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Federico Castor is hardly the sort of consumer who makes marketers rub their hands with glee. The 55-year-old lives in a precarious-looking concrete shack in the community of San Andres Bukid in Manila. He’s lived there since 1968, selling cigarettes — one stick at a time — and candy from a makeshift wooden stall.
Castor’s community is lively but poor. His street is narrow and lined with shabby huts and tiny businesses. Cockerels scour the gutters pecking at fruit husks and bottle caps. Young men play basketball in the alleyways while their mothers and aunties smoke cheroots and play cards on upturned crates. The air is thick with gossip and the pungent smell of simmering sardines.
But despite his poor circumstances, Castor and the rest of his community are becoming an ever more important part of many companies’ business plans. Take Manila Water, which supplies the eastern half of Manila with water and sewerage services. In 2004, Manila Water — a publicly listed company — invested precious shareholder money to upgrade its connection to Castor’s run down dwelling. “Before, I only had water between 12.00 am and 4.00 am. Today I have it 24 hours a day,” beams Castor. “And now the water is drinkable, too.”
Or consider Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), which owns the Smart mobile phone service. Again, PLDT is a publicly floated company run to make profits for shareholders, and yet Castor figures heavily in its plans. Not only does he subscribe to Smart’s mobile service, his stall is also one of 700,000 locations in the Philippines where customers of the Smart service can top up their mobile phones electronically — buying credit in chunks as small as 10 pesos (€0.15) at a time.
Castor’s experience hints at a broad shift taking place in many Asian markets. In the past, most companies concentrated solely on serving the affluent — but relatively small — top of the economic pyramid. They regarded the poorer — but much bigger — segments at the bottom of the pyramid as being commercially unviable and best left to charities and aid workers. Today, however, that thinking is starting to change. A growing number of companies now believe that the opportunities to make money by engaging Asia’s poor in business could be much bigger than previously thought.
Nowhere is that idea spelled out more clearly than in The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, a book written in 2004 by C.K. Prahalad, a U.S. academic. In it, Prahalad writes: “The dominant assumption is that the poor have no purchasing power and therefore do not represent a viable marketÂ. However, by virtue of their numbers, the poor represent a significant latent purchasing power.”
What’s more, argues Prahalad, the benefits of targeting the poor go beyond making money. Economic engagement, he stresses, helps to lift the poor out of their plight: “If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up.”
Roberto Mariano, dean of the school of economics at Singapore Management University, echoes Prahalad’s sentiment. “As a market, the bottom of the pyramid is extremely viable,” he says. “The margins may be small, but the number of people involved is huge. For businesses that can identify a product that clicks, the potential is enormous.”
In defining the bottom of the pyramid, Prahalad uses a per capita annual income of U.S.$1,500 (€1,200) and calculates that two-thirds of the world’s population earns less than that. In Asia, analysis from Marakon Associates, a strategy consultancy, takes a slightly different approach. Marakon uses household income as its benchmark, and looks at the proportion of households in Asia that earn less than $5,000 a year — a figure widely regarded as defining the boundary between spending on necessities and spending on discretionary items. According to this approach, 87 percent of Asia’s households can be thought of as at the bottom of the pyramid. (See tables below.)
For D. Sundaram, ignoring such a big percentage of the population is unacceptable, both commercially and morally. As finance director of India’s Hindustan Lever, a 111 billion rupee (€2 billion) producer of soaps, shampoos, and laundry detergents, Sundaram and his fellow managers have long championed the idea of serving the bottom of the pyramid — and doing so profitably.
The company, which is 51 percent owned by Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch fast-moving consumer goods firm, targets the poor by segmenting its products. First, the company segments its offering by price. For example, as well as selling full-size bottles of shampoo to wealthy consumers, Hindustan Lever sells mini bottles suitable for a week’s worth of hair-washing at a price of around 5 rupees. For the bottom of the economic pyramid, it sells single-serve sachets of shampoo for as little as 50 paise — half a rupee.
“The poor often earn their income on a daily or weekly basis. They aren’t in a position to put a large sum of cash on the counter,” explains Sundaram. The model has been highly successful. Single-serve sachets now account for more than 60 percent of the value of the Indian shampoo market, and more than 97 percent of the number of units sold.
Hindustan Lever also segments its business by brand. Take laundry powder: the firm’s Surf Excel brand is pitched at wealthy consumers, the Rin brand is for the middle market, while Wheel is aimed at the lower-income market.
“Just because somebody is poor, doesn’t mean you can sell them low-quality products,” notes Sundaram. “Consumers at the bottom of the pyramid are just as brand-conscious as anyone else and just as interested in value.”
A third axis along which Hindustan Lever segments its business is distribution channels. For example, one distinct channel managed by a dedicated team is the urban kiosk — the thousands upon thousands of small wooden shacks that serve India’s urban communities.
The latest channel under development is designed to reach the very poorest rural consumers. Known as Shakti, which means “strength,” the Hindustan Lever project was started in 2001 and centers on training legions of rural women to be self-employed door-to-door salespeople in their local communities. The women are provided with finance to buy supplies of soap and detergent and taught how to explain the benefits of hygiene to the residents of their villages.
So far, 80,000 of India’s estimated 600,000 rural settlements are covered by the scheme, and last year the women — or Shakti ammas as they are called — generated sales of $23m. “Our plan is to scale up this project considerably,” enthuses Sundaram.
Talk Is Cheap
Hindustan Lever’s so-called “sachet marketing” approach has been around for many years in India. But the idea of offering products and services in small amounts at low prices is starting to spread to other industries, too. The telecommunications business is a good example, particularly what is known as the “micro pre-paid” model.
In the Philippines, PLDT’s Smart mobile phone service has been growing at a break-neck pace in recent years. In 2002, Smart had 8.6m subscribers; by the end of 2005, that figure had risen to 20.4m — an annual average growth rate of 33 percent. The secret of its success is simple: with per capita GDP of just $1,000 for the 80m citizens of the Philippines, Smart designed its business model specifically for the poor.
To that end, says Christopher Young, CFO of 126 billion pesos (€1.9 billion) PLDT, Smart has concentrated on building a pre-paid rather than a post-paid business. “With a post-paid service, you have to extend credit to a lot of people and that can be very difficult,” explains Young. “And then you have the complexities of printing bills, mailing them and collecting them, which is complicated and expensive and ultimately paid for by the consumer anyway.” As such, 99 percent of Smart’s business is organized on a pre-paid basis.
However, even with a pre-paid model, a mobile subscription was still an expensive proposition for many Filipino customers. That’s because the pre-paid “subscriber identity module,” or SIM card, that carries the phone credit could only be produced with a minimum denomination of 300 pesos. Any less, and the cost of manufacturing the SIM card and distributing it made the card unprofitable.
To overcome this problem, PLDT came up with a solution that has since been copied by telcos all over the developing world. In 2003, engineers at Smart developed a way of topping up a pre-paid card “over the air.” Rather than having to buy a new pre-paid SIM card when their credit runs out, subscribers to Smart’s service can now simply pay to have extra credit delivered electronically to their existing card.
And so it became possible for users to buy phone credit, or “load” as it’s called locally, in denominations as low as 10 pesos — a figure much more suited to the daily cash flow of the average Filipino. Needless to say, subscribers have been joining up in droves ever since.
So, too, have suppliers of the Smart E-loading service, particularly small-scale businesses run by the likes of Federico Castor in Manila’s San Andres Bukid community. All it takes is a special “retail SIM” placed in a regular mobile phone and Castor is able to sell electronic load to anyone who visits his stall. “The arrival of our E-loading service made a big difference,” acknowledge Young. “Not only did it let us offer much lower denominations, but it also broadened our distribution enormously.”
Indeed, Smart’s distribution network for electronic load has blossomed from 50,000 outlets at the end of 2003 to 700,000 by the end of 2005. Another benefit was that the cost of physically distributing pre-paid cards, as well as insuring them against theft, was also drastically reduced.
A New Approach
The examples of PLDT and Hindustan Lever show that addressing the needs of the poor often requires companies to overhaul their business models. It’s no use simply supplying the poor with goods and services developed and priced in wealthy markets. Even just slashing prices isn’t enough. At the bottom of the pyramid, firms have to rethink not only what they offer but how they offer it too.
Consider that many of Asia’s poor have limited access to credit, telephones, television, transport, and refrigerators. Equally, many of them live in noisy, dusty, unsanitary conditions, with poor infrastructure and intermittent electricity. Incomes are low and irregular and literacy can be patchy.
Kunal Sinha, an executive director of Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising and marketing agency, is currently based in China but has spent the past few years helping companies to understand and reach the poor in India. “Even if companies have the right product in that it’s affordable, simple, and relevant to low-income consumers, it still requires a huge effort of education and communication to help people see the value in your offering,” he says. “Usually that means educating them about the benefits of the whole category, like detergents, not just your own brand.”
But that’s more easily said than done in a country like India where as much as 40 percent of the rural population is “media dark,” with little or no access to television and radio. What’s more, given India’s cultural and linguistic diversity, a mass marketing campaign stands little chance of success even in “media live” districts. The solution, says Sinha, is to get out into the communities and talk to them face to face, much as Hindustan Lever is doing with its hordes of Shakti ammas.
A Watertight Strategy
The 5.8 billion–peso utility Manila Water, which has a 25-year concession to supply water and sewerage services to east Manila, also sees the need to build a strong personal relationship with its poorest customers.
When Manila Water won its concession in 1997, the network it inherited was in poor shape: for every 100 liters of water pumped into the system, 63 were lost through leaks and theft. It was clear that, in many cases, the poor were to blame.
Historically, many of Manila’s lowest-income citizens lived in illegal squatter settlements. They held no claim over their land and so were unable to secure legal water connections. Instead, they punched holes into the city’s water pipes, siphoning what they wanted illegally, and causing major leaks and contamination in the process. Even those who owned their land frequently chose to tamper with their water meters and install illegal connections. To solve the issue of so-called “non-revenue water,” the company needed to target the poor.
There were other compelling reasons to focus on the bottom of the pyramid. Enshrined in Manila Water’s concession agreement was an obligation to increase the percentage of Manila’s citizens connected to mainline water. By focusing on the poor, it was felt, these targets could be met most quickly and easily given the high density of their communities.
What’s more, every five years, Manila Water undergoes a “rate rebasing” exercise, whereby the government regulator reviews the prices that Manila Water can charge its customers, over and above an annual inflation adjustment. In the concession agreement, the company is entitled to recoup all of its capital expenditure and all of its operating expenditure, as well as recover its cost of capital using a market-based hurdle rate. Water prices are set accordingly. So, in order to increase its infrastructure investment, Manila Water needs a favorable hearing at the price review sessions. By reaching out to the poor and by improving the service to these communities, the company reckoned it would win grass-roots support for any future price rises.
With this in mind, Manila Water launched a number of projects aimed squarely at its poorest customers. For example, it devised a way of giving legal water connections to illegal squatters. First, it worked with local government units to ensure that they had no immediate plans to disperse the squatters. Then it asked the squatters to sign a document acknowledging that the water connection in no way gave them any extra claim over the land they inhabited.
Another initiative was the idea of collective metering. The cost of installing a water connection, complete with meter, runs to 7,000 pesos, which is a lot of money for many households. Hence Manila Water developed a system whereby two or more households can opt for a shared connection and a shared meter. The installation costs and the monthly water bills are shared out and paid equally by the households, with collection duties handled by the most senior individual among the families.
Perhaps most important, Manila Water launched a huge program of community relations. Staff spend long hours in the city’s poor neighborhoods working with community leaders to explain the investment that the company is making in improving service levels and water quality and educating them on the dangers of illegal tampering with the network. These local leaders then galvanize their communities in the battle to protect the company’s water pipes.
Manila Water also runs counseling services for late-payers, helping them to organize their finances. And more recently, it started a program of micro-financing for the poor, making loans to families of around $100 to help them start small businesses. The idea is to further cement the company’s standing in the community.
The results have been staggering. Since 1997, Manila Water has dramatically increased the number of water connections to the city’s poorest communities, adding 850,000 people from low-income neighborhoods. Even better, the percentage of non-revenue water has dropped from 63 percent to 35.5 percent, and the company’s financial performance has soared. In the past three years, turnover has more than doubled while net income has quadrupled.
Perhaps most satisfying of all, says Sherisa Nuesa, the firm’s CFO, at the last rate rebasing in 2003 the poor supported Manila Water’s request for a price rise wholeheartedly. “The poor were championing our cause. It was very touching,” says Nuesa. “They had seen the benefit we’d brought to their communities and they knew that a price rise meant more investment and even better service.”
Making Money at the Margin
Of course, the economics of serving the bottom of the pyramid differ from those of other segments. In the case of Manila Water, a business with high operational leverage, Nuesa stresses the importance of marginal pricing. “If your business has a high proportion of fixed costs, by branching into low-income segments, you can price your service at just a little over your marginal cost and still be contributing to the bottom line,” she says.
At Hindustan Lever, a business with much more variable costs, Sundaram highlights the need to focus on capital management. “The bottom of the pyramid has lower margins than other segments, so you need to keep extra tight control on capital efficiency to make sure your returns on capital are not diluted too far,” he says. To that end, Hindustan Lever operates with negative working capital, and has done so for some time.
But despite the new business models and the prospect of reaching billions of new consumers, not everyone is convinced that the bottom of the pyramid is as exciting as it sounds.
Vishrut Jain, a senior manager at Marakon Associates, points out that, while the poor make up 87 percent of the population in Asia, they account for just 46 percent of the region’s household income. What’s more, he notes, most companies in Asia still have plenty of opportunity to grow their existing business in the wealthy segments of society without needing to look elsewhere. “The real question is not how attractive the bottom of the pyramid is, but how attractive this opportunity looks when rigorously prioritized against other opportunities,” says Jain.
Clarence Koo, managing director of the Asia practice at Mercer Oliver Wyman, a financial services consultancy, agrees with Jain. Financial services, especially the provision of micro-loans to the poor, is often cited as a sector with lots of potential for serving the less well-heeled. However, says Koo, most banks in Asia still have “plenty to sink their teeth into” rolling out their services to the middle classes and above. Targeting the poor simply isn’t a priority.
That’s not to say that it can’t be done. In Bangladesh, Grameen Bank was started back in 1976 to provide micro-financing to poor women. Since then it has grown spectacularly. Today it has 5.7m borrowers and a network of some 1,700 branches across the country. Its annual revenue is $79m, and net profit $7.2m.
Nonetheless, says Koo, even though Grameen and other banks like it are privately funded, they still have a quasi-charity character to them. “These institutions generate enough cash flow to cover their costs and earn a small return, but their principal aim isn’t to maximize profits, it’s to help the poor,” observes Koo. Grameen Bank, for example, earns a return on equity of around 9 percent. In comparison, Citigroup, the U.S. banking giant with $1.5 trillion in assets under management, earns a return on equity closer to 20 percent.
Easy Does It
For his part, Jain sees many companies in Asia “pushing down the pyramid” rather than focusing on the bottom itself. In China and India, for example, investment has largely centered on the “first tier” cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, and Delhi. Now companies are starting to look at second- and third-tier cities.
Similarly, many firms are now looking at the consumer segments immediately below those they already focus on rather than rushing to serve the very poorest. Take Tata Sons of India, a $17.8 billion diversified conglomerate. A look at some of Tata’s constituent companies shows a clear strategy of pushing down the pyramid, but only so far.
At Titan, a $249m watch and jewelry maker, the cheapest watch on offer in India had long been priced at 1,000 rupees. Today it’s down to 300 rupees. At Voltas, a $314m engineering group, a range of air-conditioning units with less than half the power of traditional machines — and a price to match — are now on the market. And at Indian Hotels Company, a $190m hospitality group, the firm’s traditional chain of five-star properties is being supplemented with a string of budget hotels called indiOne whose rooms start at 1,000 rupees a night.
For Federico Castor, and the billions of poor like him in Asia, such developments can only be good news.


