Out In The Sticks, the American Dream Is Up for Rent
As Originally Posted to the Wall Street Journal

PLANO, Ill. -- Kim and Robert Discianno had the American dream. Now, they rent a few streets away.

The Disciannos moved from Aurora, Ill., to their home here in Plano three years ago, lured to the outermost fringes of suburbs, known as the exurbs, by the promise of owning their first home. Today, their credit is shot and they no longer own, but Ms. Discianno still has a four-hour commute.

The Disciannos are among many exurban families losing their homes and their grip on the dream of home ownership. The exurbs were among the fastest growing counties during the boom -- entire civilizations built around the idea of owning real estate. With home prices falling and unemployment rising, more people are renting -- just as they had before the boom -- and turning the community into a rental economy.

Renting is one of the few ways for people to stay in the area and keep landlords afloat. It can be good for the overall economy because it promotes mobility. When the economy turns downward, renters are more willing than owners to move to a region where jobs are more plentiful.

But that same mobility can make for less stable communities and lower property values. Some observers believe the growth of rental property is the first in a series of steps that will transform today's exurbs into tomorrow's low-income housing. These communities have a low tax base made up mostly of property and sales taxes, both of which are in decline. Lawrence Summers, economic adviser to President Barack Obama, has often explained it this way: "No one in the history of the world ever washed a rented car."

What is happening on the urban fringe is similar to the urban decay that plagued cities after World War II, says Christopher B. Leinberger, a real-estate developer and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Single-family homes and townhouses in cities were broken into rental units. Now, we're seeing that phenomenon move out to the fringe."

More than three million homes have either been lost to foreclosure or a foreclosure-related sale between 2006 and 2008, according to Moody's Economy.com. And the decline in home prices and concentration of foreclosures is generally worse in outer-lying communities than in the central city or closer-in suburbs.

The tug of home ownership in the exurbs changed how much of America lives and works. These outer-lying communities further popularized the "McMansion" and turned two-hour commutes into four. People didn't necessarily prefer to move so far out, but they did so for the promise of a home, a yard and tax-deductible interest payments.

Many lower-salaried workers were able to afford their first home, while higher-paid professionals could trade up to a larger house with a big yard and a game room. About 17 million people, 5.6% of the U.S. population, lived in the exurbs in 2007, according to the Brookings Institution, compared with 14 million people in 2000.

Kendall County, about 50 miles west of Chicago, was one of the fastest growing exurbs during the boom years. The county's population about doubled during the housing boom, to some 100,000 residents in 2008 from roughly 55,000 in 2000. As people moved in, starter homes and shopping centers rose among worn barns and silos.

The residents who came over the past few years have average incomes about 20% lower than established residents, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service data by Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. About a third of Kendall County's labor force are in management and professional jobs, compared with 41% in nearby DuPage, an established suburban county where homes cost more.

Now, as the housing bust and recession has turned the exurbs from engines of growth to economic laggards, many of these families have the worst of both worlds. They are still on the fringes but have no equity. In many cases the amenities they hoped would follow -- new shopping centers, movie theatres -- have ceased construction or opened with only a few stores. Government projects like new schools and parks have also been delayed as budgets get cut and population growth has slowed.

In the Lakewood Springs development here where the Disciannos live, "For Sale" and "For Rent" signs are everywhere. A few have driveways littered with abandoned couches and stereos, and in some cases homeowners are living next to tenants paying half the cost of a mortgage.

Couples like the Disciannos mirror the economic arc of the exurbs. With a no-money-down mortgage, the couple bought a $235,000 three-bedroom house in Plano, doubling Ms. Discianno's round-trip commute to more than four hours.

Ms. Discianno, an IT project manager for a Chicago law firm, says at first the trade-offs were worth it. At the family's apartment complex back in Aurora, Ms. Discianno says she often felt guilty about raising her two children in cramped quarters. On a few occasions, the neighbors complained when her daughter played hopscotch on a common walkway, and Ms. Discianno had to limit sleepovers to one friend for lack of space.

Their house in Plano had a back yard and nearby jungle gyms. "We could actually own something and afford it," says Ms. Discianno, who was able to pay the early payments of $1,500 a month. It was great for the kids, she says. "Friends can come see them, instead of them always going somewhere else."

As land values rose, the couple's combined mortgage and property tax payment soared, to $2,900 from $1,500. Rather than struggle with the bills, the family abandoned their home to the bank, moved out, and found a new home to rent. They didn't have to look far: The Disciannos found a smaller home in the same development for $1,500. That home was owned by investors who had hoped to sell it -- but settled on renting it instead. The new home is about the same size as the apartment they used to rent, and sleepovers are again limited to one friend per night.

Many owners were initially concerned about renters. The homeowners' association at the Lakewood Springs development has restrictions on how rental properties can be advertised. But feelings have shifted with foreclosures turning occupied homes into vacancies that are worse for the local economy.

"Overall, a community of owners versus renters is obviously going to be better," said Tim Jones, a satellite television technician, and a friend of the Disciannos. But after four years of struggling to pay his own mortgage, Mr. Jones says he has no equity to show for it. He may end up walking away from his home, he says, which may end up turning him into a renter as well.

