Planning and Land Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Planning and Land Use - Essay Example This was compelled to protect the historic character of the town. Nevertheless, according to the planning balance between the homes and places of employment, and the notion of sustainable development today it has led to negative impacts. This city is of interest because it is a medieval city, which has a rich history and the pressure of developing threatens to wipe away the rich history of this town. For this reason, the core of the city has become limited because the research and development activities have been concentrated within the sites of employment on the edge of the city. Under the Cambridge phenomenon there were four hundred high-tech organizations in the area, which employed over sixteen thousand people (Morrison, 2010). These organizations stemmed from the departments of the university and spun offs from companies, which had had origins of the university. Ever since, it has been concentrated. During this period, the trans-European highway provided the main road link between the parts and the midlands that were industrialized. The decision to improve the infrastructure of the city was made at the National Level, whereas, the land use of the planning of Cambridge was under the Holford Plan of 1950 (Waters & Lawton, 2002). Despite all these plans, the structure plan of the Cambridgeshire sought means to control the growth of the city outwardly. This was done through maintaining the tight green belt. The reason for this plan was to secure the historic character and setting of Cambridge. Green belts have been an essential mechanism for planning in England. Within it, it is hard to get permission for planning for development. The purpose of that is to preserve the setting and memorable character of the town, check unrestricted emergence of built-up areas, assist safeguarding the countryside from encroachment and finally to restrain the neighboring towns from merging into another (Wicksteed, 2005). For Cambridge, without the green belt then the city

How terrorism affect our economy Essay Example for Free

How terrorism affect our economy Essay Terrorism and terrorist activates are never intended to target an economy directly, instead it is designed to scare people who, overwhelmed by there trepidation destroy there own economy. The pliant economy of United States was misjudged in contrast with the September 11 terrorist attacks. Despite an estimated $120 billion of damage and a great deal of anxiety, one year following the 9/11 attacks considerable recovery was recorded in U. S economy. A disagreement between the Economists world wide has been shaping up over the affects of terrorism on the economy of USA, many feel that because acts of terrorism are usually aimed towards small portions of the stock of capital of a country so effect on economic activity are not very large(Enders and Sandler 2006). On the other hand, consciences of terrorism on the economy under pragmatic estimation suggest large and long term affects (Terrorism and the World Economy 40). If we review the federal budgets between FY 1998 and FY 2001 $ 48. 3 billion where available in surplus. Attacks of September 11 originated a blow to the economy of Manhattan, but not to that of Boston or Chicago. Terrorism creates a pessimistic affect on industries like air travel, hotels and insurance at large, but if we review economys overall performance, investment and demand shifted to other industries-especially when Federal Reserve eased credit in order to calm post-Sept. 11 markets. The immediate and the fore most impact that originate due to terrorism is the development of Paranoia attitude towards the economy through restrictive air travel and raising uncertainty, economy is drifting into a phase of recession. U. S economy has been diminishing even further after U. S invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another way terrorism affected our economy is the lift in oil price which proved to be an economic jolt over the American nation who is now linking this oil situation with the upcoming elections and political agenda of American presidential candidates. The most direct damage that terrorism brought to our financial system is the deficit of U. S. government budget, which was a record of 413 billion dollars in 2004. A slight drop of $198 billion in deficit is being predicted by CBO for FY 2009 which is expected to increase moderately by 2010. If we analyze the reports released by CBO we will realize the shocking increase in the expenditure of war on terrorism over the last few years, federal finances for the department of home land security, and ever mounting cost of government beneficial social sachems such as medical health care and social security has halted economical development. Economists are predicting an inevitable increase in red ink taxation; this is resulting in an increasing cost of housing and other basic amenities which is ultimately decreasing the consumption power of an American. (CBO) Terrorism creates a general sense of insecurity, this brings a huge expanse on U. S federal budget in shape of home land security dept, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that federal resources devoted to homeland security activities were a total of about $41 billion in 2004, roughly double the amount allocated to those activities before September 11, By 2007 Spending for the Department of Homeland Security increased by about 6 percent, to $42. 7 billion this money was required to further strengthen the borders and aviation security. General Seance of insecurity also slowed the pace of economic growth in 2007; economists strongly feel that it will slacken further in 2008. According to CBO, the consistent problems in the housing and financial markets and the high price of oil has curbed spending on household and businesses this is also ensuing decrease in the growth of GDP. Laws and policies developed to control terrorism has overwrought federal resources to a total of $2. 9 trillion for 2008, while the revenue will total $2.7 trillion, which will result in budget deficit of $219 billion, this situation will be worsening with the additional $30 billion required to sustain military activates in Iraq and Afghanistan. (CBO 10) As a consequence American nation is facing a decline in funds allocation for national health dept, education, and Environment protection, the 2007 financial budget favored spending on defense which brought an overall decline in resources allocated for developing U. S social welfare programs Another worrying line of attack in which terrorism is affecting U. S economy is the current decline of the U. S dollar. By 2007, an 8% decline was recorded in U. S dollars performance in index compared to its six largest trading partners. According to the predictions made by Stephen Malyon, (a currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto) the current weakness in dollar should persist for the first two quarters of the current financial year, while a rise of $1. 55 in Euro against dollar was also anticipated by him. (Ellis 2008) Terrorism creates an anxiety in the midst of American people who quite frequently hear about terrorist threats and the on going war on terrorism, while a general sense of insecurity has detained the business community, and this has created a lack of confidence among the main stream investors. Terrorism has also put the burden of humongous expense that the nation had to face in shape of Dept of home land security, ever since Sept 11, while this dept controls almost all issues related to national security and U. S intelligence, an increase in the federal resources and funds devoted towards this department, and as a consequence every year a considerable decline is recorded in social benefits such as education and national health care. Other affects of terrorism on American economy at large are the red ink taxes, increase in oil cost and the decline in dollar value; all of this is contributing towards decreasing the purchase power of an average American. Economists worldwide agree that the negative aspects and the decline in U. S economy is the cost that USA is paying for the war on terrorism. More over a large number of political economical analyst feel that the issue of terrorism is being propagated by the American presidential candidates in there political agendas which is a major cause of nervousness among the nation. Many argue today about United States aggressive strategy to counter terrorism has been a mistake and think that a defensive strategy would have been a more appropriate choice in terms of the affects of terrorism on U. S economy. Work Cited; †¢ Enders Walter and Todd Sandler. The Political Economy of Terrorism. 1st ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University, 2006. †¢ Abadie, Gardeazabal. Terrorism and the World Economy. (2007): 40. †¢ Orszag, Peter R. United States, CBO. The Budget and Economic Outlook:Fiscal Years 2008-2017. Washington, DC: CBO, 2007. †¢ Ellis, David. Dollars slide. Its the economy, stupid (2008 )

