One of the most frustrating things that can happen to a marketer is to have their Facebook ads under delivering. And, if you've been into the business of Facebook advertising for a while now, you surely have encountered under-delivery at least a couple of times.
Because we understand how that feels – we've been there ourselves! – we decided to share some useful information that will aid you in navigating Facebook ads under delivery and maximizing your campaign results.
It is important to point out that Facebook doesn't like advertisers to make often changes to their campaigns. This is because if changes are made way too often, the Facebook algorithm doesn't get the chance to stabilize.
Furthermore, Facebook doesn't always begin to rotate ads from the beginning of a campaign, sometimes taking up to a day to see the first results.
So, if only a couple of days have passed since the launch of your advertising campaign and you are not seeing any results in the advertising dashboard, don't panic! Instead, have a look through our comprehensive scenario-based checklist!
First, there are four different scenarios for Facebook Ads under delivery, hence the slightly different methods of fighting it.
Scenario 1: Facebook Campaign has no delivery.
Scenario 2: A New Facebook campaign is not getting much traffic.
Scenario 3: An exciting and successful Facebook Campaign that you have been running with good ROI for a few weeks has had a sudden drop in traffic and you don't know why.
However, the reasons for Facebook ads under delivery can vary. We will walk through the main ones and give you practical tips on how to fix these issues. Without further ado, let's begin!
You have been running a successful campaign when it suddenly stopped receiving traffic?
Check your account spend limit, it might be reached and now you must increase it.
Your ads either still haven't been reviewed or they were rejected by Facebook's internal policy team, if it takes too long you can always contact the Facebook support team.
A common issue for no delivery cases is the status of the page or post being used in an ad. Ensure that your page is published or that post being boosted isn't deleted.
If you noticed that your ads or ad set have been turned off by Facebook, there is a pretty high chance that you have activated automated rules for that campaign.
To correct this just go to the automated rules section and deactivate or adjust the rule.
You have set up your campaign a few hours ago, and you still don't see any traffic? Let's see a few possible reasons to why this is happening.
When an ad is first created it will go through what is called the "learning phase". During this process, delivery can be slow or even non-existent.
This is because the ad is learning the conditions of the marketplace for optimum delivery.
There isn't anything you can do, except to wait until it is finished. Remember: don't make changes to the campaign during this period! Facebook's algorithm will restart the learning phase after any significant edit.
Sometimes the Facebook ads marketplace is just particularly competitive. For example: during Black Friday your ad may lose impressions to other ads with a higher budget or a better relevance score.
The easy fix for this is increasing the budget and improving your ad copy.
Facebook reduces coverage for ads that have a percentage of text higher than their 20% limit.
To check that the amount of text in your creatives is aligned with Facebook's requirements you can use the Text Overlay tool (facebook.com/ads/tools/text-overlay).
Facebook will also notify you if the image/video exceeds the 20% limit when you create an ad.
Using an exciting post that has (or had) a user tagged in it can cause delivery issues due to the privacy settings that the tagged user might have. We would recommend avoiding using such posts.
If you are using dynamic product catalog ads and they are not delivering, the issue is usually lying with the pixel.
For these ads to work correctly you will need to have standard or custom events in place on the website. This depends on what you consider a conversion.
Another reason for under-delivery, in this case, can be a limited reach.
To resolve this issue, make sure your audience settings don't overlap with your retargeting strategy.
Remember: you need to have visitors on your website before you retarget them, and each overlay of your targeting reduces the potential reach.
A common issue for advertisers using global pages occurs when a page for one country is used in an ad targeted at another country where this page isn't available. For example: Using the UK page for a campaign in Italy.
This will result in no delivery.
This can also happen for a non-global page if it has location restrictions. To prevent this, make sure you are using the correct pages when setting up your campaigns!
This issue arises when your ad sets' audiences are overlapping.
Audience overlapping means that according to your targeting settings, your prospective customer appears in two or more of your ad sets.
Overlapping can happen even if you use different interests.
For example, let's say you are targeting people who like apples in Ad Set 1 and people who like peas in Ad Set 2.
However, maybe your customer showed interest in both pears and apples. In this case, Facebook says that your audiences are overlapping, and it may not show one of your ads to this person.
Choosing the right audience is certainly an important aspect of having a successful advertising campaign.
But, you shouldn't limit it too much as it will minimize the number of impressions your ads will get.
It is better to keep the size of the audience within the tens of thousands range.
If you choose manual bidding, your bid amount may not be enough to win the Facebook auction. As a result, the number of impressions will suffer.
A great way of managing your budget is by broadening your audience. Facebook's algorithm will make you bid less for broader audiences, so if you have a strict budget this is a great way to ensure you don't overspend.
If you set a budget of a few dollars for an ad group and at the same time choose an audience that is considered expensive by Facebook's algorithms.
For example, targeting females aged 35-45 instead of targeting all ages for females will be more expensive.
In this situation, your budget simply will not suffice for enough impressions. The solution to this is very straightforward, increase your budget.
