Category: News and Views

Rebranding Helps Nudge Clothing Lines to a New Level | Apparel News.net

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Last year, iconic fashion house Yves Saint Laurent renamed itself Saint Laurent Paris, and just recently, its parent company, PPR, one of fashion’s most esteemed companies, announced its own name change. It will be called Kering, according to Chief Executive and Chairman Francois-Henri Pinault.

DENISE’S NEW LOOK: Alpinestars by Denise Focil changed its name to AS by DF and debuted a more contemporary look.

The new name demonstrates growth and new focus, Pinault said. “In a few months’ time we will have completely transitioned from a holding company with an unfocused portfolio into a cohesive, integrated, international group focused on apparel and accessories,” he said.

Some veteran Los Angeles–area fashion lines are in the process of renaming, or “rebranding,” themselves, too. The process is risky, but rebranding can make the difference between sagging sales and stellar business.

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Bhutan to Go 100% Organic by 2020 – GreenPacks.org

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Bhutan, the tiny remote kingdom nestling in the Himalayas, is already a largely organic nation. The kingdom however wants to do more on that front. Bhutan has now announced plans to go 100% organic.

And, when that gets done, Bhutan will become the first country in the world to follow fully organic agricultural practices. Thus it will ensure food safety and security to its population of around 700,000. They are planning to attain 100% organic in its food production by 2020.This decision by the state was announced by Bhutanese minister for agriculture and forest Pema Gyamtsho at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2013 as a part of their decision to live in harmony with nature.

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Big Brother – Facebook Style

~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

My friend Ben Hillman is an animator and graphic artist who has his own firm in New York. He possesses an acerbic wit and very definite political opinions. When he learned that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerman was a proponent of (and investor in) the Keystone Pipeline and drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Reserve, he developed a little graphic to display his ire:

fuckzuck blank

Ben posted this on his wall on Facebook. Shortly thereafter (less than a minute) I saw the post and shared it on my wall. It appeared on my wall for less than one minute. There was a page refresh and then it was gone. It was also removed from Ben’s wall as well. 

The take away is this: Everything you post is being monitored by Facebook in real time. You have no privacy. They will censor your political and social opinions.

Finally, Mark Zuckerberg is a thin skinned douchebag.

For some interesting reading on the same subject, click here.

The censor of the graphic is mine. We’re trying to run a relatively PG blog here. For the actual, uncensored NSFW graphic, click here – Ed.

What the Rolling Stones Can Teach You About Business | Inc.com

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

In December, my wife, Elaine, and I attended a 50th-anniversary concert of the Rolling Stones at Brooklyn, New York’s new Barclays Center. They’re often referred to as the Strolling Bones these days, and with good reason. They’re old. You can’t help noticing how weathered their faces look. So it’s all the more amazing to watch Mick Jagger, at 69, strutting around the stage just like he did half a century ago. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He and I are about the same age. “Why is he doing this?” I asked myself. “He doesn’t need the money. What is it?”

Then it hit me. I dropped down into my seat and started to laugh. “Why are you laughing?” Elaine shouted over the din. “I just figured out what’s been driving me all these years,” I shouted back.

As I told her later, I’d had an epiphany. I’d suddenly understood the meaning of the word passion. Mick Jagger, I realized, keeps doing what he does for the same reason that I keep doing what I do: because he has to. Performing defines him. He has to do it in order to feel alive–which is also why I start and build businesses.

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The Real Cost of Self-Publishing: Beyond Vanity | Bloomberg

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Beyond Vanity

Stephen King rocked the publishing world when he began distributing books online in 2000. J.K. Rowling roiled the industry again in 2011 when she decided to self-publish her Harry Potter series through her own platform, Pottermore. Such big names join thousands of others who are self-publishing books — though many do so because it’s their only option.

More than 235,000 books and e-books were self-published in 2011 in the U.S., four times the number in 2006, according to Bowker, an agency that assigns books unique identification codes.

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10 Perks Your Small Business Can Afford | Inc.com

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Perks that make your employees happy don’t have to cost an arm and a leg– really.

A happy, engaged workforce is a high performing workforce. When you hear of companies like SAP that offers onsite putting greens or Google, which offers onsite everything, you probably think, “We have 25 employees and cannot compete on that level. And where would we put a putting green anyway?”

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