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Nestlé in damage control mode; releases ad campaign to reassure consumers about Maggi
The print campaign that began on January 5 comes as a response to the Supreme Court's decision to revive the class-action suit against the company
Nestlé has launched a print ad campaign for Maggi in response to the Supreme Court's decision to revive the class-action suit in National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against the company.
The ad boldly reassures consumers saying, "Your Maggi is Safe, Has Always Been." The ad is reminiscent of the Maggi re-launch ads of 2015.
The ad that has appeared in the Mumbai edition of the Times of India on January 5 goes on to state facts about Maggi. It highlights that the safety of the product has been "confirmed and reaffirmed may times through rigorous testing laboratories accredited by NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories.)"
Nestlé had mounted a high-decibel campaign in response to the 2015 ban on Maggi. Conceptualised by McCann India, the 2015 campaign had come four days after the Bombay High Court cleared the name of the instant noodle brand. According to sources, the latest ad has also been done by McCann India.
The 2015 campaign, which included television, print, and digital ads, was perceived to have come too late as Maggi's reputation had suffered a massive blow by then. This time, Nestle seems to have gotten into the damage control mode more promptly.
The Saturday morning ad in bright yellow, synonymous to the brand look, clarifies once again that Nestlé "does not add lead to Maggi Noodles in any form at any stage." It also tells consumers that Maggi noodles "has consistently cleared tests" that are conducted to specify safe-limits for several elements, including lead.
The ad tells consumers to "go ahead, enjoy your Maggi, loved and trusted for 35 years."
Susmita is a digital marketing reporter at exchange4media. She writes on latest developments in the ever-changing world of digital media and in-depth stories on all things advertising.
Dr Annurag Batra delivers inspiring address to budding entrepreneurs
Dr Batra offered guidance & tips on creating a successful company from scratch at StarUp, a networking event for start-ups, held in Mumbai on Friday
Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of the exchange4media group, addressed an enthusiastic bunch of entrepreneurs, offering guidance and tips on creating a successful company from scratch at StarUp, a networking event for start-ups, held on Friday.
Peppering the talk with his inimitable humour and wit, Batra shared his entrepreneurial journey at a room full of eager listeners. He said that one of the key aspects of running one's own venture is knowing every function of the company inside out. "I run a media company. But for coding, I know every aspect from content creation and sales, to distribution. I advise aspiring entrepreneurs to understand how every department in the company works," he said.
He further said that one should not set out to launch a venture for fame or money but because one loves what s/he is doing. "When you love what you do, none of it seems like work." It is this philosophy that keeps him going, he said.
Talking about the risks involved in building a start-up, Batra said, "To create your own destiny is an admirable quality for anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur."
In his closing remarks, he emphasised on developing the quality of helping others in the smallest of ways, like connecting people with each other and not necessarily by investing money in someone's venture. "That karma comes back to you through other channels. If you can add value to someone's venture, do not hesitate," he concluded.
exchange4media Group Service
Submissions to enter Cannes Lions 2019 have begun
Awards for the 66th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will be judged under nine tracks - Communication, Craft, Entertainment, Experience, Good, Health, Impact, Innovation, Reach
One of the biggest annual award shows for advertising and creative professionals, the prestigious Cannes Lions is back. Each year, the event attracts thousands of entries from across the world vying to be crowned the coveted Lions award.
This year, the 66th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will be held from June 17 to June 21, and the entries to the competition have begun. Awards will be judged under nine tracks - Communication, Craft, Entertainment, Experience, Good, Health, Impact, Innovation, Reach. The final deadline for submissions is April 18, 2019.
New Lions have been added this year. The 'Creative Strategy Lions' celebrates the idea behind the idea; how strategic planning can redefine a brand, reinvent its business and influence consumers or wider culture. The 'Entertainment Lions for Sport' will award creativity that taps into fan culture and leverages the power of sports and eSports in connecting people to brands.
Some new categories have been added too. Such as a Culture & Context section, which appears across ten Lions – celebrating work with a specific focus on local campaigns and cultural insights, as well as challenger brands and break-throughs on a budget. New categories that celebrate Business Transformation across three Lions. Additions also include Native Advertising in Radio & Audio, Voice-activation across multiple Lions and Promotional Content for Publishers & Networks – celebrating work made for and by media owners.
Some changes have been made, which means you can now enter product design and innovation entries into new categories in Innovation Lions and Design Lions. Product Design has now been retired.
Shortlisted entrants for the Creative Strategy Lions, Innovation Lions, Titanium Lions and Glass: The Lion for Change will be invited to present their work live to the Jury and delegates at Cannes Lions.
All charity and non-profit work is judged separately from brand-led work during the festival.
exchange4media Group Service
Stand-up comedians make it big in the Indian ad world
From Mallika Dua's Tata Capital campaign to Mid-Day roping in Jamie Lever, several brands such as Hyundai, Tata Motors & Durex have gone for comic artists
From leveraging celebrity stardom and glamour to roping in unconventional stand-up comedians, the Indian creative industry sure has come a long way.
A band of digital-era comedians have been taking over ad-land and how! From Mid-Day leveraging the comic magic of Jamie Lever in their ad campaign to Tata Capital Wedding Loan bringing out the laughs with comic artist Mallika Dua in their recent spot, creative comic collaborations are pretty much becoming commonplace.
Marketers naturally noticed people gravitate towards these stars. So they leverage the reach of the comedy stars either through endorsements or creative collaborations as they have a finger on the crowd's pulse. Brands such as Hyundai, Tata Motors, Durex, HDFC Life and Aegon Religare have capitalized on them to release some interesting work.
Varun Khullar, Creative Director, Happy mcgarrybowen asserts that leveraging stand-up comics is a more nuanced call as they are very creative people and help with the actual process of creating communication.
"In the last few years, have seen a sort of celebdom enter the world of stand-up comedy than ever before. The comedy scene in India has finally erupted and the shock waves are reaching far and wide. People today resonate more with a stand-up comedian than a celebrity, despite the latter being a wee bit more popular. While conventional celebs are used as 'pretty faces', the employment of stand-up comics is a more refined call. Comics these days have their following, and more importantly, their own point of view. They are names with a distinct voice rather than just a recognizable face," Khullar pointed out.
Sometime back, Heineken teamed up with Indian comedian Rudy Singh for their campaign "Generations Apart" that went viral and gained over 1,66,000 views on YouTube.
Popular comics Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian, Tanmay Bhat and Kaneez Surkha have featured in several ads during the last few years. Bobby Pawar, Chairman, Havas Group who worked on the campaign during his stint with Publicis India suggests that the use of a stand-up comedian has to be more strategic in nature. "If you just use them to merely say a frivolous joke without the brand and the message integrated into it, it doesn't work well," says Pawar.
Let's face it: Many people are skeptical when it comes to advertisements. And humour forces them to lower their defences and catches people off-guard. It helps embed brands in a social conversation. No wonder, brands sponsor live shows, video content, and other such activities.
Shrenik Gandhi, Cheif Executive Officer and Co-founder, White Rivers Media points out that this is a bigger trend on digital than on TV. "Humour always catches attention. Netizens love to consume funny, quirky content. The bigger benefit is, most of them are rising stars and are very strong on digital. The former gets them at a competitive cost and latter enables better reach." Gandhi adds that another interesting insight is, since they are not yet larger than life celebrities, people connect with them faster and better.
Kiran Khalap, Co-founder and Managing Director, Chlorophyll Brand & Communications says stand-up comedians bring their own brand of humour and their own community of followers that is worth capitalising on. The new maxim of branding is "Think 365, not 360", which means a brand needs to connect with its stakeholders every day of the year and not just when the product or service is consumed, Khalap said. "Roping in a stand-up comedian is an interesting way to connect: they bring their own brand of humour and own community of followers. For instance, a Zakir Khan has a huge following among youngsters whose first language is Hindi, while a Kannan Gill for those whose first language is English...and so on. The current rules of consumer engagement begin with likeability, more than awareness. Hence, once again, a stand-up comedian raises the benchmark," Khalap said.
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Misbaah reports on advertising industry. Based in Mumbai, she interviews industry leaders in the creative, advertising and marketing space, reports news updates in the ad space. She drives the 'Chillout' section, and regularly reviews ad campaigns. In the past she has reported on mainline news, travel and lifestyle.
Prime Focus Ltd joins hands with Jam8 to act as creative solution provider to M&E industry
Jam8, founded by Pritam and KWAN, to provide new talent to bring about diversified mix of music for all audiences
Prime Focus Limited, which provides end-to-end creative services (visual effects, stereo 3D conversion and animation) and post-production services (Digital Intermediate and picture post) to the Media and Entertainment industry has announced its collaboration with Jam8, a musical platform founded by music composer Pritam and KWAN, a talent management company, to serve as a 360-degree creative solution provider for the M&E industry.
With an aim to branch out and expand itself, Prime Focus in association with Jam8 and Kwan plans to deliver the best in terms of high-quality infrastructure and technology that caters to all kinds of sonic requirement. Having the likes of Pritam and Jam8, this venture will serve as a one-stop platform that will offer solutions to music across all segments covering movies, advertisements and the OTT space, providing the best of quality music output.
"Jam8 is my baby and helping me nurture it are Kwan and Prime Focus. After successfully launching composers who are active in films, television and advertising...now finally our state-of-the-art studio is ready. I am really excited," Pritam said.
Namit Malhotra, Founder, Non-Executive Chairman, Prime Focus, said: "It's a great opportunity for us to partner with JAM8. Music is something I hold very close to my heart. Through this collaboration, we would look to enable new talent to bring about a diversified mix of music for all the audiences. Jam8 is a platform under the leadership of someone like Pritam that can bring the best of talent and produce music that will be enjoyed for years to come and we are thrilled to be partnering in that."
Vijay Subramanium, CEO at Kwan, said, "Pritam da has had the vision of Jam8 for years and when he discussed it with us, we truly believed that his vision was transformational. The idea and the platform is unique and will create opportunities for musicians across the country to live their dream. It's been an absolute pleasure to see this dream take shape."