Predictive Capabilities of the Simulex Model

Predictive Capabilities of the Simulex Model Introduction The purpose of this study is to analyse the predictive capabilities of the Simulex model, used to simulate the movement of people in evacuation simulations. Other evacuation models used within the fire engineering community, i.e. Firewind WayOut and simple hand flow calculations, provide quick and easy access to a reasonable estimate for a required movement time for egress in a building. This study will help to reveal whether the additional data used within the Simulex methodology aids the user in reaching a more accurate overall estimate. This will be done by carrying out a number of evacuation scenarios and comparing the results collected using the Firewind WayOut model and hand calculations. A multi storey hotel tower will be used to carry out the study. The outcome of the study will help to calibrate the components of the human behaviour in the Simulex model, as it is suggested that Simulex enables you to simulate occupant behaviour in the event of a building evacuation (IES, Sim ulex simulation of occupant evacuation). A considerable amount of study has been carried out on all aspects of human evacuation from emergency situations, and the affects of human behaviour on evacuation times can be seen as a major factor in terms of life safety. The majority of movement models to date take into account little consideration of the behavioural aspects of the occupants under emergency and focus their work on the flow of occupants. An evaluation of the results gathered in this study will help to show whether Simulex takes occupants-occupants interaction into account. Studies carried out in the past have revealed that occupant evacuation times are highly dependent on their perceived threat of the fire event. Appearance, proximity, propagation, time, and toxic gases of the fire threat also tend to predispose the individual to a higher level of behavioral activity, again depending upon the individuals perception of these threat variables. Thus, occupants located in close proximity to a developing fire, and with clear sensual links with smoke and heat, are likely to react more speedily than those who are reacting solely on alarm signals (John L. Bryan, Human Behavior and Fire). The importance of such an analysis tool is becoming essential in building design as regulation moves to a more performance based system. The purpose of this dissertation is to outline the methodology used within the Simulex model. The outputs determined by each of the models can then be compared along with the hand calculation work carried out. A sensitivity analysis will be performed for the Simulex model and this will help provide a clear evaluation of its predictive potential. Aim To evaluate the predictive capabilities of the Simulex movement model by carrying out both sensitivity and comparative analysis from results gained using the Firewind WayOut movement models and simple hand flow calculations. To gauge the effectiveness of the additional methodological approach taken by Simulex in gaining an overall more accurate estimate. Objectives Carry out a literature review of papers available which cover all aspects of building evacuation. Estimate crowd densities for use as input assumptions for Simulex, Firewind WayOut and hand calculations. Evaluate the model outputs and make a comparison between the methodologies adopted by each of the models. Conclusions should be formed on the basis of this evaluation. Carry out a sensitive analysis of both the Simulex and WayOut models. This can be achieved by altering the user input data to see how this effects the overall evacuation times. Gauge the predictive capabilities of each of the models in terms of how all aspects of building evacuation are taken into account. Investigate how the Simulex model attempts to deal with merging behaviours in a staircase. This will be carried out in reference to the information gained from previous work detailed in the literature review Provide concluding statements with reference to the results gained using the Simulex model. This should include an insight into whether the results gained using this method provide a more accurate estimate of the likely real life evacuation time. Methodology Carry out a literature review of the existing information available which relates to building evacuation and evacuation modeling. Factors to consider include a detailed evaluation of all aspects which affect the evacuation procedures of occupants i.e. affects of alarms, pre-movement times, human behaviour, crowd dynamics, and travel times. A study will be required relating to the current scope of movement models used within the fire engineering community. The methodologies used within the Simulex and the Firewind WayOut models will be studied and form part of the literature review. This will highlight all the differences and similarities between the methodologies incorporated into the tools. This information will be of significant importance when analysing the output data and forming any conclusions. Choose a suitable building design which can be used to carry out the study. The chosen building has been selected as the multi-storey hotel tower, Shibboleth project. Further information of the building will be provided further on in the text. CAD drawings of the Shibboleth hotel tower are required as this design will form the basis of the study. A collection of CAD drawings showing the Shibboleth floor plans will be used as a base to creating these geometries. The CAD drawings will be stripped down (removing inanimate objects i.e. furniture etc) to reveal only boundary layers i.e. walls, floors, etc. These barriers are those in which occupants are unable to pass through. A sensitivity analysis of Simulex and Firewind WayOut models will be carried out. This requires some factor of validation data to be collected by varying single point of input data and analysing how greatly they affect the overall results. By independently altering all the required input data, it is possible to monitor the effect each of the inputs has on the model outputs. This analysis will be carried out for each of the models. Run a mock evacuation using the Simulex model. To achieve this all CAD drawing will be turned into DXF files and inputted into the model. Staircases and floor plans can be linked and occupants will be added relevant to the room sizes as uses (Occupant loading will be calculated for the building and agents will be calculated and added accordingly). Run a mock evacuation using the Firewind WayOut model. The CAD drawings will again be used to measure all lengths and areas in the building. The occupant loading will be kept similar to those used in the Simulex calculation. Carry out hand calculations for the building. The process which will be followed is provided in the SFPE Handbook (SFPE Handbook, Section 3, Chapter 14; Emergency Movement). All input data used will be maintained from the previous work carried out in the computer models. This enables a conclusion to be reached as to whether the innovative tool can be used under the performance based regulatory system and form part of a successful fire engineered solution. Gaining a clear understanding of such information will allow the user to evaluate the results in a more efficient manner. An exhaustive analysis of the output data produced by both movement models will be carried out by the author. A conclusion will then be reached as to whether the FDS+Evac model can provide similar data as the movement model selected as the comparative tool. As this Simulex model is used presently within the fire engineering community to perform evacuation analysis on a number of real projects, it can then be assumed that such a tool supports the engineers performance based design solution. The results will also provide the evidence which will be required to evaluate whether the FDS+Evac model takes into account the threat perceived by the occupants in close proximity to a fire event, and incorporates this into the evacuation time for these occupants. Scope and Limitations Only two models are being reviewed in the study. The university has both Firewind WayOut and Simulex available for use at present and no other models were available at the time this study was carried out. The Simulex model is not used extensively through the course at the university and as a result the user had limited experience in operating it at the time of the study. The modelling work, i.e. measurements of lengths and areas, was carried out entirely from the drawing provided; no site visits etc were made to the building. Only one scenario has been run to carry out the study, a greater timescale for the work would have allowed a more exhaustive study, i.e. greater test cases, to be carried out. As the methodologies in each of the models vary slightly, it was only possible to minimise the extent to which occupant characteristics varied, but it was not possible to eliminate it altogether. Literature Review Regulatory Perspective As architects, designers and engineers continue to push the boundaries of building design, the regulatory system in Scotland continues to move towards a more performance based system. This system allows all parties involved in the design stage a far greater amount of freedom, i.e. promote innovation and limit the impact of regulation (S. Kipp, 1999), when ensuring a building design meets the requirements of the relevant codes. Professionals working within the built environment are now able to incorporate much more of their experience and judgement when developing a design than when following the outdated prescriptive approach, which were conceived for typical buildings. As a result of this, a number of tools have been developed within each discipline which allows each innovative design to be exhaustively tested, ensuring an adequate level of safety is provided before they are incorporated into any building design. For a fire engineer, many of these tools require computational technologies to perform a number of these tasks. Fire modelling is becoming more and more involved in the design stage of many large and complex projects all over the world. A number of models are available, varying in complexity, to carry out any necessary analysis within a number of complex spaces. They allow engineers to evaluate many fire safety related features of a building design before they are finalised, and ensure that any areas of issues with the design can be resolve before a project reaches the construction phase, as altering designs at this point can be extremely expensive and time consuming for all parties. In the UK, the current emphasis for escape design sets out to limit the distance and therefore time in which occupants are subjected to surrounding which will increase the risk of alarm or injury. The current timeframe in which occupants should have to travel from their place or origin and reach a place of safety is 2 minutes 30 seconds. This time had been calculated as a factor of the maximum allowable travel distance and the average walking speed of an occupant. Storey exit widths are sized assuming a specific flow of 80 persons/minute/metre clear width and a flow time of 2.5 minutes (Boyce et al, 2009). The time which is required to clear a floor is an important factor which must be considered to achieve an effective fire safety engineered design. The functional standards allow an engineer to carry out comparative analysis between the required safe egress time (RSET) and the available safe egress time (ASET). A building is deemed to provide an acceptable solution if the time required for egress is less than the time available before conditions are judged untenable by some factor of safety. This requirement is subject to an exhaustive analysis being carried out by a suitable professional, on all aspects of the design which will affect occupant egress. Human Behaviour in Fires A lot of research has been undertaken within the fire engineering community to gain as much understanding as possible of the factors affecting human behaviour when occupants are faced with emergency evacuation procedures in the built environment. John L. Bryan has covered a lot of work studying person-fire interaction and how occupant awareness can affect pre-movement times D. Canter has done a lot of work in gathering data from a number of sources to paint a clearer picture of the evacuation process. E. R. Galea covered a study dealing with human behaviour during evacuation of the world trade centre attack in 2001. Jonathan D Sime has produced work dealing with peoples ability to way find in a building, his work has shown that it may be more effective to incorporate escape routes into the general circulation routes as this will increase occupant familiarity with evacuation routes. Lars Benthorn provided an insight into how people evaluate information and subsequently choose their escape path. There are many more professionals who have done excellent work in analysing human behaviour in emergency situations and all the information collected is useful as it can then be incorporated into the design of evacuation tools. Building evacuation takes on a number of stages and involves a timeframe from the incipient stage of a fire right through until the last occupant has reached a place of safety. Human behaviour can affect both pre-movement and movement times, therefore it is essential to have a clear understanding of how to adapt an evacuation design to maximise its potential in life safety terms. The time to evacuate a building is a combination of several stages, these stages are: Detection time; Alarm time; Pre-movement time, (this is a combination of recognition and response time); and Travel time. The time taken for each of these stages of the evacuation process is dependent on the occupants response and behaviour. Figure 1: Factors involved in assessing the total escape time. (CIBSE Guide E: Fire safety engineering design approaches, 4-7). Pre-movement Time Distribution The pre-movement time of a building is the time for occupants to react to the alarm signal and begin their evacuation process. There are many factors which can affect the pre-movement times of occupants and these will be highlighted later in this text. In multi storey, multiple use occupancies, such as the one selected as part of the study, it can be assumed that not all occupants will have comparable pre-movement times, and for this reason it is good practice to study the appropriate time distribution curves in order to provide an accurate account of an expected pre-movement time in a building simulation. Purser et al, 1999, suggest from their work that Once the first few occupants have begun to move, the pre-movement times for the remainder of the occupants in an enclosure tend to follow a logarithmic–normal frequency time distribution. The shape of the above curves follow a typical pre-movement tome distribution following what has been observed historically; the initial delay of start up highlights the time taken for the first of the occupants to make the preliminary movements towards their chosen exit. This is followed by a rapid increase in frequency as the majority of others tend to initiate their travel phase. The long tail of the curve illustrates the last remaining occupants who will begin their travel period which will signify the end of the total pre-movement phase of the evacuation process. The above distributions are fit well for open plan occupancies where occupants have a clear view of the majority of other persons in the premises. In a building hosting a large number of enclosures, it can be assumed that the time distribution will be far wider than shown in the above diagram. This is due to the limited visibility which would be available for occupants in such a premises; the herding effect as occupants will be reduced as they would have less chance of grouping together and following the actions of the first occupants who move. Purser et al, 1999 , suggests that a range of 20-30 minutes would be more suitable for a multi occupancy building with sleeping risk (such as the Shibboleth hotel tower used to carry out the study). Many different factors will influence how a person will react and the decisions they make will determine their evacuation process. It can be very difficult to obtain real evacuation behavior; real evacuations may be undertaken by people who are unaware of the actual urgency to escape. They may perceive the alarm as a drill (Jake Pauls, 2003) People are often unaware that the alarm they hear is not a false one and so they will proceed to evacuate as they see fit to do so. Stopping to gather up personal belongings or only beginning to evacuate when others around them do. People have both reaction times and pre-movement times, reaction time is the time taken to perceive the alarm and decide to take action; and the pre-movement time is the time that elapses while the occupant is preparing to leave. L. Benthorn (1999): People usually choose to leave a building the same way they came in, even if this is a poorer alternative than other available. Within the field of behavioural science, it is pointed out that people often choose the known before the unknown, which would explain the above behaviour. Occupants in a building will tend to head for the exit them came in through not only are they familiar with this exit it but it will lead them to a place they will recognise. This is particularly true for those people who are not familiar with their surroundings. People will continue to do this and follow the crowd until they are either faced with the fire or are given further information. It has been suggested that incorporating evacuation routes wherever possible into the main circulation routes at the design stage will aim to optimise the effectiveness of the evacuation strategy. This is due to the fact that occupants tend to use a familiar route. The occupant characteristics that should be considered in performing an evacuation analysis are listed below: Population numbers and Density The maximum potential load should be used to give a conservative estimation. The number of people using a building or space and their distribution will greatly affect the travel and flow speeds speed of occupants. Familiarity A persons familiarity and regular use of the building and its systems may cause them to respond differently. Competent users of the building will have prior knowledge of the nearest escape routes and they may have had the opportunity to have participated in drills. Those unfamiliar with the building will rely upon the knowledge of staff and the clarity of signage available, and may be less responsive to warning systems. Distribution and Activities Distribution will impact on movement speeds and density will impact on the ability to communicate instructions. Activities people are involved in will affect their initial response. Those who are dedicated to a task within a building will not necessarily be able stop their job on activation of the alarm system. Level of Alertness The commitment of people to their activity or their interaction with others can affect their awareness. A premise which holds a sleeping risk for occupants can be expected to have a delayed response time. Physical and Mental Ability Some occupants may rely entirely on assistance, disabled; those with a hearing disability or those with a visual disability may require special means of notification. Level of Mobility Affected by the age of occupants, age can influence the ability of an individual to independently make their way along an exit route and reach a place of safety within an acceptable timescale. It may also reduce an occupants ability to withstand exposure to smoke and other harmful bi-products of fire. Social Affiliation Behaviour will be strongly influenced with the interaction between occupants. Groups of people who have a social connection (i.e. parent and child who are separated within premises at the time of the fire event) will try and regroup before making their way to an exit. The time spend undertaking such an act may increase the level of risk for these occupants. Groups of evacuees try to stay together and the slowest member of the group influences their speed. Role and Responsibility Sufficiently, well-trained and authoritative staff will shorten the pre-movement phase of an evacuation process. An effective management plan followed by all members of staff will ensure this is provided within premises. Location Can influence a persons choice of exit and the time to notification. Travel distances will be affected by location. Commitment Those who are committed to their activity will be reluctant to respond to an alarm, especially if it means their task is to be started again. Responsiveness The extent to which a person is likely to respond to alarms, those who have previous experience of emergency situations may be less likely to respond quickly as they are aware of the most appropriate action to take. The Panic Theory When people, attempting to escape from a burning building pile up at a single exit, their behaviour appears highly irrational to someone who learns after the panic that other exits were available. To the actor in the situation who does not recognise the existence of these alternatives, attempting to fight his way to the only exit available may seem a very logical choice as opposed to burning to death. (Turner and Killian 1957) The concept of panic is attributed to occupants lack of knowledge about a fires existence before a fire reaches a size where it can seriously hamper the ease in which evacuees are able to escape. This can be due to a problem with the detection and alarm system installed within premises, or the lack of information available to occupants as they try and make their way to the relevant escape routes. The theory of panic is not an easy thing to define, yet a set of definitions are presented below: A sudden and excessive feeling of alarm or fear, usually affecting a body of persons, originating in some real or supposed danger, vaguely apprehended, and leading to extravagant and injudicious efforts to secure safety. (John L. Bryan 1984) A fear-induced flight behavior which is nonrational, nonadaptive, and nonsocial, which serves to reduce the escape possibilities of the group as a whole, (Kentucky State Police, 1977). In the stress of a fire, people often act inappropriately and rarely panic or behave irrationally. Such behavior, to a large extent, is due to the fact that information initially available to people regarding the possible existence of a fire and its size and location is often ambiguous or inadequate. (Ramachandran, 1990.) Affect of Alarm on Pedestrian Movement The type of detection and alarm system in a building can greatly affect the way in which occupants despond to the emergency signal, and this is turn will affect the response time of occupants. The level of information that occupants are provided with in the early stages of evacuation can influence their decision to evacuate. It has been common practice to use traditional ringing sounders within non-domestic premises in recent years. One drawback of using this form of alarm signal is that occupants are not being provided with any informative information regarding the fire event. Evacuees could benefit from a system which would inform them of a fires location and lets them know which evacuation route is the safest in terms of their location in the building. This is a difficult system to integrate into a building as fires are extremely unreliable and information is specific to a single fire scenario. Sounders themselves are not the most informative method of warning system; they convey little information and have been proven ineffective (Bob Choppen, 2003). Voice alarm systems are largely becoming a more acceptable mode of informing occupants of a fire occurrence in modern buildings. Large premises which are designed to cater mainly for the general public will benefit greatest from a voice alarm system. Occupants are fuelled with much more information of the emergency event than in the past using traditional alarm signals. Voice messages can convey a greater deal of information to the occupants. John L Bryan concluded from his research that the use of voice alarms/public announcements with an alarm bell was the most effective way of warning occupants. Ramachandran in his review of the research on human behaviour in fires in the UK since 1969 summarized the effectiveness of alarm bells as awareness cues: The response to fire alarm bells and sounders tends to be less than optimum. There is usually skepticism as to whether the noise indicated a fire alarm and if so, is the alarm merely a system test or drill? A lack of panic is attributed to a number of factors including: Insufficient seriousness of an emergency. Acceptance of staff responsibility to direct occupants to exits. Evacuation process is complete before occupants have come in sight or contact with fire and smoke. Panic was not initiated at exit paths due to sufficient exit widths being available, thus eliminating the chance for queuing to occur, i.e. little competition for similar exits by occupants. Human Stress Model. (University coursework notes, Evacuation Systems Design model; Powerpoint Presentation namely Human Behaviour in Fire (Slide 48/51), Dr. Iain Sanderson, 2008). Evacuation Modeling Evacuation models can help engineers prove that tenable conditions will be available to occupants for the timescale required for all occupants to reach a place of safety, which an element of safety built in. The total time for occupants for occupants from the time of detection and alarm, to the time for the last occupant to reach a place of safety, is called the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). This is traditionally compared with the time from fire ignition until tenable limits are exceeded, and conditions have reached a level where humans will be unable to continue their process of escape. This time is called the Available Safe Egress Time (ASET). As long as RSET > ASET by some factor of safety, a building is deemed to provide an adequate level of safety for all occupants to escape in an emergency situation. Pedestrian movement models have typically fallen into two categories, one category dealt independently with movement and the other tried to connect both movement and human behaviour. S. Gwynne (1999) highlights the main approaches available of computer analysis models: Computer based analysis of evacuation can be performed using one of three different approaches, namely optimization, simulation and risk assessment. Furthermore, within each approach different means of representing the enclosure, the population and the behaviour of the population are possible. Movement models can be categorised in a number of forms; Ball bearing, Optimisation, Simulation or Risk Assessment models. Ball bearing / Gaseous This example of movement model treats its subjects as inanimate objects. Sometimes referred to as environmental determinism, subjects are unthinking individuals who respond only to external stimuli, thus human behaviour it not taken into account. Occupants are assumed to begin their evacuation instantly, with no regard to the time taken for detection, alarm and pre-movement times. Factors effecting occupant movement therefore only include physical considerations of the occupants and their surroundings (i.e. crowd densities, exit widths and travel speeds). Individual occupants are merged into units and their movement treats their egress on masse (S. Gwynne, 1999). A good example of a model which employs this type of methodology is Firewind, with its WayOut tool. Optimisation This form of pedestrian movement model deals with large crowds of people at the same time. Evacuees are treated as homogeneous groups, thus there are no independent characteristics for a particular individual. People are uniformly distributed; all exits will be equally shared. One of the best examples of this form of model is EVACNET. 6.5.3 Simulation These models try and take into account not only the physical characteristics of the space, but also consider some representation of human behaviour in emergency scenarios. They attempt to produce as an output the path and decisions taken my individuals during the evacuation process. Examples of this type of model include Simulex and buildingEXODUS. 6.5.4 Risk Assessment Model These models are an attempt to identify hazards associated with the evacuation of a building, be it due to the occupants or the building, and attempt to quantify the resultant risk. An example of this type of model would be Crisp, and WayOut. 6.5.6 Enclosure Representation Enclosure representation of the geometries created within a computer models can take on two forms; fine and course networks. Enclosures are subdivided into a number of zones which are interconnected with neighbouring zones, and the characteristics of each of these affect the parameters found in each on the adjoining cells. The detail and size of each of these zones determines which category a model shall fall into. NODE ARC NODEOne or more arcs connecting 2 nodes are called a Path. (John M Watts 1987). Definition of a network model is given by John M Watts (1987), A network models is a graphical representation of routes by which objects or energy may move from one point to another. 6.5.6.1 Fine Networks Models using this method divide the entire floor space of the enclosure into a selection of shapes or nodes. The size and shape of these nodes will vary for different models. The node is connected to its neighbouring node by an arc. Paths of individuals are tracked over time. Examples of such models include Bgraf, Egress, buildngExodus, Magnetmodel, Simulex and Vegas. 6.5.6.2 Coarse Networks Models following this form of enclosure representation do not allow individual occupants to be followed independently of other within the group. Single nodes represent large spaces, such as rooms and corridors. As evacuees moved from space to space, users will be unaware of their position in each node. A coarse network does not provide information regarding person-wall, person-person and pe

