A useful reference for those making public presentations

A useful reference for those making public presentations




PubCon Street Tips: Giving a Kick Ass Presentation
Date: August 14, 2007, 11:27 amCategory Tag: "Unfiled" Posted by: Brett_Tabke
PubCon Street Tips on Giving Presentations : Investing in our Speakers
"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two.
This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

I am sitting here in a sea of speaker and session proposals for PubCon Las Vegas 2007. I have never had to make the kinds of decisions we are facing for this year's PubCon. We have increased the number of sessions again and the amount space we have reserved.
We get many questions about presentations at every conference. PubCon is known as a conference that embraces newbie speakers that are experts in their fields. We have seen it all. Even the old school professional speakers like to keep up with the new techniques and make a better presentation every time. So, while we prep for these presentation assignments, I am reminded of what it means to be a good speaker and how to develop into a good speaker. I think I am an average to above average speaker. I only got to that point by being a student of the presentation. I know there are many quality speakers that never take the time to study presentation for presentations sake, but the majority of us have to put some work into it.
At WebmasterWorld, PubCon, and other industry conferences, I've seen close to a thousand presentations. I've moderated over half of those panels. I've felt nervous, envious, sympathetic, and elated for those speakers I have seen. I mostly feel like I want to help them become better speakers. I have seen great first time speakers, and I have seen seasoned pro's fail. The one clear difference between a great presentation and a presentation I should have stayed in bed for is speaker preparation.

The Power of a Confident Presentation
Your ability to give a great presentation will help your career, ring a sales bell, or promote yourself effectively in an ever increasingly complex business world. Speaking with confidence is a skill that transcends the presentation and will help you throughout your life. Public speaking breeds confidence that will be the difference between getting a promotion, making a sale, or winning a friend. While chair of PubCon, I have seen people go from wallflowers to confident public speakers. The affect it has had on their lives and careers has been profoundly positive.
The old saying that business is a contact sport has never been more appropriate than today. You have good odds of making a great contact at a conference face-to-face. Exercise that opportunity and it will come back to you many times over. Making new contacts is part of the reason people attend a conference.