While she still owned a home, Ms. Discianno opposed renters and voiced concerns about them at a homeowners' association meeting. "I was very against it too," she says. "It doesn't do much for property values."

More Bad News At USA Today
As Originally Posted at the Wall Street Journal

USA Today President and Publisher Craig Moon announced his sudden retirement Tuesday, leaving the country's largest newspaper with its top two jobs unfilled during perhaps the most difficult stretch in its 27-year history. He also said the newspaper has lost about 100,000 subscribers just from the slowdown in travel.

Mr. Moon said in an interview that the slowdown has resulted in a reduction of more than 7% in the number of copies of USA Today distributed through partnerships with hotel chains such as Marriott, which account for more than half of its circulation.

The 59-year-old executive, who spent 23 years at parent company Gannett Co. and the last six as publisher of USA Today, has overseen a publication that has come under increasing economic pressure. Gannett expects ad revenue to fall by as much as 35% in the first quarter, Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore said at an investor conference in March. Gannett executives also had said at the conference they were bracing for a significant circulation hit.

The 59-year-old Mr. Moon, who spent 23 years at Gannett, at an event last spring in Los Angeles.

The 1.3 million daily copies distributed at hotels in the six months ending Sept. 28 accounted for more than half of USA Today's average weekday circulation of 2.3 million, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. ABC releases figures for the six months ending in March at the end of April.

Mr. Moon said he decided to leave USA Today to explore investment opportunities in the media industry, where "values are way down." He said he did not view his departure as an escape from a sinking industry, adding in USA Today "you still have the workings of a successful business."

Mr. Moon's departure expands the void at the top of the paper following the recent resignation of editor Kenneth Paulson, whose replacement has not been named. John Hillkirk is serving as Mr. Paulson's interim replacement.

Gannett said it hasn't decided on a successor for Mr. Moon.

The move was largely unexpected within Gannett. USA Today founder Al Neuharth, who still writes a weekly column for the paper, said he found out in a call Tuesday morning from Mr. Moon and Gannett Chief Executive Craig Dubow. "It would be unfair to say I expected that news," Mr. Neuharth said. "But things happen. People retire."

Mr. Moon isn't walking away empty-handed. Gannett in its 2008 proxy statement valued Mr. Moon's pension at $3.3 million as of Dec. 31, 2007.

Sun-Times Media Files Chapter 11
As Originally Posted at the Wall Street Journal

The cash-strapped publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday filed for protection from creditors and said it may seek to sell "substantially all" of its assets, becoming the fifth newspaper company since December to tip into Chapter 11.

Sun-Times Media Group Inc. faces a crushing tax claim stemming from the former ownership of press baron Conrad Black. Its bankruptcy-court filing values its assets at less than the $510 million claim, which won't be wiped out in the proceedings. But with Sun-Times in Chapter 11, the tax claim won't carry over to potential new owners, a factor that was a primary motivation for the bankruptcy filing, said Jeremy L. Halbreich, chairman and interim chief executive.

Sun-Times follows Tribune Co., the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the parent company of the two Philadelphia dailies and Journal Register Co. into bankruptcy court.

In addition to the Chicago Sun-Times, the 17th-largest newspaper in the country, Sun-Times publishes dozens of smaller daily and weekly papers in the Chicago suburbs.

Both of Chicago's major dailies are now operating under bankruptcy-law protection. Chicago Tribune publisher Tribune Co. filed in December. The Tribune has an average weekday circulation of 516,000 copies, compared to more than 313,000 copies for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Unlike the other newspaper companies in Chapter 11, Sun-Times isn't burdened with debt. Its problem is operating losses for each of the past six years, including a $344 million loss in 2008.

Sun-Times said it is "at risk of running out of cash quickly" unless it receives relief from its obligations. As of Sept. 30, Sun-Times had less than $100 million in cash and cash equivalents, according to regulatory filings.

The company hired investment bank Rothschild Inc. to help it sell assets, but it isn't clear how many potential buyers will emerge.

Sun-Times canceled an auction of the company last year when it found few takers. Mr. Halbreich said suitors in the prior auction were wary of investing in Sun-Times while the Internal Revenue Service claim hung over its head.

Sun-Times blamed its weakened financial condition in part on legacy issues related to Mr. Black, the Canadian businessman who controlled the company then known as Hollinger International Inc. Mr. Black and other executives were convicted in 2007 for their role in bilking the company out of millions of dollars.

Mr. Black, now in federal prison in Florida, is listed as a creditor in Sun-Times's Chapter 11 case, as the company has advanced legal fees and expenses to Mr. Black related to pending civil lawsuits. Alex Bourelly, an attorney at Baker Botts representing Mr. Black, declined to comment on how those claims are likely to be treated in bankruptcy court. The company has paid out about $118 million in connection with legal fees and costs for Mr. Black and other former company officers and directors.

Sun-Times said it expects its advertising revenue to decline roughly 30% throughout 2009. That follows an 18% drop in print ad revenue during last year's fourth quarter.

The Sun-Times bankruptcy-court documents list assets valued at $479 million as of Nov. 7, 2008, and $801 million in debts.

