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The unsold cars and trucks piling up at dealerships and assembly lines as consumers cut back and auto companies scramble for government aid are just one sign of a major problem hurting the economy and only likely to get worse.
The world is suddenly awash in almost everything: flat-panel televisions, bulldozers, Barbie dolls, strip malls, Burberry stores. Japan this week said its economy shrank at a 12.7 per cent annual pace in the last three months of 2008 as global demand evaporated for Japanese cars and electronics. Businesses everywhere are scrambling to bring supply in line with demand.
Downsizing can be tricky, though. No one knows how much worse the economy will get, and while everyone waits for the recession to peter out, businesses are grappling with how to cut costs and survive without sabotaging their ability to grow when the economy picks up.
And there is a lot to cut.
"There is over-capacity in everything," from "retail to manufacturing to housing," said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research. "If capacity is too large, you don't need that many people employed, which is another reason we're seeing such high job losses."
As long as capacity far outstrips demand, businesses have little reason to expand, buy new equipment or hire workers. Even if the government funds bridge repairs and banks step up lending, many industries still have to go through massive restructuring before growth can resume. But executives say they have to tread carefully. If they put off critical investments in technology or research for too long, they could hobble their recovery and even the economy's.
Few industries have been as stung as severely by excess capacity as the U.S. auto industry, which produces millions more vehicles than it can sell. In 2008, there were enough automotive assembly plants in North America to churn out 18.3 million vehicles a year, according to the Center for Automotive Research. Analysts estimate consumers this year will buy about 11 million. At current sales levels, it would take 116 days to sell all the cars and trucks clogging lots.
U.S. automakers have submitted plans outlining how they hope to restructure operations to deal with a smaller marketplace, while still developing the new fuel-efficient cars that may be key to their future.
Auto suppliers are also trying to figure out how to survive in the face of massive excess capacity globally.
At its plant in Strasburg, Va., International Automotive Components, a Michigan-based supplier, secured wage and benefit concessions from workers in 2007 in hopes of staying competitive. But when Ford closed a factory in Norfolk, IAC had to lay off more than 200 workers, a third of the workforce in Strasburg. Since then, IAC has been able to line up more work for the plant.
"The unfortunate thing is we know ... it comes at the cost of other workers whose plants were unable to survive," said Karen Foster, president of United Auto Workers Local 2999, which represents the IAC employees at the affected plant.
There are echoes of the automakers' plight throughout the economy. Sandra Berg, chief executive of Ellis Paint in Los Angeles, an industrial paint and coating manufacturer, recently found herself confronting over-capacity head on. Her company had been growing steadily since 2000 and was able to hand out bonuses for 2008. The downturn started to affect business toward the end of last year.
Then came January, and "we just slammed into a brick wall," Berg said.
Since the new year, as sales have plummeted, Ellis Paint has announced two rounds of layoffs, imposed a hiring freeze and cut pay for management by 5 per cent. The company has cut everywhere but sales, marketing, and research and development. "Our goal is to keep our expenses at the level of sales. I don't need to make a lot of money. I just need to break even ... and look for the opportunities," Berg said.
Non-manufacturing sectors are trying to get rid of excess capacity as well. Retail chains such as Ann Taylor and Gap are closing stores after years of expansion, and others, such as Mervyns, are closing for good. "We've tremendously expanded the square feet of stores but not the number of yuppies occupying them," said Standard & Poor's economist David Wyss.
Some analysts say over-capacity is so rampant that it will stymie government efforts to unfreeze credit markets.
Banks have little reason to lend not only because they still have bad debt on their books but also because businesses don't have a pressing need to expand, said Mike Shedlock, an investment analyst with Seattle-based Sitka Pacific who writes the popular blog Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.
"What is it that we need more of?" Shedlock said.
"Do we need more Wal-Marts, more Pizza Huts, more nail salons?"


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Siddhartha, 60, went missing since Monday evening from the road bridge between Ullal and Mangaluru over the river around 7 p.m. as his car driver Basavaraj Patil told the police.
July 30, 2019
Bengaluru, Sep 25, 2017: The Income Tax Department raids on Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) retail chain since Thursday…
September 25, 2017
Bengaluru, March 16: There is no uncertainty about former External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna’s plan to join the…
March 16, 2017

domain: news


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Despite gaining a stranglehold over the public sector, unions are losing ground in the private sector. This was seen again in the failed union walkouts against retail giant Wal-Mart.
The idea was simple: Take a day of little news, create a big stink, and watch a gullible media swallow it hook, line and sinker. That’s what the United Food & Commercial Workers union did, in asking non-unionized Walmart workers to leave their jobs on the busiest day of the year in protest.
Unfortunately for the union, the tactic appears to have been an epic bust. The tone was set early at the St. Cloud, Fla., Walmart where one — yes, just one — employee walked off the job.
The union had a bit more luck elsewhere, but it appears to have been a massive failure at creating anything like a problem for Walmart — which was the union’s real goal, not "organizing" workers, as claimed.


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Motion Fitness is opening a facility in Bower Place mall this summer.
Bower Place announced on Tuesday that Motion Fitness will open a 24,000-square-foot fitness facility. It will the company’s second location in Red Deer. The other is located at 500 Timberlands Drive.
The facility will be located on the ground floor of the former Sears site and will have access from inside and outside.
Bower Place marketing manager Adwoa Obrenu-Yamoah said the fitness facility will take up a portion of the space and plans are in the works for the remaining area.
“We and our leasing team have really been working hard on figuring out how to utilize that space properly and we’re really excited about what is to come,” she said.
Bower Place expects to announce some other new tenants in coming weeks.
“We are thrilled to announce the opening of our second location at Bower Place,” says Motion Fitness chief operating officer Hussain Akbar in a statement.
“The prime and convenient location offers great efficiencies for our members with the ability to shop, pick up groceries, or got a dental appointment before or after a workout.”
Motion Fitness has already set up a sales and information centre located near Hudson’s Bay interior mall entrance.
The fitness facility will have a full range of exercise machines and equipment while offering personal training services, group fitness classes, red light therapy, tanning solutions, massage chairs, child care and other services.
Sears Canada closed its Red Deer location in September 2017.


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Xiaomi released the Redmi K50 Extreme Edition mobile phone. The device is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor. Today, a revealer revealed the specification information of Redmi’s next-generation flagship mobile phone, the new Redmi K60 series.
According to the revealer @Digital Chat Station today, the new Redmi K60 series has two high-end models using the Snapdragon platform, is equipped with the new 2K flexible straight screen, and the screen adopts an eye protection dimming scheme.
At the same time, some users asked the revealer whether the Redmi K60 standard version supports 120W fast charging, and the revealer replied that “hanging, super-large battery solution”.
The revealer also said that in addition to the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the new Redmi K60 series also has models equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity processor. At present, the naming division of the new Redmi K60 series is uncertain.
Some users have speculated that the Redmi K60 standard version will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 chip, the K60 Pro will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and the K60 gaming version will be equipped with the Dimensity 8100 iterative chip.
According to the revealer’s previous revelations, the new Redmi K60 series will use a 50-megapixel outsole main camera and have two fast charging solutions for 100-watt large batteries, and the optical under-screen fingerprint that many users expect will also return.


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Sexy stunner and BigD Nuts girl Rosie Jones has unveiled a hot new wall calendar in support of a male cancer charity.
The Page 3 babe visited LA to shoot her third and steamiest calendar yet for BigD, and the nation’s favourite pub-snack brand is set to donate 10% of profits from all sales to Balls to Cancer – a male cancer awareness and research charity.
Rosie has been the face of BigD for just over three years and in this latest shoot the bubbly brunette shows why she’s officially the fourth sexiest woman in the world with a series of sizzling shots which are sure to bring a smile to pub punters all over the nation in time for Christmas.
Rosie said: “With the Olympics and Euro 2012 this year, my last calendar was all about the ‘Great British Summer of Sport,’ but for the 2013 calendar we’ve really turned up the heat.
“I had a lot of fun stripping off in LA for the shots and it’s definitely one of the sexiest shoots I’ve done so I think lads will be very pleased with it.
“For every calendar we sell, BigD will also be donating money to support the fight against male cancer so I really hope people to go out and buy it so we can raise as much money as possible.”
Landlords who want to brighten up their bars or punters who want to spice up their walls with BigD’s latest calendar don’t have to wait until Christmas – it’s already available to buy online from the Global Calendars website for £10.99. Visit http://bit.ly/PnG87Q to order your copy and have it delivered straight to your door.
A video of Rosie in LA during the making of the BigD 2013 calendar is also available on YouTube. Visit http://bit.ly/RPh4F5 to see Rosie in action – you won’t want to miss it!
BigD, part of Trigon Snacks, has been supplying nuts since the 1970s and these can be found in thousands of pubs throughout the UK.
Tel: 0151 522 2307