John Steinbecks East of Eden - Religious References :: East Eden Essays

Religious References in East of Eden Religion constantly appears throughout Steinbeck's East of Eden. Among these religious appearances are the similarities between the Cain and Abel story and the characters, the Hebrew word timshel, and the presence of God/Fate in the novel. First, East of Eden is a reenactment of the Cain and Abel tale. Many similarities are seen between the two. The title East of Eden comes from the biblical tale when " 'Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden' " (Steinbeck 352). The relationship between Abel and Cain, who killed Abel, is similar to those of Adam and Charles, who once tried to kill Adam, and Aron and Caleb, who informed Aron of their mother's profession, an act which led to Aron's death in World War I. Charles and Caleb fight for their fathers' affections in the same way in which Cain fought with Abel over the Lord's attention. Also in the novel, "the Cain characters ... are identified by names beginning with "C" (Cyrus, Charles, Cathy, Caleb) and the Abel characters ... with "A" (Alice, Adam, Aron, Abra)" (Lisca 269). Next is the word timshel-- thou mayest-- a Hebrew word spoken to Cain by the Lord: " 'if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him' " (Steinbeck 351). Lee discovers that the verb in this passage has been translated as both thou shalt [rule over evil] and do thou [rule over evil].With the help of his Chinese elders and a Jewish Rabbi, Lee determines that the original meaning is thou mayest-- "the word timshel ... gives a choice" (398) or free will to mankind to commit good or evil acts. This word appears often in the novel and is important at the very end where Adam's final timshel blesses and forgives Caleb and reminds him that even after his "murder of his brother ... he can still choose his course and fight it through and win", meaning Caleb still has the chance to overcome the tendency for evil which he believes he has inherited form his mother. (Gribben 96) One of the novel's epiphanies is Lee's translation of timshel to thou mayest. This translation puts choice into man's destiny. According to this view, we are not condemned; we have a choice between good and evil.

My Road to Success Essay

My Road to Success Many people believe that natural ability is of pivotal importance for success while others argue that hard work is the key factor. However, the person, who has a gift of ability but lack of experience gains from hard-working, may not succeed. In my opinion hard work is still more important as it helps us to attain the higher levels than what lazy individuals with special ability can have. Natural ability does benefit us a lot in order to achieve success in life.Individuals, whose special abilities, do not have to study much to have essential skills that are needed for their success. For example, math geniuses are able to do math problems easily at school without spending much time doing homework. People who have acute intelligence in the business field can drive their firms to gain more profits while others have to struggle to get out of debts. Obviously, natural ability facilitates our ways to success while we do not have to suffer much.However, in order to attain success, hard work is still much more important. As skills can be learned, through hard work, we are possibly able to gain new essential skills that we are not born with. For example, behind the success of famous reporters, they have to spend hours of practicing to communicate. The more they practice, the more influent they talk and as a result, they can convey their ideas at ease on television. Moreover, mere natural ability cannot guarantee us success.If a person has exceptional ability but is always lazy and reluctant to work, his ability is likely not to be discovered and remains meaningless. On the other hand, people who always strive for new things are able to be exposed to new opportunities, which can drive them to more success. In short, though natural ability can facilitate us a lot, hard work is always the most crucial part to success. If we work diligently, we not only have new skills but also have more opportunities to achieve success in life.

yo dog yo yo

yo dog yo yo Auteur Assignment Auteur AssignmentMartin ScorseseFilmography:Martin Scorsese plays many different rolls in the world of film. He started from the beginning, making numerous prize winning short films such as "The Big Shave" (1968). Born in New York City, Scorsese was raised in the neighbourhood of Little Italy, which greatly influenced many of his films. He directed his very first feature film (entitled "Who's That Knocking At my Door") in 1967 at the early age of 26. A few years later Scorsese was awarded with critical, popular praise for writing and directing Mean Streets, inspired by his home town, the movie was set on the "mean streets" of little Italy, telling the story of a small time gang struggling to reach success. It was on the set of this movie where Scorsese was to meet actor and recurrent collaborator Robert De Niro, he was to appear in countless of Scorsese's films such as "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas" and many more.Set of Gangs of New York built at Cinecitt Studi...Scorsese 's phenomenal talent in the movie-making game allows him to successfully act as director, producer, screenwriter and even actor in a few cases. In my opinion, one thing that all of his films have in common is that they kept me interested and involved throughout the entire movie, no boring bits.Genre:Most people think that Martin Scorsese is just a director of New York gangster movies, But those who really know Scorsese's career know that the path he has taken isn't even vaguely that simple. And while it is easy to think of him as a man who works primarily in one mode, it is far more fascinating to see how he has been able to apply his talent to a very diverse array of subjects. The general atmosphere and vibes that his movies create range from gruesome, violent...

Funny St. Patricks Day Sayings and Quotes

Funny St. Patricks Day Sayings and Quotes The Irish are famous for two things. One, they can drink like a fish and keep the spirit flowing. Two, they know how to take a joke. The Irish also love to joke, especially about themselves. They dont care about political correctness and other such mumbo-jumbo. For them, a below-the-belt barb is an expression of endearment. The Irish are also noted for their tremendous sense of humor. Their quick-wittedness is evident in these Irish sayings and quotes. Some famous witty Irishmen like Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Conan OBrien and F. Scott Fitzgerald have achieved global fame for their extraordinary wit and wisdom. Their words reveal their brilliant imagination. Embrace Irish humor on St. Patricks Day. The Irish love their culture, history, and traditions. They love cracking jokes and drinking beer (like Guinness) and Irish whiskey (like Jamesons or Bushmills).  However, if you dont have an appetite for insults, watch out for their sharp tongue the Irish spare no one in their quick comebacks. If you are celebrating St. Patricks Day, arm yourself with witticisms to level the playing field. Quotes About The Irish Sidney LittlewoodThe Irish dont know what they want and are prepared to fight to the death to get it. Oliver HerfordThe Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scots as a joke, but the Scots havent seen the joke yet. Winston ChurchillWe have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English. John Pentland MahaffyIn Ireland, the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs. Irish BlessingMay God bless and keep in good health your enemies enemies. Brendan BehanIf it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks. Ann KennedyThe one thing us Irish have is the ability to laugh at ourselves. God bless us all. Stephen ColbertThe shamrock is a religious symbol. St. Patrick said the leaves represented the trinity: the Father, the son and the holy spirit. Thats why four-leaf clovers are so lucky; you get a bonus Jesus. Ralph Wiggum, The SimpsonsAnd thats where I saw the leprechaun. He told me to burn things! Margot Leitman, Lewis Blacks Root of All EvilSt. Patricks Day is a holy day for Roman Catholics in Ireland to pray and a day for drunk people to vomit with their pants down in New Jersey. Jon StewartMaking it [St. Patricks Day] a great day for the Irish, but just an OK day if youre looking for a quiet tavern to talk, read or have a white wine spritzer. Jimmy FallonAnd on me final night, I got as lucky as a clover, I met a purdy lassie, drunk enough to come on over. Steven, BraveheartIn order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to converse with the Almighty. Laura KightlingerIts a big deal about whether or not gays can march in the St. Patricks Day parade, and I have to say that on some level I kind of see their point. Because when you think about it, it is a real macho heterosexual event. Bunch of guys in short skirts on a cart made of rose pedals sharing a bagpipe. Thats not for sissies. Jay LenoThis is St. Patricks Day in Los Angeles, Luck O The Irish Recipes. Delicious Irish guacamole. Corned beef and guacamole. Irish SayingIf youre enough lucky to be Irish, youre lucky enough! Ellen DeGeneresThe legend goes that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. I was thinking ... that must be hard to put all the tiny seatbelts on all the snakes. Conan OBrienSt.Patricks Day is named for St. Patrick, the first guy to feed Guinness to a snake. Lewis BlackWhos this Patrick anyway? The patron saint of liquor distributors? Heres the real truth, he didnt get rid of snakes in Ireland. He just got rid of the ones he was seeing. Sean MoreyI come from an Irish family. St. Patricks Day was our big holiday. The night before wed hang up our stockings and in the morning theyd be full of beer.