Labor Relations - French Style
Or, Viva La Revolucion!
Story Originally Posted to the Wall Street Journal

PARIS -- Of the 22,000 workers Caterpillar Inc. plans to lay off this year, the French ones have perhaps the most radical tactic for negotiating their severance deals.

In an aggressive, and peculiarly French, negotiating strategy, they held their managers hostage. The workers detained the director of their plant and four other managers for about 24 hours this week. Workers released them only after the company agreed to resume talks with unions and a government mediator on how to improve compensation for workers who are being laid off.

Protest is "inscribed in the genes of French culture," said Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO of advertising company Publicis Groupe. "In the past peasants protested against their lords. Today the difference is that the lords are chief executives."

Caterpillar declined repeated requests to comment.

The Caterpillar executive-hostage taking is the third in two weeks in France. The incidents, which were all peacefully resolved, revived fears that the economic downturn may fuel violent forms of protest in France by workers who feel they have nothing to lose.

German tire maker Continental AG, which is planning to close a factory in eastern France, this week moved the site of a meeting with unions to a hotel 500 miles away to avoid a repeat of tense protests last month when executives were pelted with eggs. Continental confirmed the move grew out of security concerns, but said it wanted to "stay in dialogue with employees."

The detention of the Caterpillar boss followed incidents at the French plants of Sony Corp. and 3M Co., where managers were held captive by workers angry at being laid off. In those cases, as with Caterpillar, unions and companies resumed talks on severance pay. Sony France's chief executive didn't return calls and emails, and 3M France declined to comment.

Jérôme Pélisse, a sociologist, surveyed 3,000 companies in 2004 and found that 18 of them had experienced an executive detention in the prior three years. "Kidnapping your boss is not legal," says Mr. Pélisse. "But it's a way workers have found to make their voices heard."

French Caterpillar executive Nicolas Polutnik, center,
with workers after his release Wednesday.

Taking the boss hostage is a way to stop the clock and reach out to those who made the decision to cut jobs -- especially when the decision comes from the remote headquarters of a foreign company, Mr. Pélisse said.

In the U.S. and most other countries, abducting a boss wouldn't be tolerated. In France, however, people have sympathy for those who take to the barricades -- as long as no one gets hurt. In the wake of the May 1968 cultural revolution, taking one's boss hostage became a popular form of protest.

One of the longest boss kidnappings in recent years took place at the Paris headquarters of bank Crédit Foncier de France in 1997. Even though he was detained for five days, Chairman Jérôme Meyssonier said there was "perfect respect" between him and employees.

With the recent public outcry over bonuses and stock options, executives are even more unpopular than usual in France. This week the government banned companies that get state funding from issuing stock options to top managers and limited some other forms of compensation.

"In the U.S., people accept getting fired on the spot, without complaining," says Michel Laboisseret, a CGT union delegate who took part in the Caterpillar protest. "We are more willing to pick a fight."

Even President Nicolas Sarkozy -- known for his pro-business views and policies -- said he supported the Caterpillar workers. "I will meet with the unions because they asked for my help, and I won't let them down," he said on the radio Wednesday.

Executive hostage-takings are deemed acceptable as long as some informal rules are obeyed. The workers must refrain from outright violence, and the executive must not be detained for more than a couple of days. Workers don't usually face criminal charges.

"Boss-napping falls into a particular category," says French police spokesman Laurent Bischoff. "Technically, it amounts to kidnapping, but it's not regarded as an offense." Police rarely intervene. "Our role is to stay within distance and let negotiations between unions and executives roll out quietly," Mr. Bischoff said. "Sending in troops would only help fan the flames."

Security firms and public-relations experts that help companies deal with these situations usually advise managers not to call the police. "That's the last thing they should do" said Yves Jambu-Merlin, who specializes in crisis communication at advertising firm Euro RSCG SA, because it could touch off violence or cause workers to trash the plant, he explains.

Mr. Jambu-Merlin advised one of the companies where the boss recently was taken hostage but declined to say which one.

Riot police did turn up in Paris on Tuesday when angry employees of luxury-goods company PPR SA besieged a taxi carrying CEO François-Henri Pinault. Police dispersed the workers, but Mr. Bischoff says that was "because they blocked traffic."

Caterpillar in January said it would shed 733 jobs out of 2,800 employees at its two factories in Grenoble in the French Alps. Legally, it must negotiate a "social plan" with the unions, which could include lump-sum payments, training or help finding new jobs.

After talks with unions, Caterpillar increased its package to €47 million ($62 million) from €37 million. But workers felt it still wasn't enough. On Monday they went on strike, and on Tuesday they began holding the executives. "We let them call their families," says Mr. Laboisseret, the union delegate. "We are not beasts."

Nicolas Polutnik, the plant director who was held hostage, didn't return calls seeking comment, but his wife confirmed she got a call from him while he was detained aimed at comforting her and his boys.

Albert Dupuy, the highest government official in Grenoble, said he spent Tuesday juggling phone calls from the Caterpillar union representatives and managers, including those at its European headquarters in Geneva. On Tuesday night, he persuaded the workers to release the human-resources director, who suffers from a heart condition. The other managers spent the night in the offices, sleeping on the floor, according to workers present.