Stop 1: Who is in the room?
20-30% of the attendees will relish your presentation. Anything you put on the screen - they will love.
25-50% of your attendees are there to see someone else on your panel.
20-30% of your attendees will loathe all PowerPoints and are in the room because they need the information and don't want to miss anything.
5% are there just for the question and answer period (Q&A).
5% of your attendees are there because their boss said they needed to be there.
5% of your attendees are there because the WiFi is good in the room.
2% are there because their phone/laptop needed charging and there is a plug on the wall.
5% are there because they don't wish to walk back to the room while waiting for the next session.
5% are there because they are blogging about the session and need to beat Barry to the post button.
5% are there because there is a cute guy/girl on the panel.
What Should it Look Like?
The Big Opening:
Gracious: Thank your host, thank your moderator, and thank the audience for being there. This simple act will help to get a repeat invitation to speak. Always promote and thank the host up front. They got you there - thank them for the honor. Never try to upstage your host, or become the master of ceremonies - that is your moderators job. Don't take over the session - participate in it. You are a guest in their house.
Cheers Dudes: Let the audience know that you want to meet them and they can see you around the conference and should feel welcome to come talk to you.
One Theme - One Theme Only Please: Follow one central theme and nail it. Use every slide to prop up the core theme and should in some way refer back to your overall presentation theme.
Respect the Scope: Limit your bullet points. Be very selective. You don't want people reading your bullets, you want them looking and listening to you. Your power point is a tool - don't let it overshadow you by reading your own bullet points. Instead, read your notes about your bullet points. Try old fashioned 3x5 cards with large print for your notes.
The Big Five: Each presentation should have at least one slide for each of the big five: a chart, a graph, a list, a human picture, a funny picture, and finish with 3 take aways and your contact info.
The Stunner Opener: Start with a stunner of a statistic, a really funny experience, or a real world case study. However, don't attempt to tell a joke unless you are really really good at it. Nine out of ten jokes fail during presentations. Leave the comedy to the professionals like the one at the right.
The Survey Opener: Finding out who is in the audience with a survey question is a great ice breaker and opener. So ask for a show of hands. Some people in the audience just get giddy over being able to participate and they hang on your every syllable. Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Lead Them: Let your audience know what you are going to cover and what your theme is all about. Some people even number their slides backwards so the audience can follow along to the end.
Hitting the Sweet Spot:
One Slide Per Minute: Use a maximum of one slide per minute. You can talk that long. If you do more than one slide per minute, the audience will follow only the screen and not you.
No Pitches: Dude, you work for a cool company -- maybe even yourself -- but please only mention your company name or products one time. Nothing turns stomachs faster than a sales pitch.
Big Quote: A witty saying or quote from someone always grabs attention. (psst: the one with Ford at the right)
Work the Room: Go clockwise around the clock and look at each of your audience members in turn. Don't fixate on one person (like a college friend or coworker). Work the room.
Don't Distract: Don't look at the projector screen and don't use a laser pointer. People find them annoying and rarely can see them in the back of the room.
Stay Tech Light: Double check your tech prep. Avoid software or tech that is nonstandard on a simple machine with Office installed. I have seen every type of technical problem. Never ever use any type of software your host doesn't explicitly say is on the presentation machine. For example, software such as movies, sounds, or flash all have problems. Never count on an internet connection and always have a Plan B if you do. Internet connections have a staggering 50-75% failure rate at conferences. I have seen internet problems at every conference I have ever been too. PubCon, SearchEngineStrategies, and even Traffic, have all had internet failures during presentations. Never count on a live internet connection. Always prep a presentation that does not have the whiz bang version of software X that you really need. Even if it is supposed to be on the presentation machine, they could have swapped machines. Plan for the worst - especially if you are at a tech conference where attendees will saturate the WiFi with their own laptop connections.
All Demos Suck: Don't ever do a product demo unless the session is a product demo. People loath product demos - especially software demos - they are 95% unintelligible in a big room.
Bring A Backup: Give your PowerPoint to your host via the accepted means. Take a copy on USB stick and/or CD (careful - many systems don't have CD's these days).
Movement: Find out if you are allowed to walk-n-talk while you give your presentation. If so, practice with a remote mouse/clicker and take it with you to your presentation.
Bond with the Panel: Refer to one or two of your panel members during your presentation. Then make sure to say hi, or shake their hand before your session - build a bond. You are a team and that panel member may be the best contact you make at the entire session.
Leave Props to Home: Props rarely work. Handouts work even less - they cause a distraction.
Give Aways: "If you come up and see me after my presentation, I will give you a new pen, a new hat, sign your conference book, or give you a new car." Then swap business cards. At PubCon Vegas 2005, I gave away simple key chains at a presentation once and was given the business card of a producer who later put me on national TV.
The Big Surprise!: You will have a moment of surprise in your presentation. Watch for it and react accordingly. You will have no idea when your audience will find something you have said funny and laugh, moan, or groan. Don't panic - just smile -- pause as necessary -- and move onward.
Dramatic Pause: A pause here-n-there in your speech gives your audience a break and lets them think, breath, and take a drink of water. Oh yeah - always have a glass of water near the podium. Only half full because you might shake and spill it.
Panel Topics: Cross check with your other panelists about their topic coverage. Always respect the topics you are asked to speak about. There is no more solid way to end your speaking career at a conference, than by talking about apples when your host asked you to talk about oranges.
FONT SIZE: Use one font size larger than you think you need.
Three Words: charts, graphs, lists. Three more words: people love them!Ok, fess up -- how long did you stare at the pie chart at the right, before you realized it didn't mean anything? People love charts, graphs, and lists. They will see them before they see anything else on the screen. You can even do an entire presentation (or blog post) in nothing but list style presentation. Nine out of ten people love a good list. Tenth guy? There is a bad seed in every crowd.
Eye Candy: Be sure to leave a chart or graph on the screen for a couple of minutes for people to grasp the data. Even if the data is not necessarily what it seems. For example - you tell people you have 26 points to make and you only really have 25? If you don't leave that on the screen long enough, they won't notice. HSteel - Prep Work
owever, if it is to be published on a CD, a blog, or printed in the conference book - consider it.
Fear Factor: Nerves of Know the Audience: Ask your host who will be in the room. What is the typical attendee make up? Why do they come to the show? Don't assume you know from just looking at the layout of conference website. Many people think that PubCon is just the WebmasterWorld crowd - when in fact, less than 50% of the 2006 attendees are WebmasterWorld subscribers.
Visualize: Practice, visualize, practice, record, and practice. Visualize your presentation. Stop and walk through your entire presentation in your mind. Make it go perfectly as you expect. Practice your presentation until you can almost recite it from memory. Now relax, slow down, smile and exude confidence. The old saying; Fake it till you make it is accurate and appropriate. No one knows your presentation better than you.
Record: If you have a tape recorder, or a camcorder, then record your presentation and watch it. Yes, it can be hard to watch yourself the first few times, but nothing will make you a better presenter than watching yourself and taking action.
Be Casual - Stay Cool: How should I dress? Unless your host says otherwise, business casual is the rule of today's conferences. Dress one notch above what is appropriate for your audience.
During Question and Answer Period:
Repeat the question back to the audience so you make sure everyone in the room heard it.
Write the question down - even if the question isn't directed at you. While someone else responds, you can formulate your own answer. It is surprising how many good speaker don't use this trick. Even more surprising is how good it works.
Answer the person's question. Sound silly? I regularly see people respond to a question and finish their 2 minutes of time by asking, "what was the question again"?
Answer any question you are confident about answering, but never try to fake it in the question and answer period.
Watch how the pro's from the big corporations handle Q&A period. They have huge public relations facilities and train their speakers. They are masters of public speaking and Q&A sessions. At every PubCon, I am amazed at how the big search engine speakers always write down questions from the audience. That gives them time to think about an answer and finish by referring back to the question when done.
Want to ruin a great presentation? Be a blabbermouth during Q&A. This is where some great speakers die a quick death.
Presentation StrategiesThe Meet-N-Greet Strategy: Some people say you should meet as many people in the audience as possible. That means you should get into the room while the previous presentation is still going on. During the break - don't run to the podium to grab a chair - talk to the audience that is there instead. Also, if the panel before you is at the stage, walk up and ask one of the speakers a question to get a feel for what it is like to be on the receiving end of a speakers attention. How do you feel, and how do you want your audience to feel when they talk to you?
On Friendly Ground : Visit the room where you are speaking. Check out the room you are speaking in, as soon as you can. If there is a lunch break and the room is empty - go up to the stage, stand there and practice your presentation from memory.
Press Props: Everyone has a blog these days and there will be press and/or bloggers in the room. Ask the host for a press list. Identify those people and let them know you are available for an interview before you go to the show. At the show - find them and shake their hand - talk shop - bond - write an article for them. Backlinks rule the web.
Problems: Always acknowledge problems. If there is a problem with the projector, or the sound, or room is too hot/too cold - feel free to mention it. Don't apologize for it, but do acknowledge it. It builds a bond. People like to complain together and they also like to celebrate together. If you acknowledge problems, you don't seem like you are trying to ignore it. Some speaker trainers say you should ignore problems. I think telling people what they are already thinking, deflates the issue and makes you seem like one of the gang.
Multi Speaker Order Strategy: Go first or go last, but try to avoid the middle ground. The first speakers has the attention of the room. The last speaker can add some occasional comments about the previous speakers presentation. By the same reasoning - never give a presentation when someone elses slides are on the screen.

