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Abercrombie & Kent unveils round-the-world itinerary to mark 60th anniversary
Luxury operator Abercrombie & Kent has unveiled a round-the-world itinerary priced from £110,000 as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations.
The company was founded by Geoffrey Kent and his parents 60 years ago, starting with trips in Africa.
It now offers holidays to 100 countries on all seven continents, with round-the-clock support from a network of more than 55 offices.
To celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary, A&K has selected tours representing the past six decades for the Greatest of All Trips (GOAT) to create an around-the-world tailormade itinerary showcasing 13 countries.
It begins where A&K started in 1962 on an Ultimate East Africa Safari, then features Egypt, the operator’s first destination outside sub-Saharan Africa.
India became A&K’s next destination, and the holiday features the Classic Northern India tour, with opportunities to see the Taj Mahal and visit national parks.
Next are Indochina, Australia, Machu Picchu in Peru, a luxury expedition cruise to Antarctica, national parks in the US, and the Italian cities of Venice, Florence and Rome.
Meanwhile, the operator has unveiled suggestions for a ‘Duchess’ tour of stately homes and castles in the UK.
A&K is the official travel partner of the Duchess podcast, which features the Duchess of Rutland, who gives listeners a behind-the-scenes glimpse of these country properties such as Knowsley Hall, Inveraray Castle, Scone Palace, Carlton Towers and Sudeley Castle.
Kent said: “The incredible history of stately homes and their owners across the UK is fascinating, so it is no surprise that many people worldwide are interested in visiting the homes for themselves and truly immerse themselves in history.
“The popularity of period dramas and popular shows like Bridgerton has only further heightened the intrigue into this fascinating realm of British history that still exists today.”
Experiences that can be included in the tour include traditional country pursuits at Knowsley Hall, a history tour of Inveraray Castle, viewing artworks at Belvoir Castle, mini Highland Games at Scone Palace, wine tasting at Carlton Towers, and exploring the history and gardens of Glin Castle in Ireland.


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BREAKING: Breen and Nagle to contest Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally in BMW M3
Craig Breen and Paul Nagle will contest the Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally in a BMW M3.
They will use a BMW E30 M3 prepared by Netherlands-based BMW preparation expert Mats van den Brand.
The deal it made possible by Rentokil-Initial, the Historic Rally’s title sponsor and was confirmed to Kerry Motorsport News by the company MD Michael O’Mahoney on Tuesday night
Full details will be revealed ahead of the November 27 event which will be launched at the Gleneagle Hotel on Sunday November 14.

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What do I mean by an economy “shutting down”? What we are going through is not a regular crisis driven by some global or local problem, like the global financial crisis or the real estate bubble bursting. We have passed that point last year. Today, our economy is slowly “shutting down” with permanent and irreversible damages starting to hit several areas. To use the analogy, we are like a patient suffering from organ failure.
This is not a pessimistic rambling, but rather a call for action, because the current situation is simply not sustainable.
So what does an “economy shutting down” look like? First, On the sectoral side, we can see many sectors severely suffering.
The tourism sector, which used to be 11.3% of the GDP, accounting for more than 19% of our foreign currency revenues; the tourism sector is shutting down. Egypt was recently ranked last among the world’s touristic destinations in terms of safety. Many hotels and resorts that fought for survival over the past two years in hope of a quick rebound are closing or considering closing. No new investments are coming to the sector. If the security situation and political stability are not back within a year, many resorts, hotels and other dependent businesses will shut down, laying off hundreds of thousands of employees and workers.
The manufacturing sector is also suffering, mostly from repeated labor strikes and disputes as well as an unfavorable business environment. Figures of factory closure are growing. Although figures are not officially confirmed, different reports claim that more than 1,200 factories have already closed. Last month I was talking to a young businessman who manages his family business. He told me that he decided to shut down his family factory, lay-off the 350 workers, and enjoy horseback riding instead because “it wasn’t worth it anymore.”
The construction and real estate sector is suffering in some segments. Construction and its supply chain constitute one of the most active and labor intensive industries. Over the past year, most of the infrastructure and large construction projects slowed down due to land disputes, problems in payments, and overall political uncertainty. The only part that is still active (and actually growing) is the informal building on agricultural lands! Abusing the deterioration in the state’s capacity to enforce zoning laws, many are grabbing the opportunity and building on precious agricultural land around Cairo and in the delta. Besides that, there are few if any new contracts for infrastructure or real estate development.
On the services side, many small businesses are suffering because consumers feel unsafe and are less willing to go out as Egyptians were always known to. Food and clothing retailers are suffering from declining sales.
The agriculture sector is facing a different challenge due to fuel shortages. Farmers depend on small tractors for their harvest and the fuel shortages are threatening their ability to harvest their crops on time, especially wheat. This is creating an uncertainty in the wheat supplies for next year.
Second, In addition to the sectoral problems, there are other structural issues.
Investments are drying up, whether local private, government, or FDI. Local private investments have been the main driver for growth over the past few years. Last year, most local capital was hiding and awaiting more clarity in the political situation. The lack of an end game for the political turbulence will keep this capital hiding. Government investments are shrinking as most of the revenues are redirected to maintaining social subsidies, paying debt interest and increasing government employee salaries. Foreign direct investments (FDI) went down from a peak of $11.3 billion in 2009 to less than $0.5 billion in 2012. The overall impact is that the GDP growth went down to ~2%; and is unlikely to grow until investments are back.
One of the reasons for the decline in local investments is the lack of a vision on how to deal with the business class. Most businessmen are now labeled as “feloul”. they are harassed by a government seeking more taxes; MB businessmen seeking to buy their businesses at dirt cheap prices; revolutionary youth accusing them of benefiting from the crony capitalism of the previous regime; workers seeing to extract higher wages; and a deteriorating infrastructure with frequent blackout, fuel shortages and port closures. For many, it is “not worth it anymore.” All of the above accusations are probably true for many of them; however, a country cannot afford to lose its business class. Egypt tried this before during the Nasser era with nationalization of businesses, confiscation of wealth, and kicking out most of the foreigners who constituted a big part of this business class. The results were grim. It takes a country 1-2 generations to re-build a globally networked and professionally trained business class.
In the midst of all of this, the only sector that is growing is the informal sector. Informality is quickly crawling over the little order that we used to have in Egypt. Street vendors are expanding like cancer and blocking the entrances to stores that pay rent. Traffic is blocked everywhere most of the day. Securing one’s assets are becoming a personal or business responsibility, with thefts growing exponentially. Everyone is rushing to buy electric generators to survive expected blackouts during the summer.
* * *
Up till last year, most of our economic problems were “problems of transition” and everyone was waiting for the political transition period to end, hopefully with a more competent regime, to get back to their work, and to higher growth rates. Today, with no end in sight for the current incompetent regime, many of these changes are becoming permanent. It may take several years to reverse them.
In addition to the above, macro-economic problems are prevalent. For example, our foreign debt is growing a scary rate. We already borrowed or are planning to borrow around $21billion (this includes that anticipated World Bank). At this pace, we may double our national debt over the next 6 months (from 34 Billion). Our government budget suffers from a huge deficit of around one third of the budget.
If we end up in a new “equilibrium” point, it is likely to be a miserable one, characterized by social and political tension, worse security, higher unemployment and higher inflation, lower investments. We still do have a window of opportunity to save Egypt and its economy from the slow organ failure, but that window is likely to diminish if we do nothing before the end of the year. More later on how to do so.
To quote the Economist Magazine (in a different context), “hope is not a policy.”
13 April 2013.


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The first Sector Skill Council of India, the Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC), hosted its annual conclave on September 23 at the Hotel Hayat in New Delhi, bringing together the biggest names in the Indian auto industry. The Conclave, with the theme “Kushal Yuva – Samruddh Bharat,” featured more than 500 participants, including senior executives from Indian and international manufacturers and several senior bureaucrats. Participants discussed the auto industry’s role in developing India and what the industry expects from the skilling ecosystem.
The Annual Handbook was presented to renowned guests, ASDC officials, and industry partners. To acknowledge and support the efforts made by the training partners, accessors, and industry partners, ASDC also presented the Awards of Excellence for various categories at the event.
The focus of the theme “Kushal Yuva – Samruddh Bharat” is providing youth with the skills necessary to help them adapt to changing circumstances, be more productive at work, be more employable, and be prepared for their future. Numerous business sponsors, including Castrol, Royal Enfield, Toyota, Yuvashakti Foundation, AXALTA, iNCAETEK, and TCSiON, among others, supported the conclave.
Shri S.P. Baniwal, Special Commissioner of the Delhi Police, Mr. Arindam Bhattacharya, Director (Development Partnership Administration), Ministry of External Affairs, and Col. A. K. Chandel, Senior Head, NSDC and Technical Delegate Assistant, World Skills India, represented as the guests of honor at the opening ceremony. The event’s objective was presented by ASDC President Vinod Aggarwal as he cordially welcomed the Guest of Honor. The day-long event centered on several panel discussions on the industry’s expectations of the skilling ecosystem, the perspective of industry training centers and vocational skill institutions on the opportunities and challenges connected to skilling, and the role of the state in mobilizing and uplifting skills in the context of the automotive skilling ecosystem.
Dr. N.S. Kalsi, Chairman, NCVET, emphasized the necessity for India to expand high-technical and vocational courses to boost employability to eliminate the skill gap. He stated that “ASDC was recently granted Awarding Body status by NCVET and ASDC is doing well in terms of upskilling and re-skilling. For the automotive industry, specifically in robotics, EV and align technologies, AR/VR, Big Data, and IoT, NCVET has designed several QP that is in line with NSQF and are the future jobs that will generate several jobs.”
“The YUVA program, which was launched with assistance from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), is intended to give employment-oriented skills to people who are first-time criminals, victims of crimes, and people who have a propensity to commit a crime”, stated by Shri S.P. Baniwal, IPS Special Commissioner of Delhi, Police. The prime objective of policing, namely the prevention of crime, is served by it in addition to reflecting the sympathetic and humane face of the Delhi Police.
According to Mr. Vinkesh Gulati, Treasurer of ASDC and Chairman of FADA’s Research and Academy, “In FY22, ASDC helped support the training of 60,000 new skilled workers in the automotive industry. The majority of these associates worked for various OEMs, suppliers, and vehicle dealerships as part of the government’s apprenticeship program, which provides for on-the-job training and evaluation of an individual before receiving ASDC course certification.”
Mr. Vinod Aggarwal, President of ASDC during the welcome address said, “Like the rest of the world’s automobile manufacturing industry, the Indian auto industry is undergoing a significant and disruptive transition. As a significant player in the ecosystem of the Indian auto industry, ASDC seeks to train and develop the country’s workforce. In this approach, ASDC supports not just the country’s auto industry on a bigger scale but also the AtmaNirbhar Bharat program and the Indian economy as a whole.”
Mr. Arindam Lahiri, CEO of ASDC said, “The council has collaborated with industries to create many certification programs, and it has also certified several individuals. Additionally, it has introduced e-learning programs for potential students, in which individuals have received certification.”
Also read: NSDC collaborates with ASDC and Toyota Kirloskar Motor to train 18,000 students in three years https://www.nationalskillsnetwork.in/nsdc-collaborates-with-asdc-and-toyota-kirloskar-motor-to-train-18000-students-in-three-years/
The ASDC Annual Conclave’s conversation focused on the need to reinvent people, places, and practices to embrace technology and get brick-and-mortar companies ready for the future. The panellists talked about their belief that organizations must prepare for the future with a clear strategy, a leadership team that is clear about embracing technology, and the opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate with the right skills, maturity, and strategy.


