text:
ReconcilableDifferencesPartners rarely split over matters of grand strategy. It's the minor skirmishes that nibble away at common ground, until there's none left. So it was with Arthur Eisenberg and Cap Pannell, good friends whose rapid accumulation of differences and delusions forced them to scrap the company they had worked so hard to create
Arthur Eisenberg once ran a company with the simple yet elegant name of Eisenberg Inc.
But that was three companies ago -- which places it all the way back in 1988. Over the past three years, Eisenberg's design firm has undergone more incarnations than Shirley MacLaine's soul: from Eisenberg/Pannell/St. George, to The New Eisenberg, to the current Eisenberg and Associates. During the 1970s he was one-half of Eisenberg + Pannell.
Unless you happen to supply Eisenberg's stationery, those changes are reasons for sadness. Eisenberg and Cap Pannell teamed up in their twenties, built a $1-million design firm, then went their separate ways four years later. The split was amicable; during the buyout, their lawyer had to remind them not to be so friendly. A little more than two years ago, Eisenberg decided they ought to be partners again. So Pannell and Eisenberg merged their two companies, joining forces once more (and adding Carol St. George, Pannell's wife, for bad measure).
As partners go, they seemed archetypally well suited to each other: Eisenberg, the gregarious marketer who sometimes couldn't shut up; Pannell, so quiet that people were startled when he cleared his throat at meetings. One drew pictures, the other projections. "People have told us that we balance each other great," says Pannell. Indeed. This past August, around the same time a national design magazine lauded their work, Eisenberg and Pannell broke up again. This time, it got ugly.
Not that there were any messy and protracted courtroom battles or ballistic shouting matches or childish stunts. Neither one locked the other out of the company's offices. Still, their disappointment was deep and cutting. "I really cannot forgive him right now in my heart," says Pannell.
He speaks from his unfinished home office, just steps away from his son's bedroom. When he has enough clients, he says, he'll build a separate entrance. But just now, a man who only months ago was a partner in a nearly $2-million concern finds himself in "financial jeopardy" -- and unable to fathom the events that landed him there. "This is such a setback," he says. "I've got to get some work." Not far away, at the Dallas headquarters of their former business, Eisenberg frets that the growth he envisioned will never materialize. "We had an opportunity," he says. "I'm pissed that it didn't work out."
Why did their partnership fail? Like most partners, Eisenberg and Pannell seem blind to what actually tore them apart. They settle for hurling a vague but potent accusation at each other: You are not the person I thought you were. Too often, that's how partners end up -- with a sense that somehow the other person couldn't hold up his end of the log. Despite their long shared history, Eisenberg and Pannell act as if they discovered something about each other that made it impossible for them to continue. Eisenberg: "My problem is that I didn't research my partner enough." Pannell: "I guess I didn't realize that Arthur was just an opportunist."
Absurd charges, to be sure. Not that either of them is wrong. But it's more comforting, and less lonely, to feel let down. In truth, there was nothing inevitable about the split between Eisenberg and Pannell. Almost up to the last moment, either partner could have nudged them off the course they were on. But growing bitterness and the press of daily business prevented them from honestly confronting and sorting through their mostly minor disputes. To endure as a team, they needed to build what every healthy partnership requires: a stockpile of perspective.
Partnerships do not fracture over matters of grand strategy. Rather, insidious skirmishes slowly nibble away at any common ground -- until, finally, there is none. Looking closely at the deterioration can be scary and sad; you begin to see how swiftly the distance grows, how quickly the delusions accumulate. And how easily two people -- in this case, Eisenberg and Pannell -- can come to believe that their differences justify scrapping the company they worked so hard to build.
"I'm bewildered," says Pannell. "I don't understand this."
Eisenberg and Pannell's first endeavor left little mystery in its wake. Even when they decided to split, in February 1979, they made no secret of their warm feelings. Arriving at a party at Pannell's home, a giddy Eisenberg sported a T-shirt that read, "Cap Who?" and lobbed Pannell his own "Arthur Who?" version.
Both were in their early thirties, and though they had built a $1-million design firm, each was itching to get out on his own. Much later the term "work ethic" would become a code phrase, a sharp dart they would aim at each other. Back then, though, nobody doubted their determination.
Hard work, in fact, had brought them together. Fresh out of school, both had joined The Richards Group, the hottest design firm in the Southwest, in 1971. It was an eat-what-you-kill environment; the company hired them young and worked them hard. Arthur and Cap -- whom nobody ever called by his full name, Clarence -- commiserated during their commute.
Finally, one morning at two o'clock, Eisenberg crawled into his colleague's office. He'd been thinking, he said, that if he was going to work this hard, he'd rather work for himself. Did Pannell want to come along?
Pannell lifted his head, revealing the bleary eyes of a man who had had enough. "I didn't feel as if I had a whole lot to lose," Pannell recalls.
And there seemed to be so much to be gained. The extroverted Eisenberg "related to the business side," concentrating on the flamboyant art of luring clients. Pannell showed an intense passion for design. Their work seemed to jibe, Pannell's cartoony freehand style complementing Eisenberg's clever wordplay. It didn't take much soul-searching for them to agree on their goals when they launched Eisenberg + Pannell, in 1975. "We wanted to see how much work we could do, how famous we could become, and how much money we could make," recalls Pannell.
Their firm grew right from the start. As a grand going-away gift, their boss handed them a client, the third-largest home builder in Dallas. From there, Eisenberg worked hard to lure others; the secret, he always preached, was in projecting a glitzy image. So Eisenberg + Pannell's first digs featured an atrium and a conference room with sliding doors. The work -- brochures, print ads, and even a few TV spots -- lived up to the company's glossy surroundings. Eisenberg + Pannell's efforts were exhibited at the prestigious New York Art Directors' Show and published in such magazines as Communication Arts. By 1979, notes Pannell, "we were growing pretty quickly," with nearly 20 employees and revenues of close to $1 million.
There was a healthy friction between the partners. Pannell cast himself as the purist, the artist with little tolerance for commercial considerations; Eisenberg wanted to satisfy a customer's every whim. Their noisiest conflicts would occur when Eisenberg returned from making a presentation. They liked everything but the color, he'd report, or they wanted a different typeface. Then he would break the news that caused the normally restrained Pannell to erupt: instead of arguing that the design was best as it was, Eisenberg had simply caved in to the client's wishes. How could you do this? Pannell would explode. Why didn't you explain our rationale for choosing purple? "Most of us never saw their disagreements, but we heard them," recalls Jim Olvera, then a designer with the firm. Adds Ron Hudson, also a designer: "They seemed to know each other inside and out. They were like brothers."
As with brothers, there was tension between them. Eisenberg thought that Pannell didn't take his creative ideas seriously enough; Pannell resented that Eisenberg's drive for sales was turning him into a manager. Over time, each began to think the other was preventing him from doing the kind of work he truly wanted to do.
Ever the talkative one, Eisenberg became the first to articulate that frustration. Late one day in February 1979, he knocked on Pannell's office door. "Cap," he said, leaning in awkwardly, "I think we ought to split up." Pannell agreed on the spot. "It was beautiful," says Eisenberg, "I felt I had relieved us both of a heavy burden."
Neither really explored the exact nature of that burden. "I wanted the very best for Cap," says Eisenberg. "I just figured I could do better without him."
And he could, it seemed. Both, in fact, flourished after some start-up glitches. Eisenberg Inc. often nudged its name into Adweek and wooed high-profile clients. "The money was rolling in," recalls bookkeeper Marie Brinkman. By 1983 Eisenberg's revenues were almost $600,000, and he had 10 employees.
Pannell, who worried most about scaring up work, managed to build Pannell Creative into a $250,000 business by 1983. He worked mainly with start-ups and other lesser-known companies. At night he sometimes paused as he took off his watch, a final gift from Eisenberg. He would flip it over and read the inscription again: "Partners for years, friends forever."
It was hard to see how anything could change that.
Like any personal relationship, a partnership that works achieves a mysterious -- and tenuous -- balance. Who can explain why two people click? Concerns coincide; needs match; expectations mesh. It's not likely to happen twice with the same people.
Nevertheless, by the summer of 1988, Eisenberg and Pannell had agreed to become partners again.
Eisenberg claims that he initiated contact a year earlier because he had lost a key employee. "I wanted to recapture the best of what we had before," he admits. A series of calamities -- in addition to the oil glut and overbuilding -- had left Eisenberg Inc. in serious trouble. "We were losing money," recalls Brinkman. "It was scary." John Jones, a local businessman who helped Eisenberg with his strategic plan, recalls, "Arthur was lost. He needed help."
He wasn't alone. Pannell, who in 1984 launched Pannell/St. George, a design firm he ran with his wife, also had a bad case of the jitters. "I got pregnant, and Cap got scared," recalls St. George, a copywriter who had been Eisenberg + Pannell's first employee. Pannell couldn't be sure his wife would want to return to copywriting full-time after their child was born. "I started thinking that maybe it was time for me to build something bigger," says Pannell.
Suddenly, in the summer of 1987, Eisenberg was on the phone again, bouncy and cheery as ever. "Hey, Cap!" he yelled, "I want to do something."
They met at a local business club. With Jones beside him, Eisenberg yakked about creating a $10-million operation, of developing 10 new Fortune 500 clients in the next three years. Pannell's role? "You'll run the shop and report to me," said Eisenberg. No thanks, said a proud Pannell. "I was not about to be his employee," he says. Less than a year later, though, Eisenberg was back with a new proposition: he talked of a merger and even offered to make St. George head copywriter. Pannell would serve as creative director; Eisenberg would handle the business end. Whatever separated them before didn't matter. "They said, 'We're wiser now, we can make it work this time,' " recalls St. George. "I could see that I couldn't stop this train."
It barreled through. The two men never agreed to much more than a mutual goal, which boiled down to this: let's get rich. Did that mean focusing on certain niches? Would each be satisfied with 15% growth in pretax earnings a year? "I kept asking, 'What happens if things go sour?' " recalls St. George. "But they had their minds made up."
The negotiations were simple, swift, and flawed. When Eisenberg and Pannell became partners again, there still was no structured understanding between them.
It was a troubling omen. Partners often use a contract to air fundamental differences and to set up certain tools to ensure effective communication. (See "Ways of Making You Talk," page 6.) When there is no contract, they often drift toward what Mardy Grothe, a psychologist who specializes in partnerships, refers to as "gunnysacking." By that, he means that partners quietly stuff injustices in a mental pouch until one of them -- in this case, Eisenberg -- explodes.
The resentment usually takes time to build. Most partners enjoy a honeymoon as they start out. But Eisenberg felt slighted from day one. Many of the differences that began to upset him were not especially significant; the misunderstandings, in fact, fell within some of the most common areas of dispute between partners. The broad issues will be familiar to anyone in a partnership -- and instructive to those who are considering entering one.
Roughly six months after their partnership tumbled to the ground, Eisenberg and Pannell have yet to pick through the ruins and sort out what truly mattered. "I can't even tell you the real reason we split up," says a tired Pannell. "I don't even know anymore."
It is possible, though, to isolate some of the different strands and examine them closely. What follows are examples of some of the most damaging -- and familiar -- areas of conflict:
* The rescuer syndrome: one partner devaluing the other. Partners need to value each other's contribution to the business. From the start of Eisenberg/Pannell/St. George, though, Eisenberg preferred to think of himself as Pannell's rescuer. "It always sat in the back of my mind that I had saved him," Eisenberg admits. "His was not a viable company." Pannell claims his company "was going to be OK" even if the merger hadn't occurred.
The absolute truth, in this case, doesn't much matter. Eisenberg felt that Pannell should be grateful and should instinctively capitulate to a much wiser mind. Because Pannell wasn't, and didn't, the doomsday clock was wound from day one. Pannell, who confesses that he is "very timid," didn't even try to reset the hands. Mostly, sensing Eisenberg's air of superiority, he quietly begrudged him, collecting the snubs that would provide comforting self-justification when time ran out. "We were coming home every day and saying, 'Gee, I can't believe he did that today,' " recalls Pannell.
From the start, Eisenberg sought confirmation that Pannell was the weaker half. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, he found evidence. Unless he looked in Pannell's office, in which case he found nothing -- not even Pannell, who had left early again.
Or that's how Eisenberg began to see it. In his mind, he started measuring how much time Pannell put in. By his standards -- which were never shared -- Pannell was always coming up short. Never mind that Pannell was just starting a family. Eisenberg wanted Pannell to be at the company as much as he was. To be specific, all the time. "This company is my life," says Eisenberg, who is divorced. "I do not have anything else." As for Pannell -- remember, he would have had nothing had Eisenberg not lifted him from the squalor that was Pannell/St.George. And this, thought Eisenberg, is how he repays me?
Though he had known Pannell for 20 years, Eisenberg convinced himself that he was suddenly privy to an insight into his buddy's character: the man's work ethic wasn't up to the goals they had set.
There was, naturally, no shortage of evidence.
When Pannell refused to hop on a plane to New York to placate a grumpy client, Eisenberg saw only a lack of aggressiveness. Then there were the Federal Express receipts that showed Pannell had been doing some pro bono work.
And how could Eisenberg ever get the painting lessons out of his mind? At a particularly stressful time, when a big account had just clarified its intentions of becoming a midsize account, Eisenberg happened to walk by Pannell's office and hear something infuriating. "Cap wasn't on the phone getting new clients," he reports. "He was arranging painting lessons." Outraged, Eisenberg immediately let his dissatisfaction be known -- to Brinkman. "He screamed about it," she recalls. Never mentioned it to Pannell, though. So Eisenberg had no way of knowing that Pannell never even took any painting lessons. And anyway, says Pannell, "I was going to do it on my own time. It was none of his damn business."