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As per released results, the telecom’s total customer base increased to 138.5 million, up 10.1 per cent as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving the data customer base up 13.6 per cent and mobile money customer base up 22.2 per cent.
Revenue in reported currency grew by 12.1 per cent, to US$3.914 billion with Q3 growth of 10.7 per cent; revenue growth in constant currency was 17.3 per cent driven by double digit growth across all reporting segments, while mobile services revenue in Nigeria grew by 20.9 per cent, in East Africa by 11.9 per cent and in Francophone Africa by 11.8 per cent
Among others, Mobile Money revenue grew by 29.8 per cent, driven by 32.5 per cent growth in East Africa and 21.7 in Francophone Africa. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was US$1.916 billion, up 12.6 per cent in reported currency and 17.4 per cent in constant currency, with an EBITDA margin of 49.0 per cent, increasing 20 basis points in reported currency and broadly flat in constant currency.
Profit after tax was US$523 million, up 1.7 per cent, while earnings per share increased to 12.5 cents, up by 6.3 per cent.
Commenting on the company’s performance, the Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya said: “providing affordable, innovative and essential services to customers in our 14 markets with unparalleled network quality and customer service is integral to our ambition of transforming lives across Africa.
These strong results are testament to this strategy despite the current macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
The execution of our six-pillar strategy continues to provide the foundation for growth, driving 10 per cent customer growth, supported by 14 per cent growth in data customers and over 22 per cent growth in mobile money customers.”
Ogunsanya noted that, higher usage across voice, data and money have contributed to further Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth of over seven per cent, resulting in 18 per cent revenue growth in the quarter as penetration across each segment continues to increase.
“Our strong operating performance, combined with continued focus on our capital allocation priorities has facilitated the de-risking of our balance sheet with the early repayment of $450 million HoldCo debt in July this yea
We will continue to invest in expanding our network and evolving our service offerings to further deepen both financial and digital inclusion across our markets. We have especially focused on enhancing our spectrum footprint across all our markets,” he added.
Over the last nine months, disclosed Ogunsanya, the telecom has spent almost US$490 million on 4G and 5G spectrum across key markets ’to improve network capacity and quality, future-proof the company for continued growth opportunities and facilitate economic progress in all our markets’.
“For the remainder of the financial year, we continue to anticipate sustained growth in the business with continued EBITDA margin resilience,” he affirmed.


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Samsung has revealed that pre-orders in the UK for the company's new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge have broken all records for the company. The pre-order window, which ran from Feb. 21 to March 10, saw both handsets ordered by around 2.5 times as many people than those of any previous launched Galaxy smartphone.
In particular, Carphone Warehouse saw a substantial increase in demand compared to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. The new flagship handsets from Samsung are available on all major UK networks, as well as participating retailers.
Have you yet to make the purchase? We have a handy guide to show you all the places in the UK where you can pick up the new Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.
SAMSUNG UK ENJOYS RECORD PRE-ORDERS FOR NEW GALAXY S7 AND S7 EDGE
Early signals reveal strong appetite for latest flagship smartphones as they hit stores today across the UK
London, UK - Friday 11th March 2016 - Samsung Electronics UK's new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are now available to buy online and in-store at retailers across the country and with the pre-order phase now closed, Samsung can reveal that its latest smartphones have generated more pre-orders than any other Galaxy smartphone in the UK ever.
During the pre-order period, which started within hours of the device's launch on 21st February and concluded on March 10th, sales for the new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge were at least 2.5 times greater than those of any other previous Galaxy device in the UK. In the first two days of pre-order, Carphone Warehouse reported a 200% uplift in pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, compared with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.
The unique design of the Galaxy S7 edge is also proving popular, with this device accounting for 61% of total European pre-orders to date. First introduced on last year's Galaxy S6 edge, the ground-breaking Edge UX on the S7 edge offers convenient shortcuts to contacts, apps and popular camera settings such as selfie and panorama mode.
Conor Pierce, Vice President, IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, commented: "The pre-order performance of the new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge illustrates strong customer appetite for our premium smartphones in the UK.
"Customers opening their new Galaxy phone want new innovations and experiences, powered by their smartphone. We are confident that our new flagship devices fulfil this need better than anything else available on the market. By creating a world of connected products and services through the Gear VR, Gear 360 and Samsung Pay, we are providing a highly-differentiated and richer experience for our consumers, a central part of our strategy.
The new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are available to purchase from Samsung.com, as well as from all high street retailers and networks including Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse, Three, EE and O2.


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Wegmans To Open Its First Store In New York City
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - Wegmans has begun hiring staff for its long-awaited New York City store. The Rochester-based supermarket chain is hiring 500 people for the store that will open at the Brooklyn Navy Yard sometime this fall.
This store encompasses 74,000 square feet, a lot smaller than the larger Wegmans markets, like the one in Pittsford.
But Wegmans spokeswoman Valerie Fox says the Brooklyn store is similar to the smaller footprint it uses in more urban locations.
“It’s a little bit closer to our East Avenue store in Rochester and we’ve learned a lot from opening a few smaller stores both at East Avenue, and another one in Chestnut Hill Massachusetts, so we’ve learned how we can really offer the same customer service and the same shopping experience within a little bit of a smaller footprint,” Fox told WXXI News.
The Brooklyn store will include a second-floor mezzanine with nearly 100 seats for the in-store market cafe. That mezzanine space also has a bar, serving food, wine, beer and spirits.
Fox says the Brooklyn store is already getting a lot of interest on social media and elsewhere, and it’s the kind of phenomenon the supermarket chain sees on a regular basis when people hope that a Wegmans will be coming to their hometown.
“Some people who have shopped with us, maybe they’re former Rochesterians or they may have shopped with us at our stores in northern Jersey, so some people are familiar with Wegmans and we’ll be new to a lot of different customers so that will be really exciting for us as well.”
Wegmans is also opening up a store in Virginia Beach at the end of April, and a store in Raleigh, North Carolina later this year.
Wegmans now has 98 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts. With the additional openings this year it will top 100 locations.


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It is now two months since the UK became the first country to attempt to rein in the $200bn online advertising industry, declaring that it is illegally sharing personal data to target ads.
The UK’s data regulator gave the industry, which is dominated by Google, until the end of this year to get its house in order, warning that it would then start to investigate and fine individual companies that remain in breach of the law.
But with only a few months left to go, “absolutely nothing has been solved or resolved at this point”, said Simon McDougall, who is leading the investigation at the regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr McDougall said the ICO had been “unsatisfied” by the answers offered by the adtech industry before it issued its warning in June. “We’re digging and digging, [and] we’re still not happy,” he said.
Without singling out any individual companies, he said the industry has so far given “vague, immature and short answers” when asked about how it safeguards personal information.
His team has now focused on two primary areas of concern. The first is how online advertisers use so-called “special category” data without permission, processing sensitive details about health, sexuality, religious belief and political views to target ads. The second is how the adtech industry indiscriminately transfers personal data through an ecosystem of thousands of companies.
Mr McDougall said any malpractice in the first area would be firmly against the General Data Protection Regulation brought in across Europe in May 2018. “This is not an arcane or small point over here. This is pretty fundamental stuff — if you are processing special-category data, then you need explicit consent,” he said.
Whenever a person visits a website, their computer often sends out personal data including location, device type, previous purchases, inferred race, gender, financial means and interests to “thousands” of adtech companies, according to the ICO.
Those companies take information and use it to bid for the adverts the person will see on screen when their webpage loads. The whole process takes milliseconds and “billions” of bid requests are made each week in the UK alone, the ICO said.
Companies often enhance the web data they receive, sending it to third-party companies that might be able to add offline data, gleaned from high street shops or banks, to build up a detailed profile of a person’s potential worth to advertisers. Often, special category identifiers can be inferred — and sold — from this intimate portrait of a person’s life.
“If I’m a young man who’s visited a site which is relating to gay life and I may have clicked on a few things along the way, am I really aware that as the site is loading up, a bid request with my device identifiers and some points around that site including [categories relating to] gay life . . . are potentially being pinged around to possibly hundreds of organisations? I think most people in the street would not be aware of that,” said Mr McDougall. “Why are these fields there? I’ve gotten some mixed messages.”
In the second area of concern, Mr McDougall said personal data are often being passed along a chain without any party checking if there has been any consent and without any oversight on the security of the data. Last year, the French data protector CNIL suspended a small French adtech company called Vectaury after it had illegally amassed profiles of 64m people.
“What we’re seeing is a blind reliance on contracts and no real attempt to assess whether the counterparty you’re using is likely to have controls in place around security, retention. That’s just not how the rest of the world works,” said Mr McDougall.
“One scenario that worries me is that some small intermediary in the adtech world has a bog-standard security breach and it turns out they had really poor controls and it was two kids in a garage . . . and yet they had millions and millions of profiles,” he added.
Mr McDougall said the ICO has yet to audit any individual companies, but has had “ongoing detailed discussions” with Google and the Internet Advertising Bureau, the trade body. “I am really happy with the level of response and engagement we’ve had so far, especially given we’ve done it over the summer. But there is a huge amount of work to do,” he said.
The ICO could ultimately investigate individual companies’ practices and slap fines of up to 4 per cent of global revenue, under GDPR. “If there’s casualties at the end of the six months, then those organisations are organisations that haven’t been paying attention,” said Mr McDougall.
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The butterfly effect is a concept that implies small causes can have large effects. This concept explains why any change (economic, environmental, political or otherwise) that impacts the glove manufacturing process sends shock waves across the industry, all the way down to the end consumers.
Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region is the epicenter for both the manufacturing of disposable gloves, and the raw materials they are comprised of. For example, in recent history, we’ve experienced how the implementation of new pollution laws in China are expected to raise the prices of vinyl gloves. The latest disruption in the industry is being caused by the spike in car sales in China. Not seeing the correlation? We’re here to paint the picture for you.With car sales in China almost doubling in the last year, the subsequent sharp increase in butadiene price has been passed onto glove manufacturers, who in turn are passing these rising costs to suppliers and consumers.
Rubber meets the road
A recent article in Bloomberg reported the raw material costs of nitrile gloves have jumped 45% since September 2016. The biggest cause of this jump is due to a little-known chemical called butadiene. Butadiene, which is a synthetic rubber often used in the making of nitrile gloves, constitutes for about 70% of total nitrile glove costs.
Why has the cost of butadiene increased? The swelling middle-class population in China are buying cars in record numbers, and the auto industry is the biggest user of butadiene, which is used specifically in the manufacturing of car tires.
Raising the costs & the stakes
This trickling-down could have negative impacts on both end users and the environment. In order to mitigate the risk of increasing cost, manufacturers, distributors, and users could have the knee-jerk reaction to switch to a different type of glove. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, as different glove types (such as latex and vinyl) are not suitable for certain applications, and might even pose a health risk! Additionally, the manufacturing of those nitrile glove alternatives has its own adverse effects on the environment.
Image Source: www.bloomberg.com
As illustrated in the chart above, butadiene prices have been rising steadily since March 2016 with a sharp increase mirroring that of car sales in China beginning in November. The President of the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association, which produces more than half of the world’s rubber gloves, has indicated the price of nitrile gloves will have to increase by about 10-12%.
A perfect storm
With car sales in China almost doubling in the last year, the subsequent sharp increase in butadiene price has been passed onto glove manufacturers, who in turn are passing these rising costs to suppliers and consumers.
Staying steady (and reliable)
Eagle has over the years maintained a determined effort to keep prices consistent, so our customers could reliably forecast their budgeted spending. We will endeavor to continue to do this and as such will be absorbing the cost increases for the foreseeable future.
Here at Eagle Protect we don’t just supply disposable gloves, we partner with companies just like you to improve overall safety practices while supplying the highest quality of disposable gloves and clothing from certifiably responsible manufacturers.
If your nitrile glove supply is being affected by this spike in cost, contact our team to arrange a no obligation free commercial trial of Eagle
Protect gloves today!