The Big Finish
At PubCon, we always ask speakers to end with three take-aways, (don't call them take-aways, call them real world applications of what you just talked about).
Finish on time, but if you run late - be ready to roll to your last screen at any point. Be flexible - stay loose, and don't fret if it changes.
Put your contact information and logo on the screen last. If you go last, you can often get your last screen left on the screen during a Q&A period.
Ask for links. Yep, ask people to link to your website if they liked your presentation. People laughed when Guy Kawasaki ended with asking for links, but he got enough to make it worth his while to come back again! If it works for a seasoned pro like Guy - it can work for everyone. (note: Guy, there is your link. Thanks)
After the Panel
When your session is over - stick in your panel chair like glue. If you have people in front of you that wish to talk - don't move - make the next people remove you. Go to the hall and continue talking with people that came up to you. This is your customer base - your fan base - use it wisely.
When someone hands you a business card - follow up.
One word: Toastmasters.
PubCon: Grade A Speaking With a Hangover
Lay out your speaking attire the night before going out to a fun PubCon bash. Put your PowerPoint on a USB stick and put it in the pants pocket. Make sure you have cab fare and directions prepared if you are staying away from the conference hotel.
Pack some eye drops in your overnight bag for every conference. Use 'em for the redness.
Light colored or clear alcohols are better. They have fewer byproducts. Milder hangovers.
Less than one drink an hour and skip the beer bongs, jello shots, and tequila twisters.
Fill up on as much food as possible while drinking. Multivitamins and especially Vitamin C are said to help some people.
Pain killers (aspirin tends to work better with hangovers).
Eat as soon as you think it will stay down.
Bland liquids - lots of water - caffeinate liberally - Gatorade if available.
Take a long hot - then cold shower.
Go last on your panel.
Warm climates like Vegas, make partying much easier than cold climates like - oh say - cold and windy Chicago.
Turn down the brightness on the presentation laptop then request the lights be lowered so people can see the screen better.
Buy a pair of lightly tinted sunglasses that look like real glasses.
Women - avoid high heels the day of your presentation. Men - clip on ties only.
If you expect a hangover, then bribe your chairman to put you last in the day very early on in the speaking selection process.
Speak every chance you can. Submit your name to every conference that you can. Toastmasters - everything - do it all. The more you do it - the easier it gets and the more people will want you back as a speaker.
Thanks, cya in Vegas Baby!Brett Tabke
..."Remember to be nice to the people on the way up the ladder of success, because you will see the same people on the way back down." - unknown