* Culture shock: merging everything but values. It couldn't have been that much of a surprise. Carol St. George was pregnant when the partners first reunited, so it followed that she would give birth to a baby shortly after Eisenberg and Pannell brought forth their second business. But the child's presence fed into a fundamental and deeply divisive question that neither of them had the stomach to confront: What kind of company are we building?
Here was the deal: Eisenberg had agreed, says Pannell, that "we could have the baby at the office with us, with a nanny." Come January 1989, the baby took an office -- with no caretaker in sight.
Eisenberg wasn't thrilled. "I tried to put up with it," he says. But Eisenberg hated it when Ben's blubbering pierced the air at Tuesday morning management meetings. He fumed when he found that the only thing some art directors were drawing was baby-sitting duty.
By the time a nanny came aboard, Eisenberg was inconsolable. "The nanny left at 4:30, anyway," he grouses. Instead of approaching Pannell with his many complaints, he mainly shared them with others. Pannell, who admits to having "a hard time saying what is on my mind," seemed to be hoping Eisenberg would mistake the baby for an unusually fresh-faced employee. "We should have responded sooner," admits Pannell. "We made a mistake." Bigger than they knew.
* The outsiders: allowing pseudo-partners to change the balance. Given that her name was one of the three above the receptionist's desk, most people assumed Carol St. George was a partner. She wasn't -- at least not on paper. Let's just say she held special privileges among employees, as the only one, for instance, who didn't have to do kitchen cleanup. "She was perceived as an owner," says Todd Hart, a designer. "Nobody ever said otherwise."
Pannell thought of her as co-creative director. "We were a team," he says proudly.
The distinction might not have mattered, were there no differences between a partner and an employee. But partners need to huddle on various decisions. And every time Eisenberg called Pannell into his office, Pannell brought St. George with him. Feeling outnumbered, Eisenberg dragged in Brinkman. "He felt so ganged up on that he pulled me into meetings so it would be two against two," recalls Brinkman. It was an excellent formation for a round of Red Rover, but hardly productive for decision making.
Given that tension, it was inevitable that Eisenberg should start to feel hostile toward the woman whom he perceived as wrecking the balance between him and his partner. "In the old days," Eisenberg says in chilly tones, "Cap and I seemed able to work out anything."
Not really, of course. But that's how Eisenberg felt. And the role he finally found for St. George was that of scapegoat. "I saw Cap's wife as a great asset," says Eisenberg. "But I didn't think of her influence on him. I think she resented me."
St. George, for her part, simply regrets allowing the unspoken hostility to grow. "Early on, Arthur made noises about how difficult it was to have a married couple there," she recalls. "But I don't think it registered with us. That was kind of dumb on our part."
Gradually, these differences and others convinced Eisenberg that his fears were well founded: Pannell was stomping all over the kindness he had shown in taking him in. Of course, he never expressed his feelings to Pannell; by the time he tried, he was so choked with frustration that he couldn't control his anger.
In May 1990, about 18 months into their partnership, Eisenberg called Pannell and St. George into his office for a parley. Four or five things were bothering him, Eisenberg said, and he had made a list.
It started with Eisenberg -- the omnipresent and awkward Brinkman at his side -- demanding that Pannell do more hands-on creative work. Sure, Arthur, Pannell said, if that's what you want. From there, the dialogue deteriorated into a rambling tantrum. "I'm trying to do everything you want me to do," Pannell pleaded. "I stay up late at night trying to figure out, What does Arthur want?" Eisenberg went on to accuse the two of coasting. It was time, he yelled, that they proved themselves worth the equity they had received.
That did it. Pannell was tired of feeling he was being tested. He simply threw up his hands, shouted, "I quit!" and stormed out.
He would have done well not to come back. The next morning Eisenberg apologized. Eisenberg didn't feel especially bad, but he says he was somehow convinced that apologizing was the thing to do. "In some way, it got resolved that the things bothering me shouldn't bother me," he says.
Nevertheless, those feelings hadn't changed at all -- well, maybe a tad. For the worse, though. What Pannell had said about pleasing Eisenberg, in fact, inflamed him more. "That is not how a partner thinks," says Eisenberg.
Pannell, Eisenberg began telling himself, was simply not partner material. And now the injustices piled up faster and faster. Partners are grateful for any clients they have; they don't complain that "only great clients will enable us to do great work," as Pannell said. Partners don't refuse, for any reason, to go to client meetings. And if there's one thing that partners never, ever do, it is this: they don't ask for vacations. Possibly it goes without saying -- it did, of course, in this case -- that partners don't take one of the company's other top people with them when they do go away.
At first Pannell asked for three weeks last August. After some negotiations with Eisenberg, Pannell and St. George settled on two. In Eisenberg's mind "things had been deteriorating" since he had unleashed his garbled list of demands, four months earlier. Aside from the constant irritations, the company wasn't doing so hot. "We were pitching new business and not getting it," he admits. "I was trying to analyze why." One possible explanation: the quality of the work. And the creative force behind that work? "I lost a bit of confidence in the way Cap was directing creative," he says.
There wasn't a whole lot of that confidence to spare, especially in light of Pannell and St. George's vacation plans. "We're a small company," Eisenberg notes. "It leaves too much of a void."
Eisenberg apparently felt no void during that particular holiday. "Arthur would say, 'Hey, this place is running just fine without them,' " recalls Brent Anderson, then a designer there. Eisenberg seemed to be rediscovering his love of creative; nobody, he suddenly remembered, goes into design to become a salesperson. "My heart is in creative," he says. And there was no need, he determined, for two hearts.
As they rounded a corner toward home, coming back from their vacation on a Sunday night, Pannell turned to his wife and said, "I'll bet Arthur has been having a ball without us." He was joking, mostly. But as soon as he walked in Monday morning, he says, "I noticed he was absolutely not pleased that we had come back." On Thursday Eisenberg invited them to a meeting to discuss some business issues.
When they got there, he and Brinkman were waiting. Eisenberg began abruptly and honestly; he already felt he had been discouraged from being as forceful as he wanted at the earlier meeting. "Since you've been gone," he started, "I've been happier than I have been in a long time." It took only another sentence or two to get to the last line: "I'd like to discontinue the relationship."
There was too much to talk about; there was nothing to say. Everyone sat quietly for another moment. "If you don't want me around," Pannell said, "I don't want to be around." Added St. George, "I guess you are firing us" -- still, Eisenberg thought, sounding nothing like a partner.
"No," Eisenberg said, "I'm not saying that." After all, a partner can't fire a partner, he told himself. "When do you want us to leave?" St. George asked. "I don't know," said Eisenberg, sounding nervous. He worried they would ask him if there was any way to work it out. "No," he'd say, "I've made up my mind that after two years of trying, it is over with."
Now, looking at Pannell's face, he wasn't sure he could go through with that. He didn't have to. Pannell, who "didn't start getting mad until later," got up and left.
"I was afraid I might lose my temper or something," Pannell says. "This is the second time this guy has pulled the plug on me. Twice I've had to reorganize my life and my business. The second time wasn't equitable at all.
"It was humiliating. We had to pack everything we had ourselves. Everybody was watching us, all the employees. He didn't offer us anything. I can't bring myself to think we were treated right.
"My mistake was that I didn't act the way he acted when he was concerned about a client. He expects everyone to be like him. Arthur never takes vacations.
"A lot of people loved Arthur and not me, or vice versa. It was a very nice combination. When Arthur ran out of steam at a presentation, I could pick right up. The business always did well. I don't understand this breakup, and I do not like him at all."
There was a chance that Eisenberg and Pannell's breakup could have remained civil.
If they'd started out with a signed contract resolving some tough but necessary questions about their partnership (see "Popping the Big Questions," page 6), the breakup might have been amicable. They did work on a contract, but in vintage Eisenberg/Pannell style, it simply wandered aimlessly between their advisers for nearly two years. There was always something not quite right with it. For example, Pannell's adviser, Joe Glover, a local businessman, felt uncomfortable with the formula that explained how Pannell would earn up to 49% equity from the 10% he received at the outset. "As long as we had no contract, I wasn't obligated to do anything," says Eisenberg. "I don't know Cap's motivation for not wanting to sign it." Neither, apparently, does Pannell. "I got the distinct impression we were being put off," he says.
There, in a nutshell, is the dynamic that destroyed Eisenberg/Pannell/St. George: Eisenberg's lack of clarity versus Pannell's passiveness.
Hoping to avoid litigation, Eisenberg offered a settlement a few days after their talk. The numbers so offended Pannell that he went out and hired a lawyer. "After that, Arthur stopped talking to us," complains Pannell. Back and forth the numbers went. "It got crazy and abusive and vengeful," recalls Eisenberg. When the agreement was signed, on September 14, 1990, Pannell still wasn't happy. He was low on savings, he says, and "it got to the point where they were starving us out." Though both signed a paper agreeing not to disclose the final settlement, no observer would characterize it as an overly generous sum -- especially considering that revenues rose 50%, to $1.8 million, between fiscal 1988 and fiscal 1990. "As far as I'm concerned," says St. George, "we were used and then discarded."
The couple has run up about $34,000 in debt establishing their new home office. "This is a lot harder," says Pannell, a ceiling fan whirring above his head, soft jazz coming from the radio. "But I'm going to be a lot happier." He has not seen Eisenberg since August; he barely avoided running into him at an art store, and they ducked each other at a recent chili cook-off. "I have no desire to see him," says Pannell. "I'd accept an apology, but I'm sure he doesn't think one is necessary."
Eisenberg toils in their former offices, padding around on soft black carpeting, scrutinizing presentations on a $7,000 Japanese coffee table (no nails). For a few months, he called the company The New Eisenberg; lately, he switched it to Eisenberg and Associates, to show his faith in his employees. Not long after the split, he changed his hairstyle, slicking down his unruly curls. "If Cap and I were at a party, we'd shake hands and talk about old times. It hasn't come up recently," he assures. "There's a lingering . . . is the word sadness? . . . I'm the one who instigated getting back together. I wanted it to work out, and it didn't." He pauses. "I think Carol is pretty bitter," he adds. "But I think Cap was as unhappy as I was. He probably wanted out of the situation, too.
"It is real lonely, and it is hard at times," Arthur Eisenberg says. "I wish I knew what he felt."
Three steps that could save your partnership
Face it. There's only one way to work out your differences with your partner: get a personality transplant.
At least that's how it can feel sometimes. But instead of allowing your frustration to reach that point, there are several tools you can try -- right away -- to improve communication. It doesn't matter which ones you choose, as long as you stay true to the goal: minimizing emotions in favor of rational thinking.
Here are some formal problem-detection tools:
* Write a Business Plan. Your banker will undoubtedly want a peek at it before lending you any money, but a plan also clarifies your understanding with each other. It forces you to put down on paper, and agree upon, what the business should look like. By checking against it every month, you can discuss difficult issues -- why are production costs so much higher than we expected? -- without resorting to blame.
* Assemble a Board Of Advisers. The logic here is simple: outsiders provide partners with a source of independent and objective input. A well-constructed board can break stalemates, offer valuable advice, and make recommendations on ticklish issues such as salary. In times of genuine crisis -- the death of a partner, say -- the board can steer the business through. There are subtler benefits, too: a board provides a discreet form of accountability for each partner.
* Take a Retreat. Most entrepreneurs focus on success, not relationships; just talk to any entrepreneur's spouse or kids. But even if you keep intending to talk about the more personal aspects of your partnership, it's easy to get waylaid by that presentation that's due on Thursday. Instead, take two days and get beyond topics like boosting sales. Ask each other: Do you feel satisfied with the partnership? Are you happy with my contribution? What do we need to do differently to get along better?
What to find out before taking on a partner
It isn't hard to catch the killer of most partnerships. In the end the culprits usually become obvious: the lack of planning up front and the failure to think things through. "The greatest weakness is not that people want to screw each other," says Joe Glover, chief operations officer of a small conglomerate, and Cap Pannell's top adviser. "It's that they don't have clearly defined agendas. Mutual dreams aren't enough."
What follows are some difficult questions that would-be partners need to explore before getting serious about teaming up:
1. What's Our Business Concept? This is a big, broad topic, and sometimes it helps to ask a third party to listen in, just to see if partners are on each other's wavelength. First you need to decide who will make the widgets and who will sell them. Then you need to talk about growth. Are we building the company to sell it, or are we after long-term growth? It's also important to discuss exactly how the business will be run. Do we want participative management, or will employees simply hunker down at machines and churn out parts? "If one guy is a fist pounder with a do-it-as-I-say mentality and the other believes that people ought to feel good about their jobs, that probably represents an irreconcilable difference," says Sam Lane, a Fort Worth consultant who works with partners.
2. How Are We Going to Structure Ownership? It sounds great for two people to scratch out 50-50 on a cocktail napkin and leave it at that. But in practice, splitting the company down the middle can paralyze the business. If neither is willing to settle for 49%, then build some arbitration into your partnership agreement.
3. Why Do We Need Each Other? "I thought it would be much less scary with two of us," says Arthur Eisenberg, explaining his rationale for teaming up with Cap Pannell. That may be so, but bringing on a partner means sharing responsibility and authority. "If you are taking on a partner because you are afraid of going it alone, find some other way to handle the anxiety," advises Mardy Grothe, a psychologist.
4. How Do Our Lifestyles Differ? The fact that one partner is single and the other has a family, for instance, can affect more than just the time each puts in. It may mean that one partner needs to pull more money out of the business. Or it may affect a partner's willingness to take risks with the company. "All of this stuff needs to get talked out," says Peter Wylie, a psychologist who works with Mardy Grothe. "The implications are profound."


