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Just when a rebound in solar shares is offering investors some relief, Solarfun (s solf) comes out with dismal fourth-quarter results that make clear there’s still plenty of bad news to go around.
In addition to a large quarterly loss, a pile of solar modules it can’t sell and the need for substantial borrowing in a tight credit market, the Chinese company is also losing Chief Financial Officer Amy Liu, who is leaving at the end of the month “to pursue other interests.” Terry McCarthy, a former chair of Solarfun’s audit committee, has been named interim CFO.
“When a CFO leaves, it’s not perceived particularly positively,” said CEO Harold Hoskens in a conference call. “We fully understand that. I think in this case, you shouldn’t read more into it than is necessary.”
In the last three months of 2008, Solarfun swung to a net loss of 418.8 million Renminbi ($61.4 million), including $47.8 million from writedowns related to a drop in inventory values as well as products that the company says it can’t sell in the current market. Solarfun reported a net profit of 66.4 million Renminbi in the comparable quarter in 2007.
And while Solarfun’s revenue rose 14 percent year-over-year, to $146.4 million, those inventory problems caused the cost of revenue to exceed revenue itself, creating a gross loss of $55 million vs. a $6.7 million gross profit the year before. Though there was some good news in operating expenses: They fell 15 percent.
It’s likely to get worse for Solarfun before it gets better. The company expects shipments in the current quarter — estimated at 35 megawatts — to be even weaker than in the last quarter of 2008, when they totaled 46.7 megawatts. It also forecast average selling prices to range between $2.78 and $2.04, down from $3.37 in the most recent quarter. For the full year, Solarfun said the price of its goods could fall as much as 15 percent.
Solarfun, which sees 80 percent of its revenue in euros, has been hurt by a strong dollar and a trend of governments in Spain and Germany scaling back spending on solar power. Falling prices of its modules are also a concern, although prices of polysilicon used in making them are also declining .
The company says it’s budgeting for demand to pick after this month. But it will still need to worry about funding for the rest of the year. It said cash on hand will help, as will lines of credit. Solarfun held $60 million in cash at the end of December, down $10 million from the end of September. Bank borrowings, meanwhile, rose by $13 million to $190 million.
Banks in China are still being “accommodative” with their lines of credit, Solarfun said in its earnings release. But analysts are starting to wonder how long their generosity will last. They say Solarfun will need to borrow heavily to fund its operations. And as the Journal’s David Gaffen pointed out:
China-based solar stocks typically “have lots of short-term debt, and there is an inherent belief that the debt will be renewed continuously by Chinese banks,” says Dan Ries, analyst at Collins Stewart. “Will Chinese banks continue to lend?” Mr. Ries asks, noting that Solarfun “could be a test case at some point.”


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For your first holiday in a long time, you decide to go somewhere new. You don’t want to spend too much, but you feel that a change in scenery is
A report by the Danish law firm Bruun & Hjejle reveals a catalogue of errors, management failures, process deficiencies and negligence. There are even suggestions that some staff colluded and assisted
After nearly a billion dollars of crypto was moved to a number of sub wallets by a single user, speculation has been rampant about who the mystery owner is.
Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator
The Federal Reserve’s new chairman made his stance on cryptocurrency clear to the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Here’s how 20-year old Kylie Jenner built a $900M fortune in just 3 years. Kylie Jenner is just 20 years old, but she’s already on track to become the youngest
@ZaksTradersCafe takes a closer look at the FinTech space, in this video charts he takes a closer look at the rise and fall of BitCoin and what the markets are thinking.
In a recent email to his team, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared a series of insights on the price of crypto that are worth remembering for any crypto investor
Around 60 bank branches close every month in the UK, new research has revealed. From2015 to the end of this year, some 2,868 branches will have closed, with RBS being the biggest

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Azamara Club Cruises’ newest ship, Pursuit, will allow the line to target a return to some of its most beloved destinations, UK boss Richard Twynam has said.
The Renaissance-class ship, Azamara’s third, was built in 2001 and was acquired by the line’s parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) in March after 12 years with Carnival.
TTG was given an exclusive first look around Pursuit in Belfast last week (July 4) where it is in wet dock ahead of its inaugural sailing on July 24.
"This is definitely the biggest refit in our history," said Twynam, Azamara’s UK managing director.
"There’s been no stone unturned. Every single space on this ship will change, as will all the furnishings - carpets, mirrors, chairs, suites, and so on. It’s a vast project."
Pursuit will sail 50 new itineraries, travelling to more than 70 new destinations and 19 new ports.
"Pursuit opens up destinations we couldn't go to with just two ships," said Twynam.
"Agents can already sell us in 2020 to South Africa. This ship will go to Rio Carnival, Mardi Gras, the Panama Canal and South Pacific - it's taking us to Iceland for the first time. It gives us scale. It allows us to be more adventurous with our deployment."
Twynam said while the line was guided by geo-politics, Azamara was keen to return to some of its most profitable itineraries.
"Right now, it's about those places we want to go back to, like the Black Sea," said Twynam.
"We've got parts of the Black Sea in our 2020 deployment, although not Ukraine. We're looking at it very closely for 2021. I think we'll see Egypt come back too.
"We're a long way from going back to certain places though. Guest safety is our number one priority and we have to be compliant with Foreign Office guidance.
"But we're in a changing world - we could all be talking about cruising to North Korea. Who knows."
Twynam reiterated Azamara's commitment to the trade, which constitutes 90% of its business, adding the line achieved its annual sales target for Pursuit by the third week of January.
Headline changes to the ship include stripping out its casino, which will be replaced by a new "destination-focused lounge" called The Den. This concept will be retrofitted to Pursuit's sister ships, Quest and Journey, also at the expense of their casinos.
While the refit will mirror Quest and Journey, Twynam said the main changes were to be found in the minutiae like UK sockets and USB ports in cabins and new sheet metal bathroom linings replacing wallpaper and tiles, as well as various bespoke fittings possible only thanks to its turnkey partnership with Belfast firm MJM Group.
"The quality will be the same across all three ships," said Twynam. "But the scale of this is so much bigger than what we've done before."
Quizzed on the price of the refit, a reported £50m, Twynam added: "I'll let you ride with that number - it's only when you get on board though you realise what that money gets you.
"These ships are small, they sail beautifully. It's only eight decks too so you feel close to the ocean - people just love it."


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Wycombe's Eden centre celebrates fifth birthday
SHOPPERS and Eden workers formed the number five to celebrate the High Wycombe shopping centre’s fifth birthday.
About 50 workers and shoppers, lured in by Krispe Kreme doughnuts, gathered outside Eden’s flagship store House of Fraser to mark the shopping centre’s fifth anniversary today.
Goodie bags and vouchers were also handed out to lucky shopaholics – who were full of praise for the positive effect Eden has had on the town.
Mica Lisk, 22, said: “It’s brilliant, it has got everything I could possibly need and I pop in every day in my lunchbreak.
“I wasn’t here pre-Eden but I’m told Wycombe was run-down and this revitalised the town, so it has done great things.”
David Griffin, who has been manager of Shopmobility for 20 years, said his organisation has been able to help double the amount of people since its office moved into the shopping centre.
He said: “Eden has put Wycombe on the map, unfortunately the timing with the economic climate isn’t ideal, but it is still doing well and is a major success story.
“I remember this area [House of Fraser] was old office blocks and a dirty bus station in which the diesel fumes choked you.
“Now, it looks good, the car-parking has more than doubled and it has rejuvenated High Wycombe – it’s what we were lacking.”
Clare Podbieleski, shopping with mum June and three-year-old daughter Pollyanna Richards, said: “I moved here about that time and it was rubbish – but I like Eden, it's a good shopping centre.”
Thousands of people lined the streets as Brazilian dancers and a brass band performed at Eden’s firework-filled launch on March 13, 2008.
Cllr Lesley Clarke, who was Leader of Wycombe District Council at the time, opened the shopping centre and hailed its impact.
She said: “I think it has given a lot to the town and it is not just the retail side, we have a new bus station which was desperately needed, we have a cinema in the town centre – it has been a big plus for Wycombe.
“I think Eden is better than I thought it would be. Some of the other shopping centres are boiling hot and Eden was never meant to be an enclosed space. I think it’s really nice.
“And hopefully it will only get better. We were lucky in the sense it came just before the credit crunch, but obviously that has had an effect on its growth.
“Now we have to look at Frogmoor and the High Street, which will be part of the council’s Masterplan.”
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Sharon Remartini and Fabio Passerini are two young lighting designers from Italy, specializing in the discipline of dance. Like many of their colleagues, Eos is their preferred console.
Tag: lighting design
Like so many designers in this industry, Erica Lauren Maholmes says she came upon her career by accident. And like so many students, the momentum of her young career was dramatically impacted when the world shut down in […]
Emanuele Agliati and Oscar Frosio are two lighting professionals from Italy with an abundance of experience, especially in the world of musicals. Emanuele is an esteemed lighting designer and co-founder of k5600 Design – an associate studio of […]
Leonardo Benetollo is an Italian lighting designer and owner of Pro Service SNC, a company specializing in technical installations for dance and theatre. His talent and experience in the dance arena make him one of the most sought-after […]
Lighting designer Daniella Beatie discusses the world of lighting design for theatre-in-the-round in this latest blog article. She is based at the New Vic Theatre Stoke-on-Trent and has worked on over 100 productions in-the-round including, Prince and the […]
How do you teach lighting design without any lights? Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, educators around the world have had to quickly and creatively shift their classes online.
This year, ETC celebrated its 20th year of sponsoring eager students at the legendary LDI tradeshow. Sparked by late CEO Fred Foster’s passion for helping the next generation of lighting designers, the program aims to give students a […]


