.
Rounding out the week with a little humor, PR veteran pens an opinion piece for PRWeek called In praise of the PR chaos, which pokes fun at the industry. Author Lottë Jones explains the glamorous life of PR to college students.
In keeping with the spirit of the New Year/new leaf theme for January,
we've been trying to harness the burst of resolution motivation to establish
habits that lead to better efficiency, productivity and effectiveness, both
personally and collectively, this year. And one source of inspiration was J.T.
O'Donnell's article on LinkedIn about her approach to the "how do I get it
all done" conundrum.
As the time-pressed CEO of Careerealism Media, O'Donnell suggests that we limit our daily to-do list to 10 things, which includes a mix of job tasks, social chores and developmental goals. Now, before you ask – yes, she does more than these 10 items every day, but these, she says, are the 10 she chooses to do with consistency because they've proven the best way for her to grow her career and business over the years.
This, of course got us thinking, "What would the list look like for PR professionals?" Again, these aren't the only things we think you should be doing each day, but rather a list of suggestions to help promote growth over the next 12 months. So see below for our ideas, and feel free to add your own two cents in the comments!
1. Scan the news. Take 10-15 minutes every morning to do this — and not only the top national news, but also the news in your company's or clients' industries. It's a good way to stay on top of industry and competitive developments, not to mention it's a necessity for identifying news jacking opportunities.
2. Make a to-do list. As every PR pro knows, ours is a reactive business, which means planned activities can get pushed aside easily. Stay organized and on track with daily task lists that keep you accountable to the proactive and maintenance items that often get overlooked in the heat of the (inevitable) times of crisis.
3. Contribute to the conversation. We're talkin' social media here, but the key is to keep it meaningful – not mindless. Find a handful of valuable articles, blog posts, infographics, etc. that pertain to your clients and their industries, the PR profession, or even just business in general, and share with your network.
4. Learn about a new tool or technology. This means not only familiarizing yourself with your clients' products and services, but their competitors, as well. Got an interest in a particular area? Bone up on a new site, app, tool or technique, and teach your colleague so you can all be knowledgeable about what's out there.
5. Connect…offline. Step away from the computer. Yes, cut the digital umbilical cord, and go grab a cup of coffee with a client, invite a reporter to happy hour, attend a local conference or try out a new network event. After all, business is about relationships, and you can't keep connections as strong behind a keyboard.
6. Write. It's probably the task that gets pushed off to the last minute because there are emails to answer, calls to make, and just about any other task seems more appealing than staring at a blank page with a blinking cursor. But flex the writing muscle, and it WILL get stronger.
7. Get momentum with media. Keep goals focused, actionable and realistic – then chip away at them each day. Start with a short list of six to eight media outlets that are a good match for your client, research contacts, get to know them, read their content, get creative with your pitches and connect with them accordingly.
8. Engage your clients. Ask questions that will help you understand their situation better. Make time to regularly check in with them to get to know how they think and feel, and encourage them to share observations regarding the progress of the project and your performance so you can course correct before it's too late.
9. Make it measurable. Force yourself to develop and adhere to a method for tracking metrics. Not only does it allow you to create a benchmark for progress, but it also provides a means with which you can communicate those intangible successes to your clients. Just keep the process seamless, simple and straightforward.
10. Do stuff that inspires you. It sounds fluffy, but it's arguably the most important: Allow yourself the space to get creative, let your mind wander and explore your imagination. It feels contrary to marching toward those business objectives, but granting yourself permission to dream is really when the best work happens.
Photo/Image by David Carpenter]]>
When we asked our staff the same question (for those of us who actually buy into the whole resolution thing), it became clear that being successful with these desired changes means less about going cold turkey, and more about committing to an ongoing process of overriding old habits and rewiring them with new patterns of behavior until something clicks.
Case in point:
-"My resolution is to be as organized and productive in my personal life as I am at work. I can't say I'm knocking it out of the park, but I'm making progress. Although the fact the Patriots have been in the playoffs isn't helping my cause at all since my husband's participation is required to finish some of my home projects!"
-"This year I wanted to keep it simple, so my resolution was to walk the dogs each evening before dinner. Not only would it be good for all of us to get some fresh air, but it forces me step away from the computer for a few minutes. Our new routine lasted all of a few days, but at least we are getting out more often when we can."