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Senior citizens can get the free refreshments in the store's café between 2.30pm and 5.30pm on December 3, Mirror Online reports.
The supermarket said the deal will provide the perfect opportunity for older customers to interact with each other during the festive period.
A spokesperson for Morrisons said: "Nobody should have to be alone over the festive season.
"To show our older customers how much we value them — and spread a little festive cheer — we’re offering all OAPs a free hot drink and mince pie in our cafes between 2.30pm and 5pm on Tuesday, December 3."
A similar deal has been run by the supermarket before, at both Christmas and at Easter, when Morrisons gave out free hot cross buns and cups of tea.
For the latest news in and around Bristol, visit and bookmark Bristol Live's homepage .

domain: news


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…walked into the grocery store and started to grab a cart, someone rushed ahead of you and grabbed the cart you were about to take. You look at the person startled and take another cart and roll your eyes. Now the person who happened to grab the cart you were after is Hispanic. You are not thinking ethnic you are thinking “how rude”. But….the media is there and you are now Trump. Here is what the nightly news feed would say:
“Trump started a fight with an innocent Hispanic over a shopping cart! Showing his white privilege attitude- it was nothing more than racism! Stay tuned for more details!”
Commercial break “big bucks commercial break because it’s about Trump”. Then back to faux news.
Chris Wallace, “Trump under pressure for falling behind in the polls entered the grocer with an attitude. He almost got away with taking a cart from a Hispanic shopper when the shopper declared his rights and made sure Trump didn’t get it. Watch the clip. (The news clip will only show the part where the Hispanic is leaving with the cart and Trump is rolling his eyes looking startled and a bit disgusted.)
Chris Wallace, “Trump is so used to having others shop for him, it seems he needs a course in manners and courtesy toward other shoppers in the grocery. He is obviously showing his bigoted colors. Fortunately the Hispanic stood his ground and took the cart. If Trump is not diplomatic in a grocery store, how can America believe he will do any better on the international scene?”
Yes people, this is how they play it. Then of course, Trump would be asked the stupid questions that go with the fake news cast from Wallace and Trump would respond, “I didn’t take his cart. He took mine. I let him have it, no big deal.” Wallace would then say, “You let him have it? Did you have a scuffle?”
Trump would look directly into Wallace’s eyes and say firmly, “No. I let him have the cart. It was just a cart.” Then Wallace would proudly do his come back and yaddy ya…. “So if you let someone take your cart in the grocery store. Why should American’s believe you won’t let Russia take America, if they want it? You said earlier it was no big deal? Does this have anything to do with your policy of leaving NATO?”
That my friends is how faux news is done and that is what we all have been watching for the last year and a half! I for one am sick of it. Is anyone else?