Niraj Sanghai, Business Head at Prime Focus, said, "Our aim through this venture is to support the abundance of upcoming talent we have in our country. We would like to present these budding youngsters a platform and provide all the best amenities and opportunities to encourage and nurture them. We are proud to associate with Jam8 and we very excited to be part of this initiative."
exchange4media Group Service
DAN-e4m 2019: We do our own technology & have built the lightest news app: Arnab Goswami
Talking about going global on digital, Goswami says that by 2020 Republic will merge its broadcast business in a more direct way with its digital business
Not many have the power to influence the intellect but those who do leave an indelible mark in the minds of the people. Arnab Goswami, MD & Editor In Chief of Republic TV, is one such individual who is unstoppable, and in the words of Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia of Dentsu Aegis Network, "Once Arnab starts talking you have no idea where it can lead to."
It was an exciting evening at the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference held in Mumbai yesterday, where Goswami explained how digital as a medium conveys much more than traditional advertising.
Known to have digitally transformed the business of news, Goswami spoke with examples of digital strategies adopted by him for the election coverage in 2014. He explained how a simple Whatsapp message had helped put the television channel, he was then working for, on the world map. He emphasised on the element of virality and how the nature of marketing completely changes if you use digital.
"Digital as a medium conveys much more than traditional advertising. For the launch of Republic Bharat, we are doing 95 per cent digital marketing and creating content on our own focusing on the centrality of the message we want to send on Bharat. So the nature has changed, lines have changed, people are informal. I think digital will last much longer than traditional advertising. I'm a big proponent of it," informed Goswami.
He explained how the impact of the digital medium is magnificent and it will resonate if the language is easy and simple where you are able to communicate with the younger generation. "Digital should be an agent of social change and transformation," said Goswami.
Speaking about the launch of Republic Bharat, his Hindi channel, and video, voice and vernacular becoming the way forward for digital, Goswami said how India is getting accent agnostic and that people are getting into cognitive understanding.
"I speak Hindi with slight Assamese and slight Bengali accent. As a complex country, we are becoming homogenous and forgive accents and accept them. I believe that India should be content capital of the world, and only we can be because we are accent and language agnostic; we genuinely are. We can make fiction, non-fiction and news; we can create video, audio, print – it is an exciting option for India. I believe we should create video content language agnostic globally and curate the content locally at 10 per cent of the cost of let's say a 'Vice' and of good quality. Some of the content being created in India is fabulous. The problem is we are limiting ourselves geographically. By nature we are not culturally expansionist, we just need to have the confidence, and by using digital we can step beyond the geography," asserted Goswami.
"There is so much vernacular content that I want to go global. Create global content companies out of India, which we will do in 2019 when Republic expands and gets into the digital global game. We can create many Bloombergs and CNNs out of this soil. And this is a beautiful time to do it. If Arnab Goswami can speak Hindi you can do anything. We can play the global game. Some of those OTT players are dying to go global," said Goswami.
Talking about how he balances between digital and television, Goswami explains, "We have about 800 people at Republic. I'm happy to inform we have about 150 to 200 employees in digital, including people who are working on a product in a deeper way with content. There are two innovations I'm doing. My business strategy for digital is that we have started to have large engineering and product presence out of our Bangalore office, who only look after the technology part. We do our own technology and based on that we have built the lightest news app; 2.5 MB, really light; we didn't outsource the engineering. We are doing a new experiment calling it 'content production combined team experiment'. We broke the walls between people who understood the product and knew how to disseminate, and those who created the message."
"I'm investing in digital to expand the brand appeal of Republic and Republic Bharat. We want to mushroom the digital domain. We will go completely vernacular on digital, and then we go global. I'm strongly investing and happy to lose money on digital at this stage as an independent business. By 2020, we will be able to merge our broadcast business in a more direct way with our digital business. It's the way we will go global on digital. We've tied up with Microsoft and are the first TV channel to convert the usage of Azure, we partnered with LinkedIn for our recruitments; we've been experimental on every platform. We have made non-traditional use of the digital medium so far," Goswami concluded.
Watch the full video here:
Assistant Editor
DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference 2019: Photo Gallery
The third edition of the Dentsu Aegis Network- exchange4media Digital Advertising Conference and the unveiling of the Digital Report was held on Wednesday 16th January 2019, in Mumbai
The third edition of the Dentsu Aegis Network- exchange4media Digital Advertising Conference and the unveiling of the Digital Report was held on Wednesday 16th January 2019, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai. The theme for the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference this year was 'Digital Marketing to Digital Transformation'.
Here are some snapshots from the event:
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network, South Asia addresses the audience at the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference, 2019
Fireside chat with moderator Vivek Bhargava (left), Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Aegis Network Performance Group and Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google, South East Asia & India
Malika Kutub, Director of Sales, Dailyhunt, speaks at the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference, 2019
Rajiv Dingra, Founder & CEO, WATConsult speaks at the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference, 2019
Panel with Tarun Garg, Executive Director of Marketing, Maruti Suzuki. moderator Virginia Sharma, Director, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn, Gauravjeet Singh, General Manager- Media, South Asia, Unilever, Anuradha Aggarwal, former Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Limited
Panel Discussion (L-R): Moderator Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar, Vikram Tanna, VP, Head of Advertising, Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters- South Asia, Discovery Channel, Pradeep Dwivedi, Group Advisor, Sakal Media Group, Sai Narayan, Head of Marketing, Policybazaar.com and Hiren Gada, Chief Executive Officer, Shemaroo Entertainment
Panel Discussion (L-R): Puja Pannum, Managing Director, Blis, moderator, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network, South Asia, Arnab Goswami, MD & Editor-in-chief, Republic TV and Ajoy Roy Chowdhury, Global Agency Lead, EMEA, Facebook
The unveiling of the DAN- e4m Digital Advertising Report, 2019
exchange4media Group Service
91% Indians say they will spend more money on e-commerce sites in 2019: Kantar IMRB report
Kantar IMRB has presented a comprehensive report on predictions for 2019 from a plethora of consumer insights across companies
Kantar IMRB has presented a comprehensive report on predictions for 2019 from a plethora of consumer insights across companies. The report uses data and reference from various business units within Kantar and a host of syndicated studies such as- Target Group Index –Kantar IMRB, Global MONITOR 2018- Kantar Consulting, Kantar Worldpanel, eMarketPulse- Kantar IMRB. The report will provide sharp insights to brands on what to expect from the market and solutions to reach out to the consumers in the most effective manner.
The outlook for India has never been so uncertain. With national elections looming a few months from now, the voter/consumer has much to consider. The resultant instability, compounded by a fast-changing technology, financial and business landscape has created a deep sense of insecurity in Indian consumers. Their overriding response would be to seek stability. "At Kantar, we recognize that it is imperative to achieve a balance of human insight and data-enabled decisions in both the business world and our personal worlds. While data might give us the confidence to believe, our personal experience and foresight give us the guidance to act differently and courageously. In identifying the key trends and how they may manifest over the coming year, we have attempted to exhibit that spirit of digging deep and finding stability ", said Preeti Reddy, CEO, South Asia, Kantar Insights Division.
Key Predictions:
Consumer Truth
68% of Indians agree that they are free to shape their identities and transform themselves in whatever way they want. The percentage has increased sharply from 57% in 2017. As every micro-segment of India's population demonstrates a hunger for recognition, they are no longer inspired by a few role models, but by achievers, they see around themselves. They reject collective labelling as the emergent middle class, small-town resident, aspirational homemaker, and would like brands to meet their unique needs and help fulfil their dreams. The defining characteristic of this duality is an expectation to be recognized for both selves:
Market View
Brands and categories which recognize the consumer for who they are and where they are will flourish. Expect identity and location data to be more precious than ever. For online retailers, a small-town push would be a no-brainer. Overall e-commerce spends by non-metro shoppers have quadrupled in 2018, while e-tail spends by metro shoppers have grown by 3X. The recognition of diversity and inclusion is inexorably making its mark in the consumer's consciousness. A focus on regional language support – driven by technology use in local languages, has seen Google announce the addition of Marathi for its popular Google Assistant, with plans afoot for seven more Indian languages, including Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada and Malayalam. User-generated content will grow by leaps and bounds as people of all shades and intentionally seek to be recognized. How marketers can understand human motivations and their diverse origins will pave the path for the fulfilment of their needs. There will be an explosion of agents of change. This will cause an evolution from coaching centres and middlemen, to enablers who are able to spot the potential and facilitate transformation, with technology playing the dual role of connector and showcase.
Consumer Truth
47% of Indians say that they feel stressed these days. The percentage has increased from 39% in 2017, and more women than men feel this way. In 2018, Kantar brought to fore that consumers are in a state of perpetual anxiety. That feeling has magnified, with young Indians feeling even more anxious than ever – according to Kantar IMRB's TGI study, 64% of 15-19-year old worry about crime and violence around them
Market View
Protector products are expected to see a sharp uptick as we go forward into 2019. Hand sanitizers, for example, have grown by a massive 59% in the previous year, Chyawanprash – the traditional Ayurvedic immunity booster, by 26%. #Metoo has spurred women to find ways of defending themselves. Smart jewelry brand Leaf Wearables embeds a device called Safer Pro – priced at only Rs 1899, which sends out an alarm signal and the user's location to predetermined contacts. The smart device recently picked up the $1 million Xprize for Women's Safety. Expect more such devices, especially for young children, to hit the market soon.
With technology and social media giving birth to new forms of threat such as online trolling. Brands will have to create a stable, positive environment and enable support groups to change the discourse of negativity. At the same time, the entertainment industry – where the portrayal of women as victims hitherto pandered to the male gaze and fantasy – will be compelled to change their storytelling and bring in more powerful women's voices.