Sprint's Dear John customer letter | TechRepublic Photo Gallery

Sprint's Dear John customer letter TechRepublic Photo Gallery: "Sprint's Dear John customer letter"


Would it not be nice to write a similar letter or opt-out letter to government agencies as a customer who keeps paying for services that are not being delivered. PR

Office politics destroys companies

Raw ambition and quik fixes do not make up for a lack of talent or ability to deliver results

The purpose of democracy and freedom of choice Food for thought

What is the essence of sovereign government?
Ultimately, is government something done for us, or done to us? The whole discussion turns on this. In the final analysis, is government to serve or impose?
Social and economic programs, for example, ostensibly represent governments acting “for” us -- whether as an innovative private company or as an indulgent uncle it is never clear.
On the other hand, policing – taxation – licensing of cars, dogs, restaurants and guns – and everything down to standard weights and measures, are typically done to us, or to someone else. They regiment what we all must do and must not do.
Any of these impositions may be absolutely necessary for public order, or may be utterly stupid; but either way, it’s what sets governments apart – their power to impose.
The purpose of democracy
Efficiency is the concern of supermarkets and car dealers. Maximum sale for minimum investment. They have competitors. They must be imaginative and efficient, or perish.
But governments don't. No organization that can compel the entire population to pay for its own overstaffing, irresponsible mistakes and occasional blatant injustices will be creative and efficient, except at imposing its will, because that is its business.

It is a fundamental error to see governments merely as administrative services, like the sales and accounting staff at Walmart. Walmart can't force ypou to surrender 40% of your income for products you can't get and probably don't want.
For this reason, it's best to give the most powerful government as little responsibility as possible, and favour less powerful, more controllable orders of government with more. For the lower and closer sovereignty lies to you and me, the easier we find it to control. But this been said often enough.
Given Ottawa’s usurpation of social sovereignty over the past 50 years – from the unemployment insurance revenue grab in 1940, to the ponzi-scheme Canada Pension Plan in the 1960s, to the straitjacket Canada Health Act in the 1980s – it is surely time to bring the democratic reins back closer to hand and back to the provinces (or the grass roots citizens and taxpayers) where it originated.

Normal people donotmake thatmuch / MSN Finance - Surprise! We don't make that much money

Take this incontext of the rapidly expanding 100,000 $ club of government employees.PR

Savings & Debt John Caspar - Sympatico / MSN Finance - Surprise! We don't make that much money: "Surprise! We don't make that much money
advertisement

By John Caspar
April 04, 2007
Last week, I regaled you with some interesting data from the good folks at Statistics Canada regarding retirement savings. That was all about what we save. This week, let's talk a little bit about what we make. Specifically, how much money are people making out there, and where do you stack up?
All the data here is for the 2004 calendar year, which is the most recent income data available.
Just so you can brace yourself, we'll start with median total income. The median is the mid-point, where half the included population is higher, and half is lower. “Total income” in this case includes income from employment, investment, government transfers, private pensions, registered retirement savings plans and other income. You know. Total. And the median total income for Canadians with an income was…$24,400. If you made more than $24,400 in 2004, congratulations, you were in the top half of income earners.
Now, before you calculate that fully half of Canadians work for less than $12.20 an hour, bear in mind that “total income” will capture part-time employees, after-school student jobs, etc. Those people will pull down the average with a low income that may not be representative of hardship. That being said, the bottom half of total income earners is also populated by people who are out of the work force and living on low incomes provided by pensions and government benefits. Many of those people do indeed have financial hardship.
The median employment income for Canadians in 2004 was $25,400. That's just counting the working folks.