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Published 4:00 am, Saturday, March 16, 1996
The biggest GM strike since 1970 has shuttered 24 of the company's 29 North American assembly plants, idled 124,700 GM workers and forced outside suppliers to close.
GM is filing legal challenges asking states to deny jobless benefits for UAW workers. The automaker argues that because the company would pay some of the benefits it would be financing the union's strike.
The walkout, which began March 5, has cost GM $400 million.
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Jeffrey Weidenhamer comes across as a mild-mannered, matter-of-fact chemistry professor from Ashland University in Ohio, but get him started on the amount of lead in products on store shelves today, and you'll begin to hear a combination of the urgency, disappointment and frustration in his measured voice.
On top of the courses he teaches, he has been cajoling grad students and volunteers to come in on Saturdays and help him test for high levels of lead in the trinkets, metal jewelry and plastic toys that he finds all too readily available in the cheapest discount stores around him.
His sadness flows from the fact that his ad-hoc group is perhaps able to spend more time testing all these products than the Consumer Products Safety Commission — an agency which has been complaining to congress on its antiquated facilities, limited resources, low levels of staffing and inability to nab every dangerous product landing on U.S. shores.
The past few months have shined a harsh light on products from China and the amount of lead in the paint covering toys, paint that could slowly be ingested by the children playing with them and which could eventually lead to serious health problems or in rare cases- death. Wiedenhamer and his team haven't chosen to focus on products from China, but most of the products available at the stores that sell the cheapest goods (dollar stores, etc.) are from there. He has been looking at products which would most likely find their way into the hands and mouths of children.
Wiedenhamer's disappointment and frustration spring from what he says is the lack of "any explanation" for why some of his research is acknowledged with a recall and some is not. For example a few weeks ago, he sent in a complaint with detailed lab results on a three different Halloween products; a witch pail, a skull bucket and a Frankenstein cup all had high levels of lead in the paint- but only the witch pail was initially recalled.
Now, two days before Halloween, he has filed another complaint with the CPSC — and this time his focus has been the test results of three products after looking at almost three dozen different Halloween-themed toys. The ugly teeth — fake plastic fangs which children may place in their mouth — is his greatest concern because lead is ingested through the mouth much faster than through the skin. He also identifies two different types of Halloween baskets, which have lead levels far higher than allowable.
Perhaps this is an inevitability when you combine a bureaucracy which says it is overwhelmed in regulating the safety of all imports, a consumer that is addicted to falling prices at seemingly all costs, and a public that votes with their dollars and their ballots to maintain the status quo.


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Amazon Prime Video is Officially Coming to Apple TV
There goes the last reason to not have Apple TV.
While the average viewer just wants to be able to stream whatever TV show they want whenever they want it, corporations like to make things a little more complicated. Case in point? Since Apple and Amazon are big-time competitors, folks who owned Apple TV couldn’t use it to stream Amazon Prime Video, including original shows like Catastrophe and Transparent. Luckily, they made a deal, and Amazon Video will finally be available to stream on Apple TV later this year.
Apple announced the news at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. “Amazon is coming to the TV app and all Apple TVs later this year with Amazon Prime Video,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd before highlighting just how massive Amazon’s video library is.
Cook didn’t reveal a specific date as to when Amazon would hit Apple devices other than just “later this year.”
“You asked (a lot). We listened,” Amazon wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
The lack of Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV has been a big source of contention between the two corporate giants, and a major hindrance for viewers. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos previously said they couldn’t come to terms, and Amazon stopped selling Apple TV devices back in 2015. It’s unclear if that’s going to change now that Apple and Amazon made peace, though it seems likely.
In other WWDC news, you can now have Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story tell you what time it is.


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WILMINGTON, MA () - UniFirst Corporation, an industry leader in the supply and servicing of uniforms, workwear, and protective clothing throughout the U.S. and Canada, has once again been named one of the “50 Best Companies to Sell For” in North America by Selling Power magazine.
UniFirst was ranked #9 on the magazine's 2013 list (http://bit.ly/19f2lvR), just ahead of Iron Mountain. Others on the top 50 list include FedEx (#25), Oracle (#29), Thermo Fisher Scientific (#39), and IBM (#49).
All companies earning a spot on Selling Power's list were assessed on such factors as salary, financial incentives, benefits, training programs, career mobility, and more. The magazine's corporate research team also conducted detailed supplemental research on all nominees. The list appears in the magazine's December 2013 issue.
Jerry L. Messenger, Director of Sales Support at UniFirst, said the recognition “is reflective of our sales culture which is built on an extensive series of year-round professional development programs, and an internet-enabled CRM system that literally places prospects at the fingertips of our sales reps.”
In addition to the “Selling Power” recognition, UniFirst has also been named as one of the “Top 25 Companies for Career Opportunities” by Glassdoor, a nationally renowned online website that solicits anonymous reviews and ratings from company employees. Glassdoor ranked UniFirst as the 12th best company for a career, beating out such companies as Procter and Gamble, GE, Northwestern Mutual, and Ernst and Young.
In commenting on its 50 select companies, the publisher of Selling Power magazine, Gerhard Gschwandtner, said earning a 2013 listing required companies to possess “sales cultures that set the standard for hiring, motivating, retaining, and supporting sales teams.” He added, “Each company [such as UniFirst] is succeeding when it comes to helping salespeople perform at their best.” Meanwhile, Glassdoor succinctly noted its 2013 list of 25 companies “stand out for both high career opportunities…and insightful reviews.”
For information about a career with UniFirst, please visit the UniFirst careers page.
UniFirst (NYSE: UNF), a North American leader in the supply and servicing of uniforms, workwear, and protective clothing, outfits more than 1.5 million workers each business day. The company's most popular brands include UniWeave®, SofTwill®, UniWear®, and Armorex FR®. UniFirst also offers Facility Service Programs including floor mats, mops, and restroom products. For more information, contact UniFirst at 800-455-7654 or visit www.unifirst.com.


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NordVPN offers some online safety tips after South Africa was hit by the biggest data breach in its history.
South Africa was recently hit by the worst data breach in its history. The personal information of more than 30 million South Africans – more than half of the total population – has leaked online, potentially causing identity theft for each one of the affected individuals. The leaked data includes names, ID numbers, income information, employment history, phone numbers and home addresses of everyone on the list.
The leaked information, contained in a 27GB file dating to 2015, was discovered by an Australian Internet security provider, Troy Hunt.
“When a huge amount of personal information is stolen, it can be used to steal bank account information or open bank accounts in that person’s name, “ said Marty P. Kamden, CMO of NordVPN (Virtual Private Network). “Cyber criminals are not different from thieves who break into someone’s house – they just operate on a much larger scale, and are therefore even more dangerous. Governments still struggle with solutions for such massive-scale hacks, so our advice is for people to take their privacy into their own hands.”
NordVPN recommends these steps post-data breach (these are general safety tips that should be followed by every Internet user regardless if their privacy has been breached or not):
1. Use only https URL. Make sure all websites that you give your data to have the secure https URL. The ‘s’ in the URL means that it is a secure protocol and your data is encrypted properly.
2. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). VPNs connect you to the Internet through an encrypted tunnel. VPN server acts as a relay between the Internet and a company’s device, so nobody can see what data is being shared over the Internet. All that can be seen is that you are connected to a VPN server. A VPN service provider, such as NordVPN, can offer multiple benefits to small businesses and individuals, including secure data connections for remote workers and increased safety for business owners to share sensitive company data via an encrypted connection, so it’s not seen by any third parties.
3. Avoid downloading files from unknown senders. The rule is simple: if you are not familiar with the sender, better don’t click to download any attachments or any links they might be sending.
4. Update your firewall. Most systems have an automatically installed firewall–just make sure you follow up with its regular updates.
5. Use antivirus. Use an updated virus protection to make sure your system is protected from malware such as malvertising (advertisement online with malicious codes).
6. Strong passwords. Perhaps the most basic requirement for any online account setup is using strong passwords. Weak passwords make it simple for hackers to break into your system and cause severe damage.
7. Update your operating system. It sounds simple and easy to do, but sometimes we ignore the pop-up reminders for software updates. However, it’s one of the most important things to do with a computer, as the updates fix security vulnerabilities and system bugs.
8. Secure your mobile. If you are happy that your system is now secure, you might be forgetting one important part – your mobile devices. You probably store important passwords on your smartphone and other sensitive information, therefore, remember to encrypt your phone either.
9. Do not provide your private information to any third party. When you need to enter your personal data anywhere online, provide it only if it’s absolutely necessary. You never know where it will end up.
Android Go puts reliable smartphones in budget pockets
Nokia, Vodacom and Huawei have all launched entry-level smartphones running the Android Go edition, and all deliver a smooth experience, writes BRYAN TURNER.
Three new and notable Android Go smartphones have recently hit the market, namely the Nokia 1, the Vodafone Smart Kicka 4 and the Huawei Y3 (2018). These phones run one of the most basic versions of Android while still delivering a fairly smooth user experience.
Historically, consumers purchasing smartphones in the budget bracket would have a hit-and-miss experience with processing speed, smoothness of user interface, and app stability. The Google-supported Android Go edition operating system optimises the user experience by stripping out non-important visual effects to speed up the phone. Thish allows for more memory to be used by apps.
Google also ensures that all smartphones running Android Go will receive feature and security updates as they are released by Google. This is a major selling point for these smartphones, as users of this smartphone will always be running the latest software, with virtually no manufacturer bloatware.
Vodafone Smart Kicka 4
At the lowest entry-level, the Vodafone Smart Kicka 4 performs well as a communicator for emails and WhatsApp messages. The 4” screen represents a step up for entry-level Android phones, which were previously standardised at 3.5”.
The display is bright and very responsive, while the limited screen real estate leaves the navigation keys off the screen as touch buttons. It uses 3G connectivity, which might seem like an outdated technology, but is good enough to stream SD videos and music. Vodacom has also thrown in some data gifts if the smartphone is activated before the end of September 2018.
Its camera functionalities might be a slight let down for the aspirant Instagrammer, with a 2MP rear flash camera and a 0.3MP selfie snapper. Speed wise, the keyboard pops up quickly, which is a huge improvement from the Smart Kicka 3. However, this phone will not play well with graphics-intensive games.
Next up is the Nokia 1, which adds a much better 5MP camera, improved battery life and a bigger 4.5” screen. It supports LTE, which allows this smartphone to download and upload at the speed of flagships. It also sports the Nokia brand name, which many consumers trust.
Although the front camera is 2MP, the quality is extremely grainy, even with good lighting. This disqualifies this smartphone for the social media selfie snapper, but the 5MP rear camera will work for the landscape and portrait photographer.
The screen also redeems this smartphone, providing a display which represents colours truly and has great viewing angles. Xpress-on back covers allows the use of interchangeable, multi-coloured back covers, which has proven to be a successful sales point for mid-range smartphones in the past.
Huawei Y3 (2018)
The most capable of the Android Go edition competitors, the Huawei Y3 (2018) packs an even bigger screen at 5”, as well as an improved 8MP rear camera and HD video recording. The screen is the brightest and most vibrant of the three smartphones, but seems to be calibrated to show colours a little more saturated than they actually are.
Nevertheless, the camera outperforms the other smartphones with good colour replication and great selfie capabilities via the 2MP front camera – far superior to the Nokia 1 despite the same spec. LTE also comes standard with this smartphone and Vodacom throws in 4G/LTE data goodies until the end of September 2018. The battery, however, is not removable and may only be replaced by a warranty technician.
Comparing the 3
All three smartphones have removable back covers, which provide access to the battery, SIM card and SD card slots. The smartphones have Micro USB ports on the bottom with headphone jacks on the top. The built-in speakers all performed well, with the Y3 (2018) housing an exceptionally loud built-in speaker.
Although all at different price points, all three phones remain similar in performance and speed. The differentiators are apparent in the components, like camera quality and screen quality. It would be fair to rank the quality of the camera and battery life by respective market prices. The Vodafone Smart Kicka 4 performed well, for its R399 retail price. The Nokia 1, on the other hand, lags quite a bit in features when compared to the Huawei Y3 (2018), bwith oth retailing at R999.
SA gets digital archive
As the world entered the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth on Mandela Day, 18 July 2018, South Africa celebrated the launch of a digital living archive.
The southafrica.co.za site carries content about the country’s collective heritage in South Africa’s eleven official languages.
Designed as a nation building, educational and brand promotion web based tool, the free-to-view platform features award-winning photographic and written content by leading South African photographers, authors, academics and photojournalists.
The emphasis is on quality, credible, factual content that celebrates a collective heritage in terms of the following: Cultural Heritage; Natural Heritage; Education; History; Agriculture; Industry; Mining; and Travel.
At the same time as reflecting on the nation’s history, southafrica.co.za celebrates South Africa’s natural, cultural and economic assets so that the youth can learn about their nation in their home language.
Southafrica.co.za Founder and CEO Hans Gerrizen conceptualised southafrica.co.za as a means for youth and communities from outlying areas to benefit from the digital age in terms of the web tool’s empowering educational component.
“We can only stand to deepen our collective experience of democracy and become a more forward planning nation if we know facts about our nation’s past and present in everyone’s home language,” he says.
Southafrica.co.za, with sister company Siyabona Africa, is the organiser and sponsor of the Mandela: 100 Moments photographic exhibition that runs until 30 September at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront-based Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island. The 3-month exhibition, which runs daily from 08h00 until 15h00, is showcasing one hundred iconic Nelson Mandela images taken by veteran South African photojournalist and self-taught lensman Peter Magubane.


