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Throughout 2011 the B2C and B2B purchase processes evolved greatly. Customers increasingly took to social and mobile for researching products and services, as well as to make purchases. Perhaps unsurprisingly, mobile and social media, as well as growth in online sales, are expected to continue driving changes to sales processes in the coming year. Additionally, as a result of customers increase in channel hopping to check product information and pricing and to make purchases, companies need to increase their focus on the multichannel customer experience.

Experts are also predicting blurring of the divide between marketing and sales. More and more, the two functions will collaborate to achieve their common objective: closing sales. For example, the two teams will partner to nurture leads and select the optimal timing for marketing campaigns, increasingly the likelihood of a prospect becoming a customer.

Here, several industry insiders offer their prediction on key sales trends and how companies can harness them in 2012:

The mobile shift

Smartphones have revolutionized the sales experience. Geographical boundaries have been virtually eliminated and todays iPhone- or Android-toting customer is able to not only access information about products and services wherever he is, but can make a purchase on the go with relative ease. According to estimates by eMarketer, m-commerce in the United States will reach $6.7 billion in 2011, a noteworthy 91.4 percent increase over 2010. In 2012 mobile sales are expected reach $11.6 billion.

While the impact of smartphones and tablets on the sales process has already been substantial, its only the beginning. Weve just scratched the surface with smartphones. Theyre going to be the stars of the show for the next few years, says  iRise CEO Emmet Keeffe.

• The marriage of social and mobile: Because of its around-the-clock accessibility, mobile has become a prime vehicle for social media interactions. According to Facebook statistics, 350 million of its 800 million users–more than 40 percent–access the social networking site over their mobile phones. Nichole Goodyear, strategic advisor at Extole, says mobile and social commerce will be merging to allow retailers to be closer to their customers. Companies will also be cautious not to create new silos.
• Leveraging location: The location identifier in smartphones is allowing companies to target their customers with geographically-relevant information. This trend will continue in the coming year, with more organizations tapping into location-based services to catch their customers as they pass by, says Radiate Media CEO Chris Rothey.
• Rise of the small establishment: By leveraging location-based services to their advantage, smaller businesses will increase sales by attracting geographically-favorable customers, says Rothey.

Social media sells

Todays social-savvy customer is increasingly going online to research what other people are saying about a product or service hes interested in purchasing. Many times the customers final decision is influenced by the reviews and recommendations of people he doesnt know, without having read what the company has to say about that product. This seismic shift has put buyers in the drivers seat; organizations have recognized that unless they leverage social media to their advantage, it may deal them a death blow. This is how social media is expected to impact the sales process in 2012:

• Search integration: Social chatter will increasingly be integrated in search engine algorithms, says Extoles Goodyear. Were already seeing links to social sites ranking high in the search results for particular products, giving searches real-time relevancy. This social media proliferation is pushed by both consumers who are willing to share their experiences and prospects who are doing their research before shopping.
• The birth of the social advocate: With social media interactions having a high level of influence on customers, companies will be trying to forge a closer relationship with their existing customers, enlisting their help to become brand advocates in order to increase their sales. Goodyear says an increasing number of companies will start formalizing referral processes in order to acquire new business through existing customers.
• Using social channels strategically: Social media greatly mimics the natural conversations in the real world. An increasing number of companies will recognize that they have to use a conversational tone in social to sell. Additionally, salespeople have realized that they can use social channels to search for prospects who have already shown interest in their type of product or service. Raghu Raghavan, founder and CEO of Act-On, says the coming months will see a great deal of effort into this research by sales agents who want to strike when the iron is hot. Dan McDade, CEO of PointClear, says unless sales agents capture customers who are showing interest in their company early on, they risk losing them to the competition.

The online customer

The 21st Century customer is also more open to shopping online. A report by Forrester earlier this year stated that online sales in the US grew by 12.6 percent in 2010, reaching $176.2 billion and predicted a 10 percent compound annual growth rate until 2015. This means that companies need to be as Web savvy as the consumers they are trying to attract.

• Simplifying the process: While consumers are not averse to doing their research, they want their shopping experience to be as simple as possible. Most important, they want to find what theyre looking for quickly and get frustrated when they dont, potentially leaving that particular site and going elsewhere. Todays customers are time-constrained and want a quick in and out, says Anand Subramaniam, vice president of worldwide marketing for eGain. Subramaniam says companies will start making it easier for customers to find what theyre looking for quickly, for example through simplified searches and sidebars with related products.
• Replicating the in-store experience: Many retailers know that customers who shop online because of convenience still look for personalized interactions. Thus, these retailers will be trying to give their online customers the experience they would get when they go to a store, says Subramaniam. For example, rather than telling customers who have a problem or inquiry to send an email, more online retailers will be using online chat, allowing customers to get their questions answered by an agent in real time.
• Great expectations: Customers have become accustomed to excellent service and products from the likes of Amazon and Apple, says Matthew Bellows, CEO of Yesware. Bellows says other online retailers will be improve their online sales experience to take a slice of the sales pie.