This situation arises if you use an audience that is too wide, resulting in the ad not being relevant for some of the users.
Another reason why users might block your ads is that of poor quality creatives and ad copy.
When users click on the ad blocking button it affects not only the specific ad but also the overall result of the account.
To solve this problem, you should constantly work on the relevance score, rotate ads in time and create a relevant target audience.
The audience's reaction to your advertising efforts can be viewed in your account by going to the ads tab and selecting the column "Reviews".
The level of positive and negative feedback will give you an understanding of whether the audience likes the ad, or it is better to replace it.
If your ads have a low-Quality Score, this may lead to a decrease in the number of impressions that ad will get and an increase in CPM and CPC.
You can check the quality score by adding a Relevance Score column to the report.
This indicator can be increased only by generating high-quality content that will fit the target audience.
You can read more about how to improve the relevance score here.
Ad fatigue happens when you have been showing the same ad for too long and the target audience has lost its interest.
A high ad frequency can also be the cause of a decrease in the number of impressions.
If the frequency grows and you see a decrease in the effectiveness of an advertising campaign (impressions, clicks, engagement), this indicates the need to replace creatives with new ones.
Usually, it is worth thinking about replacing creatives when the frequency is 2 per day or higher.
You can optimise towards clicks, conversions, landing page view etc. However, sometimes your optimisation goal can be too difficult to reach for Facebook.
Thus, because it can't reach the goal it starts slowing the ads' delivery. There are a couple of reasons for why that could happen.
For example, your products are too expensive, or Facebook requires more data before it can find the best audience.
To avoid facing this issue change the optimization objective to the step that happens before your actual goal. So, instead of sales, you should optimise towards add to basket or landing page views.
If you have just created a new campaign or you just set up your account, turning on conversion optimisation is not a good idea.
For this type of optimization, Facebook needs to collect data on which the algorithm can rely.
In the case of launching a new campaign, such statistics are not available, and when choosing optimization for conversions, the impressions and effectiveness of the campaign may suffer.
For the first launch of the campaign, it is better to choose the optimization setting for clicks. After receiving 15-30 campaign conversions, you can switch to the option with optimization for conversion.
At some point, advertising campaigns begin to bring results.
Let's suppose you have campaigns/ad sets that give a high ROI, but the number of results is too low.
What can you do? Just increase your daily budget? Or duplicate the ad group? Or maybe you'd prefer to start several advertising accounts and run the same campaigns from there.
We'll go through all these options together to help you figure out which is best for you.
The most logical way to scale your advertising campaign is to increase the budget for a profitable Ad Set.
Thus, we increase the reach of the potential audience and get a proportional increase in profits. But this is just a theory.
In practice, a drastic increase in the budget can lead to an increase in the cost per click (CPC) and cost per acquisition. This, in turn, will lead to a negative ROI.
To avoid this issue gradually increase the budget – by 10–20% every 2–3 days and be sure to watch the results.
Remember, each creative has its potential and once it is exhausted, no increase in the budget will help.
Some people will duplicate successful ad groups, in order to receive more traffic. They even claim to have positive results!
In our view duplication is risky. It can lead to audience overlap and an increase in the frequency of display to the same user.
Naturally, this will not result in good performance, hence the fact that Facebook will start to prioritise one of the ads set. Practically if you want to scale using this trick it won't work.
If you still want to try it, do it in the right way by not copying everything. Split your traffic into different audiences by age and gender and new interests.
It will help you not just scale your campaign but optimize your ads better and improve your ROI.
In general, among Facebook advertisers, there is a belief that each advertising account is assigned its own audience segment.
Also according to the same belief, if one ad is not tested in 5-10 advertising accounts, then it is not tested at all.
This makes sense because different creatives for the same audience show completely different results on CTR and CPC in different accounts.
We would say this is one of our favourite and most powerful strategies for scaling campaigns!
The number of variations for creating lookalike is incredible. What can be more powerful than finding customers that have similar interests and lifestyles to your existing clients?
To create a lookalike audience simply upload a file with customer data (minimum 100 contacts).
It is better if the contacts are not older than three months because the behavioural factors and interests of users change quite quickly. Also, the quality of your file will be the main success factor.
You can create lookalike for purchase, leads, site visits, time spent on the website and many others. Facebook provides you with various data inputs for lookalike audiences.
When using engagement lookalike, it is best to take the most recent interactions. In case you want to use it for videos choose those that watched over 75%.
While creating a lookalike, it is advised to use 1% similarity option, since this is the closest audience to the source.
But on large projects, you can use 1%, 2 %, 3% and 4%. Then when setting up you can narrow down with detailed targeting by interests.
Even though this is how audiences overlap, the huge size of the audience will prevent it from happening.
Remembering and using these tips should help you prevent and solve the under-delivery of Facebook Ads.
If anything is still unclear, our Facebook specialists here at Filed would be glad to aid you in getting the best ROAS.