text:
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Makes Exceptional Use of Wii Motion Controls
Today's Best Tech Deals
Picked by PCWorld's Editors
Top Deals On Great Products
Picked by Techconnect's Editors
Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Wii Remote really is a remarkably versatile little controller. At its best, it offers a degree of precision not found with traditional controllers, and completely transforms games in the process. But until now, its never quite been able to make good on the promise it demonstrated back in 2006.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword does its best to make good on all that nebulous potential. And for the most part, it succeeds. It's not far removed from Twilight Princess and its ilk, but key design decisions make it one of the very few Wii games that I can't imagine playing on any other console. It's proof, if any was needed, that smart design goes hand-in-hand with good motion controls.
Enemies encounters are now like a puzzle of sorts, where simply swinging the Wii Remote is apt to result in blocks and even painful counterattacks. The need for a more considered approach is never more apparent than in the first dungeon, which features a boss who mocks and chastises your swordplay as you try to break his defenses. It's frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, normal controllers almost start to feel primitive. I'm playing Skyrim right now, and it feels like my hands are tied behind my back.
That's pretty much what I was expecting from the very beginning out of the Wii, and it's a shame that it's taken this long for it to happen. But hey, better later than never, I suppose.
Link's other tools all make use of the new motion controls in one way or another. The slingshot and the bow make use of classic pointer-style aiming; bombs can now be bowled, Wii Sports-style; and the traditional musical instrument is directed by swinging the remote in time to the music. Even more importantly, the tools are all useful for pretty much the entire game. No more one-and-done gadgets ala Twilight Princess's Spinner (exception: the Slingshot, which quickly falls by the wayside, as usual).
Some of it has to do with Skyward Sword's impeccably designed dungeons; some of it has to do with the fact that it takes a page from Metroid. Like its fellow Nintendo franchise, Skyward Sword will occasionally return to previously explored dungeons -- something rarely seen in a Zelda game -- where old tools once again become new, and new tools are given new applications. Moreover, many of the tools have a variety of applications, such as scouting and negotiating chasms.
The downside of this new approach is that the franchise's trademark exploration is significantly downplayed for this entry. And by "downplayed," I mean that it's practically non-existent. Instead, the floating island of Skyloft focuses more like a hub from which each of the game's regions can be accessed. The new treasure system -- hidden items that can be used to upgrade existing tools -- would seem to provide an impetus for striking out into the world, but the new abilities bestowed on the tools are more or less superfluous. Even a more powerful bow and arrow didn't do a whole lot for me.
To Nintendo's credit, Skyward Sword is absolutely packed with content. There's hardly any fluff to be found in the 35 hours or so it takes to complete the main quest, outside of the typically sluggish opening scenes. But I feel like Zelda should be going back to its roots and becoming less linear, rather than moreso. It's a curious decision, and I'm not sure it'll sit particularly well with longtime Zelda fans.
And as much as I like Skyward Swords' first boss fight, I feel like the adventure as a whole takes a while to find its feet. The second dungeon in particular feels like business as usual, down to the fact that it follows the traditional Forest Temple-Fire Temple pattern. It's not until around the second half that it really gets going, and that may not be quick enough for more casual observers of the series.
But Nintendo shows their design chops soon enough, and the latter dungeons are absolutely glorious. The fifth dungeon in particular ranks among my favorite Zelda dungeons of all time, even edging ahead of the Yeti Hut in Twilight Princess. But even at their worst, all of Skyward Sword's dungeon feature splendid traversal puzzles that require a high degree of spacial awareness to solve. I'm especially pleased that Nintendo has opted to favor more organic challenges over traditional "push the box" puzzles. Skyward Swords' best challenges can offer a hundred different views of one room, making even the smallest dungeons feel gigantic.
All that I said, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the "Silent Realms," which feel like a throwback to the much reviled stealth puzzles in Phantom Hourglass. The Silent Realms are nothing more than timed collect-a-thons where even one mistake can wipe out five or ten minutes worth of progress. Put against the more organic nature of the dungeons, the Silent Realms stand out like a sore thumb.
Apart from these minor hiccups though, Skyward Sword is a remarkably well-designed adventure with some superb boss encounters, the best of which seamlessly integrate the motion controls that lay at the heart of the experience. Its main sins are that its a bit of a slow starter and lacks the exploration that has long been one of the franchise's strengths. And even the terrific new motion controls aren't apt to alleviate the burnout some fans might be feeling after a decade's worth of 3D Zelda titles.
Nevertheless, it's a good, well-designed adventure that does much to redeem five years of motion controlled shovelware. When I look back on it, I think I'll mainly remember the combat -- not something I've ever said about a Zelda title. Whether that's enough to push it into the upper echelons of the franchise is for history to decide. But for now, the Wii can rest knowing that its potential has finally been realized.
This story, "Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Makes Exceptional Use of Wii Motion Controls" was originally published by GamePro.
Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Wii gets one last chance to make good on its potential in Link's latest adventure. Is Nintendo successful, or were we really better off with traditional controllers after all?
- Motion controls are top feature of the Wii
- Tools are useful throughout entire game
- Well-designed, original dungeons
- Lack of a massive open-world
- Silent Realms are tiring collect-a-thons
- Takes a bit to really find its creative footing
Coupon Codes
Walmart Promo Code
Walmart promo code for an additional $10 off grocery app orders
Skinstore Coupon
SkinStore coupon - 30% off Soap & Glory & DERMAdoctor
Foreo Coupon
FOREO promo code: Extra 17% off sitewide
Target Coupon
Target deal - 50% off rugs
Sam's Club Coupons
Sam's Club offer - $45 for a membership
Backcountry Coupon
Save 50% on The North Face mountain sneaker at Backcountry