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Mr. Jon Dwyer reports
WONDR GAMING APPOINTS IAN RASMUSSEN AS VICE-PRESIDENT & HEAD OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS
Wondr Gaming Corp. has appointed Ian Rasmussen as vice-president and head of customer success. Mr. Rasmussen joins Wondr Gaming from Enthusiast Gaming, having previously been with New York-based global media agency, Initiative. Mr. Rasmussen will join Wondr Gaming's media team headquartered in Los Angeles, reporting to chief revenue officer and head of sales, Rob Frohling.
Wondr Gaming's direct media business continues to grow, with customers in telecommunications, electronics and gaming hardware, banking, e-commerce, CSR (corporate social responsibility), crypto and crypto mining, and beyond. Mr. Rasmussen will play a crucial role in leading Wondr's customer success team, which engages with clients on all of Wondr's direct media, and growing programmatic media offering.
"Wondr is building our business around its people, and a culture that is defined by a commitment to seeing our creative ideas manifested in every client campaign. We genuinely view our campaigns as an expression of our creativity individually, and as a team. Engaging global brands with the Gen Z and Millennial gaming audience hosted across Gamelancer's 20-plus owned and operated channels, which constitutes over one billion monthly views and 24-million-plus followers, is accomplished by telling meaningful stories through short-form video content, which connect our community with brands they care about. Ian is a tremendous addition to our growing family here at Wondr Gaming, his knowledge and experience guiding campaigns for some of the largest brands on the planet will be instrumental in ensuring we harness our creative capabilities to their fullest extent, delivering world-class media campaigns for our clients," stated Jon Dwyer, chairman and chief executive officer, Wondr Gaming.
"I am thrilled to join Wondr Gaming at such an exciting time in the company's growth. Wondr is in prime position to advance the gaming world into a more interconnected entertainment landscape. I look forward to helping our clients navigate this ever-changing industry and produce impactful, authentic campaigns that speak to the diverse gaming audience," states Mr. Rasmussen, vice-president and head of customer success, Wondr Gaming.
About Wondr Gaming Corp.
Wondr Gaming, a publicly traded entertainment company on the Canadian Securities Exchange, builds partnerships and fosters community within the e-sports, professional sports and music industries through loyalty and rewards, non-fungible tokens, and its growing media business. Wondr Gaming generates revenue through brand partnerships hosted on its loyalty platform, the sale of NFTs focused on e-sports, professional sports and the music industry, and through direct media and programmatic sales hosted on GameLancer's 20-plus owned and operated channels, featuring over one billion monthly views and 24-million-plus followers.
We seek Safe Harbor.
© 2022 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.


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AutoGuide News Blog
The AutoGuide News Blog is your source for breaking stories from the auto industry. Delivering news immediately, the AutoGuide Blog is constantly updated with the latest information, photos and video from manufacturers, auto shows, the aftermarket and professional racing.
April Showers Bring Sales Power
After one of the worst winters in recent memory America’s northern extremities are finally starting to thaw out. In addition to longer days, spring is also bringing warmer temperatures as the sun wakes up from hibernation. But were April car sales as nice? Did better weather get more people in the mood… to buy a car, that is?
All told automakers sold nearly 1.4 million new vehicles in April, an increase of about 8 percent compared to the same month last year. The change was modest but headed in the right direction, and that’s what matters.
For the first four months of 2014 deliveries have topped 5.1 million units. That’s approximately a 3 percent increase compared to the same time period last year. Again that’s small but really there’s nothing to complain about. Here’s a list of top-performing brands along with the companies that didn’t do as well.
Brain, it's What's for Dinner
Ok, so the worst just happened, like something totally NOT GOOD. Perhaps a natural disaster has devastated your country; maybe a virulent disease or food-borne illness is spreading throughout the population; conceivably even the hand of God has reached down from on high and caused an outright nuclear meltdown. Whatever the reason, things are seriously jacked.
Win, Lose or Drive
The numbers are in, figures tabulated and Champaign corks popped. It’s a brand-new year and 2013 is forever in the rear-view mirror. New-vehicle sales for December have finally been reported.
Overall deliveries were pretty flat across the board. Roughly 2,600 vehicles separate last month’s performance from the same period in 2012. Cold, snowy weather kept would-be buyers away from dealerships. Still, steady as she goes beats a big drop any day.
As for they the whole of 2013 things were considerably better. Sales were up about 8 percent compared to the year prior with deliveries falling just shy of 15.6 million units. That is a major victory for the automotive industry as it continues to recover from the great recession.
As for December’s numbers, here are the top sales winners and losers for the 12th month of last year. Naturally this list excludes brands like Maybach and Suzuki that have bowed out of the market.


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By making use of cryptotechnology, Blockchain technology made the backbone associated with an entirely completely new internet, specifically, the Internet of Blockchains. Actually developed for the electronic currency, Bitcoins, the technology comes with since then found several other practical applications for this tech. This digital currency is not just being used to facilitate via the internet payments it also allows visitors to transfer money to each other across national borders without a second thought. Yet , many skillfully developed feel that the usefulness with this virtual money will go way beyond their current uses.
There are two types of Blockchains – permission-based and permission-less. Permission-based Blockchains tend to be traditional in nature while the less-known permission-less are less stiff in characteristics. They both equally function in the principle of digital signatures, with the approval of users being sought before any kind of transaction is manufactured. With both the administration and several industry groups opposing the usage of this technology, it is actually debatable whether or not or not really this new-fangled technology is ever going to find its way into the cyber world.
Whether or not this does indeed become popular, there is not any guarantee regarding the long-term viability of these blockchains. Governments may eventually keep pace with regulate these kinds of networks to ensure the functioning properly of their monetary policies, which may lead to a consolidation of them technologies. Thus far, https://vendaria.net/voip-providers-for-your-business/ the use of these devices is largely not regulated. In view of this, some analysts have forecasted that the long lasting use of the brand new technology might witness an instant expansion, having a majority of countries making use of them.


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UCS lets customers run data analytics and warehousing in real time, quick, as well as providing the base for running other SAP enterprise applications on SAP HANA. The idea is that by using Cisco UCS for SAP HANA, customers will get simplified management, scalability, operational automation, and a range of quality storage options, helping them exercise greater control of critical enterprise applications.
Avnet EMEA veep Miriam Murphy said in a statement that in-memory computing should be expanding rapidly in Europe, as companies look for products that will help them make data driven business decisions quickly and on the fly.
“We can install the SAP in-memory computing platform and ship the rack mounted servers in as little as three days from receiving an order on most models,” Murphy said, “placing our partners in pole position to address new SAP customers”
Cisco’s director of partner operations for EMEA said the company had been working with SAP on HANA since 2010, and chose Avnet for the first European distributor considering its experience with Cisco and capabilities to built to order, plus the company’s logistic strengths.


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Interested in practical implementation of the control theory ?
Interested in automotive OBD systems? Click here!
Amber Mobility to launch self-driving service in the Netherlands by 2018 https://t.co/BhA7SF8UL6about 14 hours ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Today we are celebrating Kingsday in the Netherlands. Which car would you suggest for the king to travel in, instea… https://t.co/MLk51rJNMCabout a day ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Volkswagen shows off its vision for a driverless future https://t.co/wmz66ND1goabout 2 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Autonomous mobile robots are ultra-efficient at tasks like sorting packages, moving pallets, and parking cars. https://t.co/NTzNZ9rV4Gabout 3 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Shanghai shows off industry's shift to electrics, crossovers https://t.co/w4aujCrPZVabout 4 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
How will future cars stay up-to-date? Make them open like a PC https://t.co/XzlPIEaplIabout 9 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
GM challenges eight schools to build self-driving Chevy Bolts https://t.co/KQ8J7kn3Bfabout 10 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Porsche, Audi team up for tech: autonomy, EVs, hybrids and more https://t.co/1kZ1DnG1hxabout 11 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive
Lawsuit: Tasty Toyota wiring attracts ravenous rodents https://t.co/CWEkRnM0yiabout 15 days ago - @BRACEAutomotive


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Is Beijing already backing off THAAD retaliation?
Lotte’s Chinese website has reopened, following its closure two months ago, in a sign that relations are already improving
Korea’s KBS World Radio reports that Lotte’s Chinese website has been reopened following its closure several months ago in apparent retaliation to South Korea’s deployment of the THAAD missile defense system.
The return of the site after South Korea’s new president has made moves to patch up relations with Beijing sending a special envoy, Lee Hae-chan on Thursday to meet with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.
Though it is a positive sign, some Lotte stores in China remain closed and damage done to Korean brands inside China will take time to repair.