The music partnerships lead has left the building.
The enemy of my frenemy is my ….
What does media on Facebook look like? Dan Rose, the company's VP of partnerships, explains.
The man who has been the Swiss Army Knife of Yahoo will be key strategy guy for Thompson, who clearly wants to do a lot of strategizing.
Facebook has hired away Google's director of corporate development, Amin Zoufonoun, making him its director of corporate development, where his responsibilities will likely include hiring other business development specialists and pursuing acquisitions and partnerships.
In an interview, Microsoft phone unit President Andy Lees walks through the changes that Redmond plans to make to bolster Windows Phone 7. Improvements coming later this year include Twitter integration, a better browser and the ability to do more things at once.
Nokia has already announced the key piece of its strategy–a shift to Windows Phone for its future smartphones. Now the company is set to talk about the financial implications of that and go through the rest of its strategy, which includes a mix of Symbian and even a dash of MeeGo. Mobilized has live coverage of the event, which started at around 4 am PT, or noon here in London.
Or in the words of the trade: Here's a story you may be interested in.
NetworkEffect talks to UberMedia, the perpetually renamed year-old start-up, about the business of buying up independent Twitter clients that compete with Twitter's own options.


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Pistons vs. Knicks final score: Jerami Grant injured as New York shuts down Detroit
The Knicks showed they have one of the best defenses in the NBA... at the Pistons' expense.
By Brady_Fred@Brady_Fred Feb 28, 2021, 10:21pm EST
Share All sharing options for: Pistons vs. Knicks final score: Jerami Grant injured as New York shuts down Detroit
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Remember the NBA like 20 years ago?
It was rough and tumble — a slow-paced style where you had to earn your buckets. That's what the Detroit Pistons game against the New York Knicks felt like on Sunday. Both teams shot under 40% in the first half, the game was physical as hell, and nobody watching was having any fun.
It felt very Goin' to Work, but like, if you didn't have warm and fuzzies for that era.
You get the picture. New York suffocated Jerami Grant anytime he touched the ball and Wayne Ellington was the only other guy who could hit a shot as Detroit fell 109-90.
When the Pistons supporting cast is hitting shots, they give everybody trouble. Tonight, it was one of those Jerami and the Granettes games. The shoulda-been All-Star led the way with 21 points and 8 rebounds, but New York harassed him anytime he touched the ball.
It seemed like the only clean looks he got came on jumpers. He left the game for the locker room in the fourth quarter—looked like a left leg, but we'll keep an eye out for an update.
Speaking of the Knicks defense, they're for real. Sure, the Pistons offense is, most times, trash, but New York got a hand on everything, suffocating Detroit all night. It's wild considering Julius Randle is such an awkward defensive fit in today's NBA, but give Thibs credit — they've assembled a team that the Knicks of the 90s would be proud of.
The only non-Jerami players for Detroit that played well were Ellington (15 points off the bench) and Dennis Smith Jr.
Facing his former team, Smith Jr. shot terribly (3/11) but he did the other stuff: 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. It wasn't a great game from an eye test perspective, but DSJ keeps doing things out there. He's disruptive.
Another glimmer of hope was Saban Lee, who did most of his damage in garbage time with 9 points and 4 assists as the Pistons shot just 38.9% as a team.
Defensively, Isaiah Stewart had some moments. He's just so freaking disruptive at times, and he put on a rim protecting clinic in the second quarter — blocking a shot and deflecting 2-3 other lob attempts. He finished with 2 blocks and 10 rebounds.
Stewart struggles with some very elementary things out there sometimes, but he knows where to be and has a nose for the basketball:
Isaiah Stewart with a MONSTER chase down block on Obi Toppin pic.twitter.com/y29VjmzDW7
— CoSvid-19 (@RedAlternates) March 1, 2021
He also did a nice job on Randle early, who ended up with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists after a very slow start. Since this game was so blah, I'm going to take a second and sidebar on something that was floating around this afternoon on Twitter:
Legit question: at his absolute apex, was Chris Bosh ever better than peak Julius Randle? The answer is no.
— Brandon Tierney (@BrandonTierney) February 28, 2021
So, first: Julius Randle isn't better than Chris Bosh. Stop it.
This isn't a bad take. It's a stupid take. Randle is having an outstanding season, and he deserves to be celebrated, but he's not better than the best version of Bosh. He's a better 3-point shooter now than Bosh was in Toronto, but he's a far inferior defender and doesn't have the same inside-the-arc game. It's fine to say Randle has taken his game to another level, but let's not compare him to a future Hall of Famer. Please.
RJ Barrett had a nice night as well, finishing with 21 points (8/13 shooting) with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. With Grant having to help with Randle and carry the entirety of the offense, Saddiq Bey was left to guard Barrett. He struggled.
Bey just isn't a good enough athlete to guard guys like that. While he's solid against the small forward/power forward tweener types, he's got issues when it's a tweener the other way like the athletic Barrett.
And, lest we forget, Derrick Rose returned to Detroit scored 14 against his former team.
The Pistons have now lost 6 of their past 7 games. falling to 9-25, and will hit the road for a four-game road trip against the Raptors, Knicks, Hornets and Nets.
The tank rolls on.
NBA Rookie Rankings Vol. 3: Evan Mobley continues his place atop rankings Mobley continues his dominance and Cade Cunningham continues to be crippled be turnover and offensive inefficiencies
DBB Podcast: Just a Good Bad Team? Ben and Laz talk about the (successful???) week in Detroit Basketball
Pistons vs. Suns Final Score: Cade Cunningham ejected as Pistons fall to NBA's best High powered Phoenix offense proves too much for Detroit to handle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Bedroom : Mint Green Bedspread And Gold Bedding Orange Living Room Accessories Teal Decor Comforter Set Twin Designs Decorating A Ideas & Inspiration Duvet Cover Target Wallpaper Curtains At Walmart ~ Dowdydoodles Inc.
Published at Monday, August 20th, 2018 - 20:24:20 PM. Bedroom. By Conradine Berger.


