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Research Series 3/22 "Into the Metaverse"
Research Series 3-22 "Into the Metaverse".
Mark Zuckerberg's announcement at the end of July 2021 to focus more on the development of the metaverse put the topic on the agenda and it became the new buzzword. It describes the vision of a shared, virtual space that resembles a digital mirror of the real world. Today, there are many more opportunities for brands and companies to participate in this virtual world alongside reality and to foster various forms of customer engagement.
Our members can find the PDF of the research series 3/22 on our website in the members area in the section "Documents/Research Series".
We hope you enjoy reading it.
Blog gfm insights
© 2023 – gfm - Swiss Marketing Society | Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Marketing


Northern Michigan offers a wide spectrum of summer activities to enjoy!
The National Cherry Festival in Traverse City and championship golf courses draw visitors to the region every summer. Nearby lakes and streams offer anglers a variety of fresh water fish.
Swim in Lake Michigan or one of Kalkaska's 80 inland lakes. Torch Lake, voted third most beautiful beach in the world by National Geographic, is just a 20 minute drive away.
Enjoy our on-site Water Oasis or lounge in our zero gravity chairs during your down time at the resort!


Main responsibilities: driving and operating vehicle-mounted platforms around the South West, centered from Exeter.
To drive LGV vehicles to 7.5 tonne and operate mounted platform, self-propelled units where applicable and to carry out works in accordance with verbal or written instructions to the satisfaction of both Sky Platform Hire Limited and the customer (this may also include working from Towers, Scaffolds and ladders). To take charge of the day to day running of the vehicle and to report back any issues or technical problems that may arise. Willingness to accept early starts or late finishes on weekdays to suit customers needs as required. Also, occasional unsocial hours weekdays and weekends at enhanced hourly rates.


Automatic Facial Expression Recognition (FER) is an imperative process in next generation Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) for clinical applications. The detailed information analysis and maximization of labeled database are the major concerns in FER approaches. This paper proposes a novel Patch-Based Diagonal Pattern (PBDP) method on Geometric Appearance Models (GAM) that extracts the features in a multi-direction for detailed information analysis. Besides, this paper adopts the co-training to learn the complementary information from RGB-D images. Finally, the Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) classifier is used to recognize the facial expression. In experiments, we validate the proposed methods on two RGB-D facial expression datasets, i.e.,EURECOMM dataset and biographer dataset. Compared to other methods, the comparative analysis regarding the recognition and error rate prove the effectiveness of the proposed PBDP-GAM in FER applications.
GB/T 7714 Jain Deepak Kumar,Zhang Zhang,Huang Kaiqi. Hybrid patch based diagonal pattern geometric appearance model for facial expression recognition[C],2016.


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Manuscripts from German-Speaking Lands: A Polonsky Foundation Digitization Project
The Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel and Bodleian Libraries are digitizing nearly 600 medieval manuscripts written in German-speaking lands, in a project funded by The Polonsky Foundation between 2019 and 2021.
The collecting work of William Laud – archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645 and simultaneously chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1630 to 1641 – brought many manuscripts to the library during a time of religious strife in both Germany and England. He and his agents assembled around 320 manuscripts between 1633 and 1639 from Würzburg Cathedral, the Mainz Charterhouse, and Eberbach Abbey. The Würzburg manuscripts include a significant body of Carolingian manuscripts, such as a ninth-century copy of Gregory the Great's homilies (MS. Laud Misc. 275).
The Dutch philological scholar Franciscus Junius (1589–1677) later donated some of the Bodleian's most significant Germanic manuscripts. These include MS. Junius 25 (coming soon), a volume of booklets from the 8th and 9th centuries that includes three Old High German glossaries and the glossed Murbach Hymns. The Junius collection also includes his own transcriptions and preparatory editions of texts in Gothic, Old English, and Old High German.
The nineteenth century brought a further wave of German manuscripts to Oxford. In 1817, the library purchased much of the collection of the Venetian Matteo Luigi Canonici (1727–1805/6), a former Jesuit. The Canonici manuscripts include an eleventh-century sacramentary from Reichenau (MS. Canon. Liturg. 319), a treasure of Ottonian manuscript illumination. The bequest of Francis Douce (1757–1834) to the library augmented its collection of illuminated manuscripts. Douce purchased many books from Germany that came onto the market through the secularization of its monasteries during the Napoleonic period. MS. Douce 185 (coming soon) is a collection of homilies made for a community of nuns in the Rhineland; its companion volume is now Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, MS W.148. The sons of Sir William Hamilton (1788–1856) gave a substantial body of manuscripts from Erfurt, including a copy of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy annotated by a German translator (MS. Hamilton 46).
The library has continued to acquire German manuscripts in the last century. James P.R. Lyell (1871–1948) allowed the library to select one hundred items from his collection, including several important items from Austrian monastic libraries. Alfred Ehrman (1890–1969) acquired a manuscript of German geomantic and astronomical texts, copied by Nicolaus Breys of Bayreuth in 1469, for the sake of its fine binding; his son John gave it to the library in 1978 (MS. Broxb. 84.3). Most recently, the library purchased a 15th-century manuscript from the Strasbourg charterhouse focused on the contemplation of the Passion of Christ (MS. Don. e. 250); and a prayer book made by a Ciscercian nun at Medingen Abbey (MS. Don. e. 248), adding to three other manuscripts in Oxford from the same abbey.
The project has a dedicated website, with further information about the history of the Bodleian and HAB collections, a project blog, and a full list of manuscripts digitized by both institutions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Using tune.svm() function in SVM with cross validation technique I have constructed SVM models with 5-fold cross validation technique.
I want to use tune.svm() function for tuning best parameters. But, defaultly
, 10-fold cross validation technique is used in tune.svm().
At the beginning of SVM when using 5-fold cross validation technique, we divide our data to 5 folds. But after, when we use tune.svm(), defaultly, it uses 10 fold-cross validation. I just want to learn that, how can we use tune.svm when we are using cross validation technique in SVM? And how can we find our best parametres in linear kernel with cross validation technique?