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Mr. Bell, vacationing with his family in Europe, declined to comment on his departure via an e-mail to Advertising Age, other than to write, "I am the happiest I have ever been in my life."
Microsoft declined to comment.
Edgy advertising from BBDO
The Oklahoma City native joined Chrysler from Ford Motor Co. in spring 2001 as VP-marketing communications, overseeing advertising for the Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler brands. He wasted no time shaking up the status quo, calling a review for urban marketing and pressuring BBDO, Troy, Mich., to change its game. BBDO's edgy advertising pushed the envelope on creative too far in some cases, which led to several TV commercials being pulled or changed.
Mr. Bell's strongest legacy may be as a strong and early supporter of new marketing with his moves into video gaming and online. Mr. Bell was part of the team that led Advertising Age to name the automaker its first Online Marketer of the Year last fall. His other well-known colleague at the automaker, Julie Roehm, left earlier this year to join Wal-Mart as senior VP-marketing.
During his stint at Chrysler, Mr. Bell held other key executive jobs, including VP of Jeep and Chrysler before shifting to his current position in February.
He joined Ford's new-business development group in 1991 from Dover Group, a financial services company in Philadelphia. He received his MBA in finance and marketing from Wharton in 1989 a year after getting his Master's in international relations and economics at John Hopkins. His jobs at Ford included product and marketing manager of large cars (1994-1996); general manager-fleet rental and leasing at Ford of Europe (1997) and managing director of Ford Spain (1999).


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Every now and then a generation is called upon to be great; You can be that great generation-Nelson Mandela
African Leadership Network (ALN) is the premier community of young, dynamic and influential leaders in Africa. ALN aims to catalyze prosperity in Africa by: (1) Celebrating and promoting entrepreneurship as the surest way for Africa to achieve prosperity, and (2) creating and strengthening relationships between leaders in Africa such that these relationships can lead to greater intra-African trade, investment, partnership and collaboration
ALN measures its success by how many jobs its members create, how much investment is attracted into and across Africa as a result of its members’ collaboration, how much innovation and creativity is unleashed as a result of its members’ partnerships, and how many ordinary African lives are ultimately changed as a result of its members’ working together.
New Leadership for a Changing Africa All News
ALN CEO Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, Jr. discusses security concerns and natural resource management on the African continent (CNBC Africa)Wednesday, February 5th, 2014 @ 8:55 am
CNBC Africa – The African Consumer Outlook 2014
Africa’s growth outlook continues to be robust and the continent has emerged as a frontier market driven by high commodity and oil prices, stable macro-economic environments and rising internal consumer spending. Today Frontier Advisory hosted their Africa Outlook …
China-Africa: The dragon dealmaker has Africa dazzled and dizzy (The Africa Report, Feb 2014)
In May last year, China’s President Xi Jinping announced during a visit to Tanzania that the great Asian power shall be providing $20bn in credit lines to Africa over the next three …
Tribute to Komla Dumor from Africa Awards on Vimeo.
Today, the African Leadership Network remembers an iconic African leader who demonstrated incredible energy and passion for the continent and its progression towards prosperity. We are saddened by the passing of Komla Afeke Dumor, a member of …
A new generation of dynamic and influential leaders has emerged in Africa in recent years influencing growth and development in various sectors.
From technocrats to business leaders and influential artists, more and more Africans are having a noticeable impact through
The Africa Leadership Network (ALN), an invitation …
Every now and then a generation is called upon to be great; you can be that great generation.
- Nelson Mandela
Today, the African Leadership Network celebrates the life of an iconic leader who led by example and dedicated his life to a just cause. He sacrificed …


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NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced that the trading of the common stock of Xoom Corporation (Nasdaq:XOOM),a leader and pioneer in the consumer-to-consumer international money transfer industry, commenced on the NASDAQ Global Market on Friday, February 15, 2013. Xoom will trade under the ticker symbol XOOM.
A photo accompanying this release is available at
Xoom is a pioneer and leader in the online consumer-to-consumer international money transfer industry. Through extensive partnerships with major banks and leading retailers, Xoom has created a global disbursement network stretching across 30 countries and delivers high-quality service through regionally-recognized, trusted brands. Xoom technology enables easy-to-use online and mobile sender interfaces, effective risk management and seamless integration with their disbursement partners' systems. Since January 2008, $6.6 billion dollars has been sent using the company's platform.
"Xoom has redefined the online and mobile payment industries and has made it convenient, fast and cost-effective for customers to transfer money around the globe," said Bob McCooey, Senior Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Corporate Client Group. "NASDAQ is proud to welcome the world's greatest innovators to our markets, and we look forward to supporting Xoom and its shareholders in its endeavors as a publicly listed company."
Since its inception, NASDAQ has consistently been the exchange of choice for innovative and progressive information technology companies like Xoom. In total, NASDAQ is home to 75% of all info tech companies listed on US exchanges.


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SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon.com wants to be more than a destination for shopping online – it also dreams of being a place where you can store your music, photos and videos and access them any time, from any computer. The ...Read More »
A New Orleans-based venture capital group has announced its first investment. The South Coast Angel Fund will spend $500,000 with Omnicademy, an online social network that allows colleges to syndicate courses among one another, providing students and faculty from different ...Read More »
With the convergence of recession-tightened marketing budgets and the rapid growth of digital advertising, advertising firms report they are stretching dollars to target the right audience at the right time through the right medium. “It is infinitely harder for businesses ...Read More »
WASHINGTON — A Republican-controlled Congressional panel has voted to repeal new Federal Communications Commission rules that prohibit phone and cable companies from interfering with Internet traffic on their broadband networks. The House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology voted 15-to-8 ...
Tagged with: Federal Communications CommissionRead More »
Brent McCrossen, CEO of Audiosocket, says his grandmother’s red beans and rice and the state’s lucrative digital media tax credits convinced him to move his online music licensing and technology firm’s technical team from Seattle to New Orleans last year. ...Read More »
Although a number of its schools report they are happy with their current service, the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans is looking for new companies to provide telecommunications technology such as cell phones and wireless Internet for its more than ...
Tagged with: Archdiocese of New OrleansRead More »
Age: 60 Family: wife, Penelope; daughters, Mallory, 34, Emily, 31 Education: bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and master’s degree in counseling psychology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Hometown: Franklin Michael Olivier considers himself a technophobe. “Do I use it? Yes. Do ...Read More »


text: The mailing of the Glen Rock 4th of July brochure will go out to 4500 households and businesses this week. Keep an eye out for it. The prizes for this year's raffle were all donated or sponsored by local businesses or residents. Grand prize is a Weber grill on display in the window of the hardware store. Thanks goes out to the Activities Club who stuffed all the envelopes this year.


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Earlier this month Vivo unveiled the new Vivo Y19 in Indonesia is all set to land Indian shores in coming weeks. As per the source, Vivo is all set to introduce the Vivo Y19 in India soon.
The source has just got the pricing and storage variant details leaked for the new Vivo Y19. According to the source, the new Vivo Y19 will arrive with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The new Vivo Y19 will cost Rs.13,990/- in India.
Sadly, we are still not sure when exactly the new Vivo Y19 will launch in India. The new Vivo Y19 will again feature waterdrop display with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. It will feature triple rear cameras and will be powered with MediaTek’s Helio P65 SoC.