Investments products that benefit women are proliferating across asset classes. Gender-lens investors that seek to improve the lives of women and girls have a growing choice of fixed-income and equity strategies in private and public markets. Community Capital Management, for example, is finding fixed-income gender-lens opportunities in mortgage-backed securities, taxable municipals, and asset-backed securities. On behalf of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, CCM invested in a mortgage-backed security comprised of loans to low- and moderate-income minority women. For the Cordes Foundation, CCM found a taxable municipal bond that financed a science and technology center and student union at Texas Woman's University. Calvert Impact Capital and Root Capital offer fixed-income vehicles that benefit women in emerging markets.
Keep reading, "Investments vehicles that benefit women are proliferating across asset classes," by Dennis Price on ImpactAlpha.
Agents of Impact gathering. ImpactAlpha is hosting a reception Friday, Nov. 2, in collaboration with the Gender-Smart Investing Summit in London. Sign up here for more information.
Billionaires' Breakthrough Energy Ventures makes seven investments. The $1 billion fund invested in seven ventures spanning fusion (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) and geothermal energy (Fervo Energy), biofuels (DMC Biotechnologies), climate-friendly concrete (CarbonCure) and battery storage (QuantumScape). The fund's extremely patient capital – investments can span 20 years – is intended to help early-stage companies develop technologies for the deep decarbonization required by 2050. Backers of Breakthrough Energy Ventures include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Jack Ma. It has made nine investments, committing about 10% of its fund. Learn more.
Beyond Advisors' Vegan ETF screens out animal cruelty. Vegans were bound to grab the attention of the financial markets, given the burst of investment in a meat-free future. Investment firm Beyond Advisors has registered a vegan exchange-traded fund, or ETF, built around companies that avoid "business activity that harms animals." The ETF is based on the firm's U.S. Vegan Climate Index, which screens out companies involved in animal testing, animal-derived products and animals used for sport or entertainment. Check it out.
Urban-X graduates target city life and infrastructure. The city startup accelerator, a partnership of venture firm Urban Us and BMW-Mini, graduated seven startups from its fourth cohort in Brooklyn. They included Avvir, which uses lasers to scan construction sites for defects, and ClearRoad, which helps government agencies capture revenue for road infrastructure. Dig in.
Reinvestment Fund taps capital market to raise a $76 million 'impact investment bond.' Public bond markets are becoming a reliable new source of capital for community development financial institutions that lend to low-income communities. A successful $76 million offering by the Reinvestment Fund, a nationwide "CDFI" based in Philadelphia, pushed total capital raised through four general-obligation bond offerings since last year to more than $350 million. Reinvestment Fund itself raised $50 million in one of the first such bond offerings last year. "We are pleased to be participating in the transformation of the socially responsible lending industry," said Reinvestment Fund's Donald Hinkle-Brown. Last year, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and Capital Impact Partners, also S&P-rated CDFIs, raised $100 million each through public offerings. More details.
Suzie Riddell is the new CEO of Social Ventures Australia… Sonya Sbar is in as managing director of business development at MicroVest… The Unreasonable Impact World Forum kicks off Thursday in London… Uncharted is recruiting a director for its accelerator program.


