Golf Life

Source: Travel & Leisure Golf March / April 2009

• smell the roses, lighten up, focus on positive
• Commensense principles of golf (play the course, play the ball where it lies, play fair)
• know when ... obstruction is moveable, hazard is lateral, take / give relief

UCI - In the news

Source: Winter '09 Alumni Magazine -

• Kent Hymel, UCI doctoral candidate in economics finds data link between gridlock and slow job growth
• UCI wins top state environmental Environmental & Economic Leadership Award
• Top 10 university with free online courses
• Time spent online for teens is good for future life skills - Mizuko Ito, UC researcher
• UCI technology exclusive license to Hiperwall Inc and Samsung to distribute video wall technology
• Most science and engineering researchers researchers (20) named as Fellows of the American Asociation for the Advancement of Science
• Jane Chin is currently top-ranked female collegiate golfer in the country with 69.92 scoring average

Clinical Trials - Humans - Begin

Clinical trials are beginning from a therapy developed at UCI from embryonic stem cells. US Food and Drug has approved the therapy (research team Hans Keirstead and Dr. Gabriel Nistor). Trials will be done by Geron Corp of Menlo Park. California. This will be the world's first embryonic stem cell treatment tested in humans. Wish your friends in need well. http://www.bunkwurth.org

How did we get in this economic mess?

As a speaker, I often bring books for audience members to purchase. I usually put together a special package of material.

I just did a program for credit unions. The planner of the program asked me to leave several sets because she thought she might get requests for them. She sent me four cards of the ones that picked up sets and said to bill them. The bill was $40.00 for a package of books.

Two weeks later I received one of the packages of books back with a note from the attendee of the program, who was the credit unions assistant controller, stating "I did not think there was a cost to these." The books were priority mailed back. The cost for postage $24.50.

Meetings Today - Good, Bad, and Ugly

Source New York Times Feb 16, 2009: These quotes are from an article written by Martha C. White

The Bad: “I would say the majority of companies we’ve dealt with in the past have either lowered their budgets or canceled their meetings,” said Barry Maher, a motivational speaker who says his business has been affected.

The Ugly: “I think the attendees kind of felt like it was second-rate because it was so small,” Thom Singer, professional speaker said. “You definitely felt disappointment. The vibe was not as strong.”

The Good: Attendees are more likely to be decision makers and there is time to speak with educators and experts.

Tech Efficiency

Source - GizMag February 24, 2009: DubMeNow allows contact information to be instantly exchanged from mobile phone to mobile phone without having to give out mobile numbers or email addresses. It remembers the location and address where you made the swap and swaps with multiple people simultaneously is possible. Also, updates are transfered whenever your information changes.

Geek Toys

Very cool Fly Stick Van De Graff Levitation Wand from ThinkGeek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3xHKsjXLsA

Green Tags and Carbon Footprint

Source TerraPass (TerraPass): According to the Carbon Footprint Calculator at TerraPass.com, the cost to offset your carbon footprint from your flight to Africa from California is about $43 in green tag purchases. They'll spend the money to offset the higher cost of wind and solar electricity. Ahh, eco travel guilt free...

Beat the House

Source: Mobile Technology Magazine: February 2009

Just when you thought owning a gambling casino might be the winning side, application developers for the iPhone and iPod Touch have build blackjack card-counting programs A Blackjack Card Counter and Card Counter, which can operate in ‘stealth mode’. Good thing, since if you get caught at the table, it’s a felony. With or without, it’s a gamble. The programs can be downloaded from the iTunes Store.

Dropped Exchange Listings

Source: CRO Magazine February 2009 (www.cfo.com) In 2008, 85 companies were dropped from the Nasdaq and 54 from the New York Stock Exchange for failing to meet listing requirements (or going bankrupt).

Strategic Meeting Management versus ROI

What is the value of meetings? How do you prove the expenditure for the meeting was justified and provided a necessary result?

One of the terms being used to demonstrate the value of meetings is ROI (return-on-investment). It's a term from finance and it has a specific meaning: ROI = [(Payback - Investment)/Investment] x 100. Since most meetings have a financial cost to them and don't have a financial revenue stream, I've always contented that this valuation of meetings is meaningless. Here's a link to an article written some time ago:

http://64.82.36.220/articles/art-roi-On%20the%20QT%20ROI%20RFP%20%20LOL%20-%20meeting.shtml

The industry grabbed onto ROI because it's an easy term to throw around. The problem is, as a valuation model, it falls flat in the boardroom. The ROI line of thinking is why the reaction AIG's incentive meetings was so negative after receiving funding from the public. In ROI terms, it was a big fat expense (PARTY!) on taxpayer money.

Strategic Meetings Management on the other hand focuses on building meetings around specific objectives, and I agree completely with Kevin Maguire's (CCCTE, GLP, President & CEO, National Busienss Travel Association ( http://www.nbta.org ) statement in Corporate & Incentive Travel January 2009 "Strategic meetings management is really redefining what meetings are all about."

The expression has military roots and is all about setting up meeting plans to achieve a specified result. It is about discovery of the desires for the meeting from the stakeholders and defines the resources required to achieve the specified targets (objectives).

Vince Alonzo, Editor-in-Chief for Successful Meetings ( http://www.successfulmeetings.com ) pointed out that Edward Lidy, the chairman and CEO of AIG outlined AIG's Strategic Meetings Management Plan and the role of the incentive meetings to AIG's objectives. Vince pointed out that "As an industry we've done a terrible job explaining to the public at large exactly what role meetings and incentives play in the success of an organization."

I agree with him and Kevin that a focus on SMMP (Strategic Meetings Management Programs) will shed the proper light on the value of meetings.

Credit Card Reform

USA Today - Money 1B: Capital One, Citibank, and HSBC are raising interest rates and minimum payments as unemployment rises and more consumers truggle to pay their bills. "Consumers are trapped in a business model that is designed to induce mistakes and jack up fees," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY. "This type of tripwire pricing is predatory and must end."

Future Choice

Source CFO.com February 2009 - Accounting career seen as ultra-flexible states students at College of William & Mary.

"With accounting, I can go into auditing or tax, or go to law school, or work for a corporation of the SEC or the FBI - I can go anywhere I want," says Joseph Leuchter.

"No matter what kind of company - biotech or health care or filmmaking - you can get in without actually being a scientist or filmmaker," says Sarah Krug.