-"I resoluted to slow down and play with my kids more. It was going well until they got back to school, I went back to work, and they started all their activities. I need to have some sort of reminder to stay on track better."
See a common theme here?
So did we, which got us thinking about our clients, particularly the Agile software development methods they use (for both product development and team management) and how much more fluid an iterative and incremental approach can be when it comes to making significant, sustained progress. As you know, Agile is a solution-oriented process that relies on adaptive planning and evolutionary processes, along with rapid and flexible response to change…so if it's been proven successful in our business lives, it only makes sense that we could apply the same techniques in our personal lives, as well.
Enter what we like to call our New Year's "Revolutions" for 2014.
Sure, we still need to keep an eye on the bigger picture (such as losing 10 pounds or seeing X increase in revenue), but you'll get there more quickly if you create a list of actionable steps for the short-term, adjusting as you go along. Is something working – like a pitch that strikes a nerve with reporters, or a new way to remind yourself to stop and smell the roses with your kiddos? Then double down on those efforts to see bigger gains. Or is something not working – like an old press release format that's lost traction, or dog leashes strewn about the house, so it takes you 15 minutes to find them before you lose all momentum to get outside? Then it's time to switch things up, and try something new that removes the friction that's preventing you from moving forward.
Respond to change – both positive and negative – and you'll see results more quickly. See results, and you'll no doubt be inspired to do more. The cycle slowly snowballs, and before you know it, you've got some major momentum to keep you going toward – and achieving – all of those goals.
Have you successfully added agility to your personal life? We'd love to hear more in the comments!]]>
We know these are very few of the many time saving and time enriching tools out there. So, please share your favorites in the comments. The more we share, the more we all benefit. And this is the giving season after all.
We may not be able to offer you raindrop-laden roses and bewhiskered kittens to brighten your mood, but we can share a few of our favorite things to lighten your load.
We asked our staff to share some of their favorite things for four distinct (but, oh so familiar) personality types. Each week we'll share our ideas starting this week with the time pressed exec.
So, don't let the stress of the season rob you of its merriment. Take a gander at our favorite things and try a few for yourself. You may even find a few gift-worthy suggestions to help you finish up your holiday shopping (we aim to serve).
Now, without further ado…
PPR's Favorite Things for the Time Pressed Exec (or the average worker bee)
What would you add to our list? Please share in the comments below.]]>
We are pleased to share another insightful "Effective Executive" interview with Eric Newman, Vice President of Products & Marketing for Digby. In this role, Eric Newman helps brands leverage the power of Localpoint, a cross channel marketing platform. During his 18-year career, Eric has ridden the cutting edge of a number of online revolutions at a successful startups, including Demand Media's Pluck, Powered, IBM's DataBeam, Ask Jeeve's Direct Hit and Motive Corporation's Question Technologies. He holds a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a B.A. in Information Systems and Marketing from the University of Cincinnati.
Eric shared his thoughts on location-based marketing behavior and which loyalty programs top his list. He also shared his insights with us on why Austin has become such a growing city for tech companies, especially start ups.
What's the challenge in attaining a location-based marketing strategy?
Using time and place as a real-time trigger for marketing, engagement and customer service in brick and mortar locations adds a whole new dimension to an organization's marketing and operational thinking – and therein lies the challenge. It starts with figuring out how you want to react to a consumer's entry into a store, or presence in a target neighborhood – notifying associates of the consumer's entry or sending a visit-encouraging message to the consumer as examples. From there, the retailers we work with are using that real-world event as a key juncture for mapping the consumer's cross-channel history – understanding that they shopped on the ecommerce site last night and are likely entering the store to put their hands on the product before making the purchase. That kind of omni-channel use is where location really shines as the link between the on and offline worlds, but it is also the most challenging for an organization to adopt when typically those worlds were organizationally separated in the past.
What have you seen over the last year in terms of measured success of a good location-based marketing strategy?
We have witnessed some amazing results. While we cannot speak to specific customers' performance metrics, we can talk about campaigns where 60+% of consumers in neighborhoods near a store opened a location-based announcement with push notification set up by the marketer and then in turn, visited the nearby store to redeem the offer. We've seen social check-in campaigns through the retailer's app generate astounding redemption rates as consumers walked into the store, received an offer and then shared the offer with their friends.
