Kunkel is the president of Wordslinger Marketing & PR, primarily serving the nonprofit community

Ace Bedich is the owner of Green O' Aces Pools & Landscape

The US headline business activity net balance fell to 30 per cent in October from 41 per cent in June and was the lowest for two years, an S&P Global survey found. Despite this, firms were still more optimistic than the global average net balance of 24 per cent. Inflation expectations were a bit above the global average. At 37 per cent, the manufacturing net balance was the highest for a year.

October US container imports were 2,494,635 TEUs, marking the fourth month in a row of volumes exceeding 2.4 million TEUs, a threshold that has historically strained US maritime logistics, the November Global Shipping Report by Descartes Systems Group noted. For the first ten months of 2024, volumes grew by 13.1 per cent YoY. At seven of the top 10 US ports, transit time delays rose in October.

The 2024 Laureus Sport for Good Index honours brands advancing the 17 SDGs through sport, highlighting impactful initiatives that address key social and ecological issues. Head of Partnerships Astin Ewington emphasises the Index’s role in showcasing sport's power to drive positive change, inspiring more brands to use sport as a platform for meaningful, sustainable impact.

Web Industries will showcase its nonwoven materials solutions for medical, personal care, and home care markets at Hygienix 2024, held November 18-21 in Nashville. The company will highlight its slitting, spooling, printing, and modular converting capabilities, offering precision converting for flexible packaging, films, and medical-grade materials.

Cognitive/AI technologies for customer engagement are white hot. No wonder professionals, who had removed AI from their resumes, are scrambling to add it back in!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one?if not the?key technology of our decade. Technological advances in this field are not only fundamentally changing our economies, industries and markets, but are also exerting enormous influence on traditional business practices, many of which will disappear, while others will be transformed or completely reinvented.

The consumer has spoken. Forrester Research asked 5,000 of them, "What created the biggest pain when you contacted a business for customer service?" They answered lack and consistency of agent knowledge, followed by the difficulty of finding relevant answers on company websites. So, what is driving this dissatisfaction?

BIG NEWS: My custom Lightroom presets are now available and 50% off for a limited time with discount code HOLIDAY50. Link in profile!

This collection includes two styles (Everyday and Clean) that I use to edit every shot on this feed. I can’t wait to see what you all do with them! Stay tuned to my upcoming tutorials on how to put the presets to good use. ???? (at Toronto, Ontario)

Missing Berlin’s gorgeous buildings again. ???? (at Berlin, Germany)

I just realized that I can export my entire story all at once now, which means uploading my tutorials to my Facebook page will be a million times easier (it was tedious to stitch all the individual clips together before). ????
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Related: I posted a story this morning deconstructing the edit on yesterday’s shot.
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Also related: I uploaded the 3 tutorials from my November feature on @thecreatorclass to my Facebook page this morning too. More to come! (at London, United Kingdom)

UX competitor analysis is a valuable user research method that focuses on understanding your products’ competitors, helping you better understand your market and goals. Idea Theorem™ has worked with many clients that required a UX competitor analysis to get actionable insights about their competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and mistakes to avoid and know what they are doing right.

““I always hated that word—marketing—and I hate it now. Because for me, and this may sound simplistic, the key to marketing is to make something people want. When they want it, they buy it. When they buy it, you have sales. So the product has to speak. The product is what markets things.””

- Interview with Tom Ford.

“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. This kind of art is not theoretical or illustrative of theories; it is intuitive, it is involved with all types of mental processes and it is purposeless. It is usually free from the dependence on the skill of the artist as a craftsman.”

- Artist Sol Lewitt on conceptual art.

A British Columbia (BC) teen from the Fraser Health region who was hospitalized with an earlier announced presumptive positive H5 avian flu infection is in critical condition, the province's top health official said today.

Hundreds of "Wanted" posters targeting members of the University of Rochester community were found glued to campus buildings and classrooms, according to the Department of Public Safety.

President-elect Trump and Elon Musk, two billionaires with strikingly similar DNAs, are fusing into a new, powerful governing-media paradigm.

Russell Allen is the Project Manager for the University of Bradford's Portal and CMS projects. Russell has spent the last fifteen years as a project manager delivering non-succession funded IT innovation and development projects in both public and private sector organisations. Projects have included implementing the University of Sheffield's career management skills web site, on-line remote training for under-employed graduates in recruitment agencies, setting up community IT resources via the government's UK Online programme and developing community engagement projects via the e-citizen and e-government programs. Funders have included HEFC, DFES, ESF, SRB and lottery funding. His current job at the University of Bradford is to deliver a CMS and Portal as part of the University's e-strategy. Russell facilitated a workshop session on "People, Processes and Projects - How the Culture of an Organisation can Impact on Technical System Implementation" with Claire Gibbons.