Early Wednesday morning, Mr. Dupuy said both sides agreed to a 10-day schedule of negotiations on severance packages, and Caterpillar also agreed to pay the workers' wages for the three days they had been on strike. Midmorning, the workers let their bosses go.

French Bosses Besieged As Worker Anger Rises
As Originally Posted to The Wall Street Journal

PARIS -- French workers besieged bosses, including luxury and retail tycoon François-Henri Pinault, as anger at proposed layoffs generated more forceful protests.

Mr. Pinault, the son of François Pinault, is chief executive officer of PPR SA, which controls exclusive brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Employees surrounded his car as he left a meeting in Paris early Tuesday evening and refused to let him leave for nearly an hour. Eventually riot police dispersed the protesters.

Separately, workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar Inc. factory in the French Alps detained four of their bosses Tuesday in a bid to secure better severance packages.

The incidents followed several others in France in recent weeks, and show how social unrest is mounting as the economic downturn deepens.

In France, companies can't lay off workers as easily as in the U.S. When a firm wants to cut workers, it must negotiate what is known as a "social plan" with local unions, often including a lump-sum payment, trainingand help in finding new jobs.

Trying to negotiate better severance packages, workers at a 3M Co. factory south of Paris held their boss captive last week, as did employees at Sony Corp.'s France unit earlier in March. Top managers at bank Société Générale SA awarded themselves stock-option packages two weeks ago, but then renounced them due to public anger.

And unions staged nationwide protests in January and March to demand concessions from high-earning business leaders and help for victims of the recession.

France isn't suffering more than other big economies. But the country's tradition of egalitarianism triggers strong reactions when people think they are being mistreated, or when better-off people appear to flaunt their wealth at a time of general hardship. Demonstrations have been peaceful, with the executives being held largely as a symbolic protest. There haven't been any flare-ups in the rough neighborhoods on the outskirts of major French cities, which exploded in riots in 2005 after an accidental police shooting of two young people.

Mr. Pinault, 46, has long been a symbol of France's monied elite. He attended one of France's top business schools and in 2005 inherited control of his father's fashion and retail empire.

The employees who surrounded him Tuesday work for two retailers in the PPR group: Fnac, which sells books and music, and Conforama, which sells furniture. Mr. Pinault announced a restructuring plan for these in February that could lead to 1,200 job losses in France. Protesters blocked a car Mr. Pinault was riding in as it was trying to leave the company's head office, said Boucherit Aziz, a Conforama union representative.

"Mr. Pinault squeezed all the cash he could from Conforama and now he wants to throw us away," said Mr. Aziz, who participated in the protest.

Through the window of his car, Mr. Pinault told workers that the company was doing its best to avoid abrupt layoffs, according to Mr. Aziz. Police didn't arrest any of the protesters, he said.

Mr. Pinault wasn't immediately available to comment.

The problems at Caterpillar followed a recently announced plan to lay off about 730 people from its factory near Grenoble, which employs about 2,700. The company had been negotiating with the unions for several weeks, but workers went on strike on Monday to protest what they saw as poor terms.

On Tuesday employees occupied the management offices and wouldn't allow four executives to leave, according to union representative Bernard Patrick. It wasn't clear when the executives would be allowed to leave.

Caterpillar said it hoped to resolve the matter quickly. "The actions that are taking place today, led by a small minority of individuals, are not helping as we work for a positive resolution of this situation," said Chris Schena, vice president for European and Asian manufacturing, in a statement. "The best way to resolve this matter is to continue the negotiations."

From The Chiropractic Profession: The Hottest New Marketing Trends
Original Story Posted at DynamicChiropractic.com



As the chiropractic profession enters the dawning days of the new health care economy, emerging trends and technologies present a host of compelling strategies that savvy chiropractic marketers will adopt to ensure their practice occupies the thoughts of today’s ever-more-cost-conscious and choice-savvy health care consumer.

Branding Your Practice

Creating a brand experience has moved to the top of chiropractic marketers’ priority lists. The American Institute of Graphic Design defines brand as “a person’s perception of a product, service, or company.” That definition has nothing to do with your mission statement, logo or tag line, or the color of the walls of your reception room. Instead, a brand is defined by the perception, good or bad, that your patients or prospects have about you and your practice.

Your brand experience is made up of the cumulative impressions your current and potential patients garner from their visual, verbal and experiential encounters with your practice. This encompasses a range of intellectual, sensory and emotional connections. Some experiences are controlled, such as your office environment, how you answer the phone, your advertising, the services you deliver and your Web site. An uncontrolled – but just as important – experience is the word-of-mouth about your practice. Strong practice brands arise from consistently excellent patient experiences that combine to form a clear, differentiated overall impression of your competence, capability and level of service. Savvy marketers will look at every impression in the context of and their overall brand experience.

Service. In the new health care economy, marketing is less about what you say and more about what your target actually hears. It has become essential that you learn the needs and aspirations of your patients and provide value through each communication. Let’s get back to basics and look at the difference between features and benefits.

