| Overall Holiday Season Retail Grows 3.6%, MasterCard SpendingPulse ...
Data Source: SpendingPulse, MasterCard Advisors. A macro-economic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check. MasterCard SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard financial performance. SpendingPulse is provided by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide. MasterCard Advisors� SpendingPulse, a macro-economic report tracking retail sales nationally, today provided summary results of the 2007 Holiday shopping season. This year, for the period between Black Friday and December 24, retail grew by a seasonally adjusted 3.6% over the same period in 2006. �Overall, sales came in just above the lower end of the range we were expecting, maintaining the slower, modest growth we�ve been seeing throughout the year,� noted Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors.
Singer, actor Robert Goulet dies at 73
If Ever I Would Leave You, Lancelot's love song to Guinevere, remained a signature tune throughout his career. But after becoming a fixture at Las Vegas, he developed the image of a Lothario crooner with twinkling blue eyes, singing through a haze of cigarette smoke. His deep, distinctive laugh and sometimes broad opinions also made him a darling of the late-night chat shows. Both Canada and the U.S. claim him as one of their biggest stars and he accepts both connections. "Sometimes both countries want to claim me, but then, there have been periods when each one said to the other 'You take him, we don't want him,'" he joked in a 2005 interview. Goulet was born on Nov. 26, 1933, in Lawrence, Mass. His father, Joseph, was from Quebec and his mother, Jeannette, was from Lewiston, Maine, although her family originally came from Quebec.
IJ Solutions Develops Slamdance Film Festival Website Using OpenEdit ...
Slamdance Inc., was in need of an interactive Content Management web application to support their online filmmaker community. Slamdance chose open source software OpenEdit CMS to achieve their goal for a successful social networking website. Said Joel Halse Director of IJ Solutions, "Christopher Burkey, President of OpenEdit, approached me to take part in the Slamdance project." .
The new colonialists
It was the eve of China's National Day, they were thousands of miles from home and in a private room at Shanghai-Baia, Luanda's finest Chinese restaurant, they were looking forward to a night of singing, drinking and reminiscing. Outside the bay window, the rays of the setting sun slanted across the glassy surface of the lagoon around which Angola's battered capital nestles, spreading a sympathetic glow over the pastels of the Portuguese colonial-era buildings. In the restaurant, with its garish fittings, all eyes were fixed on a giant karaoke screen. A sinuous young woman in a silk dress dipped her head in and out of the surf in what at first glance could have been a more elegant variation on a Beach Boys video. It was, I gathered, a cult Chinese love song. Cheers broke out as one of the guests strode to the microphone and started crooning.
Never Let Them Go
Those intensive retention efforts reflect a challenge that many companies are just beginning to grasp: The world's best strategies for bringing new talent in the front door won't do you much good if you've got a steady stream of experienced employees walking out the back. For that reason, Berbee and other Microsoft partners rely on a variety of strategies to keep their employees happy -- and on the payroll. A Changing Employment Marketplace
Two decades ago, employee turnover was seen more as a nuisance than a strategic disaster. There were plenty of other eager young candidates hitting the job market to fill an empty spot. That all changed with the IT boom of the mid-1990s, when suddenly there were more available jobs than candidates. Now, with the job market recovering from the economic downturn of earlier in this decade, it's becoming clear to many that a company's survival depends on its ability to keep its workers.
Davidson Calendar: Jan. 11-25
Custom Candleholders: Make custom candleholders on a cool winter day. For all ages. No reservations are required. 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 12, Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, 1200 Forrest Park Drive; free; 356-8000. Songwriter Session: Steve Leslie with Jim Ferguson: noon Jan. 12, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 222 Fifth Ave. S.; $17.95, $15.95 ages 55+, $9.95 ages 6-17, free ages 5-under; 416-2096. Big Band Music Appreciation Swing Dance Society Dance: Lessons at 7:30 p.m., dancing to DJ music 8:30-11 p.m. All ages welcome. No partner or experience needed. Wear casual clothing and shoes that will not damage the hardwood floor. For more information, contact Naomi Craig at 615-227-1854. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, Eastwood Christian Church, 1601 Eastland Ave.; $5; 227-2285.
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