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US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall Street tumbles at open on retail gloom, tech concerns
Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday as poor forecasts from retailers for the holiday quarter fed into a market driven lower this week by concerns about demand for iPhones.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 398.76 points, or 1.59 percent, at the open to 24,618.68.
The S&P 500 opened lower by 36.13 points, or 1.34 percent, at 2,654.60. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 161.05 points, or 2.29 percent, to 6,867.43 at the opening bell. (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
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The Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW is currently conducting research on disability employment and digital economies that will be of interest to working carers and those for whom they care.
Already it is clear that for at least some people with disability, as well as those from other disadvantaged groups, digital technologies – like computers, the internet, smart phones, and apps – are overcoming some of the usual access barriers.
If you support a person with disability, the research, to be published early next year, may give you some valuable insights into how you can best enable the person with disability in your life to benefit from the digital economy.
One of the interesting aspects of the research (a comparative project between Australia and China) is finding out how people with disability are grasping new opportunities in the digital economy to earn money, find a job, start a business, and sell online. Learning from their initiatives and experience should prove invaluable.
An important response from government will be to drive new approaches to more targeted disability employment support, including digital economy advice – such as technical support, space for start-ups and peer learning.
Researchers Haiqing Yu (UNSW), Gerard Goggin (Sydney), Karen Fisher (UNSW), and Bingqin Li (UNSW) are working on the paper. They hope to release it in January 2019 for a special issue of Information, Communication & Society, a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the role of digital media in the information age.
The special issue will explore pragmatic and innovative ways to provide and enable equal economic, social and political opportunities for people with disability, enabled by current and emerging digital and social media technologies.
The research team say that it is known the digital economy is developing rapidly and unevenly worldwide. It heralds a transformative force in creating digital entrepreneurs and driving future economy.
Digital entrepreneurship is seen as core to digital economy in that it can lead to economic growth, job creation and social innovation.
National governments, civil society organisations and disability activists have considered digital technologies potentially useful in improving the life quality and life-chances for people with disability, and in bringing about social inclusion for all people, particularly in health care, education, and employment.
Efforts have been made to remove barriers of access to technologies, skill training and acquisition that are friendly to users with disability.
However, mere access to technologies (digital inclusion) does not equate with social inclusion. There is a long way to go before digital technologies can successfully impact on the social lives of people with disability.
In the context of a digital and networked world, the research team say we need to ask questions such as:
- • Can digital inclusion lead to social inclusion, particularly for people with disability?
- • What is the power structure, hierarchy, struggle, and appropriation implied in the rise of digital economy for and by disability?
- • What can be done by people (with or without disability), governments, the private sector, and civil society organisations to address the structural barriers to social and economic inclusion (not just digital inclusion) by utilising digital and networking technologies?
- • Will the digital economy and digital entrepreneurship present an opportunity to address social inequality and contradictions?
The current economic slowdown/crisis calls for innovative and pragmatic approaches to solve social problems, approaches that can strike a balance between economic and social development.
Social entrepreneurship that leverages digital technologies to create opportunities to address social issues, for example, may offer a new pathway of employment and enablement for people with disability and other traditionally disadvantaged groups of people.
Digital social entrepreneurs with disability and FOR disability are part of a bigger structure and are key stakeholders in the digital social economy.
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"Unfortunately, that means we need to resize our team to fit only one project. We've made the very difficult decision to let go of over 30 of our very talented and dedicated developers."According to the company's LinkedIn profile, the studio has 65 members of staff, meaning the layoffs will see almost half its employees cut.
The studio initially expanded during development of Orcs Must Die! Unchained, which hit PlayStation 4 last year after its initial PC release. Despite the layoffs, the studio says it will continue to support the title, as well as its most recent game, Hero Academy 2.
Robot Entertainment plans to unveil its newest offering "soon."
Shabana is a freelance writer who enjoys JRPGs, wine, and not finishing games. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
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Sydney, NSW, Australia - SAi, the leading provider of software solutions for the signmaking, digital printing and CNC machining industries, has announced that it has established a new business entity in Australia. SA International Pty Ltd, based in Sydney, New South Wales, will support the company’s growing network of resellers and customers across both Australia and New Zealand.
Currently already supporting around 30 resellers that serve an increasing number of customers across Australasia, the facility will strengthen SAi’s ability to meet its expanding operations, while demonstrating its commitment to customers’ growth and success.
Gregory Will, Director of SA International Pty Ltd.
The introduction of a local team will also further facilitate training opportunities with product specialists for both new and existing customers, as well as resellers, ensuring that Flexi and EnRoute users make the most of their software.
"Australia is a growing market for our software solutions, particularly in the woodworking and kitchen cabinet segments,” explains Sarit Tichon, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, SAi. “Strategically, it makes sense for us to open a new business division here.”
The resident Director of SA International Pty Ltd will be Gregory Will from Penguin Management, an Australian-based company which specializes in the management of local business operations for overseas companies.
“I am delighted to be working with a company that provides its customers with such revolutionary solutions and expert advice,” comments Will. “I look forward to helping SAi establish its Australian division and anticipate a very exciting time ahead as SA International Pty Ltd goes from strength-to-strength.”
SAi is headquartered in the United States and has other offices in Belgium, Brazil, China and Japan.
Notes to editors: To download this press release and the accompanying images, please click here
About SA International (SAi)
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, SA International (SAi) is recognized as a global leader in providing software solutions from design to production for the signmaking, digital printing and CNC machining industries. SAi Flexi ranks as the world’s number one software for signmaking and is found on more wide-format printers than any other RIP. In addition, the company is one of the leaders in the CNC machining market with its EnRoute CAD/CAM software.
SAi has a loyal and well-distributed network of resellers around the world with over 200,000 customers in more than 150 countries and enjoys strong OEM relationships with industry leaders. As well the USA, SAi has offices in Brussels, Belgium; São Paulo, Brazil; Pune, India; Shanghai, Hong Kong, China; Tokyo, Japan and Sydney, Australia.
For further information, please visit: www.ThinkSAi.com or contact:
Mansha Haurdhan-Brett / Lauren Gates
T: +44 1737 215 200


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Canadian manufacturers optimistic about the future, KPMG report says
July 25, 2012
By Manufacturing AUTOMATION
Despite a sluggish economic recovery, 85 per cent of Canadian manufacturers are optimistic about the future of their business over the next two years, according to KPMG’s third annual survey of Canadian manufacturers.
KPMG’s “Canadian Manufacturing Outlook 2012: Push and Pull – Reducing Costs and Investing in Innovation” found Canadian manufacturers are more optimistic than last year (nine percentage points) and share a more positive outlook than that of their global counterparts.
“Our survey tells us that Canadian manufacturers are confident in their business strategies, but investing in innovation, increasing efficiencies and managing risk are top-of-mind moving forward,” Laurent Giguère, national industry leader, industrial markets, KPMG in Canada, said in a statement. “As smaller, niche players operating with a strong dollar, Canadian companies realize they need to innovate in order to compete with lower-cost global producers.”
The report found, however, that Canada has not seen disruptive, game-changing innovation, nor has it experienced process innovation that can revolutionize and drastically improve productivity in the manufacturing sector. But despite the lack of recent transformation, manufacturers do realize the impact innovation can have on their business and, more specifically, their bottom line – more than 60 per cent of Canadian respondents say the next wave of transformational innovation is underway or will be within the next 12 to 24 months.
Canadian manufacturers also say they are striving to increase productivity and manufacture products at the lowest cost to stay competitive. In today’s increasingly global market, labour costs continue to be a priority for Canadian companies – half of respondents say reducing labour costs is the cost control method they expect to be most important over the next 12 to 24 months. Coming in at number two is exiting unprofitable product lines and/or geographies (46 per cent).
As the number of Canadian manufacturing companies doing business in emerging markets rises, their investment in risk management strategies should increase as well – however, this is not the case. Canadian respondents plan to spend relatively less on risk management than their global counterparts in 2012. Currently, only five per cent of Canadian respondents use scenario/simulation planning to address aspects of risk management and 17 per cent of Canadian respondents “don’t know” how they’re going to identify risk in their supply chains over the next 12 to 24 months.
- GM Canada makes $850 million investment in R&D at Oshawa facility
- Siemens earnings up in latest quarter


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Research: CTA Forecasts Lower U.S. Technology Sector Revenues
Services and emerging tech expected to see growth; industry rebound anticipated in second half of 2023.
NextGen TV for 4K TV Broadcasting Officially Launches at CES 2020
One of the constant consumer complaints about 4K TV is the lack of broadcast 4K content. This complaint will slowly be addressed this year...
FCC Chair Pai Makes First CES Appearance; ‘New Net Neutrality Rules Working’
FCC chair Ajit Pai sat down with CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro at CTA’s annual FCC/FTC session at CES 2020.
Women Give ‘Voice’ a Strong Welcome in Nation’s Capitol
Organized by AVIXA, Women in Consumer Technology, and others, the inaugural “Your Voice Matters” event took place on Oct. 8.
CTA Announces 2019 Executive Board and Board of Industry Leaders
Lutron’s Andresko joins board; Sony’s Fasulo to serve as chairman
2017 CTA Report Projects Record Revenues, Growing Emerging Tech Demand
The Consumer Technology Association reports that consumer enthusiasm for both emerging technology and resilient mature categories is exceeding expectations.
CTA, Shelly Palmer to Co-Produce CES Tech Briefings
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced new Tech Briefings, Floor Tours, and a CES Breakfast Series in partnership with ShellyPalmer Strategic Advisors (a...
CTA Announces New Sleep Tech Marketplace at CES 2017
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced that CES 2017 will feature a Sleep Tech Marketplace presented by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF).
IoT, Emerging Tech Driving Revenue Growth: CTA Midyear Forecast
The latest version of CTA's industry report, U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts, said sales of burgeoning tech products such as wearables, smart home...
Independent Audit Confirms CES 2016 as Record Setter
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner and producer of CES, recently announced final, audited numbers for CES 2016.
Tech Sentiment on the Rise: CTA Index Toward Tech Spending Climbs in Q1
Consumer confidence toward tech spending rose slightly in April, according to the latest data released today by the Consumer Technology Association.
CTA: Home Builders’ Profits Driven by Installed Home Tech
The Consumer Technology Association's 14th Annual State of the Builder Technology market study has been released, reporting on the state of installed technology in...
Consumer Technology Association Celebrates Success of CES 2016
CES 2016 wrapped up this past Saturday as the most expansive CES yet, breaking records across the board and providing exposure opportunities for companies...
CES Implements New Bag Restrictions, Enhanced Security Measures
Following recent global tragedies, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is implementing enhanced security measures surrounding the upcoming CES 2016 to produce a safer event....
Smart Watches Top Planned Purchases for Health and Fitness Tech in 2016
Smart watches top the list of health and fitness tech consumers plan on buying in 2016. Calories-burned and heart rate are the statistics consumers...
George Feldstein, Floyd Toole Added to CTA Hall of Fame
The Consumer Technology Association has inducted eight industry leaders into its CE Hall of Fame.