Finally, next year will see a continuation in the alignment of sales and marketing, two departments that have traditionally been distinct from each other. The line between sales and marketing is becoming blurred, says Act-Ons Raghavan. Raghavan says that in the coming year sales departments will become increasingly involved in lead nurturing and marketing campaigns, especially when it comes to choosing the right timing for communications and interactions. Salespeople want to be the ones pushing the start button, he says.

We track around 350 hedge funds because we believe they have an edge over ordinary investors. Hedge funds employ experienced investment professionals and devote significant resources to researching stocks and the markets. During the past decade hedge funds top stock picks managed to beat the market by more than 2 percentage points annually. Ordinary investors can benefit from such information simply by imitating the hedge funds.

In this article, we are going to focus on the stocks with the highest upside potential that are popular among the hedge funds we track. All companies have at least $10 billion market cap, average analyst recommendation score lower than 2 (1=strong buy, 2=buy, 3=hold, 4=sell, 5=strong sell), and were held by at least 40 hedge funds tracked by us. The market data is sourced from Finviz.

Nissan just unveiled plans to make wireless charging a feature of the Nissan Leaf, and now Daimler has announced that its researching similar, wireless electric vehicle charging technology.

The Mercedes-Benz parent company is currently researching using inductive charging for everyday use, with a Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-CELL as the test subject. The car is outfitted with a special coil, and when placed over top of another coil in the ground the charging process begins automatically.

The car is expected to be ready for this upcoming March, though not for commercial purposes. Instead, it will be part of the Berlin-based Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität, an energy-efficiency home pilot project. The plan is to create a home that generates more energy than it consumes.

That being said, Daimler is still considering the technology for future vehicles.

We have already demonstrated the essential feasibility of the technology, Daimlers Herbert Kohler said. The experience in day-to-day use will now provide important pointers for the further course of development.

A number of technical and financial issues also need to be resolved before we can really assess the marketability of this technology.

ASHEVILLE — Yes, Adam Blumenthal loves the Grateful Dead.

As a college student in the late 1980s and early ?90s, Blumenthal was researching virtual reality at the same time he was attending a number of Dead concerts. With a passion for the Dead?s groundbreaking fusion of music genres and improvisational performances, as well as digital simulations, Blumenthal started thinking about using digital technology to re-create some of the band?s legendary shows.

?I wrote a letter to the band at this time (around 1990) but never sent it. They were the world?s highest-grossing touring act, and I was a college kid thinking nothing would come of it,? Blumenthal said in an email. ?So I rewrote the letter for an up-and-coming band, Phish. I proposed to Phish that we make a digital experience based on their music. I got a letter back from Trey Anastasio saying, ?Sounds great, let?s talk more about it,?? he said.

That led to a seven-year collaboration with the band and sent Blumenthal into a career in New York media and advertising. He went on to create his own company, Curious Sense, which built digital games and online communities for the media and entertainment industry. But Blumenthal never let go of his dream of working with the Dead. He eventually approached the Grateful Dead through licensing partner Rhino Entertainment with the idea of creating an online game based on the band?s legacy. The two sides reached agreement, and the game, called ?The Epic Tour,? was born.

Blumenthal moved Curious Sense and its eight employees from Research Triangle in Raleigh to Asheville in 2010. Blumenthal?s wife, Juditta Musette, is the company?s creative director, and the two always loved visiting the mountains and decided the time was right to move.

Here?s more from Blumenthal about the development of the unique video game:

Question: What?s the status of the game?

Answer: The game itself is not launched yet. What we have launched is a preview/pre-order experience that is telling the backstory of the game that allows players to begin to build their in-game character (a dancing bear) and that gives Dead Heads the chance to vote for their favorite Grateful Dead shows. At the end of January we will close the voting, and the top 10 shows, as voted by the fans, will be the shows we reimagine and visit in the game, ?The Epic Tour.?

In coming weeks, the Thompson School District Board of Education will look at what sort of impact closing some elementary schools would have on the community.

During a special work session Wednesday night, the Board chose to research all aspects of closing two elementary schools, Van Buren and Lincoln.