How To Say However or Nevertheless in Spanish

How To Say However or Nevertheless in Spanish Spanish has several ways of indicating that what is said might seem to be at odds with what the listener might expect. Examples in English involve words or phrases such as, however, in spite of, and nevertheless. In grammatical terms, statements such words or are called terms of concession. Using Terms of Concession Following are some of the words or phrases of concession used in Spanish. Note that in the translations of sample sentences, a variety of English words can be used, depending on the context. Note also that many of the Spanish words are freely interchangeable with at least one other. For example, there is no real difference in meaning between sin embargo and no obstante, although the latter is more formal, just as there is little or no difference in meaning between even so and however. Also note that some of the words have uses other than those listed here. Keep in mind that many of the words or phrases of concession can be followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood, especially if the verb refers to an action or state in the future, or to an action or state that is occurring in the present and is expected to continue to the future. Phrases A Through G A pesar de Come a pesar de todo. (He eats in spite of everything.)A pesar de las crà ­ticas, la cantante defiende su nueva imagen. (Despite the critics, the singer defends her new image.)A pesar de que somos oponentes polà ­ticos, no somos rivales personales. (Even though were political opponents, we arent personal rivals.) Asà ­ or aun asà ­ Asà ­ yo tenga mucho trabajo, no tengo dinero. (Even though I have a lot of work, I dont have money.)Paciencia es la clave, asà ­ sea difà ­cil. (Patience is the key, although is difficult.)Asà ­ compres muchas cosas, cuenta como una. (Although you are buying many items, they count as one.) In other contexts, asà ­ often means so or otherwise is used to emphasize what precedes or follows. When asà ­ means although, it is always followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood. Aunque Aunque estaba lloviznando, decidimos salir. (Although it was drizzling, we decided to leave.)Debes estudiar, aunque no quieras. (You must study even though you dont want to.)Es inteligente aunque algo excà ©ntrica. (Shes intelligent but a bit eccentric.) Bien que Explà ­came esto bien que no entiendo. (Explain this to me even though I dont understand.)Lo vi bien que era las dos de la maà ±ana. (I saw it well even though it was 2 a.m.) Be aware that most often, bien que isnt a phrase but rather simply bien followed by que. For example, Est bien que existan diferencias simply means it is good that there are differences. Phrases H through R Incluso si La guerra continuar incluso si el pà ºblico se cansa. (The war will continue even if the public is tired of it.)Una mascota puede hacerte sonreà ­r incluso si tienes un mal dà ­a. (A pet can make you smile even if youre having a bad day.) No obstante No obstante este problema debe de estar en manos de la ONU. (However, this problem should be in the hands of the U.N.)No obstante, el à ºltimo aà ±o tambià ©n ha sido desalentador para mucha gente. (Nevertheless, the last year has been discouraging for many people.) Por ms/mucho que Por ms que te duela, es lo que necesitas. (Even though it hurts you, its what you need.)Por mucho que gano, no consigo llegar a fin de mes. (However much I earn, I cant make it to the end of the month.) Phrases S Through Z Sin embargo Sin embargo, cada uno salià ³ del teatro. (Nevertheless, each one left the theater.)Sin embargo, las cosas siguen muy complicadas en el Yucatn. (Even so, things keep on being very complex in the Yucatan.) Siquiera Tienes que reconocer un error, siquiera sea mà ­nimo. (You have to recognize an error, even though it is minimal.)Pienso tratar ese problema, siquiera no pueda hacerlo ahora. (I think I will tackle this problem, even though I cant do it now.) Y eso que El asfalto de este pueblucho triplica el calor que hace. Y eso que estamos al lado del mar. (The asphalt of this awful town makes it three times as hot even though we are next to the sea.)Estoy enfermo y eso que el horà ³scopo del diario no lo decà ­a. (I am sick, although the daily horoscope didnt say that would happen.) Y eso que is always followed by a verb in the indicative mood.

Professional and Academic Skills Development Assignment

Professional and Academic Skills Development - Assignment Example I normally set time to reflect on whatever I have learnt during the day (in the evenings) and at the end of the week. Depending on what I have experienced, I ask myself if i liked the experience or not and how the experience or theory applies in real life. After reading an article on the hierarchy of needs, I reflected on the author’s arguments and realised why people consider security as a matter of priority in life as opposed to gaining wealth. You were asked to work in groups of 3 or 4, to pick a topic and to find relevant references from four different sources (e.g. newspaper, journal, internet and book). Please list the references below, using the correct form of Harvard reference for each. I have learnt that teamwork is important when undertaking major tasks especially. Through teamwork, people get to learn from one another. It is important to appreciate other people and be a keen listener for teamwork to be a positive and enjoyable experience. In order to be effective when a member of a team, i need to learn how to appreciate people’s cultures. This way I will be able to understand their world views and appreciate why they act or speak the way they do. Giving a presentation before a multitude of people first normally hits me with tension. In order to overcome my tension, apprehension and fear, I did my research on the subject I had to present thoroughly. That way, my confidence grew as I knew that I had great ideas to present. I also encouraged myself that my group members and audience wished to see me succeed. I will take time to write and rehearse mock speeches so as to be more comfortable in public speaking. I learnt a lot from the library tutorial. I learnt how to search sources using various criteria for example with the author name or title. I also learnt the various sources that I may use for my research including books and journals. I am currently confident that my library skills are sufficient. What did you learn from

Strategic management ..case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategic management ..case analysis - Essay Example account the stability in the firm’s profits – the years 1998-1999 was a period with no increase in the firm’s profits despite the facts that the investment on the firm’s units remained high. The plan of Brenda Barnes was based on the ‘divestiture of weak-performing business units and product categories accounting for $8.2 billion in sales’ (case study). The specific strategic decision could be characterized at a first level as risky – the business units involved in the plan represent the 40% of the firm’s revenues. In this context, the firm’s profitability would be reduced; however, Barnes believed that the specific initiative would lead shortly to the increase of the firm’s profitability. In accordance with the above, the retrenchment strategy suggested by Barnes has changed the firm’s existing line up. Up to the introduction of Barne’s strategic plan the firm was based on the simultaneous promotion o f various products/ services but also the continuous expansion of the firm’s operational activities through the acquisition of competitors; Barne’s strategic plan has led to the limitation of expansion of the firm’s activities but also to the increase of its strength regarding specific products/ services – those with strong brand names. The effectiveness of the specific strategy will be analyzed further on taking into consideration the market conditions and the position/ power of competitors. The products offered by Sara Lee represent a wide range of industries. At its beginning (1939) the firm was related with the distribution of specific products (sugar, coffee, tea). Gradually, the firm’s activities were expanded to many different industries (selling of meat, canned products, vacuum cleaners, personal care products, household products, athletic wear, grocery, bakery products, coffee brands and so on). The long – term attractiveness of these brands cannot be guaranteed; because all these products need to be equally promoted, the

Passive Heating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Passive Heating - Essay Example The analysis comprises of examples from both the KYOTOi protocol of the United Nations and the Energy performance of Buildings Directive of the European Union that is being enforced across the west for energy efficiency and savings of the conventional sources of energy. The analysis predominantly focuses upon the energy efficiency of the buildings using the passive heating strategy. Nuclear sources also cater the energy requirements in certain cases where it generates the electricity required for the generation of electricity. In all the aforementioned cases, the pollution into the atmosphere due to heating is enormous indirectly because the generation of electricity in case of electric heaters causes pollution of the atmosphere if not in the immediate vicinity of the users whilst the gas heating systems cause the pollution in the vicinity itself. The atmosphere being a single entity, the greenhouse effect spreads across the entire spread of the atmosphere irrespective of the location of emission of Carbon Monoxide and Carbon di-oxide gases. David Taylor (2005)ii further argues that the main reason for the increase in the energy consumption by the domestic buildings is the inability or the reluctance of the people to utilise the energy of sunlight and natural means for cooling during the summer. This is also due to the fact that the increase in the density of the buildings in the urban areas like the busy areas of London where the density of the domestic buildings has increased by more than 10 times in the six years as argued by W. L. Lee and F. W. H. Yik (2005)iii. The study by the authors have proved that the population density increase in the urban areas has accompanied with the steep density of the buildings thus presenting a congested environment for the energy management and the use of natural resources of energy for cooling during the summer. Furthermore, the use of each kWh (kilo Watt hour) of energy Douglas Lancashire (2005) has identified the emission rations as described below 1.5 lb (680 grams) of Carbon Di-Oxide 0.2 ounce (5.67 grams) ounces of Sulphur Di-oxide and 0.08 ounces (2.27 grams) of nitrogen oxides The information presented above reveals that through saving every kWh of electricity alone, a building could contribute to the reduction of emission and pollution of the atmosphere. Even though the pollution is not caused at the surroundings of the building, the fact that the consumption of energy is directly proportional to the emission of gases and pollution by the power generation plant justifies the need for energy efficiency in the buildings. The aforementioned makes it clear that the costs involved with the energy consumption and the maintenance of the heating systems is a critical element both to the homeowners, which is a direct cost whilst the indirect cost is mainly the loss of non-renewable sources of energy and atmospheric pollution. In order to overcome this problem, passive heating is proposed by researchers as an effective alternative. Passive heating as argued by Raymond Ward (2005) is the method of using the non-conventional sources of energy like the solar energy to generate the energy required to cater the heating requirements in domestic buildings. Another source of energy is the wind energy that is in abundance especially in the UK where the sunlight is treated as a rare commodity with only short spells of summer every year. Alongside, passive heating can

Politics in Pan's Labyrinth and Watchmen Movie Review

Politics in Pan's Labyrinth and Watchmen - Movie Review Example Ofelia's mother ties the knot with another person who is a captain in Franco's army. Ofelia takes a great inspiration from fairy tales and while going to her step father she experiences many strange events which link her as being the lost princess of the underworld. Ofelia's step father is assigned to a remote village where he is designated to throw out all the rebels from the territory. Ofelia gets closely related to the servants working with the captain and she comes to know that the servant Mercedes is linked with the rebels but due to her love for Mercedes she does not tell his father about Mercedes. The rebels try to evacuate the captain from their land and in the end of the movie they even get successful in burning the outpost of the captain and finally killing him. Ofelia gets deeply involved in the fairytales and she is asked to pass some tests to enter the world of the underworld where she is supposedly the princess. In the end one of the test leads to her death in which she has to sacrifice her brother. The captain reaches the spot and kills her to get the posession of the child. Politics is greatly involved in Pan's Labyrinth in the form of war and the actions of people. ... This is because of her defiance to live in the captain's world of brutality. The fantasies of Ofelia from one point of view are also political as she is running away from the captain's world and she figures out that she can live in her own world where the captain does not rule. She tries to find her allies in the rebels and Mercedes and thus she sides up with the rebels. The whole movie portrays a political environment in which everyone is fighting for his own cause i.e. the captain tries to defeat the rebels while Mercedes and Ofelia try to end the tyranny of the captain and run away from his world. The film describes the situation of tyranny and dictatorship and emphasizes on the fact that dictatorship can only be ended through political tactics. In the climax of the movie the captain shoots Ofelia while she is giving a test to be called the lost princess of the underworld. The climax of the movie also portrays a way of how Ofelia fought to get herself released from the world of ca ptain. Pan's Labyrinth is a book which shows both the tactics used by the rebels and the fantasies which were seen by Ofelia in the form of politics as they are both done do get away from the shadow of the captain. There have been many famous comic samples. The chain of keeping comics aside for totally unrealistic matters was broken by Alan Moore, who added political issues in his writings. 'Watchmen' is known to be a great piece of comic work by Alan Moore in 1986-87. Alan Moore is recognized as the best writer in comics after creating such a master piece. His impressive DC series tracks many caparisoned vigilantes, consisting of the inhuman, knowledgeable, crazy, and intelligent but

Explain the different arguments suggesting violent computer games are Essay

Different Arguments Suggesting Violent Computer Games are Morally Wrong - Essay Example Sicart ( 2009, p.35) reveals that the gaming world can itself modify the gameplay, dictating behaviours in various aspects. For instance in the game Burnout 3, the virtual world requires and encourages the player to crash into other nearby vehicles and structures such as bridges and tunnels in order to bag more scoring point and this endeavour enhances the game aggressiveness simultaneously. Likewise, Sicart ( 2009, p. 193) further reveals that in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the player has to engage in sex, and then he is made to kill the computer character in order to snatch the money back. Such games inculcate unethical values in an individual, who is in need to develop values of good to become a virtuous and devoted person which is quite contrary to what these games teach the youth and furthermore, virtual environment rewards points for unethical acts (Sicart 2009, p.193). Floridi ( 2010, p.69) further reinforces the viewpoint that the ultra-violent games such as Grand T heft Auto, Zog’s Nightmare and Manhunt encourage the players to experience manslaughter, run extermination camps, murder for snuff movies and to drive over people in order to gain extra game points. This is causing parents moral concerns with respect to the learning development of their children. To add on, Stevens and Saldamarco (2008, p. 5) state that the game Defcon is designed to encourage a hostile approach amongst the players. The game’s main objective is to trigger nuclear wars and annihilations rewarding the player who lose the least. However, the most repugnant aspect of these computer games especially in god games, surfaces when certain very fundamental religious beliefs are questioned and exploited in designing a gameplay. For instance, Cogburn and Silcox (2009, p.77) depicts that in the game Left Behind it is explained that the adherence and devotion to Christianity is a matter of one’ s personal choice but on the contrary when the player ‘conv erts’ or recruits neutral citizens into his/ her ‘force’, they are required to adhere to his/her each and every command without any question. Moreover, the writers reveal that the ‘converts’ have to wear a purple coloured uniform and they are referred to as ‘units’ than ‘people’, which seems pretty odd since they were supposed to be free will agents who have achieved salvation by adopting Christianity. Another aspect of computer that needs to be shed light onto is the ‘Game Ego’; it is not a kind of a physical manifestation, but an entity that can exert force ( Pivec 2006, p.51). The writer further states that the Game Ego is connected to the player through a motor or kinesthetic link, which removes the barrier between the inside and the outside and the gamer is in oblivious of the fact that he is sinking deeper and more deeper into the realms of the game. If the Game Ego stops responding to the strategy of the game player, the player experiences loss of self control and the feeling of helplessness prevail ( Pivec 2006, p.52).

