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Never trust a product that makes an environmental or social justice claim
Posted by TheShot on 25 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade
In the mixed feelings department, the Washington Business Journal recently reported on Counter Culture Coffee's newest regional training center in D.C.: Counter Culture Coffee opens training center in Adams Morgan – Washington Business Journal:. As with Counter Culture's other training centers, it is designed to educate industry wonks and general consumers alike on coffee flavors and Fair Trade practices.
On the upside, awareness of what makes good coffee is a very good thing. I wholly support the notion of educating more people on how to make good coffee, from bean to cup. And while Fair Trade practices are hardly secrets anymore, coffee retailers and consumers should be aware of the issues that lead to the creation of Fair Trade.
That said, Counter Culture seems intent on shoehorning the ever-popular wine analogy with coffee consumers. While this is a convenient vehicle for explaining to consumers why a roasted coffee should cost $15 a pound, it's also very misleading. Consumers are loaded with pre-conceived notions and expectations where the wine tasting model just does not fit — whether it's the manual skill and chemistry involved in coffee preparation, the completely unromantic ritual of coffee cupping, or the idea of food pairing.
Environmentalism and social justice: today's marketing jingle?
Counter Culture is avidly Fair Trade at its roots, so it's no surprise that they actively promote causes they so firmly believe in. But I have personally become further and further disenfranchised with Fair Trade. As with Communism, the devil isn't in the concept — it is in the detail of how it is executed.
And it's not just because growers and the environment aren't being aided to the degree Fair Trade advocates suggest they are. The goals of certification labels such as "Fair Trade" and "organic" have literally been swallowed whole by marketing efforts — not entirely unlike the "buy green" oxymoron. Just as Michael Pollan advised "never trust a food product that makes a health claim" in his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, I've recently come to the rather radical conclusion of "never trust a product that makes an environmental or social justice claim". Unfortunately, it's gotten this bad — and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.
6 Comments »
6 Responses to "Never trust a product that makes an environmental or social justice claim"
You've made some big assumptions here that are baseless, particularly Counter Culture vis-a-vis Fair Trade.
"ASS out of U and ME," they say.
With this and the earlier La Colombe post (not that you should care), I'm removing your blog from my RSS subscription roll.
You used to be fairly accurate in your assessments, but you've been severely off-base for a while now.
Good luck, and Godspeed.
Jeez, lighten up, Nick. Where is the controversy here?
It seems to me stunningly obvious that labels like 'organic' and 'fair trade' and 'green' *have* been systematically co-opted by the machinery of consumer marketing. That's just the horrible genius of modern capitalism at work.
If you don't like it, fine, but there's no point in shooting the messenger.
It was a thought provoking post. There is nothing wrong with questioning anyone who makes big claims or markets their ethics.
If someone who wasn't personaly invested in the reputation of the company had some critical thoughts, I would take it more seriously.
Well, while I'm not sure anyone will take this seriously, since I am personally invested with the reputation of Counter Culture (I am co-owner of the company) I thought I would weigh in anyway.
For what it's worth, I share in the distrust of environmental and social justice claims for any product- it all-too-easily leads to greenwashing. I am a skeptic about the way that the Fair Trade Certified movement has gone in the past few years.
On the other hand, I feel it's very useful to talk about environmentalism and social justice as regards consumer products. If we never do, how will consumers know the difference? I mean, if we don't mention whether a product was sourced with environmental sustainability or fairness in mind, how will consumers know how to make good choices?
In any case, I'm not sure we are subscribing to the same definition of "Fair Trade". I will proudly wear the mantle of "Fair Trade at the Roots" as long as we are talking about Fair Trade as a value set: the idea that one should deal with business counterparts fairly and transparently, and above all pay top-of-market prices for top quality coffees, working in cooperation with coffee farmers to relentlessly improve coffee quality and, therefore, coffee prices and livelihoods. This is a larger ideal than the "Fair Trade Certified" movement, which I agree is conceptually flawed, given its reliance on base prices co-op exclusivity. And as for the argument that Fair Trade Certified has been co-opted by large business, I would argue that it was designed for that purpose from the very start. The more idiosyncratic and, by definition, "smaller" relationship/quality model (sometimes called Direct Trade, though it goes by many names, and sometimes no name at all!) is, to my mind, a particularly useful and successful "type" of Fair Trade, and one which I am proud to participate in.
Thanks for the kudos on coffee education, I agree that it's a good thing to educate the industry and consumers alike about great coffee! I'm confused about your antagonism towards the wine analogy; while no analogy is perfect, it has proven useful to illustrating the importance of farming practices, coffee variety, microclimate, craftsmanship, and "specialness" in coffee. And I really disagree with your assessment of cupping as "unromantic"; is it really like taking apart a cow with a hacksaw to get a steak? Really?
Congrats on a thoughtful and detailed blog. Really cool.
Peter G


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text: Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's forces and rebels are fighting for control of the oil town of Brega as the battle for eastern Libya edged closer to Benghazi, the so-called "rebel capital" in the east. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from Benghazi that "there is no immediate threat to Benghazi, and the rebels have a new commander, an experienced commander, who has defected from Gaddafi forces. "This is good news for the rebel forces as he is reported to have some 8,000 men with him and heavy weapons too. "Militarily, it is difficult for Gaddafi to come all the way to Benghazi, street fighting will make Gaddafi lose men and their morale may go down." Separately, rebels say they are fortifying the town of Ajdabiya, against a possible assault by advancing forces loyal to Gaddafi, according to the Associated Press news agency. Ahmed al-Zwei, a rebel spokesman, said on Tuesday, "intermittent" fighting between the two sides was taking place on an 80-kilometre stretch of road between Ajdabiya and Brega. On Monday, Libyan jets flew behind rebel lines to bomb Ajdabiyah, the only sizeable town before Benghazi. Rebels said there had been no casualties. Colonel Milad Hussein, Libyan army spokesman, said that government forces were "marching to cleanse the country" of insurgents, whom he called "rats and terrorists" and vowed to take on Benghazi. The lightly armed rebels have been pushed back some 200 kilometres by Gaddafi's better equipped and better trained forces in the past week. "In Brega it is still advance and retreat, we are not in control and they are not either," rebel fighter Hussein al-Wami told the Reuters news agency. His report was seconded by fighter Addel Ibriki, who returned to Ajdabiya from Brega on Tuesday morning. "It is still to and from," Ibriki said. However, according to earlier claims, rebel fighters said they captured and even killed Gaddafi troops in Brega - but government forces contest that claim, saying that they are in control of the town. Libyan state TV showed some images, on Monday, from Brega port, claiming that it was in government control and at peace. Al Jazeera correspondents said it was difficult to verify the claims made by both sides. Meanwhile, Libyan government artillery and tanks re-took the small town of Zuwarah, 120 km west of Tripoli after heavy bombardment, Tarek Abdallah, a resident said by telephone. Amnesty offer On Monday, Gaddafi offered an amnesty to rebel fighters if they agreed to lay down their arms, Libyan state television reported. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tripoli said the offer will play on to the emotions of very anxious rebel forces who don't know how they will be able to put up a fight against Gaddafi's forces, given the overwhelming superiority of his military forces. "There is an enormous degree of anxiety. It's an all-or-nothing game now," Anita McNaught said. "If the rebels do not manage to hold out against Gaddafi and establish some kind of protective zone in the east of the country, it is almost certain in the wake of this, there would be some dreadful purge of those who dared to raise their hands against the Gaddafi administration. "People know that unless they are able to keep Tripoli at bay, that the alternative is almost too awful to contemplate. Those fears apply equally in Tripoli; they are just not expressed as openly as they are in the east." 'No-fly zone delay' As commanders of Gaddafi forces vowed to push deeper into rebel-held territory, diplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone made little headway. On Monday, France pressured G8 foreign ministers at a meeting in Paris, to formalise a move on Libya and back its efforts to speed up a UN Security Council decision on imposing a no-fly zone over the country to prevent Gaddafi forces from using warplanes, but the effort hit snags as partners such as Germany raised doubts. Guido Westerwelle, German foreign minister called for urgent talks in the Security Council for targeted sanctions on Gaddafi's government, but voiced opposition towards military action. "We are very sceptical about a military intervention and a no-fly zone is a military intervention," he told reporters after the dinner with G8 counterparts. In the end, a divided Security Council failed to produce a consensus among its 15 members on a no-fly zone, and Russia said it had questions about the proposal. "Fundamental questions need to be answered, not just what we need to do, but how it's going to be done," Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador, said in New York. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, also held a late-night, 45-minute meeting in Paris, on Monday, with Mahmoud Jibril, a senior Libyan opposition figure, after discussing the widening crisis with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The Arab League on Saturday endorsed a no-fly zone, and its decision satisfies one of three conditions set by the Western NATO alliance for it to police Libyan air space, which is the need for regional support. The other two are proof that its help is needed and a Security Council resolution. Nawaf Salam, Lebanese ambassador, sole Arab representative on the council, said Lebanon wanted it to act as fast as possible. "We think it is not only a legitimate request, it is a necessary request," he said. "Measures ought to be taken to stop the violence, to put an end to the ... situation in Libya, to protect the civilians there." SOURCE: Al Jazeera and agencies Politics Africa US & Canada France Germany