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Xin Pendant
Jewelry Design Focus: Xin Pendant
A Good Jewelry design example, the Xin is a creative Pendant design. Xin was designed in 2011, and here is a how it is described by its designer: Xin pendant was inspired by our hearts, the inner carvings signify the emotions that we have buried inside and the form resembles the section of a heart.
Xin Pendant Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Design Publication homepage.


text:
A new generation may now be calling the shots
"The Times They Are a-Changin'" was the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in 1964, midstream of a decade of racial unrest, rising poverty, social change and a growing anti-war movement that relished in tunes such as "The Draft Dodger Rag," by another protest singer, Phil Ochs. It was the generation of love, sex and flower power.
Today that generation is coming of age and with it, the times they are a-changin ... again.
On Tuesday for the first time, voters approved same-sex marriage by popular vote. It happened in Maine and Maryland. In Washington state and Colorado, "voters set up a showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of marijuana," as The Associated Press put it.
In another gay-rights victory, according to the AP, Minnesota voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in the state. Similar measures were approved in 30 other states, most recently in North Carolina in May.
All this argues that the free spirit and socially libertarian nature of the 1960s is coming of age. And in doing so, it is moving to seize the day.
But gay rights and legalizing recreational use of pot are not the only areas flower power is showing its muscle.
Oklahoma voters decided it was time for real equality among the races. There, they approved a measure that eliminates all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education and contracting practices. Similar steps have been taken previously in Arizona, California, Michigan, Nebraska and Washington, according to the AP.
In Michigan, flower power helped defeat a first-of-its-kind ballot initiative that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the state constitution, notes the AP. It is just one more blow to the union movement which was once cherished by moms and dads of Haight-Ashbury's legions.
There was a time, well within the memories of older baby boomers, when such votes would have been heretical — a strike against the moral fiber of the nation. But for much of the country that time has ebbed.
Those who came of age in the late 1950s and 1960s were raised during a starkly different time than their parents. War was no longer a noble cause and government oppression was seen emanating from Washington, not Moscow. Instead of waiting for societal mores to change in an incremental fashion, this generation became impatient to the task. Rather than protest and picket as was once the fashion, they have learned to take their issues to the polls and to lobby others to their cause — especially today's college-age voters.
This has resulted in a tide of tolerance and acceptance that appears to be working itself across the nation, one election after another. It is one that has also encompassed support for abortion, access to contraception and an openness to sexual issues in general.
One reason for Tuesday's Democratic Party victories may be a recognition of this changing tide. If so, Republicans might be well served by a bit of pruning on the extremes in order to allow the party's root system to be renewed and eventually broaden its reach.
Times are a-changin' ... again
A new generation may now be calling the shots


text:
Besides the good location and price, I chose this hotel because I love the nice design of the rooms from their website. In fact the actual room looked almost the same as their photos! Modern, clean and in my favourite blue. The size of the room is 23sqm, small but adequate for us. Room might be too small to accommodate more than 2 persons though.
The 2 comfortable single beds.
Another view towards the bathroom and door.
The pillows are labelled firm and soft. Such a nice touch!
Clearer view of the room during the day. One sleeper sofa and one work chair.
Phone, iPod docking station, switches and universal power plugs all by the bed. So important for me cos I can charge and use my phone while lying on the bed. Their Wifi was fast and reliable too!
The TV area with 32 inch LCD TV. There's a mini fridge below which is empty.
Work station and chair on the right.
There is no room service. But the room has a set of delivery menu for fast food if you need. So special!
The kettle, mugs and instant beverages. 2 complimentary mineral water bottles provided.
I was so looking forward to a room on a high floor with great city view. However despite requesting it during booking and private email, I still got a room view like this because they said not available during my check-in. Full-length window but it was facing another building so close that we could see what people were doing. (It applied the opposite way too, so close the curtains for privacy). This was the biggest disappointment for this hotel.
The bathroom is simple and clean.
It is Holiday Inn Express concept to be environmental friendly. Only a few toiletries are provided.
You can request for other toiletries at the reception if you need. But we didn't as we brought ours. Towels will be reused unless you place them on the floor to indicate change needed. I think it applies for the bed sheets too if I remember correctly.
Hairdryer and handwash dispenser.
Hand held showerhead with good pressure and heat. Not bad. Again the soap and shampoo is provided in the dispenser.
Toilet and sufficient towels provided.
There's something about hotel's bathroom which I find it rather strange. Maybe I'm not well-travelled enough? :) From my few recent hotel stays, the one we stay in Hong Kong, at MBS and here, all the bathrooms door cannot be locked! Why? It's ok if we are staying with adult family or close friends, but kind of awkward if you are in the room with not-so-close people right? Even with children too, because you won't know when they will just come into the bathroom while you are bathing! Haha! Hotels these days also often come with see-through bathrooms! Not in this room though.
The door in the bathroom is very special too. It is a 'double door' which can be either a bathroom door when closed or become the shower room door when fully opened! So let's say someone needs to use the toilet urgently, can use it without peeping the other one having shower. Lol!
There's another side of the room which I didn't take any photos. The usual things in a hotel room, like wardrobe with hangers, in room safe, slippers etc.
Let's explore outside the room. Our room number.
Very blue corridor and a bit dark.
There is not much facilities in this hotel. Only 3 floors actually.
A small lobby area at the ground floor. The staff speak good English, very polite and friendly as well. The check-in and check-out was very fast too.
Internet stations with free wifi and seating area.
Clean toilets.
The highest level in the hotel is at 24th floor. There is a Fitness Room and a Rooftop Garden.
The gym if you need to exercise and
The garden area. Very empty. Nobody was here the 2 times I went up. Funny!
The reason to be here. The view of the Bangkok city! Well, if you get a room with great view, you don't have to come up here to see. (Still complaining) :(
BTS track is just below us. So near!
Sunrise in Bangkok.
Mercure/Ibis Hotel, which I initially want to stay here, is very near to Holiday Inn Express.
Up here the second time for the night scenery. Camera is horrible for night photos.
At the 7th floor, there is a meeting room (no photo), a self-service laundry room and vending machine.
The Great Room where buffet breakfast is served every morning. After breakfast hours, they do not provide food and the place is served as a lounge for resting and gathering.
The hotel provides very simple breakfast. The selection was mostly the same for 3 days and tasted pretty average. But enough for a quick start for the day.
Bread and pastry section
Automated machine for coffee, tea or hot chocolate. I must have the hot chocolate every morning. It was so good!
Fresh fruits and fruit juices
Salad and 3 types of yogurt everyday.
Chicken sausage same same everyday.
Eggs, scrambled or omelette, on alternate days.
3 different types of rice served on the 3 different days.
Mum lucky to have vegetarian rice on the 2nd day.
Milk and cereal.
Our choice for breakfast for the 3 days. The Holiday Inn's signature Cinnamon Rolls was nice!
Holiday Inn Express offers grab & go for breakfast. You grab a cup of coffee and snacks using the disposable cups and bags if you are in a hurry. So convenient for the hotel guests!
We like to seat by the window and watch the street outside the hotel.
BTS track just beside the hotel. Many attempts before getting a decent photo of skytrain passing by. :)
The hotel facade.
Outdoor garden. But too hot to sit outside. Haha!
Security guard outside the hotel and it is very safe.
By the road.
The location is good because it is just few steps away from National Stadium BTS.
There is a 7-11 and supermarket nearby too. It is quite quiet on the street outside the hotel though, in terms of street food and shopping. But big shopping malls like MBK, Siam Square, Siam Paragon are all within walking distance.
Mum thinks I'm crazy, took so many photos of the hotel. But only free and easy with her then I can have the free time to explore around the hotel. Plus hotel is not that big. :) I find it quite interesting actually, no? Haha!
Overall we had a great stay here. Good location, value for money. We were impressed by the service of the staff here. Mum accidentally left a hat in the Great Room after breakfast before 7am on Day 3. We went for the half day tour and came back after 1pm. Went back there to look for it and the staff actually kept for us! The security in front of the hotel was very friendly too. Greeted us everytime, helped with the luggages, called taxi and even opened the vehicle doors for every hotel guests.
If you want to know, Holiday Inn Express is located all over the world. There's another one in Bangkok Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn and Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 due to open in 4th quarter of 2014.
2 in Singapore too. Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road and Holiday Inn Express Singapore Clarke Quay. But pricey lah!
Although Holiday Inn Express concept is no-frills and self-catering with basic facilities and services at affordable price, the design and comfort level exceeded my expectation!
Next: BTS and Erawan Shrine


