PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Business & Technology

PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Business & Technology

    1.  Aviation: California-Based Air Taxi Service the Wave of the Future   2.  Business: The New CIO Trend   3.  Business: Americans Doing Business in China   4.  Careers: Six Certain Steps to Fortify Your Career in Uncertain Times   5.  Finance: Panicked Investors and Stable Returns in Shaky Market   6.  Finance: The Fed Must Delink Monetary Policy from Asset Prices   7.  Finance: Current Credit Crisis: Impact On Middle-Market Companies   8.  Finance: Small Businesses and Weathering the Financial Storm   9.  Finance: The Cost of Your Retirement   10.  Insurance: Travel Insurance is Still a Good Idea   11.  Marketing: How to Implement a Critical Brand-Monitoring Strategy   12.  Music: RIAA's File-Sharing Suits: Too Little, Too Late?   

1. AVIATION: CALIFORNIA-BASED AIR TAXI SERVICE THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE. DAVID NORTON is a pilot and attorney at Dallas' SHACKELFORD, MELTON & McKINLEY who helps companies and individuals navigate the laws and regulations involved in leasing corporate jet aircraft. He also sat on the panel advising the FAA regarding on-demand air travel rules: "Air taxi services, such as one that began recently in California, are something we can plan on seeing more of. It appears this new company is setting up an operation similar to others we've seen that utilize smaller aircrafts to shuttle people from city to city on demand. It shows the continuing evolution of the air travel business. The airlines are never going away, but, very soon, this kind of air taxi service is going to be more common." News Contact: Mark Annick, mark@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534 (8/22/08)

2. BUSINESS: THE NEW CIO TREND. ANTHONY W. MONGELUZO, president of PRO COMPUTER SERVICE, a technology service enterprise: "We will begin to witness the outsourcing of the CIO and this person will report to the CFO. The CIO position is going to become useless and outdated (except for technology firms). In order to save expenses and reduce overhead, the CFO will maintain duties of IT budgeting and will receive proposals, estimates, and have guaranteed contracts with IT providers. The CIO position will begin to disappear, and virtual CIOs or outsourced vendors will take control of IT operations." New Contact: Tom Peric, tom@thegalileo.com Phone: 1-856-874-0049 Web site: http://www.procomputerservice.com/ (8/22/08)

3. BUSINESS: AMERICANS DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA. JOSEPH MEUSE, president of BELMONT PARTNERS, which exports their financial services to Chinese companies seeking to be listed on U.S. exchanges, can speak to the trend of Americans doing business in China: "Many Americans travel to China and expect the Chinese to do business in the exact same manner as Americans. They bring their bold, brash ways to China and fail to understand why they turn off Chinese business owners. In terms of bridging the barriers between east and west, the marriage of Chinese culture and western economic infrastructure is key to success. The Chinese, in keeping with tradition, place a premium on relationship building with their individual counterparts in the west. We believe a commitment to respecting and understanding China's business culture will go a long way towards being mutually beneficial." Meuse established a sister office in Shanghai and spends two weeks a month in Asia. News Contact: Nancy Tamosaitis, nancyt@vorticom.com Phone: +1-212-532-2208 (8/22/08)

4. CAREERS: SIX CERTAIN STEPS TO FORTIFY YOUR CAREER IN UNCERTAIN TIMES. STEFANIE SMITH, executive consultant-coach, STRATEX COACHING: "With the financial crisis and recent layoffs dominating the news, people may be responding passively, waiting, watching and worrying about their careers. But there are constructive steps they can take to act on their own behalf -- starting now -- to boost their confidence, increase their value, and position themselves for a promotion or to gain a better job somewhere else." Smith can discuss career advancement steps people can take to counterbalance workplace anxieties, and has produced a white paper on the topic (members of the press can request a direct link or attachment from Smith). Smith is bilingual (English/Spanish). Bio: http://www.stratexcoaching.com/coach/ProfessionalBio.htm White Paper: http://www.coachstef.com/ (8/22/08)

5. FINANCE: WHERE DO PANICKED INVESTORS TURN FOR STABLE RETURNS IN SHAKY MARKET? TODD COHEN, president and chief investment officer of COMMUNITY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, is a leading authority on community investing with expertise in Fannie and Freddie-backed mortgages: "In this turbulent market, concerned investors have more options than low-yielding money markets. The fundamental financial characteristics of fixed-income community development investments make these securities virtually immune to the recent market turmoil. It sounds like a paradox, but bond funds with significant exposure to Fannie and Freddie securities, especially those mortgages made to low-income borrowers, continue to outperform the index -- by a lot." Cohen can discuss how and why community development bonds have increased in value, which financial characteristics enhance their value, and how these investments provide both financial and social returns. News Contact: Daniel Weinbach, dweinbach@weinbachgroup.com Phone: +1-305-668-0070 (8/22/08)