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Race and related grounds
Under the Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment in the social areas of employment, services, goods, facilities, housing accommodation, contracts and membership in trade and vocational associations. You should not be treated differently because of your race or other related grounds, such as your ancestry, ethnicity, religion or place of origin.
Canada, its provinces and territories have strong human rights laws and systems in place to address discrimination. At the same time, we also have a legacy of racism – particularly towards Indigenous persons, but to other groups as well including African, Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, Jewish and Muslim Canadians – a legacy that profoundly permeates our systems and structures to this day, affecting the lives of not only racialized persons, but also all people in Canada.
Relevant policies:
June 1996 - Standards for height and weight are sometimes used to screen or evaluate job applicants. In the OHRC's experience, this tends to occur in recruitment for occupations that traditionally have been male dominated. These standards or selection criteria are based on the average physical stature of men in the majority population group. Women and members of racialized groups are, on the average, physically smaller than members of the majority population group. Consequently, these groups tend to be disadvantaged by height and weight criteria. The policy of the OHRC with regard to such recruitment practices is set out below. This policy applies to all height and weight criteria used in the context of employment.
Policy on discrimination and language
June 1996 - This policy statement sets out the OHRC's position on language-based discrimination in the areas of employment, accommodation, services, contracts, and membership in trade unions, trades, occupational associations or self-governing professions. Although the Code does not explicitly identify "language" as a prohibited ground of discrimination, the Human Rights tribunal of Ontario may consider claims under a number of related grounds, such as ancestry, ethnic origin, place of origin and in some circumstances, race. In the Commission's experience, language can be an element of a complaint based on any of these grounds.
Human rights commissions and economic and social rights2001 - This paper is one of several initiatives by the Ontario Human Rights Commission to explore ways in which human rights commissions can become more involved in protecting and promoting economic and social rights and in implementing international treaties to which Canada is a party. The challenge for human rights commissions is to find ways to maximize the potential of their mandates to promote international standards, including those contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Policy and guidelines on racism and racial discriminationJune 2005 - This policy sets out the OHRC's position on racism, racial discrimination and racial harassment, at the time of publication. It replaces the OHRC's 1996 Policy on Racial Slurs and Harassment and Racial Jokes. It deals with issues that fall within the OHRC's jurisdiction and which can form the subject matter of an application to the Tribunal. The policy is therefore bounded by the provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code and Canada's legal framework for analyzing discrimination. At the same time, the policy interprets the protections in the Code in a broad and purposive manner.
Racial discrimination, race and racism (fact sheet)
June 2005 - There is no fixed definition of racial discrimination. However, it has been described as any distinction, conduct or action, whether intentional or not, but based on a person's race, which has the effect of imposing burdens on an individual or group, not imposed upon others or which withholds or limits access to benefits available to other members of society. Race need only be a factor for racial discrimination to have occurred.
Racial profiling inquiry: Whats next (fact sheet)
December 2003 - In order to bridge the divide between those who deny the existence of racial profiling on the one hand, and the communities who have long held that they are targets of racial profiling on the other, the Commission plans to
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Seven of every 10 students enrolled in a California community college will drop out without either obtaining a two-year degree or transferring to one of the state's four-year universities. That was the disquieting finding of a report released this week by the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy at Cal State Sacramento.
The report offers further evidence that California's education system is broken. Yet, the state's education establishment remains in denial.
Indeed, Terri Carbaugh, Vice Chancellor for Communications for California Community Colleges , told the Los Angeles Times, "we're ahead of the report and have made substantial policy changes already."
U.S. & World
But will those putative changes reverse the drop out rate for the state's 112 community colleges? Will 7 of 10 community college students succeed in obtaining degrees or transferring to four-year universities?
I think not.
We see the same kind of woeful performance with K-to-12 education in California, as evidenced by the results of the 2010 California Standards Tests. We also see the same kind of denial by the state education establishment.
Indeed, barely half of California students in grades 2 to 11 scored at proficient or above on the 2010 English-language arts test. Less than half of students in grades 2 through 7 were proficient or better on the basic mathematics test. Less than a third testing for algebra or geometry in grades 7 through 11 scored proficient.
So how did Jack O'Connell, the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction, spin it? "For the eighth consecutive year," he said, "California's public school student performance has improved."
California taxpayers deserve more for the $5.8 billion they spend on the state's community college system; more for the $43.8 billion they spend on K-12 education.
Nothing less than "the future of California is at stake," said Nancy Shulock, Executive Director of Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy.
"Unlike other developing countries, with which California and other states have to compete, each generation is getting less educated and attaining fewer higher degrees," she said. "The gaps are large and critical and when you look at the future face of California, they are the ones for whom we're not delivering much success."


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The other good news is that I will be getting the new Vanessa. That will make a total of 22 Vanessas that have been created since the beginning of time. ;-)
Having one of each is an obsession with me.
This is Flame Blue Vanessa a W Club exclusive doll with an ultra limited edition of 300. She is part of the "re-edition" line of dolls that celebrates the best of prior dolls in new editions with similar styles.
Her name is taken from that of "Flame Rouge" Veronique whose gown also consists of a bustier with mermaid skirt plus large train.
I had Flame Rouge for a time and sold her because the dress was just too big. Jason used a similar formula for Lush Life's gown.
I love the new Vanessa's hairdo. It's the type that stays in place forever. No frizzies or uneven ends. Yay!
The doll was by lottery and I'm guessing that pretty much everyone entered. I didn't read a single negative statement about her.
Here's hoping she arrives mold-free and swiftly.
The images in this post are the property of Integrity Toys.


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kcjones brauchte ein neues Bannerwerbung Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 16 Designs von 10 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
I would like to use this template for email and craigslist.
The winning design here would be perfect for us but a few changes need to be made in order to appease the rules.
This project is for a vacation rental promotion for an Arizona real estate co so the water would need to be removed and a desert sand/cactus image would need to replace it. I may also hire the winning designer to make a few changes down the road to this same design as they will be doing more promotions every month.
I also have a need for something similar for beach properties. I can add 50 dollars to the winner if they can show a beach template in the same style.
We are a small marketing company and this is the first time using 99designs so if we are making any mistakes please let me know.
- I would like all buttons to be blank- The copy can be generic as long as it is editable and not an image- A business card at the top should be blank but please leave the texture-
- Something that doesnt look like the link above. I am looking for something very similar.


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Marty C necesitaba un nuevo diseño de tema de wordpress y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 38 diseños de 10 diseñadores freelance.
Round Trip Baseball
I have been giving private baseball lessons for over five years. I have noticed a growing demand for private baseball instruction and my client base has overwhelmed my schedule. For this reason I started a business wherein I train other instructors who will provide baseball training services.
We're a small company made up of mostly former and current college baseball players.
Our target market is males ages 8-18.
The market consists of highschool baseball players and serious little league players.
I've chosen wordpress as my platform for my company website. I believe photos will most accurately highlight what I do. However, I have chosen to integrate the wordpress platform in order to easily be able to push content.
This site is not geared towards blogging, though I may have some blog aspects.
The landing page of the the site should be photo centric. I'm looking to have a large slideshow in the middle of the page with rotating pictures of my baseball instruction. When users land on my site I want the rotating photos to speak to them more than any written content on the landing page.
Above, under, or beside the rotating photos, I would like a navigation bar. The sections of the site should be as follows:
-Lesson Sign Up
-Player Profiles
-Special Offers
In each of these sections I will be pushing content. On the main landing page there should be a small area for news and updates.
I have a logo already designed. Please conform the design to the color scheme of the logo.
In addition, please see the attached photos that I will be including in the slideshow.
Check out http://www.baseballfactory.com/ for ideas. This site has more content than I'll be pushing, but offers similar services.


