Posted on March - 20 - 2012
One of my favorite sketches from SNL’s Wayne’s World was when the guest star (memory eludes me) was a cool kid who was on Wayne’s show to announce what the new, cool word would be for the upcoming school year. That not only struck me as funny, it brought back memories of my own school days when it was very important to use the latest phrase.
The words seemed to evolve out of nowhere. One day,we were showing approval to something or someone by saying it was “Neat.” Then without warning we switched to “Groovy,” and then to “Boss,” ”Tough,” “Far-out” and on and on. Nobody really thought about who 
started it or why we all followed.
Think about it – do you have any idea who was the first person to wear a backwards baseball cap (other than actual baseball catchers – who have a legitimate reason.)
Not Just High School
It’s one thing in high school but the same phenomenon exists in sales and marketing. People tend to pick up phrases and
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Posted on March - 16 - 2012
Solar thermal technology startup BrightSource Energy hopes to raise $182.5 million in a long-awaited initial public stock offering, according to an amended S-1 filed with the SEC Wednesday.
The Oakland-based company plans to issue 6.9 million shares, plus up to 1.35 million shares to its underwriters, at a price between $21 to $23 per share. It hopes to trade on the Nasdaq using the symbol BRSE.
BrightSource uses mirrors to concentrate the sun and turn turbines that generate electricity. It’s most advanced project is the massive Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System currently under construction on federal land in California’s Mojave Desert. When completed next year, Ivanpah will be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world, generating enough electricity for about 140,000 homes.
NRG Solar invested $300 million in the Ivanpah project, and Google invested $168 million. Utilities PG&E and Southern California Edison have signed long-term contracts to purchase the electricity. BrightSource was also awarded a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the U.S.
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Posted on March - 15 - 2012
Brazen Careerist is a career management company that hosts online job fairs, gives advice through the Brazen Life blog, and offers online bootcamps that help job seekers boost their job search and professional skills through BrazenU.
The most popular course has been the 20-day Executive Social Media Bootcamp that features social media experts from companies like Citi, Ford, Ogilvy and Mather, Edelman, Behance, and more.
Im happy to announce that Brazen Careerist is offering a 15% discount off the price of the 20-day Executive Social Media Bootcamp to the Women On Business community!
The bootcamp is available online and on-demand, so you can start it anywhere and anytime. The course covers social media strategy from a beginner to advanced level, including how to use social media to boost audience engagement and sales, measure ROI, increase workflow efficiencies, and more.
You can follow the link to learn more about the Executive Social Media Bootcamp, and to register for the program.
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Posted on March - 12 - 2012
The blue-chip’s annual report showed Voser’s total compensation last year hit €11.6 million (£10.1 million), boosted by payouts on a host of the company’s long-term share plans, in contrast with a far smaller €4.7 million in 2010. The payout comes after a year in which the Anglo-Dutch giant boosted profits 54% to $28.6 billion (£18.1 billion) as oil prices averaged $111 a barrel. But the company’s dividend remained flat at $1.68 over the year.
The firm’s upstream director Malcolm Brinded, who steps down next month after a career with Shell spanning nearly 40 years, took home almost as much as Voser last year, landing £9.9 million in salary, bonuses and share schemes. The huge payouts
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Posted on March - 12 - 2012
NEW YORK—AT&T is offering to discuss a settlement to an iPhone user who won a small-claims case that alleged the company was slowing down his “unlimited” data service.
A law firm retained by AT&T Inc. also threatened in a letter dated Friday to shut off Matthew Spaccarelli’s phone service if he doesn’t sit down to talk.
The phone company doesn’t say if the settlement would involve money beyond the $850 award the Simi Valley, Calif., resident won from the company in small claims court on Feb. 24.
AT&T has about 17 million smartphone customers on “unlimited” plans, and has started slowing down service for users who hit certain traffic thresholds. Spaccarelli maintained at his Feb. 24 small-claims hearing that AT&T broke its promise to provide “unlimited” service, and the judge agreed.
Spaccarelli has posted online the documents he used to argue his case and encourages other AT&T customers copy his suit. Legal settlements usually include non-disclosure agreements that would force Spaccarelli to take down the documents. <
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Posted on March - 08 - 2012
Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller said the Remploy board was proposing to close the sites by the end of the year because they were unlikely to achieve independent financial viability.
She said the £320 million budget for disability employment has been protected, adding that the money will be spent more effectively.
In a written ministerial statement responding to a Government-commissioned review into disability employment, Ms Miller said savings from policy changes being announced will be used on “proven employment programmes” to benefit “many more” disabled people.
The minister said she had assessed “very carefully” the needs of Remploy workers, as well as the 6.9 million disabled people of working age who could benefit from greater specialist employment support.
She said: “The Government will reduce its current subsidy to Remploy from the beginning of the new financial year so that we cease funding factories which make significant losses year after year and restrict funding to those factories which might have a prospect of a viable future without Government subsidy.”
Remploy will shortly begin consulting with unions on the proposed closure of the 36 factories and on the potential compulsory redundancy of 1,752 people at the sites, most of them disabled workers, she said.
Phil Davies, national officer of the GMB said: “This decision to sack 1,752 people in 36 Remploy factories across the country is one of the worst decisions that this discredited coalition government has taken since coming to office.
“Thousands of disabled workers will now pay with their jobs for the incompetence of this government and other public sector bodies that did not take advantage of EU procurement rules that allow supported manufacturing jobs for disabled workers.
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