What are some of the best loyalty programs you've seen for customers?
As a marketer I really appreciate the Kohl's cash program. Giving consumers discounts they can apply against any product in a virtual cash format makes it easy to earn and easy to spend those points, but all within Kohl's stores.
As a consumer, I like loyalty programs that offer something a little different as a loyalty reward. Using earned loyalty points at a grocery like Randall's to get a steep discount on gas at their fueling station is significant enough to actually spur conversation about it at the family dinner table. Any time you can get someone teaching their children about a loyalty program, that's longevity.
What's your dream customer – i.e., who could use some improvement with Digby?
Location context as a trigger to more relevantly market and engage the consumer is not limited to one vertical or most appropriate for just one customer. We see interest in Digby from brands in many sectors – from hospitality to dining and even sports franchises – anyone who has a physical place of business and would like to better engage their customers. Interestingly, we learn new use cases for our technology with every potential customer we meet. One of my favorite unexpected use cases was a convenience store chain that builds 50-100 stores a year. That's millions of dollars of real-estate investment where building on the wrong spot can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of missed revenue. In this case, the retailer wanted to identify locations where they were considering store development, and use the knowledge of how many of their app-holding, loyal customers drive by these various locations as a set of decision input into their real estate evaluation.
What's the connection with mobile apps to successful in-store service?
There are so many use cases around customer service where awareness that the customer is at the store is so important. For example, a fast food restaurant wants to allow consumers to order their burgers online for pickup in the restaurant. Doesn't sound all that complicated until you realize that a fast food sandwich has about a two minute shelf life under the heat lamps. Get caught at a red light on the way to the store for pickup, and they have to start the order all over again. Instead, the restaurant wants to use our Localpoint platform to know when the remote ordering customer has entered the parking lot and place the order into the queue at that moment – ensuring a burger ready to go with minimal waste.
Any predictions for 2014 in terms of marketing behavior, from a B to B or B to C standpoint?
Location is becoming white hot right now as organizations see the relevancy and depth it can add to their customer relationships, and the ROI it can drive in terms of incremental store visits, conversion and cart size growth. Generally speaking, this technology applies best to the B to C experience, given the nature of shopping behavior where consumers visit malls, stores and other retail locations.
Weigh in on Austin and its growth in the tech world – how would you say Austin has changed over the year climate-wise for tech companies?
Austin is an incredible place for technology and has been for many years. A startup community increases in velocity as it builds momentum with entrepreneurs at all organizational levels building startups and then facilitating the sale and integration of the startup into larger technology companies. This creates a powerful secondary effect of drawing larger companies into Austin and then setting up the entrepreneur to make a run at their next big idea. Austin has been doing this successfully for 20 years and has mature, fertile field of technology companies and startups spanning from the B to C space, like MapMyFitness who recently announced acquisition by UnderArmour, to B to B and even hardware solutions. The whole city has adopted tech as a mainstay of the economy and culture and the tech companies fit right into the "Keep Austin Weird" message we are known for.
Have you gone to SXSW? What's your experience or viewpoint on it as a value for organizations or evangelists?
SXSW is an amazing mix of digital technology, media, movies and music. However, its meteoric growth has moved well beyond its roots as an interactive conference to an expansive showcase. The biggest challenge is navigating the breadth of things you can do during the show, ranging from actually learning something in session, to hobnobbing with the digital elite, to immersing yourself in the non-stop party swirling around the event. You need a SXSW plan of action before stepping foot into the show and sign up for the sessions you need as early as possible to ensure attendance.
Top marketing outlets you read?
Being all mobile, all the time, I spend most of my reading budget on sites like Mobile Commerce Daily and the Location Based Marketing Association. I augment that with industry specific sites like Stores Magazine and Advertising Age. As a technology product guy, I cannot live without Business Insider or our Forrester relationship, as industry analysts give a deep, cross-vendor view of the world that is hard to find from more traditional industry media publications.]]>
Happy KNOWvember!
In most cases, this is the week when U.S. businesses begin rewarding employees with early release days and extra time off to enjoy the festivities.
Not surprisingly, it's expected that productivity will suffer a bit over the next 35 or so days. But, we do still have jobs to do and work that must get done. The challenge is finding the energy and drive to work when all you want to do is hit the holiday eggnog and cozy up by a crackling fire.