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Vinny would have to be on top of his game if he would defeat Jorge Juarbe, driving the 300Z owned by Cesar Febus. Juarbe had easily taken out Jose Escalara in the first round when he fouled, and Jose Ramos was more than a second slower in the semis. But after Vinny's and Juarbe's burnouts in the final round, what could have been an incredibly close race was all lost. While backing up, Vinny rolled back a little short. Juarbe staged and Vinny moved forward to do the same, but rolled the beams. Vinny sat expecting the starter to allow him to move back, but the lights were popped and Juarbe was gone with Vinny's lane lit red. This gave the rather anticlimactic win to Juarbe.
Pro Class
It's always entertaining when two identical cars cross the finish line at speeds of more than 200 mph. And that's what Goerge Ioannou and Ara Arslanian gave the crowd in the first round. Both competitors left the line with their Solaras at the same moment, but Ioannou had just a little more power as he pulled ahead of Arslanian by the finish by half a car length.
Grant Downing and the Venom Tundra and Matt Hartford and the Summit Racing Cavalier had a hard time breaking in the first round. This put Jorge Lazcano against Jose LeDue in the semis. And while Lazcano has run 7s in the past, he gave the instant win to LeDue when he red lit.
Ioannou had a Bye in the semis, but the real drama occurred after his pass trying to crawl out of the driver's seat. After removing his helmet, Ioannou scraped his scalp on the latch that holds up the safety netting, leaving a bleeding 3-inch gash. Medics wouldn't let him run his final round until he went to the hospital. Would he make it back to the track in time to make his final round run against LeDue?
With the final round almost through, a stitched-up Ioannou was rushed back to his racecar waiting in the lanes. And to show the crowd just how well he was doing, he laid down a 6.857-second pass at 203 mph, shutting the door on any hopes LeDue may have had of taking the Pro Class win.
All Motor
Competition was close as most all-motor entrants were within a second of each other. If any competitors had a bad launch or poor reaction, they'd probably be packing up early. In the quarterfinal round, the old-school VW Bug of Daniel Rodriguez took out the Corrado of Nate Romero.
But any hopes of Rodriguez finishing first were squelched in the semis when he ran an off-pace 12-second pass to Chad Barber's 11.426. Barber had taken out Edwin Velez in the quarterfinal round, and with a victory in the semis, Barber secured a position in the finals.
Also making his way through the pack was Buddy Dunagan. Dunagan wasn't the fastest all-motor car, but he was the most consistent, running solid, low 12-second times as well as garnering quick reaction times, as Lisa Feehely saw in the quarterfinal round and Dedrick Medina saw in the semis. Dunagan managed a holeshot on Chad Barber in the final round, but it all came down to horsepower. Barber was able to easily pull ahead of Dunagan by midtrack, finishing almost a second faster and giving Barber the IDRC All-Motor win.
Every year I look forward to covering the Summer Slam. It's the pinnacle event in import drag racing and the import scene. Every Fourth of July weekend, Englishtown Raceway plays host to more than 20,000 people who are treated to hundreds of show cars, the BMX and rollerblading exhibitions, the lowrider hydraulic competition, bikini babes, automotive vendors, and blisteringly fast import racecars. It's sensory overload for all who attend, and this year was no disappointment.
Drama unfolded in the first round of qualifying when Dave Buschur smacked the wall at more than 120 mph with his tube-frame Outlaw Mitsu Eclipse. The wreck had the crowd awestruck, but amazingly Dave Buschur immediately jumped out of the car with his hands in the air, signalling he was fine. If that wasn't enough excitement, in the second round Vinny Ten set a personal best time of 7.880, a goal he'd sought to accomplish for more than two years. Not only was that enough to realize a dream, but it also secured a number one position in the Outlaw Class. This barely scratched the surface of the weekend's entertainment.
Street Tire
The Street Tire Class was filled with cars you'd never want to come across at a red light, with two competitors (Ari Yallon and John Shepherd) running sub-10-second passes. Yallon had a fairly easy time beating Ali Afshar in the first round and Adam Dubiencauk in the second. With a Bye in the semis, Yallon was in the final round.
John Shepherd finally broke out the nitrous for his Mitsubishi Eclipse this year and has been running low 9-second passes with it. Shepherd took it easy in the first round, beating Albert Vega with only a 9.848, but he unleashed the beast in the semis against Jeff Hill, running a 9.248 at 157 mph.
Ari Yallon would have to run his best round in the finals to beat long-time rival Shepherd. When the tree dropped green, a lucky Yallon got the instant win when Shepherd dropped the clutch too soon. Yallon had also redlit, but Shepherd moved even sooner, making Ari Yallon and his Mazda RX-7 the Street Tire champion.
Quick Class
You could see just about any powerplant and drivetrain combination in the Quick Class. But after the first round, clearly it was Honda vs. Toyota Supra, with the Supras dominating. The only people who could give the straight-six turbo power of Paul Effantis and Mark Mazurowski were Sav Leone and Gary Gardella. Leone broke in the semis against the Titan Motorsports Supra, putting Mazurowski in the finals. Gardella ran high 8-second passes that were fast enough to beat Effantis, but his reaction was too slow. Gardella tried to pursue, but couldn't come back.
A Supra against a Supra made for an exciting final finish. Effantis was favored to win, having run almost a second faster than Mazurowski's best, but Mazurowski got a car-length holeshot and maintained it to the finish line for the upset and the Quick Class winner title.
By the time you read this, Vinny Ten might have already legally changed his name to "Vinny Seven" as he finally met his goal of breaking into the 7s with his Supra. And with a Bye in the first round and Carlos Montano red lighting in the semis, the final round would determine if Vinny would have the icing on his cake.


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As has been rumored since the beginning of the year, enterprise social networking company Yammer has closed a big funding round: $85 million. A person familiar with the deal said it values Yammer around $500 million.
That's quite a bit more than the $40 or $50 million that had been rumored, and is yet more evidence that enterprise collaboration is smoking hot right now.
The round puts Yammer in the same high-rolling league as enterprise startups Box and Workday, both of which raised rounds of more than $80 million last year. Jive Software also raised more than $160 million in its IPO last December and has a current market cap of $1.2 billion.
Yammer CEO David Sacks told us, "This round gives us the capability to do anything a public company can do, but without the headaches of being a public company." Total, the company has now raised more than $140 million through five rounds.
So what will Yammer do with the money?
- Launch its first marketing campaign. Yammer has grown almost entirely through word of mouth. Employees usually begin using the free version on their own, and Yammer's sales force later works to convert those companies to the paid version. Sacks said that Yammer needs no help on customer acquisition -- the viral model is working. But it is going to start advertising to IT professionals and "key decision makers" in the enterprise, so they'll be familiar with Yammer's name and capability when it's time to pay up. The campaign will kick off with a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow.
- Staff up with more sales and engineering folks. The company has already grown from 250 employees at the beginning of the year to 300 now, and is planning on doubling or more this year.
- Get more space. With its rapid expansion, Sacks told us, they're probably going to have to move this year. But the company hasn't really started looking for new spaces yet.
Yammer last reported more than 4 million seats in use at corporations, with more than 800,000 paying seats. Sacks told us that it has a conversion rate of 20% from free to paid in the last year.
The round was led by new investor DFJ Growth (an arm of Draper Fisher Jurvetson) and previous investor Social+Capital, but includes a roster of other big names including Khosla Ventures, PayPal cofounders Max Levchin (individually) and Peter Thiel (through his Founders Fund), and former NFL Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, who used to play for the San Francisco 49ers.
All told, previous investors put $30 million into this round, Sacks told us, showing they have lots of confidence in Yammer's current growth trends and business model.