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Head to Times Square on Saturday for the Accord Cash Car contest, with "Cash Cab" host Ben Bailey
By DAILY NEWS REPORTER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|
Oct 04, 2012 | 12:11 PM
There will be chance to win cash and maybe a brand new Honda Accord for hopefuls who turn out in Times Square this Saturday.
Emmy Award-winner Ben Bailey, the star of "Cash Cab," is working with Honda to promote the ninth-generation 2013 Honda Accord in the Times Square event which runs from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Members of the public will be chosen to answer questions about the car, and correct answers will win cash prizes and every contestant will be entered in a draw to win an all-new 2013 Honda Accord.
Over six hours, multiple groups of three-person teams will participate as contestants, one each hour, while the proceedings are broadcast live on a large-screen display.
"With an innovative, fun-to-drive product like the all-new 2013 Honda Accord, we wanted to create an exciting, innovative contest to help people experience it," said Mike Accavitti, vice president of automotive marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Who knows what questions will be asked, but if you want a handy "cheat sheet," looking at why Honda is organizing the contest may be of help.
•Honda wants people to know about the new car's advanced features like the new rear-view camera, Bluetooth HandsFreeLink, USB/iPod integration, SMS text message function and the 160-watt AM/FM/CD audio system.
•And there is a two-door coupe being made available in the 2013 model for the first time.
•And, of course, they are proud of their luxury, safety, and efficiency.
Back in 1982 the Accord was the first Japanese car to be produced in the United States when it emerged from Honda's Marysville Auto Plant and it has been a consistent favorite ever since.
New York's Honda Dealers are giving full support to the contest and promotion campaign. "The new Accord is selling faster than any Honda in history," said Rob Sabbagh from Bay Ridge Honda, and President of the Tri-State Honda Dealers Association. "And the contest won't be easy because there are over 100 improvements on the new Accord," he added.


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Produce auction expands economic avenues for farmers
Marketing fruits and vegetables used to be a challenge in Southside Virginia. A lack of outlets for farmers to get their produce to market limited the amount that could be sold, which diminished farmers’ profits.
The solution? A produce auction was born in 2012 with assistance from Virginia Cooperative Extension to help farmers sell products and decrease the amount of time they spent manning markets and roadside stands.
In recent years, the Southside Produce Auction has experienced phenomenal growth while maintaining exceptional quality and boosting profits for growers.
“The produce auction worked in several ways to help producers in the area,” said Bob Jones, agriculture and natural resources Extension agent in Charlotte County. “This came from listening to the community and its needs and partners that not only made the auction an initial success, but also allowed its growth to continue into 2014.”
To date, the auction has brought more than 16,000 visitors to Charlotte County.
[…] and around the world. For example, in Southside Virginia, Extension agents have helped create an auction for producers to market their goods locally. And in Richmond, Virginia Tech was a major contributor to the 2015 Governor’s Conference on […]


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Dividing the Linux desktop
LWN.net Weekly Edition for June 13, 2013
A report from pgCon 2013
Little things that matter in language design
Modifying a video game console such as a PlayStation3 or Xbox 360 is a crime in Canada and could result in a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, according to a recent release from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Seems the opposite is the case, at least in Canada:
Posted Apr 9, 2010 11:25 UTC (Fri) by inouk (guest, #64516)
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Copyright © 2013, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds


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Toll Holdings' former boss, Paul Little, has walked away from plans to rejoin the transport company's board due to "other commitments" including as chairman of embattled AFL club Essendon.
Mr Little had planned to return to Toll's board a year after he stepped down as chief executive in late 2011.
But Toll said late on Tuesday that Mr Little had advised the company that "due to other commitments he is not able" to return to its board. However, he will retain his role as a member of Toll's Singapore business board.
Mr Little, who turns 66 in December, was elevated to chairman of AFL club Essendon in late July after stockbroker David Evans quit after the fallout from a supplements scandal.
The architect of the transport giant had faced opposition from some shareholders, who believed he was looking to return to Toll too soon after he had relinquished the reins to Brian Kruger.
Apart from his role at Essendon, Mr Little also has a property development company.
The news comes as Toll averted strike action after reaching an in-principle agreement on Tuesday with a key union over a new enterprise deal covering more than half the workforce.
Toll and the Transport Workers Union, which represents thousands of Toll workers, resolved a sticking point over whether to extend the agreement to all new work. While the labour agreement will only apply to existing Toll workers, the union will be involved in setting conditions for staff who work for any new business the company takes over.
The deal also includes wage rises of 15.25 per cent over four years. The in-principle agreement will now be put to the union's delegates in advance of meetings of workers at Toll's sites around the country over coming weeks.
The breakthrough comes a week after staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of legally protected strike action, which could have included work stoppages of up to 72 hours. The enterprise agreement covers about 10,000 workers at Toll.
Toll moves goods for retailers including Coles and and Woolworths and the possibility of strike action threatened to hit supply chains. Toll has also named Qantas executive Ken Ryan as a non-executive director.
Bombers' woes make Little rethink move to rejoin Toll board
The news comes as Toll averted strike action over a new deal.
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Landor managing director Dom Walsh has exited the WPP-owned agency after seven years, AdNews can reveal.
Walsh has now been named the CEO of independent brand and design consultancy, Cowan.
His departure comes just over a year after Landor was merged with Designworks as part of WPP/STW consolidation.
Walsh had been at Landor since 2011, joining from Interbrand, where he was managing partner for two years.
Nick Foley, president SE Asia Pacific and Japan for Landor, will now lead the Sydney and Melbourne leadership teams.
WPP AUNZ CEO Mike Connaghan says Walsh was "instrumental" in bringing together the Landor and Designworks businesses in Australia, and thanked him for his commitment to the agency.
"He left behind both a strong Landor Australia leadership team and excellent client stable, which bodes well for the agency’s future," Connaghan says.
“Change in our industry is a constant; just as brands and consumers constantly evolve and disrupt, so too must the agencies that advise them. This change can be difficult – but it also comes with great opportunity. We see that in Nick, who agreed to spend more time with the Landor Australia team.
"This a chance to take advantage of his proven and experienced oversight. Having spent time on both the client and agency sides in Australia and the region, Nick is perfectly placed to help broaden Landor Australia’s capabilities, and sharpen its focus as it moves into a new phase of agency development."
Following the exit of WPP global boss Sir Martin Sorrell, The Wall Street Journal reported that WPP chairman Roberto Quarta would be “revisiting” its vast portfolio of agencies. Minority stakes WPP holds in other firms could be sold in the second half of the year and he also didn’t rule out merging some of the ad giant’s flagship creative agencies, such as Young & Rubicam.
Quarta is reported to have said WPP’s size is now weighing on the firm.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.org


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The acquisition, taking place via Beiersdorf’s corporate venture capital platform OSCAR&PAUL – an ‘indie brand business unit’ launched back in 2019, would see Beiersdorf’s Eucerin brand host a dedicated landing page for dermanostic, with information about its offers and services, along with the option to receive an online skin consultation.
Beiersdorf said this area of teledermatology was an increasingly relevant and “growing” space. “The young company is active in the strategically important field of digital health and offers app-based dermatological diagnosis.”
Düsseldorf-based dermanostic offered users simple and speedy app-based dermatological diagnoses with experienced dermatologists for €25, irrespective of location, requiring users to upload three photos and complete a medical history questionnaire. In less serious cases, the app therefore eliminated the need for a patient to visit a dermatological practice, Beiersdorf said, enabling prescriptions to be emailed or sent digitally via online pharmacies.
Digital health future? Teledermatology has ‘huge potential’
Beiersdorf said the acquisition was another step in Eucerin’s digitalisation strategy to create new digital touchpoints and pioneering advisory services for consumers.
Ascan Voswinckel, head of OSCAR&PAUL Beiersdorf Venture Capital, agreed the investment in dermanostic and resulting collaboration marked an important step for the personal care major.
“We believe digital health and teledermatology offer huge potential, especially among the younger target group. Digital dermatologist appointments offer our consumers significant added value as they allow for swift, straightforward, inexpensive, and professional advice regarding their skin indication,” Voswinckel said.
“As such, dermanostic’s new digital service is the perfect fit for our Eucerin brand and innovatively complements our democosmetic brand’s digital consumer journey,” he said.
A timely move during COVID-19 digital skin care shift
Cornelius Becker, head of derma at Beiersdorf, said the investment was also especially timely given the state of today’s skin care market.
“Especially in these times of COVID-19 and physical distancing, we must find digital ways of offering our consumers the right advice to solve their skin problems. By engaging in close communication with the experts at dermanostic, we can learn from one another and thus do even better at establishing digital closeness with our consumers,” Becker said.
Back in May 2021, OSCAR&PAUL also co-invested in Dutch startup Routinely – a D2C indie brand offering a range of unisex skin care serums, selected and bundled according to consumer needs based on an online questionnaire, and providing real-time guidance via the brand’s app to ‘track, review and refine’ skin care routines. At the time, Beiersdorf said this investment was also timely with the soaring online consumer demand for personalised skin care, further reinforced by the ongoing pandemic.
And COVID-19 had certainly drastically shaped the beauty and personal care market over the past two years – catapulting brands online and sharpening concerns around skin health and wellbeing, among a whole host of other shifts.
This year, CosmeticsDesign-Europe has identified Skin 2.0 as one of the top five beauty brands to watch in 2022, where a ‘skin beyond skin’ movement is set to truly take hold as consumers want to look much more closely at skin health and overall wellbeing.
In August, last year, Beiersdorf unveiled a new category for its Eucerin brand with the launch of two products under its acne-prone skin series Dermopure that targeted post-acne marks. At the time of the launch, Becker said: “The skin condition affects large numbers of people worldwide, with a sever impact on their psychological wellbeing. Our effective dermocosmetic solutions offer great potential to meet the correspondingly high demand of our consumers.”