Consumer Truth
76% of Indians say that they're looking for new experiences and sensations that will liven up their everyday activities. The percentage has increased from 64% in 2017. Indians are most likely to look for experiences that allow them to help and connect with others, are memorable and make them feel recharged. Mobile gaming has taken off and with 250 million gamers, India is one of the top 5 gaming countries in the world. The desire for new experiences and stimulation is not limited to young people. For many seniors, laughing clubs are passé – they are running marathons, and pushing the boundaries of their physical capability and flexibility, like taking up dance after 60. The penchant for celebration, which has been magnified by the Great Indian Wedding, is now a regular occurrence.
Market View
The momentum driving India's Experience Economy will only increase in 2019. Over the last three years, the demand for adventure activities and local experiences grew by 178%, with the percentage of people above 50 years rising from 8% to 11%. According to beauty doyenne Shahnaz Hussain, over 700 spas are expected to open doors in the next two years. It's an industry that is growing at 40% annually. Some travel agents are also reporting young inbound tourists paying anywhere between $150-250 to attend and experience the sensory overload of an Indian wedding. The multi-player game Player Unknown's Battleground (PUBG) really took off after the launch of a mobile version in March. The ability to chat with other players adds significantly to its attraction.
Going forward into the next year, we expect that many more brands will leverage the power of senses to attract consumers. This will provide a more engaging user experience, even as new technologies such as AR/VR offer immersion and superimposition of imagined worlds for the consumer. With gaming no more a niche experience, it presents a fantastic opportunity for brands to both be involved in the game ecosystem and to gamify their user experience.
Consumer Truth
149% more traffic congestion than comparable cities around Asia – that's what Indian metro dwellers have to deal with. Traffic congestion in Mumbai leads to commuters spending 135 per cent more time in road travel than any other Asian city; commuters in Kolkata take 171 per cent more time than the average to travel during peak hours, the figure for Delhi is 162 per cent. With the changing contours of Indian cities, neighborhoods will become more significant than the city itself. The consumer's expectation is that all the services will be delivered at the doorstep. While the benefit of proximity in terms of convenience is obvious, the opportunity for service providers is enormous. We are witnessing a reskilling of this workforce, particularly in the form of leveraging technology and improvement in customer service. The familiar warm relationship between the neighborhood grocer, chemist or barber will be increasingly enabled by technology.
Market View
91% of the people surveyed by Cashkaro.com said that they will spend more money on e-commerce sites in 2019. A massive part of that growth is expected to come from services, with specialized platforms gaining popularity over marketplaces. At-home service platforms like HouseJoy and UrbanClap have witnessed exponential growth in customers and service providers alike. The latter reported 2.5 million registered users, with 75% repeat users and average transaction value between Rs 1200-1500. The home chef business is pegged at Rs 408,040 crore in 2018; It is estimated that there are as many as 2 lakh beauty professionals across India, with nearly one-fourth of them being freelancers. Online curated beauty services platform Vanity Cube, which services between 150-200 bookings a day, expects that demand to grow 15X within a year.
There's a massive B2B opportunity for food, beverage and grooming brands to fulfil the unique needs of the service providers – in the form of new products and new ideas. Brands need to work out how to engage with them and convert them into advocates. Content marketing will become the norm – and it will be vital to help them create interesting content using the entire gamut of options from Instagram to TikTok. Simplifying the transaction through payment gateways will become as important soon, as rewarding customers and users for their loyalty.
Consumer Truth
53% of Indians (amongst those who use the internet) say that they wish social media had less of an influence in their lives. Even as technology engagement grows by leaps and bounds – the 18% growth in the number of smartphone users in 2018 is the highest in the world – a growing section of the population is reducing their screen time and seeking ways to reconnect physically with the world. Astronomy buffs in Mumbai head out to far-flung villages over the weekend; travel experience platform Unhotel offers walks in the Himalayas along with book readings and guided bird-watching. Mainstream newspapers like The Times of India propagate the joys of a Slow Life unhindered by technology. Even the Maharashtra government steps in to declare one day in a week as a 'No Mobile' day.
Market View
Digital detox is emerging as a big business, starting at the very top of the heap. Tech platforms such as Android and the iPhone track and report all our screen time; Android labels it under the 'digital wellbeing' banner. The SHUT (Service for Healthy Usage of Technology) clinic in Bangalore has seen as steady rise in the number of patients seeking help for tech deaddiction ever since it opened four years ago; As more people embrace physical activity ranging from the new-age Zumba to traditional yoga to long-distance running and cycling, the athleisure market has exploded, growing by nearly 14%. Some 35000 people of all ages were at the starting line of the Delhi Marathon, each having paid Rs 1900 to participate. It is no small wonder that there are now over 1000 marathons organized in cities big and small across India. On a more sedentary note, even book reading clubs. Litfests have mushroomed across cities, from Pondicherry and Chandigarh to Pune, Jaipur, and Allahabad, some reporting a threefold increase in visitors over the last 2 years.
The travel and leisure industry has much to feel optimistic about as more Indians seek physical and social in-person experiences. In the face of uncertainty and pessimism, this kind of reconnection and exploration provides platforms for stability. In 2019, we expect even more brands and industries to find opportunity in addressing the growing realization of the perils of technology engagement, particularly at a young age. Others will rekindle the nostalgia of relationships, memories, and places that allow us to rediscover ourselves.
exchange4media Group Service
DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference: Arnab Goswami rolls the dice
Moderated by Ashish Bhasin of DAN the panel discussion also saw Ajoy Roy-Chowdhury of Facebook & Puja Pannum of Blis discussing digital beyond marketing
At the DAN exchange4media Digital Advertising Conference held in Mumbai yesterday, the Owners Panel Discussion was on the topic 'Digital Beyond Marketing'. The session was moderated by Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network and the panel members included Ajoy Roy-Chowdhury, Global Agency Lead - EMEA, Facebook; Arnab Goswami - MD & Editor In Chief, Republic TV; and Puja Pannum - Managing Director, MENA – Blis.
Watch the full video here or read the excerpts below:
The session revolved around how businesses have typically restricted their use of Digital to Marketing Activities. Digital Transformation changes the mix of Digital Technologies thus accelerating its impact across the industry in a strategic and prioritised way with the present and future shifts in mind.
"Digital has significantly impacted our life. All businesses today, be it a television channel, advertising agency or a popcorn seller, have gone digital. It's a way of doing business. Hence there's a need for digital transformation," said Bhasin.
"Arnab has digitally transformed the business of news. I heard his reporters' office was actually their mobile phone. How did this transformation take place?" asked Bhasin.
To which Goswami said, "I did not count digital as a medium that I need to look at. Part of that came from arrogance from television, part of it came from the impact we had on television. In India, television is very new and it will never be edged out. In 2014, when we covered the elections, I asked myself how I should use digital to transform the brand and the marketing perception of the channel I was then working for. We took all the money from the digital marketing budget and invested in one hoarding at Times Square in New York. We spread the message on WhatsApp to relevant groups of students and Indians in NY that a samosa party will take place after the results were announced; and we actually did distribute samosas to people there. That samosa party became a fantastic video on WhatsApp, the element of virality was fantastic and people talked about how the channel had reached NY. The nature of marketing completely changes if you use digital."
"Digital as a medium conveys much more than traditional advertising. For the launch of Republic Bharat, we are doing 95 per cent digital marketing and content creation on our own, focusing on the centrality of the message we want to send on Bharat. So the nature has changed, lines have changed, people are informal. I think this will last for much longer than traditional advertising. I'm a big proponent of it," informed Arnab.
Talking about her views on the context of businesses digitally transforming themselves, Pannum said, "I was impressed with the OTT content produced here locally. I mean Netflix producing 400 pieces of content is fantastic. The market I'm in, the MENA region, we don't have that much content. We have only 3 per cent of content online in Arabic. There is great a challenge on content production, content creation, and how consumers gain information on the internet. India, on the other hand, has great talent, great opportunities to work with intelligent people coming out of universities, working hard. In MENA, we have a talent deficit. At Blis, we provide brands, companies with audience data, and with that data they understand their target audiences or consumers. India is a huge market opportunity for us, consumers are so connected. You have 400 million devices connected here; we connect to 180 million devices in the MENA market. The opportunity to use GEO location technology to shape businesses and brands working with us is going to be exciting."
Speaking of how digital is going to play a significant role in forming governments, Roy-Chowdhury spoke about the Indian General Elections on the digital medium. "We are taking the elections very seriously and have done that for the last couple of years. By the end of this year, we have focused on 50 elections globally. The Indian elections is the big one. India is the largest democracy in the world. There are a number of things we are doing, such as making sure that there is integrity in these elections. We are going to fight fake accounts; every day a million accounts are blocked, sweeped off to ensure security. We are going to combat false and fake news in election after election. We are educating MPs, their staff, the election officers, chief ministers on how their accounts could be hacked; we are giving them cyber guides to look out for signals to ensure integrity of their sites. We are looking at third party fact checking, which is very important. Our relationship with AFP will help. WhatsApp is very important. It has to be safe, secure and reliable, an absolute must for elections. We are learning from traditional media. We are bringing about ad transparency for doing political ads. We are learning and learning fast."
Goswami spoke about how fake news was a big problem. "The fact is global giants like Facebook are handling it with their backs on the wall. I mean they have to put hoardings in London subways to say that we are against and fighting fake news. Stuff like this has dented the credibility of FB; they have become extremely defensive. It seems like you are cleansing your consciousness. Digital should be an agent of social change and transformation. Defensive digital medium cannot be the source and agent of social change and transformation."