text: rtr_510 22 Posted April 29, 2012 Hey my fellow gym junkies havent been on here for a very long time thought id post a few videos i have on youtube to an upcoming documentary my friends and myself are doing atm. its a film that revolves around everything to do with gym and its surrounding lifestyle... my aim is to publish a full 1hr 30minute film next year around march. For the moment i have uploaded some amatuer trailer videos of myself, and a couple of my friends who have taken up the 365 day challenge. - basically doing right diet and the right training to achieve their own personal self goals. a little bit about myself: im 5ft9" Im basically aiming to hit 85 kg bulk and strip down to about 78 kg 10% body fat. i am also ALL NATURAL, i havent taken steroids before in my life and i do not intend to, it really all depends on how far i want to go next year bulking season and if i want to compete etc. Anyway i started filming our gym progress for our own personal gains wanting to see how far we can change ourselves in 1 complete year. We have been sticking to a fairly strick diet and train minimum 6 days a week (since late january 2012). the people i have chosen for the film have been selected for a reason, one of them is overwieght, and two of them are skinny. people want to see CHANGES, BIG CHANGES!!!. I have always been a casual bodybuilder but never understood anything about nutrition etc. I started properly this year in january and the following videos is basically a compilated archive of videos from january to march. We are currently seeing a regular GP doctor, a nutritionist, getting a dexa scan and seeing professional bodybuilders who will be in the film, i am also following an amatuer teen that is competing this year. In the actual published film, it will explain everything from diets to working out, exactly what we did and if we achieved our goals. I posted this up to see if any of you gym junkies could maybe send me some advice on the video, what you would do and anything related to making the video better. 2> if any of you guys have made an archive of yourself whether it is just photos / videos containg your past and present and would like to be part of the 365 day challenge let me know via pm, but you have to be 100000% serious. I currently go to powercor / atomic / rmit bundoora / 5 star so if you see me around dont b shy come up and say hi , always good to see a new face Mark enjoy! Myself Deniz Miguel trailer: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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The No. 2 seeded Creighton WBB team held No. 10 Southern Illinois to just nine points in the first half the Jays downed the Salukis, 60-43, in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday, March 15.
The victory moved Creighton to 24-6 this season, while Southern Illinois concluded the 2012-13 year with a 5-26 record.
Leading 4-2 at the first media timeout (15:43), Creighton scored 19 of the next 23 points to claim a 23-6 lead. Junior Jordan Garrison ignited the run for the Jays, scoring the first five points following the timeout. Garrison converted a back-door layup, then nailed Creighton's first trey of the game to make it 9-2.
Ball movement supplied the ensuing eight points as freshman Marissa Janning nabbed a layup, juniorCarli Tritz delivered a short jumper from the right corner, sophomore Alexis Akin-Otiko dropped in two free throw and junior Sarah Nelson tossed in a left-handed layup.
Once her teammates on the floor had all scored, Garrison delivered a second three-ball to make it 20-4 with 7:47 on the clock. Following an SIU bucket, Tritz capped the run with a three-pointer from well beyond the right wing.
Creighton held SIU to just one more bucket the rest of the half to take a 31-9 lead in at the half. The Salukis shot just 3-of-19 (15.8%) from the field in the opening period, a season-low for a Bluejay opponent.
The Jays extended their lead to 25 points early in the second period at 38-13 and cruised to the 60-43 win.
Garrison and Janning led Creighton with 11 points, while junior Alyssa Kamphaus grabbed 12 rebounds. Southern Illinois got a game-high 20 points from Rishonda Napier.
Creighton advances to face the winner of the final game at the MVC Tournament on Friday, No. 3 Illinois State and No. 6 Bradley. That contest will begin at 8:30 p.m. CT
Information from http://gocreighton.com


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Last month's announcement that Ted Turner's Cartoon Network was teaming up with producer Don Murphy ("Transformers," "Natural Born Killers") to bring the "Captain Planet" series to the big screen was met with both excitement and dread. Could they really create something decent with the early '90s cartoon — especially in a live-action format?
Have no fear, Planeteers! A particularly well-timed short from FunnyOrDie.com should put to rest any concerns. It features (naturally) Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle as a belligerent version of the blue-skinned superhero going a little overboard with his powers to turn people into trees. Who knew Captain Planet could be such a badass? The clip also features Gillian Jacobs, Efren Ramirez and Brenda Song.
When he's not having some fun, Cheadle is quite involved in conservation issues. Last year, he was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environmental Program and recently teamed with "Vampire Diaries" star Ian Somerhalder to represent the Alliance for Global Conservation.
"We really have a need for balance and wisdom in what we're trying to do with this one Earth that we have," he said in June 2010. "And I was kinda brought into this because it is something that's close to my heart, and something that, as a father, I'm very interested in."
Due to language, this version of Captain Planet is not safe for work — so throw on the headphones and enjoy a laugh below.


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The winners for this call for entry will be announced soon, via our newsletter. Please be sure to subscribe to be notified. We take your privacy very seriously. We will never share, rent or sell your information to any third party. You have the option of unsubscribing instantly, at any time.


text:
"Our focus is on helping contractors succeed. To do that effectively, the software must be both easy to use and extremely powerful. Eclipse was developed with this in mind."
Mark Liss, Chief Commercial Officer of JDM Technology Group
Custom Reports in MinutesIntuitive tools make it easy to create custom dashboards, graphs and reports.
Custom Reports in MinutesNo need for custom programming or complicated third party products.
Intelligent Document ManagementEclipse makes it easy to find and store documents and emails effortlessly.
Intelligent Document ManagementInnovative Optical Character Recognition and GPS tagging technology automatically tags, files and stores documents such as RFIs, submittals, photos, and drawings for easy retrieval.
True Global SolutionAvailable in multiple languages, Eclipse also supports an unlimited number of companies and divisions.
True Global SolutionEasily consolidate operating results of multiple companies – even with different currencies.
Remote Data CaptureCollect data directly from the jobsite on a tablet or other web enabled device.
Remote Data CaptureCapture timesheets, forms, equipment information, and more.
We'll Never End of Life your SoftwareNo pressure here.
We'll Never End of Life your SoftwareWe believe the decision to upgrade should be yours, so we'll support you until you're ready for the latest and greatest.
It's All HereEclipse is a fully integrated ERP solution.
It's All HereWe don't rely on external partners or expensive third party solutions.
For over 30 years, Explorer Software has been a leading provider of job cost accounting and project management software for the construction industry.
Our flagship product, Eclipse, is a fully integrated browser based solution that offers over 30 modules, so users can track jobs, maintain equipment and manage their documents all in one place.
Explorer Software News
» Explorer Software Wins Constructech Magazine's 2016 Top Products Award for Flagship Product, Eclipse
» Explorer Software Launches New Website for Eclipse Product
» Explorer Software at World of Concrete 2016
» Explorer Software Featured in Construction Executive's 2016 Hot Products Issue
» Explorer Software Introduces Business Analytics for Shafers
» Explorer Software's Business Analytics is the #2 Reporting Software Used by Construction Companies
» McGarvin-Moberly Construction Co. Selects Explorer Eclipse as their Construction Software Solution


text:
Ida Travel Journals - Set of 3 - Matr Boomie (J)
Frequently Asked Questions
Compact, skinny 5 by 7 inch journals made of tree-free recycled cotton paper. Hand block-printed cover is accented with geometric patterns along the spine. Compact size. 100% compostable. Note: Multiple sets pictured. Customer will receive one set of three journals in assorted patterns and colors.
Meet the Artisans
MATR BOOMIE is a fair trade collection from India that marries modern design sensibility with inspiring traditional art forms, bringing people and cultures closer together. With the mission of creating opportunities for women and minorities to realize their creative, economic and leadership potential. They have grown to empower 20,000 artisans in 40 partner communities throughout India.
Q - How do I qualify for free shipping?
A - All orders over $50 that are shipped to the United States qualify for free shipping and will arrive in 3-4 days.
Q - How long before I receive my order?
A - If you live in the United States your order will deliver in 3-4 days if you selected Priority Mail or you qualified for free shipping. International orders vary by country. The most common international countries are: England, Australia, New Zealand and western Europe take 7 to 10 days. This does not apply to custom printed orders.
Q - What are Memory Cross cards made of and how durable are they?
A - The small Memory Cross cards are printed on 10 point coated board (think playing cards). The larger cards which measure 6 x 6 inches are printed on 100 lb. uncoated cover (think Hallmark card). We've tested each size and they hold up to hundreds of folds. The larger cards hold up longer because the "hinges" that allow them to fold are larger. We've tested the larger cards to fold over 500 times. That being said it is still important for the cards to be folded properly. Most children can figure it out on their own but if you are giving them to 4 or 4 year olds we recommend that you show them how it works. If you do not know how they work, we've created a video that you can watch by clicking here.
Q - What guarantee do you offer?
A - Memory Cross offers a 100% money back guarantee if you are not happy for any reason. We even pick up the cost of shipping the product back. Here is the link to our full return policy.
Q - Can cards be customized?
A - Yes cards can be customized for churches and businesses. The minimum order for churches is 250 and for business is 500.