A: You can specify the the number of cross validations by using tunecontrol=tune.control(cross=..) . If you read the help page (?tune.svm), you will see that:
degree, gamma, coef0, cost, nu, class.weights, epsilon: 'svm'
          parameters.

These means that you can try to tune these parameters in svm, but you need to specify them.
So for example, if we tune gamma and cost, with cv=5:
m = tune.svm(x = iris[,1:4],y=as.numeric(iris$Species=="versicolor"),
tunecontrol=tune.control(cross=5),cost=1:3,gamma=seq(0,0.5,by=0.1))

m$performances
   gamma cost      error  dispersion
1    0.0    1 0.30413429 0.074359870
2    0.1    1 0.05252970 0.015033730
3    0.2    1 0.03824034 0.010252205
4    0.3    1 0.03423748 0.009514754
5    0.4    1 0.03156347 0.008972839
6    0.5    1 0.03095934 0.009128068
7    0.0    2 0.30413429 0.074359870
8    0.1    2 0.04600002 0.013275795
9    0.2    2 0.03488123 0.008582790
10   0.3    2 0.03165164 0.008197322
11   0.4    2 0.03123569 0.008004122
12   0.5    2 0.03082393 0.009569036
13   0.0    3 0.30413429 0.074359870
14   0.1    3 0.04345943 0.012687920
15   0.2    3 0.03256819 0.006965251
16   0.3    3 0.03167265 0.007482398
17   0.4    3 0.03121712 0.008437225
18   0.5    3 0.03108899 0.010158448

m$best.parameters
   gamma cost
12   0.5    2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I took one of those shuttle vans from La Guardia into Manhattan a few weeks ago, and noticed the oddest thing- the van didn't have an EZ Pass transmitter. It paid for its trip through the tunnel with cash.
I assume this van wasn't an occasional user of the tunnel, but rather that it went through a toll booth of one kind or another multiple times a day. Yet it wasn't using the tool to make the trip a tiny bit faster. Odd.
The message it sent to me was: We don't care about your experience with us. You chose the cheap route, we'll treat you like crap.
Sometimes the low end solution can get away with that.


Wool is extremely durable and can last for years as long as it's generally maintained. It acts as a natural flame retardant that is not only non-allergenic, it is also dust mite-resistant making it perfect for people with allergies and skin sensitivity. All the wool is harvested safely without the usage of chemicals. Aside from the environmentally sound aspect, it just makes sense. For starters, you will want to obtain an all-natural handpicked virgin wool that hasn't been treated with any harmful chemicals or additives.
Wool is somewhat more costly than cotton and much less simple to wash. It does not harbor bacteria! It can be made into extremely strong and beautiful fabrics. It is naturally antibacterial and does not have to be cleaned as often. Since it naturally absorbs moisture, it is ideal for warm sleepers in need of temperature control. It's significantly stronger and significantly easier to work with than wool, particularly for your hands. Because of the all-natural crinkle-structure of the fleece, wool has a great capacity to put away air.
Due to its utility, fabric can be utilised to create accessories that will produce freshness and newness to any boring interior space. You can also search for a Cotton Fabric that is blended with a Linen. Fabric may also be utilised in some extraordinary strategies to add attraction to a room. Many people have a tendency to avoid synthetic fabrics like polyester since they do not feel as nice against the human body and have a tendency to appear ragged after washing.
If you're looking for some substantial and easily cleaned blankets that ought to hang about for a very long time, make a point to check out one or two of the alternatives we've reviewed within the next paragraphs. The Pendleton blanket comes out of a lengthy tradition. Pendleton Solid Easy Care Blanket is a significant choice because it's made of 100% virgin wool that's machine washable!
You wish to clean your comforter as little as possible to be able to retain its highest insulation value. Comforters are very similar to Quilts in the majority of aspects. If you would like your comforter to appear large and poofy on your bed, you'll want to choose a winter type comforter with a tall fill weight. Extremely warm comforters also ought to be avoided. Bed comforters are offered in a broad range of price ranges. They are one of the basic bedding accessories. If you opt to buy a fantastic excellent comforter stuffed with goose feathers then it would be a bit expensive in comparison to the remainder of the comforters.
Since a duvet is employed as a blanket in addition to an alternative for other bed linens, it's comparatively more costly than a comforter. Duvets also decrease the complexity of creating the bed by utilizing a single cover in place of blankets, quilts and other coverings. Both a duvet and comforter are types of blankets, and so, it is quite possible for folks to confuse both terms.
When trying to find a night of excellent rest to wake up refreshed and prepared for the day, the sort of bedding plays a larger role than you may think. Opt for a bedding set that is in a pattern which you like, since you'll probably be using it for no less than a couple of years. A suitable bedding ensures an excellent night's sleep and is an important part of healthy way of life. Comfortable bedding is your right, so prior to making any decision, attempt to check the comforter to get rid of the probability of misjudgment. For instance, particular types of bedding have actually been demonstrated to grow the amount of your REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep. Silk bedding can last at the very least a decade long of superior sleep.
A bed with a slatted headboard would be ideal, but an extremely plain wrought iron could do the job also. Two men and women in the exact same bed can experience their own degree of sleeping comfort. In traditional Japanese houses, there are normally no typical beds found in every one of their rooms.
If you are buying a bed for your children then it's much better to get a bed of twin or twin XL size. If you're on the lookout for a huge bed and can't afford to choose the leap to custom, a California king bed is the ideal option. You may literally outfit your whole bed with wool accessories if you want.
The sleep bag will get part of your kid's bedtime routine, providing an awareness of security and comfort. The bag may also function as a gift packaging. Woolino Ultimate Baby Sleep Bags supply a superb value as they're intended to fit a normal size baby from about 2 months as much as two decades old.