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Classmates on the MBA course at Stanford University, Axio co-founders Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja always knew they wanted to return to India at the end of their studies. “We were passionate about doing something that would have a real impact back home,” recalls Rishyasringa. “But when we started looking at potential opportunities, we realised many of our fellow entrepreneurs felt the same – so many different sectors and markets seemed well catered for.”
In the end, however, that initial frustration led to inspiration. “We spotted that almost all of those entrepreneurs were running into the same problem – India’s affordability gap,” Rishyasringa explains. In any given sector, the number of Indians with the disposable income to take advantage of the exciting new ventures launched was limited. “It felt like a horizontal problem that was holding back multiple verticals,” Rishyasringa adds.
That realisation led to the launch of Axio, a fintech start-up that aims to bridge the affordability gap by ensuring many more Indians can access credit – that they can boost their disposable income with borrowing, in other words.
Currently, only 30 million or so Indians have credit cards and access to other types of lending from traditional financial services providers such as banks. The vast majority of the 1.4 billion population are excluded from these services.
Axios believes as many of 100 million of these people have begun transacting digitally in the past three years – buying goods on digital marketplaces, for example, or setting up businesses that trade through e-commerce. The number is set to reach 300 million over the next couple of years. This is Axio’s target market.
The company’s signature product is buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) finance, which is offered to consumers when they make purchases through any of the multiple online marketplaces and retailers with which Axio has built partnerships – including Amazon India. Customers put down a deposit on their purchase, with Axio paying the rest of the upfront cost; the borrower than repays this amount, with interest, through a number of smaller instalments.
The business model is built on Axio’s technology, with its data engine able to offer a lending decision to a consumer within three seconds of a request being made. In effect, the business offers instantaneous decisions to customers at the point of purchase.
BNPL arrangements are growing in popularity all around the world, and in some regions, there is now something of a backlash, with concern mounting that consumers are being encouraged to take on debt they cannot afford to repay. But there is a crucial difference between those arrangements and what Axio offers, says Rishyasringa.
“In regions such as Europe, consumers are using BNPL on top of all the other credit products they have access to,” he says. “In India, we’re addressing a structural gap in the credit market; this is most consumers’ first point of entry to credit.”
Axio lends only relatively small amounts to new customers, he explains, with the aim of helping them to build up a good credit record. Assuming they keep up their side of the bargain, making repayments when they’re due, Axio’s borrowers can increase their credit availability over time. The company has also recently launched unsecured loans, offering finance of up to $2,000 to customers with the best track records.
Rishyasringa and Hinduja see themselves as pioneers in this regard, opening up an area of financial services in a country where exclusion remains a significant issue for the vast majority. Axio also offers a financial management app, with facilities such as budget management and savings reminders. “We’re working to drive the behavioural change that we need to see around money management in India,” Rishyasringa adds.
Launched nine years ago, Axio’s growth accelerated last year when it picked up $50 million of new funding from investors. The business now has 6 million customers and is adding new borrowers at a rate of 15,000 a day. Lending is running at an annualised rate of $700 million – and the founders expect to break through the $1 billion mark in the next six to nine months.
Encouragingly, borrowers appear to behaving well. The company’s default rate is running at around 1 to 1.5%, which is low for sub-prime lending. Rishyasringa credits this to Axio’s responsible lending policies – and to the increasing sophistication of the data engine it uses to make underwriting decisions.
As for the future, there is clearly plenty of market to go at, if India’s digital user population really is set to rise from 100 million to 300 million over the next couple of years. But the company’s founders also see potential for expansion into new areas. They have already begun partnering with providers in spaces such as health, education and travel, where consumers often need help with big ticket purchases, and the launch of the loans business represents a first foray into broader credit products.
Rishyasringa is particularly proud of the fact that 60% of new borrowers coming to the site are from areas outside India’s 10 biggest cities – a constituency that has traditionally found it even harder to access financial services. “We are really keen to regionalise and localise even further,” he says.


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The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities issued a statement updating its guidance for placing construction products on the Great Britain market.
This confirmed “the government will continue to recognise the CE mark on construction products for another 2.5 years, to allow businesses until 30 June 2025 to prepare for the UK mark.”
Full updated guidance here
Business Secretary, Grant Shapps announced on 14th November that the deadline for the UKCA mark to become mandatory for most other manufactured goods would be extended to 1st January 2025. BEIS guidance page here
At this stage there is no explanation why the construction products deadline will differ from that for other products.


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Talk of institutional investors coming to crypto is prevalent across the industry and many high-profile institutions are developing cryptocurrency products. But does the prospect of institutional investors mean a maturing of the markets and fresh influx of capital?
Overall, the crypto markets have taken positive steps in order to attract institutional investors, including the development of a more consistent approach to regulation, increased security and cross industry initiatives such as those from Global Digital Finance, the industry membership body that promotes the adoption of best practices for crypto assets and digital finance technologies.
It is clear that the maturation of the crypto markets goes hand-in-hand with the advent of increasing regulation, which serve to bring increased transparency and legitimacy across the market, attract institutional money while making the market safer for the individual investors.
In this fast moving world, CryptoCompare takes stock and brings together more than 800 industry practitioners and regulators for a one-day conference in London, to explore some of the latest themes and developments in the crypto asset space including regulation, institutional investment, stablecoins, security tokens, crypto derivatives, exchange traded products and custody options.
Summit speakers include representatives from Nasdaq, UBS, LSEG, State Street, VanEck, Global Digital Finance, EY Foundry, Coinshares, B2C2, Quantave and more.
The exclusive regulatory panel will be hosted by Global Digital Finance’s Lawrence Wintermeyer and feature Martin Etheridge from the Bank of England, Gillian Dorne from HM Treasury, and the FCA’s Samantha Emery, who will provide insights into the upcoming regulatory developments in the UK.
The industry view on crypto regulation and policy will be provided by George Morris, one of the UK’s leading legal practitioners in the crypto assets industry; Michel Rauchs from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and Huobi’s Josh Goodbody; and chaired by Teana Baker-Taylor, Executive Director at Global Digital Finance.
The FT Alphaville’s Jemima Kelly will moderate discussions on ‘Exchange Market Integrity and Consumer Protection’, in conversation with Will Harborne, Director of Operations at Ethfinex; and Ted Lin, Chief Growth Officer at Binance.
Attendees will also hear from Andreas M. Antonopoulos, one of the world’s foremost bitcoin and open blockchain experts, on ‘The future of programmable money’ while the afternoon keynote will be delivered by Wall Street Strategist Thomas J Lee, of Fundstrat Global Advisors.
Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, said: “We have seen fantastic interest in this year’s Digital Asset Summit and are delighted by the calibre of speakers joining us for the event. The crypto industry has seen significant changes over the last 12 months, from the development of stablecoins to institutional investors exploring crypto assets and regulators developing ways to encourage innovation in this space while maintaining consumer protection. We look forward to discussing all of this and more at the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit on 12th June.”Full agenda details can be found on the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit website; use TRADE20 to claim your 20% ticket discount!


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New Yorkers seem to have a reputation: they move fast and have little patience for inconvenience. And lugging umbrellas, especially when they’re simply a precaution, can feel like just that.
But there might be another way, say the creators of ‘brellaBox, a sharing system in which commuters can rent umbrellas from strategically located boxes.
The idea is to have 500 boxes throughout the city that will offer users the ability to rent umbrellas, $2.50 for 12 hours, or to purchase an umbrella for $15. But the difference between these umbrellas and those you buy at the corner store will be the quality, its founders say. And the umbrellas can be picked up and dropped off at any of the boxes, just like Citi Bike (or the DO School’s “Good To Go” to-go cup sharing system, profiled by WSJ last week.)


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Walmart’s 2014 shareholder meeting kicked off in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday with a musical performance by Pharrell Williams and forward-looking speeches from company executives, but news about the company elsewhere threatens to upstage the company’s carefully choreographed annual showcase.
Workers at a Washington, D.C. Walmart Supercenter plan to walk off the job on Friday afternoon to hold a rally with senior labor leaders from both the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Friday’s walkout is planned for 1:30 pm, according to a press release, and will culminate in a rally where workers will denounce the company’s alleged history of firing workers who speak up about their labor rights. The National Labor Relations Board has accused the company of illegal retaliatory actions against worker-activists, and the case is ongoing. The company maintains an internal manual for managers that instructs them to tiptoe up to the line of what labor law allows in order to monitor worker conversations and cajole employees into staying out of the years-long fight to organize Walmart workers.
The walkout comes on the heels of a commercial research survey released Thursday that found shoppers are more than twice as likely to hold negative views of Walmart than of competitors like Target. “The data is clear that Walmart’s record of treating workers poorly is harming the company’s reputation,” according to Lake Research Partners, which surveyed over 800 customers from the end of May into early June. The survey finds that 28 percent of shoppers hold a negative view of Walmart (compared to just 13 percent for Target and 6 percent for Costco), and that 23 percent of shoppers have doubts about spending their money at Walmart due to its treatment of workers. Two-thirds of those surveyed agreed that Walmart “could afford to pay higher wages and better benefits if it chose to.”
Meanwhile, the shareholder meeting itself is going to feature calls for a change in leadership from a slate of Walmart stock owners who have issued reports criticizing the company’s performance and executive pay plans over the past two weeks. The shareholder activism efforts include a petition to stop Walmart heir Rob Walton from being elected to the company’s board, which more than 50,000 shareholders have signed, and efforts by both Walmart employees and major independent investors to get shareholders to vote “no” on Walton’s election and on the company’s executive pay proposal.
In Fayetteville on Friday morning, Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley Jr. tried to acknowledge the company’s recent struggles. “Last year was not a typical Walmart year,” Holley told the crowd in the auditorium and watching online, “and we all felt it.” But whatever Holley and his fellow executives felt, they maintained enormous wealth in comparison to the minimum wage workers employed in stores. William Simon, the CEO of Walmart’s American operation, was paid $11.5 million last year. The last $1.5 million of that came from a performance bonus that was only supposed to be paid of American sales grew by 2 percent. Simon oversaw growth of just 1.8 percent, but got his bonus anyway.
Every penny of the $298 million in “performance pay” bonuses Walmart has paid over the past six years was tax deductible. As a result, taxpayers have subsidized Walmart executive pay to the tune of $104 million since 2009, according to a report released this week.


