PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Entertainment & Living

PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Entertainment & Living

    1.  Entertainment: Proposed XM-Sirius Merger   2.  Living: Making Friends in Retirement   3.  Living: Vacationing at Home? Turn the Pool into a Backyard Oasis   4.  Parenting: What to Expect from New Baby Twins   5.  Travel: Olympic Tourists Prepare for Communication Barriers   6.  Travel: What to Expect When Traveling to India   

1. ENTERTAINMENT: PROPOSED XM-SIRIUS MERGER. PETER SMYTH, president and CEO of GREATER MEDIA, INC., was named "America's Best Broadcaster" in 2005: "Permitting XM and Sirius to merge would undermine the FCC's laudable regulatory objectives. Think about it: One company would control 25 megahertz of spectrum. This is more than the entire AM and FM terrestrial radio bands combined." Smyth can speak about the larger market in which the two satellite radio companies compete; why the potential XM-Sirius merger will undermine competition; and the conditions the FCC should impose to preserve competition if it does permit the merger. News Contact: Heidi A. Raphael, hraphael@greatermedia.com Phone: +1-781-348-8612 (7/16/08)

2. LIVING: MAKING FRIENDS IN RETIREMENT. BILL ROITER, Ed.D., founder of the MVP RESEARCH GROUP and author of "Beyond Work: How Accomplished People Retire Successfully" (Wiley, May 2008): "It is a little secret shared by many who are considering retirement or who have recently retired -- the real fear that retirement equals loneliness. Many people are naturally social people. They walk into a room of people they do not know and they enjoy meeting new people. Social network builders have that special something that allows them to be comfortable with others and to have others be comfortable with them. These people are not a rarity, but they are a minority. For the rest of us, we are either less comfortable meeting new people or are downright nervous in the company of strangers. Those facing retirement can learn a number of things from naturally social people." As a psychologist, Roiter can discuss and offer insight on how people can build confidence on their social networking skills while they remain themselves as they enter retirement. News Contact: T.K. Hall, tk@ictusinitiative.com Phone: +1-617-717-8294 (7/18/08)

3. LIVING: VACATIONING AT HOME? TURN THE POOL INTO A BACKYARD OASIS. KAREN RIGSBY, technical specialist for premier pool and spa care product supplier BIOGUARD: "Due to record-high gas and airfare prices, more families will likely be vacationing at home this summer. Improvements to the pool can turn your backyard into an oasis. According to pool industry reports, an estimated 65 percent of new pools installed in this country are equipped with a salt chlorine generator. There are complementary sanitizers for these systems that create a total mineral bathing environment while providing added benefits to the pool, such as pH adjustment, scale inhibitor and filter aid, that regular salt can't match. The resulting water feels like a European spa experience." Rigsby can share tips for turning an ordinary pool into a vacation destination. (7/18/08)

4. PARENTING: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NEW BABY TWINS. DAGMARA SCALISE, award- winning journalist, researcher, former educator, and author of "Twin Sense: A Sanity Saving Guide to Raising Twins from Pregnancy Through the First Year" (AMACOM, October 2008): "With the birth of her twins, Angelina Jolie can expect joy, terror and sheer exhaustion. Ignore the old saying about parenting twins being twice as hard. Those who have been there know the truth: Parenting twins is exponentially harder. Twin babies demand more love, more care, more patience and more resourcefulness -- lots more. And, you, the parent, will be more stressed and less prepared than if you were having a single baby. While Hollywood celebrities like Jolie have access to a slew of resources not available to most parents of twins (such as round-the-clock child care), it doesn't mean that raising twins will necessarily be a piece of cake. There's trying to breast or bottle feed two babies, issues with sharing (how will Shiloh, Zahara, Pax and Maddox react now that they have to share Mom and Dad with scene-stealing twins Knox and Vivienne?) and dealing with the constant demands of newborn twins." Scalise knows firsthand just how daunting that all- important first year can be. She became a mother of fraternal twins while already the parent of a 3-year-old. Scalise has written many how-to guides for healthcare and business leaders and is the author of "The Everything Health Guide to PMS." News Contact: Alice Northover, anorthover@amanet.org Phone: +1- 212-903-7951 (7/18/08)

5. TRAVEL: OLYMPIC TOURISTS PREPARE FOR COMMUNICATION BARRIERS. NATALY KELLY, cultural communication strategist and senior analyst at COMMON SENSE ADVISORY, a research and consulting firm: "Many English-speaking tourists have become accustomed to traveling throughout the world and communicating in English, but in China, a land where 235 languages are spoken, it's Mandarin Chinese that reigns supreme. Olympic tourists can do many things to prepare in advance: obtain a pre-paid or pay-as-you-go interpretation card, know how to book an escort interpreter or bilingual guide, and translate important information into Simplified Chinese prior to leaving home. Cultural communication barriers also exist -- for example, individuals wearing orange may be unknowingly setting off alarm bells to local authorities, since this color is a symbol of protest over human rights violations." News Contact: Melissa C. Gillespie, melissa@commonsenseadvisory.com Phone: +1-760-643-9140 Web site: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/ (7/18/08)

6. TRAVEL: WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN TRAVELING TO INDIA. GUNJAN BAGLA, a Los Angeles-based expert and author on India, including the book, "Doing Business in 21st-Century India," offers very useful advice to tourists visiting India: "Air travel to India will take at least 18 hours, so bring a good book and an airplane seat pillow. Before leaving, scan your passport, visa, travel itinerary and other important papers, and e-mail the copies to your Web-mail address. If you lose any of these documents, go to any Internet cafe and print out copies readily. Pack mosquito repellent, anti-acid pills and electrical- appliance adapters. In India, electrical appliances take 220 volts at 50 hertz, the on/off switches work backward, and the plugs are the wrong shape. When crossing streets, watch out for cars and trucks, bicycles, three- wheelers, a horse-drawn cart or stray cow. Whenever you encounter a frustration in India, take a deep breath, then withhold judgment." News Contact: Scott Lorenz, scottlorenz@westwindcos.com Phone: +1-734-667-2090 Web site: http://www.amritt.com/ (7/18/08)

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PRNewswire -- July 18

Source: ProfNet

NOTE TO EDITORS: The following experts have provided direct contact information: Karen Rigsby, BioGuard Karen.rigsby@chemtura.com Phone: +1-678-502-4241

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Profile: International Entertainment