VA Team members Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

VA Team members - Assignment Example Developing the VA schedule is essential because it sets targets and priorities within an organised plan. It allocates time and resources in a logical way. Implementing this correctly ensures that the VA meets all of its objectives and does not skip anything important or dwell too long on one issue. This is essential because good communication between the people involved eases information flow and creates a professional atmosphere for all concerned. The initial site briefing sets the tone and input on this point establishes the ground rules and creates clarity. This is essential because the VA involves handling of personal details, which are protected by law, and company information, which is commercially sensitive. Both of these are at risk if no-one sets up systems to safeguard such information, or if no one controls how these systems work. This liaison role is essential because the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) each have an in depth but partial knowledge of the issues that arise, and this can cause disagreement. Helping to give an overview, and removing hindrances, minimizes conflict and helps the team to work together better and stay focused on the goal. This is essential because messages to and from facility management and staff can get lost if they pass through many different people. This role provides a clear channel for communication and also maintains an overview of what is happening hour by hour. The best VA in the world is useless if its results are not carefully documented. Findings will be better respected and acted upon if they are expressed with all accompanying data. Clarity here reassures everyone of the validity of the VA and sets out the basis of clear plan for others to follow. This is important because senior management have the power to ensure that a VA has lasting effects on the organization in the future. If they are kept informed they are more likely to engage in the work

Politics in Pan's Labyrinth and Watchmen Movie Review

Politics in Pan's Labyrinth and Watchmen - Movie Review Example Ofelia's mother ties the knot with another person who is a captain in Franco's army. Ofelia takes a great inspiration from fairy tales and while going to her step father she experiences many strange events which link her as being the lost princess of the underworld. Ofelia's step father is assigned to a remote village where he is designated to throw out all the rebels from the territory. Ofelia gets closely related to the servants working with the captain and she comes to know that the servant Mercedes is linked with the rebels but due to her love for Mercedes she does not tell his father about Mercedes. The rebels try to evacuate the captain from their land and in the end of the movie they even get successful in burning the outpost of the captain and finally killing him. Ofelia gets deeply involved in the fairytales and she is asked to pass some tests to enter the world of the underworld where she is supposedly the princess. In the end one of the test leads to her death in which she has to sacrifice her brother. The captain reaches the spot and kills her to get the posession of the child. Politics is greatly involved in Pan's Labyrinth in the form of war and the actions of people. ... This is because of her defiance to live in the captain's world of brutality. The fantasies of Ofelia from one point of view are also political as she is running away from the captain's world and she figures out that she can live in her own world where the captain does not rule. She tries to find her allies in the rebels and Mercedes and thus she sides up with the rebels. The whole movie portrays a political environment in which everyone is fighting for his own cause i.e. the captain tries to defeat the rebels while Mercedes and Ofelia try to end the tyranny of the captain and run away from his world. The film describes the situation of tyranny and dictatorship and emphasizes on the fact that dictatorship can only be ended through political tactics. In the climax of the movie the captain shoots Ofelia while she is giving a test to be called the lost princess of the underworld. The climax of the movie also portrays a way of how Ofelia fought to get herself released from the world of ca ptain. Pan's Labyrinth is a book which shows both the tactics used by the rebels and the fantasies which were seen by Ofelia in the form of politics as they are both done do get away from the shadow of the captain. There have been many famous comic samples. The chain of keeping comics aside for totally unrealistic matters was broken by Alan Moore, who added political issues in his writings. 'Watchmen' is known to be a great piece of comic work by Alan Moore in 1986-87. Alan Moore is recognized as the best writer in comics after creating such a master piece. His impressive DC series tracks many caparisoned vigilantes, consisting of the inhuman, knowledgeable, crazy, and intelligent but

VA Team members Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

VA Team members - Assignment Example Developing the VA schedule is essential because it sets targets and priorities within an organised plan. It allocates time and resources in a logical way. Implementing this correctly ensures that the VA meets all of its objectives and does not skip anything important or dwell too long on one issue. This is essential because good communication between the people involved eases information flow and creates a professional atmosphere for all concerned. The initial site briefing sets the tone and input on this point establishes the ground rules and creates clarity. This is essential because the VA involves handling of personal details, which are protected by law, and company information, which is commercially sensitive. Both of these are at risk if no-one sets up systems to safeguard such information, or if no one controls how these systems work. This liaison role is essential because the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) each have an in depth but partial knowledge of the issues that arise, and this can cause disagreement. Helping to give an overview, and removing hindrances, minimizes conflict and helps the team to work together better and stay focused on the goal. This is essential because messages to and from facility management and staff can get lost if they pass through many different people. This role provides a clear channel for communication and also maintains an overview of what is happening hour by hour. The best VA in the world is useless if its results are not carefully documented. Findings will be better respected and acted upon if they are expressed with all accompanying data. Clarity here reassures everyone of the validity of the VA and sets out the basis of clear plan for others to follow. This is important because senior management have the power to ensure that a VA has lasting effects on the organization in the future. If they are kept informed they are more likely to engage in the work

Death on Pine street Essay Example for Free

Death on Pine street Essay In this essay I will be comparing two detective stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyles story The Speckled Band was written in the 1890s and set in England. It follows Sherlock Holmes as he investigates the unusual death of a young woman. Through clever logic he manages to solve the case entirely by simply investigating the scene of the crime. Death on Pine Street was written in the 1930s and set in America. The detective in this is a more street-wise roughed up detective, investigating the murder of a womans husband. His sly and even dishonest methods of investigation solve the case, however there are a few complexities. Both stories are first person narratives. In The Speckled Band Dr. Watson is the narrator but in Death on Pine Street, the Op himself tells us the story. This means that in the Holmes story the reader is kept in the dark about what is happening because we only know what Watson knows and, therefore, have to wait to the end of the story for Holmes to explain how he solved the crime to Watson. In the other story, because the Op is the narrator we know what he is thinking and what is happening to him. This different style works well, because although we know what he is thinking, we still have to wait to the end for the Op to explain how he solved the crime to the police; this way it doesnt ruin the element of interest that keeps the reader going on. The detectives in the two stories, Sherlock Holmes and the Continental Op, have some things in common, but are also very different characters. This is due to the very different places and times in which the stories are set. Both are private detectives solving crimes for money. They are both loners with no wives, families or girlfriends. They are both quick thinking, clever and observant they see clues and evidence that nobody else can see. They are both brave and strong, and can use weapons and know how to defend themselves. These are important factors in a good detective, which I think is why they share these traits whilst being from such different places and times. Sherlock Holmes was the first fictional detective ever, so it is probable that some of the inspiration for the Continental Op came from him. However they differ in many ways. Holmes is a more upper-class, well spoken and well-educated man. The Continental Op is more of a slang-talking, lower-class working man. He works for a company, and has to travel to meet clients. Holmes works from home; Miss Stoner comes to see him. He seems to do detective work simply for enjoyment, he tells Miss Stoner she need not pay him. Holmes seems more calm and collected, he doesnt carry a firearm or get into fisticuffs the Continental Op does both of these. Since Watson is narrating The Speckled Band, we get a good description of Holmes; the Continental Op does not describe himself at all infact the only description of him is given by the Tenant, referring to him as our little fat friend. The Continental Op is always skulking around bad areas and apartments, Holmes usually takes a safe journey to the scene of the crime (in this case a mansion). It is the difference in location and time that plays an integral part in shaping these completely different characters that share similar and almost universal traits. Death on Pine Street is set in America in the 1930s; this was during the Great Depression when times were very hard on people. Unemployment was high, many people could barely afford to live and so naturally people were more highstrung or ill-tempered, and crime rose. It was this kind of tough way of life that forms the environment and the character in Death on Pine Street. The Speckled Band is set in England, in the 1890s, a fine period for upper-class people. Holmes would have been raised comfortably, and it would not have been a necessity for him to be tough like the Continental Op. He does not deal in the same way as the Continental Op; he quietly investigates a single place, and works without any interrogations or interviews. This greatly seperates the feel of the story from Death on Pine Street, as the Continental Op interracts far more, with many more characters.

Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling

Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Abstract If an ad is created and placed in the media, the costs of creation and time or space in the media must be paid for. This is a major area in which advertising departs from public relations. Advertising doesnt have that problem. If time or space is bought in the media, the ads (as long as they follow the guidelines set down for good taste, legal products and services, etc.) will appear. The drawback is that ads are clearly designed to extol the virtues of products and companies, and any ad is perceived by consumers as at least partly puffery. There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine evidence for or against purchase. A second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see them. Finally, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If they enter a store, they probably have an interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at possibilities, like the Hyde Park vendors who call out. From there on they fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give them. From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer is or how she is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customers reactions. Products, services or ideas are the things that advertisers want consumers to buy (in the case of ideas, buy means accept or agree with as well as lay out hard, cold cash). However, there is more involved in products or services than simply items for purchase. A product is not merely its function. It is actually a bundle of values, what the product means to the consumer. That bundle may contain the products function, but also the social, psychological, economic or whatever other values are important to the consumer. Chapter 1: Introduction In an era when physical tail space is still at a premium, constrained by planning restrictions and rising costs, productive use of space is a key indicator of buying and merchandising success, and high space productivity depends on offering the right range, in a logical layout, with products available and easy for the customer to find. Decisions about how much space to devote to each product line and its location in the store play an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight into this process. 1.1 Space selling management: Space selling constraint applies to all retailers, but in non-store retailing the constraints are different. A mail order retailer, for example, has page space and the number of pages in a publication as constraining factors, whilst a TV shopping channel needs to break down the airtime to different products. However, internet retailing offers great opportunities for adding space without much additional resource input. The main constraint on the amount of space used in a virtual outlet is the customers attention span. In spite of this additional freedom, the objectives of space allocation are essentially the same no matter which retail format is used. The management of retail space is concerned with a number of key objectives. The first is to optimize both short-term and long term returns on the investment cost of retail pace. The second is to provide a logical, convenient and inspiring interface between the product range and the customer. This can be particularly important in a large store, where customers can quite easily become overwhelmed and lost. Another objective is to make sure that the right selection of products is available; that products fit into the retail space and that stock-outs are avoided. Choice for the customer is maximized when the best selection for them is put into the available space. Space allocation aim has an important role to play in communicating the retail brand, When ice is managed centrally it helps a chain of retail outlets to achieve visual consistency, so that customers arc reassured by the similarity of the store layout and shelf appearance. 1.2 The Space Management Process: A retailer goes through a number of stages when allocating space to products. These four stages will they used as a framework for the Inclusion of discussion topics within this chapter. Measuring Space Selling: Although space in a store outlet is three dimensional, retail space is often measured in square, rather than cubic units, Square units arc appropriate where, for example in fashion retailing, a variety of single tier fixtures stand on the shop Iloor (see FigureS. I). Many fixtures, however, arc multilevel and so more appropriate ways of measuring space to allocate might be on the basis of linear or cubic footage (see Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Measurements of space that are more specific to individual retailers might be useful, such as the number of pages to be published in a catalogue or the total number of fixtures available in an outlet. Space Productivity: The two principal measures of retail success arc sales and profits. Sales volume and profitability can also he measured in relation to the amount of space used to generate those levels of sales and profits. This can then be compared with the level of financial investment in that space. The resulting measures express the productivity of retail space. Sales (or profits) per square meter is a commonly used measure of retail space productivity, which is an important concept in the evaluation of retail product management performance. Dividing the space into selling areas: At this stage, space management is concerned with allocating space to different product areas, defined according to individual retail businesses, but usually on the basis of product (department or category. The amount of space will he determined to a greater extent on previous performance indicators, typically sales values. However, sonic products, because of their physical characteristics may need disproportionate amounts of space in relation to sales. In a department store, home furnishings may need a relatively large amount of space to generate a good level of sales because the products are bulky, a large variety of merchandise is needed for customers to choose from and a lot of display space is needed to do the product justice. On the other hand, jewellery is a high value product category that needs relatively small amounts of space for display and selling purposes. The stage a product category is at in its life cycle is likely to influence the space allocation at this level. If a category is growing, then more space should be allocated, whereas a declining category needs to have its space rationalizes. Measuring selling space using square metres Using linear measurement for space selling Using cubic measurement for space selling Typical â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"hotspots In a Space selling Particularly evident in department stores, where specialist products such as furniture and home entertainment, as well as hairdressing salons and customer service departments   located on basement or upper floors, Customer flow can also be encouraged by locating high demand items throughout the store layout, with plenty of impulse items located in between. Retailers need to find a balance between maximizing sales of high demand products, generating flow around slower selling products (which may have higher profit margins), and providing logic and convenience in the layout for the customer, Product adjacencies: A logical route through the different product categories or departments is part of a customer focused offer, and can encourage linked sales. For example, in a baby equipment retailer like Mother cares it makes sense for merchandise to be grouped into themes for space planning purposes. These product themes are then presented in a logical way to the customer as they move through the store. Products for immediate needs, such as feeding and general baby care come first, followed by bath time and clothes; and then on to the more expensive, one purchases in the travel and nursery departments. The barbecue season provides a good opportunity for retailers to generate interest and sell distinctive groups of complementary products. Some of these products are strictly seasonal: the barbecues themselves and the briquettes for example. However, other products can be given additional space allocations in the seasonal aisle as part of the â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"barbecue category. Firelighters, matches, marinades, sauces, disposable tableware and beer are products that are found around the supermarket throughout the year, but are given a boost In the barbecue season by being merchandised as complementary goods. It is estimated that guests take an average equivalent of eight drinks when they are Invited to a barbecue, and â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"studies (bulk packed small bottles of beer) are particularly popular for barbecues as they are easy to handle, â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"women friendly, and easily chilled. Whilst the majority of barbecue beer is bulk purchased In advance from supermarkets, and then chilled down at home, convenience store retailers are often used for guests to buy drinks en route, and so providing chilled beer becomes important for this type of retail format. Allocation space to individual product: Having made a plan for the layout of departments or categories within the retail outlet, the next stage is to make a decision about exactly how individual product lines should be displayed within the outlet, whether the product is going to sit on a fixture, or be represented by a photograph within a page spread. Various approaches to space allocation are discussed, for example by using sales or profits as a guideline, some practical challenges arc considered, and the relationship between category management and space allocation is explored in this section. Allocating space on the basis of sale: The guiding principle here is the more a product sells, the more space it should be given. Retaining a high stock service level will depend on retailers ensuring that they devote enough space to a high demand product, such as milk, to prevent replenishment of that item becoming inefficient and inconvenient to the customer. A fast selling item however may not be one that a retailer makes much profit on (again milk is a good example), and so they may decide to allocate more space to their profitable lines. In taking this approach, however, the retailer is likely to encounter the problem of not devoting enough space to fast moving lines, so a balance has to be achieved. Another decision that has to be made is which â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"sales figure should he used for the allocation exercise, Alternatives are historical sales figures (for that outlet); market share figures; or projected sales figures. Store A is a branch of clothing retailer XYZ in a medium sized town centre. Ten miles away there Is a regional shopping centre where branch B Is located and twelve miles In the opposite direction, branch store C Is located In the heart of a city centre shopping complex. The policy of retailer XYZ is to offer a returns policy In all of its stores for products bought in any outlet nationwide (including those purchased from its web site). Shoppers from the town where store A is located, often take shopping trips to the neighboring centres, where B and C are located, especially if they are wanting to make a major purchase such as a coat or a suit, and require a wide choice of retail stores to select from. Unfortunately for store A, any unwanted products usually end up being returned to the customers local store. This has the effect of distorting the sales figures for store A, upon which space allocation decisions are made. Unfortunately, the retailers information system does not recogniz e the difference between a returned garment from the original store and one returned from a different outlet. In order to counteract this problem, which can be quite widespread, a retailer would need to allocate space on the basis of estimated sales rather than historical sales. Space elasticity: Allocating space according to a measure of sales assumes that there a relationship between the amount of space and the rate of sales, this relationship is termed the space elasticity of a product and it refers to the extent to which the sales of a product will change in response to a changed. In the amount of space allocated to that product Research suggests that space elasticity not uniform amongst products, or across stores or departmental locations. Using profit measures as a basis for space allocation ill prevent a business manager from allocating large amounts of best quality retail space to unprofitable products. They could mean, however, that a retailer was allocating unnecessarily large amounts of space to products that would sell as well with a smaller space. Profitable lines may not in fact sell very quickly at all, and allocating extra facings or shelves of the product may have very little impact on the sales of the product. In this case the quality of the space becomes important, so the retailer can locate high profit items in locations around the stare that arc better selling. The relationship between the sales and generated by different products, and suggests how space and ranging decisions should be made accordingly. Allocating space according to sales, and in particular, product profitability, is working with the interests of the retailer, and not the customer in mind and therefore may suggest an illogical and prese ntation of products. Long term profitability depends on customer loyalty, which is dependent (among many other things) upon being satisfied with the presentation and assortment of products. Fine tuning the allocation of space within a retail outlet therefore requires extensive amounts of high quality data, together with a pragmatic and customer orientated managerial approach at store level. Productivity and efficiency and towards are visual display improvements. Once an optimum level of efficiency is achieved, space planners can move onto the objective of making their products and fixtures more attractive than their competitors. Some of the latest planning systems are able to simulate the entire store environment, so that the product manager can view an attractive plan in virtual reality and make any adjustments they fed are necessary. Recent space optimization technology applications offer the opportunity to create specific platform. Space Allocation and Category Management: Although the performance of individual product lines is Important to retailers in terms of the rate of sales which influences availability and the levels of contribution to turnover and profitability, the focus of performance In many retail organizations is at product category, rather than individual SKU level. A retailer is more interested in overall levels of sales and profits generated by their product range, rather than the sales of a single line that might be of interest to its manufacturer. The product category has emerged as a manageable classification for most aspects of product management, and certainly applies in the case of space management. In fact, many would argue that space planning and allocation and the systems that drive the process can only be properly implemented in tandem with a category management approach. Category management seeks to optimize the depth and variety of a product assortment within a specified amount of retail space and to generate maximum profitability by seeking efficiency in the operations that support the depth and variety. This includes replenishing to guarantee availability and adding new products and running promotions to generate customer interest and increase short term sales of particular products, without harming the overall profitability of the category. Space allocation systems allow (Inc tuning of a category assortment, provide the means by which product and category performance can be monitored and analyzed. and by using the programme output the plans can he easily communicated and successfully implemented within the various retail out lets. In some categories key brands are dominant, in which case their presence needs to have immediate impact within the space allocation plan. Other categories are very competitive, in which case low price, budget own brand and promotional products strongly on the promotional. Many businesses use the principle that shoppers will a category from bottom to top, and left to right, and so well-known brands arc placed on middle and lower shelves on the left of the category space in order to provide strong cues to the customer. Premium products meanwhile are placed on high level shelves, selecting their high quality positioning, and the fact that the customer for premium products will seek out the better quality product within the category. In some categories the customer decision-making processes are quite unique and nerd to he fully reflected within space allocation plans. For example, the decision sequence for wine is generally as follows: Colour Country of origin Price Level - Brand Whereas the decision sequence for yoghurt might be: Natural or flavored type (low fat, standard or luxury) - Price Level Brand Name These decision processes should determine how products arc displayed within the category space. In certain modes, if the product is maintained in the offer, long-term customer satisfaction will be retained In spite of the Individual poor product performance. Therefore it is the stores personality traits that determine the core product ranges, and not the size; the size of the outlet determines the width and depth of the selling type that would appeal to the local customers, Stores are empowered with the merchandise that allows them to drive local market opportunities and local suppliers can also be involved in the process of providing tailored products for individual store needs, As retailers offer more formats from which customers may choose to shop, format preferences and product preferences can be matched, For example, Tesco found that its online shoppers tended to from more affluent backgrounds, and so the on-line product offer is tailored accordingly, with a large range of wines and few value lines, For many small retailers the cost of a computerized space planning is prohibitive, and so many rely on basic sales and profit margin analysis combined with trial and error in space allocation decision making. 1.3 Summary: A great deal of space selling is carried out in order to achieve relatively short-term retail objectives, such as maximizing the benefits of a product or departmental promotion, meeting seasonal sales figures, or improving branch profitability. However, the long term strategic objectives of the retailer provide the framework within which these decisions are taken. Space allocations must be in line with the overall positioning strategy of the retailer; the variety and depth of assortment and the stock availability service level should not be compromised by the need for short-term productivity gains. In addition, the arrangement of products around the store needs to be considered in the light of the contribution that product items, brands and categories make to the positioning statement, it may be necessary to over-represent new products or to allocate extra space to growing or seasonal categories in order to reinforce an innovative product positioning strategy. The local customer prof ile may also lead to exceptional space allocations in an effort to meet individuals requirements more closely. However, the retailers space is the extent of its empire, and every inch of that space must be used to its maximum effect even if, as we shall see in the next two chapters, some space is designed to he devoid of products. The measurement of that effect, however, must be appropriate in terms of the overall aims for that space. Chapter 2: Literature Review Space Selling: Space selling refers to space available for advertising in different media. The advertising media available are print, electronic outdoor. The space available and intend for advertising in different media. Decision about how much space to devote to each product line and its location plays an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this thesis is to have an insight into this process. First will have to understand that the services of every publication/channel, costs of space selling. The ads featured in it. And a space seller to sell that advertising space/time to potential advertisers. 