Most inexperienced marketers are unsure of the difference and place a lot of attention on features instead of benefits. So what’s the difference? Features talk about your practice and the services you deliver. They talk about the finer details of your practice, such as your technique, level of education, conditions treated, convenient hours or ease of parking. Most people don’t care about features. Benefits tell patients what results they can expect from chiropractic. They explain how patients will feel and about the time and money they’ll save from chiropractic care compared to the alternatives. To achieve maximum impact, you must be sure that every message sent from your practice is benefits-focused. Do your patients the service of highlighting the benefits of chiropractic.

Going green. Every day, another major company commits to a sustainable future. It’s your turn. While it may not seem like a marketing strategy at first glance, you can be sure your patients will appreciate, expect and acknowledge your green efforts. The next time the opportunity arises, take the trash from your office out to the dumpster and look at how much material is wasted. Most of us don’t realize how much recyclable garbage our practice produces every day. A “green” plan is no longer a luxury or an option for your practice. This year, expect to add a symbolic new member to your practice team, a chief green officer (CGO). It’s time to take the responsibility to educate yourself and your employees about how easy it is to save money and resources by going green.

Here are just some of the ways your office can function in a more environmentally friendly way. Set a monthly goal to consistently lower the utility bill by 2-3 percent or reduce the office supply expenses by 15-20 percent. Go through the office and replace all incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones, which use less energy and last longer. By reducing paper waste in the office, you save not only money, but also some beautiful trees. Buy recycled office supplies whenever possible. Almost everything needed to run your office, from toner cartridges to paper goods to plastics, is available in recycled form and costs much less. Instead of just throwing away misprints or unneeded printed pages, use them as scratch paper around the office. Set a date by which you will make the commitment to go paperless by doing everything electronically instead of printing.

Get the Word Out

Now that you have established your brand and focus of your practice, you need to get the word out. Follow these fast-growing trends of marketing to get people talking about your practice and the services you provide:

Mobile: President Obama’s election campaign was one of the most talked about in history, not only because of the barriers it broke down in terms of race, but also because of the innovative ways in which it engaged with the electorate. In many ways, it was a turning point for mobile messaging, employing the most coordinated text-messaging, get-out-the-vote campaign in U.S. history. Mobile marketing delivers highly personalized and useful information when and where it is needed. More than 90 percent of text messages are read by the recipient, which creates the opportunity for an instant link between you and your patients.

Google “mobile messaging” and you’ll find an industry of companies that can help you implement an appointment reminder/patient messaging program that can send the text message of your choice directly to your patient’s mobile device. Be sure not to “spam” patients with nuisance messages; ensure that they opt-in to your service and do not communicate any HIPAA-protected personal health information. While still in its infancy, this up-and-coming technology deserves a closer look as mobile-phone improvements continue to create new communication and marketing opportunities.

Join the club. Not just for kids any more, 35 percent of adult Internet users now have a profile on at least one social networking site. Wise marketers will capitalize on the growing appeal of social networks like MySpace and Facebook. According to USA Today, social networking grew 93 percent from 2006 to 2008. During that time, Facebook grew 500 percent. Just as with every new communication technology, there are those who use the medium in overbearing, unwanted ways. Social networking sites are no different.

The key term here is networking; give and take. Social networking success stories have one thing in common: they’re all about the ping-pong effect. It’s you sharing information about yourself and your practice with dozens, and then perhaps hundreds, of potential patients. In turn, those people mention you to their friends. Like all worthwhile business relationships, online networks must be nurtured. Make the effort to do so, and you will reap the rewards over time.

Think narrowcasting. So, what’s narrowcasting? It’s place-based video displays that aim media messages and content at specific segments of the general public. Narrowcasting networks can be found in elevators, taxis, malls, supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, health clubs, schools and now chiropractic practices. A recent Arbitron health club network study showed that 70 percent of members watch television while at the gym and spend an average of 40 minutes each actively watching per visit. You can turn the time your patients spend in your reception room, on adjusting or therapy tables and in your exercise suite into an educational opportunity by installing a digital information system that provides compelling, entertaining, informative programming that engages your patients while teaching them about how chiropractic can improve their lives and the lives of their friends and families.

Roll the video. Online communications are changing. Chiropractors are now sharing information about their practices using podcasts, online video and now live video streaming. With the Web evolving to also include these richer media channels, the savvy marketer must learn how to listen, understand and use the same media. Broadband penetration is 70 percent in the U.S., making streaming video a “must” marketing tool for your practice. According to eMarketer, an estimated 154 million Americans watched at least one video in 2008, and three-quarters of those told a friend about one.

Video provides you with an enormous opportunity to engage, educate and entertain your patients – the “Three E’s” of successful marketing. Chiropractors are producing specialized medical videos to help their patients get the most from their chiropractic experience. These video messages include virtual tours of the practice, welcome messages from the doctor, new-patient orientation sessions and even customized home-exercise programs, all streamed over your practice’s Web site.

Get in on the game. Gaming now permeates just about all of society, creating a fresh way to connect with patients. Millions of non-golfers are swinging virtual golf clubs in Nintendo’s Wii and playing guitar in virtual rock bands on PlayStations. Senior-citizen centers are buying Wii to entertain guests and connect with grandkids. Having fun in the workplace seems like an oxymoron. However, having fun at your practice is not only good for team-building, but also makes for more productivity. You can use gaming in the practice to give a fresh look to patient education, as you practice healthy biomechanics, and as a tool to make staff training more fun. People learn best by doing, and the opportunity for group interaction provided by gaming’s virtual environment can make the office a bit more enjoyable. It can also be used to show appreciation for work well-done. Work doesn’t have to be one big party, but a little bit can make the work day go more smoothly.