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Shinola was founded on what chief executive officer Tom Lewand described as “one big crazy idea.”
That idea — which came from Tom Kartsotis, who founded the company in 2011 — was that watch manufacturing could be brought back to the U.S.
Lewand, who joined company in 2016 after being president of the Detroit Lions, said Kartsotis was asked repeatedly why he didn’t just embrace changes in the industry and why would he try to bring build an analogue brand in a digital age.
“The questions all revolved around one answer,” Lewand said. “It’s the old Bobby Kennedy answer, it’s: Why not? Don’t ask why, ask why not?”
Now, it falls to Lewand to ask why not and to push the crazy idea of Shinola forward.
It’s a job that requires a deep understanding of the past — including Shinola’s founding and the deeper history of Detroit as a manufacturing powerhouse.
The original concept was for Shinola to be a third-party watch manufacturer for brands such as Tiffany. But to chase that business, Shinola made what the ceo described as a “proof of concept” watch, built in a factory inside the old GM facility where the Corvette was invented. (The site now also has a design high school and college that has seen some Shinola employees move from school to work without leaving the building).
To promote that first watch, the company took an ad out in the Detroit Free Press announcing that the proud history of Detroit watchmaking had just begun, but that the watches wouldn’t ship for four months.
Shinola sold 2,500 watches at $550 within a week and the business took a new direction — one that led it to launch everything from leather goods to bicycles to audio gear, all focused on homegrown manufacturing talent.
“We’re trying to look at things in a new way,” the ceo said. “By starting from a less conventional route, but actually building out products first, it opened up our aperture into what was possible. We proved to ourselves it wasn’t about aptitude, it was about opportunity.”
The skill and desire to do what Shinola wanted was there in Detroit, the people just needed to be trained and the designs needed to be top-notch to sell.
The manufacturing machine — and the Detroit buzz machine — clearly work at Shinola, which now has more than 600 employees and 29 stores from Hawaii to London.
But there’s been plenty to learn along the way and Lewand is working on getting the balance right.
“We’ve expanded pretty quickly into other categories [beyond watches], some might say to quickly, I might be one of those on same days,” said Lewand, who is still struggling to find just the right descriptor to tag to Shinola’s brand. “I hate the idea of a lifestyle brand, but I haven’t been able to come up with a better one, so we’re going to keep using it.”
Shinola is very much a work in progress and some of the paths taken have led to unexpected places. That was the case when the brand jumped into the audio business.
“What we quickly found out was there was an application in a limited way, not at scale,” Lewand said. “People aren’t buying headphones to be heirlooms.”
But working in audio, including turntables, led Shinola to think more deeply about its more-promising potential in the home space, for instance.
There’s also more potential in leather goods, where the brand clicks with men’s, but has yet to really connect in women’s.
“We’re feeling our way forward in the leather space,” Lewand said.
That has been the case in retail as well.
Asked, with the benefit of hindsight, what he would have done differently as Shinola launched, he pointed to the approach to store rollouts.
“I’d probably be a little bit more patient,” Lewand said.
“We went very, very quickly and I think for us, as we built the brand and built awareness around the brand, we could have allowed that awareness to seep in a little more in certain markets,” he said.
That doesn’t mean Shinola, which also has now has a hotel that it describes as “Detroit’s living room,” is going to go back to anything like the standard branding playbook.