2.1 UCPL acquires marketing and space-selling rights for Lemon TV and Jhankar TV: K Sera Seras recently launched free-to-air channels music channel Lemon TV, and Hindi movie channel Jhankar TV have appointed Universal Communication Pvt. Ltd (UCPL) for their marketing and space-selling rights. UCPL is a player in the space of airtime selling and marketing of serials, television programmes and feature films for various television networks in India. Jhankar TV will particularly target the Hindi speaking audience. This is a channel that would reach to the audience of cable and satellite in UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. On the other hand, for Lemon TV, they are planning to have different kinds of event and programmes like Lemon party. This will bring in more interactivity too with the relevant TG. When asked about the marketing challenges for these new channels, Every new channel in India right now faces the challenges of clutter and telling the advertiser what difference does this channel bring to the table, and what is the value addition. These channels are also in the same situation and we are confident about overcoming these challenges. UCPL is associated with media and advertising agencies like Mindshare, Mediaedge:cia, Madison, McCann Erickson, Lintas, etc., and with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Procter Gamble, and Godrej, among others. As a company, UCPL has now diversified into full-fledged events and brand promotions, striving to create and mange innovative concepts, thus offering their client complete 360-degree solutions. 2.2 Using the blogging concept to sell wikis: If a person understands what a blog is, the wiki may be compared and contrasted to a blog. A blog enables a single person to get a message out. A wiki enables a group of persons to assemble a body of knowledge. A wiki can be presented as a blog with one major post (the purpose, topic, idea of the wiki) that others can build knowledge around, without the initiating post getting buried in archives as new posts arrive and are displayed in reverse chronological order. A wiki may be sold as a horizontal blog platform. Blogs are vertical, recent updates on top, all others shoved down into oblivion, with only tags, categorical sidebar listings, or site search to dredge them up again. But a wiki distributes all the information in a more horizontal, flat, single surface that stretches through pages spread out, not sedimented. The wiki may be sold as a web site set up for idea construction; it is team-architected rather than single-authored. Blogs tend to be univocal and identifiable; one known person expounding a position, with audience members invited to comment on the sermonizing, but not really authorized to begin their own topic threads. Wikis are multimodal and transiently anonymous, many unknown people working together. A wiki, thus is like a super-democratized blog. A blog where the walls between bloggers are audience is dissolved. The audience members become the contributing authors and the originating authors become the audience, and vice vers a. 2.3 Modern Trends in Working Styles: Another interesting way of presenting wikis has to do with the fact that they allow for easy remote working. One of the main advantages a wiki provides is the fact that it is available from any internet-connected web browser, at any time. Information can be worked on efficiently in an asynchronous manner. In this regard, wikis solve tricky coordination problems. Whats more, a wiki provides a virtual space where all relevant business information can be stored. Hence people working from different places, at different times of the day can still end up with a coherent document. A wiki is more efficient than e-mail for the resulting document can almost be exploited immediately and its last version is always on top (which is quite useful when working with more then one person). 2.4 The Advantages of Asynchronous Communication: Wiki content growth and increasing value in an organization by facilitating asynchronous communication which is often more convenient than other forms of collaboration that require face time or same time. On the other extreme, making large batches of content (Power Point, White Papers) are inefficient simply because they require the author to provide context and content, some of which may be error laden or out-of-date. Wikis allow smaller batches of contribution to appear at any time, thus relieving two bottlenecks to collaboration. Add to this the fact that they are completely auditable for contribution, and the need for creating credit concurrently is removed. 2.5 ROI on social software: Being able to make a business case will be very important to all convince for every enterprises and after than to make a start on adopting social software. Charlene Li has a contribution about ROI on blogging. But Return on investment has to be calculated for all sorts of social software. Then again, ROI is becoming increasingly irrelevant when online collaboration tools and social media platforms are available for free, or at extremely low cost. Many companies find they can get along just fine with the free versions of blogs (lBlogger), podcasting (Odeo), video uploading and player embeds (YouTube), and wikis (Socialtext). ROT (return on time) is the far more challenging aspect of social software. It takes a significant investment in time to become known in the blogosphere, for example. Bloggers must spend large amounts of time in researching topics, writing posts, linking to other Blogs, interacting with comment posters, reading other Blogs, posting comments at other Blogs, producing multimedia content, emailing other bloggers, and adding features and functionalities to a blog. All this in addition to remaining informed about ones industry or field of study. Warning top management about falling behind in competitive technology should be sufficient to begin a case for online collaboration tools. Explaining that the trends are massively aligned, user-generated content, customer co-creation of product, corporate contributions to innovation, and universal content utopia, advocates of social software and user media can point to great examples of Peer Pioneers companies leading the way: PG, IBM/Linux, Second Life, Digg, Jigsaw, YouTube, and InnoCentive. 2.6 Successful Strategies for Selling Ad Space on Low-Traffic Websites: Upon first thinking about it, the idea of selling advertising on a website or blog with limited traffic seems a bit daft. After all, arent most advertisers interested in putting their product in front of the highest number of eyeballs possible? Approaching them with piddly visitor numbers seems like a surefire way to end up in the deleted folder. But though it may feel like putting the cart before the horse, there are many good reasons and ways to sell ad space on low-traffic websites. What you need to always keep in mind is that, while advertisers are drawn to high traffic numbers, they desire something else even more: high conversion rates. There are plenty of success stories of websites that have limited traffic but sell a ton of advertising. These websites succeed because they do one thing well: they deliver the right type of customer to the right type of business. Space selling concept: * Take a close look at your website Whether they sell landscape or skyscraper ads, text ads, video or any other format, they have to offer something of value before you can start to sell advertising space. They know this sound obvious, but it always surprises them how many publishers and online media owners come up with a niche product that nobody wants to buy advertising space in! If they are going to make a fortune in selling subscriptions or other membership related offerings, then fine but in most cases, forget about their hobby or leisure interest, unless it is unique and offers a great angle. Do make sure their product is going to be attractive to a large enough audience before they attempt to sell advertising and if they have a fair bit of competition, make sure that they have some unique selling points and formats. As they move into Web 2.0 the requirements from a lot of advertisers will change. If they can offer a new format or idea and take the hard work out of it for th e advertiser, they are onto a winner. If they dont, theyll lose out to their rivals. * Choosing ad formats that will sell Not all ad formats sell well on ALL websites. Put another way, some ads work better on consumer websites than they do on business sites and visa versa. The trick is to test their ads with different messages, fonts, colours and designs. This research will be well worth it in the end and can make the difference between making a decent revenue stream and making a substantial one. One of the biggest things to bear in mind is where the advertising should be placed. If they sell products on their site, there is very little point displaying adverts, which could detract potential customers away from their own sales message. So, the first thing they need to do is highlight the sections and pages where they are happy to accept advertising. When they have done that, they can then take a look at design and placement. Always think of the customer when you think about designs, placements and tracking. Make it simple for advertisers to find and relate to the f ormats, as they will have to justify the ad spend to their bosses. * Reporting and statistics This is a vital part of their business! Remember, communication is the key to long-term success. If they dont have a good reporting and stats package in place, then they will find it difficult to show their customers what they are/could be getting from their services. This can take a bit of time to set up, but it really is worth the time and money they put into it. Once in place, it can be automated to match their business model and to provide an essential package for their existing and potential customers. Remember out of sight, out of mind leave it to their competitors to make this mistake! * What are their competitors doing well? Even if they are offering a good service, they bet there is something they can learn from their competition. Some media companies do have the luxury of having someone w Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Analysing Existing Trends of Space Selling Abstract If an ad is created and placed in the media, the costs of creation and time or space in the media must be paid for. This is a major area in which advertising departs from public relations. Advertising doesnt have that problem. If time or space is bought in the media, the ads (as long as they follow the guidelines set down for good taste, legal products and services, etc.) will appear. The drawback is that ads are clearly designed to extol the virtues of products and companies, and any ad is perceived by consumers as at least partly puffery. There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine evidence for or against purchase. A second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see them. Finally, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If they enter a store, they probably have an interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at possibilities, like the Hyde Park vendors who call out. From there on they fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give them. From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer is or how she is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customers reactions. Products, services or ideas are the things that advertisers want consumers to buy (in the case of ideas, buy means accept or agree with as well as lay out hard, cold cash). However, there is more involved in products or services than simply items for purchase. A product is not merely its function. It is actually a bundle of values, what the product means to the consumer. That bundle may contain the products function, but also the social, psychological, economic or whatever other values are important to the consumer. Chapter 1: Introduction In an era when physical tail space is still at a premium, constrained by planning restrictions and rising costs, productive use of space is a key indicator of buying and merchandising success, and high space productivity depends on offering the right range, in a logical layout, with products available and easy for the customer to find. Decisions about how much space to devote to each product line and its location in the store play an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight into this process. 1.1 Space selling management: Space selling constraint applies to all retailers, but in non-store retailing the constraints are different. A mail order retailer, for example, has page space and the number of pages in a publication as constraining factors, whilst a TV shopping channel needs to break down the airtime to different products. However, internet retailing offers great opportunities for adding space without much additional resource input. The main constraint on the amount of space used in a virtual outlet is the customers attention span. In spite of this additional freedom, the objectives of space allocation are essentially the same no matter which retail format is used. The management of retail space is concerned with a number of key objectives. The first is to optimize both short-term and long term returns on the investment cost of retail pace. The second is to provide a logical, convenient and inspiring interface between the product range and the customer. This can be particularly important in a large store, where customers can quite easily become overwhelmed and lost. Another objective is to make sure that the right selection of products is available; that products fit into the retail space and that stock-outs are avoided. Choice for the customer is maximized when the best selection for them is put into the available space. Space allocation aim has an important role to play in communicating the retail brand, When ice is managed centrally it helps a chain of retail outlets to achieve visual consistency, so that customers arc reassured by the similarity of the store layout and shelf appearance. 1.2 The Space Management Process: A retailer goes through a number of stages when allocating space to products. These four stages will they used as a framework for the Inclusion of discussion topics within this chapter. Measuring Space Selling: Although space in a store outlet is three dimensional, retail space is often measured in square, rather than cubic units, Square units arc appropriate where, for example in fashion retailing, a variety of single tier fixtures stand on the shop Iloor (see FigureS. I). Many fixtures, however, arc multilevel and so more appropriate ways of measuring space to allocate might be on the basis of linear or cubic footage (see Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Measurements of space that are more specific to individual retailers might be useful, such as the number of pages to be published in a catalogue or the total number of fixtures available in an outlet. Space Productivity: The two principal measures of retail success arc sales and profits. Sales volume and profitability can also he measured in relation to the amount of space used to generate those levels of sales and profits. This can then be compared with the level of financial investment in that space. The resulting measures express the productivity of retail space. Sales (or profits) per square meter is a commonly used measure of retail space productivity, which is an important concept in the evaluation of retail product management performance. Dividing the space into selling areas: At this stage, space management is concerned with allocating space to different product areas, defined according to individual retail businesses, but usually on the basis of product (department or category. The amount of space will he determined to a greater extent on previous performance indicators, typically sales values. However, sonic products, because of their physical characteristics may need disproportionate amounts of space in relation to sales. In a department store, home furnishings may need a relatively large amount of space to generate a good level of sales because the products are bulky, a large variety of merchandise is needed for customers to choose from and a lot of display space is needed to do the product justice. On the other hand, jewellery is a high value product category that needs relatively small amounts of space for display and selling purposes. The stage a product category is at in its life cycle is likely to influence the space allocation at this level. If a category is growing, then more space should be allocated, whereas a declining category needs to have its space rationalizes. Measuring selling space using square metres Using linear measurement for space selling Using cubic measurement for space selling Typical â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"hotspots In a Space selling Particularly evident in department stores, where specialist products such as furniture and home entertainment, as well as hairdressing salons and customer service departments   located on basement or upper floors, Customer flow can also be encouraged by locating high demand items throughout the store layout, with plenty of impulse items located in between. Retailers need to find a balance between maximizing sales of high demand products, generating flow around slower selling products (which may have higher profit margins), and providing logic and convenience in the layout for the customer, Product adjacencies: A logical route through the different product categories or departments is part of a customer focused offer, and can encourage linked sales. For example, in a baby equipment retailer like Mother cares it makes sense for merchandise to be grouped into themes for space planning purposes. These product themes are then presented in a logical way to the customer as they move through the store. Products for immediate needs, such as feeding and general baby care come first, followed by bath time and clothes; and then on to the more expensive, one purchases in the travel and nursery departments. The barbecue season provides a good opportunity for retailers to generate interest and sell distinctive groups of complementary products. Some of these products are strictly seasonal: the barbecues themselves and the briquettes for example. However, other products can be given additional space allocations in the seasonal aisle as part of the â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"barbecue category. Firelighters, matches, marinades, sauces, disposable tableware and beer are products that are found around the supermarket throughout the year, but are given a boost In the barbecue season by being merchandised as complementary goods. It is estimated that guests take an average equivalent of eight drinks when they are Invited to a barbecue, and â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"studies (bulk packed small bottles of beer) are particularly popular for barbecues as they are easy to handle, â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"women friendly, and easily chilled. Whilst the majority of barbecue beer is bulk purchased In advance from supermarkets, and then chilled down at home, convenience store retailers are often used for guests to buy drinks en route, and so providing chilled beer becomes important for this type of retail format. Allocation space to individual product: Having made a plan for the layout of departments or categories within the retail outlet, the next stage is to make a decision about exactly how individual product lines should be displayed within the outlet, whether the product is going to sit on a fixture, or be represented by a photograph within a page spread. Various approaches to space allocation are discussed, for example by using sales or profits as a guideline, some practical challenges arc considered, and the relationship between category management and space allocation is explored in this section. Allocating space on the basis of sale: The guiding principle here is the more a product sells, the more space it should be given. Retaining a high stock service level will depend on retailers ensuring that they devote enough space to a high demand product, such as milk, to prevent replenishment of that item becoming inefficient and inconvenient to the customer. A fast selling item however may not be one that a retailer