Now, before you calculate that fully half of Canadians work for less than $12.20 an hour, bear in mind that “total income” will capture part-time employees, after-school student jobs, etc. Those people will pull down the average with a low income that may not be representative of hardship. That being said, the bottom half of total income earners is also populated by people who are out of the work force and living on low incomes provided by pensions and government benefits. Many of those people do indeed have financial hardship.
The median employment income for Canadians in 2004 was $25,400. That's just counting the working folks. The highest median employment income by province was the Northwest Territories by a wide margin ($35,400), followed by the Yukon ($28,300), Ontario ($27,900) and Alberta ($27,500). Newfoundland was the lowest at $17,000.
But let's move back to total income for Canadians, and climb further up the scale to see where the meat is. Let's move all the way up to where about 2/3rds of individuals have lower incomes. In 2004, you were in the top third of incomes if you made more than…are you ready? $35,000.
I know what you're saying. Let's go higher! Okay, let's move up to the top quintile line. At this level of income, 80 percent of people made less than you. The number? Only 19.8 percent of Canadians with an income made $50,000 or more in 2004.
Now, although a bit over 12 percent of individuals had incomes between $50,000 and $75,000, the atmosphere thins out pretty quickly above that. Only 7.6 percent of people had incomes of $75,000 or more in 2004. Only 3.4 percent made $100,000 or more. And by the time we get to the $150,000 or more category, we're down to just 1.3 percent of income recipients.
People with 2004 incomes of $200,000 or more were a rounding error: only 0.7 percent made $200,000 or more. And you can be 99.5 percent sure that any randomly selected Canadian earned less than $250,000.

Those are the stats for individuals. The nice folks at Stats Canada also track the incomes of various family groupings, so we can get an idea of where entire households compare by income. “Couple families” are couples (married or common-law, including same-sex couples) living at the same address, with or without children. No singles or lone parents are included. The median total income from all sources for all members of such families in 2004 was $64,800. Less than a quarter of such households had total incomes of $100,000 or more. And just over 8 percent had incomes of $150,000 or greater.
So, there are the stats, and that's what we make. Now, consider some of the implications of this information. If there were folks who made $50,000 a year and didn't feel like they were making enough to get by (and there are), it would be useful for them to consider that based on 2004 figures, 80 percent of Canadians with an income make less. If their individual income was close to $65,000, that would be enough to push them into the top ten percent of incomes received by Canadians just two years ago. Ninety percent of the 23.4 million people with an income in Canada made less. If they felt they weren't getting by at an income level that's higher than that of the vast majority of the people in one of the richest countries in the history of the world, do they have an income problem? Or is it a problem related to something else, like choices or expectations?
Looking at the statistics of what we all make, it looks like it couldn't just be the money.
Th"

Food banks -the reality

This is really disturbing particularly when the story of the government 100,000 dollars club of publically funded civil servants is growing disproportionately. How long will the " let them eat cake" attitude of getting more forproducing less attitude prevail . Wake up, people and start righting this imbalance of your funds.

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "Thousands rely on Brantford Food Bank

By Michelle Ruby, Expositor Staff
Local News - Monday, April 09, 2007 Updated @ 9:16:00 PM

A box of crackers, a bag of pasta, a bag of lentils, a box of cereal, one kilogram of peanut butter, three cans of vegetables, two cans of fruit, four cans of soup, and one can of beans.

Throw in a few loaves of bread and a litre of milk and that's what the Brantford Food Bank is able to give a family of four once a month.

The offering, put together based on nutrition and portion recommendations in the Canada Food Guide, is meant to be an emergency supply intended to last a family two or three days.

But Catherine Lawrence, director of development for Community Resource Service which operates the food bank, admits that concocting meals from the medley of foodstuff can be a challenge.

On a recent weekday, some 20 people sat in the lobby waiting to register for their grocery boxes. At this time of year, about 30 people a day come into the food bank. At other times, that number swells to 80 a day.

Those who came in last week were lucky. With Easter, public donations are generous. Recipients might walk away with a bit of meat or some snack foods.

In 2006, the Brantford Food Bank gave away 521,000 pounds of food. About 127,000 pounds of that went to community organizations that prepare meals for those in need. Local residents can get a free meal pretty much every day of the year at various churches and from other charitable groups.


Tammy Masters, 24, has been coming into the food bank once a month for about two years. The single mother of a five-year-old recently lost her job at a local sub shop where she earned minimu"

YouTube - The Big Brother State

This is really scary . People should be more aware how their basic liberties
are being eroded. Get your rights back say no to the big brother security establishment. PR

YouTube - The Big Brother State: ""