As virtual workers and PR pros to boot, we know a thing or two about working smart, so we've compiled a few tips to help you stay productive through the holidays:
Don't let the glow of the holiday lights lure you to the dark side. Stay focused, and make the most of the season to catch up (and perhaps even get ahead) amidst all the holiday cheer. Then in January, when your colleagues are complaining about how far behind they are, you can relax a bit, knowing you rang in 2014 with a fresh start, a clean slate and a great attitude!]]>
Why? Noah Webster, otherwise known as the "father of the American dictionary," was born today in 1758. Fun fact: It took him 27 years to complete his first dictionary in the English language!
But rather than break out our dusty books in honor of the event, we thought we'd pay homage by talking about what's inside them, as that's the true impetus behind this annual observance.
See, as PR professionals, we rely on the word (both written and spoken) daily. Just as Edward Bulwer-Lytton said in 1839, "The pen is mightier than the sword," we, too, know the power of words and their ability to inform, inspire and even incite action.
Whether we're writing a pitch, press release or bylined article, we're constantly aware of the words we choose – and how their tone and meaning will be interpreted. In fact, as we're creating and circulating information on behalf of our clients, we strive to stay adept at striking a balance between keeping the messaging consistent and the language fresh.
So take a few moments today to open or click onto a dictionary, and peruse a few new words to add to your vocabulary. If you're in need of some inspiration, go to www.worldwidewords.org, or check out our infographic above, which highlights a few of our personal favorites. We'd also be remiss if we didn't include a few words from Mark Twain, a man who had a definite way with them:
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
The lesson here for us PR folks? Words are the building blocks for success, as they can help you communicate more clearly, yield better results and separate yourself and your clients from the competition. Use them wisely!]]>
When I was in college, I was proud to be studying at a University that had its PR program in the School of Business, resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Business degree. This was – and stills seems to be – a rarity in the field. Most PR and Marketing degrees are housed in the School of Communications and/or result in a Bachelor of Arts. In the past, this seemed to make sense for PR – it reflected the creative arts side of the field – writing, event planning, branding, messaging, etc. But today, with the explosion of analytics and data in the field, PR and Marketing executives have to think differently. They need to use both sides of their brain – the right, creative side and the left, analytical side. (Luckily, my degree prepared me for both before the market turned that direction.)
The creative side of the brain is still crucial to coming up with marketing strategies, branding and messages that appeal to people. We have to understand how to entice strong emotions that lead to action. Once that action is taken, we now have to use the right side of our brain to determine if that action resulted in value to our organization (or our clients' organizations). Our creativity is crucial when it comes to content – we are in fact content creators and publishers in the day and age of social media. It takes fun, whimsy and innovative risk taking to create content that's really going to stand out. But in order to truly create the best content, we need to use the right side of our brain to analyze how that content – if that content is working.
It's not enough anymore to say "That was a really catchy headline" or "The logo is awesome" – or even to just write a creative pitch that gets a reporter's attention. We now need to drill down and, after the reporter writes his or her article, analyze if the messages within drove the right interest. Was the article placed in the right outlet? Did the messages appeal to the right audience? What did they do as a result? Did they click through to our site? Did they buy? Why or why not?
This movement is also reflected in the banter about CIOs and CMOs battling for budget and suddenly sharing some tech responsibilities. CMOs are responsible for more data-driven decisions than in the past, and that includes managing the website's content (which CIOs also need to make sure doesn't then result in slower performance or other issues), and purchasing analytical software. As Dell chief information officer Andi Karaboutis recently told ZDNet, "Things for which I work together with Karen [the CMO]? Analytics, big data."
And thus, today's best PR and Marketing executives are what I've dubbed "Creatalitics" thinkers. They combine really creative and innovative ideas – those "dreams and visions" with data and analysis – the "blazes of insight" that tells them if their creations go beyond initial appeal and into the world of actionable value to the company's bottom line. How are you using "creatalitics" in your PR or marketing position? If we can help you better undersatnd and merge this new way of thinking into your organization, let me know.]]>
That's why I was so happy to be honored last week when I was named a Small Business Influencer Top 100 Champion and Expert in the 2013 Small Business Influencer Awards – produced by Small Business Trends, an award-winning online publication, serving over 6,000,000 small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually, and SmallBizTechnology.com, a media company that produces online content and live events educating small and mid-sized companies on how to strategically use technology as a tool to grow their businesses. The awards honor those who are influential to small businesses in North America, through the products, services, knowledge, information or support they provide to the small business market.