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OK, so we didn’t get around to covering some pretty big news this week involving names like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and VMware. But can you blame us? Someone posted video of steel wool burning, and we can’t seem to stop watching it. Over. And. Over. Again. Not easy, but we’ll tear ourselves away now just long enough to take you through everything we should have shared with you earlier.
Sneak preview. The big news from Microsoft was word that its Dynamics 365 business management solution debuts on November 1st. Said word arrived on Tuesday, as Microsoft gave the world its first peek at the new offering, which will soon join Office 365 and Azure as a core pillar of Microsoft’s cloud portfolio.
And at first glance, it looks pretty robust for a 1.0 release! The system lets businesses quickly snap together building block apps to create personalized, integrated, role-specific solutions for functions like sales, accounting, field service, and customer support that you can run in a browser or through mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android. The whole thing draws on advanced analytics and machine learning technology to deliver insights and automation on demand, and connects to an app store that already contains over 100 solutions from Microsoft and third-party developers.
About that store: Called AppSource, it’s one of the top Dynamics 365-related profit opportunities for Microsoft partners, and not just for ISVs, because we learned this week that integrators can promote service offerings there as well. And if you don’t want to get your hands dirty installing and customizing Dynamics 365, you can still make a little money reselling it via Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program. All in all, quite frankly, it’s hard to think of a recent addition to the Microsoft product lineup with greater potential upside for its channel.
It wasn’t all smiley faces on the cloud front for Microsoft, though. Two days after the big Dynamics 365 reveal, Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy (pictured left) and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger (pictured right) snatched away the spotlight by announcing a major new alliance that makes VMware’s software-defined data center stack available on Amazon’s public cloud. Or rather, will make. The new service, which will be sold and supported by VMware and integrates with VMware-based private clouds, is in technical preview at the moment and won’t officially launch until the middle of next year some time. No word on pricing yet, either.
Still, this can’t be a welcome development in Redmond. A week ago at this time, Microsoft had a true, integrated hybrid cloud platform that seamlessly merged the Azure public cloud with on-premises systems like Windows Server, while AWS was public cloud only. That differentiator is set to disappear now, however. To make matters worse, moreover, the AWS-VMware hybrid cloud platform combines the market leader in public cloud technology with the market leader in virtualization (if not private cloud) technology, more or less instantly turning Microsoft’s once unique hybrid cloud offering into a kind of runner up.
Does VMware have the technical support chops and street-level partners it needs to keep AWS customers happy? We’ll see next year, but you can bet the Softies are hoping the answer is no.
Meanwhile, you’ve got to pity the Microsoft employees responsible for these announcements. Because they kind of got overshadowed by all the Dynamics 365 excitement. You might find it interesting nonetheless to know that:
- Azure has a new compliance tracking and education tool and Yammer has new compliance auditing and reporting capabilities.
- Azure AD Domain Services, which lets you integrate onsite and cloud-hosted Active Directories among other things, is now in general availability.
- A whole new set of tools for turning kids into coders is ready for use too.
- Windows 10 Anniversary Update has finally reached the Surface Hub (pictured), the wall-mounted, decidedly not mobile member of Microsoft’s Surface hardware family.
Under the radar. With all the chatter about Microsoft and Amazon and cloud computing going on, you could easily have missed the concentrated little burst of new stuff from Dell EMC this week, which included:
- A free software update for its midrange Unity all-flash storage products with new inline compression functionality and new storage analytics solution.
- A family of new flash-based data protection storage devices that includes a model priced and scaled for SMBs and new policy-based tiering software for those devices that lets you connect local storage arrays to leading public cloud environments.
We could be wrong, and in fact usually are, but suspect this launch wave was meant to whet our appetite for more and bigger announcements headed our way next week at the big Dell World—make that Dell EMC World—user and partner event.
Even deeper under the radar. Needless to say, all sorts of goodies from other vendors reached market this week too. For example:
- Adar shipped a new administrative portal for its Nerdio hosted IT-as-a-service platform (and won ChannelPro’s Trademark Gold Star of the Week, which we just invented right this second, for the awesome name "Nerdio").
- Canon Business Process Services released a new reporting tool that helps users benchmark and streamline document-focused workflows.
- Citrix rolled out an affordably priced new SD-WAN appliance for branch offices and an updated edition of its NetScaler SD-WAN software.
- Dataguise integrated open source security and performance monitoring system Apache Eagle with its DgSecure Monitor product.
- Fujitsu launched a new line of aggressively priced all-flash storage arrays including an entry-level model that packs 92 TB of raw capacity into a 2U case.
- IBM released a new cloud-based object storage solution that's allegedly 25 percent cheaper than comparable services.
- Insightly upgraded the security capabilities of its CRM software for SMBs.
- Intel introduced the Intel Falcon 8+ (pictured), a commercial drone for the North American market.
- Lenovo announced a hosted version of its Unified Workspace solution.
- ManageEngine added support for security-enhancing smart cards to its Active Directory management and reporting solution, and new ticketing and reporting functionality to its ADManager Plus mobile apps.
- MobileIron introduced a solution that helps technicians administer mobile and desktop devices running Windows 10 through a single console.
- RingCentral added Android and iOS mobile apps for its RingCentral team messaging platform, RingCentral Glip.
- Seagate shipped two super skinny hard drives, a 5 TB model in both 7mm internal and 15mm external form factors and a 2 TB model that the manufacturer calls the “fastest, thinnest and lightest 2TB hard drive on the market today.”
- Toshiba released a new wireless docking station with support for up to 7 peripherals and prices that start at $299.99.
The vendor community was abuzz as ever with non-product news too this week. For instance, we learned that:
- Cirrus has launched a new global partner program with three membership tiers and a forthcoming online portal that will provide access to leads, deal registration, training resources, and marketing materials.
- Workspace-as-a-service vendor CloudJumper has launched a partner program for MSPs, ISVs, and IT service providers.
- Thin client computing vendor IGEL has announced a new North American partner program of its own.
- CloudJumper competitor itopia has secured $3.5 million in funding from angel investors, much of which it plans to invest in channel development.
- LogMeIn has introduced an integration partner program for its join.me online meeting service and signed Slack, HipChat, and Trello as charter members.
- net2phone and master agent Telecom Consulting Group have sealed a deal to offer the former company's hosted PBX and SIP trunking services to the latter company's partners.
- Cloud and Internet of Things technical services provider PlumChoice has received a fresh round of capital from its current investor owners.
- Sharp Electronics Corporation has named Doug Albregts (pictured), who is already and will remain president of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, its new president and CEO.
- StorageCraft, fresh off the unveiling of its alliance pact with Exablox, has made Jawaad Tariq its new vice president of engineering.
- Unigma has appointed Kaseya and CA veteran Matthew Albritton its new vice president of sales.
This week’s stats ticker:
- 41 million U.S. adults have been victims of identity theft, according to Bankrate.com.
- 80 percent of IT professionals have had end users go behind their back to set up unauthorized cloud services, according to Spiceworks.
- Global 3D printer shipments will climb 108 percent this year, according to Gartner.
Finally, a truly useful algorithm. First the good news: Two computer scientists have solved a surprisingly difficult mathematical puzzle by devising a darn near perfect, envy-free formula for divvying up a cake fairly. Now the bad news: The number of cuts it requires you to make, even if only a handful of people are eating, is greater than the number of atoms in the universe. So, um, I guess we’ll have to resign ourselves to more envy for now. Or less cake.


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Mississippi man arrested on Norwalk warrant
A 24-year-old man was arrested in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and returned to Norwalk on a warrant Tuesday morning.
Norwalk police said that on December 30, Pladee Clayton stole credit cards, a purse, and identification from a car parked outside Planet Fitness on Pearl Street.
Police said Clayton used the credit cards at Stop & Shop and Walgreens in Norwalk and at a Walgreens in Port Chester, N.Y.
Norwalk police said Clayton used the stolen credit cards to buy gift cards at those stores, totaling $4,350.
During an investigation, detectives tracked where the gift cards were used and obtained financial records from the list of stores where the purchases were made, Norwalk police said.
It is unclear how officers located Clayton but he was arrested at his home in Mississippi. He was arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court on Wednesday morning.
Clayton was charged with two counts each of credit card theft and identity theft, and a single count each of third-degree larceny, conspiracy, misapplication of property, conspiracy to commit larceny and illegal use of a credit card. He was held on $250,000 bond and is to return to court Oct. 5.