text:
This week's violence on the streets of this sprawling city is one sign of ongoing change. Another, more hopeful, one can be found in Cairo's mosques.
Until the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, the main nuisance caused by the city's hundreds of mosques came from minarets broadcasting the call to prayer. But since "liberation," as Egyptians label the events that led to Mubarak's fall and the holding of free elections, many mosques have been transformed into political clubs — with minarets servings as loudspeakers to broadcast heated debates.
Under Mubarak, the message from government-controlled mosques came in the form of Friday sermons written by scribes at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and faxed to imams on its payroll.
Anyone who wished to hear a different tune had to go to clandestine mosques operated by Islamist groups alternating between semi-legal existence and underground "jihad" against the regime.
All that is beginning to change.
Most clandestine mosques now operate openly, with new mosques being built with money from Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich states.
And the government of President Muhammad Mursi, inspired by an experiment under way in Turkey, has opened discussions about privatizing the state-owned mosques.
The scheme would mean the firing of over 100,000 government preachers, who'd then have to persuade the boards of privatized mosques to hire them. In protest, hundreds of preachers went on strike this week, refusing to deliver the Friday sermon.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a traditional Islamist movement to which Mursi belongs, is positioning itself to get the lion's share in what amounts to a distribution of the spoils — for many mosques are linked to endowment trusts that include real estate, trading companies, farms and factories.
Taken together, Egypt's thousands of endowments account for a good portion of the national economy. Controlling even a slice of that would give Islamist parties a permanent source of finance.
The mosques are also important because they provide Islamist parties, coming out of the shadows, readily available buildings in thousands of towns and villages.
Yet secularist groups also seek to control some mosques, especially in poorer neighborhoods, to offer an alternative to the Islamist discourse.
To compete with secularist parties, Islamists are trying to re-modulate their message, de-emphasizing religious themes and focusing on political issues. "Secularists want to persuade Egyptians to defy the command of Allah," says Muhammad Rizq, the preacher in a mosque in Shibra. "Our duty is to use the pulpit to warn of the dangers of such attitudes for the Islamic ummah."
Many can't yet gauge the emerging landscape. "We are in one big mess," says Adel Ibrahim, who is part of a group seeking to control a mosque south of the capital. "The imams have lost their monopoly on preaching and are forced to allow just anyone to take the microphone and say what he likes. Where will all that end?"
The message coming out of mosques is attracting Egyptians because it sounds new.
Instead of the traditional obsession with "licit" and "illicit" under sharia, the talk is now of pluralism, multiparty politics, transparency, accountability, the rule of law, liberalism, civil society, social reform and economic development. To many Egyptian ears, these phrases sound magical and mysterious.
And the previously forbidden concepts have spread from mosques to teahouses, shops and offices, turning Egypt into a large seminary on politics.
"We don't quite know what all that talk is about," says Latif Jamil, a 22-year-old shop assistant who attended several sessions in a "secular" mosque during Ramadan. "But what I heard sounded good, and I intend to find out what it really means."
One mosque has hosted several sessions on the so-called Turkish and Iranian models of reconciling Islam with modernity. The idea is to help Egyptians shape a model of their own by learning from the mistakes of Turkey and Iran.
Under successive military dictators, Egypt was prevented from playing its traditional role as part of a trio (with Turkey and Iran) of nations that shaped the debate within Islam. With the end of despotism, Egypt means to regain its position.
Under attack in mosques controlled by Salafist parties for his alleged "religious timidity," Mursi counts on his promise of an Egyptian model to broaden his narrow electoral base.


text:
Francesco Yates Performs 'Call' Acoustic [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]
18-year-old Francesco Yates is already garnering some huge buzz from the likes of Pharrell and Justin Timberlake, and it wasn't hard to see why when he performed an acoustic version of his new single, 'Call,' here at PopCrush.
While the studio version of 'Call' is filled with pumped-up electro beats, Yates' PopCrush performance featured nothing but his unbelievable voice and an acoustic guitar, an intimate setting where the curly-haired singer thrives. As he broke out into the falsetto and hit note after note, we were left in awe of the young singer, who has a presence and maturity beyond his years.
In fact, the musician couldn't stop singing during his visit to the PopCrush office, strumming his guitar and making up lyrics on the fly about whatever subject we were talking about at that moment. And that's one of the hallmarks of a true musician -- not only feeling a passion for your craft, but also being able to freestyle at the drop of a hat. Super impressive.
Check out Francesco Yates' acoustic performance of 'Call' in the video above, and be sure to keep it here on PopCrush for our exclusive interview with Francesco, coming soon.


text:
Each renewed item is given an environmental impact score that represents the positive effect of buying renewed instead of new. We are often asked if a high score is better than a low score. The honest answer is no. Extending the life of every single product makes an immediate positive difference. There are no wrong choices when buying Renewed.
We measure the energy, greenhouse gas, water consumption and toxins used in making the original product using LCA data
We weigh every item to count how much is diverted from landfill
Renewal price posted for this renewed item gets recirculated.
Renewal of this product adds to creating re-manufacturing jobs here in the USA.