I'm flattered to be in this list with some former clients (Brainshark, Constant Contact), companies I admire and use daily (Dropbox, American Express OPENForum, Evernote, Etsy, FedEx, Hootsuite, Hubspot, Plantronics, Vistaprint) and industry folks that I admire such as John Jantsch, Laurie McCabe, Dave Kerpen, Larry Kim and Aliza Sherman. Congratulations to all the other winners and honorable mentions, as well as the nominees. I fully support and cheerlead anyone who works in, and strives to help, small business. You can read about all the champions, here.
I simply wanted to say thank you to those who voted for me, the judges and most certainly my team at PerkettPR. They are not only a huge part of making our national clients successful through smart digital marketing and PR, but they are also an inspiration to me every day to keep my own small business innovative, fun and alive.
You can read additional details here, visit the award site or follow along on Twittter by searching #SMBInfluencer.
PR practitioners used to have it easy! Remember the good 'ol days when it was all about our media relationships and campaigns were linear, like this?
Ok, that's simplifying things quite a bit, but you know what we mean.
Now, though, the entire landscape has changed with the explosion of the Internet, which has removed virtually all barriers to publication. Suddenly we're responsible not only for the message, but also the mode and the medium, which follows more of a vicious cycle:
Software Advice's article on The B2B Marketing Mentor does a great job of explaining the creation and importance of this new kind of role that merges marketing, PR and journalism functions.
In an nutshell, since we now play a larger part in the production of content (journalism), we're no longer simply pitching and promoting it (PR), but are challenged to leverage it as a strategic tool for lead generation and brand awareness (marketing).
The only problem is that, well, everyone else is doing the same thing, which means it's pretty noisy out there as we all compete for the time and attention of our audiences.
That's where the shift to "inbound" comes in; it's an offshoot of content marketing that focuses on aligning content with customer interest so that they are "pulled" toward your company, rather than the old-school spray-and-pray methods.
We've embraced this, both in theory and in action, with our clients. In fact, we recently attending the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco and the Inbound Marketing Conference in Boston where we talked about how it's not about being the loudest; it's about having the right content for the right audience at the right time.
Put simply, the only way we can guarantee our clients are in the media nowadays it to help them become the media. Content has become their new currency when attracting, engaging, converting and retaining customers.
Savvy PR professionals are embracing their status as content custodians. But the most successful ones will recognize the beauty in marketing's ability to measure return and directly tie to their clients' bottom line.]]>
You have a great product, idea or service. You've invested in putting together a solid website. Social media marketing is important, so you have Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts – maybe even a Tumblr account too. You know social sharing is a key element of success online, but you want the results of your efforts to improve. Luke Chitwood of TheNextWeb says just follow The 10 commandments of social sharing and driving traffic to your website and you'll engage with customers and draw traffic like never before.
Everyone has influence, and Klout has made it their mission to tell each of us what that is. They accomplish this by using data from your social networks to gauge your Klout Score. And as your score increases, it becomes exponentially harder to increase your Klout. But there are things you can do to proactively boost your score and, more importantly, keep it as high as possible. AllTwitter Co-editor Shea Bennett posts a visual guide to help boost your score – 4 Tips To Increase Your Klout Score [INFOGRAPHIC].
As a small business, you may think it's impossible to get the word out about what you do. Marketing doesn't have to be hard or expensive. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective. Eric V. Holtzclaw, author and founder and CEO of Laddering Works, pens 10 Simple Marketing Tips for Small Businesses on Inc. to help get the word out about your business and watch it grow.]]>
No. 1: Your & You're
"Your" is possessive, as in "your client" or "your press release," when "you're" is a contraction of "you are." A handy tip: When in doubt, insert that phrase (you are) into the sentence, and use it if it still makes sense.
No. 2: Its & It's
Same idea here – "its" is possessive, as in "the early bird got its worm," whereas "it's" is a contraction of "it is." Try the same swap in a sentence – you wouldn't say, "the early bird got 'it is' worm," right?