Winning over hearts | Markets | Stocks | Canadian Business Online

David versus Golliath - lets do the same with Back to Eden living

Winning over hearts | Markets | Stocks | Canadian Business Online: "Winning over hearts
Erin Pooley
From the March 26, 2007 issue of Canadian Business magazine
In the global cardiovascular drug industry, Medicure Inc. is a David among the Goliaths. With just 90 employees and a market capitalization of less than $140 million, the Winnipeg-based drug-discovery company is a small player compared to the pharmaceutical giants that compete in the US$70-billion heart-disease space. But despite its size, Medicure is working on a drug with the capacity to reduce the risk of heart damage due to cardiovascular disease — the No. 1 killer in both Canada and the United States. Recent safety concerns regarding drug-coated stents — an alternative treatment to coronary artery bypass surgery — could also pump some new life into this biotech's sagging share price (TSX: MPH).
Currently in pivotal Phase 3 trials, Medicure's MC-1 drug is a cardio-protectant, designed to reduce the damage to the heart when arteries are blocked and when they are subsequently reopened after bypass surgery. In a previous trial involving 900 bypass patients, the drug reduced the heart attack rate by nearly 50% in the first 30 days. If Phase 3 trials are successful — results are expected in March 2008 — MC-1 could be on the market in the U.S. as early as the beginning of 2009, following shortly after in Canada. (Medicure has already received fast-track approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MC-1.)
'I call it the second Aspirin,' says Claude Camiré, a biotechnology analyst at Toronto-based Paradigm Capital Inc. 'A lot of people use Aspirin or blood thinners [after surgery], but those only help your blood flow — they don't really protect your heart like M"

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Flexible PM outfoxes budget critics

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Flexible PM outfoxes budget critics: "Knowing how the punditry in Canada operates, if Harper had produced a budget more in line with his party's core values, no doubt many of the same people criticizing Harper for being too Liberal with this budget would have raged about the 'inflexible' and 'dogmatic' prime minister plunging Canada into yet another unnecessary election.
Harper is getting far too little credit for creating a budget that gives him the support he needs in the Commons to keep his minority government alive, while at the same time bolstering the party's fortunes in Ontario and Quebec so that the PM can eventually win a majority.
Frankly, that's a pretty deft bit of stick-handling from a politician who has been woefully misjudged his entire career. "

RED HERRING | Bye-Bye Bankers?

RED HERRING | Bye-Bye Bankers?: "Bye-Bye Bankers?

Zopa nabs $12.9M as online lending gains believers.
March 19, 2007
By Ken Schachter

A new crop of online lending marketplaces is letting even the hoi polloi try their hands at being angel investors or micro-bankers.

On Monday, U.K.-based Zopa, an online loan marketplace that unites lenders and borrowers without a bank in the middle, announced a $12.9-million third round investment led by Bessemer Venture Partners to fund a U.S. launch.

Zopa, launched in March 2005, joins a group of online lending marketplaces that includes raisecapital.com, a Port Washington, New York-based startup that matches startups and angel investors and Kiva.org, a San Francisco-based site that lets lenders make microfinance loans to Third World entrepreneurs.

Should direct lending online gain a foothold in the marketplace, it could put pressure on a market traditionally dominated by banks, savings and loans, and credit unions."

Health Policy - Dr. Mike Magee provides education and insight into health policy and current healthcare issues.

And it starts - a systematic policy to reduce the liberty of the overeight QJ
Health Policy - Dr. Mike Magee provides education and insight into health policy and current healthcare issues.: "Taking Action on Obesity
Download PDF Version
Transcript
The obesity epidemic is very real, and we hear about it constantly. But the talk is mostly about the problem – not the solution – and in the meantime, the situation is actually getting worse. Between 2005 and 2006, adult obesity rates continued to rise in 31 states, and it’s extremely unlikely that any state will be able to meet the national goal of reducing adult obesity levels to 15 percent or less by the year 2010.1,2 As for children, obesity rates have more than doubled over the last 25 years.3"

Budget 2007 - Sympatico / MSN Finance - Backroom budgeting

Interesting changes in the air PR
Budget 2007 - Sympatico / MSN Finance - Backroom budgeting: "Backroom budgeting
The budget process is increasingly political and increasingly irrelevant too.
advertisement

By Deirdre McMurdy
February 08, 2007
For a great many years now, there’s been a Holiday Inn rule in place between Ottawa and Bay Street: No surprises.
The Finance Department had learned to respect the need of financial markets to avoid jolts, sudden changes of direction or measures that might cause scrambling. That implicit partnership in maintaining an even keel worked well and along with it, came an elaborate system of pre-budget consultations that allowed everyone with a vested interest in the outcome of a budget to come forward and make their case.
That relative transparency effectively de-politicized the budget process. And the assurance that there’d be no surprises on the day of its formal delivery, meant that currency, bond and stock markets weren’t buffeted about. Predictability engendered a degree of mutual trust between private and public sectors.
That’s no longer the case – something that anyone who watched the changes to the tax status of income trusts go down last October can attest."

Bigger bang for research buck needed

RE 96% of the Expositor Reader poll of 486 do not want to spend $300,000 on the 2-way traffic study for Dalhousie and Colborne street.