Unless you have been living in a cave, you should know about Michael Buble. He's a Canadian singer who was doing a lot of big band vocals sort of like how Harry Connick Jr was doing (what the heck happened to Harry…..he is MIA).
Anyhow, Michael Buble did a crossover album in 2007 (I think) where he did more pop type songs without his big band. It's rather good, and this is one of my favorite songs off that album.
Never heard of Paramore? Pity…..great band. Great songs. Such as this one.
Yup…..it's usually NOT the instrument.
The NY Times has an article out titled The Claim: Playing a Wind Instrument Causes Respiratory Infection.
"For years, scientists have noticed that people who play wind instruments seem to be at greater risk of chronic sore throats and airway inflammation. Some research suggested that saliva and microorganisms might build up in the mouthpieces, then get blown deeper into the instruments.
Basically, yes, germs can survive a day or two and you might get yourself infected again. Bottom line is that you should clean your stuff out if you are getting sick or are sick…..and well, AT LEAST when you change a reed.
You need to read this. Composer John Adams Julliard commencement speech.
And there is a LOT more. Worth reading.
Don't watch the video below if you haven't finished the game.
If you have, then feel free to download the song and watch the video. Turret Opera. These game people are pretty amazing coming up with stuff like this.
This is from Portal 2. It's by Jonathan Coulton. It's good. Check it out.
This makes me wonder what else a human can do. Perhaps in music classes, if students were required to wear blindfolds, it would develop their "ear" faster and better? Or maybe we all should have some sort of class which we have to do things completely without sight.
I know when I listen to music, I really have to pretty much close my eyes to listen. I can't really multitask and listen to something. Nor can I listen to stuff while driving as a lot of my attention goes to the music, the brain picking apart what I'm hearing…..even if I have heard it many many times over. It's like other things, sight, etc, are interfering with my listening.
Chordal instrument players are good to follow for figuring out how to solo to chord changes. Here is a little intro to what guitar players call "Pitch Axis Theory". To me, it's more of soloing to tonal centers, but potato or po-tat-o….
Usually, Trombone is my least favorite instrument. Now….not so much.
Bon Jovi is still cool. And so is this song.
This is a great video. It applies to all things, including music. Budgets in states are cutting all kinds of things, like woodshop, auto shop, and MUSIC. These programs are deemed not necessary. Ha! They are totally necessary to provide real skills for students. Who really cares if you can do a Trig problem…..can you take apart a car piece and put it back? Can you change the oil? Can you see patterns in music and notice when a theme happens and when it comes back? Can you hear that you are in tune? Can you keep a beat?
I'm really sad for the kids going through the educational system now. All the money they keep throwing at it and the results (in California) aren't happening.


Our light-weight eyelash extensions are so comfortable and feel so natural, you'll forget you have them, but everyone else is sure to notice your amazing lash line. You will be thrilled with how you look when you leave our studio and even more ecstatic with how you look when you wake up beautifully every morning. Your eyes will look amazing and you'll find your morning routine is shorter than ever before. Once you've discovered how amazing your eyes can look even before you apply makeup, you'll wonder how you made it this long without lash extensions.
Using our patented application process, your stylist will attach light-weight eyelash extensions to each of your lashes to give you the most natural-looking lash line. Our styles can't be found anywhere else, and are customized to leave you looking your best. We use safe, professional grade adhesive and the utmost care to give you the look you desire while you relax and enjoy the tranquility of your private lash suite. It's an amazing experience we know you will love instantly!
Our expert stylists will help you select the style best suited for your eye shape, and desired look, even taking into consideration your lifestyle to ensure your best lash look. In addition to our specially designed lightweight synthetic eyelash extensions, Amazing Lash Studio also offers a little extra va-va-voom with our Volume lashes for those who want an even fuller lash line or a special occasion look.


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Philly hits 90 degrees in October for first time in 78 years
Sure, it's always sunny in Philadelphia, but does it always have to be so dang hot?
By Adam Hermann
Adam Hermann/PhillyVoice
Leaves are falling and changing colors in Philly, but Wednesday's record-setting high temperature sure didn't feel like autumn.
On Wednesday, for one final time in 2019, hopefully, it was hot as hell in Philadelphia.
The temperature in Philly on Wednesday reached (and then eclipsed) 90 degrees for the first time in the month of October since 1941, according to the National Weather Service.
MORE NEWS: Pa. legislators push 'fair pay to play' bill for college athletes
The NWS's temperature records, which date back to 1874, show temperatures in Philadelphia during the month of October have only ever reached 90 degrees seven times, including Wednesday:
Temperature records have been kept at Philadelphia since 1874. In that time period Philadelphia has only recorded 6 days in October where the temperature hit 90. If Philadelphia reaches 90 today it will be the first 90 degree October day since 1941! #njwx #pawx #dewx #mdwx pic.twitter.com/0679c7bdx6
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) October 2, 2019
The National Weather Service also reported that Wednesday's high was the hottest Oct. 2 in the history of recorded temperature in Philadelphia. The previous record, 87 degrees, occurred in 2002.
It's been a year of extreme, record-setting weather, at least locally. Back in mid-May, Cape May broke a 112-year-old record for its coldest May 13 of all-time, when the high temperature reached just 55 degrees.
Amazon 'moving ahead' with plans for a grocery store in Philadelphia
Pottstown is first in U.S. to test curbside recycling of bubble wrap, grocery bags, shrink wrap, more
Former superintendent who admitted to pooping at New Jersey school loses federal lawsuit
Luckily, it seems the heat will be behind us after Wednesday: according to Accuweather's forecast, the next seven days won't top 73 degrees, with lows in the high 40s and low 50s.
Last month, thousands of young people in Philadelphia and millions around the world took to the streets in a global climate march, urging action from governments in the face of ongoing climate change.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this July was the warmest July, globally, in the past 140 years. Nine of the 10 warmest Julys ever have occurred in the last 14 years.
In October 2018, leading climate scientists warned that the planet had 12 years left to limit climate change's effect on global temperatures.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting more sustainable practices. Wolf wants Pennsylvania to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.
Follow Adam & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @adamwhermann | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Adam's RSS feed to your feed reader
Adam Hermann
adam@phillyvoice.com
Read more Weather History Philadelphia National Weather Service Records Pennsylvania Climate Change