No. 3: Numbers
According to AP Style, numbers one through nine should be written out, and figures should be used for 10 and above. (Bonus: When writing percentages, always use numerals with the word "percent," not "%.")
No. 4: Fewer & Less, More Than & Over
Use "fewer" with things you can quantify (e.g. fewer than 10 pieces of coverage), whereas "less" is used with hypothetical quantities (e.g. Their launch was less successful than ours). Along those same lines, "more than" is used with numbers, where "over" generally refers to spatial elements (e.g. She sent more than 25 tweets; I positioned the logo over the text in the document).
No. 5: Complement & Compliment
To "complement" something is to add to or supplement it (e.g. That color really complements your complexion), whereas a "compliment" is an expression of praise or admiration (e.g. That color looks great on you!).
No. 6: Into & In To
The word "into" answers the question, "where?" – although it doesn't necessarily need to be a physical place (e.g. I walked into my office). The words remain separate when they happen to show up next to one another in a sentence (e.g. My boss came in to see me).
No. 7: E.g. & I.e.
The abbreviation e.g. is Latin for "exempli gratia," meaning "for example." The abbreviation i.e., on the other hand, stands for the Latin "id est," meaning "that is to say." Here's an example: "We like social media—e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn." Or you might write, "We like social media—i.e., we've made a point of connecting with others."
No. 8: That & Who
Always use "who" when referring to people. Otherwise, if you say something like, "employees that are present today in the office," you're referring to them as objects.
No. 9: Affect & Effect
"Affect" means "to influence" (e.g. This heat is affecting my ability to concentrate), whereas "effect" is a result (e.g. The heat has had an effect on productivity levels in the office).
No. 10: Alot & A Lot
Trick question! "Alot" is not a real word, so always be sure you separate the two. And, when in doubt, try to replace it altogether with a number or something like "many" or "ample" to sound more professional.
How did you transition from covering sports to covering technology? What do you miss about it?
My transition from sports to tech had a lot to do with the advanced study of baseball statistics. In baseball nerd circles, these are called sabermetrics. You ever heard of Moneyball (first a book, then a movie starring Brad Pitt)? For a long time I studied these advanced statistics to the point that I knew them by heart. It awakened a very statistically-driven analyst in me and taught me that I could basically learn anything and break it down into simple, understandable terms for my readers.
After I left TBD.com in D.C., I was on the lookout for a steady gig in either tech, sports or investigative reporting. I like tech and have always had kind of a casual interest in how things are made and then put to use. So, I landed at Government Computer News writing about smartphones. The clincher for me in getting that job was telling one of the editors at GCN about how I had taught myself sabermetrics and how that learning process informed my world view. Hurray for baseball.
What I miss most about sports is being at the arena or ballpark and the competitive but close-knit relationship with other beat reporters. They all may work for different outlets, but it is kind of a club. What don't I miss about it? The fact that most professional athletes are trained to say absolutely nothing of substance. Lots of, "I trust my teammates and god" (in that order), type of quotes.
As a native of the Boston area, what do you love most about our city?
You ever been the Green Dragon Tavern? It was supposed to be the headquarters of the American Revolution and guys like Sam Adams and Paul Revere met there to discuss the resistance against the British. The actual Green Dragon was torn down in 1854 and the current pub (tucked behind Bell In Hand by all those bars on Union Street) is a few blocks from where the original building was. But, it is still a part of history, of both Boston and the United States. Boston is full of those little types of places. Hell, Harvard is quite a bit older than the U.S.
I love history. I have a degree in it (next to my English degree and Master's in Journalism). I love living in a city where major history is so casually interspersed with the everyday and modern.
Also, the Red Sox. ;)
As a journalist, what is your biggest pet peeve about PR professionals?
Multiple emails. If I don't answer the first time, the pitch may have gotten lost but not bloody likely. I am well on top of my email. If a PR person sends two, three, four or more follow ups, I will actually ban them to my spam folder. This is probably the worst possible outcome for a PR person trying to get my attention because it will mean that all subsequent communication from them will go to my spam. There is a good chance I wasn't interested in the pitch the first time. I don't have time to respond to everything, so my silence is generally my answer.
That being said, I archive just about every single email I get. It is a fairly large archive at this point. If I am looking for something on a particular topic, I search my email for products, points of reference and people to talk to. It's a resource, just like Twitter is a resource or Google+ (yes, I use Google+).