It would appear that Brantford ratepayers are tired and skeptical of yet another study to help the downtown. Maybe they are tired of paying for studies that are never used or implemented or common sense obvious. The reverse of the penny wise pound foolish thinking, it seems that they are tired paying a pound to get a penny worth of results at their expense.

We , the Brant Taxpayers Coalition agree with these readers and suggest another use of these public funds. We suggest on a constructive basis, that council establish a committee of councilors and knowledgeable citizens form the ratepayers, to determine the viability of establishing a commercial casino that has the potential of creating an additional 2000 jobs. This study would include calls for proposals from the private sector to renew the overall recreational complex in the area and which would include an upgraded civic centre , Our information indicates that a commercial casino was at one time considered but narrowly defeated under the stewardship of former mayor Friel and that a promised public plebiscite was never conducted . This approach could have more benefits, get wider community acceptance , and be more visible , then the proposed traffic study A bigger bang for the taxpayer's research buck is respectfully requested.

Sieg Holle Communications director Brant Taxpayers Coalition

Brantford, On

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor

This is an excellent expose of what afflicts the public in Ontario. Let all parties make visibilty and accountablity of our public institutions a priority platform PR

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "Public routinely kept in dark, Osprey survey shows

James Wallace
Queens Park - Thursday, March 08, 2007

Osprey News Network

Secrecy, stone-walling, manipulation and ignorance within Ontario institutions is undermining fundamental public rights to hold government accountable, a four-month survey by Osprey Media newspapers has found.

In many cases, municipalities, police forces, hospitals, universities and provincial bodies supported by taxpayer dollars routinely deny, reject, delay or challenge requests for information that should be public and easily accessible.

For example, police in Cornwall refused to identify a high school that had been vandalized by two teens on the grounds the school was “like a victim” and police are not required to identify victims of crime.

Such concerns are familiar to Brian Beamish, Assistant Commissioner Access at Ontario’s Office of Information and Privacy.

Beamish said the findings of the Osprey survey come as no surprise to him and called on public institutions across the province to “embrace the spirit of openness” contained within Ontario’s Freedom of Information Act.

“There are definitely situations described (in the Osprey survey) where out expectation would be that information would be disclosed even without the need for a formal FOI request,” Beamish said.

“They seem quite clear these are situations where information should be made freely available to the public as a matter of course,” he said.

Premier Dalton McGuinty also expressed concern at the failure of some public institutions to readily release in"

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Hey Dion: It's not the East versus West

What a concept -no more divide and conquer- how refreshing ! PR

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Hey Dion: It's not the East versus West: "Mon, March 5, 2007

Hey Dion: It's not the East versus West

No part of Canada should ever be baited by politicians for short-term, partisan gain.
It was wrong when the old Reform party used to do it to Quebec. And it's wrong now that the same old Liberal party is doing it to Alberta -- again.
What else are Canadians to think when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion takes a trip out West and blames oilsands workers for 'living too fast for the easy money' and being bad for our economy?
Honest work is bad for our economy?
Perhaps Prof. Dion should spend a few weeks getting his hands dirty in the oilfields before lecturing Canadians on how 'easy' it is.

Then there's Liberal Natural Resources critic Mark Holland, who seems to imagine himself a right little terror of a fellow.
This for lecturing Alberta about how it must reduce oilsands production, now that the Liberals have rediscovered global warming after signing the Kyoto accord in 1998 then forgetting about it for eight years, until they were tossed out of office.
If Holland, who's from Ontario, really wants to make himself useful, let him explain to Ontario auto workers how many thousands of their jobs the Liberals are prepared to forfeit as part of their new-found zeal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, after falling 35 per cent behind their own targets while in power.
Why isn't Holland, or, more important, Dion, holding daily news conferences demanding their Liberal cousin in Ontario -- Premier Dalton McGuinty -- shut down Canada's single largest greenhouse gas emitter, the Nanticoke coal-fired electricity generating station?
That, along with three other greenhouse gas-emitting, coal-fired energy plan"

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor

Another affront to human dignity and the concept of natural justice

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "Man can't afford to fight extradition order

By Susan Gamble
Local News - Monday, March 05, 2007 Updated @ 11:08:07 PM

Carrying no more than they could shove in a few suitcases and cram in backpacks, Mohammed Naim, his wife Ilona and their four children fled from a frightening, corrupt world in Budapest.

They came to Canada in 1997, settling in the Paris area, far from the extortion, threats and killings that marked their lives in Hungary.

The most important thing, the Naims reminded each other, was that they were safe and together.

Now that’s no longer true.

Mohammed Naim, 49, turned himself in to Brantford police Wednesday evening to face extradition to Hungary.