Contact Our Company | MITUSA, Inc.
Contact Us | MITUSA, Inc.
MITUSA, Inc. will respond quickly and equitably to all requests for quotes and / or lead times for our standard or engineered systems. Detailed to simple questions will be answered quickly by our knowledgeable technicians.
Please fill out the form to the right and a knowledgeable member of our tech team will be in contact to answer any questions on seam welding equipment quickly.


Impressive period features are an undeniable luxury in the home, insinuating an effortless class. Convert this class into timeless style with interior design that enhances the period features' elegance, bringing their brilliance into the twenty-first century.
One way to do this is with a simple lick of paint: bring your parquet floors or picture-frame mouldings up to date by painting them a brilliant white or shocking black. Alternatively, introduce modern furniture that harmonizes stylistically with the traditional features, while also introducing contemporary accents. Do this with contrasting colours, patterns and materials, such as metal in an environment dominated by dark wood.
Amongst the hubbub of busy Brooklyn, Ed and Barbara Parker found their perfect home: a beautiful apartment in a nineteenth century building featuring whole walls of windows and original architectural features dating back over a hundred years.
As architects themselves, the couple knew class when they saw it: intact picture-frame mouldings, high ceilings, beautiful wooden flooring and an abundance of natural light from the stunning windows. Even better, they knew how to maximise those features, while minimising less positive factors such as the apartment's long thin layout.
To make the most of the gift of natural light, and to maximise space in smaller rooms, they opted for a monochrome theme, with pure white walls, floors and ceilings. The bright white also serves to emphasise the rooms' architectural qualities, providing no distraction to their subtle charm. As for furniture, there was only one option: minimalist, modern USM Haller pieces that contrasted with the environment's more traditional bones whilst also bringing their own iconic style. The result? Furniture that elegantly complements the space, their steel and chrome finishes playing counterpoint to the open wooden walls and flooring.
The benefits of the pieces are not purely stylistic; they also provide a great deal of hyper-practical storage in the minimalist space. One piece, taking pride of place against an otherwise featureless white wall, is the vinyl media unit,housing the couple's extensive vinyl collection, turntable and sound system - it also has lockable fold-down storage for drinks, glassware and crockery making it perfect for entertaining friends. Another piece is perfectly proportioned for the family television, and provides ample room for a collection of much loved coffee-table books.
The effect is a clean and open style that, Barbara says, "a lot of people associate... with a country home" - quite a sanctuary indeed. Her husband agrees: "it's a mini vacation every time I come home".
You can design the perfect furniture for your own home - whatever its and attractions and limitations - using the USM Haller system. Try out our interactive online configurator to design bespoke pieces, or get in touch to work with one of our experts in furniture design.


Dave Winer, (Co-) Inventor of fine stuff like XML-RPC, RSS and SOAP, is having trouble with his Mac. It doesn't automatically switch back from daylight saving time, it's way to slow (until a Guru came along and "healed" it), and the keyboard is real crap. Says Dave.
My Mac on the other hand performs well, switches back from daylight saving time and the keyboard gives me no bad time either (typing on it right now)!
Right now as more and more people convert to the Mac, Dave Winer disses the Apple. Well, he might. But this is missing the obvious conclusion: Dave Winer's Mac is made of anti-matter, as it lacks all the fine qualities usually associated with a Mac.


Below is a 2.5 minute video clip of retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens proposal to amend constitution relating to Campaign finance. Ask your senator and congressman to support the amendment.
The Court's campaign finance beliefs now provide that the only justification for regulating campaign speech and campaign financing is to avoid corruption or the appearance of corruption, is quite wrong. There is another way to protect against misconduct by elected officials – bribery laws.
Stevens urged members of Congress to enact campaign finance regulations that distinguish between money provided by constituents and others, such as corporations and individuals who live elsewhere.
Although money is used to finance speech, it is not itself speech. Campaign contributions finance speech, but they also finance lots of other activities. After all, he observed, the Watergate burglaries – "actions that clearly were not protected by the First Amendment" – were financed with campaign funds.