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“More than ever, I truly believe that food is our future,” said NACS 2015-16 Chairman Jack Kofdarali during his speech at this year’s NACS Show general session. NACS is the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing.
But, he cautioned that while all signs are pointing toward food as the industry’s future, it won’t happen without work.
“We’re going to have to fight for customers in an already crowded marketplace,” said Kofdarali, who also serves as President of Corona, California-based J&T Management Inc., which operates convenience stores in Southern California. “We’re also going to have to tell our story and correct misperceptions about our offer. And we’re going to have to address an increasingly long list of regulations that stand in our way—whether related to food or our other products.”
He said that it is eye-opening to travel from California to the East Coast—and Europe—and see so many retailers executing at a very high level with food. “Their focus is not just on food made fast, but on food that is really good—both in taste and in quality,” said Kofdarali. “And here’s the most important thing: It’s making them money.”
Kofdarali shared regional breakout data from the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2015 Data that showed how high prepared food sales also push the sales of other items higher. “Prepared foods is bringing in more customers, and retailers are selling more food and other items,” he said.
“Over the past few years, especially during my time as NACS chairman, I have seen the future of retail,” said Kofdarali, citing excellence in merchandising and branding, new concepts and fresh ideas. “But that future also isn’t guaranteed—even if we have the smartest business plans and the best execution—because there is one other element that affects our business—and that is regulation.”
Kofdarali shared a few examples of regulations in his home state of California, from potential tobacco bans to warning labels on bottled water or fuel dispensers, to a litany of fuel-related regulations.
But, he warned, what’s happening in California is not happening in isolation. He said that just as weather patterns move west to east, so do regulations—especially those emitting from California.
The NACS Show is the premier event of the year for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. More than 20,000 attendees from 60-plus countries are at the 2016 NACS Show in Atlanta, which features four days of general sessions, more than 60 education sessions and more than 1,200 exhibiting companies in a nearly 410,000 net-square-foot expo. For the most up-to-date news and information on the event, go to nacsshow.com.
The 2016 International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE)—the most comprehensive event in the western hemisphere for the grain-based food industry—recently wrapped up its largest show to date at the Las Vegas Convention Center with more than 1,000 exhibitors—340 new to IBIE and a 28 percent increase over 2013—in more than 700,000 square feet of exhibit space. Attendance also continued its upward trend with more than 23,000 registered attendees—a nine percent increase over 2013 and an astounding 65 percent increase over the last decade.
Much of the growth has come from international markets with attendees hailing from more than 100 countries and making up 30 percent of the total attendance.
“The quality and depth of IBIE’s attendees, exhibitors and education sessions was incredible,” said Michael J. Cornelis, Chair of IBIE. “IBIE is continually evolving and growing to meet the needs of baking industry professionals, as well as the trends in the industry, and this year we saw a record-breaking show with the largest show floor, number of exhibitors, innovation showcase and education program in IBIE’s history.”
A host of thought-provoking new and returning features created an even more engaging experience for attendees and exhibitors; highlights included:
Also new to the show was the Satin Ice Live Challenge competition, which brought together six teams of three professional decorators, including one Satin Ice Artist of Excellence, to construct and decorate a fairytale-themed cake on the show floor in only six hours. The winning team included Satin Ice Artist of Excellence Jörg Amsler, Jaime VanderWoude of Eagan Hy-Vee in Minnesota and Erika Youngdahl of Jerry’s Foods in Edina, Minnesota, with VanderWoude and Youngdahl representing the upper Midwest Bakery Association. Winners were awarded a trip to the America’s Cake Fair hosted by Satin Ice in Orlando.
Brambles, a logistics solutions company operating in more than 60 countries primarily through the CHEP and IFCO brands, has signed a three-year agreement with the international non-profit organization The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN). Through this partnership Brambles will provide supply chain knowledge, in-kind contributions, volunteers and donations to help finance GFN operations, in an effort to reduce hunger, poverty, malnutrition and food waste globally.
The agreement comes as the United Nations FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reports that the value of food lost or wasted annually around the globe – some one-third of the food produced or 1.3 billion tonnes – amounts to roughly $680 billion USD in industrialized countries and $310 billion USD in developing countries. At the same time, nearly 800 million people suffer from hunger every day.
Lisa Moon, President and CEO of GFN, said: “We are honored to partner with Brambles to leverage its expertise, products, and leadership to help drive efficiency and scale in food banks around the world. We would like to thank Brambles for their commitment to the fight against world hunger while also advancing sustainability.”
Last year, food banks within GFN’s network distributed 421,840 metric tons of food to 6.8 million needy people in partnership with 27,000 charitable organizations and social centers. The GFN network consists of a total of 792 food banks located in 32 countries.
Brambles CEO, Tom Gorman, said: “Brambles is highly committed to deliver sustainable value in the communities where we operate. Food banks are a great example of that. Our new relationship with GFN builds on our multi-year engagement working with our customers to support food banks around the world. In addition, Brambles efforts to expand both the capacity and capabilities of GFN Network to address hunger is an important part of our comprehensive approach to addressing food security.
“We are focused on reducing post-harvest food loss, improving the ability of small holder farmers to access modern packaging that protects the integrity of the product and enhances food safety. Whether we are working with individual food banks, the GFN, The Consumer Goods Forum or Enactus, our employees are dedicated to improving access to food and economic opportunity and to improving the sustainability of our environment.”
Christie & Co. has named Dave Kingsbury as its new Vice President of Growth & Innovation. He will be leading the company’s Rocky Mountains office.
“We are so thrilled to have Dave join our team to be part of this next phase of our growth, building upon decades of experience to continue our heritage of pioneering innovative, ethical leaders, companies, products, and causes,” stated Gillian Christie, Founder and CEO of Christie & Co. “His extensive experience will enhance our outreach and maximize our impact to strengthen the growth potential and innovation for companies in the natural industry, outdoor, agriculture, and clean tech sectors, as well as to create new branding and innovation solutions for leading global corporations to be understood and relevant to the changing economy and demographics driving growth in our industries.”
Kingsbury was formerly Vice President of Partnership and Product Development for New Hope Natural Media.
For the second year in a row, Rogue Creamery will donate 1 percent of October sales to ACEF (American Cheese Education Fund) to celebrate American Cheese Month. The American Cheese Society’s sister organization, ACEF, was created to educate people about the art and science of artisanal and specialty cheese and it supports existing and new educational efforts to further learning opportunities for all those interested in producing, marketing, selling, and appreciating North America’s artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheeses.
One of those educational components is the Certified Cheese Professional program; the letters ACS CCP designate that an individual has acquired thorough knowledge and the level of expertise that is demanded within the cheese industry. Two Rogue Creamery team members, Tom Van Voorhees and Chelsea Faris, were among the first in the U.S. to earn the CCP credentials. For additional information about ACEF go to http://www.cheesefoundation.org/ and for additional information about American Cheese Month, October, go to http://www.americancheesemonth.org/october-american-cheese-month/ .
Entube, maker of modern chili pastes in a tube, has just unveiled a new addition to its line of gourmet chili pastes: Spicy Umeboshi Plum Paste. Expanding the brand’s global palate, the new variety features ume plum, a traditional Japanese staple. Other ingredients include vinegar, cayenne, and beet, resulting in a colorful, nutritious condiment that aids in digestive support, nausea, and fatigue, including hangovers.
“In response to the success of our inaugural products, Harissa and Indian Curry, which pay homage to North African and Indian flavors, we set out to provide a new global flavor experience for our customers inspired by the Japanese ume plum,” said Entube Creator and Founder Richard Lassalle. “Using the highest quality ingredients, Spicy Umeboshi Plum Paste is an easy-to-use, versatile product that will add bright color and flavor to dishes, empowering anyone to become a chef.”
Spicy Umeboshi Plum Paste is a fermented fruit-based paste, best used in raw form as a finishing condiment on sushi, oysters, vegetables and in cocktails. Like all Entube products, Spicy Umeboshi Plum Paste is gluten free, vegan and does not contain any added sugar, artificial coloring or preservatives.
The Entube Spicy Umeboshi Plum Paste is offered in a 100g tube that retails for about $8.
Following an October 11 roundtable discussion with dairy producers near La Crosse, Wisconsin, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering to purchase $20 million of cheddar cheese to reduce a private cheese surplus that has reached record levels, while assisting food banks and other food assistance recipients.
While USDA projects dairy prices to increase throughout the rest of the year, many factors including low world market prices, increased milk supplies and inventories, and slower demand have contributed to a sluggish marketplace for dairy producers and caused dairy revenues to drop 35 percent over the past two years. Section 32 of the Agriculture Act of 1935 authorizes USDA to purchase surplus food to benefit food banks and families in need through its nutrition assistance programs.
“America’s farming families are being called on to demonstrate their world-famous resourcefulness and resilience in the face of this current market downturn, and USDA is making use of every tool that we have to help them,” said Vilsack. “For dairy farmers, this has included $11.2 million in payments in August through the Dairy Margin Protection Program, in addition to the surplus purchase offers. While our analysis predicts the market will improve for these hardworking men and women, reducing the surplus can give them extra reassurance while also filling demand at food banks and other organizations that help our nation’s families in need. Farmers at other points in the supply chain are also receiving a boost with over $7 billion in Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments for the 2015 crop year, which by design kick in when times are tough. As always, we continue to watch market conditions and will explore opportunities for further assistance in the coming months. For producers challenged by weather, disease and falling revenue, we will continue to ensure the availability of a strong safety net to keep them farming or ranching.”
A solicitation will be issued shortly, and cheese deliveries to food banks and other food assistance recipients are expected to occur beginning in March 2017.
Also at the roundtable, Vilsack shared details of a new report by the USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist, which shows continued growth of the U.S. dairy sector is largely contingent on trade and that the Trans-Pacific Partnership could create an additional $150 to $300 million in annual U.S. dairy exports. Free trade agreements have contributed to the growth in U.S. dairy exports and helped to address tariff and nontariff barriers that disadvantage U.S. products in overseas markets. U.S. dairy exports to free trade agreement partners grew from $690 million in the year prior to each agreement’s entry into force to $2.8 billion in 2015, driven by lower trade barriers and increased U.S. competitiveness. For more information on TPP, visit www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp.
For the 10th year in a row, Certified Angus Beef LLC reported record sales of its signature Certified Angus Beef ® brand, marketing 1.015 billion pounds of product in fiscal 2016 (ending September 30). The increase of 13.3 percent represented an additional 119 million pounds of product sold by a network of more than 18,000 licensed partners worldwide.
“Thanks to a dramatic positive shift in the supply of high-quality Angus cattle, our partners were able to deliver more of the highest quality beef to consumers while supporting ranch families and rural communities,” said brand President John Stika. “Our partners’ collective achievement – from the farm to the table – illustrates the relevance of our mission established nearly 40 years ago. By delivering unique experiences and value to consumers, our individual partners succeed as well.”
Monthly sales records and category growth
The Certified Angus Beef brand set sales records in all 12 months of fiscal 2016. Furthermore, eight of the 10 best sales months in the brand’s 38-year history were set in fiscal 2016. Sales of more than 90 million pounds in July, August and September reflected partners’ strong marketing and promotional activity during grilling season.
Growth was balanced across product categories. Backed by traditionally strong demand, particularly for consumers’ celebrations and special occasions, sales of premium steaks (middle meats) grew by 11.4 percent. End meat sales grew by 87 million pounds, and ground beef sales increased by 8.5 million pounds.
Illustrating the appeal of premium beef to the most discerning consumers, sales of the brand’s Prime product extension grew by more than 26 percent.
After six years of deceleration, retail division sales exploded with 18.5 percent growth, or 68 million pounds. Quality-focused retailers have long represented the largest portion of brand sales – 43 percent in fiscal 2016 – but lower beef prices linked to increased supply encouraged more consumers to choose beef for family meals more often. Plus, grocery partners aggressively featured brand items in their circulars, further driving sales.
The foodservice division, already on a well-established path of growth, enjoyed its seventh consecutive year of record sales: 355 million pounds, a 6.3 percent increase. Three-quarters of the brand’s licensed distributors grew their business by an average 9.3 percent. Sales to licensed restaurants also increased 10 percent, demonstrating the brand’s relevance and value to chefs, restaurateurs and customers.
International sales of the Certified Angus Beef brand reached a new record of 138 million pounds in 49 countries. Sales in Japan, historically important for U.S. beef, more than doubled in fiscal 2016, thanks to the efforts of partners strongly committed to the brand. Sales in Mexico also increased a notable 16 percent.
Processors responded to growing consumer demand for high-quality convenience meals in both retail and foodservice with branded value-added products. Sales were up by 8.9 percent, driven by key items including smoked brisket, marinated fajita meat and fresh corned beef.
Family farmers’ focus on quality leads to increased supply
Family farmers and ranchers have been the foundation of the Certified Angus Beef brand since its start; their efforts to raise quality cattle meeting the brand’s 10 exacting standards enable licensed processors, distributors, restaurateurs and retailers to meet consumers’ growing demand for premium beef.
A few years after a devastating drought across much of the United States, these families finally saw the fruits of their efforts to rebuild herds. Beyond simply adding more cattle, they improved the quality of their herds with a strong focus on Angus genetics and the brand’s quality target in mind. As a result, the rate of cattle eligible to earn the brand name rose to a record 28.9 percent, up from just 14 percent a decade ago. The collective improvement in cattle translated into increased supply for the brand of 440,000 head, or 115 million pounds of branded product.
“This additional supply led to reduced prices for consumers while delivering more of the same superior beef they’ve come to expect from the brand,” said Stika. “This intentional focus on quality by our family farmers and ranchers is at the core of the brand’s relevance, not just to the ranching families themselves, but also to the brand’s partners and consumers. It’s a relationship that has a collective impact much greater than the sum of its many individual parts, all passionately focused on quality and family.”
Velvet Ice Cream has just opened the largest expansion capital improvement in the company’s storied 102-year history. Velvet broke ground on a new 23,000-square-foot expansion, with price tag of more than $3 million, last August. The expansion added a new state-of-the-art warehouse freezer distribution facility to Velvet Ice Cream’s central Ohio plant at Ye Olde Mill in Utica, more than doubling the company’s freezing and picking capacity. On the heels of significant expansion into the Kentucky and other markets, demand for Velvet Ice Cream has grown, taking the company from $25 million in revenue in 2009 to more than $30 million in 2014. As a result, last summer, Velvet was nearly at capacity with its former distribution facility.
“Our expansion allows us to improve sustainability, sharpen efficiencies and produce more delicious Velvet Ice Cream in order to meet increased demand,” said Velvet Ice Cream President Luconda Dager. “But it also positions us well for future growth and expansion.”
Dager helped the more than 100 attendees at the expansion ribbon cutting to better understand the project’s size, sharing the following details on the new facility:
Velvet Ice Cream worked with the Licking County, Ohio firm Robertson Construction as general contractor for the project, which took 14 months to complete. Currently employing a staff of 125, Velvet’s new distribution facility initially will require the addition of eight new employees in its picking and shipping operations. However, the development enables the company further to expand production as new accounts are acquired, which is expected to increase future employment. The project also uses the latest green technology, minimizing the company’s environmental footprint via environmentally friendly design, motion-controlled energy efficient lighting, state-of-the-art insulating panels and high-speed automated doors.
Dager added that thanks to the support of tax abatement from North Fork Local School District and Velvet’s partners at People’s Bank and Freije-RSC Engineered Solutions Company, the expansion makes it possible for the company to not only continue serving existing customers, but also enter new markets and forge new partnerships, like those Velvet already has with major retailers and other food service partners.
This year, Velvet Ice Cream celebrates 102 years of making ice cream in Ohio. Founded in 1914 by Joseph Dager, four generations of Dager family have since run the company. Still family-owned and operated, Velvet produces and distributes more than 5 million gallons of ice cream every year from its headquarters on the grounds of Ye Olde Mill. Ye Olde Mill also houses an ice cream and milling museum, a restaurant, playground, picnic area and catch-and-release fish pond.
Named by Frommer’s as one of America’s 10 Best Ice Cream Factory Tours, Velvet’s Ye Olde Mill welcomes 150,000 visitors each year for tours, tastings and events. The annual Ice Cream Festival, group tour experiences and school learning field trips are among the many draws to Ye Olde Mill, which is open to the public April 20-October 31. Complete information about Velvet Ice Cream and Ye Olde Mill is available www.VelvetIceCream.com on Twitter at @VelvetIceCream or Facebook.com/VelvetIceCream.
By Lorrie Baumann
Bellwether Farms‘ Blackstone was released to the market in small quantities just this January, and the cheese already has a growing fan base. Blackstone placed first in its category for mixed milk cheeses with flavor added during this year’s American Cheese Society Judging and Competition. It’s made from two-thirds Jersey cow milk and one-third sheep milk, with black peppercorns incorporated into the paste and a hand-rubbed black rind that combines rosemary and black pepper with vegetable ash.
The three-pound wheel has the elegant eminence of Patrick Stewart declaiming Shakespeare. When it’s cut, slices from the wedge have a thin black border that lends a satisfying weight to even the thinnest of slices and a color contrast that adds beauty to their arrangement on the cheese board.
Blackstone’s flavor is strongly influenced by the tang of the sheep milk – think Manchego – with extra zing and texture from the peppercorns along with caramel notes and a rich and satisfying mouthfeel that come from the Jersey milk. It pairs beautifully with a wide range of beers, and the peppery/herbal notes make a nice complement to a pinot noir or Syrah.
The black rind was part of cheesemaker Liam Callahan’s original inspiration for the cheese, he said. “There aren’t that many aged cheeses that have a rind that actively contributes interesting flavor notes to it. It’s more common for washed-rind cheeses, but with aged cheeses, it’s just protecting it from the environment,” he said. “For this cheese, the rind is more than something to nibble up to and throw away, more than a board-flavored musty component. The rosemary doesn’t taste of rosemary, but it helps give a savory element to the rind. Plus, it looks cool. As soon as you put it out there, people say ‘What’s that?’ They are drawn to the look of the cheese.”
The vegetable ash/rosemary/black pepper mixture is hand-rubbed onto the cheese in several stages as it ages over about 10 weeks. The ash helps control the acidity at the cheese’s surface, but it also melds together the different particle sizes of the rosemary and black pepper, Callahan said. “The very powdery vegetable ash just helped to hold it all together.”
Blackstone starts its aging on wood shelves, and then it’s moved to wire shelves and then back to the boards, with the transitions timed to respond to the moisture levels at the rind. “We’re still playing with the timing of those transitions to get the right moisture on that rind at the key moments when it needs it,” Callahan said.
Distribution for the cheese is still ramping up, and it’s currently available almost exclusively in California, where it’s selling readily for prices between $25 and $30 per pound. “It’s a difficult cheese to make, and at retail, it’s an expensive cheese that demands the right attention to it,” he said. “But restaurants love to feature something that’s so visual on the cheese board.”
“I never make more than about 120 wheels at a time. All of our vats are small, and it’s hands-on,” he added. “It’s been figuring out how to ramp up production in a way that maintains the quality and consistency. It’s really been a fun cheese to work on.”
Callahan expects Blackstone to reach a wider audience once more people have had the opportunity to taste it and as his production increases. “We are actively talking about it now, and samples are getting out there, and people are hearing from folks – they’re really liking it so much,” he said. “We really do expect this to be a major cheese for us. It’s so good, and we like it so much, and it’s unique in the marketplace.”