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The Behemoth, the devs behind indie classics Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater have finally named their next game after announcing it nearly a year ago.
Previously simply known as “Game Four,” their newest game is revealed as ‘Pit People.’ Pit People was suggested early in conceptual stages of development. It was supposedly initially scrawled alongside the first piece of art for the game, long before it became the turn-based hit we’re expecting.
According to The Behemoth studio, the game took place ‘in an arena,’ and eventually ‘adventuring became a big part of the game.’ As this developed, Behemoth says that ” a key moment in the story now occurs in the Pit, and so the name remained!” In other words, as the narrative for Pit People underwent creation, they revisited the eponymous Pit and decided it was good enough.
The Behemoth recently released the first 20 minutes of gameplay on YouTube, which you can view below:
Following their general trend of development, Pit People is a completely different genre to The Behemoth’s titles. Here, we are treated to a grid and turn-based adventure game. Although a massive departure, they seem to have captured the essence just as well as their previous titles did of their genres, if the above gameplay is representative of the remainder of their title. Coated in their now signature drawn art style and accompanied by a ludicrous plot (Space bear fractures the world to create chaos that can only be resolved by the uniting of the Pit People), it is likely to earn its place alongside their greats.
Adoring Behemoth fans need not wait long to play Pit People either – although there has not been a formal release date announced, Pit People will be playable at the Behemoth booth in San Diego Comic Con, alongside all three of their previous titles Alien Hominid HD, Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater.
Pit People will eventually be available to play on Xbox One and PC.


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The Greater Sarasota Chamber is excited to roll in a new bowling event for all ages and skill levels on Wednesday, August 17, at Sarasota Lanes. Registration begins at 5 p.m. and bowling will begin rolling at 5:30 p.m.
This event includes networking, 2 games of bowling, contests and prizes, team bonding and much more. We hope you join us for a fun bowling night in your “spare-time!”
4409 Tournament Players Club Drive
Sarasota, FL 34238
The 2016 Sarasota Chamber Golf Classic welcomes golfers of all skill levels on Friday, September 16, at TPC Prestancia. Registration and lunch will begin at 11:00 a.m. followed by a shotgun start at 12:00 p.m.
This exciting day includes networking, 18-hole game and cart, complimentary beverages and snacks, a cook out lunch, contests and prizes, award reception and much more! The tournament is a scramble format, allowing golfers of all skill levels to participate.
1000 Blvd. of the Arts
Sarasota, FL 34236
Hyatt Regency Sarasota
The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce will recognize the achievement of its members at its 96th Annual Meeting Friday, October 7.
Outstanding top member businesses, which have hired our neighbors, invested in the future and reached a milestone anniversary of local service to our area, will be celebrated on stage and honored for their achievement.
Chamber Expo 2016 with Manatee Chamber of Commerce
Wednesday, November 09, 2016 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Bradenton Area Convention Center One Haben Blvd Palmetto, FL Bradenton Area Convention Center
With over 175 exhibitors and over 1000 attendees, Chamber Expo is a three-hour, power-packed event where you can boost your brand awareness and meet your next customers. Hosted by the Sarasota and Manatee Chambers of Commerce, Chamber Expo is the area’s largest “Business After Hours” trade show of the year.
Why Exhibit? Great opportunity to showcase your business to hundreds of business owners and decision makers from Manatee and Sarasota counties at this combined Expo and Business After Hours.
Exhibitor Space includes 8-foot skirted table, two chairs, curtain backdrop and sides, identification sign, and four complimentary admissions to event. Corner booths and sponsorships available.
On November 5, 2015, more than 150 members of The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce exhibited their products and services at Chamber Expo, the largest business after hours event in the area.More than 1,000 attendees from all over the Sarasota-Bradenton area filled the Bradenton Area Convention Center for the power packed event. Attendees enjoyed great networking, delicious food samples and tested their luck for a grand raffle prize trip to Panama City, Panama from Panama Travel Consultants. The lucky winner for this amazing 4 night / 5 day vacation was a representative from Hair Cuttery. Enjoy your vacation, we can’t to hear about it! Continue reading “Chamber Expo 2015: A Record-Breaking Night of Networking”→
During our August 2015 Shumaker Chamber University, Allison Imre presented tips and tricks for connecting at “Make the Most of Your Tradeshow.” Imre is the Senior Account Manager of iHeartMedia Sarasota. With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. The company owns and operates 858 broadcast radio stations, serving more than 150 markets throughout the U.S.
Imre is no stranger to tradeshows. Her experience with marketing business at tradeshows started at her previous position with the Kansas City Royals and has expanded since she joined iHeartMedia Sarasota.
While most of our attendees had exhibited at a tradeshow in the past, for some, the tradeshow wasn’t worth their time or investment. Others found success in meeting new people, closing deals and setting appointments. By opening the tradeshow conversation, Imre offered some of the best tools, tips and tricks to use when attending or exhibiting at a tradeshow.
The room was filled with the sound of reggae music and businesses connecting. Cocktail umbrellas adorned our drinks and leis were draped around our necks. Free to the public, the Sarasota Prime Time event packed in over 200 guests to enjoy their last bit of summer at The Chamber’s “End of the Summer Bash” on August 19 at the Sahib Shrine.
The Sarasota Prime Time is an after-hours tradeshow exhibit, offering business exposure for participating members as well as networking opportunities for all attendees. Presented by PayServ Systems, the event brought in nearly 40 member booths, many of them getting festive with the summer theme and offering raffle prizes and giveaways for lucky attendees.
At a recent Shumaker Chamber University, Allison Imre presented valuable information on trade shows at “Make the Most of Your Tradeshow.” Imre is the Senior Account Manager of iHeartMedia Sarasota. With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. The company owns and operates 858 broadcast radio stations, serving more than 150 markets throughout the U.S.
Imre is no stranger to trade shows. Her experience with trade shows started at her previous position with the Kansas City Royals and has expanded since she joined iHeartMedia Sarasota.
If you’re like Imre, you’ve been to your fair share of trade shows. In fact, everyone in our audience raised their hands when asked if they’ve attended one before. And their experiences were mixed. For some, the trade show wasn’t worth their time or investment and for others there was success in meeting new people, closing deals and setting appointments. By opening the trade show conversation, Imre offered some of the best tools, tips and tricks to use when attending or exhibiting at a trade show.
With The Chamber’s End of the Summer Bash Prime Time exhibit quickly approaching, let’s start with what we learned to do as a trade show attendee.


text: Larky Inc., an Ann Arbor startup that has launched a smartphone app to manage users' discount programs, closed in April on a funding round of $650,000 and plans to raise a second round of $3 million this summer as it ramps up hiring and marketing and expands from an iPhone-only platform to one that supports Android, too.The business plan calls for revenue of $2 million next year, but its founders, President Gregg Hammerman, 41, and Andrew Bank, 40, have grander ambitions. "We have no doubt this can be a $100 million business a few years down the road," said Hammerman. Larky has created a proprietary database of organizations and companies nationwide that offer discounts to members or employees and developed analytics to make sense of the data. For example, if someone who has downloaded the app plans to have dinner in Ann Arbor one evening, the app will list the restaurants offering a discount. Or you're walking by a Rite-Aid, and you get a ping on your phone that tells you you're entitled to a 20 percent discount if you come in because of one of your memberships. Larky uses a hot technology in the world of apps called geo-fencing, which enables businesses to recognize customers when they are within a predetermined radius around a specific location and send them messages or special offers. Credit card companies, employers and organizations such as the Automobile Association of America, AARP, university alumni associations -- and even the Michigan Department of Natural Resources through its license plate park passports -- offer a range of member discounts at participating businesses.The problem, say those offering the discounts, is they are too cumbersome for members to keep track of and consequently are underused. "The DNR passport comes with discounts at 1,100 merchants around the state, and nobody knows it or takes advantage of it," Bank said.


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COVID-19 dealt a wildcard to the corporate sector that no-one was prepared for. Much of the commercial office landscape is now lying deserted, and though it won’t remain this way forever, it certainly won’t return to its pre-pandemic form.
Some companies, like Twitter, are going fully remote, while others are looking for flexible options that still allow for in-person collaboration. Though it’s impossible to know for sure what the full spectrum of post-pandemic changes will look like, you can certainly expect to encounter the following:
A hybrid working model
Many business owners aren’t yet ready to give up on an office space that brings their team together. However, long lock-in leases with expensive overheads are the last thing anyone wants during the uncertainty of a pandemic.
Serviced and virtual offices have been rising to meet this new demand, offering flexible packages that allow people the freedom to downgrade their office space without downgrading their business. Staff can alternate time spent in the office with time spent working from home, meaning less square footage is required.
Uncertainty demands flexibility
For business owners looking to cut back on expenses without sacrificing the quality of their offerings, serviced offices have been a game-changer during the pandemic. Flexibility is built into the serviced office model, with business owners charged a flat rental fee that covers not just their space but also their electricity, cleaning, receptionist services, and other elements of the selected package. The model is working so well for the office spaces and the businesses using them that it’s likely to be adopted by commercial agents around the globe.
The contactless office of the future
Most people have their first encounters with contactless technology in public restrooms, with taps, soap dispensers, doors, and in some cases even toilet seats that are activated by movement. Spurred by the pandemic, this technology will soon expand out of our bathrooms and into everyday life.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will be central to this change, with everything from the office coffee machine to elevators and audio-visual equipment able to be operated via smartphone apps or voice-activated technology.
The rise of the digital landscape
Even before the pandemic, the digital landscape was becoming more and more real. Our screen time has been steadily rising year by year, and with virtual reality and video conferencing technology developing at a rapid rate, the digital landscape is on the verge of being as real as the outside world.
Though fans of dystopian fiction may be furrowing their brows at this development, businesses had little choice but to jump on the technology available to them when the pandemic hit. Cloud technologies, the IoT, video conferencing, and team-based work management platforms have allowed many businesses to remain operational, despite the strict lockdown rules.
A tribal office structure
Of course, this doesn’t mean the digital landscape will take over entirely. Many companies value the team environment they’ve fostered. In order to preserve it, they are turning to a decentralized model, swapping large corporate headquarters for a spread of smaller community-based offices.
This effectively creates tribes of workers who are able to attend offices close to the suburbs they live in. Transport options are easier, with none of the massive inner-city crowds to worry about. Commercial real estate agents in these suburban areas are likely to take up the flexible leasing options offered by existing serviced offices in order to secure tenants.
Though the pandemic has brought with it a trail of mayhem and uncertainty, the way forward is becoming clearer by the day. We are facing a prolonged period of change, upheaval, and reform. However, the future of the commercial office landscape is looking surprisingly bright for employers and employees alike. If you’re ready to guide your business into a new successful chapter of its life, contact the MCO team today.