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This is a special Prime Day edition of Your Shopping Cart, where we’re revealing the top ten things our devoted readers bought in droves while reading our roundups of the best deals during this year’s Amazon Prime Day (which runs through October 14). We figured that if you’re here, you might like some of these things, too.
Looking at the list, it’s clear that beauty and grooming routines are no less important than they were when we regularly left the house, with Waterpik’s flosser (which was one of our readers’ most purchased items during Prime Day 2019), a Stila eyeliner, and some Bioderma makeup remover all selling like hotcakes. A closer look at these and other products on the list, like a set of refreshing facial sprays, suggests you are stocking up on stuff to help you look presentable on Zoom calls, which would make sense after all the indoor living we’ve done (and have yet to do). That Apple’s AirPods also made the list further confirms readers are looking for ways to improve their work-from-home lives, while the presence of a favorite back massager suggests you’re looking for ways to unwind after commuting from home office to couch. And for those times readers do leave the house, you also stocked up on some face masks — we’re just hoping that trend remains unique to Prime Day 2020. Note: As with all Prime Day deals, these are only good for a limited time or until products sell out.
A perennial Strategist favorite, the discount on this back-and-neck massager clearly struck a chord with readers because it has been the best-selling Prime Day deal we’ve written about so far. Strategist senior editor Casey Lewis is one of its many, many (many) fans, saying the massager unsnarls even her toughest muscle knots — one reason she uses it “weekly, if not daily.” It actually sold out before we noticed the stock had replenished again today.
Earlier this year, our sister site the Cut named this one of the 18 best eyeliners in the world. “No matter the shade,” they wrote, “each performs equally well, giving you a vibrant, sharp line of pigment that glides across your skin.” Judging by how many of you took advantage of this deal, it appears the secret is out.
A longtime staple among makeup artists, fashion experts, and our own Rio Viera-Newton, Bioderma’s cleansing micellar water is also apparently a reader must-have — even in a year when we’re not wearing as much makeup. “Not only does it take all of my makeup off, it actually does a great job of soothing my skin,” Rio says of its appeal.
Nearly two dozen dentists told us Waterpik makes the best water flosser, and a majority of them named this specific model as the best of all the brand’s options. According to expert, the WP-662 “offers water-control buttons on the handle, 90-second run time, ten pressure settings, seven different tips, 360-degree rotation of the tip, and a significantly large water tank.” Many of you jumped at the opportunity to secure one for almost half price, and there’s still time for those who didn’t — just don’t dillydally.
The facial mist that Tavi Gavinson uses to reset her mind while working has been another popular choice this Prime Day, perhaps because it’s the perfect way to perk up in between back-to-back-to-back Zoom calls. Or because the cost per bottle for this set breaks down to less than $9 each.
Stasher’s reusable, ecofriendly food-storage bags are beloved by Amazon reviewers, Strategist contributors, and cool people who live zero-waste lifestyles. Thanks to this deal, we can now add the number of readers who bought this bag to the growing list of the brand’s fans.
Our first TikTok-inspired Prime Day best seller, this oil-absorbing stick “soaks up every last drop of oil” according to Kaivalya “Kiki” Gorla, who told us all about it (and even demonstrated how to use it on our Instagram). Apparently her words — or its almost 25 percent off discount — convinced lots of you to try it for yourselves.
By now, you know how AirPods work. The wireless headphones launched in December 2016 and almost immediately became a must-have for their sharp look and seamless performance. Now that Apple’s selling a noise-canceling version, the original (and, dare we say, classic) model is seeing some all-time low prices, which many of you jumped on this Prime Day.
By now, you also know how masks work — and why we need to wear them. This was the first year we saw medical face masks in the top picks during Prime Day, and hopefully it will be the last. (If you’re interested in reusable styles, check out the 60 face masks our staff has tested here.)
The WaterPik isn’t the only oral-hygiene tool readers have been scooping up during Prime Day: You’ve also been taking advantage of this 42 percent off deal on a dentist-recommended electric toothbrush. We’ve previously noted that this has “six cleaning modes (including one for your tongue), a light-up pressure sensor, and even Bluetooth connectivity, so you can track your brushing habits on your phone.”
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.


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Capital One Financial Corp has agreed to sell to Citigroup Inc its USD7bn portfolio of private label and co-branded credit card accounts linked to electronics retailer Best Buy Co inc.
The company which is among the largest credit card issuers in the US have not disclosed the selling price saying there would be no significant gain or loss in the transaction. Citigroup has said it will issue and manage Best Buy credit cards in the US in a deal that will not affect its earnings this year materially. As a result, transactions are expected to close in the third quarter.
It seems Citigroup’s cards division for stores has come full circle since the financial crisis. The bank had initially planned to sell the unit but decided to keep it after loss rates on the cards fell.
Citi’s retailer cards business now services 90 million accounts for chains such as The Home Depot Inc, Macy’s Inc and Sears Holdings Corp.
As the demand for immediate payments implementation grows in the United States, Iliad Solutions have identified one of the largest risks to face the payments industry over the next few years.
Barclays has signed contracts with six of the fintech startups that just graduated from its second New York accelerator programme.
Company card killer Pleo has raised $3m in new funding as it prepares for public launch in the UK and Denmark.
Cheques are become less and less common in the UK according to new research from global market research firm Mintel which claims contactless card use has overtaken cheque payments in the UK for the first time.


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Electric car charging is set to get a whole lot quicker -- at least if Infracharge gets its way. The company, which supplies roadside charging station to London boroughs, will shortly be rolling out a new set of roadside and home charging stations that it says can recharge electric cars in as little as 2.5 hours.
The first of its products is the FastCharge -- designed for use in public places. This bad boy chucks out a whopping 32A (7kW) current, more than twice the amount offered by today's charging posts. The extra power reduces the time it takes to charge a typical electric vehicle from 6 hours to a far more respectable 2.5.
Chargemaster says FastCharge is compatible with the standard electricity supply available in many locations without the need for modification, though your local authority might not be so keen to replace its existing charging posts, given the amount they've already invested, and the comparatively limited popularity of electric cars.
Authorities and companies seeking to invest in charging posts for the first time should appreciate the benefits of the new system. FastCharge can charge two vehicles at once -- Infracharge says it's working on a version that can charge four simultaneously -- and advanced internal software and hardware lets owners monitor exactly how much electricity is being used by each car. The system can even communicate with drivers, alerting them via text when their car is fully charged or if their allotted parking time has come to an end.
Chargemaster will also be offering HomeCharge, a charging solution for the home. It won't charge cars as quickly as FastCharge, but it can be erected in a garage or driveway, providing a safer, more elegant solution than trailing an extension cable out of your third-storey window. The HomeCharge will automatically charge cars on night-time tariffs, saving up to 70 per cent on daytime electricity rates. It can even start your car remotely to activate heating or air-conditioning systems a few minutes before you set off in wintry or summery conditions.
Sounds good to us. It's all rather pie in the sky until our local authorities get around to installing them, but it's a very positive step towards making electric cars a more viable proposition. FastCharge will be available in June and HomeCharge will go on sale in May. You can learn more about both by visiting the Chargemaster Web site.


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February sees modest increase in online sales
09 March 2018 - 09:08 by Graham Miller
The latest stats from the British Retail Consortium indicate that safe shopping online rose by 6.4 per cent last month, with the retail market as a whole expanding by 1.6 per cent.
E-commerce continues to be a catalyst for growth, as the high street experienced a 1.6 per cent dip in activity over this period. Poor weather conditions and economic uncertainty are both to blame for the continuous decline in popularity of bricks and mortar stores.
21.1 per cent of retail activity in the UK was carried out online, representing a slight rise compared with the same month in 2017. So while e-commerce is not currently enjoying double digit growth as it has in the past, it is still gaining traction at a time when traditional retailers are struggling.
Report spokesperson, Helen Dickinson, said that for the companies that were seeing an uptick in sales, celebration was deserved because of the difficult market conditions being faced at the moment. She cited caution among consumers, as well as the increase in operational expenses facing retailers, as being problematic for the industry.
She pointed out that food sales were staying strong, but that outside of this segment things were looking less positive for real world retail. Meanwhile in the digital sphere the reduction in growth is seen as potentially concerning, raising questions about how the rest of 2018 will play out for the market.
In the wake of Toys R Us and Maplin going into administration, Dickinson expects that other outlets with significant physical presences will begin to encounter difficulties. This means that more store closures are inevitable, while only retailers that have a strong multichannel presence will be in with a chance of weathering the worst of the storm and coming out on top.