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With the advent of personal computers in the early 1970s, mass-produced gaming consoles become a reality. Early computers such as the Macintosh allowed users to connect their devices with other gamers as early as the late 1980s. The real revolution in gaming came when the internet allowed multi-player games. With technological advances, players can now play their favourite games in the online casino London whenever and wherever they want. However, there has been a revival of vintage video games in the last few years. Read on to know why gamers are returning to the classics.
Vintage Games Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon
Nintendo launched a console in 2017 which was very difficult to find after its release. Retailers almost struggled to keep up with the high demand for the console. It was the SNES classic, a replica of the popular Super Nintendo Entertainment System from the early 1990s. Over 10 million units of the console were sold by the end of 2018.
The huge success of SNES classic indicates that retro games are as popular as ever. Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy was also released by Activision in 2017, a revival of the platformer saga that was originally launched in 1996. Following the trend, Sony and Sega have also released revivals of their own retro game systems. As major companies like Microsoft and EA offer subscription services, it’s possible that vintage games will make their way in those content libraries.
Why People Still Love Retro Games?
You might have noticed that we’re seeing the revival of games that debuted during the mid-to-late 1990s. “During the 1990s, games became less pixelated and are therefore easier to remake today in a way that works in a good manner,” says Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Securities. “Also, the games are really good. You can say it’s a testament to game design.”
There is also a reason vintages games and retro consoles have proved to be successful in recent years. The people who grew up playing these games in their teenage years are now sharing them with their children, according to Pachter. “These gamers now have enough money to spend on vintage games, whether they’re sharing with kids or not,” says Joe Tartaglia, owner of a retro game shop. “My customers are either vintage game collectors or players who grew up with these games and want to re-create their memories of childhood.”
Feeling of Nostalgia
The retro aspect has changed the way people buy games. Kevin Cornwall who manages retro games shop in Croydon says that the physical store adds to the vintage feel. “It is what gamers want, it is the feeling of nostalgia, being able to see and feel the boxes,” says Kevin. “As modern gaming has some pitfalls, people are turning towards retro gaming in order to re-create some aspect of their childhood.”
As there are various gaming cafes, you can try these games before buying. They were more common in the US and Japan at the start, but the UK is getting on the action.


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Super Bowl Show Fan’s ,Welcome To Watch Metallica Pre-Super Bowl Concert 2016 Live Stream Online Tv, You Can Easily Your Favorite 2016 Super Bowl Pre-Show Live Stream Metallica’s On Any Device as Desktop, Laptop, notepad, tab, smart phone, Mobile, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple, MacBook, And all others. The Night Before live broadcast, live sopcast, live telecast, live coverage, live stream z online, live internet pc games, live streaming free Event on online. It’s is worldwide TV Channel coverage and no TV Streaming restrictions. So keep watching and enjoy your time. Watch Live Now
Before the Broncos and Panthers square off this Sunday in Super Bowl 50, Metallica will play their first concert of 2016, on Saturday, February 6, in San Francisco. In case you can’t make it to the concert, the show will be streamed live for free via Webcast.LiveMetallica.com . Metallica’s performance will start at approximately 8:30 p.m. PT.
“We can’t wait to play our first show of 2016 and there’s nowhere we’d rather kick off the festivities than in our own backyard,” says drummer Lars Ulrich in a statement. “Even though the show has been sold out for months, Metallica fans around the world will be able to join in on the madness.”
Additionally, the show will be recorded to be released as downloads and collectible CDs, which you can pre-order now.
Super Bowl 50 will be held February 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Coldplay will headline the halftime show.
The band will stream the performance from San Francisco’s AT&T Park through the band’s LiveMetallica site. The next day Coldplay and Beyoncé will take to the stage as part of the Super Bowl half time show but Metallica will get the atmosphere warmed up the night before.
“The concert has been sold out for months, but we don’t want anyone to be left out,” the band wrote on their website.
“If you can’t join us in person do the next best thing and catch the live webstream direct from the Bay Area on February 6, 2016.”
The action will start from 8.30pm Pacific Standard Time which equates to 3.30pm 7th February AEDST. That means you can spend your Sunday afternoon kicking back with a little Metallica, if you so fancy.
The band will also be sharing updates on their website as the stage is built and footage from rehearsals at “Metallica HQ”.
Late last year, Metallica shared some footage from the studio where they are reportedly working on their tenth album. Let’s hope that they decide to give the world a sneak peak of some new material during the stream.
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BMC Stock Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:STCK), Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter of $727.4 million, an increase of 148.4 percent compared to the previous year. Sales increased 23.2 percent compared to adjusted sales of $590.4 million in the first quarter of 2015.
The company reported a loss for the quarter of $6.8 million, compared to a loss of $3.6 million the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted profit was $5.4 million. These results include the merger of Stock Building Supply Holdings Inc. and Building Material Holdings Corp. in December 2015.