Take Action

As the pressure cooker of the economy heats up, chiropractors are well-advised to employ self-restraint to avoid the overhyped marketing opportunities that they, no doubt, will be barraged with as companies with less than the purest of motives move in to take advantage of the turmoil in the marketplace. My advice: Focus on measuring your success one satisfied patient at a time, and be an early adopter and market dominator by being the first to implement these marketing trends during the coming year.

Detroit Electric Returns To Life In 2010
As Posted to The Motor Report

Remember Detroit Electric? Of course you don’t; the brand had all but disappeared by the early 1930s. Before the end of this decade however, the just-resuscitated Detroit Electric plans to have its cars on the road once again.

After being reformed in 2007, Detroit Electric hopes to have its first modern offering available next year. A compact four-door based on the Proton Persona will surface first, to be joined by a hatchback version later on.

As the badge suggests, the new Detroit Electric will be - you guessed it - an all-electric affair. The expected range for Detroit Electric’s EV is 180 kilomteres (110 miles), with a price between USD $24,000 and $26,000 (AUD $34,700 to 37,700).

An extended-range version capable of up to 320 kilometres (200 miles) on a single charge will add USD$ 4,000 to $5,000 (AUD $5,780 to $7,230) to the price.

The car will use a lithium-polymer battery pack supplied by a Korean manufacturer to deliver power to an electric motor developed by Detroit Electric’s Netherlands-based engineering team.

The company is planning to launch its first vehicle in China, Europe and the US as an everyday vehicle which will offer comparable performance and practicality to a regular petrol-powered vehicle according to Albert Lam, CEO of Detroit Electric and former CEO of Lotus Engineering.

“In 2007, we adopted the Detroit Electric name and revived it because it brings us in line with the vision and essence of electric driving they had,” Mr Lam said.

“We want to produce an affordable, practical pure electric car.”

Instead of developing its own cars from the ground-up, Detroit Electric plans to introduce a series of joint ventures to build its vehicles. Proton’s existing range will be used to begin with, teamed with Detroit Electric’s own batteries and motor.

Mr Lam pointed to their proposed business model as the way forward for automotive manufacturing. Shorter development times and lower overhead costs being the key to building vehicles that are affordable and able to move with customer demands.

1917 Detroit Electric Coup

Production targets are set at 40,000 cars per year for 2010, when the car will be introduced in Europe and China. Later that year the US market will be added and production numbers raised accordingly.

Studies show that the average car trip in the US is less than 65 kilometres (40 miles) per day, a driving range easily accommodated by the Detroit Electric vehicle.

North American President of Detroit Electric, Marianne McInerney, claims that ”this car has been designed to appeal to the broadest audience possible”.

Dutch And Malaysian Companies To Produce Zero-Emission Autos With Detroit Electric Tech
As Originally Posted to the Denver Post

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia — Malaysia's national carmaker, Proton, and a Dutch-based company signed a deal Monday to make zero-emission electric cars that they said would be more powerful than any existing model.

Proton and Detroit Electric, a startup that owns the technology, signed the collaboration agreement in the presence of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (at center in photo) to produce the sedans, initially targeted for Europe and the U.S.

"We have the audacity to bring to the people an affordable, everyday car . . . with zero emission," Detroit Electric chief executive Albert Lam said in a speech.

The four-door vehicle will roll out of Proton's factory by early next year, Lam told The Associated Press in an interview earlier.

The aim is to produce 40,000 units in the first year, ramping up to 270,000 by 2013, he said. The cars will be priced between $23,000 and $33,000, depending on the model and taxation.

General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Tesla Motors are all seeking to develop electric cars amid rising consumer interest in green technologies.

Larry And Sergey Help Fund Tesla's Model S
As Posted to eWeek

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are major investors in Tesla Motors, which on March 26 revealed the prototype of its all-electric, zero-emission sedan, the Model S.

The vehicle, which can accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds and hit a top speed of 130 miles per hour, will feature a 17-inch touch-screen with 3G connectivity, allowing drivers to check Google Maps or other data. The car’s electrical charge could also theoretically be monitored via an iPhone or a laptop, according to the company.

Tesla hopes that the Model S will eventually lead to a mass-produced electric vehicle, but production hinges on whether the Department of Energy will provide a $350 million loan to help kick-start production.

"This is just the first of many mainstream cars we’re developing," Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said in a statement. Musk was a co-founder of PayPal and founder of SpaceX.

Musk went on to cite the ownership cost of the Model S, should it enter production, as "similar to a gasoline car with a sticker price of about $35,000" once the lower cost of electricity versus the likely future price of gasoline was taken into account.

The company anticipates that the base price of the Model S will stand at $49,900, once federal tax credits totaling roughly $7,500 are factored in; it will come with a choice of batteries with either a 160-, 230- or 300-miles-per-charge range.

