Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Board of Governance

The Board of Governance , IMF is the firm whose existence has to be ensured and the primary shareholders are those whose presence in the body ensures that the body continues to survive. Basically, it can be argued that all the members and employees of the body constitute the primary stakeholders of the organization. This is explained below: The Board of Governance This is the highest level of governance at the organization. Thought this board delegates most of the tasks of running the organization to the Executive Committee, it should be noted that this board actually determines the existence of the organization because of the authority to accept and compulsorily withdrawals of members of the body. This board also has the authority to amend the by laws and articles of agreement. The board approves the quota increases and special drawing rights s allocations. It should be noted that the board of Governors are in charge of ensuring that the executive committee are elected and run the body. This board therefore is the core of all the operations of IMF. It is clear that without this board the body will not be able to run and thus the board of governors is part of the primary stakeholders. The names of the members are listed in the official website of IMF The constituencies The objective of the body is to ensure that there is cooperation in terms of international monetary and that the macroeconomic conditions become stable. It should be noted that this body was formed with an aim of stabilizing the global economy through shifting of surpluses to regions of deficits. For this objective to be achieved there has to be cooperation by from both the regions (constituencies) with surpluses and those with deficits. The constituencies consisting of the wealthy developed nations such as USA, UK, France, Japan and Germany are very vital for the existence of IMF as they control 40 percent of the funds vote share. Without these five members it is true that there will be no funds to loan out and hence the body can not exist without them. They also truly form part of the primary stakeholders. The members from the other constituencies for instance Africa Group I and II constituencies equally form part of the primary stakeholders because without these them the IMF funds can not be loaned and thus defeating the purpose of the existence of the body and hence its survival. It should be noted that the major contributors of the body (the five permanent members) do not get loans from the funds and thus if the body has to survive it is very evident that the constituencies consisting of poor nations for instance Kenya, Congo, Korea etcetera must be part of the body for it to survive and thus they too form part of the primary stakeholders.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Whats a Good ACT Score for an Honors Student

What's a Good ACT Score for an Honors Student SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It can be hard to tell what counts as a good score on the ACT, especially for high-achieving students. In this article, I'll explain what competitive ACT scores arefor an honors student and what that means for you. But first let's define our terms! What Is an Honors Student? Answering this question is tricky becausenot everyone or every school agrees.Some schools have specific honors classes, and enrolling in these is what wins you the title. Other schools name students to an honor roll based on their GPAs. Still others may associate the term "honors" with a certain level of class rank. Whatdo we all seem to agree on?Honors students are, relative to the general high school population, higher academic achievers. This means that their goals on the ACT are likely to be higher, too, so as to keep their standardized test scores in line with their grades, and, ultimately, so as to keep them competitive as applicants to more elite schools. What Is a Good ACT Score? It's a little tough to nail down an exact definition of a "good" score, because there's no single number that marks the boundary between a good score and a bad one.What a good score looks like for any given student ultimately depends on what they want to do with it and who they're competing with. For most student, getting a good score is less about hitting an arbitrary number and more about landing in a range that makes you look attractive to the schools you hope to attend. Your score goal will be very different if you're looking at Ivy League schools than if you're looking at your local state school.Ultimately, agood score is thescore that gets you where you want to go. Nonetheless, you are being compared to the other applicants, so can it be helpful to understand how you stack up against your peers. Think of that ideal ACT score as a ticket to your dream school. Good ACTScores for Honors Students We ran some statistical analyses to answer the delicate question of what a good score really looks like for an honors student. We used what's called a Monte-Carlo method, which is a lot more accurate than just lining up percentiles and comparing those. You see, just because you're a topstudent at your school, that doesn't necessarily make you a toptest taker. Why not, you may ask? For one thing, high schools select honors students based on criteria other than the ACT. For another, some students withhigh GPAs struggle with low ACT scores. Our analysis take thesevariations into account. Based on our data, we've compiled high, average, and low scores for both honors and high honors students. Honors Students We're defining these as the top third of high school students. It's possible that some of these students are not recognized as honors students at their schools, and it's possible that some students recognized as honors students at their schools are not among this third. Let's look at the range of scores for this group: A low score(25th percentile) is24 An average score (median) is 26 Ahigh score (75th percentile) is 29 You'll notice that these scores are clusteredfairly close together. That's because it's really a pretty small range of scores, all things considered. Combine that fact with a steep bell curve distribution, consider that we're looking at the far ends, and, sure enough, you wind up with this cluster effect. High Honors Students We're defining these as the top tenth of high school students. These students are the ones most likely to be in high honors programs, though the same disclaimer applies here as it did before. Let's look at the range of scores for this group: A low score(25th percentile) is29 An average score (median) is30 Ahigh score (75th percentile) is32 Notice that these scores are clusteredextremely close together. As you get up to the highest scores, every point counts. Be a total miser when it comes to those points- pinch your proverbial pennies. Take-Aways Honors students, and especially high honors students, have to put in extra effort to distinguish themselves from the crowd. The difference between a decent showing of a score and a home-run of a score can be entirely in the details. What's Next? Start putting in the work to prepare for this test nice and early. Spend a little time figuring out just how long you should devote to preparation. Aim for perfection:a score of 36 is hard, but possible. What if you don't have the luxury of time? Read about stellar last-minute programs to prepare for the exam. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Current political debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Current political debate - Essay Example But today, Syria is one of Israel’s most uncompromising opponents and will do anything to gather arms to attack against it and openly speaks against Israel. The recent unrest began in the city Deraa in March 2011. This was the wave of the Arab unrest which started with the Tunisian revolution. But in Syria, it finally arrived when the Deraa’s residents protested against torturing students for putting up a slogan fight against the government. They had written the popular slogan from the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt: â€Å"The people want the downfall of the regime† and the protestors later continued to call for democracy and freedom but not the removal of the president. This anti-government protest reached out to other cities across the country and the army besieged them as the â€Å"armed gang and terrorists† (Guide: Syria Crisis 2012). Cities including â€Å"Baniyas, Homs, Hama and the suburbs of Damascus† were involved in the protest. The debate started when it it became clear what the protestors really wanted. They needed democracy and a greater freedom because Syria is one of the most oppressed countries in the Arab world. President Assad was demanded to resign the moment the army opened fire against the peaceful protest. The situation became out of local authority’s control. It was president’s brother Maher who asked the army to â€Å"crush† the citizens of Syria (Guide: Syria Crisis 2012). The residential areas were destroyed and many people were killed. President Assad refuses to step down from his chair but he did promise reforms in April 2011 for improvement in certain eminent sectors of the country. In a referendum help in February 2012, a multi-party elections was approved by the constitution. People are still apprehensive about the promises made by the president as long as the blood-shed continues. Being a country of almost twenty million