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Gail Mbabane’s pregnancy swag in 3 pictures
Actress Gail Mabalane is every bit a glowing mama-to-be.
And, her pregnancy fashion is totally on point.
Gail who announced that she's pregnant in October has been serving all sorts of fashion goals.
Gail and her hubby, Kabelo are both ecstatic about welcoming their second child into the world.
"You expect that after having your first baby that it will be the same but this is a new baby, and a new adventure. I think we are better prepared for it now, we know more and are more relaxed," she told TshisaLIVE.
And, Gail is totally rocking her pregnancy!


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THERE were gifts galore, festive treats and visits to Santa at the George Lawton Hall as Mossley Town Team hosted its popular Christmas Market.
The annual event was as busy as always as hundreds turned up to browse the stalls, tuck into refreshments and enjoy the atmosphere.
A huge range of items was on sale from local crafters and shops, including candles, cards, sweets, decorations, bags, hand-made items, and woodwork.
There was entertainment throughout the afternoon from talented group Good Vibrations, as well as a grand raffle with great prizes.
Cllr Irene Raddings, Mayor of Mossley, said: “We’ve had a fantastic afternoon and it’s been really busy all day.”
There was also a special stall set up by Bob Cooper selling plants to raise funds for Willow Wood Hospice.
Bob created the eye-catching tubs himself from empty tuna tins, and painted and decorated them, before filling them with plants.
From starting with 40 tubs, he ended up almost sold out, and also sold countless raffle tickets a larger wheelbarrow planter which will be raffled at Willow Wood’s coffee morning on December 1.


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ChoCo’a names head chef chocolatier
Dubai, May 25, 2009
ChoCo’a, a Dubai-based premium chocolate maker, retailer and corporate and hospitality industry provider, has appointed Lisa Gardin as its head chef chocolatier.
With a vast experience spanning North America, Europe and Japan, Canadian-born Gardin comes to Dubai armed with a creative recipes of moulded and enrobed chocolates, truffles, centrepieces, figurines, handmade boxes and custom designs for corporate and wholesale markets.
Prior to joining ChoCo’a’s Barsha-based chocolate factory, Gardin worked for Vancouver-based Chocolate Arts. Before that, she was the production leader at Tokyo’s Decadence du Chocolat working alongside Stephane Vieux. She has also held pastry chef and pastry apprentice positions with other Canadian establishments.
“Investing in the skills of an ambitious and well experienced international chef is part of our aggressive expansion plans as the ChoCo’a brand aspires to establish its growing reputation of uncompromising quality, refined taste, unique fillings capabilities and ultra-creative decoration dexterity,” said Assem Hamzeh, managing director, ChoCo’a.-TradeArabia News Service


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The initial public offer (IPO) of RateGain Travel Technologies is going to close on Thursday. As of 11:23 am, the IPO received a 94 per cent subscription, as per the data available with the exchanges showed.
The company had fixed a price band of Rs 405-425 a share for its Rs 1,335 crore-IPO.
According to the NDTV report, the qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 3 per cent against the segment alloted for them. The portion of non-institutional investors saw 16 per cent subscription, and the employee reserved category witnessed 79 per cent bookings.
Moreover, the IPO witnessed a positive and robust response from the retail investors and the segment was subscribed 4.86 times (486 per cent).
Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for payment of debt availed by RateGain UK, one of the subsidiaries, from Silicon Valley Bank; payment of deferred consideration for the acquisition of DHISCO and strategic investments, acquisitions and inorganic growth.
Earlier, as per analysts, the grey market is cautiously watching the investors' response to RateGain IPO. They said that after tepid response on the first two days of bidding, shares of RateGain are trading at a premium of Rs 40 in the grey market on Thursday, reported Mint.
Meanwhile, check what analysts say, according to a report published in The Economic Times.
At the higher price band of Rs 425, the issue seems expensive. Given the re-emergence of pandemic fear and its impact on the global travel & hospitality industry, there is higher uncertainty about the business growth outlook. Considering all the above parameters, we assign a ‘Subscribe with Caution’ rating to the issue.
Canara Bank Securities
The brokerage house has given a subscribe call to the issue for a long-term gain. It said the company’s business is scalable with an asset-light business model, leveraged with technology backed by artificial intelligence.
RateGain Travel offers travel and hospitality solutions across a wide spectrum of verticals including hotels, airlines, online travel agents (OTAs), meta-search companies, vacation rentals, package providers, car rentals, rail, travel management companies, cruises and ferries.
Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, IIFL Securities Limited and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Private Limited have been appointed as lead managers for the issue.


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Canadians may soon have more Made in Italy products to choose from following the launch of a multi-partner initiative among Italian government organizations and Eataly.
The Embassy of Italy in Canada, the Italian Trade Commission in Toronto and Eataly Toronto are part of a worldwide initiative of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation that focuses on the authenticity and distinctive traits of Made in Italy products.
Eataly plans to highlight products now available in-store and new entries. Consumers will learn about Italian products by means of seminars and tastings held at the Eataly Toronto location. The promotion will kick off in January and span all of 2021.


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An Internet services company that crammed unauthorized charges onto the telephone bills of thousands of consumers and small businesses for services they never agreed to buy has been shut down.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Inc21 and its affiliated companies sold Internet services, including Web site design services, Web site hosting, Internet directory listings, search-engine advertising and Internet-based faxing, for charges ranging from $12.95 to $39.95 a month.
The companies are accused of hiring offshore telemarketers to call prospective clients. Sometimes they offered a free trial, without explaining that consumers would have to take certain steps to avoid charges. In other cases the telemarketers said they simply were calling to verify their business contact information.
"I got my phone bill and ILD (ILD TeleServices) charged me $30.88 for some kind of Internet service that I never authorized," Christie, of Connel, WA, tells ConsumerAffairs.com. "When I called them, I was kept on hold for over 30 minutes and have not been able to dispute these charges."
"There was a 39.95 + tax charge on my local phone bill," says Amy of Byron, MN. "After calling my phone company & being referred to ILD I was told this was for Internet Yellow Pages through YP.com. ILD said they were just the billing company.
She says YP.com claimed her household had agreed to a trial offer that automatically upgraded to a billable service unless cancelled. "A recorded message prompted the recipient of their call to state their name, address, phone number, etc. & confirm that they were authorized to accept charges for our phone number," she tells ConsumerAffairs.com. That was preceeded by an agent that had promised that there was absolutely no charge for anything, at all. This is pretty deceptive to cover the call as having to do with phone service & then manipulate the call into a sales pitch w/o the recipient's knowledge."
The FTC also claims third-party billing aggregators were used to place charges on the phone bills of thousands of consumers and businesses that either:
• were never contacted at all;
• were told they were contacted only to verify business information;
• declined Inc21' s offer of Internet services; or
• were told they would receive a free trial offer, but not informed that they would be charged if they did not cancel.
In papers filed with the court, the FTC charged that Inc21 and its agents supposedly made tape recordings to demonstrate that its charges were authorized. But the agency contends that in many cases, the recordings were doctored to misrepresent the call and the consumers' responses. In other cases, the voices on the tapes are not those of the consumers who were supposedly on the calls.
The companies are charged with unfair and deceptive acts in violation of the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup has issued a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction to halt the unlawful conduct, pending trial. In his order, Judge Alsup wrote, "It was Inc21 who orchestrated this overall scheme and set in motion an army of telemarketers who committed fraud. Even if Inc21 did not approve of the fraud (and it seems likely that it did approve), the fact remains that Inc21 is responsible for organizing this engine of fraud and reaping its profits. As such, Inc21 may certainly be held accountable and the engine of fraud may be shut down by court order."
Those named in the matter are Inc21.com Inc., doing business as Inc21, Inc21.net, Inc21 Communications, Global YP, NetOpus, Metro YP, JumPage Solutions, GoFaxer.com and Fax Faster.com, Jumpage Solutions, Inc., GST U.S.A., Inc., Roy Yu Lin and John Yu Lin officers and directors of Inc21.
The FTC complaint also names Sheng Lin, the father of Roy and John Lin, as a "relief defendant" because he allegedly received funds that can be traced to the deceptive and unfair practices, and has no legitimate claim to those funds.