The University of Aberdeen Sport and Recreation department are able to offer all delegates preferential rates for using the Sports facilities for the duration of the conference. [11 July 2008]

Susan Farrell is a web consultant with a background in information science. Her career has spanned everything from abstracting and editing to website development and content management system implementations. Having spent the last few years as Head of Web and Portal Services at King's College London, Susan set up her own company, Susan Farrell Consulting Ltd, in January 2010. The company specialises in helping clients to maximise the effectiveness of their web presence and does this by: developing and implementing web, digital and content strategies; driving website redesign and development projects; ensuring the optimum user experience through stakeholder engagement and user research; and aiming for high levels of usability through excellent content management. Susan gained a BSc in Biology from Durham University many years ago, and an MSc in Information Science from Sheffield University almost as long ago, and certainly long before the web was even dreamed about! Susan will be giving a plenary talk entitled "Are web managers still needed when everyone is a web 'expert'?".

Russell Allen is the Project Manager for the University of Bradford's Portal and Web CMS projects. Russell has spent the last sixteen years as a project manager delivering non-succession funded IT innovation and development projects in both public and private sector organisations. Projects have included implementing the University of Sheffield's career management skills Web site, on-line remote training for under-employed graduates in recruitment agencies, setting up community IT resources via the government's UK Online programme and developing community engagement projects via the e-citizen and e-government programs. Funders have included HEFC, DFES, ESF, SRB and lottery funding. His current job at the University of Bradford is to deliver a Web CMS, amongst other things, as part of the University's e-strategy. Russell facilitated a workshop on "Web CMS and University Web Teams Part II - the Never Ending Story? with Claire Gibbons.

Smart planning policies and room for expansion is ensuring Melbourne keeps its affordability and acclaimed quality of life as it becomes Australia’s biggest city over the next few decades. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne will overtake Sydney in population by 2053, projected to be home to over 7.7 million people. Currently 4.35 million people live in Melbourne compared to 4.76 million in Sydney but more people are moving to Melbourne than other Australian capital city, drawn by a vibrant and cosmopolitan culture, great public amenities and transport infrastructure and a geographical location that allows the city to expand outwards to accommodate new arrivals at lower cost than other major Australian cities.

Singapore's RedDot Brewhouse plans to establish a new independent commercial microbrewery and beer garden in Melbourne’s west. The new RedDot facility in Truganina (21 km west of Melbourne's city centre) will be the company’s first brewery outside Singapore.

Australia’s world ranking for biotechnology innovation jumped from seventh to fourth on Scientific American’s latest ‘Worldview’ scorecard. The publication’s scorecard provides a balanced assessment of biotechnology innovation around the world and indicated that Australia’s biotech market is undergoing a resurgence.

The new Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA), signed on 8 July 2014, will strengthen economic ties between the two nations. Japan is Australia’s third largest direct foreign investor with A$130 million worth of investment stock in Australia in 2013.

Wilcox Industries’ manufacturing and assembly facility in Victoria will be a joint venture with its Melbourne-based distributor and partner, Aquaterro – a leading supplier of law enforcement and defence equipment in Victoria.

Global ratings agency, Moody’s, has reaffirmed Australia’s AAA rating and stable outlook, consistent with recent assessments by Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Australia’s sovereign credit rating is based on the nation’s highly resilient economy, high level of government financial strength and low level of event risk.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed Australia's triple-A credit rating and stable economic outlook, stating that the sovereign credit ratings on Australia benefit from the country's strong institutional settings, its wealthy and resilient economy, and a high degree of monetary and fiscal policy flexibility. “These factors provide Australia with a strong ability to absorb large economic and financial shocks, as was demonstrated during the global recession in 2009,” S&P said.

Australia remains a top 10 global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) for a third straight year after attracting US$50 billion in foreign direct investment in 2013, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2014. Over the three years to 2013, FDI flows to Australia rose nearly 55 per cent to US$171 billion from US$110 billion over the previous three years. This impressive growth has expanded Australia’s share of global FDI inflows to 3.8 per cent in 2011-13 from 2.5 per cent in 2008-10. In contrast, developed economies’ share of world FDI inflows fell to 44 per cent in 2011-13 from 53 per cent in 2008-10.

Australia has achieved its highest ever ranking in the 2014 Global Innovation Index (GII). The GII 2014 surveyed 143 economies around the world, using 81 indicators to gauge both their innovation capabilities and measurable results.

Rohlig Australia will open a new branch office in the Melbourne western suburb of Truganina in mid 2015. The new Melbourne base for the international logistics company will be a modern 8,730sqm facility that includes space for a large warehouse and an open plan office.

La Trobe University in Melbourne will bring its world-class scientific expertise to the newly launched Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI).