text:
Episode: 283 |
Keith Stoeckeler :
Sports Sponsorship:
HOW TO THRIVE AS AN
INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL
Keith Stoeckeler
Keith Stoeckeler is a VP/Group Director at MKTG, where a significant portion of his time is spent working with brands to establish and manage sponsorships of sports and other entertainment events.
In this episode, Keith discusses how sports sponsorships work and the impact of the coronavirus.
Follow Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/keiths
For more on MKTG, visit: http://mktg.com/
For more on Keith visit: http://keithstoeckeler.com/
One weekly email with bonus materials and summaries of each new episode:
Transcript
Will Bachman 00:01
Hello and welcome to Unleashed the show that explores how to thrive as an independent professional Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which connects you with the world's top independent management consultants. And I'm your host, Will Bachman. I'm so excited to be here today with our guest, Keith Steckler, who is the VP and group director at MK Tg leading agency. Keith, welcome to the show. Well, thanks for having me. Good morning. So Keith, you know, I was hoping that today, we could talk about two things. One is I know that you are a deep expert and do a lot of work with your clients around sports sponsorship, and sponsorship, other, you know, kind of major entertainment, music events, motor sports events, I will talk about that. And then also, you know, just sort of pre COVID how that world works. And then also, what you see is the effects of COVID and how that whole space will look moving forward. Yeah, for sure. I would love to dig into that a little bit. Okay, so let's talk about just sort of pre COVID situation, help explain to me and I don't know really much about this world at all, how sports sponsorships work? How do brands decide that they want to sponsor a sport, decide which sport they want to get into? Decide, like, which team they want to support? Or, you know, the or the where the the whole league? And like, what are the different options when you're getting into it, of having your brand associated with the sport? Just just kind of give me an overview?
Keith Stoeckeler 01:33
Yeah, sure. And it varies based on the brand. Naturally, you want to be mindful of who your consumer is, who are you targeting? What's the customer that you might have? And so it ranges from, you know, certain levels of sponsorships on that ad agency that have done, you know, naming rights and league deals, and, you know, everything within the confines of sports, sponsorship and marketing, but it really does matter who you're going after. Now, we we work with IBM and have for a number of years, and we've worked on the transition of that brand, from, you know, heavy in golf and tennis to some other sports we we got, we got them affiliated with ESPN and fantasy football. And we're building out some fantasy football programs. We work with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Formula One. So we're starting to skew that portfolio in a different way. But years ago, it was certainly heavily rooted and focused in in golf and tennis. And I think as we brought in the audience, and we thought about focusing on developers and you know, different decision makers, it made sense to get out of some of these sports in in the major ways that they were in yours years ago.
So when when when we say, even just a brand is going to do a sponsorship. Like what's the palette or menu of different options that they can think about? So if I'm, like totally naive to this world, but what's the range from high low? So you mentioned, like naming rights of the stadium all the way down to giving out you know, having your your logo on it on a T shirt, what are the kind of the whole range of choices?
Yeah, for sure. And I think certain sponsorship levels, and that's what we're really good at it at this agency is understanding what's the deal, we can value the deal for you, we can help you negotiate it, we can let you know what other, you know, pieces you might want to ask for. So it varies with us on clients, but for a brand. To your point, yes, it can be anywhere as high as naming rights on stadiums or events and all the way down to logos or signage. But each deal gives you certain levels of access. So if you take Motorsports for instance, and I was I was recently at the Daytona 500 before everything changed, and that sport as with with all sports, but you know, there are there are branded entrances to the stadiums called injectors. There's footprints before you get into the track where brands have experiences and there's whether they're giving things away or their sampling product or they're educating you or there's some type of entertainment. So it's very much like a music festival or any branded experience you might be going to but it's focused in sports and so there's varying levels of you know, sponsorship opportunities, just like any conference or you know, you think like a CES, same kind of thing. If you think about how brands engage there. It's the same kind of thing focused in sports
and Do they decide what sport to, to sponsor? So, is there kind of detailed databases that a firm like yours would have on the demographics of each sport? And, you know, like, who the different, you know, fans are and stuff so that if you're, like IBM, or some, you know, a big company, and you're trying to figure out who are our users? Or who are our potential, you know, decision makers, and how do we go after them that you can find the most cost effective sport to go after?
Yes, there's, there's a lot of research, we, as a company have a, separately a separate company that that's under our umbrella that acts as a research and analytics firm, and they help value they also help understand audiences, they do surveys, so there is a lot of data around that. And it's also we have to get smart on every sport. And I think as you talk about egaming, there's a lot of argument on whether that's a sport or not, we we think that it is and so, you know, we have a lot of data around it just like any other sport, but there's tons of emerging sports. You know, there's like the world surf league. So there's all kinds of things that we perceive as a sports entity that we have to keep our, our thumb on and keep track of, but yes, you would, you would come to us, we would help, from a consultation perspective, understand what might be some options based on your objectives and goals. And that's all rooted in research and our experience as a you know, as an agency.
Alright, what are some, you know, sports where the demographics might be a little surprising to, you know, to me, or to just sort of the average person who's not paying close attention, where, where maybe the, the fans are, you know, far more, you know, wealthy or educated or more decision makers, and you might, then you might have guessed from the outside.
Yeah, I think we could make an argument for really any sport. But working in Formula One, the last couple of years. These are, you know, people that travel to a number of races, there are people that travel to almost all of the races. And then there's even people that just try to make one and a different location. And since they're all most of them are outside the US, there's a race in Mexico, and there's a race in Austin, Texas, but outside of that, it's a global sport. So what I found pretty interesting is is the the US based fans who will wake up at odd hours of the day to watch the race live, because it's in Abu Dhabi, or it's in Europe. So it's been pretty interesting to follow that. But even in, in the US, the NFL, Major League Baseball, I mean, people would be surprised how young that stealing how female that scaling. So I think the NBA has done a great job on on social and engaging younger fans, and that's paid dividends. So really, we could we could make the case about any sport, I feel like a lot of people would be a bit surprised about the makeup of the fans of any sport, really.