Roy-Chowdhury agreed: "It is a valid point, it's a great responsibility we have. And we take it cautiously, it may seem as we are over-cautious, but we are looking at what we can do to decrease fake news. What we can do to ensure there is free speech on our platform. It is an interesting time but also a great responsibility for us."
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Assistant Editor
DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference 2019: Mastering marketing in a post-digital world
At the DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference 2019, marketers discuss trends they are bullish on in digital marketing and understanding the pay-to-play game among others
The DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference 2019 concluded with an interesting panel discussion on marketing in a post-digital world. Moderated by Virginia Sharma, Director, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn, the panel had Gauravjeet Singh, General Manager - Media (South Asia), Unilever, Tarun Garg, Executive Director, Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, and Anuradha Aggarwal, former CMO, Marico.
Sharma started off by asking marketers about the trends they are bullish about. Garg stated that voice being the obvious next big thing with 30 per cent of the searches in this format. This will be increased to 50 per cent by 2020. He added, "It will make it literacy agnostic. It will help us overcome the language barrier and reach a broader audience."
Aggarwal spoke about being bullish about video advertising as it brings back the basics of advertising i.e. interrupt the consumer, tell a quick story in 6-10 seconds, send its brand message and ensure it reaches maximum consumers.
Speaking of trends turning into fads Aggarwal confessed about marketers getting excited on branded content "I don't think we know how to entertain in long format and tell stories that will bring back consumers to watch the story and not the brand. We should stick to what we know the best i.e. selling our product."
There has been a constant reliance on organic reach but Sharma has learnt that people don't believe in organic reach anymore and that everything is pay to play. This led her to ask, "Is there an opportunity for brands to do organic well on their own or is it really a pay to play world?"
Singh answered "It lies in the cost to do that versus the return you get. At any day for the kind of brand reach that you need any platform invariably will lock it behind a paywall. We have tested it platform after platform organic reach is just 1or 2 per cent of what you get. On your own content platform, it's very hard. Also, it's supremely costly."
Garg still believes that at the end of the day it's all about content (irrespective of platform). "If the content is good, engaging and keeping the customer in mind, anything would work. To get into the mind of consumers you actually need to know what they want. That's the crux," he said.
The discussion ended with Sharma summing it up with a few key takeaways which reiterated the basic points that voice, vernacular and video are on the radar of the biggest digital advertisers in FMCG and automotive. Voice brings in a new audience but a lot more work has to be done to create the right kind of content, something 'that's not just a straight translate.'
Sharma added, "Digital marketers still have a vital job in our rather nascent digital ecosystem. There's a huge value of agencies on creating quality branded content for brands while the latter go back to the basics of the consumer value proposition of listening to the customer and understanding his/her sentiment. Finally, there's a huge amount of accountability by marketers about earning the attention of the consumer and recognising that even three seconds of their time is valuable."
Watch the full DAN-e4m Digital Advertising Conference and launch of the Digital Advertising Report 2019:
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Daily Hunt to provide election coverage on Digital: Malika Kutub, Daily Hunt
At the DAN-e4m conference, Kutub, Director Sales, spoke about how the coverage would be transformed on the Daily Hunt app
The third edition of the Dentsu Aegis Network-exchange4media Digital Advertising Conference unveiled the Digital Report at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai on Wednesday.
At one of the speaker sessions held during the event, Malika Kutub, Director Sales, Daily Hunt, spoke about the company's strategy for the upcoming elections and how the content aggregator app will transform the whole election coverage on Digital, for the first time in India.
"We have always seen News Broadcasters doing special packaging and content before the elections, but this time audience will witness a seamless and personalized content on their smartphones," Kutub said.
In her opening remarks, Kutub said, "The faith of this general election will not be decided by those residing in the Metros. It is people coming from tier 2, 3 and 4 cities and rural India who will decide which party will come to power in 2019."
"At Daily Hunt our attempt is to ensure that the masses residing in across the length and breadth of the country make an informed decision. We will be reaching out to 50 per cent of the first-time voter base in India. Also, there is around 30 per cent second-time voter base in the country. So we are ensuring that this large user base knows about the parties, sources, agenda and so forth," she explained.
She stressed on two points: The kind of content to be provided to the users, and how it will be served.
Malika further added, "Live interactivity, Online & Offline sharing, original content across formats and AI-powered personalization are the five basic principles through which we will design the content. We will have a network of stringers across the 516 constituencies. The content will be live-streaming, immersive in nature and completely personalized. Consumers want 24x7 live video coverage of specific parties, leaders and constituencies, so they expect the platform to understand them and recommend relevant content."
"The youth are no longer satisfied with one-way speeches. We make sure to make it interactive in nature, where we have discussion forums as well. The entire experience is going to be non-linear. Users don't want one-way communication. We made sure that we allow the users to choose the topic that they want to follow," she added.
Speaking about content transformation, she asserted, "Being an aggregator of content, we work with around 1,500 different partners. We have built an entire network, so users will have the option to pick and choose the source or party they want to follow. They consume information as far as elections news is concerned. We have ensured that all content, video channels and stringer network will be in 14 different languages."
"A great combination of technology, product and content has come together and we're extremely excited to cover the elections on Daily Hunt, ensuring that it is done in a personalized manner, which has never been done in India before," she concluded.
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Music and the Oscars
Music and the Oscars. They go together like... like... peanut butter and orange juice. Er... like Reese and Ryan? Hmm. It's a shame; apparently they used to have such a nice relationship. I heard an old-school Hollywood techie reminiscing about the good old days last week on NPR. The scene he described made the old Oscars show sound like a Vegas showgirl revue, and it probably was. Girls! Costumes! Lights! Song! Dance! Tap dancing, even -- and not Savion Glover, either! When was the last time you saw that -- and don't say Happy Feet, because that was Savion grafted onto a penguin body. Seriously, he is the only person allowed to tap dance in North America, as far as I can tell.
Well, there was a little of the old razzle-dazzle in this year's Oscar ceremony, courtesy of three talented guys who can't really dance but can actually sing: Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reilly. OK, Ferrell can't sing very well, but he was not -- to quote Randy Jackson, "too pitchy." Black, on the other hand, can belt it, as any fan of Tenacious D knows. And Reilly displayed his old Chicago theater roots by singing out in a classic Broadway show tune style, jazz hands and all. They were responsible for the best musical performance of the night, by far, in "A Comedian at the Oscars," their hilarious ode to the impossibility of comedic material ever receiving an Academy Award. Reilly offered hope in the example of his own career: "I chose to do both Boogie and Talladega Nights," he reminded them, but Black nevertheless threatened to beat Peter O'Toole ("you're all legendary and stuff," he snarled) with his Nickelodeon Award anyway.
Of course, none of those three guys were up for an award, so the threat of the Oscar Song Performance lingered on. It was fully realized in all its boring, corny cheesiness, by Randy Newman and James Taylor, singing a quiet little song about "Our Town," from the heinous animated film, Cars. I didn't actually see the movie, but my four year-old friend Elsa did, and she walked out, so I'll trust her judgment. It's incredible to me that James Taylor, a former mental patient and drug addict, and Randy Newman, a songwriter whose subversion is without peer in his field (if you don't believe me, check out his classic "God's Song," in which God sings to mankind: "I recoil in horror at the foulness of thee... How We laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer Me."), can come up with something so lame. I guess they figure the Older Crowd will be happy to see Sweet Baby James, but he's a long way from "Fire and Rain."
One thing giving me hope this year was the fact that three songs were nominated from one film, Dreamgirls, which meant that they would be compressed into one performance, and they were. Unless you counted the performance of Jennifer Hudson's cleavage, which deserved its own stage. Or at least a sturdier bra. Still, it was nice to see Beyonce in her element. She sounded great and looked amazing, too. And that other, forgotten Dreamgirl, Anika Noni Rose? She doesn't get much press, but she is the only member of the cast, as far as I can tell, who has won a Tony Award. And San Franciscans, take pride: she's an ACT grad, too.
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Unfortunately, Ennio Morricone received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, which meant that Celine Dion would be performing. Somehow they always manage to squeeze her in. (No offense to Ennio, who should have gotten a Nobel Prize at least for his theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 41 years ago.) At least this time Celine was not wearing a backwards tuxedo or a fedora. And in fact, after watching so many American Idol contestants try to "do" Celine, it was a relief to see her doing herself. She was pretty convincing. The weird thing was that Ennio looked more Botoxed than Celine. It's probably just another sign of the Apocalypse.
Finally, there was Melissa Etheridge. I was dreading this one: "I Need to Wake Up," the theme to An Inconvenient Truth. Nothing about that pairing suggests a good time. And yet... I came away from her performance thinking, "that was better than I thought a song about climate change could be." The fact that she was backed by a giant PowerPoint presentation was a nice touch; as my friend Matthew said, An Inconvenient Truth is "basically the best PowerPoint presentation you'll ever see." And what do you know, An Inconvenient PowerPoint Presentation carried the night, winning not only Best Documentary Feature but Best Original Song, too! Turns out global warming is a feel-good concept after all! Ahh, Hollywood, you little minx. You can spin anything.
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Winners at the Oscars come in two flavors: Official and Un-. Alan Arkin was the Official Winner of the Best Supporting Actor award, but clearly Jackie Earle Haley was the Unofficial Winner in this category due to his incredible comeback story as the former child/teenaged actor best known for his roles in The Bad News Bears (1976) and Breaking Away (1979) whose career had basically dried up until a few years ago. Dude had actually moved to San Antonio, Texas, if that gives you any idea.
And thus in the Best Musical Performance at the Oscars category, officially Melissa Etheridge won, but anyone who watched knew that Ferrell, Black, and Reilly's "A Comedian at the Oscars" was hands-down the best crafted and most entertainingly performed tune of the night. With a lyric like, "I'm gonna lose forty pounds to play Ralph Nader/ I'm gonna do that gay coal-mining movie with James Spader," who could touch it? No song moved you more.