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Que Dallara, Artug Acar, Colin Parris, Ronna Chao, Selina Ambrose, and Daniel Hannenmann discussed manufacturing trends and changes.
Cruise's head of artificial intelligence wants the autonomous-car startup to be defined by its AI innovation
Hussein Mehanna thinks machine learning is going to set Cruise apart, and he told Insider how companies could become "AI natives" in the future.
Experts lay out how chaos caused by pandemic-era panic buying could revolutionize our global supply chain
From toilet paper shortages to shutdowns, the pandemic hammered the global supply chain. That, and other lessons, could help revolutionize it.
CEO of Fetch Robotics discusses how the year 2020 drove warehouses to the breaking point and how automation can save them in the future
Vietnamese budget flyer VietJet Air bucks the global aviation trend by posting a small profit for 2020
Strong domestic demand and the expansion of cargo capabilities have helped the VietJet stay ahead of the competition
One of Voi's challenges for 2021 will be figuring out how to stop people spooning on scooters.
Transportation planners now have a new challenge: mapping out the future of self-driving cars in cities
The arrival of automobiles meant a loss of liberty, to a degree, for pedestrians and cyclists. Now comes the self-driving car.
Supply-chain experts predict global trade will continue to shrink in favor of more decentralized delivery systems
Blue Yonder reported that over the next few years, usage of pop-up distribution centers, dark stores, and microfulfilment centers will double.
Logistics experts in Europe agree that upskilling the workforce for the transition to automated manufacturing is an imperative
Logistics experts say that increased automation of supply chains offers and opportunity to upskill workers to maintain human jobs.
Supply-chain guru Hannah Kain on how COVID-19 and a post-globalist world could test 21st century businesses
Hannah Kain founded supply-chain services provider ALOM in the late 1990s, and said the firm has never faced anything like the COVID-19 pandemic.
After witnessing the challenges the sector is facing due to the pandemic, Pang shares five supply chain practices businesses should consider.
COO and cofounder of Southeast Asia's most valuable startup, Grab, shares how the company grew from a ride-hailing service to a 'super app'
COVID-19 had a big impact on Grab's core ride-hailing business, but its diversification efforts during the past year have helped it weather the storm.
Here's how the first female CEO of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is working to disrupt the industry
Quah Ley Hoon has bold plans to future-proof Singapore's port and, by extension, the global maritime industry.
The survey revealed that COVID-19 caused many of the respondent's companies to make subtle shifts to how they pitch their products and services.
Survey of 53 business leaders shows that cybersecurity and data loss are major concerns as the pandemic continues to drive digital trends
As part of Business Insider's Transforming Business series, we surveyed 53 of the Transformers to gain insights on their leadership strategies, goals for the future, and important challenges ahead.
How CEO Tony Fernandes and AirAsia are looking to redefine the role of an airline in a post-COVID world
Headed by Tony Fernandes, budget airline AirAsia has this year accelerated the rollout of its non-airline offerings
Experts say COVID-19 has spurred supply chains to focus on short-run manufacturing, but the industry needs more regulation to protect intellectual property rights
By using short-run manufacturing, businesses are able to to shift their level of production to market needs quickly.
Distributing COVID-19 vaccines is a logistical challenge. New shipping technologies can ensure they're delivered safely.
IoT and smart technology could transform the transportation and logistics industry with access to real-time shipping data.
Strategic advisor at Blue Yonder shares how AI can be harnessed to eliminate human biases in the workplace and at various pain points in the supply chain.
DHL and other logistics companies bolster cold storage supply chains in the wake of hopeful COVID-19 vaccination trials announced by Pfizer and BioNTech
DHL and other logistic firms have scaled up technical and operational capabilities to respond to the upcoming challenges of vaccine deliveries


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Atlantic recording group Staind has announced details of their hugely anticipated new album. ‘Staind’ – which marks the iconic hard rock band’s seventh studio album and first full-length release in three years – arrives in stores and at all digital retailers on September 13th. Check out the new single “Not Again” HERE.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Aaron Lewis recent described ‘Staind’ as “the heaviest thing we have recorded in a long time. It’s definitely one of the heaviest collections of songs that we have put together.”
“It’s completely different than the last record,” agrees guitarist Mike Mushok. “It’s more of a throwback to where we came from. I definitely think it’s fresh. It’s a modern-sounding version of a heavy Staind record. It’s pretty cool.”
For more information, please visit: www.staind.com.