One thing I've always wondered about is when a brand gets involved, and one on sort of sponsoring one sports team, like maybe naming their stadium or, you know, kind of heavily promoting one sports team. How did they decide to do that? And doesn't that kind of maybe that annoyed their customers? who are fans of other teams? How do they think about that?
Yeah, it's difficult. And honestly, as somebody who's more focused in the digital and social space, I'll leave that to a colleague of mine to probably answer better than me, but yeah, no doubt. It's, it's difficult. And especially when we think about the long term deals, you got to think about, is this a brand from from both sides? Like from the sports team? Is this a brand that you want to associate the stadium and everything with? I mean, you think about some stadiums that have a branded like, you know, Staples Center that have a branded name, versus those like Madison Square Garden that does not. So it just depends, I think, there there's a lot of ability to hopefully or potentially make up money elsewhere. But a lot of times naming rights is such a lucrative, you know, deal and a long term deal and for many brands, it's a great fit, given the awareness given where sports broadcasters broadcast from the games and it's in the back Background and people's, you know, social posts. So there's a lot of value to that as well beyond the traditional media value that we keep tabs on. Specifically in socialist people take selfies and at the games and may not realize the signage that's behind them, or they didn't take the photo with that in mind, it was just me and my friend or whoever at a baseball game, but look at all the signage that's in the back, and how do we value that? So that's one of the things we do as well.
Okay. And, you know, so one thing that I wanted to ask about is how much of a part of these deals typically is if you're sponsoring a team or sponsoring in a league? is part of it, you know, being able to go and bring sort of VIP guests to those events? And is that really like a big part of these deals? Typically, where if you're sponsoring an NBA game, that you get some special seats and get some, you know, you get to bring your, your, your key clients to attend the games with you?
Sure, yeah. That is, that is a big component of it. Part of our agency as well, is hospitality and events. So yeah, I think it depends on who your audience is, if you're targeting C suite, decision makers, you may want to have a hosting program or hospitality program at racetrack or on a golf course, or whatever it might be. I mean, we've seen with Bleacher Report, they did that, you know, Phil Mickelson versus tiger. It was shot outside the US. And it became and was merchandised as a very, you know, small hospitality opportunity, but the opportunity for clients and customers to get a upfront experience with Phil anzeiger, that you probably wouldn't get at a normal golf of that, because it was so intimate. So absolutely, that we've we've seen some pretty interesting hospitality focused events, as part of as part of sponsor deals. And certainly right now with the environment we're in a lot of this is virtual. There's a lot of, you know, hospitality being done through the internet versus in person. So it's, it's Yes, it's very much a strong component of a sponsorship deal, or I should say, you would certainly want for it to be so that you can maximize the potential of that sponsorship deal.
How do brands measure the impact and the value they're getting from these sponsorships?
There's a lot of levers that go into that. I mean, we talk about brand recognition, there's a lot of surveys that that we do at events where, you know, we'll try to see what brands you recall, and if you knew a brand was sponsoring something before you went into it, that kind of thing. So what's the lift from, you know, pre and post event that certainly has, you know, a strong component of it, but also is social listening is understanding what sort of brands are being talked about, within the confines of an event, or we can do targeted advertising to and you might have, you might see it, if you're on Twitter, where Twitter will just, you know, hit you with an ad that says, We're curious if you've seen anything from this brand lately, and there's a little bit of that. So it's a lot of survey, a lot of listening and understanding what people are talking about and sharing and making sure we're capturing that and social and helping, you know, brands understand if if you're one of five sponsors, let's say at an event, maybe last year, you were 10% of the conversation in social and this year, you're 20. So and then we can just decide if hopefully, that's positive. And in that case, that's been, you know, an increase for the better but we'll drill down into what was the sentiment? How are you being talked about? Because it can't just be Do you have a larger share conversation and share voice this time around? So there's a lot of levers that go into it?
Can you give us you know, nothing confidential, but just something you know, numbers that people in the industry would kind of have is ballparks, like, order of magnitude? What are some of the different fee levels for for different types of levels of sponsorship? Like if you are sponsoring, like just one game or one season or getting your brand that's like the logo on a shirt? Or can you give us a sense of just what the different options are?
Not really what I can say is I think you would be surprised how creative and nimble either teams are or leagues are. If you're interested in doing something even if it was one off I mean We've Of course seen, it's, you know, high dollar for a brand to sponsor a section or an entrance at a stadium. But, you know, if we're talking something that might be social content, you could sponsor a content series, you could advertise on something that's already been developed or you create it with a team. But certainly, if you're approaching a team, you know, the prices a little bit less or considerably less than if you're approaching the league, and you're affecting all of the teams. So it just, it just matters. You know what your goals are, and if you're more of a local or regional and then it makes sense to do a few teams or if it's a national play, and you want to get in with the lead. So I think people have expectations of what some of these deals are, and a lot of them are reported. So they're quite easy to find. But like I said, I think people feel like they might be priced out of opportunities with certain sports and certain teams. And I think, I think you'd find a lot of people are very open to be creative.
Okay. Let's talk about kind of what you've seen as the impact of the Coronavirus. You know, obviously, just about all sports now, if not all sports are kind of shut down, at least for the for the near term. What kind of conversations are brands having with with the, with the player, the teams and the leagues that they sponsor?
Yeah, it's certainly interesting. And now we're looking at, you know, games coming back, probably without fans, or a considerable less number of fans because they have to be spaced out. But we saw in the last two months, once everything started happening, there was a big push to egaming. A lot of the Motorsports clients we work with were focused on the iracing platform they have where drivers are behind the wheel controlling the same car that they would drive in person on a Sunday. But the interesting and what I think is pretty cool. Part of that is it wasn't necessarily every driver, it might have been somebody from their crew, we saw Dale Earnhardt get involved as an obviously, you know, here's a driver who's retired from the sport, but can get involved on the E gaming side of things. So a lot of a lot of stuff is going virtual is going to gaming, and we're still trying to make sure that we're keeping, you know, fans involved. I know, it's, it's difficult, especially with baseball that was about to start, there's little comparison to being at the ballpark on a great day. But we're certainly trying to bring some of those emotions to you through digital through social, and make sure that, you know, people are feeling connected, we've been fortunate to stay working with athletes who are doing the same thing as you and I are doing if anything, right now they're more human than they ever were. So, you know, get having them record with their own phones, what they're up to, and producing content for sponsors that, you know, are still looking to do something, but they can't go to the actual race or the actual baseball game, because it's not happening, but how do we how do we ensure that we're still doing something for them, and they're activating their sponsorship in a smart way?