makes much profit on (again milk is a good example), and so they may decide to allocate more space to their profitable lines. In taking this approach, however, the retailer is likely to encounter the problem of not devoting enough space to fast moving lines, so a balance has to be achieved. Another decision that has to be made is which â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"sales figure should he used for the allocation exercise, Alternatives are historical sales figures (for that outlet); market share figures; or projected sales figures. Store A is a branch of clothing retailer XYZ in a medium sized town centre. Ten miles away there Is a regional shopping centre where branch B Is located and twelve miles In the opposite direction, branch store C Is located In the heart of a city centre shopping complex. The policy of retailer XYZ is to offer a returns policy In all of its stores for products bought in any outlet nationwide (including those purchased from its web site). Shoppers from the town where store A is located, often take shopping trips to the neighboring centres, where B and C are located, especially if they are wanting to make a major purchase such as a coat or a suit, and require a wide choice of retail stores to select from. Unfortunately for store A, any unwanted products usually end up being returned to the customers local store. This has the effect of distorting the sales figures for store A, upon which space allocation decisions are made. Unfortunately, the retailers information system does not recogniz e the difference between a returned garment from the original store and one returned from a different outlet. In order to counteract this problem, which can be quite widespread, a retailer would need to allocate space on the basis of estimated sales rather than historical sales. Space elasticity: Allocating space according to a measure of sales assumes that there a relationship between the amount of space and the rate of sales, this relationship is termed the space elasticity of a product and it refers to the extent to which the sales of a product will change in response to a changed. In the amount of space allocated to that product Research suggests that space elasticity not uniform amongst products, or across stores or departmental locations. Using profit measures as a basis for space allocation ill prevent a business manager from allocating large amounts of best quality retail space to unprofitable products. They could mean, however, that a retailer was allocating unnecessarily large amounts of space to products that would sell as well with a smaller space. Profitable lines may not in fact sell very quickly at all, and allocating extra facings or shelves of the product may have very little impact on the sales of the product. In this case the quality of the space becomes important, so the retailer can locate high profit items in locations around the stare that arc better selling. The relationship between the sales and generated by different products, and suggests how space and ranging decisions should be made accordingly. Allocating space according to sales, and in particular, product profitability, is working with the interests of the retailer, and not the customer in mind and therefore may suggest an illogical and prese ntation of products. Long term profitability depends on customer loyalty, which is dependent (among many other things) upon being satisfied with the presentation and assortment of products. Fine tuning the allocation of space within a retail outlet therefore requires extensive amounts of high quality data, together with a pragmatic and customer orientated managerial approach at store level. Productivity and efficiency and towards are visual display improvements. Once an optimum level of efficiency is achieved, space planners can move onto the objective of making their products and fixtures more attractive than their competitors. Some of the latest planning systems are able to simulate the entire store environment, so that the product manager can view an attractive plan in virtual reality and make any adjustments they fed are necessary. Recent space optimization technology applications offer the opportunity to create specific platform. Space Allocation and Category Management: Although the performance of individual product lines is Important to retailers in terms of the rate of sales which influences availability and the levels of contribution to turnover and profitability, the focus of performance In many retail organizations is at product category, rather than individual SKU level. A retailer is more interested in overall levels of sales and profits generated by their product range, rather than the sales of a single line that might be of interest to its manufacturer. The product category has emerged as a manageable classification for most aspects of product management, and certainly applies in the case of space management. In fact, many would argue that space planning and allocation and the systems that drive the process can only be properly implemented in tandem with a category management approach. Category management seeks to optimize the depth and variety of a product assortment within a specified amount of retail space and to generate maximum profitability by seeking efficiency in the operations that support the depth and variety. This includes replenishing to guarantee availability and adding new products and running promotions to generate customer interest and increase short term sales of particular products, without harming the overall profitability of the category. Space allocation systems allow (Inc tuning of a category assortment, provide the means by which product and category performance can be monitored and analyzed. and by using the programme output the plans can he easily communicated and successfully implemented within the various retail out lets. In some categories key brands are dominant, in which case their presence needs to have immediate impact within the space allocation plan. Other categories are very competitive, in which case low price, budget own brand and promotional products strongly on the promotional. Many businesses use the principle that shoppers will a category from bottom to top, and left to right, and so well-known brands arc placed on middle and lower shelves on the left of the category space in order to provide strong cues to the customer. Premium products meanwhile are placed on high level shelves, selecting their high quality positioning, and the fact that the customer for premium products will seek out the better quality product within the category. In some categories the customer decision-making processes are quite unique and nerd to he fully reflected within space allocation plans. For example, the decision sequence for wine is generally as follows: Colour Country of origin Price Level - Brand Whereas the decision sequence for yoghurt might be: Natural or flavored type (low fat, standard or luxury) - Price Level Brand Name These decision processes should determine how products arc displayed within the category space. In certain modes, if the product is maintained in the offer, long-term customer satisfaction will be retained In spite of the Individual poor product performance. Therefore it is the stores personality traits that determine the core product ranges, and not the size; the size of the outlet determines the width and depth of the selling type that would appeal to the local customers, Stores are empowered with the merchandise that allows them to drive local market opportunities and local suppliers can also be involved in the process of providing tailored products for individual store needs, As retailers offer more formats from which customers may choose to shop, format preferences and product preferences can be matched, For example, Tesco found that its online shoppers tended to from more affluent backgrounds, and so the on-line product offer is tailored accordingly, with a large range of wines and few value lines, For many small retailers the cost of a computerized space planning is prohibitive, and so many rely on basic sales and profit margin analysis combined with trial and error in space allocation decision making. 1.3 Summary: A great deal of space selling is carried out in order to achieve relatively short-term retail objectives, such as maximizing the benefits of a product or departmental promotion, meeting seasonal sales figures, or improving branch profitability. However, the long term strategic objectives of the retailer provide the framework within which these decisions are taken. Space allocations must be in line with the overall positioning strategy of the retailer; the variety and depth of assortment and the stock availability service level should not be compromised by the need for short-term productivity gains. In addition, the arrangement of products around the store needs to be considered in the light of the contribution that product items, brands and categories make to the positioning statement, it may be necessary to over-represent new products or to allocate extra space to growing or seasonal categories in order to reinforce an innovative product positioning strategy. The local customer prof ile may also lead to exceptional space allocations in an effort to meet individuals requirements more closely. However, the retailers space is the extent of its empire, and every inch of that space must be used to its maximum effect even if, as we shall see in the next two chapters, some space is designed to he devoid of products. The measurement of that effect, however, must be appropriate in terms of the overall aims for that space. Chapter 2: Literature Review Space Selling: Space selling refers to space available for advertising in different media. The advertising media available are print, electronic outdoor. The space available and intend for advertising in different media. Decision about how much space to devote to each product line and its location plays an important role in the pursuit of merchandising success. The aim of this thesis is to have an insight into this process. First will have to understand that the services of every publication/channel, costs of space selling. The ads featured in it. And a space seller to sell that advertising space/time to potential advertisers. 2.1 UCPL acquires marketing and space-selling rights for Lemon TV and Jhankar TV: K Sera Seras recently launched free-to-air channels music channel Lemon TV, and Hindi movie channel Jhankar TV have appointed Universal Communication Pvt. Ltd (UCPL) for their marketing and space-selling rights. UCPL is a player in the space of airtime selling and marketing of serials, television programmes and feature films for various television networks in India. Jhankar TV will particularly target the Hindi speaking audience. This is a channel that would reach to the audience of cable and satellite in UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. On the other hand, for Lemon TV, they are planning to have different kinds of event and programmes like Lemon party. This will bring in more interactivity too with the relevant TG. When asked about the marketing challenges for these new channels, Every new channel in India right now faces the challenges of clutter and telling the advertiser what difference does this channel bring to the table, and what is the value addition. These channels are also in the same situation and we are confident about overcoming these challenges. UCPL is associated with media and advertising agencies like Mindshare, Mediaedge:cia, Madison, McCann Erickson, Lintas, etc., and with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Procter Gamble, and Godrej, among others. As a company, UCPL has now diversified into full-fledged events and brand promotions, striving to create and mange innovative concepts, thus offering their client complete 360-degree solutions. 2.2 Using the blogging concept to sell wikis: If a person understands what a blog is, the wiki may be compared and contrasted to a blog. A blog enables a single person to get a message out. A wiki enables a group of persons to assemble a body of knowledge. A wiki can be presented as a blog with one major post (the purpose, topic, idea of the wiki) that others can build knowledge around, without the initiating post getting buried in archives as new posts arrive and are displayed in reverse chronological order. A wiki may be sold as a horizontal blog platform. Blogs are vertical, recent updates on top, all others shoved down into oblivion, with only tags, categorical sidebar listings, or site search to dredge them up again. But a wiki distributes all the information in a more horizontal, flat, single surface that stretches through pages spread out, not sedimented. The wiki may be sold as a web site set up for idea construction; it is team-architected rather than single-authored. Blogs tend to be univocal and identifiable; one known person expounding a position, with audience members invited to comment on the sermonizing, but not really authorized to begin their own topic threads. Wikis are multimodal and transiently anonymous, many unknown people working together. A wiki, thus is like a super-democratized blog. A blog where the walls between bloggers are audience is dissolved. The audience members become the contributing authors and the originating authors become the audience, and vice vers a. 2.3 Modern Trends in Working Styles: Another interesting way of presenting wikis has to do with the fact that they allow for easy remote working. One of the main advantages a wiki provides is the fact that it is available from any internet-connected web browser, at any time. Information can be worked on efficiently in an asynchronous manner. In this regard, wikis solve tricky coordination problems. Whats more, a wiki provides a virtual space where all relevant business information can be stored. Hence people working from different places, at different times of the day can still end up with a coherent document. A wiki is more efficient than e-mail for the resulting document can almost be exploited immediately and its last version is always on top (which is quite useful when working with more then one person). 2.4 The Advantages of Asynchronous Communication: Wiki content growth and increasing value in an organization by facilitating asynchronous communication which is often more convenient than other forms of collaboration that require face time or same time. On the other extreme, making large batches of content (Power Point, White Papers) are inefficient simply because they require the author to provide context and content, some of which may be error laden or out-of-date. Wikis allow smaller batches of contribution to appear at any time, thus relieving two bottlenecks to collaboration. Add to this the fact that they are completely auditable for contribution, and the need for creating credit concurrently is removed. 2.5 ROI on social software: Being able to make a business case will be very important to all convince for every enterprises and after than to make a start on adopting social software. Charlene Li has a contribution about ROI on blogging. But Return on investment has to be calculated for all sorts of social software. Then again, ROI is becoming increasingly irrelevant when online collaboration tools and social media platforms are available for free, or at extremely low cost. Many companies find they can get along just fine with the free versions of blogs (lBlogger), podcasting (Odeo), video uploading and player embeds (YouTube), and wikis (Socialtext). ROT (return on time) is the far more challenging aspect of social software. It takes a significant investment in time to become known in the blogosphere, for example. Bloggers must spend large amounts of time in researching topics, writing posts, linking to other Blogs, interacting with comment posters, reading other Blogs, posting comments at other Blogs, producing multimedia content, emailing other bloggers, and adding features and functionalities to a blog. All this in addition to remaining informed about ones industry or field of study. Warning top management about falling behind in competitive technology should be sufficient to begin a case for online collaboration tools. Explaining that the trends are massively aligned, user-generated content, customer co-creation of product, corporate contributions to innovation, and universal content utopia, advocates of social software and user media can point to great examples of Peer Pioneers companies leading the way: PG, IBM/Linux, Second Life, Digg, Jigsaw, YouTube, and InnoCentive. 2.6 Successful Strategies for Selling Ad Space on Low-Traffic Websites: Upon first thinking about it, the idea of selling advertising on a website or blog with limited traffic seems a bit daft. After all, arent most advertisers interested in putting their product in front of the highest number of eyeballs possible? Approaching them with piddly visitor numbers seems like a surefire way to end up in the deleted folder. But though it may feel like putting the cart before the horse, there are many good reasons and ways to sell ad space on low-traffic websites. What you need to always keep in mind is that, while advertisers are drawn to high traffic numbers, they desire something else even more: high conversion rates. There are plenty of success stories of websites that have limited traffic but sell a ton of advertising. These websites succeed because they do one thing well: they deliver the right type of customer to the right type of business. Space selling concept: * Take a close look at your website Whether they sell landscape or skyscraper ads, text ads, video or any other format, they have to offer something of value before you can start to sell advertising space. They know this sound obvious, but it always surprises them how many publishers and online media owners come up with a niche product that nobody wants to buy advertising space in! If they are going to make a fortune in selling subscriptions or other membership related offerings, then fine but in most cases, forget about their hobby or leisure interest, unless it is unique and offers a great angle. Do make sure their product is going to be attractive to a large enough audience before they attempt to sell advertising and if they have a fair bit of competition, make sure that they have some unique selling points and formats. As they move into Web 2.0 the requirements from a lot of advertisers will change. If they can offer a new format or idea and take the hard work out of it for th e advertiser, they are onto a winner. If they dont, theyll lose out to their rivals. * Choosing ad formats that will sell Not all ad formats sell well on ALL websites. Put another way, some ads work better on consumer websites than they do on business sites and visa versa. The trick is to test their ads with different messages, fonts, colours and designs. This research will be well worth it in the end and can make the difference between making a decent revenue stream and making a substantial one. One of the biggest things to bear in mind is where the advertising should be placed. If they sell products on their site, there is very little point displaying adverts, which could detract potential customers away from their own sales message. So, the first thing they need to do is highlight the sections and pages where they are happy to accept advertising. When they have done that, they can then take a look at design and placement. Always think of the customer when you think about designs, placements and tracking. Make it simple for advertisers to find and relate to the f ormats, as they will have to justify the ad spend to their bosses. * Reporting and statistics This is a vital part of their business! Remember, communication is the key to long-term success. If they dont have a good reporting and stats package in place, then they will find it difficult to show their customers what they are/could be getting from their services. This can take a bit of time to set up, but it really is worth the time and money they put into it. Once in place, it can be automated to match their business model and to provide an essential package for their existing and potential customers. Remember out of sight, out of mind leave it to their competitors to make this mistake! * What are their competitors doing well? Even if they are offering a good service, they bet there is something they can learn from their competition. Some media companies do have the luxury of having someone w