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Causality Relation between the Kazakhstan Stock Market and the US Dissertation

The Causality Relation between the Kazakhstan Stock Market and the US Dollar, the Euro and the Russian Ruble - Dissertation Example The relation between the Kazakhstan tenge and other currencies is examined by statistical time series analysis. The relationship of exchange rates over a specific period of time is studied based upon bivariate and multivariate variables. Currency has continuously evolved as the domestic and international vehicle for trade. This paper will define and discuss the history of the causality relation between the Kazakhstan Stock Market and the tenge, and the US Dollar, the Euro, and the Russian Ruble. The research includes a quantitative analysis by using several statistical methods to support the hypotheses. The sample data represents performance analysis from June 2000 to December 2012. Skilled trader George Soros earned one billion dollars in one day, trading currency on the Foreign Exchange market (XE Currency, 2013). Massive amounts of World trade are made possible through stock exchanges. Today, world trade systems have become high-tech, electronic passageways for intercontinental commerce. The Foreign Exchange market (FOREX) is as big as the World Wide Web. Averaging trillions of dollars in transactions each day, the FOREX operates 24 hours a day. However, the stock market did not become what it is today, overnight. Time, trial and error, and the demand for commerce have shaped the stock market exchange into what it is today. The stock exchange is the most crucial element of international trade. Stocks are like football teams, the true fans root for their favorites whether they win or lose. And when they lose, they don’t exchange them for better prospects, they go back to the play room drawing board. Some have argued tha

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Economic Analysis of Crop Diversification Essay Example for Free

Economic Analysis of Crop Diversification Essay There is a dramatic change in the earning, spending and saving pattern of the people of India in the post reform (economic) period that is post 1991. During this period, income generating mechanism in this country underwent massive changes. With a sustained economic growth, rising per capita income along with an ever increasing population, the dietary pattern in India is also changing very fast. The Indian food basket is diversifying in favour of high value food commodities like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, poultry products and fish products from staple food such as rice, wheat and coarse cereals. This raises a challenge to Indian agriculture. On the other hand the modern agriculture dominated by chemical and irrigation intensive farming system has not only raised productivity but simultaneously has also resulted in soil erosion, water contamination, pesticides poisoning, land degradation through water logging and soil salinity, depletion of bio-diversity, etc., forcing farmers to apply ever-increasing doses of fertilisers and to make water supply available on a continuous basis, in order to maintain the productivity levels. This again raises another challenge to Indian agriculture. It may not be wondering if we assume that organic farming system may generate such situation to address both the challenges mentioned above. This paper is concerned with an analysis of crop diversification under organic and inorganic farming in West Bengal. Crop diversification is different from the concept of multiple cropping or succession planting over the growing seasons. Moreover, it implies the use of environmental and human resources to grow a mix of crops with complementary marketing opportunities. Thus, it implies a shifting of resources from low value crops to high value crops such as fruits, vegetables, etc. The concept of crop diversification in globalized market of agricultural produce refers to increase the total crop productivity in terms of quality, quantity and monetary value under different specific agro-climatic situations across the world. There are two approaches to crop diversification in agriculture. First is horizontal diversification, which is the primary approach to crop diversification in production agriculture. The approach takes place through crop intensification by adding new high-value crops to existing cropping systems. Thus, the approach facilitates the improvement of overall productivity of a farm or farming economy of a region. The second approach is the vertical diversification. Under this approach, farmers and others add value to products through processing, regional branding, packaging, merchandising or other efforts to enhance the farm-product. The opportunities for crop diversification may vary depending on risks, opportunities and the feasibility of proposed changes within a socio-economic and agro-economic context. However, crop diversification through substitution of one crop or mixed cropping / inter-cropping may be a useful tool to mitigate problems associated with aberrant weather to some extent, especially in the arid and semi-arid drought-prone / dry land areas. Impact of crop diversification Crop diversification is intended to practice of growing more than one crop (or enterprise) in any year to increase financial and biological stability of the farm. In the agricultural context, diversification can be regarded as the re-allocation of some of a farms productive resources, such as land, capital, farm equipment and paid labour, into new activities. These can be new crops or livestock products, value-adding activities, provision of services to other farmers, etc. On the other hand, diversification of agriculture refers to the shift from the regional dominance of one crop to regional production of a number of crops, to meet ever increasing demand for cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, etc. It aims to improve soil health and a dynamic equilibrium of the agro-ecosystem. Crop diversification takes into account the economic returns from different value-added crops. Crop diversification can better tolerate the ups and downs in the market value of farm products and may ensure economic stability for farming families of the state. The adverse effects of aberrant weather, such as erratic and scanty rainfall and drought are very common in a vast area in agricultural production of the state. Incidents of flood in one part and drought in the other part are a very frequent phenomenon in the state. Under these aberrant weather situations, dependence on one or two major cereals (rice, wheat, etc.) is always risky. Diversification in agriculture has tremendous impact on the agro-socio-economic condition and uplifting resource-poor farming communities. It generates income and employment for rural youth year round for the ultimate benefits of the farmers in the state. It implies the use of local resources in a larger mix of diverse cropping systems and livestock, aquaculture and other non-farm sectors in the rural areas. Problem statement The yield as well as farm income is the essential part for crop diversification for the farmer of an agricultural based economy like West Bengal. Normally, the farmers diversify farm enterprises to meet the cash requirements of the family and to mitigate risk associated with mono-cropping, depending on conventional wisdom over the years. The crop diversification in the state is also considered with greater emphasis from the view point to price response, market infrastructure, availability of resources and public interventions (price and credit policies of farming business, research and development in farming activities, etc.) in agriculture. The judicious crop mix has facilitated increased farm incomes. It has also contribution towards the utilization of under employed resources to mitigate seasonal and under unemployment of rural labour force. The crop diversification has also helped to reduce risks and uncertainties in crops yields due to climatic and biological vagaries. Thus the study was conducted to analyze the extent of crop diversification at different levels of farm size as well as crop growing seasons in West Bengal for both inorganic and organic farming systems, commonly followed by the farmers in the state.