Also, don't ever, ever, ever cold call me if we have not communicated before. I might give you 30 seconds, if you are lucky.
Also, don't send things to me in the mail (actual, physical mail) if I have not asked for them and am expecting them. The PR person from Mophie once sent me a lunch box before CES with one of their battery packs and some energy bars. Clever, I have to say, but really annoyed the hell out of me.
What has been the most fascinating interview you have conducted over the years?
It was actually a series of interviews in a 24-hour span. When I was still covering government tech and doing freelance sports, I talked to former NASA CIO Linda Cureton and former CTO Chris Kemp. The next day I covered both a Washington Capitals game and then a Wizards NBA game that night (one of those rare days when both teams play on the same day at the same arena and the bull gang has to change over from the ice to the parquet). So, within that day I interviewed both Cureton and Kemp as well as Capitals star Alex Ovechkin and San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan. That was pretty cool.
Of those interviews, Kemp was the most fascinating. This was when tablets were still pretty new and Kemp (who now is the CEO of a cloud company called Nebula) gave me one of my favorite lines ever; "tablets are the gateway to the cloud." That has stuck with me as I have studied the confluence of the cloud and mobile revolutions.
What do you love about your job?
Learning. I feel like I have gotten another whole degree since becoming a tech reporter. I study everything mobile, all day just about everyday. Been doing it for years now. I've gotten to the point where I might be able to cobble together a book or two on subjects like mobile payments and the proliferation of the app. I like to get pretty wonky with my articles sometimes, so I will find and study source code or take a look at new integrated developer environments. Basically, my job allows me to absorb information and that makes me really happy.
Outside of work, what are you passionate about?
I am a pretty big cycler. I have a very nice Jamis racer road bike. Love to get out into the roads in Metro West and do 50 or 60 miles around Lexington and Concord.
After I stopped being a sports reporter, I have always rediscovered the pleasure of being a sports fan. I love baseball. When you are a sports reporter, it becomes a job. Even if your job is to wake up and go watch hockey for a living, there are days (everybody has them) where you just say, "I don't want to go to work today." You lose that exuberance that made you a fan in the first place. It took a couple of years for me to get over that but I have found that I can once again watch the Red Sox game and enjoy it without having to worry about filing a story as soon as the game ends.
What is next for you for the remainder of 2013?
Work, work, work. Absorb more knowledge. Get ready for the mobile product blitz that is the holiday shopping season. Looking forward to seeing exactly how Apple has cobbled together the new aspects of iOS 7 with the iPhone 5S. Also want to see whether the concept of the "smartwatch" becomes a popular product item. My editor-in-chief Owen Thomas is not a fan of the smartwatch, but I think it could be really cool. I want to be like Dick Tracy, damnit, and I don't want to have to tether my smartphone to a watch to be able to do so. A couple scheduled trips to New York and San Francisco (those are the only places I seem to go these days) and then home for Christmas. Trying to take it easy on the travel because my spring travel schedule is brutal (Las Vegas, Barcelona and Austin, Texas).
Other than that, just keep on keeping on.]]>
First off – they're everywhere lately. There are days when the bulk of the updates we see consist only of one contact endorsing or being endorsed by another.
Don't get us wrong. We LOVE getting endorsements! Who wouldn't appreciate unsolicited compliments from colleagues and associates? True, there is that pesky sense of obligation to return the favor, but that's a minor inconvenience in return for what amounts to a recommendation, right?
But is it a recommendation? In many cases the skills LinkedIn lists for endorsement are somewhat vague and most definitely impersonal. That said, public relations, social media strategy and press releases are rather critical skills to have – especially in our business. But those are the things we can (and should) include in our profiles; they aren't particularly unique skills, and with the increase in endorsements lately, their shine and influence has begun to fade.
This got us thinking: What might be more valuable (and loads more fun) would be the option to endorse a person for soft skills, personality traits and unique characteristics – you know, the stuff that really reveals how useful – or liked – he or she may be.
So without further ado, here's our list of the endorsements we'd love to receive and give on LinkedIn:
Do you think LinkedIn endorsements are useful? And what's on your endorsements wish list for LinkedIn?]]>
As an agency, we're constantly thinking about best practices among the complimentary disciplines, along with how we can leverage a combination of them most effectively for our clients.
