I will be attending the CEO Space Forum ( formerly know as the IBI Forum) this week in Los Angeles. It’s an intensive week long learning and networking event, that is designed to help entrepreneurs take their business to the next level. They have 5 meetings a year.
In the last 5 years, I have gone several times. The first time I went was shortly after we started SnapMonkey (2003). The connections I made there were impactful, and helped me to grow my business.
In 2004 I went as an instructor, to teach people how to market their website on the internet. I had a great time doing that. Bernie Dohrmann was kind enough to invite me back for the following forum, but because I am a mom of a younger child, I like to keep my traveling to a minimum.
I have also gone to network as a returning graduate just for the weekend.
Currently, I am going back for a week as a student. My intention is to grow SnapMonkey, and to find affiliates for a new online registration program we are kicking off September 1st. This new program will be for people who need a web-based solution for their customers to register online. It will help businesses such as dentists offer an online appointment scheduling system, restaurants to have an online reservation system, businesses and bands to sell tickets for an event, associations who are putting on meetings, etc. The current solutions are very expensive, and we are offering a new alternative that is very affordable. Our affiliate program will have a monthly payout, so it’s a great way for someone who wants to sell for us to have a residual income.
I’m also going because I want to create a co-op, or brand, of green businesses. I’d like to do the internet marketing for these green businesses, and market them as a group. I still need a little clarity on how to structure all of that, and I still need to locate and select the businesses that would be part of this co-op, which is something that CEO Space will be able to help with.
You may be wondering why SnapMonkey is down, and why your SnapMonkey website is not working. There is a citywide power outage due to an underground explosion just a block from the building where our servers are located in VanCouver Canada. The fire is impacting one of the main internet hubs on the West Coast
Our servers are located at The Harbour Centre data center at PEER 1. PEER 1 has been advised by the Harbour Centre building that BC Hydro will restore power at approximately 3pm PST.
Although backup power for our servers have kicked in, there is not an internet connection currently available to those servers until the city lifts the power outage.
Please know that all the information on your websites remain safe and secure, and your website will be running normally once the citywide power outage has been lifted.
My cousin’s 16 year old daughter is visiting us from Holland. This is her first trip to the United States. I thought I would take her, my 8 year old son, and a few other teens from the neighborhood on an afternoon rafting trip, for that ”Colorado Experience”. Here’s a couple of pictures of our group on the river:
Greencar grants ‘could be made earlier’ The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia … said the green car fund was designed to be accessible to car makers across the board and not to support any particular technology or any particular brand.
Harder and harder to be green Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
The environment has fallen down the list of priorities for three-quarters of Americans and two-thirds of Britons, the Imagepower Green Brands Survey shows. … Green Conference a ‘Come as You Are’ Affair
AdAge.com (subscription) - USA
“I know that the environment might not be the thing that springs to mind when you think of our brand,” she said. “[But] part of our overall DNA has been to …
Who’s in Charge of Green? AdAge.com (subscription) - USA
In brand-centric companies, it is the CMO who is the leader of the environmental strategy effort,” says Mr. Esty, who also runs his own consulting company, …
Innovation key to build brands – Leo Burnett Daily Mirror - Colombo,Western,Sri Lanka
It can always be seen as a chance to explore the limits of potential,” said Leo Burnett Asia Pacific President Michelle Kristula-Green. …
GreenWonders At Computex 2008 itVARnews.net (press release) - Delhi,Delhi,India
During the fair, Intel unveiled Intel Atom Brand for new family of low-power processors, which will give new directions to the emerging low priced ultra …
Remember the famous 1970’s public service announcement about the crying indian? I was just thinking about it, and the impact it had on people with regards to littering and pollution.
I just did a search, and found it on YouTube. Thought I’d post it here.
Many of our clients use StatCounter.com to analyze their website traffic. StatCounter
has a free analytics program, which is very good. They also have an upgraded program.
Some of our clients use Paypal to pay for this service.
Statcounter just sent out an email to their customers who pay for the upgraded
program via Paypal.
It sounds like Paypal has been having many issues with regards to double
billing and delayed invoicing. For those of you who use Paypal for your
recurring billings, you may be experiencing a similar situation as to what
StatCounter is experiencing.