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The White Sox have designated the Saturday, April 20th, and Saturday, July 27th games as CTA Employee Appreciation Nights. On these special games, the White Sox would like to offer specially priced tickets to all CTA employees, their families and friends.
On Both Saturday, April 20th, and Saturday July 27th, tickets regularly priced at $44, $26, $24, and $19 will be available for $34, $16, $14, and $14!
*Lower Level seats are extremely limited, so act quickly!*


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Budding Superstar Expands Already-Popular Merch Line Into Full-Blown Brand
Photo Credit: Courtesy of L3 Entertainment / FlyHi Films
Following a headlining performance at the “Music City Gives Back” concert, Broken Bow Records’ Dustin Lynch closed out CMA Music Festival with a performance at The Stage in downtown Nashville Sunday (6/12) to celebrate the launch of his clothing line “Stay Country.” The country star entertained the packed audience with his high energy set, including #1 smash “Mind Reader,” a preview of new music with “Small Town Boy Like Me,” and a round of karaoke roulette with special guests Tyler Rich and Adam Sanders. Before doors opened, fans lined up all the way down the main drive of Broadway to claim their spot for the free show and have the opportunity to purchase items from the “Stay Country” line.
“Stay Country isn’t just a brand, it’s a lifestyle,” says Lynch. “It’s where I grew up. It’s home to the rivers I’ve fished, the deer stands I’ve perched, and the dirt roads I’ve roamed. It inspired Stay Country.” The line of accessibly-priced men’s and women’s shirts, hats, and accessories, all emblazoned with the distinctive Stay Country logo, can be found online at https://www.staycountryclothing.com.
Lynch, a Tullahoma, TN native, has long dreamed of creating his own fashion line. “I’ve always been a fan of what clothes say, especially now that I’m on stage every night,” he recently explained to WWD in a profile about his fashion acumen. “We introduced a simple hat last fall and we couldn’t keep it in stock. So it’s time, we’re off to the races.” Notable fans of the line already include fashion maven Kelly Osbourne, who sported a camouflage Stay Country cap on her Instagram feed the Monday after meeting Lynch at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, CA last month.
Beyond his busy entrepreneurial career, Lynch is currently in the studio working on the follow-up to his smash sophomore album, WHERE IT’S AT, in between opening dates on Luke Bryan’s KILL THE LIGHTS tour. This fall, he will join Chris Young’s I’M COMIN’ OVER tour as direct support.


text: The 2006 World Cup, soccer’s Super Bowl, World Series and Olympics rolled-up into one, is just two months away. Because it only takes place every four years, advertisers pay huge sums to be the official whatever of the games. This year the World Cup will be held in Germany, one of the most important beer countries in the world, which until quite recently had more breweries than any other country (The U.S. unseated them) and they remain the third largest beer market worldwide (after China and the U.S.). They passed the first beer purity law in 1516, the Reinheitsgebot, and fought to keep beer out of their country that didn’t meet its standards as recently as a few years ago. So it came as quite a shock last year when Budweiser became the offical beer of the 2006 World Cup by paying around $40 million to become one of fifteen premium World Cup sponsors. German citizens were up in arms for a while after that, but since their young people have short-sightedly started drinking Bud in rebellion against their parents — and tradition — in huge quantities, there wasn’t reallly much that could be done about it. According to a report on The Independent, a UK newspaper, “because of a long-running trademark row with the Czech brewer Budvar, which owns the rights to the name” Budweiser in some countries and Anheuser-Busch, which has won court battles in others, “the Budweiser brand will not appear on the hugely important pitch-side hoardings.” In addition to the contentious Budvar—A-B dispute, “the German brewery Bitburger, who sells its beer in the German stadiums, has complained that the name was too similar to its Bit brand.” As a result, “[t]he US giant has now been forced to use the name Anheuser-Busch Bud during the course of the tournament.” Of course, the A-B spin machine kicked into high gear, calling this an “excellent opportunity to continue to build our brand,” said Tony Ponturo, vice-president of global media and sports marketing at Anheuser-Busch. The World Cup begins June 9 and will end with the cup final on July 9. Personally, I think this is what happens when you sue everybody who gets in your way. Eventually, it’s going to catch up with you.


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TVN Tech | At CES, NextGen TV’s Coming Out Party
The New Year’s champagne has barely gone flat before the tech world shifts into CES, the consumer electronics mega-conference that has grown, hydra-like, to encompass media, telecommunications, automotive, health care and just about any other industry that that grazes against technology in consumer devices.
To any broadcaster attending this cacophonous tumble of conferences, exhibition floors and suite meetings, it can be challenging to tease out the industry’s more important narrative strands. But CES 2020, which runs from Jan. 7 to 10 in Las Vegas, can be distilled into some key areas through which broadcasters can elbow their way.
“For broadcasters, the starting point for seeing things geographically is going to be Central Hall because the bigger brands that are doing TVs and entertainment devices are there,” says Brian Markwalter, SVP of research and standards at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which presents CES. “That is the best way to understand where TV manufacturers are going.”
The technology formerly known as ATSC 3.0 makes its exhibition floor debut in 2020 in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall (C 11329), ground zero for all the major TV set manufacturers at the show. Having lurked at the show’s periphery for years, this marks a pivotal moment for the newly rebranded NextGen TV, says Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC.
“NextGen TV is going to have its coming-out party from the point of view of commercial deployment at this CES show,” Noland says, noting it’s crucial to “make sure everybody recognizes the growing ecosystem of both consumer products as well as vendor products supporting the launch, and broadcaster services that are coming out.”
Noland says the NextGen TV booth will have products on display as well as “major broadcasters displaying some of the services they expect to launch in 2020.”
Details, however, remained elusive in the weeks running up to the show. Only LG has come forward so far with a NextGen-ready product, and Anne Schelle, managing partner of the Pearl TV consortium, is keeping her cards close to the vest as to other manufacturers in the wings.
“We really are under lock and key,” Schelle says of other potential product announcements. “But the good news is that the TV manufacturers are moving forward simultaneously, and these are TVs that will bear the NextGen TV logo and meet the requirements that CTA and broadcasters have set out.”
Schelle says attendees can expect a string of announcements from the show, including the release of feedback from the early service consumer labs and an update on progress being made in the transition to enable TV stations supporting the new services in the top 40 markets.
As to which markets are rolling out next and when, Schelle says: “We will be announcing some specific market information for some markets that are moving earlier in the year.”
For Sam Matheny, EVP and CTO of NAB, just the presence of the show floor booth itself and the many players demonstrating within it is a marker of how far NextGen TV has come. “A lot of work has been put in by both the consumer electronics companies and certainly broadcasters to develop this new standard,” he says.
“What is at stake this year is really coming out and saying NextGen TV is real in the U.S. and around the world,” Matheny adds. “Stations are coming on the air and launching, and consumer products are hitting the shelves.”
Noland says an equally important message that the booth sends is “the collaboration that has taken place between ATSC, NAB and CTA” on everything from the standard’s development to defining services in the marketplace to logo development and the lobbying work being done on Capitol Hill.
Del Parks, SVP and CTO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, echoes the sentiment. Sinclair, one of NextGen TV’s most vested players via its ONE Media Group, will be among the broadcasters on hand at the booth.
“The message from Sinclair is that we are cooperating with a lot of the broadcasters and we do have plans to start rolling out our markets,” Parks says.
That cooperation between broadcasters is necessary to create spectrum for 3.0, which has made for a much more complex rollout than the HD transition, he says. “The good news is it’s happening now,” Parks says. “It’s unprecedented, really, in the industry.”
Dave Burke, SVP and CTO for Gray Television, says NextGen TV’s biggest challenge at CES is simply consumer awareness. “A lot of people don’t quite understand what ‘over the air’ even means, and so what does it mean when you’re going to 3.0?” he says. “The consumer awareness of what 3.0 can do and that adoption kind of feeds itself in to the manufacturing side, which then helps with better adoption of the consumer electronics.”
But not everyone is optimistic that NextGen TV will even register with most attendees.
“My suspicion is that streaming services will dramatically overwhelm any ATSC conversations at all,” says Shelly Palmer, CEO of The Palmer Group, a technology consultancy that also leads private tours of the show floor. “I understand why broadcasters want it … but you don’t hear a buzz around it. That is really the industry talking to itself.”
For CTA’s Markwalter, streaming and NextGen TV aren’t necessarily competitive technologies. “Streaming is still on a big growth curve, but it’s not like a zero-sum game,” he says. “People are watching on more and more devices at more times.”
Attendees can judge for themselves. In addition to the booth, NextGen TV will be the subject of a main stage event in the LVCC’s Grand Lobby on Jan. 8 at 10 a.m. as well as a panel, “What NextGenTV Means For Tech,” featuring Noland, Matheny, Schelle and Dan Schinasi, director of product planning, consumer electronics, Samsung, at the Venetian at 9 a.m. on Jan. 9.
ATSC will also be offering a printed guide to all things NextGen TV at the booth so attendees can find examples of the technology elsewhere on the show floor.
Other Technologies, Other Narratives
Early arrivals to CES may want to check out the CES 2020 Trends to Watch session at LVCC’s North Hall N257 on Jan. 6 at 9 a.m. as a primer to the show. Steve Koenig, CTA’s VP of research, leads the talk.
Throughout Central Hall, 8K sets from the major manufacturers are likely to capture some of the biggest exclamations from attendees. Also tantalizing will be the promises of 5G again on evidence throughout CES, even if the infrastructure necessary to realize it is still half a trillion dollars away from reality.
Still, for a glimpse of what that reality may look like, the session “Prediction: How 5G Will Change Your Life” with Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon on Jan. 8 at 10:30 a.m. at the Venetian is probably worth dropping into.
CES isn’t likely to disappoint on two other related fronts of at least peripheral interest to broadcasters: voice and the internet of things (IoT). The ubiquity of the former has made voice command table stakes for new devices, while connectivity has wended its way into every imaginable appliance and user interface.
One session, “IoT: Moving Into An Anticipatory Tech World,” offers an intriguing future look, and the presence of Lindsey Turrentine, SVP content strategy, CBS Interactive Tech Sites, suggests a connection to broadcast’s role in the growing space. The panel runs Jan. 7 at 3 p.m. in LVCC’s North Hall.
Broadcasters looking for any clues on the regulatory front will want to drop in to a fireside chat with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons on Jan. 7 at 11:30 a.m. in LVCC’s North Hall moderated by CTA’s President and CEO Gary Shapiro.
As broadcasters watch their digital operations continue to grow, checking in with the chief privacy officer roundtable on Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. in LVCC’s North Hall may also be prudent. The talk features privacy officers from Facebook, Apple and Procter & Gamble, as well as FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.
Wrapping up other potentially interesting presentations, a keynote session with Samsung’s Hyun-Suk Kim, president and CEO of the consumer electronics division, may yield an interesting picture of new gadgetry on the horizon. It’s happening Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Venetian’s Palazzo Ballroom.
Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg will be on hand to discuss Quibi, their much-chattered about new mobile entertainment platform (that has also been beset by pre-launch, high-profile departures) in a keynote on Jan. 8 at 9:30 a.m. at the Park MGM Park Theater.
And various NBC talents including Terry Crews, Mandy Moore and Today West Coast anchor Natalie Morales will discuss “If TV Was Invented Today: NBCUniversal Reimagines the Future of Entertainment” on Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Park MGM Park Theater.
While NAB will fan some of its technologists across the show floor to scope out potential opportunities and threats among the emerging technologies, the organization will also be getting some business done. It hosts a standards development organization meeting during CES as well as a television technology committee meeting, Matheny says.
The Sociologist’s CES
It’s easy to get caught up in the details of new products and trends at CES on any given year, but consultant Palmer says the far more intriguing currents at the show run beneath its surface.
For broadcasters, the most relevant among them is how the biggest TV manufacturers will continue to approach their multi-screen competition in a world where the living room is losing its home entertainment centricity.
Palmer notes that kids aren’t asking for TVs anymore, preferring large-screen smartphones instead. Gen Zers and trailing edge millennials behave very differently in their viewing habits than leading edge Gen Xers or trailing edge baby boomers, while leading edge boomers are the last “couch potatoes.”
“The sociology around the behavior called ‘watching television’ is the most interesting of the changing behaviors now,” Palmer says. “Whose hardware is going to make that possible and empower those sociological changes?”
Palmer, who hosts his own Series Summit at CES, is emphatic that to go to CES simply on a hunt for new gadgets is to have entirely the wrong mind set. “You are going there to incrementally innovate in exponential times with tools that human beings are using to change the planet, and that doesn’t happen with a new gizmo,” he says.
What does make it happen, he says, is a lot of people gathering together to understand the application of commoditized, narrow-focused machine learning to make the world better and easier to navigate.
“My biggest expectation for CES is always my biggest expectation,” Dolan says. “It is going to be a gathering of extraordinary people doing extraordinary things and we are all in one place looking toward the future.
“That is a pretty positive place to be for a couple of days.”