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What is drunk driving?
States differ in what they call it — driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, drunk driving or impaired driving — but in every state, a baseline blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent is considered an offense. For those age 21 and under, zero-tolerance laws criminalize driving with very small amounts of alcohol. States may also have enhanced penalties in place for those who drive with very high BACs, minors in the vehicle or multiple convictions.3
What are the consequences of drunk driving?
When you drink and drive, you're compromising cognitive ability and responsiveness, which increases your risk for an accident. In fact, 28 people die each day because of a drunk driving crash.4
Get caught, and a single drunk driving infraction may have legal, financial, personal and even professional ramifications.
- Forty-two states suspend your license for varying lengths of time — sometimes up to a year. Multiple convictions typically equal a revocation of a license.
- Some states require mandatory jail time — even for a first offense — as well as fees and fines.
- You may be required to install an ignition interlock device on your car; if it detects alcohol, it will prevent you from operating the vehicle.
- A single drunk driving conviction may lead to job loss or restrictions (i.e., operating company vehicles).
- Higher insurance rates almost always accompany drunk driving convictions.
- If you were involved in an accident as a result of drunk driving, your insurance may deny payment for injury treatment.5
Always make good decisions and plan ahead. Here are some solutions to avoid drunk driving:
- Always choose a designated driver — every time you go out.
- If you go out alone, do not drink alcohol. Order a non-alcoholic beverage such as a soft drink or water.
- If you've been drinking, call a taxi or car-sharing service for a ride.
- Never get in a car with a driver who has been drinking.


text:
Partnerships examines the establishment and governance of partnerships across a range of international jurisdictions addressing key topics including taxation, reporting requirements, partners' duties and dispute resolution procedures.
We have received instruction from foreign counsel recently who found us through the publication
The comprehensive range of guides produced by GTDT provides practitioners with an extremely useful resource when seeking an overview of key areas of law and policy in practice areas or jurisdictions which they may otherwise be unfamiliar with.
My experience with GTDT Online so far has been wonderful. It is so useful when dealing with multijurisdictional legal matters. Two thumbs up for such a great tool and my congratulations to all of you for making my life easier.
Such a database is a fantastic tool to get access to the "basics" of many legal areas, almost everywhere. I do believe that GTDT has a real future and, according to me, it's one of the best legal database I've ever had access to in these last 10 years.
Briefing Signup
Sent approximately once a month, the free GTDT Briefing service alerts you of the latest titles to be published on GTDT Online.
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Mplus Home
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EFA positive definite
Mplus Discussion
Exploratory Factor Analysis
posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 - 6:04 am
May i ask for some guidance on an EFA i am doing using dichotomous variables. The correlation matrix is non-positive definite (observed in R). However, the model runs in Mplus (dependant on rotation chioce and number of factors).
I assume that Mplus calculates pairwise tetrachoric correlations for the data. Does Mplus apply any smoothing method to the correlation matrix to allow the model to fit. If so, do the model fit statistics need to be adjusted?
Is there areason why ML cannot be used in this EFA or is WLSMV preferable? It would be great if you could point me to a reference for either of these.
thanks for any help, david
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 - 9:29 am
Yes, a pairwise matrix is used. There is no smoothing.
Maximum likelihood can be used if there are not too many factors. The issue with maximum likelihood and categorical variables is that numerical integration is required, one dimension for each factor. More than four dimensions can be computationally unrealistic.
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013 - 12:56 am
Thank you for your reply.
I also have an issue with zero cells. Is their a facility to add a continuity correction when calculating the tetrachorics? If not i have seen previous posts where you recommend removing one of the variables - do you think this necessary when only one table has a zero cell out of say 465 correlations?
thanks, david
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013 - 6:42 am
For binary variables, a zero cell implies a correlations of one. Both variables should not be used in the analysis. For polytomous items, some zero cells should be okay. Mplus automatically adds a constant to the frequency of a zero cell. See the ADDFREQUENCY option.
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013 - 7:40 am
Thanks for your help Dr Munthen
So the default is to add 0.5/(sample size) to the zero cell. I had been wondering why i wasn't seing a corrrelation of -1 between the relevant variables. With this added the correlation between the two variables is not equal to 1 (or -1).
But i am a bit confused. Why do you advocate removing the variables when the continuity correction has removed some of the bias that tetrachorics have to tend towrds -1 when zero cells are present?
thanks, david
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013 - 8:06 am
You don't see a correlation of plus/minus one. That is the problem. The implied correlation is not what is estimated. The addition of a constant does not necessarily work well particularly in the base of binary items. With binary items, we recommend using only one of the items when they correlate one just as we would recommend if two continuous variables correlated one.
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text:
Northern Michigan University, by providing quality academic programs, strong student support, and extensive regional service for its stakeholders in the upper Midwest, challenges its students, faculty, staff, and alumni to strive for excellence, both inside and outside the classroom, and to become outstanding citizens and leaders.
To accomplish this mission, Northern provides a supportive living and learning environment that includes high-caliber undergraduate and graduate programs, personal attention, extensive use of modern technology, and continuous improvement of curriculum and services through systematic assessment.
Challenging themselves and their students, Northern faculty and staff are dedicated to effective teaching and intellectual inquiry; to including students as learning partners in their research, scholarship, and other professional activities; and to advancing the University's roles as a service provider and as a cultural and recreational center in the Upper Peninsula.
Northern Michigan University students will study ethics, humanitarian values, and cultural awareness in a strong general education program as well as master specific knowledge in a major career field. As graduates who are life-long learners, they will possess the skills and attitudes to succeed in a fast-paced, constantly evolving, multi-cultural world. As alumni, they will be challenged to continue an NMU tradition, that of distinguishing themselves in their careers and communities.


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Valve Corp., the Bellevue-based video game company behind hit franchises like Half-Life and Portal, is a giant in the digital distribution of PC games. The company's Steam distribution system, with more than 35 million users, is sometimes called the iTunes store of video games.
Valve is also a private company, in both the corporate and literal meanings of that word.
So it was more than a little illuminating to listen to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell give a spontaneous, 8-minute dissertation on the modern economics of video games at a recent conference in Seattle — explaining, in detail, how the company conducts behind-the-scenes pricing experiments to try to understand why we buy games when we do.
Newell cited some surprising sales data as he debunked a popular theory about game piracy, explained how the economic principle of price elasticity applies to video games (and how it doesn't), and shared details on the company's experience with "free to play" games such as Team Fortress 2, where the business model is based on the sale of virtual goods.
For your weekend reading, here's an edited transcript from the WTIA TechNW panel. (Also see this follow up with Newell's predictions about Apple and the future of the game console market.)
Gabe Newell: It's interesting to touch on a number of pricing and service issues, because it will help convey the complexity of what we're seeing in the entertainment space, and there's probably also going to be lessons in it for other people trying to create value on the Internet.
One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It's a service issue. The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates. For example, Russia. You say, oh, we're going to enter Russia, people say, you're doomed, they'll pirate everything in Russia. Russia now outside of Germany is our largest continental European market.
Ed Fries: That's incredible. That's in dollars?
Newell: That's in dollars, yes. Whenever I talk about how much money we make it's always dollar-denominated. All of our products are sold in local currency. But the point was, the people who are telling you that Russians pirate everything are the people who wait six months to localize their product into Russia. … So that, as far as we're concerned, is asked and answered. It doesn't take much in terms of providing a better service to make pirates a non-issue.
Now we did something where we decided to look at price elasticity. Without making announcements, we varied the price of one of our products. We have Steam so we can watch user behavior in real time. That gives us a useful tool for making experiments which you can't really do through a lot of other distribution mechanisms. What we saw was that pricing was perfectly elastic. In other words, our gross revenue would remain constant. We thought, hooray, we understand this really well. There's no way to use price to increase or decrease the size of your business.
But then we did this different experiment where we did a sale. The sale is a highly promoted event that has ancillary media like comic books and movies associated with it. We do a 75 percent price reduction, our Counter-Strike experience tells us that our gross revenue would remain constant. Instead what we saw was our gross revenue increased by a factor of 40. Not 40 percent, but a factor of 40. Which is completely not predicted by our previous experience with silent price variation. …
Then we decided that all we were really doing was time-shifting revenue. We were moving sales forward from the future. Then when we analyzed that we saw two things that were very surprising. Promotions on the digital channel increased sales at retail at the same time, and increased sales after the sale was finished, which falsified the temporal shifting and channel cannibalization arguments. Essentially, your audience, the people who bought the game, were more effective than traditional promotional tools. So we tried a third-party product to see if we had some artificial home-field advantage. We saw the same pricing phenomenon. Twenty-five percent, 50 percent and 75 percent very reliably generate different increases in gross revenue.
The most recent thing that also is really puzzling is that we made products available for free on numerous occasions, without significantly impacting the audience size. We recently said, we're now going to do something different, we're not only going to signal that it's free but we're going to say, 'it's free to play,' which is not really a pricing signal, even though that's what you would ordinarily think it is. And our user base for our first product that we made free to play, Team Fortress 2, increased by a factor of five. That doesn't make sense if you're trying to think of it purely as a pricing phenomenon.
Why is free and free to play so different? Well then you have to start thinking about how value creation actually occurs, and what it is that people are valuing, and what the statement that something is free to play implies about the future value of the experience that they're going to have.
And then the conversion rate, when we talk to partners who do free-to-play, a lot of people see about a 2 to 3 percent conversion rate of the people in their audience who actually buy something, and then with Team Fortress 2, which looks more like Arkham Asylum in terms of the user profile and the content, we see about a 20 to 30 percent conversion rate of people who are playing those games who buy something.
So that's a fairly surprising and fairly recent statistic, which is that there seems to be something about the content that significantly changes how your monetization occurs, with apparently much broader participation than you would see out of something like FarmVille.
We don't understand what's going on. All we know is we're going to keep running these experiments to try and understand better what it is that our customers are telling us. And there are clearly things that we don't understand because a simple analysis of these statistics implies very contradictory yet reproducible results. So clearly there are things that we don't understand, and we're trying to develop theories for them.
It's just an exciting time but also a very troubling time.
Fries: That's some incredible data. … You talk about doing experiments. This is probably the biggest change that's affected the gaming business over the last few years. It's not just that we have digital distribution to our customers. It's that we have this incredible two-way connection that we've never had before with our customers.
We've gone from a situation where we dream up a game, we spend three years making it, we put it in a box, we put it out in stores, we hope it sells, to a situation that's incredibly more fluid and dynamic, where we're constantly modifying the game with the participation of the customers themselves."
*** Follow-up: Valve's Newell predicts Apple will shake up game consoles ***