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NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoptalk and Groceryshop, the leading U.S. conferences in the retail, grocery and consumer packaged goods industries, today announced that they have been acquired by Hyve Group plc (LSE: HYVE:LN), one of the world's leading organizers of international exhibitions and conferences, for $145 million. In connection with the acquisition, Anil D. Aggarwal and Simran Rekhi Aggarwal, Shoptalk and Groceryshop founders and events industry disruptors for almost a decade, together are now major shareholders of Hyve.
"We're thrilled that Shoptalk and Groceryshop have become part of Hyve Group, a highly product-focused organization where our events can continue to advocate for and serve as important catalysts for the positive transformation of the retail, grocery and consumer packaged goods industries," said Anil D. Aggarwal, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Shoptalk. "Anil and I are especially excited to cement our involvement long term with these events as meaningful shareholders of Hyve, and are looking forward to working with Hyve on the 2020 events," added Simran Rekhi Aggarwal, founder and president of Shoptalk.
"Shoptalk and Groceryshop are the perfect fit for Hyve, consistent with our goal to acquire product-led market-leading events in large industries that have achieved significant size, secured distinct customer bases and developed compelling value propositions, and that hold tremendous opportunities for organic growth and international rollouts," said Mark Shashoua, chief executive officer of Hyve. "These unmissable events share a common culture with Hyve and their acquisition delivers on our vision to create the world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events that provide outstanding experiences and return on investment for our customers."
In 2019, Shoptalk and Groceryshop collectively had over 11,500 attendees, including more than 1,000 CEOs, from over 50 countries as well as more than 880 exhibiting and sponsoring companies. These 2019 events facilitated approximately 11,000 double opt-in lead generation meetings between 2,000 individuals from over 775 retailers and consumer brands and more than 660 participating sponsoring companies through proprietary hosted meetings programs. The hosted programs operate on custom developed technology and have saved retailers and brands in excess of $10 million in registration fees and travel expenses in the past 24 months and will save them an estimated additional $7.5 million in 2020 alone.
As the fastest growing events in the history of their respective sectors and with Net Promoter Scores (NPS) consistently approaching 50 and above, Shoptalk and Groceryshop have established influential new standards for the events industry over the past five years, including with their industry-defining agendas, world-class speaker lineups, respected education certificates, disruptive community-building activities, unprecedented networking and collaboration programs, and groundbreaking original content produced in-house. Last month Shoptalk broke entirely new ground for large-scale conferences with a widely lauded commitment to feature an all-women speaker lineup in 2020 and 50/50 male/female speakers every year starting in 2021.
Shoptalk's fifth annual U.S. event will be held on March 22-25, 2020 and Groceryshop's third annual event will be held on September 14-17, 2020, both at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
K&L Gates served as legal counsel to Shoptalk and Groceryshop in the transaction, led by partner Robert Zinn, long-term advisor to companies founded and managed by Anil Aggarwal.
Shoptalk is widely regarded as retail's best show and is where more than 8,500 industry changemakers, including over 800 CEOs, gather each year to collaborate at scale and define the future of retail across all verticals, including apparel and accessories, beauty, electronics, home improvement, food and beverage, sporting and outdoors, and toys. Since its inaugural 2016 event, Shoptalk has dramatically redefined the retail industry's digital community by bringing established retailers and brands together with direct-to-consumer and tech startups, large tech and Internet companies, lenders, private equity and venture capital investors, real estate developers, Wall Street analysts, media, academia and others. Shoptalk will next take place on March 22-25, 2020 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.shoptalk.com.
With more than 3,000 attendees each year, including over 250 CEOs, Groceryshop is the leading event for innovation in grocery and consumer packaged goods (CPG). Groceryshop covers the evolution of grocery retailers, including supermarkets, mass merchants, convenience stores, drug stores, clubs/warehouse stores, discount stores and ecommerce players. It also covers the rapid changes in the production and distribution of CPG including fresh and packaged foods and beverages along with beauty, personal care, household and health products. Groceryshop addresses the disruptive shifts in how consumers discover, shop and buy these products in an increasingly wide range of stores and online destinations, including the latest technologies, trends and business models. Groceryshop will next take place on September 14-17, 2020 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.groceryshop.com.
About Hyve Group plc
Hyve Group plc is a next generation global events business whose purpose is to create unmissable events, where customers from all corners of the globe share extraordinary moments and shape industry innovation. Hyve Group plc was announced as the new brand name of ITE Group plc in September 2019, following its significant transformation under the Transformation and Growth (TAG) programme. Our vision is to create the world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events delivering an outstanding experience and ROI for our customers. Where business is personal, where meetings move markets and where today's leaders inspire tomorrow's. Visit www.hyve.group.
For further information, please contact:
Shoptalk and Groceryshop
Media & Marketing Director
Hyve Group plc
Group Director of Communications
+44 (0)20 3545 9000


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The growing number of biosecurity threats the country's facing has seen a call to action from 50 businesses.
They've signed a first-of-its-kind pledge to ensure that whenever there's a risk, they'll do all they can to fight it.
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor launched the Biosecurity Business Pledge at an event in Auckland today, telling 1 NEWS: “We're currently managing 33 incursions, those are unwanted things that've come into the country.”
He said some are small, and others like Mycoplasma bovis, are big.
“The reality is there's more trade, there's more movement of people, we have climate change, so the risks of pests and diseases coming into our country is increasing all the time, so we have to up our game.
“As a nation that depends on trade and tourism, and a country whose lifestyle is linked to our unique natural environment, having a culture of everyone taking responsibility for biosecurity is vital.
“Our primary sector is worth over $46.4 billion dollars annually and tourism is worth over $39 billion. The economic benefits of that flow through to all New Zealanders and we have to protect it," Mr O'Connor said.
Some of New Zealand’s biggest companies are in on the initiative, including Fonterra, Auckland Airport, Mainfreight and Countdown.
Executive Director of Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, Kimberly Crewther, has been a driving force behind the action.
“It's a commitment to actively engage with MPI, to actively understand biosecurity, to actively engage upstream in our supply chains and downstream talking to our customers about the importance of it.
“There's also enormous opportunity for businesses to learn from each other and to share information about the approaches that we're taking," Ms Crewther said.
Trevelyan’s Pack and Cool in Te Puke’s felt the pain of biosecurity threats. Its kiwifruit was hit with the bacterial disease PSA in 2010.
“As it arrived on my orchard, our orchard, the whole personal experience of the loss and the journey of pulling the community together will stay with me for life," said managing director James Trevelyan.
He’s pleased to be a part of the new pledge, with his attention now shifting to future threats, including the brown marmorated stink bug.
“In Europe, I believe, kiwifruit growers are losing 30 per cent of the crop as it falls on the ground”, he said. “So that, for us, I'd lose 30 per cent of my crop”.
The businesses who signed the pledge today promising to do their bit to help, in the hope that even more businesses will get on board.


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Those of us who have seen the Libs focus much of this year on criticizing the Cons' partisan advertising might be rather surprised to learn they don't think there's any room to cut or redirect any current federal spending, and in fact consider it offensive that anybody might suggest such room exists.
But on a closer look, there's actually a consistent theme behind the Libs' message. While their petition on advertising criticizes the Cons for wasteful spending, it doesn't promise to change anything other than to create a new commissioner position to oversee future publicity - meaning that it could simply increase the cost of continuing ad spending.
So let's see if we can summarize the opposition parties' take on the hundreds of millions of dollars the Cons have spent on government advertising.
The NDP sees a waste of public money which could be put to better uses, and asks "why not stop?"
On the other hand, the Libs refuse to consider whether cuts might be appropriate, and ask "why not pay more?"
So which of those seems like the more appropriate response? It's up to Canadians to decide.


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This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved UPS delivery drones to fly longer distances beyond the sight of their ground operators. On top of UPS drones, the FAA’s move potentially paves the way for other drone delivery companies like Wing and Zipline to service more customers by being able to deliver packages across a broader area.
UPS Delivery Drones Previously Needed to Fly Within a Spotter’s Line of Sight
The FAA’s approval for UPS drones to fly longer distances comes about a month after members of the Teamsters Union reached a historic labor deal with UPS for the union representing 340,000 employees at the shipping carrier.
In a press release, the FAA said that UPS Flight Forward—a subsidiary of UPS that focuses on drone delivery—can now deliver small packages beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) without spotters on the ground monitoring the route and skies for other aircraft. In layman’s terms, the approval means that the UPS delivery drones are authorized to fly to areas beyond where their operators can see them. While the FAA said that its approval applied to BVLOS, the agency didn’t specify the exact distance that “BVLOS” is designated as.
In its approval ruling, the FAA also granted authorizations to two other companies’ drones to fly BVLOS for commercial purposes. Those companies include uAvionix Corp. and infrastructure inspection company Phoenix Air Unmanned, which received approval to do so on August 24th.
UPS Faces Increasing Competition in the Delivery Drone Market
UPS first received government approval to operate its drone service in 2019, becoming the first major shipping carrier to receive such approval. That same year, the FAA authorized Wing service from Alphabet—Google’s parent company—to operate commercially. In 2020, the FAA granted an “air carrier” certificate of approval to Amazon for the eCommerce giant’s own delivery drones.
The news comes a few days after Walmart announced that it struck a partnership with Wing to make deliveries in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Wing was first focused on building a drone delivery network for U.S. hospital campuses, but has since expanded to consumer deliveries. So far, Walmart has already made over 10,000 deliveries across seven states through its partners, DroneUp, Flytrex, and Zipline. Under its partnership with Wing, Walmart will now theoretically be able to deliver goods to an extra 60,000 residences.


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CUTTING-EDGE: Consumers check out China Mobile's new 4G capable iPhone in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, on December 18, 2013 (CFP)
Zhang Yunyun, a 27-year-old girl, seems excited. "I ordered an iPhone 5S with 4G service on the official China Mobile website. I'm fed up with the slow Internet speeds when I browse news and play cellphone games on my way to work," said Zhang, who works at the international department of Peking University. She often chats with friends on social networking apps like WeChat and QQ.
Zhang had been captivated by the iPhone's glamorous appearance and powerful functions for a long time. However, due to the absence of a China Mobile iPhone contract and her reluctance to change the phone number, Zhang had held on to her current phone for two years.
On December 23, 2013, China Mobile and Apple Inc. announced that its 4G capable iPhone will be put on sale simultaneously at China Mobile business halls and Apple stores on January 17 this year, and fans of Apple products were able to place an order as early as December 25, 2013. The deal marked an end to Apple-China Mobile negotiations that spanned six years.
Despite the fact that China Mobile's 4G network only covers 16 major cities, a small segment of its 763 million users, a goal has been set to expand coverage to 340 cities.
"The iPhone is popular in the Chinese market, and there are still a large number of potential consumers to tap into," said Xi Guohua, Chairman of China Mobile Communications Corp., in a recent statement.
Apple's CEO Tim Cook also expressed optimism about the deal. "By joining hands with China's largest telecom operator, Apple can get access to the most vibrant and rapidly expanding user group."
"Consumers can enjoy high-speed network services by using China Mobile's custom iPhone, which supports the 4G Time-Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE) and 3G Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) network," said Xi.
After the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on December 4 issued 4G TD-LTE licenses to the country's three telecom operators—China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom—a fresh race has started between smartphone makers in the brand new 4G era.
Domestic vendors are scrambling to launch corresponding terminals. As early as October, Taiwan-based HTC unveiled its first 4G LTE model One Max. To catch up, ZTE also launched its LTE series of products at the 2013 China Mobile Global Partner Conference on December 17. Huawei decided to differentiate itself by promoting LTE handsets with different prices, according to Hu Honglian from Huawei's Terminal Marketing Department.
The International Data Corp. predicts that a total of 450 million smartphones will be manufactured by Chinese companies in 2014, an increase of 25 percent, of which 120 million will be compatible with 4G.
Although domestic smartphone vendors have mainly targeted mid- and low-end consumers, they have begun to look to the higher end of the market after successfully seizing more than half of the domestic market with models priced below 2,000 yuan ($330).