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Breakdown and Restoration of Order in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth ess

The Breakdown and Restoration of Order in Macbeth   Ã‚  Ã‚   When Macbeth kills King Duncan in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, there is a breakdown of order throughout Scotland. This breakdown is evident through three main factors; within the person, mainly through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, through the kingdom and through nature. From a completely ordered nation into the depths of chaos - Scotland collapsed from the lack of strong leadership. In the end, when resolution is reached, this chaos is reversed and Scotland is restored to a peaceful nation as it was before Macbeth's reign.    Traditional Elizabethan ideologies were based on the great "Chain of Being". The people believed in an absolutely ordered universe were ranked in order of their superiority. This order corresponded with all religious beliefs and the political system. General beings were ranked in the order of: God, angels, king, man, animals, plants, inorganic material and finally chaos. When Macbeth murders Duncan, he violates this order. The king was seen to be God's representative on earth and if any rebel was to attack the king, he was seen as rebelling against or attacking God. There was a belief that God passed special powers on to all kings, as seen in Act four Scene three "he cures... the healing benediction... he hath a heavenly gift of prophecy" (lines 168-173). Macbeth does not have this divinity, as he is not the rightful king. This is one of the reasons that Scotland turns to chaos.    The evidence that the audience receives about a breakdown within a person is within Macbeth himself. After murdering Duncan, he begins to go crazy - his mind and his thoughts begin to rule him. He becomes very domineering. Macbeth... ...r breaks down the murderer, breaks down the kingdom and breaks down nature, to have Scotland in complete fear and terror. But, good wins over evil and in the end, peace is restored. The coronation of a divine king brings peace and restoration to previous chaos.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto: Penguin Books Canada Ltd., 1991.    Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes, Slaves of Passion. Gloucester: Peter Smith Publisher Inc., 1973.  Ã‚      Edwards, Terence. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Macbeth. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977.    Shakespeare, William.   Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.  Ã‚  Ã‚      Scott, Mark W. (Editor).   Shakespeare for Students.   Gale Research Inc. Detroit, Michigan. 1992      