One of the more recent discussions was around engagement on social media. While we're all familiar with it from a personal perspective, it's still an area that can be a challenge from a business standpoint.
Even though there's a general understanding among brands that social media is a marketing tool that can help them reach out to their customers, it can be difficult to convince them to loosen the reins and fully harness their network's power to unlock the true potential.
But rather than brainstorming something like a list of the "10 tips for better social media engagement," we simply wanted to show an example of the magic in action in this video from UK maxipad maker Bodyform, made late last year. The company created it in response to a man's tongue-in-cheek "rant" on their Facebook wall, claiming that he's been lied to about the "happy periods" depicted in their ads over the years.
What might make some brand managers bury their heads in the sand to avoid addressing, Bodyform embraced as an opportunity to get a conversation, ahem, flowing in its community.
"We found Richard's post very amusing and wanted to continue the positive dialogue around periods that this generated," said Yulia Kretova, brand controller for Bodyform, in a statement. "…Breaking down the taboo around Bodyform and periods has always been a challenge, and I hope that we have started to address this."
The result? Well, not only did it delight fans and followers, but the video went viral, and we're still talking about it months later as a hilarious – and effective – example of engagement at its best.
While the saying "no publicity is bad publicity" will always be up for debate, there's no denying that any kind of feedback – even negative – can be a major opportunity in social media to convert its loudest naysayers into its most fervent fans. And that's something none of us should overlook – period.]]>
Facebook Changes News Feed To Bump Up More Relevant Content – Called "Story Bumping," the changes move up older stories to the top of a user's News Feed if they missed them during a previous visit to Facebook. Forbes writer Tomio Geron clarifies the changes and shares some initial reactions and results.
All marketing practitioners are seeking ways to save money and get a bigger bang for their budget buck. How to do that isn't at all obvious. MarketingProfs' Ardi Kolah explains that sometimes the answer can be staring you in the face and offers 10 Ways to Stretch Your Marketing Budget
Social has become a critical component of the overall digital advertising market. As Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others have emerged as social network leaders, they have created powerful new ways for advertising to reach consumers. In fact, some $11 billion will be taken in advertising revenue in social media in the year 2017 – that's according to this incredible infographic that looks at the rise and rise of ad sales on social sites. A Brief History of Social Advertising via The Next Web.]]>


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I did not see a single video game that the Angry Video Game Nerd mentioned that I can honestly vouch for. Especially Ghostbusters for the NES… Okay, maybe I will never actually played the NES version of the game, but I did play it on my friend's Commodore 64. It was horrible. I never got it nor did I understand how someone would even describe this game as fun. Least favorite game EVAR!
Top 10 Worst NES Games
Top 10 Worst NES Games
November 9, 2013 by to Videos
source: YouTube
I can vouch for the BttF game being rather difficult. I didn't get it with a manual so that made it even harder to figure out what to do. Come to find out years later that you can beat it in five hours and that each area is a street. Even my mom was baffled by it. We tried everything. Nothing worked. Lack of save file and health bar made it worse. I still enjoyed it though xDD


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USA Pro Cycling Challenge race volunteers get anti-terror training
DENVER - Thousands of volunteers needed for the USA Pro Challenge cycling race in Colorado will get mandatory training that includes terrorism alerts.
Volunteers along all eight stages of the week-long race will be trained in spotting and reporting potential terrorist activity.
The training will be provided by the CELL, the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab in Denver. The CELL is a non-profit, non-partisan, privately funded anti-terrorism center. The training is in direct response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, where two pressure cookers were used to make bombs that exploded near the finish line. The bombs killed three people and injured more than 260 people.
"We want people to be aware and report anything they feel might be suspicious," said Melanie Pearlman, the executive director of the CELL.
Training will include how to identify suspicious packages and the proper way to report concerns to authorities.
"You know in your gut when something isn't right," said Capt. JP Burt, commander of the homeland security section of the Colorado State Patrol. "Report it, and put the burden of proof on us in terms of whether it is nefarious or innocent."
Troopers with the Colorado State Patrol will also be training in the coming weeks.
Officials say cycling fans should also be prepared for an increase in road closures this year due to tighter security.
Volunteers will be trained in communities statewide. The race passes through many mountain, front range and northern plains towns and cities.