text:
"There are contract extensions and contract extensions. This is the latter."
Earlier this offseason, Walt Jocketty stepped up and got a long-term extension done with Homer Bailey. Prior to that point, media reports stated that the Reds and Homer were "far apart" in negotiations. Like most Reds fans, conditioned by years of ownership frugality, I had fully expected Homer to walk after the year, but when I saw the arbitration hearing deadline looming on February 20th, it suddenly hit me that this is exactly how Jocketty operates. He waits until there is some type of pressure, some level of urgency for both sides to get a deal done and then he strikes.
More than most GMs, Jocketty seems to operate in shadow. It can make for interesting times for the fan base. It may be his preferred working style. It may allow him to get things done free from scrutiny. But, it can also be a weakness. He doesn't control the message that fans receive. He passes on the chance to control public opinion. That's fine when you're winning, but if things turn south then you run the risk of losing the fan base.
But, this isn't a post about Jocketty's operating style. It's about why the Homer extension and others like it make a tremendous amount of sense for the Reds right now.
There are two types of investment gambles: (1) finding an individual asset in which to invest that you feel is valued inaccurately by the market, or (2) finding flaws in the market itself and betting against the entire system.
An example of the first would be finding a single family dwelling that is priced $50,000 below where it should be. A residence that, because of a solid foundation, an unappreciated chandelier, and a great location is worth more than others realize. So, you buy that asset for less than it's worth and reap the value.
An example of the second would be recognizing that the entire subprime mortgage industry is completely corrupt, setting the entire housing market up for imminent collapse, and betting against the entire system.
The first type of gamble can earn you a tidy profit, the second type of gamble can make you stinking rich...if you invest heavily enough in it.
|Courtesy: Gene Puskar, AP
Homer's contract extension (even if the Reds don't recognize it) actually works well under both investment scenarios.
I support the extension given to Homer Bailey. I support it because of reasons specific to Homer, including his performance line trending upward and his impressive durability. Homer seems like a good individual investment. However, in addition to these Homer-specific reasons, it's an even better idea for systemic reasons.
Revenue is exploding in Major League Baseball and has been for a number of years. However, unlike salary cap leagues that base their salary structure expressly on a percentage of league-wide revenue, MLB relies on market forces to determine the percentage of revenue that will trickle down to the players. One of the big knocks on salary caps is that they are a "wealth transfer" mechanism, shifting money from players to owners. Instead of letting market forces dictate how much of the revenue naturally goes to the players, the percentage that goes to the players is artificially established through collective bargaining. Not surprisingly, market forces typically allocate more revenue to the players than the percentages that are collectively bargained by the owners. However, when the salary structure is determined by a percentage of revenue, it is calculated on an annual basis. As a result, salary cap systems more quickly allocate revenue gains to player salaries than market forces, even if those slower market forces eventually allocate a significantly greater share of the new revenue to player salaries.
Currently, the revenue in Major League Baseball is increasing at such a massive rate that the percentage trickling down to player salaries is lagging behind. It just can't trickle down fast enough to keep pace with the new revenue, resulting in the percentage of league-wide revenue that is allocated to the players falling far below where it used to be. As of now, the MLB percentage has even fallen below the percentage of revenue that salary cap sports (NHL players receive 50% of Hockey Related Revenue; NBA players receive 49-51% of Basketball Related Revenue) mandate be allocated to player salaries.
What this creates is an opportunity for teams bold enough to grab it. As it stands, players are being paid based on an outdated reality. Player salaries haven't caught up to the revenue boom, so players are being paid less than they should be.
In short, the owners are living in the luxurious "new revenue" world, but are still paying costs under the "old revenue" reality.
Baseball contracts are largely pulled upward by the contracts of superstar players. As their contracts are extended or they receive a free agent contract, those contracts set the market for everyone below. The new market creates upward pressure on the salaries of all players below. Unfortunately, those deals don't come up all that often, so it may take awhile for those deals to reset salary expectations. That is clearly starting to happen with the recent deals for Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera, but it seems clear that there are still bargains to be had because the percentage of total revenue that goes to MLB salaries is lower than standard business practices would dictate.
Here are some rough numbers to illustrate the point:
Major League Baseball Salaries as a Percentage of MLB Revenues, Salaries per Cot's Contracts
2000: 50.02%
2001: 53.08%
2002: 56.24%
2003: 54.55%
2004: 46.03%
2005: 43.84%
2006: 41.55%
2007: 40.64%
2008: 41.33%
2009: 40.40%
2010: 40.12%
2011: 41.10%
2012: 40.14%
2013: 39.79%
Major League Baseball Salaries as a Percentage of MLB Revenues, Salaries per Lahman Database
2000: 49.00%
2001: 52.99%
2002: 56.34%
2003: 54.70%
2004: 46.05%
2005: 43.85%
2006: 41.53%
2007: 40.69%
2008: 41.40%
2009: 40.48%
2010: 38.91%
2011: 39.82%
2012: 39.10%
2013: --------
Again, what's important is the trend line, not the specific percentages. Under each salary calculation, the percentage of revenue that goes to player salaries has fallen ~10% since the 2000 season. Forbes just reported, citing to The Associated Press, that Major League Baseball spent $3,767,445,277 on total player salaries in 2013, representing 47% of total league wide revenues. So, Forbes is obviously calculating salaries differently (and, probably more accurately), but, despite the different methodology, 47% is still significantly lower than in previous years.
As it stands, the percentage may not catch up until revenue growth slows, but it seems very likely that owners will eventually, and naturally, spend what they used to spend on players. So, if the market for players isn't reflecting the "true" percentage of revenue that typically goes to players, then there are bargains to be had system-wide.
If owners are spending a lower percentage of their total revenue on labor costs, then they can afford, and will ultimate be forced, to spend more. They have shown in the past that they can effectively operate their business while paying more for labor costs. If the market for labor is lagging behind the revenue, then longer term contracts that take advantage of this disparity make sense. If you can lock in talent at the current "lower percentage of revenue labor market rate", then you can lock in a below market rate for years to come. Act before the market correction and you are ensuring significant cost savings, which would seem to mitigate much of the risk of a signing someone like Homer Bailey in the first place.
If the Reds were smart, then they'd lock up desirable assets to long-term deals now, BEFORE the market correction arrives. One asset I'd look to lock up right now is Tony Cingrani.
|Courtesy: Tom Uhlman, AP
And, it's a good bet from a systemic point of view, as there are two scenarios where this type of contract would pay off:
- Either revenues level off, but the % of revenue that goes to labor costs increases back to more "normal" levels, or
- Revenues continue to grow, making it irrelevant whether the % of revenue increases back to more normal levels.
Basically, this type of extension would pay off if (1) the future slice of the pie that goes to players increases or (2) the whole pie continues to grow. Either way, any contract signed under today's market reality is a potential bargain because both scenarios reflect continuing market escalation. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure I see any scenario OTHER THAN continuing market escalation playing out over the next 5 to 7 years.
I'm higher on Cingrani than most, so that needs to be factored in, but I think there's very likely a deal here that makes sense. If you consider the deal the Rays handed to Matt Moore as a baseline, then I think it would make a lot of sense. So, let's revisit it:
Matt Moore lhp
5 years/$14M (2012-16), plus 2017-19 options; signed extension with Tampa Bay 12/9/11
$0.5M signing bonus
12:$1M, 13:$1M, 14:$1M, 15:$3M, 16:$5M, 17:$7M club option ($2.5M buyout), 18:$9M club option ($1M buyout), 19:$10M club option ($0.75M buyout)
2017 club option increases by $0.5M with 600 IP in 2014-16
2018 club option increases by $0.25M each with 1) 85 starts or 570 IP in 2015-17, 2) 90 starts or 600 IP and 3) 95 starts or 630 IP
2019 club option increases by $0.5M each with 1) 98 starts or 600 IP in 2016-18 and 2) 66 starts or 400 IP 2017-18
The Rays signed Matt Moore to this extension after he had thrown something like 10 MLB innings. Now, the key to this deal making sense is the existence of team options. Contracts are substantially about risk allocation, the team option years shift that allocation more favorably in the direction of the team. The Rays were undoubtedly comfortable handing this type of deal out because (1) Moore had a longer minor league track record of success and (2) was more highly regarded than Cingrani.
The Moore extension was signed prior to the 2012 season, but it was also given to a pitcher with (arguably) less risk and more certainty. So, maybe a similar deal (maybe a couple million needs to be tacked on to each year's salary) could be struck now, as Cingrani's higher level of risk would help offset inflation and the revenue explosion. And, seriously, how much risk is there in that Matt Moore deal? He's set to earn $9M and $10M in 2018 and 2019? Is there ANY scenario, other than injury, in which a lefthanded pitcher with a mid-90s fastball ISN'T worth that?
Given what Clayton Kershaw just signed for and, hell, what Jason Vargas just signed for, I see very few ways in which this type of deal DOESN'T pan out. If Jason Vargas is worth $8.5M NOW, then what are the odds that Cingrani ISN'T worth ~$12M in 2019?
Personally, I think an extension for Tony Cingrani is something that should be seriously considered. Given the explosion of revenue and the lag in it trickling down to player salaries, it seems like there are more ways for this type of deal to pay off than not. Realistically, how much risk is there in a ~$12M salary in 2018 and 2019?
If I could extend Tony through his first 6 years AND get a team option year or two, then I'd jump at the chance to do it. Now is the time to spend. Take advantage of the league-wide financial conditions and the fact that Tony's reputation has yet to catch up to his performance level. Waiting, even a year, could change both of those realities. Kershaw type contracts and a top flight year by Tony would make this opportunity far less likely to happen.
The Reds were smart enough to lock up Homer Bailey under the current, below-market salary structure, but in order to get really wealthy they need to double down in their bet against the system. There is a low risk, high reward opportunity right now to exploit a systemic inefficiency. Right now, it's as much about being right about this systemic inefficiency as it is being right about the player who will receive an extension. In fact, the former will mitigate the risk of being wrong about the latter.
Sign Tony BEFORE the market correction arrives!!!