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

First Day of School Essay

Life is full of surprises and difficulties. A college can make your life are changing after you walked into the campus at first day in college. I used to think about the class in college which is different from in high school. Those people who are older than me, they have told me that college would be new life for me. That college would show me what is the differently between college and high school. I was really wondering about it, I didn’t know anything since the first year and first day. Everything I knew before I went to college that was I had to studied more harder, and I won’t have many friends like I did in high school. The most things that I was interesting is about the course class, the education, the campuses. They took me to a new look, and they show me what is real college life. see more:my first day at school paragraph I wasn’t thinking the differently from high school to college is big deal, but I have a bit scared when I went into the campus, and I have seen many students that I didn’t know anyone of them. First class were surprise me because that was about 20 to 30 students only, but they aren’t friend to each other. I went to my class early so that I can get a good seat close to teacher, and I can meet my classmate. That was lucky because I just met a old friend from high school in the first class. Therefore, the class is not so scaring anymore and everything is seemed to be better than before. After the first class, I just knew another things, that is college students didn’t like to make friends like we did in high school. They came to class to record the lecture then they left the class after the lecture done without any talk. College’s course classes are really differently. First, the college classes are taking more time than the high school, they are taking about two hour for each day. All I could do in class that was hearing the lecture from professor. That was not really for all class, there was some professors let us doing group works. The professors tried to help students had more time to knew each other, and they worked better in their works. The lecture is  taking about two hour, it made the students fall in sleep easy. Now is one another thing, I did not realize that college’s student could wear whatever they want; it doesn’t matter with the uniform. Students can’t talk to each other during lecture that is reason students are not so friendly when they tried to ask the other about homework or any assignment. However, students can leave early before class end 15 minutes or 20 minutes early, In high school, students would get their assignments and homework from the professors in class, but that was not for college. Everything are in online and website, assignments, homework, projects, including lecture summaries. All the assignment and homework had dude day, it really could help students have more time to do their work, and they will management their time life more easy. In high school, teacher always gave us homework before we left class, and turn them in next day. I knew sometime we won’t have enough time, but that is more helpful to students because they would catch up and learned more about what they learned in class that day. All the course class, they have a schedule for lecture, tests, quiz and the final. The professors did that because they didn’t want the students miss any test or final. There is no time to make up any test if we are absent and miss those test. College is having many campuses, those are really cool and bigger than the high school campus. I knew it is unfair compare but that is truth, there is some class have around 100 students in one lecture. Some college campuses are really big with 3 or 4 floors up, each one have more than 50 rooms to be laboratory, class rooms, computer labs. Students can have free internet to research and doing their homework without going home. The library have all the kind of books, it is helping students find their book easy, and students can use the desktop in library to do their project. I think college is a new world, and new life, that is giving me more option, surprises and difficulties. College is changing my angle personal life, it gave me the knowledge and the differently between high school and college. I sum up my College life as an impactful one, but I think I could’ve done better to be someone I hope to be. I’ve learnt to change my own view after I saw everything college in front of my eyes, it is not that difficult like  the other people told me before. All the things, The course class, the education, the campuses are totally changing my to new life.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Wedding Dance

Our third posting on a short story by an author from the Philippines will be on a writer from the Ilocos province, Amador Daguio. Dagui was born in 1912 in the Ilocos province. His father was an officer in the national police of the Philippines. He lived with his uncle in Manila while attending high school as there were no high schools in his home area. During this period he became very lonely and was driven to write poetry to express his feelings, one of which was published in a national publication while he was still in high school. In 1932 he graduated with honors from the University of the Philippines.He returned to the area where he grew up and worked as a teacher and married a local woman. During WWII he joined the resistance and would eventually publish a well regarded collection of poems about his experiences during the war years. He is primarily known as a poet but also wrote some wonderful short stories. In 1953 he received a Fulbright grant to study at Stanford University in California where he studied the short story. For Twenty Six years after returning from the USA he taught at the University of the East and the University of the Philippines.He passed away in 1966 and in 1973 he was awarded the National Cultural Award. â€Å"The Wedding Dance† was first published in 1953 by Stanford University in an annual publication of works by participants in their literary programs. It is a very moving and beautifully written story that lets us see a way of life most know little about and is set in a nearly forgotten culture, that of the tribal people of northern Luzon. Marriage in this culture was seen as more or less a contract between a man and a woman for the purposes of producing children.If after seven harvests, there is no child, either party is free to break the bond and seek another spouse. A childless couple was seen as a very sad matter and often the masculinity of the husband was considered suspect. As the story opens the man is telling his beloved wife he is sorry this has to happen, he is sorry he must take another wife as she has proved barren (leaving aside medical fact it might be him). He offers her part of their land but she refuses. He tells her she should go to the wedding dance for his new marriage to show she is accepting of what is happening.She refuses all but some beads he gave her. She is still the most attractive woman in the community, the best homemaker and the best at growing crops. It is really a heartbreaking story as I could sense the man did not want to do this but community pressures and cultural norms were driving him to divorce a woman he truly loved for one he cares little about. The ending is beautifully done and leaves opens what will happen to the wife. She really seems like a â€Å"perfect wife† and one cannot help but feel the man is foolish and to make it worse, he knows it. ? The Wedding Dance by Amador T.Daguio is about Awiyao and Lumnay, a long married couple from the Mountain tribes. Awiyao is going to marry another woman, Madulimay, because Lumnay was not able to give him a child. Awiyao went back home to see Lumnay because he didn't find her among the dancers at his wedding. He wanted Lumnay to dance at his wedding for the last time but she cannot. On their moment, there are many flashbacks about how Lumnay did her best to have a child, through offering to the god, Kabunyan; and how Awiyao and Lumnay's love was as strong as the river; but â€Å"it is just that a man must have a child†, and he had to leave her.He promised her that if he fails to have a child, he will come back to her. She wanted to protest against the written rule that a man can marry another woman, so Lumnay went to the wedding dance. But while seeing her husband married to another woman, she could not take it anymore and just went to the mountain to clear away the beans she had thought about. And so Lumnay, waiting for Awiyao a long time, thought of Awiyao's promise as she cle ared away the growing bean plants. ? Wedding Dance Our third posting on a short story by an author from the Philippines will be on a writer from the Ilocos province, Amador Daguio. Dagui was born in 1912 in the Ilocos province. His father was an officer in the national police of the Philippines. He lived with his uncle in Manila while attending high school as there were no high schools in his home area. During this period he became very lonely and was driven to write poetry to express his feelings, one of which was published in a national publication while he was still in high school. In 1932 he graduated with honors from the University of the Philippines.He returned to the area where he grew up and worked as a teacher and married a local woman. During WWII he joined the resistance and would eventually publish a well regarded collection of poems about his experiences during the war years. He is primarily known as a poet but also wrote some wonderful short stories. In 1953 he received a Fulbright grant to study at Stanford University in California where he studied the short story. For Twenty Six years after returning from the USA he taught at the University of the East and the University of the Philippines.He passed away in 1966 and in 1973 he was awarded the National Cultural Award. â€Å"The Wedding Dance† was first published in 1953 by Stanford University in an annual publication of works by participants in their literary programs. It is a very moving and beautifully written story that lets us see a way of life most know little about and is set in a nearly forgotten culture, that of the tribal people of northern Luzon. Marriage in this culture was seen as more or less a contract between a man and a woman for the purposes of producing children.If after seven harvests, there is no child, either party is free to break the bond and seek another spouse. A childless couple was seen as a very sad matter and often the masculinity of the husband was considered suspect. As the story opens the man is telling his beloved wife he is sorry this has to happen, he is sorry he must take another wife as she has proved barren (leaving aside medical fact it might be him). He offers her part of their land but she refuses. He tells her she should go to the wedding dance for his new marriage to show she is accepting of what is happening.She refuses all but some beads he gave her. She is still the most attractive woman in the community, the best homemaker and the best at growing crops. It is really a heartbreaking story as I could sense the man did not want to do this but community pressures and cultural norms were driving him to divorce a woman he truly loved for one he cares little about. The ending is beautifully done and leaves opens what will happen to the wife. She really seems like a â€Å"perfect wife† and one cannot help but feel the man is foolish and to make it worse, he knows it. ? The Wedding Dance by Amador T.Daguio is about Awiyao and Lumnay, a long married couple from the Mountain tribes. Awiyao is going to marry another woman, Madulimay, because Lumnay was not able to give him a child. Awiyao went back home to see Lumnay because he didn't find her among the dancers at his wedding. He wanted Lumnay to dance at his wedding for the last time but she cannot. On their moment, there are many flashbacks about how Lumnay did her best to have a child, through offering to the god, Kabunyan; and how Awiyao and Lumnay's love was as strong as the river; but â€Å"it is just that a man must have a child†, and he had to leave her.He promised her that if he fails to have a child, he will come back to her. She wanted to protest against the written rule that a man can marry another woman, so Lumnay went to the wedding dance. But while seeing her husband married to another woman, she could not take it anymore and just went to the mountain to clear away the beans she had thought about. And so Lumnay, waiting for Awiyao a long time, thought of Awiyao's promise as she cle ared away the growing bean plants. ?