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New Honda Civic revealed at Frankfurt
Frankfurt 2011 hasn’t even started yet and Honda have already released details of a brand new Civic which will be available in just a few weeks on 1st October.
The first thing you’ll notice is the new super slippery shape. Honda have certainly spent a lot of time in the wind tunnel perfecting the aerodynamics of the new Civic, claiming a drag coefficient of just 0.27, the best in it’s class.
The Civic will launch with revised versions of the old 1.4 and 1.8 litre petrol engines, along with a 2.2 i-DTEC diesel lump kicking out 150 bhp whilst only producing 110g/km of CO2. A small 1.6 litre diesel will also be available in 2012.
Honda have tweaked the suspension based upon customer feedback from the current Civic to give a great ride quality whilst retaining great handling. Over 20,000 miles of testing have been carried out on UK roads in the run up to the launch.
Pricing remains unconfirmed, but expect a starting price of around £15,000 when the new Civic launches in October.


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reviews from a number of iPhone 8 and iPhone eight Plus consumers have counseled there may be an issue with the battery inner some of the gadgets swelling, inflicting the case of Apple’s new iPhone to cut up open and expose the smartphone’s internals.
Apple has now demonstrated it is calling into it, although a spokeswoman declined to remark extra when requested what number of instruments are affected.
From what we’ve heard the number of stories to this point is very few.
the day past CNET rounded up the handful of studies that have emerged — saying there are as a minimum six distinct stories in at least 5 countries of the iPhone eight splitting alongside its seams.
today Reuters also mentioned a file in chinese language state media of an iPhone buyer claiming a newly purchased iPhone eight Plus arrived cracked open on October 5, even though interestingly without any signals of hot or an explosion.
Apple rival Samsung had huge problems with smartphone batteries in its Galaxy observe 7 smartphone. In that illustration some be aware 7 batteries caught fireplace, and the issue became wide sufficient that it led Samsung to keep in mind all be aware 7 handsets — at splendid cost.
in the case of the iPhone eight the difficulty appears to be confined to batteries bloating/swelling, as opposed to catching fire — as a minimum as said thus far.
youngsters the cellphone most effective went on sale on September 22 so it’s nevertheless early days for the gadget.
Apple did not release figures for the first weekend revenue of the iPhone eight and 8 Plus, as it has in the past with new iPhones, so it’s also not yet clear how many of those handsets are within the fingers of consumers at this factor.
Some analysts have cautioned patrons can be conserving off on upgrading their iPhone to purchase the exact-of-the-latitude iPhone X, which Apple also introduced on the equal time, however with a later liberate date.
Pre-income for the iPhone X are due to start on October 27, with the handset slated to ship on November 3.
Mobile – TechCrunch


text: According to Reuters, Universal Music has chosen not to sign a long-term agreement with iTunes. This is to provide other competitors with the opportunity to sign exclusive agreements. This would be a huge blow to Apple given that Universal Music Group produces one third of all music in the United States. I wonder if this would be a larger blow to Apple or to Universal given that iTunes has such a dominant position in the digital music industry. With all of the iPods and now iPhones being sold in the U.S., many of the Apple brand owners choose to use iTunes to purchase their music. Will they all go rushing to the competitors once one third of their music is no longer available via iTunes? While there is no way to tell what will happen, this is a huge blow to a company that is now seemingly on top of the world. It will be interesting to see how this story plays out.


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How much money should the Marlboro man fork over? And, what about that camel - what's his fair share?
These questions would have seemed ludicrous even two weeks ago. But faced with assaults on all sides, the nation's biggest tobacco firms have made a stunning about-face from their decades-long don't-give-an-inch strategy and agreed to bargain - if only to protect their corporate assets.
As the companies and their adversaries headed back to the bargaining table yesterday, they are trying to decide what constitutes a "fair" settlement - for the tobacco companies, the states suing them, and public health groups.
The discussions signal a major turning point in the battle against cigarettes and may have far-reaching impact - from the way every gas station and convenience store in the US sells cigarettes to whether other countries will consider public-health assaults on the tobacco firms.
As of yesterday, executives of Philip Morris, RJR Nabisco, Lorillard, and Brown & Williamson were in initial talks with the attorneys general of eight states. A deal is being sought with 23 states suing the firms for the cost of medical care to smokers.
There is no shortage of opinions as to what constitutes a fair settlement: Congress wants to have its say since it will need to pass legislation; Wall Street analysts are weighing in on what is "practical" for the industry to pay; and nonprofit health groups are whipping out press releases on their positions. "There are a lot of agendas," says William Novelli of the Washington-based Center for Tobacco Free Kids, one of the negotiators.
Here are the main elements to be decided:
Money: At stake is mega billions - by some reports as much as $300 billion over 25 years to finance health-care costs. To try to estimate how much money should be set aside, non-tobacco negotiators have hired an actuarial firm. "There are people we don't even know about who might need money ... in 25 years," says Sen. Richard Durbin (D) of Illinois.
Unlike an asbestos case, where there is a known number of workers with serious exposure, it's hard to estimate the number of Americans who might want cigarette-related payments. "It's trying to figure out how seriously the tobacco addiction will hurt them and what their claims might be," says Senator Durbin, a critic of the industry.
To try to fathom what the potential liability is, Rep. Marty Meehan (D) of Massachusetts says the industry must totally open up its research and documents. "We need full discovery for culpability," says Representative Meehan, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health, a bipartisan group of 75 congressmen. Apparently, the tobacco companies have agreed. But reviewing these documents could take years. "We will view any settlement skeptically," warns Meehan.
The additional research from the tobacco companies could help, says actuary William Cutlip, who has his own firm in Madison, Wis. He believes, however, that the industry can get the job done based on available information. Insurance companies discount policies for nonsmokers and have data on how much more it will cost for a smoker's health coverage. "The body of information continues to grow as we get more health information," he says.
Securities analyst Gary Black of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc. estimates the tobacco industry will agree to pay $10 billion per year over 25 years. This would mean an increase of 50 cents a pack on the 24 billion packs sold a year.
Such an increase, Mr. Black estimates, would reduce cigarette demand by 11 percent. He figures it's worth it to "buy peace" since it would only reduce Philip Morris' earnings by about 15 cents a share.
Immunity: This is an absolute must for the industry. It faces lawsuits around the nation. Although it has yet to pay a dime to any plaintiff, this might be changing. Public health groups object to any immunity from future liability.
Regulation: Almost every nontobacco negotiator believes the industry must agree to be regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. This may mean renaming the organization to eliminate industry objections that its product is neither a food nor a drug.
The tobacco industry has agreed to be regulated by the FDA as long as the regulator does not force it to change the product.
The FDA issue could create a major roadblock to any settlement. The major health organizations adamantly oppose any limits on FDA power. Last Thursday, John Garrison, managing director of the American Lung Association, sent a letter to the 22 state attorneys general involved in the negotiations. He warned the Lung Association will "vigorously" oppose any deal that might include such limits.
Education: Most of the nontobacco negotiators feel it's critical to trim teen smoking through a TV ad campaign. Mr. Novelli suggests the tobacco firms pay more money if underage smoking does not drop. "Maybe there should be some kind of incentive," he says.
Marketing: The talks have apparently made significant progress on getting tobacco firms to agree to end their current marketing practices. They will stop using human figures and cartoon characters in their marketing. Black says this is because most people smoke because of peer pressure and the feeling of being comfortable around their friends. Novelli says they have also agreed to limit package identification and have agreed to much stronger warning labels on the cigarette packs.
If there is a final deal, other countries may start their own versions. For example, this month New Zealand began exploring the possibility of suing the tobacco companies for health costs. Novelli says his office has received e-mails from around the world, asking "Where is the global aspect?" He answers, "If this is a good settlement, then countries around the world can use this."
WHAT TOBACCO COMPANIES ARE CONSIDERING
In a dramatic about-face from their don't-give-an-inch policy, the nation's major tobacco firms have reportedly proposed to do the following. In return, they expect to get, among other things, full immunity from lawsuits.
* Put cigarettes behind store counters and to strip stores of indications they sell cigarettes - from brand-specific 'open' signs to clocks and more.
* Require retailers to obtain a special license to sell cigarettes.
* Get rid of cigarette vending machines
* Make warnings on cigarette packs more prominent and more explicit.
* Disclose all ingredients and additives in cigarettes, and make the nicotine-measuring system more accurate.
* Be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which would be renamed the Food, Drug, and Tobacco Administration.
* Pool about $300 billion over the next 25 years to pay smokers for health-related problems.
* Drop all adds such as the Marlboro man and Joe Camel; run only black and white print ads. And drop all sponsorships - such as of auto races or other sporting events.
* Drop cigarette-related product lines such as 'Marlboro Gear'.
- Associated Press