Deliveries of the vehicle will begin in 2012; those interested can visit this site to put their name on what will presumably be a long waiting list, if sales of the Roadster, Tesla's first electric car, are any indication.

The Roadster, currently in production with a price of just over $109,000, can go from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and travel 244 miles per charge. There is a substantial waitlist for the vehicle, which was unveiled in 2006, three years after the founding of Tesla Motors.

Starting this spring and continuing through 2009, Tesla will open stores in Chicago, London, New York, Miami, Seattle, Washington and Munich.

Both Page and Brin, who’ve made no secret of their green IT leanings, were early investors in the company.

Should the Model S enter production, it may very well have a variety of technologies already in place to help meet drivers’ commuting IT needs. Intel rolled out four new Atom processors on March 2 designed to fit into a wider variety of devices, including those embedded in car dashboards; those processors will be paired with the Microsoft Auto software platform, designed to provide features such as mobile device integration and speech recognition.

The Model S’s promised 3G connectivity will allow drivers to connect with Google Maps, Internet radio and other tools.

A Top-Notch Summer Lawn Takes Year-Round Effort
As Posted to 27East.com

April may be designated as National Lawn Care Month, but experts who focus on creating and maintaining beautiful and healthy lawns believe that every month is equally important for the goal at hand.

For local professionals such as Dave Greene and Pam Healey, lawn care is a year-round process. Put simply, different times call for specific types of care for the best, most vigorous lawns.

According to Mr. Greene, the owner of Southampton-based Dave Green Estate Care, which is partnered with Southampton-based Ray Smith Landscaping, achieving a vibrant lawn takes knowledge, patience and upkeep throughout the year. Ms. Healey, the manager of Lynch’s Garden Center in Southampton, agrees that lawn maintenance is a four-season job.

But springtime is the time of year when the outdoors come into focus for many East Enders—whether because the weather is more temperate, or in anticipation of the coming months of the Hamptons high season—and lawns become a major priority. Having a lush lawn instantly elevates the perceived value of a property, but there are also more practical reasons for cultivating a thriving carpet of green.

“Of course there are so many benefits of a healthy lawn,” Ms. Healey said in an interview at Lynch’s last week. “There’s a feeling of well-being, it looks better than the neighbors’, personal satisfaction, and it’s important for the environment,” she said.

While looking over a client’s yard in Southampton Village, Mr. Greene echoed Ms. Healey’s thoughts about the environmental significance of healthy organic lawn care: “Lawn is one of nature’s biggest and best sponges; it absorbs nutrients and water and a healthy lawn is extremely beneficial to the environment.”

According to information provided by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), an international association for the lawn care industry, healthy lawns produce oxygen, cool the atmosphere, filter out environmental contaminants, protect against erosion, and significantly increase property values.

PLANET estimates that lawns remove 5 percent of the carbon dioxide in the air and that a 50-foot by 50-foot plot of lawn will produce enough oxygen for a family of four. According to data supplied by PLANET, eight healthy lawns provide the same approximate “cooling effect” as 16 homes running their air conditioning.

Additionally, PLANET literature states that healthy lawns trap more than 12 million tons of dust and dirt annually. A dense, robust lawn also slows water runoff— removing contaminants and trapping soil—and returns fresh, filtered water to the underground supply.

“Lawns are not only beautiful, they’re environmentally effective,” PLANET President John Gibson wrote in a press release about the importance of National Lawn Care Month. “Homeowners need to be proactive in April and put together a lawn care program to ensure that their lawns will be healthy and beautiful throughout the year.”

Mr. Greene said he understands the needs of his East End clients, as well as the importance of vigilant lawn care. “Everyone wants green and lush in the heat of the summer, which we kind of force to stay alive and green,” he said. “Our job is trying to find that balance.”

Before undertaking any kind of treatment or maintenance regimen, Mr. Greene said it’s important to know about the makeup of the soil and grass. “We’re very big on soil testing and customized programs,” he said. “Otherwise treating a lawn without that knowledge is sort of like driving a car blindfolded.”

Patience is critical when trying to find the right balance for a healthy and vibrant lawn, Mr. Greene said. “You’re always tweaking the system, you can’t do it all at once,” he said. “It’s like turning a big battleship around: it’s a process.”

According to Ms. Healey, there are two types of soil on the East End, clay and sand, and different treatments are needed for each type of soil. “Clay you need to aerate and sandy you water more often,” she said.

The most popular East End grass types are Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryes and fine fescues, Mr. Greene said, adding that he usually sees a blend of the three.

As for upkeep, Mr. Greene said that he prefers to customize programs to the needs of each specific lawn, but he follows a general schedule of fertilization in September and May, aeration in fall and spring, weed and crabgrass control in April, and broad leaf, dandelion and clover control in October. Summertime, he said, is for monitoring such things as water, disease, fungus, pest control, weed control and grass length.

For the non-professionals tending to lawns, a good rule of thumb for when to start applying herbicides is around April 15, or when the forsythia is in full bloom, Ms. Healey said. She agreed that the best time to seed or fertilize is when the air is cool and the earth is relatively warm in the fall and spring months. She added that new Suffolk County legislation makes it illegal to fertilize between the months of November and April to avoid runoff due to decreased absorption from the cold ground.