Friday, November 8, 2019

How to Build a Modern PR Plan That Works With Marketing (Template)

How to Build a Modern PR Plan That Works With Marketing (Template) If youre at all like me, then one of your most recent experiences working on a standard press release might be that media relations class you took in college. Think about it. When was the last time your team sent a press release to a reporter, received some valuable coverage, and saw your site traffic boom? Or, on the other hand, when was the last time a cold email landed in your inbox that truly excited you about the possibilities within that strangers pitch? Public relations has undergone some major transitions. In fact, you could go so far as to say that todays PR doesnt look much at all like the PR of yesterday. Media and communications has always been an industry that moves quickly, and advances in technology and social media have escalated those moves. Add to that audiences increased expectations of trust, authenticity, and the rise of practices like content marketing, and its clear PR really had no choice but to evolve or become largely obsolete. Now, if you havent already, take a moment to lament all the hours you spent in your PR classes, drafting press releases and debating whether majoring in communications was a good idea. I feel for you - but not all is lost. A Word About : Did you know makes it possible to manage content, social, email, and more, all on one integrated marketing management calendar? Start your free trial or schedule a demo with an expert. Start With Your Free Modern Public Relations Plan Template This post offers tons of advice on creating a PR strategy that actually works concurrently with content marketing. But, did you know that marketers who document processes are 466% more likely to report success? Its true.  Ã‚  Thats why this post also includes a free PowerPoint template you can use to put this advice into practice, and document a plan you can execute. Get it free now, then read on.How to Build a Modern PR Plan That Works With Your Marketing by @natalieslyman via @What Modern PR Looks Like While PR looks different today than it did in the past, it still achieves similar goals. It's still press your company earns  in a third-party outlet, and it still helps you establish credibility, boost brand awareness, and extend your brand positioning. The biggest difference is in its execution. Modern PR is much less transactional and more relational than ever before. In the past, marketing and PR teams could trade templated press releases to reporters in hopes of some self-promotional writeup published by whoever would pick up the story. The new PR  is focused on your relationships with journalists, influencers, editors, and contributors at online publications and with the audiences you share with them. Trust is key, and it's earned by delivering valuable content to media contacts who can use it to provide value to their readers - the audience you're ultimately trying to reach. Audiences want engaging content from outlets they trust. When you pitch media contacts at those outlets truly valuable content and sources they can use to publish that engaging content (rather than stuffy, self-promotional releases), everyone wins. If some of this talk of "value" and "audience engagement" is ringing a bell to you, it's probably because content marketing focuses a lot on these things, too. Modern PR and content marketing are not one in the same, but content marketing has proven too effective for PR to ignore. That's why it's evolved beyond overt self-promotion en masse to offer more value - to audiences, media contacts, and the brands using modern PR alike. Below are seven essential steps to building and implementing a modern PR strategy for your company: Table of Contents: Building a PR Plan in 7 Steps Lay Out Your Brand Positioning Goals Identify the Outlets That Reach Your Audience Create Strategic, High-Quality Content Carefully Craft Your Pitches Develop (And Use) a Distribution Plan Keep Your Network Organized Don't Neglect Your Content Marketing1. Lay Out Your Brand Positioning Goals Most people understand PR as a tool to really supercharge buzz around a one-time event or product launch. It's something that can quickly get a lot of people excited for a short time before fizzling out after that event or launch concluded. It is absolutely still a good tool for that - but how many events, launches, or other truly newsworthy events do you expect to happen in a year's time? Your company is doing important work for clients every day. How are your PR efforts elevating that work and, therefore, your brand overall? PR can also be used to help generate and sustain brand awareness, interest, and credibility that don't have an expiration date. PR can help generate brand awareness, interest, and credibility that don't have an expiration dateTo do this, start considering the bigger picture of how you want your audience to see your brand. How do you want your brand to be seen? What do you want to be known as an expert in? What feelings do you want your brand to inspire in your audience? Look beyond short-term goals for event registrants or demo sign-ups, and think about how you want to position yourself in front of your target audience. When you know how you want to be seen, you can better identify the outlets, writers, and editors that can help reinforce that brand image. Action Item: Develop an effective branding strategy and understand where you fit in the marketplace. Start with this detailed guide from Jordan Loftis. 2. Identify the Outlets That Reach Your Audience Your audience is looking for content that's informative, engaging, and published on sites it trusts - like reputable online publications in their industry. Historically, publications were managed by journalists and traditional reporters and staff writers. But audience demand for that informative, engaging content has risen, and those outlets have grown their networks to include content from other sources, too, like industry leaders, experts, and individual contributors. To position your brand in front of the right audience, identify where they're getting their content. Which industry influencers, thought leaders, journalists, and editors do they trust? What outlets do they love? Start compiling a list of potential publications and contacts to pitch that align with your brand positioning goals and reach your audience. Action Item: Use Buzzsumo to identify influential media outlets and journalists. 3. Create Strategic, High-Quality Content Now, if you're not sending out press releases to those contacts you've listed, what exactly are you pitching? Content. This content is part of your PR efforts, so you might think it has to be really self-promotional to make the impact you're looking for. But that's not what modern PR is about. It's about value to your audience and your media contacts - which translates into value for your brand. When our team surveyed publication editors about the biggest problems they have with the content they're pitched, 79 percent  said content is too promotional and 56 percent said it isn't a fit for their readership. So, as you're creating content to pitch editors and other contacts, ask yourself: Does this content align with my company’s goals? Does it add value to readers? Does it align with the tone, topics, and opinions expressed in the publication I'm pitching? A good way to test whether the content you've created is as beneficial to your contact and your audience as it is to your PR goals is to remove your company completely from the content. If a quote or link or mention you've included about yourself can be removed without really affecting the piece, then it probably doesn't add much value. If the piece loses value when you do this, then you know that whatever you've included about your company enhances the quality of the content, which is good news for everyone involved. It's important here to note that not every media contact is going to want to receive a pitch with a full article attached. The content you're creating here can be a full article for the publication of one of the contacts you're reaching out to. It can also be the outline of an article, or it can be a summary and key points. Regardless of the content formatting your contact prefers to receive, remember to avoid overt self-promotion, and keep it relevant to the outlet's tone and topics. Action Item: Develop a full understanding of how guest blogging works with this excellent interview with Jeff Ostroff of Don't Panic Management. Then, follow this guide on developing high-quality content. 