6. FINANCE: THE FED MUST DELINK MONETARY POLICY FROM ASSET PRICES. PETER R. LOCKE, professor of finance at the Neeley School of Business at TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY in Fort Worth: "The Fed must delink monetary policy from asset prices. This has been the Fed's mistake, attempting to control the stock market with interest rate changes. It's not their responsibility. Their primary focus is on price stability, with a more recent mandate to target employment. There is no mandate to control the stock market. This is a very noisy market, prone to swings that are not related to economic output and, yet, the Fed seems to pay attention to stock prices. This gives them three targets, with ultimately one instrument, the supply of money. It is kind of hard to hit them all. As a result of this policy, we've had two successive bubbles, the Internet and housing, and the bursting of these bubbles has been very painful." News Contact: Laura Snyder, laura@dickjonescomm.com Phone: +1- 347-240-4745 (8/22/08)

7. FINANCE: CURRENT CREDIT CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON MIDDLE-MARKET COMPANIES. MARK SAMPSON, managing director of VINTAGE FUND MANAGEMENT, is a leading private equity investor to middle-market companies: "Today the public markets are not accessible for these companies; the private equity market is chock full of larger, multi-billion dollar enterprises that are focused on management fees derived from buying giant enterprises; and bank problems are closing off another avenue of credit for these businesses. Thus, business owners concentrating on building their companies, rather than selling, are putting expansion plans on hold, subsequently curtailing job growth and exacerbating job losses." Sampson can discuss how middle-market companies, the engines of economic growth and job creation in the U.S., are being hard hit by the current credit crisis. News Contact: Ashley Greer, agreer@cswpr.com Phone: +1-310-396-2400 (8/22/08)

8. FINANCE: SMALL BUSINESSES AND WEATHERING THE FINANCIAL STORM. MITCH JACOBS, a seasoned small-business expert and CEO of ON DECK CAPITAL, a company that has developed a 'transparent' way for major Wall Street institutions to invest in Main Street American small businesses: "The market needs to reinvent the loan to create more reliability and more visibility into borrower performance. This will come from innovation and not regulation." After more than 15 years of experience working with small businesses, Jacobs is a credible and experienced third-party voice who can insightfully comment on the recent market turmoil. News Contact: Jonathan Cutler, jonathan@verseinc.com Phone: +1-818-981-3023 (8/22/08)

9. FINANCE: THE COST OF YOUR RETIREMENT. KARL W. KUNKLE, managing director of SCHNEIDER DOWNS WEALTH MANAGEMENT ADVISORS: "The proposed Department of Labor regulations are designed to empower 401(k) participants. The average participant doesn't know that they are being charged fees or that those fees are negatively affecting their 401(k) balance. By making fee information more readily available, participants will have the information they need to make investment decisions and to urge their employers to provide the best mix of retirement investments." Kunkle has been at the forefront of supporting those regulations and is available to discuss the impact the proposed regulations may have on plan sponsors and their participants. News Contact: Karlye Rowles, knrowles@schneiderdowns.com Phone: +1-412-697-5264 (8/22/08)

10. INSURANCE: TRAVEL INSURANCE IS STILL A GOOD IDEA. JIM GRACE, president and CEO of INSUREMYTRIP.COM, the leading online travel insurance comparison site: "The recent turmoil around American International Group (AIG), parent company of AIG Travel Guard, has raised serious concerns among consumers about the validity of travel insurance protection and the general operating health of insurers. The reality is that today, more than ever, travel insurance remains a critical form of protection and recourse against the multitude of risks, such as travel delays, cancellations and interruptions that have become the norm of the current travel climate." News Contact: Vikki Corliss, vikki.corliss@insuremytrip.com Phone: +1-401-773-9210 (8/22/08)

11. MARKETING: HOW TO IMPLEMENT A CRITICAL BRAND-MONITORING STRATEGY. TIM LYNCH, brand experience expert for interactive design firm MOLECULAR, is available to share tips on how corporate marketers can implement a critical brand-monitoring strategy and, when necessary, quickly address brandjacking activities: "The rise in social networking has given individuals the ability to instantly broadcast messages worldwide, leaving companies increasingly vulnerable to 'brandjacking.' Recent examples include Exxon Mobile, JC Penney and Target. The threat of 'brandjacking,' through activist videos, masquerading social accounts, and harmful direct-to-consumer fraud, demands that companies be both ever-vigilant of their online presence and prepared to respond quickly, creatively and honestly." News Contact: Sue Parente, sparente@tieronepr.com Phone: +1-781-642-7788 (8/22/08)

12. MUSIC: RIAA'S FILE-SHARING SUITS: TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? WILLIAM MUNCK, attorney at Dallas-based MUNCK CARTER: "On the fifth anniversary of the recording industry's aggressive legal campaign to pursue individuals for sharing digital music files, the limited success of the RIAA's efforts is an indication of the industry's lack of preparedness for the digital age. Despite the crackdown -- more than 30,000 lawsuits have been initiated against individuals for violating copyright laws by sharing music on peer-to-peer networks -- billions of music files are still being shared. The industry has had some success, but it is modest compared to the losses that continue to mount." News Contact: Robert Tharp, robert@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559- 4534 (9/17/08)

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PRNewswire -- Sept. 22

Source: ProfNet

NOTE TO EDITORS: The following experts have provided direct contact information: Stefanie Smith, Stratex Coaching ssmith@stratexconsulting.com Phone: +1-212-879-9120 Peter R. Locke, Texas Christian University p.locke@tcu.edu Phone: +1-817-257-5048

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Profile: International Entertainment