subset: commoncrawl


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About DrPizza
> First, the larger number of readers is doing something, they are talking about your site favorably, getting the word out and drawing more people in.
Mere talk does little. And if those other people also block ads, how is it beneficial? And like I say, if the 40% number is accurate for Ars (I don't know if it is or if it's just for the purposes of exposition) then they just can't be bringing in that many more non-ad-blocking readers. Your argument seems to be that, well, they just _must_ be doing something useful. What I'm not seeing is any kind of substance to support this. And like I say, if the 40% number is true, then they're really not doing it in any significant numbers.
> Second, actually showing you care about your readers increases the likelihood that they will start to like and want to support you as well, if you were even a semi regular reader, this entire process (which your site seems to fail utterly in) is called connecting with your fans and giving them a reason to buy.
But this is broadly untrue. It's clear from the response that the thought never even _occurred_ to people to support a site whose content they read regularly. Just look at all the people saying that they were going to whitelist the site. These are people who visit regularly and who liked the content, and the idea that maybe they should take a simple measure to support it _never even crossed their mind_. Merely liking the site and wanting to support it wasn't enough to get them to take concrete measures. I'm sure you'll probably just claim that they didn't support it or like it "enough", but again, the fact that when asked they _did_ whitelist it suggests that they do like it enough, they just never even thought about it.
> That's a silly and down right fallacious view. And Very easy to disprove, let's assume you have friends, now you don't adblock, but if you have any intelligent friends, I bet at least one of them performs some type of adblocking, whether via ABP or no script or a built in browser. The instant that friend gives you a link to follow, your entire point of this paragraph is blown to pieces. People have lots of friends and in the age of Twitter, Myspace, Stumbleupon, /., Facebook, Digg, and countless others there are a lot of ways for those who block adds to drive those who don't to your site if they care about your site enough to share it with anyone.
Right, but if those other people are also blocking ads _so what_? Ad blockers driving yet more ad blocked traffic is irrelevant at best. You haven't "disproven" anything. You've just said "but what if the blockers drive so much extra traffic that something good happens" without explaining what that good thing is, or why it might happen.
> It rips off advertisers because there are better, more positive, ways to get your company's name out. You seem to be perfectly fine with a view that there is no such thing as bad press. Those who have some wits about them realize that instead of spending money spreading stuff that no one wants to see, it is more worthwhile to create something entertaining that people seek out, that also happens to push your company a little bit.
It doesn't rip off the advertisers because they know that damn well. You're assuming that the advertisers are complete morons with no understanding of the advertising market. This is just insulting to them. They know perfectly well that there are other ways to advertise--that's why they use them, too. Many of the SuperBowl advertisers, for example, also use web advertising. It isn't even remotely misleading to offer them web-based advertising. Consider that web-based advertising lets them more easily target specific demographics than (say) TV, and at lower cost. The advertisers clearly see this as valuable. They're going into this with their eyes wide open, and I think it's ridiculous for you or Mike to try to paint them as the victim being misled by ad-funded websites.
> I thought I explained that pretty clearly in the post. We value our community members well beyond seeing them as just there to view banner ads. If blocking the ads makes it easier for them to contribute to the community or to view and share our stories with others, that's an extremely positive relationship.
Then you thought wrong, IMO. It's plainly obvious that "contributing to the community" is at best of minority interest. This story has more comments than anything currently on your front page, for example, and even this story has many repeat contributions. Of the no doubt thousands or tens of thousands who read the piece, at best a few dozen bothered to contribute as a result.
So whilst you might regard comments as "positive", they're positive for only a minute fraction of your readership. What about the far, far greater proportion of readers who aren't doing anything of the sort?
As for sharing stories, well, only you can tell us those stats. But if the 40% ad blocking figure on Ars is true, all I can say is, they can't be doing that much sharing, and if they are, it's to other ad blockers anyway. So again, I'm struggling to see the positive side here.
Traffic for traffic's sake isn't a plus. You know it. I know it. Everyone else knows it.
> In fact, it seems like the coerced relationship that Ars wants to force on people is negative in almost every way. The readers don't want to see the ads, and Ars is effectively admitting that it gladly rips off advertisers by making people who won't actually look ads load them just to give Ars money. Sorry, but if I were an Ars advertiser I'd pull my adds off of the site.
You've never explained this. How does it "rip off" advertisers? Advertisers know perfectly well that plenty of people seeing their ads aren't going to be interested. How is Ars misleading them in any way?
> I have no doubt that it caused people to whitelist Ars, but it did it by threatening and guilting them. That's not a positive relationship. You guys should know better than that given your (excellent, by the way) coverage of other industries make the same mistake.
Whereas readers reading but not viewing ads _is_ a positive relationship?
In what sense?
I'm really quite curious to know what I did that has engendered such hostility.


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The brooms they straddled were motley, a ragtag assemblage of kitchen brooms, push brooms, angle brooms, long sticks with streamers or thistles taped to one end.
In shirts of blue, green, yellow or red, players took the field under the lights, ready for battle.
While other high schools practiced the weekly religion that is football, the stands here at Waxahachie's Global High were peppered with fans cheering on teams with names like Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.
Before long, the teams would be running all over the field, playing a game that has gone from fantasy to reality.
Conceived in the pages of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Quidditch is catching on among students around the world, never mind that their brooms can't fly like those of the books' wizards-in-training.
"Quidditch is by far the best thing that has ever happened to Global High," said senior Emma Bauman, the 18-year-old captain of the Slytherin squad. "The stands are getting fuller and fuller each time."
With four balls flying around the field simultaneously, the game can be difficult to interpret at first.
Players from each team battle for a white ball, called a "Quaffle," and try to score by tossing it through one of three hoops in the opposite end zone -- all while being pelted with the red dodge balls, or Bludgers, by opposing players.
Keep in mind that this is all done while players are holding a broomstick between their legs.
"The balls are all deflated so you can grab them with one hand," explained senior Brittany Wachsmann, who founded the club. "You can't grab the ball with two hands, as you would fall off your broom."
On the sidelines, each team's "Seeker" waits blindfolded while a student called a "Snitch runner" hides somewhere out of sight.
At the 10-minute mark, the Seekers hunt down the runner, trying to grab the Snitch -- basically a tennis ball in a sock -- from the runner's waistband, earning bonus points and ending the game.
There's a lot going on. "It's a little bit basketball, a little bit soccer and a lot of rugby," Bauman said.
Wachsmann was encouraged by the game's rising popularity at universities like Harvard, Yale, NYU and a number of Texas schools including Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State and Baylor.
Though only a few Texas high schools have picked up the game, two of them -- Montgomery County's Caney Creek and Tarrant County's Keller -- launched a petition drive aiming to persuade the University Interscholastic League to officially endorse the game, so far to no avail.
Nonetheless, Wachsmann sees only promise.
"Football has always been around," she said. "But Quidditch is coming."
After getting Spanish teacher Cherie Timmes to sponsor the club, she and about 40 Global students divided themselves into four "houses" echoing those in Rowling's series -- Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
At the club's first match, a few students in the stands donned robes like those worn at Harry Potter's Hogwarts School. Not that that was unusual.
"It's become part of the culture because the kids have read it," said principal Don Snook. "They start speaking in Harry Potter-ish terms when they're here at school, and they all understand each other."
Global is a so-called STEM school, focused on science, technology, engineering and math. Students can earn college credits with extra classes and graduate with an associate's degree.
With no real sports program to speak of, students come to the school focused on academics. They've gotten used to their brainiac reputation, or others thinking of them as nerdy or elitist.
"People can think what they think," said junior Jane Almond. "We're just like a big giant family. Once you're in, you're in."
Wachsmann's parents have supported their daughter's crusade. Her father, Neil, who built the hoops posted at either side of the 491/2-yard field, is also the head referee.
Her mom, Delilah, makes the "butterbeer" -- a broth of warmed cream soda, brown sugar, butter and whipped cream -- sold in Styrofoam cups at each match.
The night of the club's most recent game was frigid, and in the cold metal bleachers, some proudly noted their choice to wear long underwear. Blanketed families snacked on take-out burgers and cookies as a trio of young girls cheered from the front row: "Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw!"
At the concessions table, next to the butterbeer and hot dogs, Catalina Guerra took orders for scarves and hats crocheted in each of the team colors.
Jeffrey Trojacek approached the table and handed Guerra a $100 bill.
"Two Hufflepuff," he said, pointing at the yellow sets. With him was daughter Adeline, 8, engulfed in a black hoodie reading "Go Hufflepuff!"
Trojacek's 14-year-old daughter, Annie, was on the field playing keeper, or goalie, for the Hufflepuff team. After attending a couple of tournaments, Trojacek was starting to get the hang of the game.
"Annie really loves it," he said.
Guerra's son, 14-year-old freshman Giovanni Prieto, also plays the game. "It's really quite a bit of exercise," she said. "It keeps them active."
For a school with no real athletic program, that's a real bonus.
"Anything that gets kids up and moving and excited, I'm all for," Snook said.
From their lofty perch, the student announcers blurted commentary:
Slytherin immediately snatches the Quaffle, attempting to make their way toward Ravenclaw's hoop!
And a nice block by Ravenclaw's keeper!
We're seeing some nice passing from our Hufflepuffs! They're much improved over the last few games!
And then: The Snitch has been released! With that, the two Seekers peeled off their blindfolds and set out in search of the furtive Snitch runner, who could be anywhere -- in or under the bleachers, in the parking lot, anywhere but across the street or in the school building.
A roar of excitement whooshed from the crowd as the Snitch runner dashed onto the field at full sprint, the Seekers in full pursuit.
While allowed at the college level, tackling is verboten here -- but that doesn't stop 16-year-old Melody Mitchell from grabbing the runner's jersey and bringing him down like a calf to get the Snitch, nearly earning a disqualification.
The club hopes to invite the few Quidditch teams from throughout North Texas to a spring tournament.
"We probably look really dorky," junior Almond said, "but everybody has a great time."
Two teams face off on a 49½-yard field with six players each. Four balls are in play at any one time -- a white volleyball called a "Quaffle" and three red dodge balls, or "Bludgers."
Players from each team battle for the Quaffle and try to score by tossing it through one of three upright hoops in their opponent's end zone. The hoops are guarded by a goalie, or a "keeper." Each successful throw through a hoop earns 10 points.
At the same time, opposing players called "beaters" try to pelt their foes with the Bludgers. A player struck by a Bludger must immediately drop the Quaffle and retreat to his or her own end zone before re-entering play.
Each team also fields a "Seeker," who waits blindfolded on the sidelines as a "Snitch runner" -- unassociated with either team -- hides somewhere out of sight. After 10 minutes, the Seekers remove their blindfolds and go in search of the Snitch runner as their teams continue trying to score.
Once found, the runner tries to elude the Seekers, who attempt to pluck the Snitch -- a tennis ball in a sock -- from the runner's waistband. All the players except the Snitch runner are required to straddle a broom, mirroring the flying wizards in Harry Potter.
The game is over when a Seeker claims the Snitch, earning the Seeker's team 30 points, which are added to the scoring total.