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- French drinks group Pernod Ricard RI, -0.70% expects limited disposals after its $14 billion acquisition with Fortune Brands FO, +0.00% of British wine and spirits group Allied Domecq ADE, +0.00% uk:alld AFX News reported from Paris. "We put a value which is in the range ($131 million to $262 million) of disposals for various brands, so you can anticipate that it will be very very few brands and basically local brands," said Pierre Pringuet, Pernod Ricard's deputy managing director, after the companies announced the deal.
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Which U.S. city is installing curbside chargers on request?
Is it possible that brake dust emissions are higher for EVs?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending May 27, 2022.
This week we presented a couple of drive reviews. In a review of the 2022 Hyundai Tucson Plug-In Hybrid, we saw this model’s two-hour charging, 33 electric miles, all-wheel drive, and striking design delivering a more appealing package than the Ford Escape PHEV, although it doesn’t measure up to the extra performance and range of the Toyota RAV4 Prime.
2022 Hyundai Tucson Plug-In Hybrid test drive, Nashville, TN
We also did a follow-up review of the 2022 Kia EV6 GT-Line and wrapped up some takeaways on real-world range, charging, and livability—including how it feels back-to-back with the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Two EV recalls illustrated when over-the-air updates handle it all, and when they still can’t substitute for eyes and hands. A small number of Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs are being recalled for a safety-related software issue. But by the time Ford mails out the traditional recall notices, many owners’ cars will already have the recall remedy, delivered over the air. And then the Lucid Air was recalled for something that requires a physical inspection—in its case a wiring harness assembly that, in a very small number of the 1,117 made up to May 4, could lead to the loss of instrument panel function.
2021 Lucid Air
Automakers have been making a steady stream of joint-venture battery-making announcements. Next up was Stellantis, which on Tuesday announced an Indiana battery plant with Samsung SDI—to supply Stellantis’ upcoming EVs from Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, and perhaps more. Separately, Polestar announced that it’s investing in the battery-tech firm StoreDot, which aims to mass-produce EV batteries capable of adding nearly 100 miles of range in five minutes of charging—by 2024. Polestar will test the silicon-based battery tech in “proof-of-concept cars,” with it headed to production models by 2026 at the earliest.
In the U.S. and Europe, electric vehicle adoption has been helping ease the pinch created by sanctions stopping or throttling Russian oil exports, in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. EVs have helped avoid 3% of global oil demand, with plug-in hybrids part of it.
Lunaz upcycled recycling truck - based on Mercedes-Benz Econic garbage truck
A recycling truck that’s been recycled into an electric one? That’s what the UK firm Lunaz, known for its stellar restorations of classic Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley models has revealed. It claims that its electric garbage truck brings an 80% reduction in embedded carbon compared to a new trash truck.
Mercedes-Benz released a video teasing its EQG electric SUV performing what it calls the G-Turn—using its four motors to perform what looks a lot like what Rivian calls the Tank Turn.
Mercedes-Benz EQG prototype
The EPA has laid out some of its qualifying details for the initial $500 million portion of its $5 billion electric school bus program. Although assistance will be prioritized toward “high-need” schools, other schools are eligible through a lottery, and the program will help subsidize charging and future bidirectional tech.
European Union regulators are reportedly aiming to include limits for brake dust emissions in upcoming Euro 7 standards. As at least one study suggests, that might actually be higher for EVs due to their additional battery weight—yes, despite brake regen and one-pedal driving.
2022 Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo
The District of Columbia is considering a proposal intended to keep vehicles on its city streets smaller and lighter. It would hit heavy-duty trucks and other large internal combustion vehicles with a $500 annual registration fee, but allow some reduction for EVs.
Volkswagen is reportedly shopping for U.S. factory sites for its upcoming Scout EV brand, which it’s now made clear will be independent of the Volkswagen brand in the U.S.—and thus, probably circumventing VW’s U.S. dealers. As executives recently revealed, it might also sell commercial vehicles.
For those without off-street parking, there’s hope—if you live in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest city has a program through which you can request—after you work out the boundaries with the neighbors, perhaps—a Level 2 curbside charger installed at no cost, with a per-kwh flat fee for the energy. Will your city be next?
2022 Tesla lineup (Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.)
General-market vehicle shoppers are more likely to trust established automakers over Tesla or newer EV startups like Rivian, found a leading consulting firm in its survey—although its responses also collectively suggest that the current crop of EV products falls short on expectations.
While that might not be terribly useful, another study pointed to, potentially, one of the best things you can do this weekend if you’re an EV driver: show others your car and answer some questions. Study results from J.D. Power pointed to what we’ve known for a long time: that getting butts in seats sells people on EVs. Automakers aren’t doing particularly well in familiarizing consumers with EVs, with nearly a third of shoppers rejecting EVs simply out of a lack of information.


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The latest “Young and the Restless” news reveals that Gina Tognoni, who plays Phyllis on Y&R, made a stop at the Women’s Living Expo in Louisville, Kentucky. According to WLKY-TV, Tognoni was on hand to chat with fans about her character on “The Young and the Restless” as well as her shoe line, Sole9. The expo provided an opportunity for women to pick up a great pair of shoes and give other women a leg up. Sole9 helps victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse by donating a portion of their proceeds. A percentage of the profits from this recent expo will go to Louisville’s Center for Women and Families.
“This weekend we’re giving to the local chapter here in Kentucky. So come on out, buy a pair of shoes and we’ll be able to help the women here locally,” Tognoni said. The event also included 200 booths as well as free screenings to make sure women were in the know about their health. Expo attendees even had the chance to have their hair and makeup done by a professional. It sounds like the “Young and the Restless” star treatment!
The event’s organizer, Barbara Donnell, noted the importance of the expo for women in the community. “It’s really a fun weekend for women, but it’s also informative. So what we try and do is bring a diverse group of women together for one weekend and give them the info and products that will help them live their best life,” Donnell said. Tognoni was considered a welcome addition to the event. Matt Kane from CBS said, “Everyone here loved Gina! We are so glad she was able to come to Louisville!” Stick with Soap Opera Spy for updates on your favorite “Young and the Restless” cast members and star-related news.
What do you think about Gina Tognoni’s stop at the Women’s Living Expo in Kentucky to help out with her shoe line, Sole9? Is Phyllis on of your favorite characters on Y&R? Let us know what you think in the comments below and don’t forget to check Soap Opera Spy tomorrow for the latest “Young and the Restless” news, spoilers, rumors and updates.