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This pack of 20 light green trees are perfect for adding a touch of realism to the sides of your track, enhance the appearance of your model landscape with a touch of greenery.
- A pack of 20 pcs landscape model trees with various height
- Perfect to enhance the appearance of your model landscape with a touch of greenery
- Made of plastic
- Quantity: 20pcs(per 5pcs for one size)
Scale and Height (Root Included):
- Approx. 11cm (4.33 inch), 1: 100
- Approx. 9cm (3.54 inch), 1: 150
- Approx. 7cm (2.76 inch), 1: 200
- Approx. 5cm (1.97 inch), 1: 300
Package Includes:
- 20pcs model trees
Note: Please be reminded that due to lighting effects and monitor's brightness/contrast settings etc, the color tone of the website's photo and the actual item could be slightly different.


text:
Learn how to contact each ARDA department.
Click here to view ARDA's staff by name.
By Peter Roth
Data is an essential ingredient in any intelligent
discussion, and thanks to the work of the ARDA International Foundation (AIF),
I believe our industry has the right data to continue to shift away from old
industry perceptions and tell our real story.
The Shared Vacation
Ownership U.S. Report: 2016 Edition was a study conducted by AIF that gave
us a compelling set of data that allows us to tell our story through the
experiences of more than 9.2 million owners. Using the data found in this study
we can counter many "myths" our industry might carry from its past. Let's take
a look at six different "myths" we were able to debunk with this research:
Myth #1: Timeshare owners are mostly from an older generation.
Fact: 67% of timeshare owners are between the ages of 18 and 54,
and 41% are ages 35-54. Only 33% of owners are over 55, and only 3% are older
than 75.
Myth #2: Timeshare owners are from lower income brackets.
Fact: In general, the incidence of timeshare ownership increases
with household income. Approximately 6.9% of the U.S. population owns
timeshare, and 10.9% of those owners have $100K+ of annual household income
(compared to 5.3% earning under $50K annually).
Myth #3: Retirees make up the largest group of timeshare owners.
Fact: Only 19% of timeshare owners are retired as compared to 67%
either hold a fulltime job or are self-employed.
Myth #4: Timeshare owners are not highly educated.
Fact: This could not be further from the truth. 42% of timeshare
owners have a college degree and 21% hold a graduate degree—with only 12%
having a high school degree or less.
Myth #5: Most timeshare owners want to get out of their contract.
Fact: 70% of owners would recommend timeshare ownership, and nearly
three quarters would recommend their home resort to others, based upon their
Myth #6: All timeshare owners disliked the buying experience.
Fact: More than seven out of 10 recent purchasers (71%) found their
buying experience to be excellent or good.
It is important for individual brands and industry members
to weave these facts into their stories to discredit the old "myths" of our
According to the 2017 Alamo Rent A Car Family Vacation Survey, U.S. workers are
feeling more guilt than ever before about planning and taking their vacations. It
seems as if the
health benefits associated with vacations aren't enough to get people
vacationing -- but what if vacations we a part of something bigger, like
helping sustain the U.S. economy?
This is what the 34th
annual National Travel and Tourism Week (May 7-13) hopes to accomplish
through uniting communities nationwide to celebrate what travel means to
American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being, while also showcasing
the impact of travel to policymakers, business leaders and local media.
Let's take a closer look at just what the travel industry
The travel industry
is an indispensable source of American jobs—jobs that cannot be outsourced.
Travel workers have
helped shape travel to be one of America's strongest industries.
Vacations (or leisure
travel) plays a huge in making up the travel industry as a whole.
And we know that timeshare is an important component of
these numbers!
Be sure to take part in this year's Travel and Tourism Week,
so that you can be a part of the celebration for what this means to our industry. Encourage your followers and owners to
participate by calling on elected officials and supporting travel-friendly
legislation that impacts our local, state and national economies.
It Has Been an Honor…
Two years can go by in a blink of an eye, but I can honestly
say that I've enjoyed every moment of serving as your Chairman. Through
that relatively short period of time, our industry has grown, prospered, changed,
and weathered some interesting times. All in all, it has been an amazing period
of unprecedented evolution and growth.
As an industry, we have truly come of age over the past two
years and are now being seen as a significant player not just in the
hospitality world but also as a business that offers a diverse portfolio of
services and revenue streams. We are a unique industry with passionate owners and associates who are extremely engaged in making the most
out of enjoyable vacations around the world.
The quality of our physical products has never been better,
and the level of amenities and services are amazing too. And what we are doing collectively
to drive innovation and create unique owner and guest experiences is pretty
astounding—this is why our owners love us!
And as we look to the next two years, I am so pleased that
Mark Wang will now assume this honored position and create his own legacy that
will only build on this tremendous momentum. I rest easily, knowing that the
organization is in good hands with his capable leadership!
Thank you all for your amazing support during my term—it
truly has been an honor to serve you.
-- Steve Weisz
Copyright 2014. American Resort Development Assoc. All rights reserved.


text:
The FontanaArte Contract project division is a team of specialists at the disposal of interior designers, architects, contractors, real estate agents and developers for planning and production of the most ambitious international projects.
Attentive to constantly changing market needs and evolution, they provide customized lighting engineering solutions that meet the technical and aesthetic requirements of any residential, public, ship or hospitality project.
The FontanaArte Contract Team ensures qualified support at every project stage, availing of the range of products in the catalogue or with articles from the "Custom Line Collection", tailor-made to satisfy more specific requirements in terms of materials, energy consumption, budget and design.
For more info:


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This is my last marketing column for 2012 and I want to thank the many Herald readers who have taken the time to comment on what they found useful. (I really appreciate your feedback.)
In this column I want to touch on a common marketing challenge many of us face.
How do we make our marketing messages 'memorable' so they first get noticed and also get people to take action on them?
One strategy that my copywriting friend Troy White in Canada recommends is this...
Use 'unusual occasions' in your marketing messages to make them memorable:
Here are a couple of examples from Troy...
1: Imagine several weeks from now.
People are excited about 2013 and all the interesting things the year might bring for them.
They open their email box, here's a list of email subject lines they see...
"Happy New Year"
"To a great 2013"
"Thanks for being a loyal customer"
"In honor of National Whipped Cream Day... I have a delicious gift for you"
"Hope you had a great New Year"
Which of those messages stands out and is memorable? ESPECIALLY if it's from someone they know!
Your odds of getting that email opened are exponentially higher because you used an unusual occasion. (National Whipped Cream Day is on January the 6th.)
2: Here's another example of using an interesting occasion:
The Shoelace was invented on February 9th in 1790.
Think of all the different ways you could use a shoelace.
You could attach one to the top of a letter you might send to your existing customers.
Dear Customer,
Why have I attached a shoelace to the top of this letter?
Actually there are two reasons I have done this:
1) The shoelace was invented on February 9th, 1790 and in celebration of this special occasion (a tool we all use every day of our lives) I wanted to share something with you.
2) As the letter you are about to read involves tying up some loose ends on my end for 2012, I thought it very appropriate as an attention grabber.
I need to apologize to you. In looking back over the past year, I noticed I was not in touch with you very often and I want to apologize for my mistake.
You see, 2012 was a great year and I thank you for that... but you were probably not informed about ..........................
In both examples you have taken an unusual occasion and made your marketing memorable.
How do you find unusual occasion and memorable marketing messages like these?
Get hold of a fun resource that Troy has created called 'The 2013 Cash Flow Calendar.' It contains over 1,437 unusual occasions and memorable marketing messages that you can use in any business. (I have a copy of the 2013 Cash Flow Calendar myself and it is very good.)
One last comment about making your marketing memorable.
I received an email recently from the owner of a very successful engineering firm in Christchurch. And he made some fascinating comments about marketing.
"I regularly send out letters to prospective customers that break every rule in the book, pink envelopes, coffee sachets etc, no letter head, scripted text, lots of highlighting and always a couple of stories to highlight a point. Customers look for them and everyone gets opened. Who says you can't be radical in a very conservative market?? I believe, look at what everyone else is doing and do the opposite. Be brave and stand out from the crowd. My gang think I am nuts, but we get results with very healthy growth each year, even in a diminishing market. One thing that I have learned, if the team think it is over the top, then we just have to do it because most people have a sense of humour and will notice and remember."
So look for interesting ways to make your own marketing memorable.
And best wishes for a wonderful year in 2013.
"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions." - Joey Adams
Action Exercise:
What can you do to make your marketing messages more memorable?