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I read this weekend that our old neighbor, One Kings Lane, is looking in earnest for an acquirer. The rumor is that they’re going to sell far below the amount of funding which they took on. Which means, barring the lack of any liquidation preferences, investors are going to get pennies on the dollar and the founders and key staff are not going to get anything for their shares from an exit. This is always sad to see. Along with Gilt’s exit, we’re seeing the final chapters of the daily deal saga. Six, seven years ago, we saw this explosion hit the scene. Huge amounts of wealth were created overnight and investors and corporations couldn’t put enough money into the daily deals business. Anyone with a substantial user base saw the opportunity to cash in big. Even Google got involved. Of course, for a variety of reasons, these models crumbled, and no one stays glued to his or her computer anymore to watch each deal come out.
And yet I know a lot of founders who made a fortune during this time. All of them were able to cash out while the prices for their shares were still high, perhaps most famously during Groupon’s later funding rounds.
While I’m not advocating taking money off the table when you know something your shareholders and investors don’t, I do think there’s a lot to be learned about timing. A lot of founders seem to forget that when it comes to value creation, that value is a constantly changing number. It’s not dictated by the latest funding round, it’s dictated by the people buying shares in your company the next time they are liquid.
I have a lot of thoughts on this I could go into, but for now, I think it’s a good opportunity to reflect upon timing and what it means for the success of our businesses. Opportunities always open and close. Just because they are open now doesn’t mean they will be open in a year, and vice versa. So all founders need to be constantly thinking 2-3 years down the road and making sure that they are building for what the business landscape will look like then. Because that’s the world that will exist for the value you are creating today. And keeping an eye on that is the job of a founder.


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VMware has unveiled an Internet of Things (IoT) strategy to deliver new edge computing solutions for specific use cases, such as Asset Management and Smart Surveillance at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, VMware unveiled an Internet of Things (IoT) strategy to deliver new edge computing solutions for specific use cases, such as Asset Management and Smart Surveillance. These edge solutions will feature VMware vSAN hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) software, VMware vSphere and VMware Pulse IoT Center, and will be developed in collaboration with industry-leading partners.
VMware sees unique requirements and environments at the edge and will address them through use case specific solutions spanning:
- Industrial remote IoT use cases such as oil well optimisation, utility grids, and smart city use cases where the things reside in ruggedised, disparate, outdoor and often times, remote locations with inconsistent network and power;
- Factory and plants in support of closed networks, ruggedised indoor environments; and,
- Branches and in-stores in support of unique space and power requirements and coordinated across many stores.
IoT introduces a new wrinkle in today’s centralised data center/cloud model. A new class of cost-effective edge infrastructure is required to process data inputs from millions or even billions of IoT endpoints that are separated from the core data center or the public cloud by bandwidth. This new infrastructure must be simple to manage as there are no IT specialists at the edge; cost-effective as the volume of edge installations is large; and, scalable to allow edge installations to grow over time.
“By 2022, as a result of digital business projects, 75% of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside the traditional, centralised data center or cloud, which is an increase from less than today’s 10%,” according to Gartner. (1) Local analytics offer faster response times, reduced storage costs, and an optimum use of bandwidth while also supporting data privacy and compliance requirements.
VMware to Deliver HCI Solutions for the Edge
HCI and VMware Pulse IoT Center are ideally suited to process and secure sensor data that bridges the physical and digital worlds. VMware is working on providing more efficient and more secure IoT infrastructure that is easy to manage, scale, and update so customers can accelerate IoT initiatives and realise ROI faster. Based on the leading hyper-converged solution, these edge solutions will feature real-time analytics in support of IoT initiatives where customers will have the choice of licensing third-party business analytics starter kits, in partnership with industry leaders, to help with content analytics and drive business decisions.
VMware offers a full ecosystem of server hardware for Edge infrastructure or gateway solutions depending on use case needs, environment, and desired rugged ability. These new solutions include VMware Pulse IoT Center for management, monitoring, and security of all edge systems/gateways and connected devices such as sensors and the appropriate management and security solution to support compute and storage infrastructure and applications across the edge.
VMware to Collaborate with Axis Communications and Dell EMC for Smart Surveillance Solution
VMware and Axis Communications are collaborating on an IoT solution for the surveillance industry. The solution will feature Axis Communications’ state of the art surveillance capabilities including IP cameras as well as 4G/LTE routers which can be deployed to protect properties, stores, and employees. With VMware Pulse IoT Center, customers will have a way to manage, monitor, and secure their Axis Communications cameras and routers. Initially, the solution will be available on a choice of Dell EMC servers and include the option of Dell Edge Gateways. Additionally, VMware is working with financial services organisations to develop the modern bank of the future using surveillance to optimise security and the customer experience.
VMware, Dell Technologies and Wipro Limited Team Up on IoT Solution for Manufacturers and Asset Management Services
VMware and Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, are working together to offer manufacturers a complete edge to cloud IoT solution. The benefits of improved efficiency and productivity of machinery and other assets across the shop floor have the potential to contribute significant returns to manufacturers. Featuring Wipro’s IoT offerings, including its Looking Glass asset management platform and services capability, the solution will integrate multiple IoT platforms which are either hosted on-premises or in the cloud. By connecting their IoT environment to their data centers, customers will benefit from deeper analytics and machine learning. Wipro will also be one of the first system integrators to provide installation and management services for VMware’s IoT Edge solutions.
Manufacturers can use Wipro’s IoT Platform and analytics capabilities for real-time data processing and for predictive failure analytics for devices and equipment on the manufacturing floor. VMware Pulse IoT Center helps manage, monitor, and secure assets and data in facilities as well as the edge infrastructure. By combining Wipro’s complete IoT Platform and analytics capabilities with VMware’s Pulse IoT Center, customers have access to a complete and seamless solution.
VMware Supports Edge Computing Research
VMware, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation (NSF), has announced a new solicitation on Edge Computing Data Infrastructure for research that advances the state of the art in end-to-end networked systems architecture that includes edge infrastructures. VMware will fund two awards valued at a total of $6 million for U.S. university faculty members. Additional information is available here.
“Building an edge computing solution today is a time-intensive exercise most enterprises can’t afford. Today, VMware unveils hyper-converged edge computing solutions that are cost-effective and will enable customers to build and scale secure, use case-specific IoT solutions that work for them from the edge all the way to the cloud, relying on proven, tested software they already use and trust. Together with ecosystem partners Axis, Wipro Limited and Dell EMC, we’re excited to deliver the first of many tailored solutions to meet the unique IoT needs of our enterprise customers,” said Ray O’Farrell, executive vice president & chief technology officer, VMware.
“With the convergence of IT and security top of mind for the industry, we’re excited to collaborate with VMware on an IoT solution for the surveillance industry,” said Scott Dunn, senior director, Business Development Solutions & Services, Axis Communications, Inc. “This collaboration will give us an outstanding opportunity to deliver a better experience for our mutual customers by providing a leading edge IoT platform and management solution.”
“Our partnership with VMware and Dell Technologies complements our end-to-end IoT solutions and enables us to realise business outcomes for our customers,” said Jayraj Nair, vice president and global head of IoT, Wipro Limited. “Asset management, smart manufacturing, logistics and supply chain solutions enabled by IoT technologies are ushering in new levels of operational efficiency for our global clients.”
As selfie cameras rise, so must selfie etiquette
Selfies were once a sign of narcissism or self-obsession. Now they are the new normal, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.
You can blame Oxford Dictionaries for making the “selfie” respectable. After all, being named Word of the Year, as it was in 2013, does tend to soften some of the self-consciousness in this most self-conscious of actions.
Once seen as a symbol of narcissism and self-obsession, it is now the new normal, to the extent that most smartphones are sold on the basis of the front camera. Or, as that feature is now almost universally named by manufacturers, the “selfie camera”.
I was one of the hold-outs, having a near-allergy to the selfie. I still resist, but succumb more often than I would like. The reason for continued resistance is that it remains a big leap from the word becoming respectable to the action itself shedding its narcissistic image.
For most, it’s already happened, and for that you can blame Ellen DeGeneres. She choreographed the most famous group selfie yet at the 2014 Oscars, when she roped a bunch of actors into a group selfie, using the then-new Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Her tweet of the photo became what was then the most retweeted posting ever on Twitter, and was estimated to have been worth a million dollars in marketing value to Samsung.
Ironically, it was Samsung’s up-and-coming challenger, Huawei, that came up with a new word for this type of selfie: the “groufie”. Thanks to an 8 Megapixel front camera on the new Huawei Ascend P7 camera that year which took the highest quality selfies – and groufies – possible on a smartphone at the time.
It didn’t end there, and selfies and groufies have morphed into variations like selfscapes (selfie in a landscape), skyfies (selfies from the air, using remote controlled devices) and jerkies (selfies to make an idiot out of yourself). I invented all of those on the fly, so it’s easy to imagine a new word emerging for every type of selfie.
Continue reading about selfie improvements through the years.
Mickey’s 90th for SA
Disney Africa announced the local launch of the Mickey the True Original campaign, joining the global festivities honouring 9 decades of Mickey Mouse, his heritage, personality and status as a pop-culture icon.
As 18 November 2018 marks 90 years since his first appearance in Steamboat Willie in November 1928, a series of world-wide celebrations will be taking place this year and South Africa is no different.
The campaign will come to life with engaging content and events that embrace Mickey’s impact on the past, present and future. The local festivities kick off in earnest this month, leading up to Mickey’s 90th anniversary on 18 November 2018 and beyond:
- An exclusive local design project where ten highly talented South African artists will apply their own inspiration and artistic interpretation on 6-foot Mickey Mouse statues.
- Once revealed to the public, the statues will form part of the Mickey the True Original South African Exhibition, inspired by Mickey’s status as a ‘true original’ and his global impact on popular culture. The exhibition will travel to 3 cities and delight fans and families alike as they journey with Mickey over the years. Featuring 4 sections highlighting Mickey’s innovation, his evolution, influence on fashion and also pop culture, the exhibition is in collaboration with Samsung and Edgars, and will visit:
o Sandton City, Centre Court: 28 September – 14 October
o Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Expo Explore Court: 19 October – 11 November
o Canal Walk Shopping Centre. Centre Court: 16 November – 26 November
- Samsung continues their collaboration with Disney as they honour Mickey’s 90th anniversary nationally at all Samsung and Edgars Stores. Entitled Unlocking the Imagination, fans are encouraged to visit these stores, take a selfie with a giant Mickey plush toy using their Samsung Galaxy Note9 and stand a chance to win not only a giant Mickey plush, but also an international family trip. Visit www.Samsung.com for more information
- Mickey’s 90th Spectacular, a two-hour prime-time special, will be screened on M-Net 101 later this year. The elegant affair will feature star-studded musical performances, moving tributes and never-before-seen short films. Superstars from music, film and television will join the birthday fun for the internationally beloved character.
- In addition, look out for special programming on Mickey’s birthday (18 November) across Disney Channel (DStv, Channel 303), Disney XD (DStv, Channel 304) and Disney Junior (DStv, Channel 309).
- In retailers, Edgars will be stocking a complete collection of trendy fashion, accessories and footwear for the whole family, inspired entirely by Mickey Mouse.
- Mickey will be the central theme of an in-store campaign nationwide this November and December, with brand new products, apparel, toys, as well as titles from Disney Publishing Worldwide, including books, arts & crafts and comics
- Discovery Vitality and Disney are celebrating healthy, happy families this festive season by offering helpful and exciting tips and tricks on how to eat nutritious, yet delicious, foods, all inspired by Mickey. There’s also a trip to Disneyland Paris up for grabs. Log on to www.discovery.co.za/vitality for information.
- And much more – check the press for updates
“Binding generations together more than any other animated character, Mickey Mouse is the “True Original” who reminds people of all ages of the benefits of laughter, optimism and hope,” says Christine Service, Senior Vice President and Country Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa. “With his universal appeal and ability to emotionally connect with generations all over the world, no other character quite occupies a similar space in the hearts and minds of a global fan base and we are thrilled to be sharing these local festivities.”
Mickey’s birthday is celebrated in honour of the release of his first theatrical film, Steamboat Willie, on 18th November 1928, at the Colony Theatre in New York City. Since then, he has starred in more than 100 cartoons and can currently be seen on Disney Channel (DStv, Channel 303) in the Mickey Mouse cartoon series and on Disney Junior (DStv, Channel 309) in Mickey and the Roadster Racers.
South African fans are encouraged to share their Mickey Mouse moments on social media using the hashtag#Mickey90Africa.