4. Carefully Craft Your Pitches Your pitches should be created with as much care as the actual content you create - because if your pitches get deleted, your content goes with it. Take the time to research your points of contact, customize your emails to demonstrate your message is worth reading, and remember the following points as you pitch your media contacts: Get Specific These people likely receive plenty of pitches - why does it make sense for them to accept yours? To make your case, include a few key points from your content, in addition to an overall angle, article summary, and title suggestions. You should also provide an explanation of your company and any subject matter experts and sources included in your content. This helps your contact understand who you are, why you're a valuable, trustworthy source, and why your inclusion in this content is an important addition that can enhance audience engagement. Respect Their Schedules and Expectations Your contacts aren't just watching their inboxes, waiting for a pitch from you. They are incredibly busy. They're creating their own content, collaborating with other writers and brands, and they're working on tight deadlines. Their time is valuable, and when you're asking them to fork over even a little bit of it, you must respect it by proving to them you care about more than just what's in it for you. Lay the Groundwork for a Relationship Modern PR isn't about quick, one-time wins; it's more relational than transactional. Be friendly, personable, and patient in your communication, and offer to revise or refine any content if needed. A good relationship benefits you both (and the audiences you share), and it's up to you to lay that foundation in your outreach. Action Item: Follow this guide and template to make every pitch perfect. 5. Develop (and Use) a Distribution Plan Let's say your pitch goes well. This journalist or editor or influencer loves your idea and decides to use you as a source in an article he or she publishes. This is typically the exciting part, but it doesn't mean your work is done. You can't rely on these contacts to distribute this content for you. You have to do your part in maximizing press and getting this content to as many people as possible. Thankfully, there are so many ways to distribute content. Consider: sending an email to your team with a request for them to share it on social media. sharing this content on your company's social media accounts. encouraging your sales team to send it to leads and in other outreach. putting some paid promotion behind it. adding it to your email signature. including an "As Seen On" badge on your site. including it in your newsletters or drip campaigns. These are just some  suggestions. You know your audience best, so use every avenue you have to deliver this content to them. The important thing is that you don't just sit on any content or press once it goes live. Sharing it with your audience helps you, as well as the contact who helped secure it. Action Item: Two places to start sharing your content include social media and your email list. 6. Keep Your Network Organized This approach to modern PR isn't a one-and-done tactic. Obviously, pitching the same content to the same contacts isn't the idea here, but maintaining your relationships is critical. You don't want to work with a contact of yours to place content and then ghost them as soon as you've gotten your press. When you're implementing this plan, you'll want to organize and manage your own network. I recommend starting small with a simple spreadsheet that you and other members of your marketing and PR teams can contribute to. This gives you a centralized place to store information about your media contacts, including: Names Email addresses Twitter handles Publication names Tone Topic And other content guidelines, and pitch preferences. This will help you easily identify who you should reach out to with different kinds of content, which is key to maintaining good relationships. It can also serve as a place to record your outreach and keep your relationship status updated, so you know how often you're connecting with various people in your network and if any contact information changes. Once you have a way of seeing what everyone's wants, needs, and goals are, it's much easier to meet them - or to make strategic introductions to other sources you know could potentially help out these journalists and editors. Bottom line:  If you want to secure mentions of your brand and deliver quality content to your audience, then you need to build and manage of a robust network of contacts. A spreadsheet is as good a place to start as any. Action Item: You can find a free Google Sheets template to create your spreadsheet here. 7. Don't Neglect Your Content Marketing Remember previously when I addressed how similar some aspects of this modern PR are to content marketing? Well, modern PR and content marketing may share some ideas, but that doesn't mean either can act as a substitute for the other. The honest truth is that an effective PR plan today is one that works alongside a robust content marketing strategy. Public relations and content marketing  work so well together because they fuel one another. Your content marketing can generate press coverage, which can fuel your content marketing, which can ... you see where this goes. Your content can be your foot in the door to PR opportunities. It helps you build your brand as a leader in your space, which can help you grab the attention and interest of journalists, influencers, and other members of the press. Your content can be your foot in the door to PR opportunities.Think about it: Would a journalist or influencer be more willing to accept a pitch from someone who's been consistently creating content in their industry and building their brand, or someone who's never created any content? Plus, surrounding your brand with expert content can even lead to press opportunities you don't pitch yourself - ones that emerge organically, that come as a result of your industry expertise. And on the other side of the spectrum PR can amplify your on-site content because it directs more people to it. More people in your audience who see your company mentioned in the press can find their way to your site where they can explore even more content and continue engaging with your brand. These two work too well together to skimp on either. Maximize your modern PR strategy by continuing to invest in your content marketing. Action Item: Read these resources to do better content marketing: How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy You'll Actually Use (Free Template) The Best Way to Get Organized With a Content Marketing Editorial Calendar (Free Template) How to Choose the Best Content Marketing Platform Ready to Master Modern PR? You may not have learned about this evolution of public relations in college, but I'd say if you've made it all the way through this post, you've kind of taken a master class in modern PR. Your PR practices don't have to continue down an outdated and old-fashioned path that shortchanges your brand, your media contacts, and your audience members. It's time to get on board with modern PR, and these steps will help ensure it's an easy transition.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Define Value in Relation to Art