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PARIS — Trying to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open is, without a doubt, the toughest task in tennis. Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports.
The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. That bullwhip of a high-bouncing, topspin lefty forehand. Those quick-reflex returns that help him break an opponent's serve — and his will.
Doing what he does so well on the red clay of Roland Garros, a surface and site he dominates so completely, the No. 1-seeded Nadal wore down No. 2 Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in a muggy final Sunday to win his ninth French Open championship and fifth in a row, both records.
"For me," Nadal said, "playing here in Roland Garros is just unforgettable, forever."
It is also his 14th Grand Slam title overall, tying the 28-year-old Spaniard with Pete Sampras for the second most by a man, behind only Roger Federer's 17.
That includes Nadal's two trophies apiece at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, along with one from the Australian Open, proving he can beat the best on grass and hard courts, too. But it's on the clay of Paris where Nadal reigns supreme: He has won 66 of 67 career French Open matches.
Since the only loss, against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009, Nadal has won 35 consecutive matches at Roland Garros.
No other man has won more than seven titles at any of tennis' four majors.
"It's not impossible, but it's very, very difficult to stay with Rafa in this court, throughout the whole match, on the highest level of performance," said Djokovic, who was broken in the final game of each set, including with an anticlimactic double-fault on match point.
Nadal ensured that he, not Djokovic, will be ranked No. 1 on Monday. In the process, Nadal once again prevented six-time major champion Djokovic from completing a career Grand Slam.
"He deserves to win this tournament," Nadal said.
"I am sure he will do it in the future."
Djokovic had won their four most recent matches, including on clay in the best-of-three-set final at Rome last month. Beating Nadal in best-of-five is a whole other matter.
Nadal also topped Djokovic in the 2012 final, and the 2013 semifinals.
In all, Nadal leads Djokovic 6-0 at the French Open, 9-3 at major tournaments, and 23-19 in total. No other pair of men has played each other as often.
The defeat in Rome was one of three this season on clay for Nadal, raising questions about whether he'd be unbeatable at Roland Garros this time.


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I recently had the opportunity to try on some pieces from the 2012 fall winter collection by New York based designer Jennifer Chun. Having interviewed Jennifer for Lookbooks last year I was familiar with her modern tomboy style; Chun's designs are a wonderful kind of casual sophistication that is chic and never stuffy.
For fall 2012 Jennifer has designed a striking collection of winter coats, jackets (image above, the hunter plaid db car coat) and separates that work together well to create a myriad of different looks. Fall 2012 is menswear inspired with a gorgeous lookbook to match.
Wearing, above left: shirt by Chun, skirt Rodarte for Opening Ceremony. Right; colourblock wool jersey Henley, Chun; skirt BCBG. Heels: Mango.
What I have always admired about Jennifer's designs is the attention to detail. The buttons, the collars, the hemlines – all are made with care. Chun told me in our previous interview that her clothes are for those who want to be casual and understated without dressing down. Fall 2012 neatly accomplishes this with its impeccable tailoring, leather accents and deep burgundy and green hues.
Below: plaid lace shift dress and silk crepe silk pant.
Below: striped shirt and leather shift dress.
You can buy Jennifer Chun from one of my favourite boutiques in Austin, Texas – By George and at Louis Boston (where you might bump into my good friend, blogger Mon Petit Chou Chou who is a regular visitor and also a fan of Jennifer Chun!)