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Its been some time since our last industry update and we are back to serve you the top crypto and blockchain from last week that you might have missed.
To start off we got quite a shocker when we watched this CNBC interview of billionaire investor Warren Buffet who said he doesn’t own cryptocurrency.
Prior to last week Justin Sun founder of the Tron, blockchain had dinner with Warren Buffet where Tron supposedly gifted 1 Bitcoin to Buffet.
But if Buffet says he doesn’t own any crypto what happened to the Bitcoin, Justin gave him?
Our guess is he probably donated to his charity which is good but the greater part is that in a couple of years this could be Buffet’s own Bitcoin pizza story.
In the meantime, we will hold off knighting Justin as a crypto champion, even though he believes Bitcoin will pass $100K in 2025.
Sitting on Riches
Now let’s go over to Europe, where the Finnish authorities have been trying to offload a total of 1,666 bitcoin for several years. They had even drawn up a plan in September 2018 for a public auction of the digital coins. But it seems the authorities fear it could be used for money laundering.
They probably have not seen this report that just 0.5% of Bitcoin is used for illicit activity. What can they say about cash?
Out with stocks and in with Crypto
Over on the other side of the Atlantic, American Billionaire and investor, Tim Draper claims to be holding a lot of Bitcoin after pulling his wealth out of the stock markets six months ago.
That’s a bold move but we recommend that you do not try it at home.
Shopify joins Libra
While on the Libra side of things, Shopify announced that it has joined the libra network. For Shopify, joining Libra means that they will be able to help the 1 million merchants on their platform reduce fees, as Libra is designed to move between wallets with zero or nearly-zero fees.
The e-commerce platform will be contributing at least $10 million to the association as well as operate a node that processes transactions for the stable coin.
Moving unto the collectibles scene, if you loved CryptoKitties and are one of the UFC’s 314 million fans this could be for you.
Dapper Lab the creators of CryptoKitties has collaborated with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to offer collectible tokens to UFC fans.
The partnership would enable UFC fans to purchase, trade and own UFC-branded collectibles, this could also include fans owning digital versions of their favourite fighters.
Strictly private browsing
Finally, if you are looking to switch your browser to one that’s more privacy-focused according to a study by Dr. Douglas Leigth of Trinity College Dublin the brave browser is right up your lane.
Dr. Leigth’s study compared Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Yandex in terms of how much personal data they share with backend servers. Brave’s default configuration was discovered to be the best of the bunch.
You’re all caught up! Have a story you think we missed, share it with us.


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Your Amazon packages will soon no longer be delivered by FedEx.
FedEx just announced that starting next month, it will no longer work with Amazon, which has become a serious competitor for the company. The move comes after FedEx dumped Amazon from its air cargo services in June.
Amazon has been aggressively working to expand its own delivery network. You may have noticed some of the packages you receive are delivered by Amazon employees, and not FedEx, UPS, or the postal service.
FedEx says it’s focusing on the broader e-commerce market and already has partnerships with Walmart, Walgreens, and Target.


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iOS 7 interface issue avoidance via new app icons
There has been a great deal of talk in regard to an iOS 7 beta 7 release, but it looks as though this is highly unlikely to happen now, and so this has since led to speculation as to the iOS 7 GA. However, before that app developers have some work to do with their app icons.
In the build up to the launch of iOS 7 next month, Apple has been asking app developers to partake in what can only be described as an iOS 7 interface issue avoidance. They have been asked to submit larger app icons as part of the dramatic UI change when compared to iOS 6.
You can see in the image below just how different the icons are, and although they do not vary that much in size, there is still a difference that needs to be addressed. It is Apple’s intention to be ready so there will be no interface issues once iOS 7 is released to the public, which could be just a week after the (rumored) September 10, 2013 iPhone event.
According to 9to5 Mac the new iOS 7 icon size is 120 x 120 for the iPhone and 152 x 152 for the iPad, compared to 114 x 114 and 144 x 144 respectively for the iOS 6 version on those devices. It is clear to see the pixel resolutions have not changes by much, but just enough to cause issues of not addressed ahead of time.
iOS app developers will also need to address those round corners on iOS 7 apps, as they have rounded corners — looks like we will have a lot of updates the moment we download Apple’s new mobile operating system on to our devices.
Apple has already started to train their AppleCare employees, but more importantly their technical support staff on the many changes of iOS 7. The training began a couple of days ago and is expected to have them fully prepped by the second week of September. Verizon has already told their staff they cannot book any vacation between September 18 and the 22, which could mean this will be when Apple release their new iPhone/iPhones.


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- Published on 08 May 2020
The coronavirus crisis has claimed its biggest audiology events victim to date: the organisers of the annual EUHA congress have accepted the virtual "impossibility" of going ahead with the 2020 gathering in Hannover, today announcing its cancellation.
In a letter to delegates, exhibitors, and lecturers signed up for the planned October 7 Congress, the European Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) and the German Hearing Aid Industry Association (BVHI) say their efforts to hold the event against all obstacles created by the crisis have tumbled before the "top priority" of the "health and safety of people with impaired hearing, customers, and staff members."
"According to expert opinion, large conventions continue to be associated with considerable health risks that can be avoided. At this time of continuing uncertainty and in light of prevailing travel restrictions, whose end is difficult to anticipate, early planning for participation in the Congress, be it as an exhibitor, lecturer, or as a delegate travelling to Germany from worldwide destinations, is made more complicated, if not impossible," reads the letter.
The event will be rescheduled for 2021 at a date still to be decided. "As is the case for other economic sectors, our industry is adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. However, it is with hope and optimism that we look forward to a promising future," say the EUHA Congress organisers.
In addition to exhibitors being notified of cancellation, "All those who have purchased a ticket for attending the Congress will be given a refund; any vouchers issued are redeemable for an additional period of twelve months after the date of expiry," says EUHA.
In the absence of the Congress, EUHA is increasing the focus on its 2020 digital learning programme, and it plans to convert the "Future Friday" format introduced at EUHA 2019 into an online feature to discuss, future trends, products, and technologies. More information is set to be released on this programme.


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- Applications & 3D Scans
- 3D Services
- Help Center
Dutch magazine Aandrijven & Besturen has published an article about Technishow and about its acquaintance with the company 4C, an authorized reseller of Artec in the Netherlands. According to Else Rappard, office manager of the company, the exhibition was a great success. "We demonstrated a wide range of 3D services, such as the ZW3D CAD / CAM, 3D printing equipment from Solido, and Artec scanning systems".
Visitors asked with curiosity about new 3D capabilities".4C’s stand enjoyed great success with the public largely due to the fact that anyone could scan and look at themselves in 3D, and then receive a three-dimensional copy of themselves by email. "The opportunity to play around with their faces in 3D only increased interest in our stand," says Else Rappard. Here you can read the full article in Dutch.
Using a phone or tablet users can remotely scan large objects with submillimeter accuracy, ideal for reverse engineering, construction, inspection and product design
Turntable synchronizes with the Artec Space Spider and features auto-tracking recovery for maximum 3D capture results
New features include integration with metrology-grade desktop 3D scanner Artec Micro, target-free registration for 3D laser scanner Artec Ray, and Direct Export for CAD/CAM, Automatic Glare Removal, and more


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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the maiden Uttarakhand Investors Summit in Dehradun, on Sunday. Leading business firms and industrial houses participated in the two-day event that aims to explore investment opportunities in the hill state in 12 major sectors.
Speaking on the occasion, PM Modi said that India is going through a major social and economic change and the resultant New India will prove to be a catalyst for global development. “India is witnessing rapid economic and social changes. The country is going through a big transformation. We are marching towards a New India,” he said.
Taking further about business in India, PM said that doing business has become easier due to Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code. “We have improved the tax system in the country. We are trying to make the tax system more swift & transparent. Doing business has become easier due to Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The banking system has also got strengthened,” he added.
Come and invest in Uttarakhand. Addressing the investment summit in Dehradun. https://t.co/ZbdLt4Akg8
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 7, 2018
The two-day event will conclude on Monday with Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressing it on the second day.
Speaking on Uttarakhand the Prime Minister said now in Uttarakhand any MSME loan upto 1 crore will be sanctioned fast. Prime Minister said Tourism in Uttarakhand has now got an industry status. He said 13 Districts in the state have been developed as New Destination. “Be it nature, adventure, culture, yoga or meditation, Uttarakhand tourism is a complete package and an ideal destination,” he added.
Prior to the summit, Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat has informed that MoUs worth Rs 70,000 crore had already been signed.


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When a supermarket offers £25 off your next £50 shop, you’ll know just how keen they are for your custom.
That’s the stunning voucher discount – seen by the Mirror – waved under the nose of one customer to keep them sweet.
Expect more of the same as supermarkets battle it out for sales.
Firms such as Morrisons have lost out after being slow getting in to personalised money-off vouchers. The chain is also playing catch-up on small stores and online groceries, which it is launching today.
To put things into perspective, Sainsbury’s has revealed a near 18% surge in convenience store sales, while Tesco raked in £450million from online orders in six weeks.
And they’re both still under pressure. Online, in particular, has been a key difference between the Christmas winners and losers.
As Tesco boss Philip Clarke told the Mirror: “If you look at any of the big retailers, their growth is coming from online, not from stores.”
If you want food, it is just a click away. Meanwhile, supermarkets can’t open small neighbourhood stores fast enough.
If you thought competition was already cut-throat, it is set to get even more brutal.