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Investors will likely hand over $20 billion to Chinese company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. soon. But what will they get in return?
The IPO launch is set to kick off Sept. 8 according to The Wall Street Journal. Trading could start as soon as Sept. 18 after the company gets SEC approval, sets an issue price, and holds meetings with potential investors. The deal could value the company up to $200 billion, making it one of the most valuable U.S.-traded companies.
However, Alibaba’s complicated corporate structure puts investors at the mercy of the company and its Chinese owners without much legal recourse.
Variable Interest Entity
Alibaba’s online and mobile commerce businesses will be controlled by a “variable interest entity,” an arrangement meant to allow investors to buy into Internet and other businesses in which Beijing bans or limits foreign ownership.
Used since the 1990s by Internet operators such as Baidu Inc. and Sina Corp., variable interest entities (VIEs) are based on contracts that say an offshore entity in the Cayman Islands—Alibaba’s jurisdiction—or another corporate haven will control a Chinese company. Foreign shareholders get a stake in that offshore vehicle and profits but no ownership of the Chinese company.
“The relevant variable interest entities, which are 100 percent owned by PRC [People’s Republic of China] citizens or by PRC entities owned by PRC citizens, hold the … licenses and operate the various websites for our Internet businesses,” Alibaba’s SEC filing states.
In Alibaba’s case, these VIEs are owned by Jack Ma, the company’s founder and principal shareholder of the Cayman entity Alibaba Holding Ltd. Future shareholders of Alibaba Holding are dependent on Ma’s management of these VIEs because they can’t fire him.
“The VIE structure is the only way at present to play this game,” said Paul Gillis, a professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management. “So if you want to invest in restricted sectors of China’s economy, you have to get comfortable with the VIE structure.”
In the SEC filing, Alibaba states certain “contractual relationships” with Alibaba Holding will give shareholders “effective control” over economic interests. Still, it warns regulators “may not agree” they are legal. Also, contracts can be changed at any time and without investor consent.
An Alibaba spokeswoman, Florence Shih, declined to comment, citing the “quiet period” required by U.S. securities rules ahead of an IPO.
Investors can find a VIE gives them less control than they expect, according to a March report by Tom Pugh, a lawyer for the firm Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong. He cited the case of shareholders who lost control of a Chinese company when its founder blocked them from firing him by seizing the seals used to sign corporate documents.
In a dispute, foreign shareholders have to work through the Chinese legal system, which “may not be adequate or effective,” Pugh wrote.
In 2012, China’s Supreme People’s Court threw out contracts used by a Hong Kong businesswoman to invest in China Minsheng Bank. The ruling said agreements that “conceal illegal intentions” were invalid. A year earlier, an arbitration panel rejected a VIE contract involving Singapore-based GigaMedia Ltd. and a Chinese online gaming business.
Chinese regulators have left the status of VIEs ambiguous. Most operate uneventfully, but courts have rejected contracts if they were deemed to be an attempt to evade ownership curbs.
Regulators could shut down VIEs, but “that would be too disruptive,” said Gillis. “They don’t mind the ambiguity because it puts them in a position of strength over the companies to make sure that they comply with government policy.”
However, there is another problem. Shareholders in Alibaba Group, such as Yahoo and Japan’s Softbank as well as future investors in the IPO will never be able to have a majority on the company’s board of directors.
This privilege is reserved to the Alibaba Partnership, a group of 27 people close to the company and its founder, Ma. Most of them are Chinese except for Timothy Steinert, the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary, who joined Alibaba in 2007.
“Our articles of association … will have the effect of allowing the Alibaba Partnership to nominate a simple majority of our board of directors,” it states in the SEC filing. These people may or may not be shareholders of Alibaba Group, but they will have control of the company.
The partnership elects new members annually after existing members put forth a recommendation.
On the plus side, Alibaba, based in Ma’s hometown of Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai, represents an especially appealing industry. Investors in Alibaba Group will be entitled to receive a possible future dividend—coming from the Chinese subsidiaries—and participate in a rising share price.
Despite having no plan to pay a dividend in the moment, the prospectus assures investors that “we will pay our ADS holders to the same extent as holders of our ordinary shares.”
As for the business, Alibaba’s Taobao, TMall and other platforms account for some 80 percent of Chinese online commerce. Online spending by Chinese shoppers is forecast to triple from its 2011 size by 2015. In addition, Alibaba is expanding into online banking, entertainment and other services.
For the 2013 fiscal year, which ended March 31, Alibaba’s revenue rose by more than 50 percent to $8.45 billion, with profits nearly tripling to $3.75 billion.
In addition, Alibaba appears to have done its best to avoid problems by keeping the amount of business done through VIEs to a minimum, said Gillis.
Only 11.8 percent of Alibaba’s revenue last year was generated by VIEs, according to the SEC filing. The rest went to entities that can be directly owned by foreign shareholders.
“They have one of the better VIE structures among Internet companies,” said Gillis.
Also there is talk of officially opening online commerce to foreign competitors as part of efforts to make China’s state-dominated economy more productive. That has raised hopes they might lift the ownership ban.
“There is some hope that China will fix this problem,” said Gillis, “and that will be a good thing for investors.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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LOS ANGELES, Calif. (WTVO) — Police are searching for between 30-50 suspects who swarmed a Nordstroms department store and used bear spray on security guards before stealing thousands of dollars worth of luxury clothing.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the crime happened at the Westfield Topanga mall on Saturday around 4 p.m.
Initial reports said the flash mob of suspects ran through the store, ransacking the displays in front of horrified shoppers, and stealing an estimated $60,000-$100,000 worth of merchandise.
Video posted to Twitter shows the thieves, mostly all clad in black hoodies, swarming through the doors and making off with the clothing items and handbags.
“To criminals, it is just property taken. To those who live in the area and patronize the Topanga Mall it is a loss of feeling safe. The LAPD will exhaust all efforts to bring those responsible into custody and seek criminal prosecution,” the Los Angeles Police Department said.
No arrests have been made.
The store was hit by flash mob robbers in November 2021.
Police said the robbery bore similarities to a robbery that happened at the Yves Saint Laurent store at the Americana at Brand mall in Glendale on Tuesday.
“These `flash mob’ burglaries involve a large, coordinated group of individuals simultaneously rushing into the store, overwhelming staff and taking it over,” Glendale Police Sgt. Victor Jackson said. “The suspects grab as much merchandise as possible before fleeing in multiple vehicles.”


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Ferrari designed the California Spyder with the Italian sportscar maker's lucrative U.S. market in mind. This one is powered by a 240-horsepower V12 engine. The color is unusual for a Ferrari.
Prices for truly top-flight cars like this one are going up, said David Gooding, president of the auction firm Gooding & Co.
"We're seeing a divergence and the very best of the best are bringing in multiples compared to the next best," he said.were seging a divergence and the very best of the best are brignin multiples in sales figure than the next best"
Some are the only ones of their kind, others are one of a few, but all are expected to sell for a lot of money.
|Conservative media at a crossroads early in Trump era|
|The Trump stock market rally is under siege|
|U.S. manufacturing jobs look different in the Trump era|
|United Airlines in Twitter trouble over leggings rule|
|My American job is moving to Mexico|


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Anthony “Sully” Sullivan is the high-energy, omnipresent British-born TV pitchman of commercials and late-night infomercials (including OxyClean) and now stars on the new hit TV series “Kings of Kush” on VICE that premiered this month on VICE. Sullivan traded in his blue shirt for apparel more suitable for New England farming on “Kings of Kush” (new episodes Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m.) from mastermind Thom Beers, the famed creator of “Deadliest Catch,” and “Ice Road Truckers.”
Sully took a departure from his 30-year career in selling products on TV when his daughter Devon was born with a rare genetic disorder and needed an alternative to prescription medication. Thom Beers met Sully and then planted his latest seed in TV ground with the new reality series about CBD and family.
On “Kings of Kush,” Sullivan and his business partner and friend Dave Christian purchase a 116-acre farm in Plainfield, Vermont, for the sole purpose of growing hemp to process cannabidiol (CBD) for its medicinal benefits. CBD is commonly used to treat a variety of issues, including anxiety, insomnia, and in the case of Sullivan’s daughter, seizures. Sully’s daughter was born with special needs that caused occasional seizures and cognitive problems. Her mother has a PhD in early childhood development, and together with Sully, they realized that CBD helped with Devon’s seizures. Prescription medication had robbed Devon of her personality, according to Sullivan, and after discovering that CBD managed Devon’s seizures and helped restore her personality traits, Sullivan decided to go full bore into the CBD world to grow it, distribute it and get the message out of how it is helping his daughter.
Sully has embarked on his next great venture… the Vermont based CBD company and farm MONTKUSH. As CEO, father, USDA certified organic farmer, and consumer, Sully realized there was a lack of consumer understanding and confusion surrounding hemp-derived CBD products. He decided to document and film the MONTKUSH journey with “Kings of Kush” to educate and entertain the world about the emerging hemp industry.


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EarlySense, an Israeli startup developing an electronic device for remote monitoring and follow-up of patients, has announced a $25 million Series G financing round led by Bank Hapoalim. Also taking part in the round were previous investors in EarlySense Pitango Venture Capital and JK&B Capital.
Monitoring critical indicators without having to connect the patient to awkward sensors
EarlySense‘s technology enables continuous monitoring for the medical health and consumer markets by using a flat sensor shaped like a standard cutting board and placed under a patient’s mattress. The sensor is capable of keeping track of a patient’s cardiac activity, respiratory rate, movement, and sleep, and issues real-time alerts of any emergency situation. Its medical solutions help doctors make timely diagnoses of deterioration in a patient’s condition, and also avoid cases of patients falling out of bed and developing bedsores.
The big advantage for the patient, of course, is that while they still benefit from monitoring at a strict medical level of accuracy, they do not have to wear awkward sensors that restrict them. More than 20 approved patents protect the company’s various technologies.
EarlySense’s products also include a monitor for the patient’s bed displaying up-to-date information about them, and a central display at the nurses’ station from which briefings and information can be obtained simultaneously for up to 36 patients. EarlySense’s systems are currently installed at hospitals, recovery centers, and homes in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia. Some of the company’s technologies are already integrated in products marketed to the general public, including Samsung’s SleepSense, iFit’s Sleep Sensor, and Beurer’s Sleep Expert.
CEO Avner Halperin, Dr. Danny Lange, Dr. Guy Shinar, and Yossi Gross founded EasySense in 2004, but its first products were officially launched only in 2010. The current financing round brings the total raised by the company to $100 million from investors such as JK&B Capital, ProSeed Venture Capital Fund, Pitango Venture Capital, Mitsui & Co., and two important strategic investors: medical monitoring company Welch Allyn and Samsung Ventures, the giant South Korean company’s investment arm, which invested in the company’s preceding financing round.
Commenting on his company’s financing round, Halperin said, “We are experiencing exponential growth in the medical space and this funding enables us to continue to grow as well as launch consumer digital health offerings based on our medically proven technology.” He added, “More than 100,000 patients will be monitored with our sensors this year, allowing for better care … In expanding the reach of EarlySense, we can potentially impact millions of lives in both the medical and wellness markets.”
EarlySense has 90 employees in its Ramat Gan offices and 20 more in its sales offices in the United States, Europe, and the Far East.