Here is a copy/paste of their email they sent to all Paypal users:
We at StatCounter are having ongoing, critical problems with Paypal.
In view of the complete lack of assistance from Paypal in this regard and
the gravity of the problems, we have decided that we have no option but to
inform you, our members, about the facts of the situation. This will allow
you to make an informed decision about whether to use (or whether to
continue to use) Paypal.
Please note that these problems have been ongoing since 15 May and arise
not only in relation to payments made to StatCounter but in relation to ANY
Paypal payments that you make. We hope that our communications will equip
you with the information necessary to make sure that YOU do not become
another victim of this ongoing Paypal saga.
The two major issues affecting StatCounter Paypal subscribers are:
- Delayed issuing of invoices
- Instances of double billing
At StatCounter we have tried phoning, emailing, posting on the Paypal
forums… Many of our contacts are ignored, but even when we do get an
answer all we are told is that “Upon review of your account, unfortunately
we do not have a time frame for a resolution to your issue we are currently
actively investigating your issue with subscriptions.”
Folks - we sincerely regret any problems you are experiencing and assure
you that we are doing our best to get all of these issues resolved for you.
We strive to offer a high level of customer service and pride ourselves on
being responsive to the needs and suggestions of our members. To have our
hands “tied” in this way as a result of Paypals inaction is frustrating to
say the least.
We would be very grateful for your patience at this time as we wait for
Paypal to resolve these issues.
We would also ask you to be patient with any of our fellow internet
merchants experiencing difficulties with Paypal at this time.
For further information or to post a question or a comment, please visit
our blog.
Imagine running your car on pond scum. That may very well be the future.
Algae grows fast, and algae oil can be extracted ready to be refined into fuels like bio diesel. One acre per year can produce 100,000 gallons of algae oil. Compare that to 20-30 gallons per acre with corn.
And… this algae oil can be produced on desert land!
If 1/10th of the state of New Mexico was converted into algae production alone, it can cover all the transportation needs in the United States.
Take a look at some of these findings that were just released from a global study on consumer response the climate change. The report was conducted by IPSOS over nine countries (US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, India and China) using over 11,000 online interviews and 18 focus groups.
-79% of consumers would rather buy from companies doing their best to
reduce their impact on the environment - this is most marked in China
and Brazil, but least in the UK and US
- 89% of people are likely to buy more green goods in the next 12 months
- 35% are willing to pay a premium for green goods
- 74% of consumers feel they can actively contribute to solving Climate
Change - this figure is higher in developing countries, but lower in
developed countries
- Only 11% of respondents strongly feel their respective government is
doing enough to tackle Climate Change
US Factsheet
- Respondents in the US simultaneously have the greatest understanding of
the climate change issue and the lowest level of concern
- 34% of US respondents are eco-apathetic - almost six times as many as
in Brazil or Mexico. The eco-apathetic typically marginalise the issue
of climate change, recognising the concept but sharing none of the
responsibility
- The US also has the third-smallest proportion of eco-absorbed
respondents in the world, with 23%. The eco-absorbed are those who are
very focused on the issue of climate change and only the UK (17%) and
Germany (15%) have fewer than the US as a proportion of the population
- 71% of American respondents agree that tackling the issue of climate
change means changing the way we live our lives - a significant
proportion, but still lower than any other country in the survey
- 61% of Americans agree that climate change will affect them and their
family, but only 50% believe they can contribute to solving the problem
- 51% of US respondents would be more likely to buy
environmentally-friendly goods in the next 12 months if they were at
the same price and standard as their usual brands. 31% would be willing
to pay a little extra for those goods
- Only 20% of Americans agree that their government is making a
significant effort to combat climate change
- Americans believe the oil and gas sector is the most damaging of all
economic sectors in terms of the environment, while media and telecoms
is the least damaging.
My son just got the Lego Mindstorm robotics system for his birthday. As you know, he has a Lego Show that he does on YouTube which receives over 1000 video views per day. Soon you will be seeing some of his new Lego robotic creations on his show.
Just to give you an example of what the Lego Mindstorm is capable of doing, check out this video. This mindstorm can solve the rubik’s cube
The Lego mindstorm has a series of sensors that comes with the kit, such as a light sensor that can detect light and color, a sound sensor, touch sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor that can measure distance and react to movements.