You can anticipate then that the January work session that (Assistant Superintendent) Mike (Jones) and staff will bring back scenarios, Superintendent Ron Cabrera told the Board. At which point, you will say if this is the right path, and give some direction about community forums. All that will happen and well go from there.

Lincoln and Van Buren were chosen from a list of five schools, including Big Thompson, Laurene Edmondson and Sarah Milner, that had scored atop a list of criteria the Board selected in November.

Lincoln and Van Buren were the top two choices on the list that featured criteria including facility use, operation costs, enrollment percentage and transportation costs, but other factors also were included.

With the two schools selected for research, Jones and his staff will look at the cost benefits of closing the schools, although Jones warned the data, research and scenarios could actually show that shuttering a school could raise costs because more students would have to be bused to other schools.

Board members also were worried Wednesday night that closing a school would increase class sizes, but Steve Towne, chief financial officer, tried to quell the concerns by saying teachers follow the students and it was likely not many licensed positions would be lost.

I just wanted to make sure that we all understood the model we are looking at to calculate those savings theoretically does not impact class size at all and the reasoning is the teachers follow the students, Towne said. What youll run into is capacity concerns at other schools.

Once the scenarios are brought in front of the board in early January, it will have to make a decision rather quickly about what the next step should be since the district needs to begin to create a balanced budget, in the area of an already $7 million deficit, in the early months of 2012.

Even though the board is researching the effects of closing a school, there remains a chance the schools will be spared.

If I can avoid that, I will, said Board member Janice Marchman.

In other action Wednesday night, the Board voted unanimously to approve the new schedule, which includes having work sessions on the first two Wednesdays of the month and then a regular meeting on the third Wednesday of the month.

The meetings also now will begin at 6 pm, as opposed to the old schedule when regular meetings would start at 7 pm, and work sessions were held on Mondays.

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and Democratic Senate candidate in Massachusetts, has spent years researching the financial struggles of average Americans. Above, she campaigns in Framingham, Mass., in September.
(Josh Reynolds, Associated Press / December 26, 2011)

Once again the Trash to Gas issue surfaces for our city. The universal problem, the disposal of waste, is a conundrum for the City Council and Administration. Here are four cracks in the ice!
Researching companies that propose solutions to Tauntons trash problem seem just as problematic and universal!
I checked each company sited by Ted Gay on the internet and read the following:
1. WeCare Tech, Jordan, New York is based in a renovated farm house and the company seems to deal with farm waste, but no city has hired them to turn their trash to gas or gasoline!
2. Interstate Technology proposes to build a plant here in Taunton for $800 million and may give us a discount and charge $700 million, but no city in the USA has such a project. The example given is an illustration not a photo of a built and working plant.
3. Exxon-Mobile has been hired by the Qatar Emirate (MidEast) and met with the Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah and such a project in this tiny but rich in oil Emirate would cost $8.6 Billion thats a B and take at least six years to complete.
4. One city, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania agreed to such a project at the cost of $800 million and went bankrupt!
The state of Pennsylvania is not happy with the city administration as they passed into receivership! (A prophecy?)
If the project were successful the use of the energy (gas or electricity) would have to be used locally.
This situation has happened in a town in California, making electricity by a wind farm, isnow being sued for disrupting the companies that produce electricity. Currently the TMLP buys electricity from the National Grid when it is cheaper than generating electricity from our own plant. How would the City Council resolve a potential problem of providing cheaper energy than using oil, coal, or other sources?

Sincerely,
Jack Donahue
Taunton

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham city officials are researching whether Occupy Birmingham demonstrators downtown need a permit to legally gather, and spend the night, on city rights of way.

The group for weeks has set up base in the downtown financial district just in front of Regions. While he has no issue with the demonstration, Councilman Johnathan Austin said, he has asked police and the city attorney for guidance as to whether the group is following city rules.

The only issue that I can see is we need to make sure the law is being abided by as it relates to the sit-in, said Austin, chairman of the councils public safety committee. It has been brought to my attention by several of my constituents and people who live and work in the area.

The city has officially been silent on the subject so far.

I personally do not have an issue with them making a statement, Austin said of the demonstrators. What I think we should do is make sure that everything is being adhered to.

• Gheni Platenburg bull;
• Originally published December 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm, updated December 26, 2011 at 1:45 am

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WHAT IS KWANZAA?

Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and African American culture that is celebrated annually from December 26 through January 1.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement by Maulana Karenga, an activist and professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, Karenga searched for ways to bring African-Americans together as a community.