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The Denver Auto Show is coming soon! CSG is honored to represent the Denver Auto Show and their Charity Preview Party as the exclusive sponsorship agency for the Colorado Automobile Dealer’s Association! High profile sponsors for the 2017 Denver Auto Show include: AAA, Public Service Credit Union and Denver Post Media.
The Denver Business Journal wrote a great article about the Denver Auto Show and what attendees will find at the event.
Denver Auto Show is coming soon, offering sneak peek of 2018 models (Photos)
The annual Denver Auto Show will roll into the Colorado Convention Center April 5-9 with sneak peeks of 2018 models and a chance to talk technology, engines and new designs with representatives of more than 35 vehicle manufacturers.
The show at the Colorado Convention Center will feature more than 500 of the latest cars, trucks and jeeps and is a chance to see the 2017 models of cars from Audi to Honda. Ford will show off its 2018 Mustang and Alfa Romeo will feature its 2018 Giulia along with other not-yet-for-sale 2018 models.
To read the full article from the Denver Business Journal please click HERE.
To buy tickets and to learn more about the 2017 Denver Auto Show, please visit: denverautoshow.com.


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Quick news from around the Web...
Starbucks partners with Spotify
Apple buys navigation company to beef up maps
Kate Spade to embed smart charging technology in purses
JCPenney and Kohl's strive for personalization
Spotlight: QVC talks wearables
And finally... Emojis aren't just funny faces for kids, but are now considered critical to millennial commerce. Story


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By RONDA GREGORY
News & Journal Staff Writer
Plow & Hearth has opened its first-ever store in West Virginia. The eclectic store was open for business at the Suncrest Towne Centre in Morgantown Monday, May 16, but will celebrate its Grand Opening Friday, May 20 through Sunday May 22.
“We’ll have several of our signature items and more on special sale for our Grand Opening,” reports Bea Moon, Plow & Hearth acting manager at the Morgantown location.
Moon, who has been with the retailer for 15 years, is the current supervisor at the Pittsburgh store. She’ll be at the Morgantown location for a couple of weeks helping it get launched. She says she’s very excited to be part of the business’s expansion into the Mountain State – especially at such a premier location.
“The Suncrest Towne Shopping Center is amazing!” Moon exclaimed. “The large size of the shopping center is fantastic and I’m impressed with how many stores there are here.”
She said that the Morgantown area is a perfect location for their new store.
“It’s both a city AND rural area, and we have beautiful products that fit both lifestyles and that will beautify their [different types of] homes,” Moon explained.
Moon says she and her team are looking forward to seeing a large crowd visit for the Grand Opening.
“We’re expecting a lot of people,” she said.
And it’s not just humans they’re anticipating meeting. One unique and family-friendly feature of shopping at Plow & Hearth is that dogs are allowed to visit with their human parents! Pups ARE part of the family, as most people agree.
“Yes, we welcome our customers’ furry family members, too,” Moon remarked, smiling.
Customers can expect a plethora of varied product items–the latest in indoor and outdoor furnishings and decor, rugs, fireplace items (of course), unique and artistic garden accents, brand name clothing and footwear and gourmet food items, Moon stated.
“The lawn spinners, which are lawn art pieces, will be part of the special sale,” she added.
Just some of the name brand apparel and footwear are: “Life is good” shirts and hats, Dansko shoes, Teva sandals and the ever-popular UGG brand.
Plow & Hearth also sells gourmet signature food items, such as salsas, dips, jams and much more. Their Virginia peanuts are one of the store’s most popular food products, which Moon says is her very own favorite treat.
“We’re famous for our Virginia peanuts, which are large and very fresh,” she said. “And our headquarters is in Virginia. We always have these peanuts; they’re one of our signature items.”
The store has on-going food tastings daily, so customers can sample for their own particular taste before selecting and purchasing their picks.
“I love, love this company, and I’m certain people here in the Morgantown area will, too,” Moon stated.
Store hours are: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
For more information about their products and services, visit www.plowhearth.com. Or for specific information about the Morgantown store, call (304) 241-4440.


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General Motors has added the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon to the list of 80-plus GM vehicles that qualify for a $500 incentive for Farm Bureau members. The incentive can be combined with other available offers and promotions for further savings, like GM’s Owner Loyalty program or the GM Business Choice program.
“Chevrolet is proud to partner with Farm Bureau with its long tradition of supporting American agriculture,” assistant retail advertising manager for Chevrolet, Ashlee Jenkins, said in a statement. “We are excited to expand our offering to better serve member needs.”
Farm Bureau members can visit fbadvantage.com/deals/gm/ to confirm their eligibility for the incentive. Customers must print a certificate off the site by entering their membership number and ZIP code to confirm their eligibility. Only those Farm Bureau members active for a minimum of 30 days qualify for the incentive.
“Providing exclusive access to superior, high-quality brands, programs and products is one of the many ways we strive to exceed member expectations,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman.


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Washington If you're feeling fat these days, blame Congress.
That's just what the nation's doctors are doing, saying federal lawmakers are responsible for the fact that a salad costs so much more than a Big Mac.
Hoping to produce thinner waistlines, many doctors - including the American Medical Association - want Congress to stop subsidizing the production of foods that are high in fat and cholesterol and spend more to promote fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that are not.
Farm Belt lawmakers are on the defensive.
"I agree that obesity and health are serious issues in America today," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "However, blaming the cause on the crops that we grow in Kansas and/or the U.S. farm program is overlooking the personal responsibility we all have in our daily lives and diets."
The debate is intensifying as the Senate prepares to vote on a new farm bill. On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill that would give a record $2 billion for specialty crops, which include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops. That's at least four times as much as what Congress provided in 2002, when it approved the last farm bill.
The 2007 farm bill will determine which food industries get the most help from U.S. taxpayers over the next five years.
"The real scandal in Washington is the farm bill," said Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Senators take millions from corporations that produce bacon, burgers and other fatty foods. Then Congress buys up these unhealthy products and dumps them on our school lunch program. Companies get rich, and kids get fat."
Fruit and vegetable growers, who have long felt ignored on Capitol Hill, are confident they'll cash in this year. They want to persuade Congress to broaden subsidies beyond traditional farm crops such as corn, wheat, rice and cotton.
"Our markets are highly volatile, yet we have never relied on traditional farm programs to sustain our industry," said Doug Krahmer, co-owner of Blue Horizon Farms in St. Paul, Ore., which grows blueberries, grass seed, hazelnuts, clover, wheat, flower seeds and flowers. Testifying at a recent congressional field hearing, Krahmer said he supports a future farm policy that will not only support American agriculture but also "will support and encourage the health and well-being of all Americans."
Krahmer noted that on any given day 45 percent of children eat no fruit at all, while 20 percent eat less than one serving of vegetables.
All U.S. children would benefit if Congress offered subsidies to lower the prices that consumers pay for fruits and vegetables, he said.
With the nation's obesity rates rising dramatically in recent years, doctors are jumping into the debate with increased fervor.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, agribusiness political action committees have given more than $5 million over the last four election cycles to members of the Senate Agriculture Committee. And from 1995 to 2004, nearly three-quarters of farm bill agricultural subsidies for food - or more than $51 billion - went to producers of sugar, oil, meat, dairy, alcohol and feed crops used for cattle and other farm animals. The group said that in 2005 alone, Tyson Foods, the nation's largest meat producer, received $46.6 million in USDA commodity contracts. Less than half of 1 percent subsidized fruit and vegetable production, according to the physicians.
Physicians are alarmed, saying the high-fat, high-cholesterol foods subsidized by the farm bill then find their way into the national school lunch program, contributing to obesity.
Members of Congress have been hearing a similar message from many different quarters this year.


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Things are looking up for Capcom (not that they were ever looking down). In its most recent financial filing, the Japanese company reports net sales of $238 million (up 55.8 percent from last year), with $16.9 million of that being straight profit (up 290.2 percent from last year).
Games raked in the biggest chunk of that at $176 million, and Dragon's Dogma was popular enough (particular in Capcom's domestic Japanese market) to sell over a million copies.
Other popular titles include Minna to Monhan Card Master and Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive, as well as casual games like The Smurfs' Village, Snoopy's Street Fair and Beeline.
Woohoo for Capcom. Were you a Dragon's Dogma fan this year? What are you hoping to see in Capcom's future (beside Resident Evil 6, of course)? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter.