How to Define Value in Relation to Art As an element of art, value refers to the visible lightness or darkness of a color. Value is synonymous with luminosity in this context and can be measured in various units designating electromagnetic radiation. Indeed, the science of optics  is a fascinating branch of physics, albeit one to which visual artists typically devote little to no thought. Value is relevant to the lightness or darkness of any color, but its importance is easy to visualize in a work with no colors other than black, white, and a grayscale. For a great example of value in action, think of a black and white photograph. You can easily visualize how the infinite variations of gray suggest planes and textures. The Subjective Value of Art While value can be a technical term related to color, it can be a more subjective term related to either the importance of a work or its monetary worth. Value can also refer to the sentimental, cultural, ritualistic, or aesthetic importance of work. Unlike luminosity, this type of value cannot be measured. It is entirely subjective and open to, literally, billions of interpretations.   For instance, anyone can admire a sand mandala, but its creation and destruction hold specific ceremonial values in Tibetan Buddhism. Leonardos ​Last Supper ​mural was a technical disaster, but its depiction of a defining moment in Christianity has made it a religious treasure worthy of conservation. Egypt, Greece, Peru, and other countries have sought the return of significant cultural works of art that were sold abroad in earlier centuries. Many a mother has carefully preserved many pieces of refrigerator art, for their emotional value is incalculable.   The Monetary Value of Art Value may additionally refer to the monetary worth attached to any given work of art. In this context, value is pertinent to resale prices  or  insurance premiums. Fiscal value is primarily objective, assigned by acknowledged art-historic specialists who eat, breathe and sleep fine art market values.  To a smaller extent, this definition of value is subjective in that certain collectors are willing to pay any amount of money to own a particular work of art. To illustrate this seeming dichotomy, refer to the  May 16, 2007, Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Christies New York City showroom. One of original Marilyn silkscreen paintings by Andy Warhol had an estimated (objective) pre-sale value of more than  $18,000,000. $18,000,001 would have been accurate, but the actual gavel price plus buyers premium was a whopping (subjective)  $28,040,000. Someone, somewhere obviously felt that hanging in his or her underground lair was worth an additional $10,000,000. Quotations About Value In preparing a study or a picture, it seems to me very important to begin by an indication of the darkest values... and to continue in order to the lightest value. From the darkest to the lightest I would establish twenty shades.(Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot) Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.(Albert Einstein) Its impossible to make a picture without values. Values are the basis. If they are not, tell me what is the basis.(William Morris Hunt) Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.(Oscar Wilde) Color is an inborn gift, but appreciation of value is merely training of the eye, which everyone ought to be able to acquire.(John Singer Sargent) There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.(Henry David Thoreau)