What sorts of things have athletes been been doing for their sponsors.
So we've been able to produce some videos where a number of players from either teams that brands have deals with are either shouting out fans directly, and we're doing a bunch of, you know, a number of videos that we can send to people hopefully to sort of brighten up their day, very cameo style, if you're familiar with that platform, where every or a number of athletes or celebrities are a little bit more connected to you and that they can produce a video for you and they can read a script, that kind of thing. So we're taking cues with that and, and trying to think of interesting ways that you know, athletes can be human and say, I know these are tough times, but we're going to get through it. I know you can't wait to see me out on the field and I can't wait to be out there just hoping that we can brighten somebody that
up. How How are you seeing are you seeing brands kind of reevaluate or rethink their whole sponsorship strategies around events?
Yes, I think um, you know, a lot of it is working in, you know, hand in hand with the leagues or the events that they would have been there personally, and on premise. So what are some things that these games Or leagues are offering? Are they open to hearing from us on some ideas that we might have? We've seen a lot of, you know, virtual conferences, so things can keep going on, obviously, in the, in the tech space, you have like Facebook that's come out and said, we're not doing anything in person, maybe even potentially through next year. So all of it is going virtual. So how do you, you know, make sure that that's interesting and compelling. And people still want to be a part of it. In some ways, we're finding the virtual might be, it's certainly no substitute for the imperson. But if I take a sport like f1, where it would certainly be very expensive to travel to some of these areas. If you're able to do that virtually, you could have more of your family join, you could get an inside look into the paddock or the garage before the race. So there may be in some ways, better opportunities to provide sponsors access to things virtually, then they may have been able to do in person.
Okay, that's really fascinating. The ability to get closer I've I've heard that from in other industries as well of some innovations that COVID is kind of forcing to happen. Can you say a little bit more about that about some of the opportunities that going virtual might open up,
I just think it's access. So for something like Formula One, or some of these events, a lot of brands have restrictions on you know, we, we won't invite spouses, we won't invite children. But now that you can go virtually, you can have your spouse join, you can have kids crowd around the laptop and see what's going on. So I just think it gives you access and and that might not have been realistic in person. And some of these events have guest speakers or musicians or, you know, some type of music is being played. So if you're able to as a sponsor, you know, give access to clients or customers, and then by and large their families that maybe couldn't have happened in person, due to the restrictions of the event, or due to travel costs. It's it's potentially a better way I don't, I don't think in many ways, it's it's a direct substitute. But given where we are, it's pretty interesting, and maybe a nice carrot for somebody to say, you know, we have this speaker. And as part of our sponsorship deal, we're allowing our customers to, you know, be able to see them talk or have a private event, or a candid conversation that's close to, you know, 2050 100 people. And it feels a little bit special. And so in some ways, we are seeing that. And maybe it's our optimism coming out in the last few months. But in some ways we are seeing a better experience done virtually because of the access you're getting.
Yeah, that's really cool. Could you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the whole world of, you know, these kind of high level sports sponsorships and other kind of entertainment sponsorships?
Yeah, I've, I've always worked in advertising agencies, it's it's really all I've known. I've been in the industry for 15 years and bounced around through the AC holding companies not on purpose. It's just kind of what happened but work to healthcare agencies, I've worked on consumer packaged goods. I've done a lot of automotive a lot of brands with engines in them. So I feel at this point, although it wasn't necessarily the goal, I have a pretty wide depth of experience across certain categories. And, you know, fortunate to be able to work in sports. It's been a goal for a while, and I'm glad I've been able to do that for the last four plus years.
Fantastic. Well, Keith, for folks that wanted to connect with you or you know, find out more about what you're doing. Do you want to share any, you know, Twitter handle or websites for listeners that they could follow up?
Sure. You know, my Twitter's probably the easiest given it's just keep s in my last name is a little bit difficult. But if you can find me on Twitter, it's Keith asks, and then my websites there and my DMS are always open. I'm happy to talk with you there and, and connect with you on other platforms,
if you're interested. Fantastic. Well, Keith, thanks so much for giving us perspective on the world of sports sponsorship, and for coming on the show.
Well, appreciate you having me. Enjoy your day, and I look forward to talking with you soon.
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Life in Baltimore and Maryland
Baltimore Inner Harbor at Night
Baltimore offers a unique blend of historic charm and urban vitality. From the dynamic Inner Harbor to the rolling horse estates on the edges of the city, Baltimore is a diverse community for people of all backgrounds and interests.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is located one mile from Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor, which features the National Aquarium, the American Visionary Art Museum, Fort McHenry, the Maryland Science Center, and the shops and restaurants of Harborplace. The Inner Harbor is easily accessible via the subway system, which connects the hospital to downtown and several other neighborhoods.
The city offers numerous cultural attractions including world-class museums, the acclaimed Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera, the Hippodrome Theatre, and several other music and theater venues. The Peabody Conservatory of Music, part of The Johns Hopkins University, presents concerts throughout the year. Concerts at the MECU Pavilion, the Royal Farms Arena and the nearby Merriweather Post Pavilion run the gamut from swing to jazz, from country to rock. A number of smaller independent venues host local and up-and-coming performing artists and theatre companies.
M & T Bank Stadium
Sports fans will enjoy watching major league baseball at Oriole Park at Camden Yards or NFL games at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the 2000 and 2012 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.
The city also has many vibrant neighborhoods rich in history and culture—great places to live, work and socialize.