During the course of founding US, a cultural organization, Karenga began researching African first fruit harvest celebrations.

This prompted him to combine aspects of several different harvest celebrations including those of the Ashanti, Yoruba and Zulu to form the basis of Matunda ya Kwanza, which means first fruits in Swahili.

Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday not a religious one. People of all religious faiths and races are welcome to celebrate it.

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OK KWANZAA

The principles, called the Nguzo Saba (seven principles in Swahili) are a set of African cultural ideals created by Karenga which contribute to building and reinforcing community among African-Americans.

Unity: Umoja (oo-MO-jah):Strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Self-determination: Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah): Define and speak for oneself

Collective Work and Responsibility: Ujima (oo-GEE-mah): Build and maintain a community together

Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah): Build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Purpose: Nia (nee-YAH): Build and develop the community in order to restore African-Americans to their traditional greatness.

Creativity: Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah): To do always as much as possible in order to leave the community more beautiful and beneficial than it was inherited.

Faith: Imani (ee-MAH-nee): Believe in our community, parents, teachers and leaders and the righteousness and victory of the struggle.

HOW IS KWANZAA CELEBRATED?

The traditionally established way of celebrating Kwanzaa is as follows:

1. Asemble the Kwanzaa set: a table covered with African cloth, and a mkeka (mat) and a kinara (candle holder) filled with the Mishumaa Saba (seven candles).

2. Secondly, place the mazao (crops) and the kikombe cha umoja (the Unity cup) on the mkeka (mat). The cup is used to pour tambiko (libation) to the ancestors in remembrance and honor of those who paved the path down which we walk.

3. Next, place African art objects and books on the life and culture of African people on or next to the mat to symbolize our commitment to heritage and learning.

4. On each of the seven nights, family members will gather and a child will light one of the seven candles and discuss one of the seven principles

5. The seven candles represent the seven principles. The black candle, which should be lit first, represents the first principle Umoja and is placed in the center of the kinara.

6. The red candles represent the principles of Kujichagulia, Ujamaa and Kuumba and are placed to the left of the black candle.

7. The green candles represent the principles of Ujima, Nia and Imani and are placed to the right of the black candle.

8. The remaining candles are lit afterwards from left to right on the following days, indicating that people come first followed by the struggle and the hope that comes from the struggle.

9. Celebrations often include songs and dances, African drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large African feast held on December 31 called a Karamu.

POPULARITY

While the African American Cultural Center estimates that 30 million celebrate the holiday annually, Keith Mayes, an assistant professor of African American Studies at the University of Minnesota, estimates the total of celebrants to be between 500,000 to 2 million, a small percentage of the 38,929,319 million people who identified as black according to 2010 Census data.

The idea of Kwanzaa is a beautiful practice, but its going away, said Rhett Rushing, a folklorist at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio.

The communities I see are not celebrating Kwanzaa at all. People dont time to sit down as a family and light one candle, said Rushing.

Celebration of the holiday is not limited to the United States.

Blacks in Canada, France, Great Britain, Jamaica and Brazil also celebrate the holiday.

I really believe its much bigger than Pan-African heritage, said Rushing. Were all African. I dont care who you are or what you look like.

Meanwhile, in the United States, cultural exhibitions include the Spirit of Kwanzaa, an annual celebration held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts featuring interpretive dance, African dance, song and poetry.

STAMPS

The first US postage stamp commemorating Kwanzaa, issued in 1997

The first Kwanzaa stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service on Oct. 22, 1997, with artwork by Synthia Saint James.

A second Kwanzaa stamp, designed by Daniel Minter, was issued in 2004.

Rushing said like many other holidays, he foresees the celebration for Kwanzaa going online.

People are going to celebrate in different ways, said Rushing. I bet you a nickel people will soon be able to go online and light a virtual candle.

GREETINGS

The greetings during Kwanzaa are in Swahili. The main greeting is Habari gani (Whats the news)? and the answer is each of the principles for each of the days of Kwanzaa, ie, Umoja, on the first day, Kujichagulia, on the second day and so on.

Sources: history.com/topics/kwanzaa-history and officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml

The Hornets background calls on Rajon Rondo cover the usual territory with him: his relationship with coaches, teammates and stubborn disposition, sources said.

The Hornets hadnt had the most favorable impression of Rondo, clearly preferring packages with Curry and Gordon over him.

As the Hornets realize teams are growing more hesitant to give up assets out of fear Paul will be simply a four-month rental, theyve come to realize that Bostons offer could be the best on the table.