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We are your New York City Team Building Specialists
Not in New York City? Team building activities near you
Create a memorable experience at your corporate Christmas party by getting your team working together and learning more about each other. Incorporate a fun team building activity that challenges participants and builds strong connections between employees.
The holidays are a great opportunity to bring everyone together and encourage employees to get to know one another better. Including a group activity at your Christmas party can challenge your team's critical thinking, creativity and communication skills, or just focus on everyone having a great time. If you have friends and family attending, there are activities that encourage them to participate and get to know more people at the party.
Regardless of how big or small your Christmas party is going to be, team building activities are fun for the whole group and can be tailored to your team's preferences and needs. We are here to help make your corporate Christmas party a success. Let's start off with three questions you should consider when planning your event.
Question 1: How many people will be attending? Group size is an important consideration to take into account when choosing a team building activity as well as choosing a venue.
Question 2: How much space will you need? When deciding on a venue, you need to ensure that there is enough space for your activities to run smoothly. First, consider the number of attendees you're expecting. But also take into consideration that different group activities will require different levels of space. For example, some activities, like Code Break, will take a very minimal amount of space. Other activities, like Minute To Win It, are more enjoyable if there is extra room for participants to move around.
Question 3: What types of challenges will your team enjoy? Different types of activities will challenge your team in different ways.
Our Employee Engagement Consultants are here to support you every step of the way. They can help with choosing the right activity and determining the amount of space that you'll need to accommodate your team. In addition, they can even offer insight into choosing the best venue for your event in New York City.
Adding a corporate entertainment activity to your holiday party is an easy way to encourage excitement and participation. Your team could find themselves rescuing hostages, filming a news broadcast, or competing to determine the most innovative culinary artist. There's a group activity for every theme, and for any group - large or small.
Incorporating an engaging team building activity into your corporate Christmas party in New York City will have your team working together and having fun while connecting with other coworkers. Contact our Employee Engagement Consultants today at 1-877-713-7238 or [email protected] to learn more about our engaging group activities.


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In compliance with Governor Wolf's directive, BU's Test Center is closed. Students and other registered examinees should contact their test provider to reschedule their exams and assessments.
Bloomsburg University's Testing Center supports the university's educational mission by providing national, graduate, professional certification, distance education examinations and university assessments to students and other examinees in a professional, secure and accessible environment.
For your scheduling convenience, we have fast and secure online registration for the tests listed below. All online registrations are final and no refunds will be given.
Payment options for registering online are Visa or MasterCard. Upon registration you will receive an email confirmation. Print your confirmation receipt and bring it with you to your test appointment.
All tests are administered with high quality customer service under standardized conditions that are efficient, fair and secure. We adhere to the standards set forth by the National College Testing Association (NCTA).
Register through our Testing Partners prior to taking these tests on campus.
411 Lightstreet Road
Bloomsburg, Pa.
Testing Center Hours
Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.


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So I love getting screeners in to review, not only do I get to see the film and special features early I also get to add another movie to my collection. On this go around, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to find a twilight fan surprise them with the Breaking Dawn Blu-Ray and have them review it.. Unknown to me I wouldn't have to look too far.. Come to find out my sister-in law was just that person.. Se was so excited to see the movie and review it.. Below is her little review.. Give your comments below..
In the latest installment of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn pt.1. You finally get to see the much anticipated "for twilight fanatics" wedding between Bella and Edward. Much to my surprise didn't disappoint, with fantastic special effects and slight comic relief this was definitely a solid performance by a developing cast and the best of the saga thus far. The special features include audio commentary with Director Bill Condon, a fascinating 6 part documentary on the making of breaking dawn-part 1, Take a look into Jacobs Destiny, relive all of your favorite moments of Edward and Bella's wedding with their personal wedding video, and a jump to option to watch only your favorite scenes of the movie over and over. Blu-ray really brings this movie to life with the stunning quality and is definitely a must own for your personal library.


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Acson Ceiling Concealed AC 3.3 Ton ACC40CR ALC40DR Heat & Cool R22 Gas
EvergreenThe unit is designed to be installed above the ceiling with only supply and return grille exposed to view, making it an evergreen design while secretly providing you the perfect cooling comfort.VersatilityWith only one unit of fan coil, multiple rooms can be cooled together at the same time.Flexibility in InstallationThe supply & return grille can be selected based on your personal preference to blend with your interior design. No more worries of where to locate your air conditioner as the ACC unit is cleverly hidden above the ceiling.Space SavingDesigned for flexibility in installation location, the low physical height allows application even in buildings with limited above-ceiling height.Excellent Air DistributionCool conditioned air can be effectively distributed to every corner of the room through the duction and this ensures a more pleasant environment for comfort living.Double Protection Drainage SystemThe original Double Protection Drainage System offers you double protection against water leakage. The primary drain pan is designed with high thermal insulation material and mold in gradient for better condensate water drainage. The "Ready-made" and "Built-in" secondary drain pan offers easy installation at site while providing the extra prevention for water leaking problems.User Friendly ControlThe unit comes with the easy-to-use ET103 wired controller as a standard.R22 GasBTU 40000Warranty3 Years Compressor 1 Year Parts
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Grand Valley State Sports Report
A weekly sports magazine featuring game highlights and interviews with Grand Valley State University coaches and players. The show focuses on Grand Valley State's mens and womens varsity sports. GVSU has won the Director's Cup for the best Division II NCAA college athletic program for seven consecutive years. See a recap and analysis of all of the action each week.


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Custom and Pre-made K-12 Resources for Printable and Online Use.
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Have more than 30 users? Just subscribe to Group Pro, and contact us requesting an upgrade. Our next group plan level is $374/year for up to 50 users. More about Group Pro »
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This option is highly discounted and is a great value for schools, universities and training centers.
Premium content is ELA and Math questions, tests, and worksheets aligned to Common Core standards, or science and social studies printables that use high-quality images that are unique to Help Teaching.
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You are here
Piggyback Technologies: Getting the Most from the Systems You Already Have
An Infopeople Webinar
Presenter: Joan Frye Williams
The best technology for your library may not be a whole new system. And when money is tight, mining your existing systems for underutilized "nuggets" may be all the technology you can afford. This webcast will identify low-cost and no-cost changes and add-ons to common library systems that will help you maximize the benefits of the technology your library already owns.
Webinars are free of charge and registration is only done on the day of the event on the WebEx server. No passwords are required.


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Loyola's women's basketball team put together a second-half rally but fell short, losing 58-47 to Niagara on Thursday night.
Katie Sheahin led the Greyhounds (9-13, 4-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) with 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Freshman Diana Logan led the bench with six points.
The Purple Eagles (11-11, 6-5) led by as many as 14 points with just over 12 minutes left in the second half. Kelly Van Leeuwen connected on a free throw that sent the score to 40-26 in favor of Niagara.
Loyola took the next possession and countered with back-to-back jumpers by Logan and Sheahin, but a layup by Lauren Gatto returned the deficit to 14.
The Greyhounds were down by as few as eight, after a layup by Nneka Offodile, but a single free throw-layup combination by the Purple Eagles extended the Niagara lead.
Delaware 77, Towson 55: The visiting Blue Hens (19-3, 10-0 Colonial Athletic Association) built a 17-point halftime advantage and cruised past the Tigers (7-15, 1-10).
Delaware led for most of the game. Towson had the lead for 2:10 in the first half.
Nyree Williams finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double double of the year. Williams scored 12 of her 13 points and pulled down six of 10 rebounds in the second half.
Tanisha McTiller led the Tigers with 16 points. Elena Delle Donne led Delaware with 19 points and 11 rebounds.