text:
U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Weekly Update for March 4
Bill Kauffman
USA Volleyball Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
Email: email@example.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 4, 2013) - The current U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Weekly update released on March 4 includes briefs on U.S. players.
TOM BLACK ADDED TO NATIONAL TEAM STAFF: Tom Black, the current head coach of the Loyola Marymount University women's volleyball team, has accepted an assistant coach position with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, as announced by head coach Karch Kiraly on Monday. "The Olympic Games is our sport's biggest stage, and I am truly honored and humbled to work alongside Karch and his staff throughout this quad," Black said. "Karch is an iconic figure in our sport, but over the past three years I have had the privilege of getting to know him well while working closely with him as a coach, and there is no better person to lead this program toward the 2016 Games. I am so excited to learn under Karch, as well as provide my best efforts for our program and these wonderful athletes in the USA gym." Black, who joins Kiraly and assistant coach Reed Sunahara on the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team coaching staff, will continue in his head coach role at LMU while serving on the Team USA staff for the first two years of the Olympic quadrennial before taking a sabbatical at LMU for the 2015 season. For the complete release, click here.
A LOOK AHEAD: Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), a middle blocker for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, has helped her Azerbaijan club team Rabita Baku into the CEV Champions League semifinals and will face Italy's Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio on March 9. The Italian team has Americans Juliann Faucette (San Diego) and Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, Calif.) competing in the semifinal match. The match can be seen live online at 4 a.m. PT on March 9 by clicking here. The winner will face the opposite semifinal victor between Turkish rivals Vakifbank Istanbul and Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul in the championship match on March 10.
HOOKER WITH RUSSIA'S DINAMO KRASNODAR: Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas), who earned the Best Spiker Award at the 2012 Olympic Games while helping the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team to the silver medal, is competing for Dinamo Krasnodar in the Russia Super League this winter. In the CEV Challenge Cup, Krasnodar defeated LP Salo 25-14, 25-15, 15-18 on March 2 to sweep the home-and-home series of the semifinal round to advance to the final round. Hooker scored eight points in the victory with four kills, two blocks and two aces. Krasnodar will now face Italy's Rebecchi Nordmeccanica Piacenza in the home-and-home series finals with dates to be set. Krasnodar, now in fifth place in the league standings, faces 10th-place Ufimochka-UGNTU (4-13, 12 points) in its next Russia Super League match.
LARSON-BURBACH, BOWN WITH RUSSIA'S DINAMO KAZAN: Jordan Larson-Burbach (Hooper, Neb.) and Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who have each won an Olympic silver medal with the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, are competing for Dinamo Kazan in the Russia Super League. In the Russia Super League, league-leader Kazan (17-0, 45 points) takes on seventh-place Tyumen (7-10, 24 points) on March 14 in its next Russia Super League match after a 20-day break from the regular-season schedule. During the hiatus Dinamo Kazan will play Odintsovo in a friendly match on either March 6 or March 7 in Odintsovo. Dinamo Kazan has reported on its Facebook page that Larson-Burbach has extended her playing contract with the Russian club through the 2013-14 season. She has already helped Dinamo Kazan to two Russian championships and two national cups.
AKINRADEWO WITH AZERBAIJAN'S RABITA BAKU: Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), a silver medalist with the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team at the 2012 Olympic Games, is competing for Rabita Baku in the Azerbaijan Super League. In the Azerbaijan Super League, Rabita Baku stopped Baki Azeryolservis 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12 on Feb. 28. Rabita Baku remains in first place with 37 points, or two points more than Igtisadchi despite playing one less match during the regular season. In CEV Champions League action, Rabita Baku has advanced to its second CEV Champions League semifinal and will face Italy's Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio on March 9.
HODGE, WILSON WITH AZERBAIJAN'S AZERRAIL BAKU: Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.), a silver medalist on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, is playing for Azerbaijan's Azerrail Baku in 2012-2013 along with fellow Penn State University alum Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.). In the Azerbaijan Super League, Azerrail gained a 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 victory over second-place Igtisadchi on Feb. 28. Azzerail swept through Lokomotiv Baladzhary 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 on March 3. With the two victories during the week, Azerrail continues to hold third place in the league standings with 30 points, or five points behind second-place Igtisadchi and seven points behind league-leader Rabita Baku.
METCALF WITH AZERBAIJAN'S IGTISADCHI BAKU: Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa), an opposite on the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is playing for Igtisadchi Baku of the Azerbaijan Super League in 2012-2013. In the Azerbaijan Super League, Igtisadchi lost to third-place Azerrail 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 on Feb. 28. To view a photo gallery of the match, click here. Igtisadchi rebounded with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 victory over Telecom on March 3 to continue holding second place in the league standings.
TAMAS WITH AZERBAIJAN'S BAKI AZERYOLSERVIS: Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.), a 2008 silver medalist with the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, is playing for Baki Azeryolservis of the Azerbaijan Super League in 2012-2013. Baki Azeryolservis lost to league-leader Rabita Baku 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12 on Feb. 28.
MIYASHIRO, SPICER WITH AZERBAIJAN'S LOKOMOTIV BAKU: Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii), a silver medalist with the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, signed mid-season with Azerbaijan's Lokomotiv Baku. Lokomotiv Baku dropped a 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 match to second-place Igtisadachi on March 3. Lokomotiv remains in fourth place in the league standings with 22 points through the 17th stop.
LLOYD, FAUCETTE WITH ITALY'S YAMAMAY BUSTO ARSIZIO: Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, Calif.), a setter with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing in the Italian Serie A1 league with Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio in 2012-2013 along with American Juliann Faucette (San Diego). Both athletes played for Epic Volleyball Club in San Diego as juniors before going separate ways at the collegiate level. In the Italian Serie A1 regular season, Busto Arsizio topped Duck Farm Chieri Torino 25-14, 28-30, 25-17, 25-27 on March 2. Neither Faucette or Lloyd played in the match. Busto Arsizio (12-3, 37 points), which holds a seven-point lead over second-place Foppapedretti Bergamo, resumes Italian Serie A1 action on March 21 versus third-place McCarnaghi Villa Cortese (8-7, 26 points). Busto Arsizio, which won the CEV Cup last year, will be making its first-ever trip to the CEV Champions League semifinals in its first year in the league. The squad will meet its second Azerbaijan team in a row, this time Rabita Baku on March 9 in the semifinal round.
KLINEMAN WITH ITALY'S ASYSTEL McCARNAGHI VILLA CORTESE: Alix Klineman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) returns to the Italian Serie A1 for a second season, but will compete for Asystel McCarnaghi Villa Cortese in 2012-2013. In the Italian Serie A1, Villa Cortese edged seventh-place Chateau D'Ax Urbino 25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 19-25, 15-11 on March 3. Klineman collected 14 points with 10 kills on 34 attacks, three blocks and an ace in a match in which she started all but the fourth set. She added a 46 positive reception percent on 13 chances. Villa Cortese (8-7, 26 points), which moved up to third place place following the victory, takes on league-leader Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio (12-3, 37 points) on March 21 in its next league match which is delayed due to its opponent's participation in the CEV Champions League final round March 9-10.
GIBBEMEYER WITH ITALY'S VOLLEY PESARO: Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.), a middle blocker with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing for KGS Robursport Volley Pesaro in the Italian Serie A1 league in 2012-2013. Pesaro dropped a 25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23 decision to Imoco Volley Conegliano on March 3. Gibbemeyer recorded six kills on 13 attacks, three blocks and an ace for 10 points in the loss. Pesaro (6-9, 16 points), which remains in eighth place, takes 10th-place Volley 2002 Forli Bologna (2-12, 7 points) on March 10.
BERG WITH TURKEY'S FENERBAHCE: Lindsey Berg (Honolulu), a two-time Olympic Games silver medalist with the U.S. and three-time Olympian, signed to play with Fenerbahce in the Turkish League mid-way through the regular season. In CEV Cup action, Fenerbahce dropped consecutive five-set matches to Poland's Bank BPS Fakro Muszyna in the home-and-home final round to finish second. On Feb. 27, Fenerbahce nearly rallied from a two-set deficit, but ended with a 26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11 loss. Muszyna took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, and after Fenerbahce pulled to within two at 10-8, finished off the set. Berg set her squad to a 39 kill percent for the match. In the rematch on March 2, Muszyna held off Fenerbahce 25-18, 19-25, 25-15, 22-25, 15-11. Muszyna gained a 10-3 margin in the deciding fifth set before claiming the hard fought series victory. Berg pushed Fenerbahce to a 37 kill percent for the match. In the Turkish League, Fenerbahce has had its last two matches – Feb. 24 versus Nilufer Bld. And March 3 versus Galatasaray – postponed due to its participation in the CEV Cup final round.
RICHARDS HILDEBRAND WITH TURKEY'S BAKIRKOY BELEDIYE YESILYURT: Kristin Richards Hildebrand (Orem, Utah), alternate for both the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Teams, is competing for Bakirkoy Belediye Yesilyurt in the Turkish League. Yesilyurt lost to Sariyer 25-14, 25-20, 25-21 on March 3 as Richards Hildebrand notched eight points all on kills coming from 27 attacks. She added a 54 positive reception percent in the match on a team-high 24 chances. Yesilyurt returns to action on March 10 versus Bursa B. Sehir Bld.
TOM WITH BRAZIL'S UNILEVER: Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah), a four-time U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball selection with two silver medals, is playing this winter with Unilever in Brazil's Superliga. Unilever, the top seed in the playoffs, opened the quarterfinals with a 25-19, 25-13, 25-18 victory over eighth-seed Rio Do Sul on Feb. 26. Unilever completed the quarterfinal best-of-three series sweep with a 25-15, 25-13, 25-17 victory on March 2. Tom was absent from the lineup due to injury in both matches.
SCOTT-ARRUDA WITH BRAZIL'S BANANA BOAT: Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.), the only five-time U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team selection and a two-time Olympic Games silver medalist, joined Banana Boat/Praia Clube in mid-season of the Brazil Superliga. Banana Boat/Praia Clube opened the quarterfinals with a 25-23, 25-15, 15-25, 25-21 loss to fifth-seed Sesi Sao Paolo on Feb. 25. Scott-Arruda scored four points in the loss. Banana Boat/Praia Clube bounced back to capture a 26-24, 25-20, 25-22 victory at home on March 1. Scott-Arruda tied for team-high scoring honors with 11 points via eight kills on 16 attacks. The deciding match of the best-of-three series will be played on March 4 at Praia Clube's home court in Uberlandia, Brazil.
FAWCETT WITH KOREA EXPRESSWAY IN KOREA LEAGUE: Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio), an opposite with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing with Korea Expressway in the Korean professional league. Korea Expressway swept Heungkuk 25-23, 25-10, 25-13 on Feb. 27 as Fawcett scored a match-high 23 points with 15 kills, four aces and four blocks. In its second match of the week, Korea Expressway lost to KGC Ginseng 25-19, 25-21, 26-24 on March 1. Fawcett notched 25 points in the match, including 23 kills on 49 attacks and two blocks. Korea Expressway resumes league action on March 5 versus IBK.
DAVIS WITH GERMANY'S DRESDNER SC: Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.), a two-time Olympic Games silver medalist as a libero with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, joined Dresdner SC late in the 2012-13 season. Dresdner, now in third place (32-10, 55-20), returns to action on March 9 against Kopenicker SC Berlin.
THOMPSON WITH POLAND'S BUDOWLANI LODZ: Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), a setter on the 2012 silver medalist U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, is playing for Budowlani Lodz of the Orlen Liga in Poland for 2012-2013. Budowlani Lodz finished sixth in the Orlen Liga regular season and will face BKS Aluprof Bielsko Biala in the quarterfinal round starting on March 16.
ALISHA GLASS WITH PUERTO RICO'S CAGUAS: Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.), a setter for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball team, has transferred to compete in the Puerto Rico Super League with Caguas after playing earlier this year for Modena of Italy's Serie A1 division before it ceased competition this season. After a loss last week, Caguas rebounded to top Bayamon 25-22, 25-16, 25-22 on Feb. 26 as Glass secured 11 assists in the victory. Caguas was unable to create momentum as it dropped a four-set match to Ponce on March 2. Glass provided a double-double of 21 assists and 16 digs along with three points in the loss. Caguas, now 6-5 overall, is in fifth place in the 10-team league.
JONES WITH PUERTO RICO'S CATANO: Jessica Jones (Naperville, Ill.), a middle blocker with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing for Catano in the Puerto Rico Super League this season. Catano lost to Humacao in three sets on Feb. 26 as Jones was held to eight points. Catano bounced back from its first loss of the season with a three-set win over Carolina on March 1 with Jones piling on a match-high 18 points, including six blocks. Catano leads the league with a 10-1 record.
OTHER AMERICANS IN PUERTO RICO: Tabi Love charted a team-high 17 points in helping Caguas to a three-set win over Bayamon on Feb. 26, while teammate Erin Moore added 14 points. Kelly Murphy led Bayamon with 19 points in the loss, while Lauren Cook provided 13 assists, eight digs and four points…Gina Mancuso scored a team-high 24 points in leading Ponce to a four-set win over Mayaguez on Feb. 26. Shonda Cole led Mayaguez with 26 points, while Kendall Bateman charted 13 assists and 12 digs in the loss…Falyn Fonoimoana and Emily Brown scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, as Humacao upset Catano on Feb. 26. Jessica Swarbrick added seven points in the victory…Monique Mead tallied 14 points and Becky Perry chipped in 12 points as Carolina blanked Guaynabo on Feb. 27. Lindsay Fletemier added nine points in the victory. Julie Bennett and Alaina Bergsma totaled 10 points each in the loss, and Caitlyn Donahue notched a double-double of 11 assists and 10 digs…Rachael Kidder contributed a match-high 28 points in aiding Juncos to a come-from-behind five-set victory over Ponce on Feb. 28. Gina Mancuso tallied 21 points and Jasmine Norton brought in 14 points in the loss…Falyn Fonoimoana collected 24 points and Jessica Swarbrick added 15 points in Humacao's four-set win over Bayamon on Feb. 28. Emily Brown chipped in 12 points in the victory. Kelly Murphy led Bayamon with 25 points in the loss and Lauren Cook provided 27 assists and five points…Kim Willoughby pocketed a team-high 16 points in leading Corozal to a three-set win over Mayaguez on March 1… Shannon Wingate reached 10 points in helping Catano to a three-set win over Carolina on March 1. Lindsay Fletemier tallied nine points for Carolina, followed by Monique Mead's eight points. Gina Mancuso contributed 1 points in helping Ponce to a four-set win over Caguas on March 2, while Jasmine Norton chipped in 10 points. Tabi Love charted 16 points for Caguas in the loss. Kelly Murphy scored 20 points in helping Bayamon to a four-set victory over Guaynabo on March 2. Lauren Cook set her team with 15 assists to go with five points in the victory. Alaina Bergsma paced Guaynabo with 20 points in the loss, followed by 16 points by Julie Bennett. Caitlyn Donahue was credited with 10 assists, 20 digs and five points in the loss.