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In a new leadership role, Aymar de Lencquesaing, currently President of EMEA, has been named President of Lenovo North America effective today. Lencquesaing joined Lenovo in late 2013 to lead the company’s drive in the mobile space in EMEA and lay the foundation for company’s expansion plans. He was promoted to President EMEA and Senior Vice President Lenovo Group in February 2014 and at the same time joined the Lenovo Executive Committee, LEC.
Under his leadership, Lenovo in EMEA reached a record high 19.7% PC share in FYQ3; achieved a 40% year-on-year increase in revenue in FYQ3; contributes nearly a third (29%) of Lenovo’s worldwide revenues; sells more tablets than any other Lenovo geography, and has expanded the smartphone business to nearly 50 countries in EMEA.
Lencquesaing has a broad perspective of the PC industry from his years as the CEO of Packard-Bell and he has a keen understanding of the North American market, having spent more than 20 years in the US before joining Lenovo. His 30 year career has spanned global leadership roles with companies in both the US and Europe. He will be responsible for driving company’s growth and ambitions in the North America market, a crucial strategic geography for Lenovo’s success.
Lenovo also announced the appointment of Eric Cador as the Senior Vice President and President of EMEA effective May 1. Cador is a global executive leader with 30 years of experience in leadership positions in the IT market. He formally led the PC business for HP in EMEA as Senior Vice President of the Personal System Group, a role that then expanded to include leadership of both printing and personal systems. Cador was also part of the leadership team that completed the Compaq integration and transformed the HP PC business. Under his leadership, HP reached the number one position in EMEA. Cador’s deep knowledge of the IT sector and business management as well as operational and strategic experience in design, supply chain and go to market strategies will ensure Lenovo’s path of success and momentum in EMEA continues.
“We are proud to have the most diverse, experienced and talented leadership team in our industry – and this is a core competitive strength for Lenovo. We can attract great talent because our business is strong, our strategy is clear and our opportunity looking forward is substantial,” said Gianfranco Lanci, President & COO Lenovo Group. “In Aymar, we are placing one of our most proven leaders in the strategically crucial North America market to not only build on our strong foundation, but also to deliver the kind of profitable growth and business diversification we have seen in EMEA. In Eric, we have attracted a unique talent to our company – an industry veteran with an incredible track record for delivering growth, deep insights into our industry, and a strong competitive spirit.”
Both Lencquesaing and Cador will report directly to Gianfranco Lanci, who has recently been promoted President and COO of Lenovo.
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $39 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode YOGA brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Motorola brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.


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Passenger vehicles sales fall over 41% in September due to chip shortage
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15 OCTOBER 2021 01:40 IST | ENGLISH | GENERAL AUDIENCE
Passenger vehicle sales and sport-utility vehicle (SUV) sales in India have fallen 41% in September. The crash has come due to the semiconductor crunch and a rise in commodity prices causing problems for automakers and the auto industry. Production was also lower by about 37%, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said. Further on, the chip shortage has also caused production breaks, especially during the festive season in the country. SIAM also added that the total domestic passenger vehicle sales in September fell to 160,070 units from 272,027 units a year ago while sales of motorcycles and scooters fell to 1.5 million units from 1.8 million units over the same period. Watch the video to know more.


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Space: Dr. Michael Masters discusses time travel and aliens
Recently, a study from the University of Queensland found that time travel is possible without paradoxes. One of the main potential issues with time travel are paradoxes which would arise, such as as the 'Grandfather Paradox'.
In this thought experiment, what would happen to you if you were to go back in time and kill your grandfather? Would you still be born?
If not, you would not have the opportunity to go back in time in the first place.
However, the University of Queensland found that the timeline would alter itself so that everything essentially returns to normal in the present day.
Following the groundbreaking research, a travel and tech company, Klook, is optimistic about the potential to time travel, and is offering £1 tickets to 100 people for when, or if, a time travel machine becomes available.
Time travel tickets being offered for when technology becomes available
Simon Llanos, Klook’s marketing director for EU and USA said: “Time travel could be revealed as possible at any moment.
"As a brand that prides itself as being industry leaders in travel and tech, we want to ensure we are ready to work with it as soon as that happens.
"And as a leading ‘things to do’ company, we recognise the thing most people want to do right now is escape 2020, so, we’ve provided an experience that can do just that.”
Klook conducted research to discover where in time Brits would travel to if they had the opportunity.
Unsurprisingly, 46 percent of Britons would happily skip 2020 in light of the global pandemic which has hit the planet this year.
So strong is the desire to time travel among Brits, that 12 percent of them would be willing to give up sex for a year in order to achieve the quantum leap past 2020.
One in 20 would be willing to give up a year's pay, while four percent would shockingly not see their family for an entire year.
The research from Kloop continued: "The research also revealed what Brits would change about their life if they could go back in time.
"The nation’s biggest regret is not travelling more (23 percent) whilst they could and one in seven (14 percent) said they would have learnt another language.
"When it comes to everyday life, a fifth of Brits would like to change their career path, while a tenth would choose other friends and worryingly, one in twelve (8 percent) confessed they wouldn’t have got married."


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U.S. apparel imports were flat in April, bucking the trend of overall imports as the troubled brick-and-mortar situation, declining store traffic and weekly new store closure announcements continue to causing many merchants to rationalize inventory.
Total apparel imports fell by 0.2% in the month to $6.4 billion on a CIF basis,, according to data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, while total U.S. goods and services imports increased by almost 7 percent, to $187.8 billion. On a 12-month smoothed basis, apparel imports fell by 4 percent.
Apparel exports dropped 3.8% to $439 million. Total U.S. goods and services exports rose by 3.7%.
Year-t0-date apparel imports are lower than last year, according to OTEXA, the International Trade Administration’s Office of Textiles and Apparel. Total apparel imports declined by 1.7% on an MFA basis in the first four months of 2017, to $24.56 billion from almost $25 billion in the same period in 2016.
Among the top 10 U.S. apparel trading partners, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico have grown their apparel exports to the U.S. the most.
On a square meter equivalent (SME) basis, imports have edged up by 2.2% this year, continuing the overall tendency toward cheaper goods, despite upward pressure on labor and raw material costs. The average cost per unit of an imported garment fell by 3.9%.
The average cost per SME increased by 11.8% from Mexico, but dropped for all other key trading partners, with the cost per SME from China suffering the biggest drop, down almost 8 percent.
Continuing to make headway despite the failure of TPP, Vietnam’s apparel shipments to the U.S. grew by 8.2% to $3.6 billion in the period, gaining 1.3 percentage points of share.
China has lost the most share of U.S. apparel imports in the period, down 0.5 percentage points to 30.3%.
Bangladesh also lost share, with apparel shipments to the U.S. down by 5.9% so far this year, to 7.1% of total U.S. apparel imports.
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By: Rich Kane
“I like to think of news and advertising as the separation of guacamole and Twizzlers. Separately, they’re good, but if you mix them together, somehow you make both of them really gross.” –John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” during an Aug. 3, 2014 report on native advertising
Credit (or blame) comedian John Oliver for taking the great native advertising debate out of the offices of newspaper publishers and marketing departments and hurling it into the viral mainstream. The 2.9 million YouTube views and more than 2,000 comments that his hilariously snarky 11-minute report has generated since its original airing cannot be denied.
Oliver’s segment was indicative of how native went big in 2014. The New York Times, the Guardian, and other newspapers and media companies have either launched their own in-house native production divisions or partnered with firms that specialize in native content.
And native will keep growing. According to statistics released in November from Business Insider and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, spending on native ads will jump from an estimated $10.7 billion in 2015 to $21 billion by 2018, across all types of native platforms, including social media, display ads and sponsored content.
Sounds great for newspapers, right? Who could argue with a steady stream of revenue that’s only projected to explode?
Lots of people could.
Native ads, which have been defined in different ways—and sometimes given different names like “branded content,” “sponsored content” or “advertorial”—are essentially advertisements that resemble editorial content, and they’ve been around in one form or another for decades. When published in newspapers and magazines, a reputable outlet will clearly define them by affixing a label of some kind that informs the reader that what they’re seeing is a paid advertisement, so discerning readers won’t get the impression that a newspaper is breaching the revered church/state lines between editorial and marketing by appearing to use holy editorial space to sell products. Otherwise, how can readers trust their news outlets to report on something fairly and objectively? Not that people think journalists aren’t already biased and untrustworthy in their reporting, but that’s another topic for another time.
When, for example, Mobil Oil began buying ad space in the editorial pages of major newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune in the 1970s to espouse its views on environmental issues, those ads were clearly marked as paid ads, with thick borders and the Mobil logo prominently featured. These types of advocacy ads still bring in millions to media companies each year.
But those old walls have been crumbling for a while, hastened by the decline of newspaper readership and revenue. Once controversial, ads appearing on or wrapped around the front pages of major newspapers are the new normal.
In the Internet age, the divides are quickly becoming even more perforated.
Over the summer, the New York Times posted a native ad that was so compelling that it could have easily passed as an editorial feature, a piece about the rise in the population of women serving time in prison, complete with charts, videos, animation, and a 1,500-word story penned by Melanie Deziel, who has impressive degrees in journalism from the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School.
Except Deziel, in her role at the Times, isn’t acting as a traditional journalist, but as a content provider for the paper’s newly-formed native ad division, T Brand Studio. The story was actually created to promote the second season of the Netflix women-in-prison series “Orange Is the New Black.”
A subtle Netflix logo was attached to the entirety of the scrolling piece, as was a “paid post” label and a disclaimer at the bottom that read, in tiny type, “This page was produced by the T Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of The New York Times, in collaboration with Netflix. The news and editorial staffs of The New York Times had no role in its preparation.”
“Netflix is a big advertiser, so they reached out to us,” said Sebastian Tomich, the Times’ vice president of advertising and branded content. “Then our team at T Brand started doing some original reporting, shot video footage, and came back with a pretty substantial story. It was work that embodied what we thought native ads should be doing.”
The church/state debate regarding the Times’ native ads, Tomich said, is a false one.
“We are not portraying native ads as journalism, and we are not creating journalism. We fall squarely in the infotainment space. With what we did with the Netflix native, it wasn’t investigative reporting, which is real journalism. Journalists have a responsibility to cover the whole story, and if the newsroom at the Times were to do their own story on women in prison, they would do a different angle on it.”
The Netflix ad certainly got attention in news media circles, among people who debated whether it was a type of native piece that could bolster revenue, or if it was another nail in journalism’s proverbial coffin. Regardless, it managed to crack the Times’ top 10 list of most-read stories, which included regular editorial content. And when it comes to advertisers and eyeballs, a stat like that is all that matters.
One native ad detractor is Tom Foremski, a former Financial Times reporter who left to become a full-time blogger and now edits and publishes the Silicon Valley Watcher. When the Times posted a native ad for Dell in January, he penned a column for the tech site ZDNet that began, “Native advertising is the world’s worst idea, and I can’t believe the New York Times management is so gullible and clueless in agreeing to its publication.”
But how does he really feel? Foremski echoes a sentiment that’s crossed the minds of more than a few.
“It poisons the well of trust that publishers have worked so hard to build, and that advertisers benefit from,” Foremski said. “The next time New York Times reporters write about Dell or anything, its readers will think the story is paid for. For management to not understand that seems diabolically mad. It takes a long while to build that trust, and that trust can be lost quickly.”
While some have heaped praise on native, Foremski said the movement is pretty much doomed to fail, even on costs alone.
“It’s not a sustainable advertising model, especially if you’re not a large newspaper. It costs the Times hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a single article. And these certainly aren’t helping their revenues. Otherwise, the Times wouldn’t be laying off people like they have.” (Tomich told E&P that production of their native ads can range from $100,000 to as much as $500,000, “and we would spend more if a brand had a more ambitious project.”)
The opinion of native on the ad side isn’t unanimous, either. Kirk Cheyfitz, a former news reporter and current co-CEO of Story Worldwide, which bills itself as “the world’s first post-advertising agency,” has called native “a dead end for advertisers and publishers, a passing fad in the slow demise of traditional advertising.”
“You want people to know it’s your brand, and not masquerade as editorial content behind a publication,” Cheyfitz said. “Native reminds me of the early days of AOL. You knew that if the Internet ever grew up, that AOL would go downhill. And that’s what happened.”
What makes far more sense to Cheyfitz is for brands to own their own content, and for brands to put that content on their own sites and publishing channels, not the New York Times—similar to what brands like Kraft and Red Bull have done, essentially becoming their own media companies.
“It’s always going to depend on the quality of the content and the simple fact of engagement,” he said. “What the Times did with Netflix, it was fabulous content, but how much did it motivate people to watch the series or subscribe to Netflix?”
Cheyfitz suggests that newspapers should instead become de facto ad agencies themselves and work with brands to put great content on their own sites, “essentially creating a brand content creation company in-house, that sits alongside the ad department, and sells that service to brands.”
But what about church versus state? Cheyfitz said that kind of thinking has to change.
“That’s a real 19th century model. Twenty-first century thinking is, I’m a brand, and I want to cultivate my own audience, I want valued content on my site, help me do that. The newspaper business has to get over itself. You can set up reasonable ethical standards. All of this nonsense about church and state? Magazines have been doing it for 100 years. Vogue writes about designers whose stuff they sell. But that doesn’t mean they’re not telling the truth.”
Jason Kint is the CEO of Digital Content Next, formerly the Online Publishers Association, who in a November column he wrote for Medium.com, said that while there are perfectly reasonable concerns with native over the church/state divide, that line has been blurred for a while. A larger concern is one of the quality of native—the kind of high-level native the Times is producing versus the Buzzfeedy clickbait stories like “22 Kittens That Look Like Hitler,” imbedded in a postage-stamp-size box on many a newspaper website.
“That’s the real church-and-state question,” Kint said. “It’s about quality and credibility on one side, and these parasitic click-chasers on the other. There’s such a huge difference between the Times’ Netflix ad and clickbait-type stuff, and those types of ads, which often get lumped under the native category, can hurt the trust of readers.
“But regardless of whether it’s advertiser or editorial content, if the content is good, I don’t think consumers care much anymore, or even if they feel they got tricked into clicking something,” Kint continued. “If you watch the way people consume news now, especially millennials, they don’t make that much of where their information is coming from.”
Or do they? In June, a Contently poll of 542 Internet users between ages 18 to 65 revealed that nearly 67 percent have felt deceived when an article or video turned out to be sponsored by a brand. Fifty-four percent said they don’t trust sponsored content, and 66 percent weren’t as likely to click on an article sponsored by a brand. However, an Edelman Berland study released in July found that 60 percent of news consumers are open to native advertising when it focuses on telling a story instead of merely peddling a product.
Other studies echo Kint, finding that there’s an indifference among younger people in particular as to how native ads are labeled—that many aren’t sure what the phrase “sponsored content” even means when they come across it during a frenzied session of clicking and scrolling. So it would stand to reason that younger news consumers will care less and less about what form their news takes, whether it’s paid for by a corporation or not. Ultimately, they just want something interesting to look at.
“I think that branded ad content is the future,” said Tomich. “That content can travel to the social Web. As brands get smarter and more involved in digital ads, I think we’ll be seeing an evolution, an ad environment where editorial-like content is a tool that inspires audiences and gets them introduced to their brands.