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Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt Is Pitching Buick Cascadas
Ellie Kemper features in sassy, offbeat spots for the brand’s new convertible.
Buick has a convertible on sale in America for the first time in 25 years, and a fetching, eccentric ad campaign for the first time in forever. The Cascada droptop is at the center of the all-digital push, with Ellie Kemper—a.k.a. Erin Hannon from The Office, also a.k.a. Kimmie from The Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt—just left-of-center. Supporting roles are played by a Buick Encore and Enclave, a square jawed “sweet piece of braniac arm candy,” and five red-headed, bespectacled little girls.
There are six “Imagine Yourself” spots channeling Kimmie to promote the Cascada, starting with a three-minute reel that sets up the comedy to follow. That’s where we learn the Enclave is somewhere you can “eat your pancakes in luxury.” The venture marks the first time you’ve heard the words “Buick” and “lighthearted vignettes” used without sarcasm. So truly lighthearted, in fact, that one of the spots is just a recap of Kemper’s facial expressions from the other spots.
And we have to admit, they got us. Yes, in six minutes worth of scenes, the only hard information we get about the Cascada is that it has a heated steering wheel, leather seats, and a button that raises and lowers the roof; in car-shopping terms, that’s considered “bupkis.” We don’t care. We were too busy chuckling to pay attention.
Buick has been moving metal for the past several years thanks to a successful line of crossovers, and it’s got another one on the way this year from China. Although the practical, high-rise haulers sell heaps more than convertibles, droptops get heaps more attention, and that’s what Buick is after. The company will run its first-ever Super Bowl commercial this year, featuring 23-year-old New York Giants phenom Odell Beckham Jr. and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit eyecandy Emily Ratajkowski.
The Kemper spots continue that charge at hipper, younger buyers who can help air out the brand’s association with arthritis medication and antimacassars. It’s crazy. In the best way. And we think it’s going to work.


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As the debate over government access to personal data continues, Google is rolling out new features in Gmail, its free e-mail app. The upgrades aim to stop phishing, malware, hacks, and government access.
The next evolutionary wave in enterprise software will require firms to reinvent themselves as "experience businesses," Adobe said upon unveiling several new offerings at its digital marketing conference.
Yes, plenty of apps are moving to the cloud. But enterprise resource planning systems are some of the most complex. Security concerns and their mission-critical nature can make it difficult or infeasible.
No more fiddling with remote-controller buttons or a mouse. Just look. San Francisco-based startup Fove has developed eye-tracking for virtual reality, which may prove key to the immersion experience.
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Google announced the newest project to come out of its in-house incubator called Area 120. The application, called Fundo, makes it possible for famous names of the internet to organize paid online events. According to the statement released by Google, online workshops or private fan meetings will be held with Fundo.
Event owners will be able to determine and manage the cost of the event in Fundo. In addition, it will be possible to distribute free participation opportunities to the events.
Fundo comes into play in the ticketing and live streaming parts, which is the toughest part of online events. Thus, event owners do not need to use more than one application. Ensuring that only ticket holders can attend the event is among the remarkable features of Fundo.
Standard users don’t need to download an extra app to join the Fundo experience. It is possible to access the events in Fundo via the links sent by the users or the home page of the application. Area 120 states that besides internet celebrities, writers, sports instructors and life coaches can also benefit from Fundo.
It can be said that Fundo is a response to the needs of the global coronavirus epidemic. However, Area 120 stated that work on the application started two years ago.
Google is currently bringing the Fundo app to users only in the US and Canada. The platform is planned to be available in more countries soon.


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Eastbourne’s free classic car festival, Magnificent Motors speeds to the coast from 30 April to 1 May and event organisers are calling on classic motor owners to take part in the May Bank Holiday Event.
The well-established festival set on Eastbourne’s coast at the Western Lawns, typically draws in more than 500 motors from cars to camper vans, motorbikes to military vehicles and a whole host more, attracts thousands of visitors, local and national, and this year coincides with a new four day Vintage Market along Eastbourne’s Victorian promenade.
Motor enthusiasts and vintage seeking visitors venture to Eastbourne to see anything which gives a nostalgic nod to times gone by, from Bugatti’s to Bentley’s and Cadillacs to Ferrari’s, all proud classic car owners are encouraged to exhibit at the ever-popular event.
Eastbourne Borough Council lead cabinet member for culture, tourism and enterprise, Cllr Margaret Bannister said “Magnificent Motors jump-starts Eastbourne’s packed events season and is a real favourite with the thousands of visitors who flock to the seaside resort for a little slice of nostalgia every May Bank Holiday weekend.
“It’s a high-octane event and I really urge classic motor and vintage bicycle owners to exhibit at the festival; all participants have the opportunity to take pride and joy in their motors in a seafront cavalcade from east to west to kick-start the festival each day.”
After the cavalcade the Western Lawns opens its gates to exhibitors and festival goers from 11am to 6pm on April 30 and 11am to 5pm on May 1. With on-site caterers, bars, live music entertainment and fairgrounds rides throughout the two-day festival.
There is a new attraction this year, as a four-day vintage market will set up shop along the seafront.
Just minutes away from the action at Magnificent Motors, traders will be selling antiques, collectables and favourite foods from yesteryear.
The free festival is once again set to attract thousands of visitors and owners of classic cars and vintage vehicles of any kind – including bicycles – are urged to download an application form from Eastbourne Borough Council website.
Car clubs are welcome to attend in fleet and all participants in the festival will receive a commemorative plaque as a memento of the weekend.
The long established event regularly attracts interest from over 40 car clubs across Sussex, Kent and further afield, with the likes of Aston Martin Owners Club Area 16, East Sussex BSA Owners Club, East Sussex Stag Owners Club, Ford Consul Capri & Classic Club and many more gracing Eastbourne’s green lawns.
To find out more go to the website at www.visiteastbourne.com/magnificent-motors or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Today during Bethesda’s E3 Showcase, the company announced a new standalone VR title: Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, due to launch in 2019.
Details on Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot are slim so far, though we expect to go hands-on with the game at E3 this week, so stay tuned for more details; for now here’s what Bethesda is saying so far:
The Resistance has upped its tech game in the two decades since the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot drops you into the role of a resistance hacker on a mission to tear apart the Nazi forces in Paris using their own machines. Take control of a fire-breathing Panzerhund and more as you fight Nazis in the City of Love in order to aid the French resistance. Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot will be available as a standalone VR game in 2019. Saddle up, Cyberpilot. You’re one of us now.
The company hasn’t announced which VR platforms the game will launch on, though the Bethesda’s previous VR titles have spanned SteamVR headsets and PlayStation VR. It also isn’t clear yet how the Wolfenstein VR title might tie in with the new non-VR Wolfenstein: Youngblood game which was also announced at the Bethesda E3 Showcase.
With several VR titles now under its belt (Doom VFR, Skyrim VR, and Fallout 4 VR), Bethesda appears happy with its early jump into the VR space, positioning itself as a pioneer in the VR with “no sign of slowing down.”
The news came in tandem with the announcement that Bethesda’s Prey (2017) is getting a DLC soon with two separate VR modes.