text:
Robin Good: If curation is all about finding and sharing great content, what's the difference with what so many bloggers have been doing until now?
The difference, according to Deanna Dahlsad at Kitsch-Slapped, is in the focus. While bloggers often cover just about anything that intercepts their online wanderings, curators are characterized by a strong focus on a specific topic.
Here is a key passage from her article: "Many bloggers spend their time selecting what they consider the best of what other people have created on the web and post it at their own sites, just like a magazine or newspaper.
Or they provide a mix of this along with writing or otherwise creating their own content. Not to split hairs, but curation involves less creation and more searching and sifting; curation's more a matter of focused filtering than it is writing.
Because content curation is expected to be based on such focused filtering, it begins far more based on topic selection.
This is much different from blogging, where bloggers are often advised to "just begin" and let their voice and interests accumulate over time to eventually reveal a primary theme.
Some collectors just collect what they like as they stumble into it. …Sometimes, collectors just keep piling up stuff, no matter what it is. Even if this isn't hoarding, it's not-so-much of a purposeful pursuit.
But professional curators, those who manage collections for museums or other organizations, and serious collectors, they maintain a specific focus.
And rather than stumbling into items, they continually seek for specific items.
The definition dictates the curation — and everything from funding to their continued employment is based on how well their collection meets the collection's definition.
While blogging success may be thought of in many different ways, the success of content curation lies in how well you define, search/research, and stick to your subject."
Rightful. 8/10
Full article: http://www.kitsch-slapped.com/2012/06/facts-questions-on-blogging-curating-collecting/
Via Robin Good


text:
Stolen puppy reunited with owner
Dog owner turned to social media to spread story
A St. Bernard puppy stolen from a parked car has been reunited with her owner.
Mica Chenault of Milwaukee said she received a call Monday night from a man who said he and his family had her puppy. Chenault said the man told her they found the puppy roaming on Milwaukee's north side, and took the dog home and cared for her. They later saw Facebook shares about the stolen puppy and contacted Chenault.
"I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who shared, liked, commented, posted, and hung fliers to help find Kura," Chenault wrote on the "Bring Kura Home" Facebook page. "Without you, I wouldn't have found her!"
Last week, Chenault had run an errand to Home Depot on a cooler day and took her puppy along, leaving her in a locked car with the windows cracked open. She returned to find an unlocked door and the puppy missing.
Chenault filed a police report, and surveillance video from the store parking lot backed up her story. Chenault turned to social media and the news media to spread the word about her stolen dog. WISN 12 News reported the theft of the puppy last week.
Tuesday, dozens of congratulations were posted on Chenualt's Facebook page for Kura.
"All the pressure put on the person who took her, through the news features, fliers etc, made it impossible for him to keep her," said Jennifer Kofron in a post. "Thank goodness she was found safe!"
Other posters urged Chenault to have the puppy microchipped right away.
"They were good, good people who called and said, 'We have your dog. We know we can't keep her because we know this is yours.' It was such a good feeling to know that there is good strangers out there who are still willing to do the right thing," Chenault said.
Chenault said she did give the family the reward promised on a flier.
The person who took the dog is still on the loose.
Chenault had adopted the puppy from a breeder in Missouri just days before it was taken.


text:
In a time of many horrors, my eye was caught by this outrage [NYT 11/3]:
Under a new federal policy, children born in the United States to illegal immigrants with low incomes will no longer be automatically entitled to health insurance through Medicaid, Bush administration officials said Thursday.
"Children born in the United States" — i.e., US citizens.*
Now, when a woman gives birth on Medicaid, her child is only eligible for care once the parents get the birth certificate & file a Medicaid application. Of course illegal immigrants may be leery of filing paperwork, and even if they do, it can take a long time to process — weeks or months. So infants in their first few months of life may not receive preventive care and care for chronic conditions.
Thanks, Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA). What a good idea, you ass-hat.
S. Kimberly Belshé, California's secretary of the Health & Human Services Agency, said: "By virtue of being born in the United States, a child is a U.S. citizen. What more proof does the federal government need?" Georgia citizens should try to recruit her to replace Rep. Asshat.
* To be completely fair, I think infants — all people — should get medical care regardless of citizenship. But surely even the hardest anti-immigrant folks have to quail at the thought of newborn US citizens being denied healthcare they need and have a right to simply because of bureaucratic delays.


text:
Hello all.
Suppose $X$ is a Polish space, $\mu$ is a Borel probability measure on $X$, and $T:X \to X$ is a continuous $\mu$-preserving map which is not ergodic.
Does there necessarily exist a Borel set $A \subset X$ such that
$\mu(A) \in (0,1)$;
$\mu(A \ \triangle \ T^{-1}(A)) = 0$;
$A$ has non-empty interior?
What about if we replace the third point with the stronger requirement that $A$ is open?
Many thanks, Julian.


text:
Sarah Tucker Jenkins
Photographer: Elizabeth Held
Kat Wargo
Photographer: Elizabeth Held
Sep 17, 2013
By Andrea Frazier
The opening of fall semester at Ohio University brought with it two new transplants to the LGBT and Women's centers, as well as to the Survivor Advocacy Program on campus.
Sarah Tucker Jenkins, who graduated from Florida Atlantic University with her master's degree in women, gender and sexuality studies in May, was recently hired as the program coordinator of both the LGBT Center and the Women's Center.
Jenkins will split her time between the two centers, spending 30 hours weekly in the Women's Center and the remaining 10 in the LGBT Center, although there will be flexibility, Women's Center Director Susanne Dietzel said.
Feeling "blessed" at having the opportunity to move from Boca Raton, Fla., to Athens for a "new adventure" (an 18-hour drive she shared with her cats after accepting the position), Jenkins cites social justice, advocacy and activism as some of her main interests.
"It's nice to get paid to do what you love," Jenkins said.
On Aug. 7, Ohio University alumna Kat Wargo took on the newly created position of program outreach coordinator for the Ohio University Survivor Advocacy Program (OUSAP) for Meigs and Perry counties, which is funded by a grant from the Ohio Attorney General's Office as part of the Victims of Crime Act.
"We hope that at the end of the two-year grant period, we will have established community response teams in both of those counties and have a system of services in place that will catch a victim when they experience trauma and really make a difference in the lives of women and men who are victims," Dietzel said.
Both women are uniquely positioned to excel at the work they came to Ohio University to do.
Wargo earned social work and psychology degrees from Ohio University in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Since then she has held several positions. She has worked in domestic violence shelters, the court system, in a hospital helping victims of sexual assault and as a grants administrator who requests funding for domestic violence survivors.
In her new position as the program coordinator for OUSAP Meigs and Perry counties — underserved communities where there are currently no services for someone who has been sexually assaulted—Wargo will concentrate on creating a coordinated and collaborative community response to sexual violence.
This means involving and educating town leaders, members of the religious community, law enforcement, medical personnel as well as ordinary residents in the effort so that "everybody [has] a voice when it comes to sexual violence," Wargo said.
Through trainings for those working with survivors of sexual assault and sexual abuse, Wargo will work to define a support system. Survivor services she will implement include a crisis hotline and medical and legal companions to aid in navigating hospitals and the legal system.
While Wargo will concentrate her efforts almost exclusively on the surrounding regions, Jenkins is already planning campus programs and events.
In addition to working on October's annual Love Your Body Day, Jenkins is teaming with Graduate Assistant Bill Arnold to debut a film series called "Lights, Camera, Action: Sex and Sexuality in Hollywood."
She will as also facilitate a sequence of "Lean In Circles," a concept based on Sheryl Sandberg's bestseller, "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead," in which participants will discuss career development and the way strong women are perceived in the workplace. Finally, Jenkins will also coordinate a campus event to recognize National Coming Out Day in October.
Whether it's promoting loving your body or helping others regain a sense of control over theirs, each of these women will contribute to the University's mission "to broaden perspectives, enrich awareness [and] deepen understanding."


text:
The USA's bid to host the 2022 World Cup came down to the final round of voting before losing to Qatar in a head-to-head, according to FIFA.com.
Qatar will host the '22 tourney after receiving 14 votes from the FIFA Executive Committee in the fourth round to beat out the US, which collected eight votes.
Curiously, in the first round, the US received just three votes to barely avoid elimination. Japan also collected three votes, but Australia received just one tally. Qatar collected a whopping 11 votes.
In the voting session for the 2018 tournament, England was eliminated in the first round with just two votes.
Russia obtained an absolute majority after two rounds, collecting 13 votes to bounce Spain/Portugal's tally of seven.
2018 FIFA World Cup
Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 9 votes (as no absolute majority was reached, the candidate with least amount of votes, England, was eliminated)
Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13 votes (Russia obtained an absolute majority)
2022 FIFA World Cup
Round 1: Australia 1 vote, Japan 3 votes, Korea Republic 4 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 3 votes (Australia eliminated)
Round 2: Japan 2 votes, Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 10 votes and USA 5 votes (Japan eliminated)
Round 3: Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 6 votes (Korea Republic eliminated)
Round 4: Qatar 14 votes and USA 8 votes (Qatar obtained an absolute majority)
Think you know the game? Test your powers of prediction with MLSsoccer.com's new fantasy game, Pro Soccer Picks. Play NOW!


text:
As posted on our Facebook, in the latest daily poll at StarWars.com, Boba stays in the game, beating the Emperor by just 6% of the votes.
Let's take it up a notch today, Fett Fanatics. Spread the word. We're in the final four now. It's us against Darth Vader.
Get your computers ready -- it's time to get your vote on until April 5th, midnight EST.
Vote @ starwars.com/this-is-madness