Keeping the grass at the healthiest length and controlling the water supply are also key, Mr. Greene reported. He said that though most generally agree that cutting the grass once a week is the routine, the best thing for the grass is never to cut more than 1/3 of the blade during lawn care. Proper watering is also important, which many non-professionals fail to understand.

“Overwatering is one of the biggest things we see ... More plants are killed by overwatering than probably anything else,” he said, adding that excess moisture creates a breeding ground for blight. “Water every day is like putting gas on a fire, it provides more fuel for fungus.”

Lawns should be watered deeply and infrequently, according to both Mr. Greene and Ms. Healey.

Keeping a healthy balance throughout the year is important for everybody, whether they are year-round residents or seasonal visitors, Mr. Greene said. “If you want a good lawn in the summer, you better do the right thing in the spring and fall as well.”

What's Behind The Facebook Fallout?
Reuters Story as Posted at MediaFile

Why do we care about Facebook?

1. People you know and respect use it. That includes you.
2. People you know and respect who scoff at it still know what Facebook is.
3. Facebook, like Google, is popular enough to have become a verb as well as a noun.
4. If the public ever got a crack at buying shares in it, lots of people would get rich.

That’s why mass clucking ensued among the technology press when the word came out Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Gideon Yu is splitting. The Wall Street Journal, so far as we can tell, broke the news. It said:

The departure of the 37-year-old Mr. Yu and the ensuing search for a replacement are likely to renew speculation that Facebook is stepping up plans for a public offering, despite the rocky economy. The company, which has turned down several acquisition offers in the past, has said it is hoping to go public in the next few years.

But some employees and investors, who have poured roughly $455 million into the company, according to VC Experts.com Inc., are eager for Facebook to start planning an offering and have raised questions about whether it has enough money to sustain its growth. Many others have said the company is over-valued, which — in addition to the economic downturn — hampered its efforts to fund an employee-buyback program last year.

One person familiar with the matter said Facebook’s financials are strong and the company expects revenue in 2009 to increase at least 70% from last year.

The Journal also referred to the now famous $240 million that Microsoft invested in Facebook, giving the service a perceived value of $15 billion (see No. 4 in our list above). The problem is, the WSJ reported, Yu’s job “has grown more difficult, as Facebook has struggled to raise additional money at lower valuations.” If Facebook revenue is supposed to grow 70 percent — a giant leap — history would suggest, and nearly insist, that last year’s revenue total would have been only enough to buy a pack of Smarties.

That would make Yu’s job more difficult indeed. It must be hard to tell all your potential investors that Microsoft was going overboard on that whole $15 billion valuation thing.

Still: Don’t assume that it’s all about Yu. Kara Swisher at her Boomtown blog (like the Journal, also owned by Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp) hints at strained family relations:

In a back-to-the-future move, former Netscape CFO Peter Currie will be the key adviser to Facebook about financial matters, until a new search for a CFO is found, sources said. … But others sources at the company said Yu and Facebook CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg had had intensifying differences in recent weeks, over a range of issues.

One last note: The NYT story quoted Facebook spokesman (and non-family relation) Larry Yu as saying the site has no immediate plans to go public. Swisher at Boomtown said that Facebook was prepping for an eventual IPO. It sounds like the old, cold comfort behind the idea that if you wait long enough for something to happen, it will.

Sergey and Larry Become Venture Capitalists
As Originally Posted to Channel Insider

Google has created a new venture fund designed to provide funding for Internet, software and other technology startups. Should Google acquire any of the companies it backs financially, it would drag any partners those companies have into its channel.

While Google’s foray into the channel with Google Docs and its search appliance has gotten a lackluster response, solution providers in the near future may find themselves involuntarily partnering with Google through acquisitions and the extended Google investment network.

Google created a venture capital fund to back startup companies developing innovative products in Internet services, software, hardware, green IT, clean energy technologies, biotechnologies and health care.

"We think we can find young companies with truly awesome potential and encourage their development into successful businesses," wrote Bill Maris and Rich Miner, the two executives charged with leading the venture fund, in a post on Google's blog.

Large, established vendors invest in smaller companies, betting their innovations will create new business opportunities, features for their existing products or simply a positive ROI should they go public or get acquired.

"Acquisitions by Google of portfolio companies are possible, but this is not the goal or focus of our investment activities. Our focus is building great companies and generating long term financial return," the Google fund's Web site said.

While Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick and its interest in technologies tangential to its core search business overshadow its other investments, Google has made several strategic investments and acquisitions over the years.

Two of the more interesting Google acquisitions were Green Borders and Postini in 2007. Green Borders was an innovative browser security startup that provided a quasi-sandbox that protected Web surfers from malicious Websites. Postini was an e-mail security service, which guarded digital communications from malware and spam.

Postini was a channel-centric venture with several hundred partners. Once Google acquired the company, Postini partners fell under the auspices of Google’s sales organization.

Separate from the investment fund, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are two of the major investors backing Tesla Motors, the startup manufacturer of high-performance electric sports cars. Tesla recently unveiled its new Model S, which features integrated 3G connectivity and a 17-inch touch-screen monitor for checking the Internet.