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Because I am not particularly fond of people creeping on my facebook and I have a few 'friends' on there that I'd rather not let into every aspect of my life, I thought it would be interesting to do my "25 Random Things" about me list obviously on my blog so the WORLD can see.
Sometimes I don't even make sense to myself.
1. I collect quarters like it's my job. I even save up my non-quarter change to exchange it for quarters in order to get more quarters. I love quarters so much because they help me do my laundry and it is expensive. So if you find any quarters… I have a special jar for them in my closet. I get so excited when I find one. It's literally like finding twenty dollars for me.
2. I don't eat lettuce. At all. This seems to blow every one's mind. No salad, no lettuce on my burger. None of it. My dad continues to say that I won't be a true lady until I eat lettuce. Well dad, I'm never going to be a lady then.
3. I love watching sports except for basketball, and I'm a Laker Hater. I hate all the followers, the ones who watch the game and then put it all over their facebook and I hate the jerseys. I also hate the colors purple and yellow, it reminds me of butterflies! But I love me some Anaheim Angels.
4. I could never give up meat. EVER. I love meat and especially chicken. Sometimes I think it would be fun to try but then I get a burger for lunch.
5. I have the worst memory ever. I can't remember much of elementary, middle, or high school, and I remember only some prominent parts of college, which it wasn't even a year ago that I graduated.
6. I used to think I wanted to be married at 21. I'm so glad that I've learned so much and now I laugh about the idea of getting married anytime soon. A huge majority of people my age that I know are married, and they got married a year or two ago. I think that's what happens when you go to a super small high school and college.
7. I absolutely love taking pictures. I love the memories and moments that each picture captures. It also helps me remember what I've done in my life when my memory fails me.
8. I got hit by a drunk driver my junior year of college in my cousins car. Jorge Avalos had a beer in his cup holder and blew a point .18 (legal limit in CA is .08) and denied being drunk. Right buddy. I thankfully only hurt my neck really bad but had to throw up all the time because my equilibrium was off so much, and I had seat belt burns and had to wear leggings as pants! Embarrassing. I only got a thousand dollars out of the deal. Shady!
9. I have a phobia of birds, especially crows. I hate them and I am deathly afraid of getting pecked to death. I get scared when I have to run by the huge pack of seagulls at the beach.
10. I have donated 23 inches of my hair to Locks of Love. Twelve inches one time and eleven the other time. I want to do it again, and again, and again. It's such a great cause, and it's nerve racking and scary but exhilarating to cut off that much hair at a time.
11. I google everything. People. Places. Things to do. Running Routes. Everything. I can't stop myself.
12. I get incredibly extreme anxiety when I watch anything scary. I literally freak out and cannot watch anymore of the movie. My heart beats super fast and I cannot breathe.
13. I played soccer for four years and I loved it. I was incredibly horrible but I loved it.
14. I love my brothers girlfriend. She is hilarious and brings out the best in him, even though he calls me by her name, and gets us confused, and cannot tell us apart from the back. Just last night I saw her facebook status, " I got street cred baby," – The infamous Taylor. I can't believe that she can deal with him! She is amazing!
15. I think about teaching English in high school. It's a thought, but I love my advertising position so much!
16. I am the biggest sap ever to walk the face of the earth. I cry over everything. Commercials, books, movies, songs, anything. Sadly, I used to never cry and then college came and I became a freak crier.
17. My iPhone is an extended version of my hand. I thought my iPhone was going to die the other day and I almost started crying and immediately looked up all the nearest Apple Stores. Alas, I googled the issue and then found a way to fix it myself.
18. I find myself constantly seeking for ways to make an impact on others with my life.
19. I find that if I don't do my devotions regularly, I get very pessimistic and obnoxious. Thanks God for reminding me that I do need you!
20. At least twice a week at work while I'm drinking water from my nalogen bottle, I spill a whole bunch of water down the front of my shirt. I guess I can't look at my computer screen and drink water at the same time.
21. I love receiving mail and packages more than anything in the world. I just realized I can send myself my packages of things I buy online to myself at work, so then I get the joy of actually getting the package, instead of it being left on my doorstep at home. I love it when the delivery man comes!
22. Happy Meals from Mc Donalds are the perfect size of everything. Perfect amount of burger or chicken nuggets. Perfect amount of fries. Perfect drink size. And who doesn't love a cool toy. It even works for breakfast with the Egg Mc Muffin Happy Meal!
23. My favorite verse in the bible is Acts 20:24. It's pretty amazing and it's even about completing our life like a race. I love it.
24. Up until October I have always slept in a twin bed then I got a queen bed for my birthday. I am working on (I would even call it training) myself to sleep in the middle of the bed. When I wake up in my queen I would find myself waking up on one side and the other side of my bed totally not even being used. FAIL.
25. I am amazing at parallel parking when I have to back up on my right side. This is perfect because I live in a place where parallel parking is super key to finding a parking spot. The left side though, I can barely do it, and it takes me many more tries than the right side.
Tonight I'm going to the gym. I finally am regaining movement in my legs from the trail run of death so I can walk up and down stairs and not have to perform some super death grip on the stairwell. Good progress. Glad you all enjoyed the Yolanda story. I was blown away, believe me. This weekend I am hoping to get in as many miles as I can, but it will be busy! I am still doing my 200 sit ups and I have added 20 push ups to my routine. Not fun but worth it!
Hopefully tomorrow I can share part of my exciting news and then sometime next week I can share the rest of it. Just praying about the decisions I'm making. :)
Also I totally forgot to mention what I thought of last nights Biggest Loser. Seriously, Ron it's YOUR TIME TO GO HOME. I can't believe they sent the strongest member of the team home. So stupid. Ron is a schemer and I don't like him. I also don't like how the Blue team went crazy on Jillian and then ran to Bob and LIED to him. Sorry you didn't get a workout Filipe, but guess what, not everyone has personal trainers like that. I was sad that the black team won the weigh in even after the many stunts they pulled. Smoking? Drinking? GET REAL. This is what got you where you are today. I was ashamed to watch that, and to watch Bob open arms the blue team and never even see him and Jillian talk about what happened. Okay, rant over.


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Sendra | 15952 Debora Flexx
Ankle boots | Multi coloured
€ 274,95 € 220,00
Free shipping
Shipment by PostNL for orders of € 59.95 and more within the Netherlands and to Belgium is free. We charge shipping costs on items with 30% or more discount.
We also ship to other countries than The Netherlands and Belgium. An overview of the countries and shipping costs can be found here.
You can return the items within 14 (calender)days after receipt, if unworn, undamaged and in the original packaging. When returning items you are solely responsible for the costs of your return shipment.
Returning items in one of our stores is free. Please read the instructions on the return form.
MONFRANCE shoes provides a safe and easy payment environment. You can complete your order's payment using Visa, Mastercard, iDeal, Bancontact/Mister Cash and PayPal.
All prices in our online shop always include 21% VAT.
Tax free
All prices stated in our online shop include 21% VAT. If you reside in a country outside the EU you can order VAT free in our online shop. The billing address as well as the delivery address must be in a country outside the European Union.
The VAT will be deducted during the check out process. MONFRANCE shoes cannot be held responsible for import duties, taxes and similar charges applicable to the destinaton country.
Orders placed in our online shop are processed and shipped within 1 to 2 working days. Orders which are placed during weekends or holidays will be shipped the following working day. Orders within the Netherlands are usually delivered within 1 - 3 working days. PostNL also delivers on Saturdays.
Generally, orders for Belgium and Germany will be delivered within 2 - 5 working days.
For more information on the delivery periods to any other country than the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, please contact us by completing the contact form.
Not at home during the day? We also offer the opportunity to get your package to be delivered the next evening (+ € 1.99) (The Netherlands only)


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Reflecting on the 2020 Cheltenham Festival and building up towards 2021. Threads on all major races including Gold Cup, Queen Mother and Champion Hurdle. Share early Cheltenham Festival Tips and check out our preview night reports.
Share your tips for the Aintree Grand National Meeting Forum with threads on all big races over the three days including Grand National, Aintree Hurdle, Melling Chase, Betfred Bowl, Sefton Hurdle etc. #GrandNational2015.
Forum for Registered users only. Tipping Contests, Polls, Betting systems, General Sports Tips and information we dont want the bookies to see.
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