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The iGaming industry has experienced significant growth and transformation over recent years. In the United States, a number of states have already legalised iGaming, and more are set to follow suit, representing a quickly growing and lucrative market. Elsewhere, in Europe, the online gaming gross revenue in Europe reached €32.2bn in 2022, which was up from 8% in 2019 and this rising trajectory is expected to continue in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, iGaming payments are becoming ever more important and exciting. The seamless processing of payment transactions is crucial to providing a positive user experience. From the role of AI to the Metaverse to the evolving regulations, the iGaming payments space is required to be both innovative and agile.
To get to grips with the exciting developments, we sat down with Desislava Stranska, our Senior Sales and Business Development Manager, who gave her expert opinion on the payment landscape of iGaming.
Q: What regulatory changes across the world have most caught your attention in 2023?
Desislava: “The regulatory environment is rapidly evolving all around the globe. The most meaningful changes this year are the increased focus on local licensing and the shrinking of unregulated markets. For example, we have witnessed the rise of the Ontario, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico iGaming licenses. The North American market in general bears unlimited market potential and each new license has the potential to facilitate one of the biggest iGaming markets in the world.
“Elsewhere, the most recent changes in the Curacao license and tightening regime for all license-holder operators are paving the way to becoming a more reputable jurisdiction serviced by more banks and payment service providers.
“Whatever the future holds, gaming and betting regulators are likely to follow in the footsteps of other industries, where offshore jurisdictions have to play by the rules, bending the rules is simply not a viable option.”
Q: How have you seen payment fraud evolve in this sector this year?
Desislava: “The mitigation of payment fraud has always been one of the cornerstones in the ecosystem. Areas such as Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), which aims to reduce different types of fraud, are constantly subject to new developments. For example, with the onset of the 6th AML directive, we may expect the scope of the new tight regulations to broaden even further, spreading over more offences and harmful behaviour.
“This year is no exception to the continual evolution of payment fraud. We saw a greater focus on transaction monitoring, an increase in the rigour of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) regulations, an enhancement of transactional screening across sanctions lists, and much, much more.
“We are witnessing increasingly advanced tools and algorithms for identifying and tracking customer behaviour, including in iGaming, Watch List screenings, and enhanced checks across the dark web for, e.g., blockchain transactions.”
“The PSD3 legislation is setting new standards for everyone in the payment ecosystem, from initiation to payouts to collection. With the rise of the Metaverse and Web3 projects, new risk threats are coming to light and new prevention tools need to be deployed to fight, for example, account takeover and identity steals.”
Q: How is AI coming into play in iGaming customer services and payments?
Desislava: “The AI-powered solutions and tools are creating a positive impact for gaming companies. This is particularly perceivable in terms of enhancing customer support and retention. AI is supporting companies to offer personalised content and in-app offerings through virtual assistants or chatbots, therefore shifting these companies towards omnichannel marketing.
“From a more payments perspective, AI is capable of streamlining payment processes by automating transaction monitoring and fraud detection, among others. AI-driven risk assessment models can identify high-risk transactions and users, allowing operators to take necessary precautions.
“A robust AI-powered suite can significantly enhance the overall user experience, and this is being increasingly recognised by a huge number of iGaming companies.”
Q: What will iGaming in the Metaverse look like?
Desislava: “One of the key takeaways from the latest iGaming industry conferences, summits and expos is the rising popularity of games in social media, for example, Telegram games. However, the horizon is expanding from Telegram to Metaverse and Crypto games.
“Metaverse games provide unparalleled in-gaming experience with players being able to trade assets or sell items to fellow games, transfer equipment or anything else with the ownership governed by NFT regulations.
“The decentralised nature of Metaverse gaming leaves room for interoperability, which alongside the transferrable ownership, advanced blockchain technology, and immersive gameplay, indicates that the Metaverse has a lot to offer.
“Furthermore, the chance to interact with a broader audience will undoubtedly result in more engaging content and higher ROIs.”
Q: How can payment technology help iGaming businesses operate responsibly?
Desislava: “The proactive approach towards increased security in payments will ultimately result in enhancing responsible gaming. A reliable payment setup is completely geared towards empowering players, and the sector as a whole, to promote responsible gaming where the customer has significant control over what is happening, and customer funds are kept well protected.
“Payment technologies provide valuable insights into customer behaviour, equipping the operators to track any deviational patterns as they occur. By leveraging payment data and monitoring transactions, operators are able to prevent harmful behaviour. AI is increasingly supporting this capability.
“Payment technology can and should be utilised to trigger multiple alerts for the operators and the payment processors building this additional layer of security.
“Harnessing payment technologies to protect clients’ funds and reduce harmful behaviours produces a synergy that will significantly improve the responsibility of the sector.”
Amid the rapid evolution of iGaming markets, the realm of iGaming payments assumes increasing significance, necessitating innovation and adaptability to ensure a seamless user experience. The proactive integration of technology and compliance measures will be crucial in shaping the future of iGaming. The interplay of AI, regulations and payment technologies promises to enhance the industry’s ability to provide a safe, secure, and enjoyable gaming experience while embracing the opportunities presented by the Metaverse and emerging local markets.


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A meeting between businesspeople and innovators in the world of fashion to present the fourth edition of the Gaetano Marzotto Prize; this is the most significant award for business in the new Italy and has opened its competition to all those businesspeople and constructors of the future able to link together innovation, business, and society; the competition is open until 18 June.
This is an occasion for celebrating the entry of the Nana Bianca accelerator into the competition which this year offers a network that has been redoubled, thanks to the entry of twelve new incubators and accelerators from all over Italy, and now with a total prize money of over one million Euros.
Matteo Marzotto, president of the Associazione Progetto Marzotto which promotes the initiative, in thanking Paolo Barberis and Alessandro Sordi, co-founders of Nana Bianca, has said, "Sustainability, social benefits in Italy, even in terms of employment, and innovation are the guiding principles of the Gaetano Marzotto Prize which, in just four years, has been able to construct an important platform aimed at creating opportunities for meetings between the world of innovation and the industrial and productive system in Italy. These are characteristics that my grandfather Gaetano, to whom the Prize is dedicated, promoted with farsighted vision for all his life, thus helping to create a business that is socially responsible and that distributes, not only resources, but also knowhow, in order to facilitate the development of new entrepreneurship."
"The Gaetano Marzotto Prize is considered a genuine reference point for Italy's ecosystem for innovation; it backs the birth of new business and is involved with creating the environmental conditions for a paradigmatic change" says Cristiano Seganfreddo, the moderator of the meeting and the general director of the Associazione Progetto Marzotto, which was set up in 2010 on the wishes of Giannino Marzotto. He continues, "This year, in order to launch the competition, we have decided to organize a series of inspirational meetings that, from time to time, will examine various key themes for the economic development of our country through the testimonies of the most significant and forward-looking protagonists of the world of business and innovation, people who, we hope, will inspire and motivate the new businesspeople who are the candidates for the Prize."
There will be testimonies by Vincenzo Maria Franco, general director of Pitti Immagine, who will talk about E-PITTI.com, the online fair project devoted to workers in the fashion sector and which each season hosts the digital versions of Pitti Uomo, Pitti W, Pitti Bimbo, and Pitti Filati; Felice Limosani, a contemporary storyteller who, with his installations, performances, and art metaphors has discovered how to recount the fascination of such brands as Pucci, Tod’s, Swarovsky, Adidas, and Armani; and Maria Odetti, project manager of Luisaviaroma, a firm with its headquarters in Florence since 1930 and which today can boast of one of fashion's most important e-commerce sites with 4 million visitors each month and dispatches throughout the world; since 2009 it has, as part of its development strategy, begun social networking with Facebook which today has become the platform producing the greatest amount of traffic for the online shop.
These will be flanked by the stories of various start-ups involved with the world of fashion, such as Buru Buru, Family Nation, Wowcracy, TRJ 3X, and XYZE Srl, proposed by Nana Bianca and by the Gaetano Marzotto Prize.


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Steamboat Springs finally will get some Indian flavor this month.
The new Bombay Grill, which will be the city's only Indian restaurant, has scheduled its grand opening for March 20. The restaurant will start by offering traditional Indian cuisine and will have a large bar, Manager Lisa Gill said. It eventually will add contemporary dishes using Indian spices.
"We're looking forward to bringing Indian food to Steamboat because I know there's nothing like it right now," Gill said.
Her father, Harjinder Gill, has opened about 40 Indian restaurants in Colorado. The Bombay Grill in Wildhorse Marketplace originally was scheduled to open last summer, but Lisa Gill said the project stalled because of other plans.
Harjinder Gill signed leases to build restaurants in Thornton, Broomfield, Winter Park and Steamboat at the same time, she said.
"The one in Steamboat got delayed because he wanted to make sure he invested enough time into it," Lisa Gill said.
But the remaining work is minor, she said. Bombay Grill is adding furniture, and Gill is working on creating the menu and pricing. The bar will seat 40 people, and the dining room will seat 60, she said. The restaurant will have patio seating during warmer months.
"It's a little different than a traditional restaurant because there's a little more emphasis on the bar," Lisa Gill said.
The City of Steamboat Springs Liquor License Authority approved the Bombay Grill's liquor license Feb. 10.
"It wasn't controversial," Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said.
The Steamboat restaurant will be Gill's first management gig. Her parents will own the grill. Gill's extended family is involved in restaurants, and the 27-year-old grew up working in them, she said. She's washed dishes, bused tables and served.
Gill also plans to be a part-time park ranger. She's looking forward to the challenge of handling the restaurant and said she'd be working in parks and managing Bombay Grill for at least the next year. She plans to move to Steamboat from Boulder this week.
"I thought this would be a cool experience," Gill said. "Growing up in the restaurant business, this was something I was always trained to do."
She's also excited about bringing Indian food to Steamboat for people who haven't tried it. For the restaurant's grand opening March 20, Gill is planning a 21-and-older, RSVP-only event featuring food tastings and semi-formal attire.
"Once things start rolling, we'll do things like maybe have a belly dancer, have different events, maybe do cooking classes to introduce the food to more people," Gill said.
This isn't the best economy to start a new venture, she acknowledged.
"I feel like in Steamboat in particular, it's something that's so unique that I feel like that restaurant will be able to become established there and stay open," Gill said. "It is kind of a scary thing. While we're apprehensive, at the same time, we're confident that it'll work."
The Bombay Grill is near Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in Wildhorse Marketplace.
Gill said she was looking forward to joining the family business and sharing the Indian food her father has spread across the state.
"It's something that he and a lot of people in my family definitely have a passion for," Lisa Gill said.
- To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234
or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org