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Willie Mays Signed Bat....Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
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DescriptionWillie Mays Signed Bat. This Willie Mays signed 33.5" bat is virtually flawless in every way. Nearly an exact replica of the lumber the "Say Hey Kid" swatted during his Hall of Fame career, this Adirondack bat has been signed in 10/10 blue sharpie. JSA Auction LOA included.
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December, 2009
27th Sunday
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Christmas Program Wells Valley Community Christmas program will be held at 7 p.m., December 1, at Wells Valley United Methodist Church. Scripture and songs provided by members of the community churches. Snacks will be served following the service. All are welcome.
Pioneer Club There will be Pioneer Club at Rock Hill Mennonite Church for grades kindergarten thru eighth grade from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., December 4, 11 and 18. Additional information may be obtained by calling 485-9074.
Christmas Concert As part of the congregation's 275th anniversary celebration the Mercersburg Presbyterian Church, 34 West Seminary Street, will host Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute Choir in concert Sunday, December 8. The concert begins at 4 p.m. and includes beautiful sacred Christmas music. Congregational singing will be interspersed throughout the program accompanied by the church's recently restored Teller's pipe organ. Admission is free and there will be a light reception afterwards in the social rooms. More information may be obtained by calling 328-2510.
Christmas Celebration A community Christmas celebration will be held Friday, December 6, at 6 p.m., in Akersville Church. Snowdate is Friday, December 13. Akersville Church is located in Brush Creek Township on PA 915. The event is free of charge. Baked goods are welcome. More information may be obtained by calling Gary at 717-860-1880 or e-mailing Kim at email@example.com.
Game/Movie Night Game/movie night will be held at Warfordsburg Senior Center December 6, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Seniors 60 and older are welcome to come and join in the games. There are card games, dominos, scrabble or shuffleboard. All are welcome to bring a game. A movie will be shown for those who like to just sit and watch a movie and eat popcorn. Call 717-294-6020 for more information.
Dodgeball Game "Dodge The Glow Leave Cancer In The Dark" first-ever glow-in-the-dark dodgeball game, sponsored by McConnellsburg eighth-grade Character Education class, will be held Friday, December 6, at 6 p.m. at McConnellsburg Elementary gym. Cost is $10 per player or $2 per spectator. All ages 0-99. Wear glow-in-the-dark items and create unique team shirts. Proceeds go to the "Winner's Choice" cancer research or cancer fights. Forms are available in Room 301 at McConnellsburg Middle School.
Thrift Store Open House Better Days Animal League Thrift Store will hold its third annual Christmas open house during Christmas in McConnellsburg Friday and Saturday, December 6 and 7, with store hours 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pictures with Santa Claus and Rudolph for kids and pets will be held Saturday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Join in for free refreshments while you shop with more than 5,000 Christmas items and decorations. CC Funnel Cakes & SyTy Creations will also be participating. Live top quality Christmas trees with proceeds benefiting furry fourlegged friends living at the shelter will be available the weekend of November 30. Store will be closed Thursday, December 5.
Line Dance Fulton County Line Dance Club will hold line dance sessions every Wednesday (except the first Wednesday of the month) beginning at 7 p.m. at VFW Post 655, Poplar Street, McConnellsburg. All are welcome. Come and learn some new steps. A $2 donation is appreciated.
Open Mic Night Open Mic Night will be held at Warfordsburg Senior Center December 14, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. There will be a canned goods collection and at 7:30 p.m. a baked goods auction for Ada Fletcher, who lost her home to a fire. Canned goods (good date and not dented) and homemade baked goods will be welcomed. For more information call 717-294-6020.
Dodgeball Tournament McConnellsburg Alumni & Friends will sponsor a dodgeball tournament at the alumni community gym Saturday, November 30. Registration will be from noon to 1 p.m., with games starting at 1 p.m. Registration is $10 per team member and there are six team members playing at a time. Number of teams will determine the type of tournament that will be played. Every team is guaranteed to play at least two matches. To register or questions please contact 485-0221 or 377-3643. All proceeds from the tournament help preserve the museums that are housed in the alumni community building.
New York City Trip Modern Woodmen of America Camp 7948 will sponsor a bus trip to New York City Saturday, December 21. The bus departs From McConnellsburg Courthouse at 6 a.m. A stop will be made for breakfast at approximately at 11:30 a.m. Depart New York City near 9th Avenue between 44th and 45th streets at 6:15 p.m. A stop will be made halfway home for supper. Estimated arrival back in Mc- Connellsburg is 12:15 a.m. Cost for transportation and buffet breakfast is $50 for adults and children under 12 $45. Please send money by December 2 to Rick Claar, PO Box 624, Bedford, PA 15522 or call 888-623-6719 for more information.
New York City Trip Modern Woodmen will sponsor a "day on your own" bus trip Saturday, December 7, to New York City. Leave McConnellsburg at 6 a.m. and home around 11:30 p.m. Cost is $50 per person. A nonrefundable payment of $50 is due to hold a seat. More information may be obtained by calling Cheryl Cutshall at 485-0527 after 4 p.m.
Parenting Courses McConnellsburg United Presbyterian Church and Fulton County Family Partnership are offering a series of free parenting groups open to the community December 5, at McConnellsburg United Presbyterian Church, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Childcare provided. Additional information may be obtained by calling Kenny Walker at 717-485- 5038, Ext. 215.
Tree Of Love Ceremony The annual Tree of Love ceremony will be held Sunday, December 8, at 3 p.m., in the hospital lobby. Forms in memory or in honor of a loved one are available in the hospital gift shop, in the lobby or from an auxiliary member.
Emergency Food, Shelter Funds Available Fulton County has been chosen to receive $5,200 through the state set aside funds of the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county. Public or private voluntary agencies interested in applying for emergency food and shelter program funds must contact Sister Margie Monahan, 110 South Third Street, McConnellsburg, or call 485-5917. Deadline for applications to be received is Friday, November 29.
Christmas Gift Program Fulton County Catholic Mission is taking applications for its Christmas gift program for needy families. To sign up and for more information call 485- 5927.
Alzheimer's/Dementia Support Group Alzheimer's/ dementia support group meets the third Tuesday monthly at 6:30 p.m. in Fulton County Medical Center, Pearl Room. More information may be obtained by calling 717-485-6108.
Community Wellness/Silver Sneakers/Prime Community Wellness/Silver Sneakers/Prime will be held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Fulton County Medical Center cardiopulmonary rehab gym. The cost is based on insurance. Call Kim or Patti at 717-485- 6149 to see if insurance provider is accepted. Community Wellness is $40/month/person or $70/month/couple.
Yoga Classes Reaching Wellness yoga classes will be held for all ages every Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., at Community State Bank. Call for cost and to register at 717-485- 4492.
Nutrition Class Fulton County nutrition awareness classes are held at Warfordsburg Senior Center on the third Monday of every month. When the third Monday is a holiday, it is held the fourth Monday from 10 a.m. to noon. To register or sign up for lunch call 717-294-6020.
Blood Pressure Screenings Free blood pressure screenings will be given at the following locations: McConnellsburg Senior Center – the first Thursday of every month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Hann's Apartments – the first Thursday of every month from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; Warfordsburg Senior Center – the first Tuesday of every month from 11 a.m. to noon; and Hustontown Senior Center – the third Thursday of every month from 11 a.m. to noon and Mt. View Apartments – second Tuesday monthly 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
McConnellsburg AA Meetings The McConnellsburg Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous will meet on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. every week at the Alumni Building Basement, McConnellsburg.
Veterans Assistance Dan McIntyre, assistant state service office of Veterans of Foreign Wars, will be at McConnellsburg VFW to assist veterans with service-connected disability claims. Primary day is the second Wednesday of every month and the alternate day is the fourth Wednesday of the month. Also available by appointments. Contact 717-414- 0675 or email@example.com.
Thanksgiving Dinner Needmore Bible Church family would like to extend an invitation to all to join in for Thanksgiving dinner November 28 at noon. Served will be a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. The meal is provided at no cost. Anyone wishing to attend should call 573- 2212 or 573-2893. The church is located at 6939 Great Cove Road, Needmore.
Christmas Dinner Calvary Independent Baptist Church, 140 McGoverns Lane, McConnellsburg, invites all to its annual Christmas dinner with the Jacobs Brothers on December 7 at 5:30 p.m.
Hunter's Potpie Dinner There will be an all-you-can-eat hunter's ham potpie dinner at Artemas American Legion on Big Creek Road Tuesday, December 3. Serving will begin at 4 p.m. until gone. Takeouts available. Dinner will include drinks and desserts. Donations accepted. Everyone is welcome (even non-hunters). Enjoy a home-cooked meal after a hard day of hunting. All proceeds benefit VFW Post 155 Artemas.
Free Meal A free meal will be served the second Tuesday of each month at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 220 North Third Street. Please join in for good fellowship.
P.O.W.E.R. Meetings P.O.W.E.R. (Parents Offering Wisdom, Education and Release) will meet on the following dates: December 9, January 13 and 27 and February 20 and 24. The goal of the group is to support and educate the community, the addict and the families of addicts to the issues and problems that can occur when dealing with addicts and their recovery programs. Emotional and possible financial support are also offered to any individual who might need it to successfully overcome an addiction. The meeting is held at 292 Buchanan Trail. For more information, contact Susanne Reed at 717-414-9695.
Singles Meeting Knobsville Singles will meet Monday, December 9, at 11 a.m., for a Christmas party at K's Place. There will be a $5 gift exchange.
FCMC Auxiliary Meeting Fulton County Medical Center Auxiliary will meet December 2. They will be making hard candy December 5 at 4 p.m. in the activity room. At Christmas in McConnellsburg Friday and Saturday, December 6 and 7, the auxiliary will sell its cookbook for $15. A Christmas bazaar and bake sale will be held Friday, December 13, in the hospital lobby beginning at 9 a.m.
Friends Of Meadow Grounds Meeting Friends of Meadow Grounds Lake holds a monthly meeting on the fourth Monday of every month except December at 6 p.m. at Community State Bank at 415 Fulton Drive (runs from the Giant to Cito Road). The public is invited to attend and contribute.
McConnellsburg AA Meetings The McConnellsburg Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous will meet on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. every week at the alumni building basement, McConnellsburg.
Legion Meeting American Legion Post 561 active members regular meeting is the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Auxiliary members meet the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. Members of both organizations are urged to attend.
PARSE Meeting Pennsylvania Association of Retired StateEmployees(PARSE)hasa9a.m.breakfastmeetingon the second Wednesday of every month at McConnellsburg FOVA (VFW). If roads are snow-covered, meeting will be cancelled. All retired state employees and spouses are invited to attend. For additional information, call 717-294-3861.
Democratic Meetings The Fulton County Democratic Club meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Democratic Headquarters building at 123 South Second Street in McConnellsburg. Meetings are open to the public, light refreshments are provided and all are welcome. More information may be obtained by calling 485-3386.
McCbg. Bingo McConnellsburg Fire Co. will hold bingo every Monday and Friday of each week. Bingo starts at 7:00 p.m. and doors open at 5:30 p.m.


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This adds a small landmass north of Vvardenfell which goes by the name of Desert Region. Explore fun new places including a small underground mine, a barren forest, a giant arena and a war factory. The mod has plenty to do - no matter if you prefer major or minor quests, you can have time for both. As you progress further, the difficulty gets even harder and you need a higher level to complete those.
Fully cleaned-up, bugs fixed and even a good chunk of the cut content restored. Fully compatible with Tamriel Rebuilt.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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|2012-12-21, 03:34
|Link #4181
Adeptus Animus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 31
There is a whole series of booklets that goes into detail on various aspects of the Nanoha world, but only a few of them have been translated.
The issue of why mages have Linker Cores (or even if only mages have Linker Cores) has always been vague.
|2012-12-21, 03:39
|Link #4182
The Flame Crussader
Join Date: Aug 2009
Do magical-supported weaponry for non-mages exist in the Nanohaverse?
I ask this because there's some non-mages in the military like General Regiuz gaiz, he had to serve as a soldier in order to get to a position of command like General of the Ground Forces ...so if he isn't a mage what was his role on the battlefield? Communications officer perhaps o_o?
|2012-12-21, 04:56
|Link #4183
Adeptus Animus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 31
Unknown. However we do know there are devices that incorporate both magic and live ammo.
|2012-12-21, 10:47
|Link #4184
Manus ad Ferrum
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Costa Rica
Age: 27
Yes but that is another thing. Is live-ammo weapons open to the public? And how does it affects a mage? I mean most assume a Barrier Jacket can block bullets but I am not that sure and since we never see it happening it makes me wonder. Also what makes some people mage and some other no even in Mid-Childa, the magic world. What kind of work a regular mage can get that isn't TSAB related? I mean beyond Yunno's work or being a body guard, how does magic fits this society when they seem to have technology for everything. At one point they mention that the company that made the AEC weapons is leader on magic for domestic use, what that means?
That I would like to see. Instead I once read that the reason they don't allow mages to fly on cities is to avoid collisions with aircrafts… I am not even going to say what I think about it but is rather odd.
|2012-12-21, 12:56
|Link #4185
The Flame Crussader
Join Date: Aug 2009
Keroko is right, live-ammo can be used by TSAB members but it requres strict supervision and special permission in order to use it. So far the only example is Runessa Magnus, Teana's assistant during the events of the SSX sound stage. Her device "Silver Dagger" doubled as a gun with real bullets xDU
|2012-12-21, 18:43
|Link #4187
Adeptus Animus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 31
You've just found the reason why powerful mages get preferential treatment in the TSAB. Got to make that offer to join sound as enticing as possible for the people with building-busting power.
And that's... pretty much the only answer we have to how they manage them, really. Invite them into the TSAB. We know there's no such thing as required limiters for civilians, as the girls in Vivid are quite powerful in their own right yet have no limitations to speak of.
|2012-12-21, 19:40
|Link #4188
Manus ad Ferrum
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Costa Rica
Age: 27
Well so far we haven't see a single case were a mage just say "no" when they ask to join. And it will be nice to see more of the magic world than just the TSAB. And I mean in detail, since we don't know what kids learn on the school or if mages and muggles (To use a word for it) go to the same type of schools and again, why some are mages and other aren't? Really you need to ask yourself what if at times
|2012-12-21, 20:57
|Link #4190
Considering Nanoha has her own house, and has enough money stashed away to take quite a bit of time off work to raise Vivio (as of Vivid), I'd gather mages can easily live very comfortable lives. If that's what the TSAB offered me, I'd be hard-pressed to turn it down.
Edit: Then there are mages like the Yagami family and Fate, who took probation and enlistment as a way to pay for their crimes. "Work for us and we won't throw your ass in jail for years" is a pretty good deal, too. The US could learn something from this.
|2012-12-21, 21:24
|Link #4191
Manus ad Ferrum
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Costa Rica
Age: 27
Not really, on real life backstabing for such deals will not be that rare. And to be fair we haven't see how mages do it outside the TSAB or if they can even do well. We could take a look because when we have no single point of reference we can't say they are at the best on the TSAB
|2012-12-21, 23:28
|Link #4192
This is true, we don't see how mages outside of the TSAB fair... but that wasn't my point. My point was that the Bureau's terms are damn good, and something I (and I suspect many others) would gladly take. A high rank, plenty of money, plenty of time off, tons of benefits... you're basically made for life.
|2012-12-21, 23:38
|Link #4193
Manus ad Ferrum
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Costa Rica
Age: 27
Yes, but that isn't my point. I don't care about how the TSAB is, I want to see how the rest is. I know the TSAB, so I am cool with it. So is not a matter of what is better? But more of, what else do I have to chose?
|2012-12-22, 00:10
|Link #4194
The Flame Crussader
Join Date: Aug 2009
|2012-12-22, 00:46
|Link #4195
True, we don't see everything that happens in the Bureau; but you can bet that if it is a "galactic threat" that our heroes would be at the forefront, and thus we'd hear about it.
So, I actually like my odds of avoiding anything too hazardous. Although there is the ever present danger of me most likely being a red shirt...
|2012-12-30, 09:42
|Link #4199
Mastermind Rational
|Thread Tools