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Would the Investors Optimism About the Alibaba.com be Slipping Case Study

Would the Investors Optimism About the Alibaba.com be Slipping - Case Study Example From this paper it is clear that China is already in synergy with the Global Source’s media that serves China’s export and import sector. Global source occupies second largest share of online market in China that is equal to 21.2%. Global source is actively working on new products and has launched 11 new online market products in 2007. Moreover, Global source is actively penetrating the Chinese market via different strategies that include exhibitions, magazines and research articles. Its exhibitions are making the products of suppliers accessible to hard-to-reach customers. With the increasing trend (around 3% per year) in online market use by Chinese people and due to marvelous market penetration strategies of global source, it’s likely to be a great brand for potential customers of online market. This greatly shows the buyer’s inclination to global source in the future. This paper stresses that on the other hand Alibaba.com also caters its existing customers effectively specially Small Medium enterprises by providing them trust rating of suppliers that effectively enables them to choose right trading partners. However global source’s revenues are increasing and it is also working quite hard on the product development for growth. Global source is likely to introduce such service for SMEs to compete with Alibaba.com. Alibaba.com’s spending on advertising and promotion relative to revenue are decreasing as per it financial report given in the case. Promotional expenditures in 2004 were 54.2% of revenue and they are only 32% of revenue in 2007. Alibaba.com’s spending on product development has also decreased from 2004 to 2007. Marketing and product development are key to business success. Curtailing such important expenditures does not seem to be a healthy sign for Alibaba.com.  

Friday, November 1, 2019

Individual income tax. USA Indiana state laws Research Paper

Individual income tax. USA Indiana state laws - Research Paper Example The taxpayer participates in racecar driving on mini circuit. The car is hers and she is her own mechanic. She lost money during the first two competition years. Taxpayers often receive gifts support the products of racing. The question is whether how the deductions will apply to the swimming pool, the gift, the office, the losses she experienced in racing. It also extends to the treatment that the taxation to the gifts which they receive. Summary of Issues The issue in this scenario is the application of taxation and deductions on incomes according to the Indiana taxation law. It seeks to identify the provision of the taxation law in determining what constitutes taxable income and valid deductions. This is in recognition of the fact that not all assets and incomes are taxable and not all expenses are considered as valid for deduction. The taxation law on income taxes in Indiana recognizes Taxable benefits as any income that is earned from professions or daily business occupation. Th is is an important information in the preparation of income tax returns. The incomes and benefits in this issue include: The salary of the taxpayer Gifts from Racing The issues or the items to be considered for deductions include: Loss of Money in competition Installation of Swimming Pool Repair of the Car Office Space Used For Work Summary of Conclusion Taxable income The salary of the Taxpayer The Federal Tax laws consider all salaries from employment are automatically valid for taxation. The second major form of income is from businesses or other professional occupations that earn regular income. Gifts from Racing The gifts from racing are a form of regular income that the taxpayer has to declare in the return and include in the taxable income. Taxation applies to the gift. The law states that any citizen, who earns money from lottery or gifts, will add them to the taxable income. The racing gift is therefore a taxable income in the Indiana tax return. The US Federal return refer s to them as other income. Deductions Loss of Money in competition According to the Law in Indians, any lost income will be considered as exemption from taxation, if indeed the government investigators have evidences that she lost the money. The investigation proceeds to confirm the status of the losses such that whenever the taxpayer recovers the lost funds, then she will have to include the lost money to the taxable income and pay the full tax. If the amount was a form of assistance or support for any issue, then it will be a legible deduction on the Indiana tax return. In the IT-40 Schedule for the Federal tax return, any form of state tax that is recovered has to be reported in a separate column. There is another column for the deduction recovery for every itemized deduction in IT-40PRN. You may be able to deduct up to $3,000 of the rent paid on your Indiana home. Installation of Swimming Pool The swimming pool was a necessity and the doctor recommended it. This is an added resp onsibility to support the life of the taxpayer. It has to be deducted from the income tax just like the long-term commitments such as insurance and mortgage. Repair of the Car Because the taxpayer repairs his own car, it does not affect the taxation scale. There is no financial implication or economic influence. Office Space Used For Work The use of office for work, the responsibility and the taxation fall on the taxpayer. She will also require to link with the employer and