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Dining, Nightlife and Neighborhoods
Food and fun are available in many areas of Baltimore. Whether you're craving hamburgers, crab cakes, sushi or tacos, you're likely to find it nearby. From trendy new restaurants, established and award-winning classics, cuisines from around the world, and breweries to pop-ups and food halls—Baltimore has it all. There are nightclubs and bars with a variety of music and character in neighborhoods such as the Inner Harbor, Fell's Point, Hampden and Federal Hill. Visit baltimore.org for locations and descriptions of area restaurants and nightlife.
There are numerous attractive and affordable places to live within easy commuting distance of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Throughout the city, many older neighborhoods, each with a distinct character, have been carefully restored and offer a diverse mix of housing to rent or buy. For those who prefer a more suburban environment, there is a variety of residential communities within a 20-minute commute of the East Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins. You can even live in a completely rural setting within 45 minutes of the hospital, or join those faculty members and residents who live on the water in Annapolis and beyond.
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Maryland is one of the most geographically diverse states in the country, from the Eastern Shore beaches to the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachian Mountains. There are great opportunities for boating, fishing, sailing, kayaking, kiteboarding and all other water sports on the state's rivers and lakes, with easy access to the bay and the ocean; the beaches of Ocean City, Maryland, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Cape May, New Jersey, are easy day trips from Baltimore. Hikers, mountain bikers and campers will enjoy the hills and woods, local parks, such as the Patapsco Valley State Park, and nearby national parks, such as the Shenandoah National Park. In addition, there are many scenic wineries and breweries dotting the countryside.
The state is at the center of our country's history; Baltimore is home to almost 300 locations listed on the National Register of Historic places, and Fort McHenry inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that eventually became the Star-Spangled Banner. Washington, D.C., is less than an hour away from Baltimore and boasts world-class museums, monuments and educational institutions. Historic Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy and annually presents the largest sailing and motorboat show on the East Coast. The Civil War battleground of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is nearby, and Mount Vernon and Williamsburg, Virginia, are easy day trips for Colonial history fans.
Baltimore is ideally situated to explore the best of the East Coast. Philadelphia and New York are easy to reach via road or train; nearby West Virginia is great for fans of serious outdoor adventure, with world-class skiing, climbing and white-water rafting; and the Poconos, Kitty Hawk, Hershey, Fallingwater and numerous other attractions are only hours away.
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NorthStar Education Finance, Inc. (formerly NorthStar Guarantee Inc., Division B 2000 Indenture)
Rating Action: Moody's takes rating actions on 4 FFELP student loan securitizations
Credit Ratings Remaining On Review: Moody's Investors Service – Update on Credit Ratings Remaining on Review
Rating Action: Moody's announces rating actions on student loan ABS backed by FFELP student loans following the update of its rating methodology
Announcement: Moody's Updates its Determination of Types of Securities Constituting Structured Finance Instruments
MOODY'S RATES NORTHSTAR STUDENT LOAN DEAL Aaa and A2
Approximately $110.0 Million of Asset-Backed Securities Rated.
New York, November 16, 2000 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned ratings of Aaa to the Student Loan Asset-Backed Notes, Senior Series 2000A-1 and Senior Series 2000A-2, and an A2 rating to the Subordinate Series 2000B Asset-Backed Notes issued by NorthStar Guarantee, Inc., Division B. ("NorthStar")
The complete rating actions are as follows:
$50,250,000 Auction Rate Student Loan Asset-Backed Notes, Senior Series 2000A-1, rated Aaa
$9,500,000 Auction Rate Student Loan Asset-Backed Notes, Subordinate Series 2000B, rated A2
RATING RATIONALE
According to Arthur Heffner, an associate analyst at Moody's, the ratings are based on several factors: (1) a minimum of 80% of the student loan portfolio represents loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, which provides an ultimate guarantee from the Department of Education at 98% or 100% of defaulted loan principal and interest, depending on the date of the loan origination; (2) the remaining 20% of the loan portfolio are alternative loans, which will not have a third party guarantee, but may draw upon an alternative loan loss reserve fund, which is equal to 4% of the alternative loans acquired from the proceeds of this sale, to pay defaulted principal and accrued interest on the alternative loans; (3) a debt service reserve fund equal to the greater of 1% of the outstanding principal amount of the notes or $500,000; (4) overcollateralization of 1.5% that will be created from excess spread.
TRANSACTION STRUCTURE
The $110 million issuance will be the first issuance by NorthStar under an Indenture of Trust dated, November 1, 2000. Proceeds from the issuance will be used to provide funds to (i) originate and acquire eligible loans, which include both FFELP loans and alternative loans, (ii) make a deposit to the reserve fund, (iii) make a deposit to the alternative loan loss reserve fund, (iv) make a deposit to the administration fund to pay fees and expenses related to the Trust Estate, (v) and pay the cost of issuance on the Series 2000 Notes.
Interest on the notes is established by an auction every 28 days. The notes will pay interest at a rate resulting from the auction and is subject to a maximum of the lesser of the maximum auction rate (the 91-day Treasury Bill rate plus 1.5%) or the maximum interest rate 18%. The notes pay interest on the business day following each auction. The final maturity on the notes is November 1, 2040. No principal is due until final maturity and the notes are callable on any interest payment date, to the extent the senior asset percentage will be at least equal to 105% and the subordinate asset percentage will be at least equal to 100.5%.
UNDERLYING COLLATERAL
The student loan pledged to the trust estate consist of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loan (80%), and alternative loans (20%) originated pursuant to NorthStar's T.H.E. (Total higher Education) Loan Program and Voyager Loan Program. The T.H.E Program provides both Federally reinsured and alternative loans to students attending qualified graduate and four-year undergraduate schools. The Voyager Loan Program is operated in conjunction with the Minnesota Private College Council and also provides both government insured and uninsured loans to students attending qualified Minnesota private colleges.
ISSUER AND SERVICER
NorthStar is a Minnesota nonprofit membership organization, whose sole member is Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, a Wisconsin nonprofit corporation. NorthStar is a 501(c)(3) organization under the IRS Code of 1986. The business of Northstar is divided into two divisions, the Division responsible for the T.H.E. Loan Program is designated as "Division B". The students loans underlying this transaction are serviced on behalf of NorthStar by Great Lakes Higher Education Servicing Corporation and Great Lakes Education Loan Servicing, Inc.
Edward Bankole
JOURNALISTS: (212) 553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: (212) 553-1653
Arthur R. Heffner
Associate Analyst