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Pelican Island Figures Out How To Keep Snooki Out
Pelican Island has figured out a way to keep Snooki and J-Woww from taping their show in a rented house.
Township Administrator Christopher Reid tells the Star Ledger a zoning officer has concluded that their filming their summer vacation inside a home on Sunset Drive South is a "non-permitted use in a residential zone.
Mike Loundy , the owner of them home, will be issued a violation notice today and he will have 10 days to respond to the Township. Taping can continue during that time.
"There isn't any intent on the township at all to do anything but follow the ordinances that are already in place," Reid told the Star Ledger.
Attorney Ron Gasiorowski, the lawyer hired by residents to stop taping of the show, seems to be in agreement with the Township's action. "It is in a residential zone and is in violation of their ordinance. There are other areas of the township where this type of activity could take place in zones where this would be covered," Gasiorowski told the Asbury Park Press.
Concern From Residents
Residents have been concerned since plans became public about the plan for Nicole "Snooki" Polilzzi and Jennifer "JWoww" Farley to vacation in the rented home with their respective families believing there would be an increase in traffic and noise on the quiet residential island. Many residents are still working on rebuilding their homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy and saw their presence as a distraction.
As Township officials and residents went public with their concerns a war of words started on Twitter with Polizzi calling her critics "haters" who should "grow up." She took their rejection personally as an attack on her family and says she has moved beyond the wild behavior she displayed on MTV's Jersey Shore.


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7:30 pm
Need to Know MARIA HINOJOSA ANCHORS. Correspondent John Larson travels to Ohio to assess how workers there are faring after the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs over the past 35 years. It's the fourth in his series of "Main Street" reports. D
8:00 pm
Foyle's War "Plan of Attack, Part 1" Milner arrests a local racketeer; in retaliation there is an attack on Milner that misfires and kills DCS Meredith, Foyle's replacement. A highly strung mapmaker is found hanged in the nearby woods; Milner suspects murder. Foyle is called back from retirement to lead the investigations. Part 1 of 2G
9:00 pm
Live From Lincoln Center "Josh Groban: All That Echoes" The multi-platinum recording artist, whose versatility ranges from opera to pop, performs at a special one-night event at Lincoln Center. His concert features selected career-spanning favorites, such as his break-out song "You Raise Me Up" from 2001.G
10:00 pm
Michael Feinstein's American Songbook "On The Air" Decades ago, radio fulfilled the idol-making role across the country. Feinstein traces the phenomenon with archival clips of Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Kate Smith and others. He conducts one of the last interviews with TV and stage star Rose Marie, who was also a child radio star. Part 3 of 3G
11:00 pm
Charlie Rose NULL


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As part of the Accenture Institute for High Performance's mission to develop cutting-edge new ideas and insights, researchers often seek the views of academic leaders, business executives and industry analysts. The Connections with Leading Thinkers series captures some of those interviews, showcasing interactions and discussions with some of the world's leading experts.
Angel investor and professor, Antonio Botelho discusses roadblocks to entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation in Brazil—and ways to overcome them.


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New York State Psychiatric Institute staff and Columbia Psychiatry faculty members often write books that are directed toward other professionals as well as books for the general public. Recent books have by our distinguished faculty have included works about genetic testing, psychiatry in the age of neuroscience, the psychology of attachment, anxiety disorders, depression, and schizophrenia.
Please visit our Publications section for more details: http://sklad.cumc.columbia.edu/psychiatry/publications/


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Johnny Whitworth, who stars in this week's Limitless, has confirmed in an interview with AMC Theatres that he'll be playing Blackout in the upcoming Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Introduced into the Marvel Universe in the early '90s, Blackout was a thug for hire who, after being scorched by Ghost Rider's hellfire, gained demonic powers and sought vengeance against the antihero (at that time Daniel Ketch, brother to Johnny Blaze).
While Whitworth has been confirmed for the film since late last year, it was not known that he'd be playing a character from the comics.
"I play the villain who, at the beginning, up until like page 70, is human," explains Whitworth, "I'm not a very nice guy. I'm bad. I get turned into, for those who read 'Ghost Rider', the character Blackout. I get turned into him by the devil to complete my job. That gives me the fortitude to fight Ghost Rider and the supernatural abilities to compete on some level with that guy."
Check out the full video interview in the player below and catch Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2D and 3D on February 17th, 2012.


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MU Extension > calendar
Professional development events
Missouri 4-H events
Missouri Business Development Program calendar
Nursing Outreach Conferences
CAFNR events calendar
University of Missouri calendar
Heartland Agriculture Expo
When: Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, noon to Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, 3 p.m.
Ag Expo 2018 is one of the largest farm trade shows in the region! It is scheduled for January 19 and 20 at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. This event is sponsored by Butler County University of Missouri Extension Council and the Ag Club of Three Rivers College. There will be 118 booths available to visit and learn first-hand about agriculture and its importance to the economy. The expo will also feature outdoor exhibits. Admission is $1 for adults; there will be free admission for college students and youth.
The Expo will open Friday, January 19 at 12 p.m. with the expo going on until 8 p.m. It continues Saturday, January 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The two days are packed with activities for the whole family. Entertainment and events include blues, jazz, and contemporary music; line dancing and clogging; agriculture seminars; and beauty pageants. There will be two different tractor contests: the toy tractor pedal pull contest for youth ages 4 to 9 and the FFA tractor driving contest sponsored by local tractor dealers. The expo will also feature a petting farm; an old time auction; a milking contest; an ag photography contest; and baking contest. Pesticide Applicator Training will be held at the Expo on Friday afternoon starting at 2:00 p.m. Saturday will bring fun for the kids with the Kids Gardening Adventure by the Master Gardeners on Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. to noon and the Youth Farm Safety educational program sponsored by 4-H held on Saturday afternoon from 12 noon until 2:00 p.m.
For information call the Butler County Extension Center at 573-686-8064.
Sarah Denkler, email@example.com Regional Office, MU Extensionphone: 573-379-5431
Cattle AI School (Session 1 of 2)
When: Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, 8 a.m. to Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, 5 p.m.
Classroom education on cattle reproductive anatomy and physiology, estrus synchronization, nutrition, bull selection and herd health. Hands-on experience in semen handling, CIDR application, artificial insemination, and DNA collection. more...
Register with St. Francois County Extension and accompany $100 non-refundable deposit. Enrollment taken in order of deposit received.
Class size:
Event full:
$250.00$100 non-refundable deposit due with enrollment.
Erin Larimore, firstname.lastname@example.com Extension in Cape Girardeau Countyphone: 573-243-3581
Heart of Am. Dairy Expo: Women in dairy
When: Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, 11 a.m. to noon
Social media presence to AgVocate - Panel of success stories
Call 417-847-3161
Reagan Bluel, firstname.lastname@example.com Extension in Barry Countyphone: 417-847-3161
© 1993
to 2015 Curators of the University
of Missouri, all rights reserved, DMCA
and other copyright information
University of Missouri Extension is an equal opportunity/ADA institution.
University of Missouri Extension
© 1993
to 2015 Curators of the University of Missouri, all rights reserved


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Yoga practice and classes present a challenge for longer hair. A very loose, high ponytail, loose bun or a twist will keep your hair off the floor or mat and out of the way for shoulder stands and bridge poses. If you regularly do headstands, you may want to opt for pigtails or an off-to-one-side bun so your hair won't distract you.
Using hair ties to pull hair back snuggly and then wrapping hair around the tie, using the tie to secure the style, will keep hair in a secure, but simple bun. To push back fly-aways that can distract you, use a simple headband. Once your hair is out of the way, you can begin to achieve ultimate yoga clarity.


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Create a Video Presentation
Presupuesto ₹1500-12500 INR
Video showcasing different showroom's located at different locations of Mumbai using Good Quality Map, requires innovative idea's to be able to make the video look good and presentable. There are total 15 Showroom's at different locations, Images, Files, Text will be provided.
11 freelancers están ofertando el promedio de ₹8452 para este trabajo
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