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Auckland’s borders have just re-opened after 119 days and it’s time to celebrate.
Invivo Air is to be the world’s first winery airline.
The maiden flight will take off in early 2022 from Auckland to Queenstown in a chartered 34-seater Sweedish-built Saab aeroplane. Complimentary tickets on ice — sorry, on deck — for selected guests owners of Invivo,Time Lightbourne and Rob Cameron are inviting Aucklanders to register their interest online at Invivoair.com.
Priority seats will be given to Auckland hospitality and tourism staff that have been impacted by the lockdown, members of the public who haven’t seen their South Island family or friends due to lockdown restrictions.
Selected guests will enjoy a 24-hour line-up of special experiences by Invivo and partners in Queenstown, here’s where it gets better, including a stay at The Hilton Queenstown.


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Sotheby’s International Realty Brand Leaders from Across the World UniteDecember 22, 2008
With views of the New York skyline, nearly 175 Sotheby’s International Realty® affiliates from 75 companies across nine countries joined together at the brand’s 4th Annual Leadership Forum in Jersey City, N.J., to share best practices and insights on managing through a difficult economy.
Jenny Pruitt, CEO/Founder, and David Boehmig, President/Founder, both of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, attended the meeting. “It was invigorating to be in the same room with real estate leaders from around the world,” said Pruitt. “We are part of an incredible brand that offers our clients and sales associates the best in marketing luxury homes,” she said.
The event, held Nov. 17 to 19, focused on profitability and planning, and provided a forum for attendees to share their strategies for improving earnings through expense reductions and revenue growth. Attendees heard a brand update from Mike Good, president and chief executive officer, exciting news on the brand’s marketing efforts from Wendy Purvey, senior vice president, marketing, and a real estate overview from Richard Smith, president and chief executive officer, Realogy Corporation.
Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics including financial modeling and projections, mergers and acquisitions, increasing productivity through accountability and coaching and financial management through a careful analysis of a profit and loss statement.
Panels also were conducted on broker best practices, growing through mergers and acquisitions and roll-ins, and a business planning and idea-sharing forum that enabled affiliates to discuss their ideas on several topics including what makes a productive associate, pricing strategies and vendor relations.


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The recovery in Britain's services sector has been brought to a shuddering halt by the bitterly cold and snowy weather that gripped the UK at the end of 2010.
Activity in the services economy fell to a 20-month low in December, with most companies reporting a drop in output during a month when transport networks were disrupted and many people were unable to reach their workplace or local shops and restaurants. Job losses in the sector also increased.
The monthly purchasing managers' index (PMI) by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply showed that activity in the dominant part of the UK economy fell to 49.7 last month. A figure below 50 indicates contraction.
This was the weakest performance since April 2009. Economists had expected a robust figure of 53, as was reported in November.
Markit and the CIPS said that most firms blamed the weather for causing the drop in activity, although many also said they were seeing signs that the public sector cutbacks were deterring potential customers from placing new orders.
The PMI data, which sent the pound falling by three quarters of a cent against the US dollar to $1.5470, came just hours after three more retailers surprised the City with profit warnings. Mothercare, Clinton Cards and celebrity jeweller Theo Fennell all blamed the snow for their failure to hit their targets, echoing Wednesday's grim update from HMV.
Analysts fear that more profit warnings may be released in the next few days, as retailers are forced to concede that they cannot make up last month's lost sales.
According to Markit, Britain's austerity measures are starting to hurt UK businesses. Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: "Bad weather undoubtedly hit service sector business in December, but there are also clear signs that domestic demand has weakened as households and business continued to reign in their spending."
A separate PMI survey released yesterday showed that Britain's construction sector also suffered from December's bad weather and George Osborne's fiscal consolidation, although growth in manufacturing activity hit a 16-year high.
According to Williamson, this week's PMI data showed that Britain's economy "stagnated" last month, with the snow crushing hopes of economic growth.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the service data was "a bit of a shocker", and was concerned that the sector was suffering from the government's spending cuts and tax rises. He said: "It is clear that the services sector is already being affected to a limited degree by the cutbacks in government spending.
"The contraction in services activity in December, following on from news that construction activity also declined modestly in December, increases the risk that UK GDP growth slowed appreciably in the fourth quarter, despite apparent robust manufacturing activity."
UK GDP grew by 0.7% in the third quarter of 2010, but is expected to slow to between 0.4% and 0.5% for the final three months of the year.
Philip Shaw of Investec cautioned against reading too much into one month's data. He said: "What the survey is saying is that services activity was hit badly by the snow. It doesn't tell us much about the underlying trend."
David Noble, chief executive of the CIPS, warned that hotels, caterers and restaurants would be most adversely affected by the fiscal tightening, having already borne the brunt of the bad weather in December.
The Markit/CIPS report also showed that employment in the service sector fell for the third month in a row. "With companies retaining a cautious outlook, a number pressed on with restructuring programmes or chose to not replace voluntary leavers," it said.