He’s panicked at the idea of leaving his family, but the Naims simply can’t afford to continue to pay their Toronto immigration lawyer any more money to fight the order.

Hungary has 40 days to send for Naim. Meanwhile, he languishes in the Brantford jail where, he told his family, he is mocked and spit upon by other prisoners.

How did a once-wealthy businessman come to such an ignoble position?

Naim’s wife and eldest daughter sat down with The Expositor on Saturday to explain their tale. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - PM should relax, enjoy view from top

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - PM should relax, enjoy view from top: "PM should relax, enjoy view from top
By Licia Corbella




Two polls in two days. Both are favourable to the governing federal Tories. Both show the numbers for the federal Liberals, under the inept leadership of the flip-flopping Stephane Dion, freefalling.
As a result, many Parliament Hill pundits and opposition politicians are predicting that Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party will 'force' an election sooner rather than later. "

"Breaking the Link Between Poverty MSN Hotmail - Message

"Breaking the Link Between Poverty
and Obesity
It's not easy being healthy and fit in America, and for those in lower income groups, staying fit is a huge challenge. Research shows that in the United States, minorities and the poor have higher rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Among women, higher obesity rates tend to be associated with both low income and lower education. (The relationship between obesity and income is a little murkier with men for no known reason.) A casual observer could be forgiven for reaching the conclusion that poverty causes obesity. But the truth is a lot more complicated. There are some good reasons why the link between poverty and obesity is so strong -- not the least of which is the fact that poverty is also generally accompanied by the low cost of high-calorie foods containing high amounts of fat and sugar.
'Obesity is a political and social problem,' says Mark Hyman, MD. 'There's a medical-industrial complex designed to keep people sick and fat,' Dr. Hyman told me. 'We're spending billions of dollars a year subsidizing soybean and corn production, some of which winds up in our food supply as high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soybean oil.' High fructose corn syrup is a main sweetener in many foods and is found in high-caloric processed foods and sweetened beverages... hydrogenated soybean oil is a source of trans-fats. Both are among the cheapest source of calories on earth.
Indeed, research presented at the Institute of Food and"

yes

We live in a period of improbable technologies such as self-cooled beer, artificial retinas of the eye, full automated factories. All these open new methods of preservation and transfering of energy.
AC Energy Introduction to Technology
Wednesday February 28, 6:02 am ET

GARDNERVILLE, NV--Feb 28, 2007 -- AC Energy (ACEN P K - News) is committed to leading the world in research and development of TOP quality alternative power sources for cell phones and other small and large electronics.
Our target is to revolutionize the battery industry by providing consumers with products of unparalleled convenience and efficiency.
Through the establishment of select strategic partnerships, AC Energy will maximize its market reach, penetrating every
sector of the cell phone and electronics power source industry.

Using their advanced battery technology, a phone could operate for its entire
life without ever needing to be plugged into an outlet or cigarette lighter -- it could actually charge itself. Imagine,
a cell phone that never needs charging!
Furthermore, their product will have the capability to meet the energy needs of the entire small and large electronics market, with minimal
adaptations to the original technology.

AC Energy's Technology "The battery that never needs to be charged" could work in cell phones, laptops, music players or any other portable device.
It will be a self-contained unit that will replace the original battery of the device. It can be made to work with any existing product.

It's not some kind of story or something like this, we provide you with 100% information.
Energy is our future, don't waste time.

Conversation problems

In 21st century
energy supply problems are standing for every man.
Prices for oil, gas, coal are rising higher and higher.

The governments of many countries discuss using of the renewed kinds of energy such as biofuel, energy of the sun and so on. But the issue of saving energy also is of great importance. Because of it energy conservations is needed vitaly. One of perspective directions is the technology hydrogen. But Proton Exchange Membrane is required in order to modernize this technology. It's developing now by the following company.

AC Energy, Inc is an electrochemical power company pioneering strategic energy
pathways in the milliwatts to kilowatts range. AC Energy is creating
energy solutions designed for all spheres of modern life.

The fuel cell technology, Proton Exchange Membrane ("PEM") is
touted as the "Catalyst for the Hydrogen Age".

PEM, declared as the major candidate to replace the internal
combustion engine, has created investor interest. Famous developers, knowledgeable in commercialization issues, possess the expertise to capitalize on new concepts.
The strategies of AC Energy have an excellent understanding of these
issues and elive that because the Company has right team that certain market niches can be dominated by it.

Read more about Proton exchange membrane at wikipedia.
AC Energy symbol is ACEN

Watch, trade, invest, buy it today on Feb 28 2007 for tomorrow and beyond tomorrow.