Australia’s premier business organisation dedicated to promoting investment and trade with China will be the first bilateral business chamber to be part of the Victorian Coalition Government’s new International Chamber House (ICH). The Australia China Business Council (ACBC) will move its head office from Sydney to Melbourne to be part of ICH, which is set to open later this year in Melbourne’s city centre.

Aegis Services Australia has announced it will expand its business processing outsourcing operations in Victoria, creating 550 new jobs over the next two years. Aegis is a global outsourcing and technology company. The expansion will mean a doubling of the company’s existing local workforce and a substantial investment in training and up-skilling of employees. The company’s announcement underscores Victoria's strong reputation as a destination for global investment and business services centre.

The expression of interest for the Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) has officially opened. BWEZ is the Ballarat region’s engine room for jobs and economic growth over the next 20 years. Located just over an hour north-west from the Melbourne city centre, Ballarat has fantastic connections to road, rail, ports and airports and the region is home to a large, skilled and stable workforce. With an increasing population of 100,000, Ballarat is one of the largest inland cities in Australia and serves as a key access point to the other regional centres in Northern and Western Victoria.

The Fu Wah International Group will establish its Australian headquarters in Melbourne, bringing 20 jobs to Victoria. A high-end real-estate development and commercial property management group based in China, the company recently took ownership of the iconic Melbourne Park Hyatt Hotel and is exploring other investment opportunities in Victoria's property and hotel sector.

Hong Kong-based independent hotel company the Hind Group is to establish its new Australian headquarters in Melbourne, creating 10 new jobs. The Hind Group is one of Hong Kong's most successful independent hotel and serviced apartment operators. It owns and manages two hotel brands, Ovolo Hotels and Naumi Hotels and also runs two food and beverage businesses, Café O in Hong Kong and Rang Mahal in Singapore.

Indian company Ray Business Technologies (Raybiztech) has chosen Melbourne as its Australian headquarters. The company plans to create 30 new highly skilled local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) jobs over the next two years. Headquartered in Hyderabad, India, with offices in the USA and UK, Raybiztech delivers cloud, mobility, big data and social media solutions to its enterprise clients around the world, in the sectors of finance, healthcare, manufacturing, media, leisure and utilities.

Global technology supplier Finmeccanica – Selex ES will establish its Australian Naval Communications headquarters in Melbourne, creating 80 manufacturing jobs by 2019. Finmeccanica - Selex ES works across the international defence, security, aerospace, naval and transport sectors.

The Victorian Government has secured the right for Melbourne to continue to host the Australian leg of the world’s largest digital games festival, the Penny Arcade Expo Australia (PAX Aus), for the next five years until 2019.

UK packaging company LINPAC has chosen Melbourne as its Australian headquarters. The A$22 million investment will create 72 manufacturing jobs at the new headquarters in the suburb of Truganina in Melbourne’s West, and allow the company to increase its food packaging manufacturing capacity. Operating in 37 countries around the world, LINPAC is a global leader in the production of primary fresh food packaging and food service solutions.

Japanese-based pharmaceutical company Eisai has announced it will open its Australian headquarters in Melbourne to provide a platform to market its portfolio of epilepsy and oncology products. The company ranks in the top 25 pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue, and employs over 10,000 people worldwide.

Balluff Leuze has invested in a custom-built automation centre in Bayswater, located 40 minutes east of Melbourne’s city centre, as part of its continued Australian expansion plans. The German company, which specialises in technically innovative products for the Automation industry has been working in Australia for 15 years and is considered a leader in sensor technology. They also build a range of safety products that are used in the Victorian manufacturing sector.

Australia and China have signed an historic free-trade agreement (FTA) which will increase opportunities for foreign direct investment in Victoria. The deal, which is suggested to be worth A$18 billion to Australia’s economy, was announced after almost a decade of negotiations between the nations. The agreement will increase the threshold at which private companies attract scrutiny by the Foreign Investment Review Board from A$247 million to A$1 billion. This will allow corporations to more easily take advantage of the competitive and dynamic business environment that Melbourne has to offer.

For the second year in a row, the Penny Arcade Expo Australia (PAX Aus) was held in Melbourne from 31 October 2014 to 2 November 2014. It opened to the news that Melbourne had secured the right to continue to host the event for the next five years, a huge coup for Victoria and for all Australian digital gaming fans. The announcement meant that Melbourne would host the iconic event, which attracts the world’s biggest and most influential digital games developers, publishers, and enthusiastic players, until at least 2019.

Hotel and accommodation booking app, HotelQuickly, has opened an office in Melbourne as part of its plans to expand its operations in the Australian market. The Hong-Kong headquartered company, which was launched in March 2013, has more than 600,000 users globally and offers last-minute discounted hotel and accommodation booking options for travellers.