text:
Q: how to pass another .rdlc report into reportviewer I have a web form with some  drop down list and textbox and three buttons. 1) generate report 2) print 3) Export to PDF
I have printonebartest.rdlc as a default report binded to reportviewer1 which is designed for user to view the information correctly however when I print the same report the html messes up the layout so I created another report printonebartest1.rdlc which is scaled to print the information correctly my question is how can I pass printonebartest1.rdlc to reportviewer1 when the print button and export to pdf is clicked.
This is the code I have for the print button
  protected void Print_Click(object sender, ImageClickEventArgs e)
        {
            IolaNetWeightWeb.BarTableAdapters.Product_Weight_Data_Sheet_QueryTableAdapter ds = new IolaNetWeightWeb.BarTableAdapters.Product_Weight_Data_Sheet_QueryTableAdapter();
            ReportDataSource rds = new ReportDataSource("Bar_Product_Weight_Data_Sheet_Query", ds.GetData(DropDownList1.Text, DropDownList3.Text));

            // Variables
            Warning[] warnings;
            string[] streamIds;
            string mimeType = string.Empty;
            string encoding = string.Empty;
            string extension = string.Empty;

            // Setup the report viewer object and get the array of bytes
            ReportViewer viewer = new ReportViewer();
            viewer.ProcessingMode = ProcessingMode.Local;
            viewer.LocalReport.ReportPath = "printonebartest1.rdlc";
            viewer.LocalReport.DataSources.Add(rds); // Add datasource here

            byte[] bytes = ReportViewer1.LocalReport.Render("Pdf", null, out mimeType, out encoding, out extension, out streamIds, out warnings);

            // Now that you have all the bytes representing the PDF report, buffer it and send it to the client.
            Response.Buffer = true;
            Response.Clear();
            Response.ContentType = mimeType;
            Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "inline; filename=PrintOneBar.pdf");
            Response.BinaryWrite(bytes); // create the file
            Response.Flush(); // send it to the client to download
        }

even though I am passing printonebartest1.rdlc it still uses the printonebartest.rdlc am I doing something wrong here, do I have to rebind the datasource or something? please help any help is appreciated.

A: All you need to do is to pass '%' to your where clause. The query for the first request will look something similar to this,
select * from emp where firstname LIKE '%'.
So for the first request it will return all the data. Subsequent ones will be based on the filter passed.
To determine if this is a first request we can always use the IsPostBack property. If the value is false, this is indeed a first request. If not this is not the first request.
The property will be FALSE when the browser is refreshed using F5 / CTRL + F5 apart from the first request through URL.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
OVERWATCH BLACK OPS
BUSTED! Protesters uncover false-flag set up, pile of bricks strategically placed on street near high-end Dallas shops
It seems the powers-that-be have stuped to a new low in an effort to undermine America
By Shepard Ambellas -
DALLAS, Tex. (INTELLIHUB) — Several Black Lives Matter supporters uncovered what can only be described as a false-flag setup placed ever so strategically on the street outside high-end shops in the downtown area on Friday night which appears to have been intended to create more chaos on the streets of America.
"This right here–this is a setup," one young man explained on camera. "Y'all know where we at–y'all know what building this is."
"They put them [a pile of bricks] there on purpose," another protester who was standing in the backdrop said. "Where do them bricks go to?"
https://twitter.com/IamBrianJohns/status/1266615047784140805?s=20
"This is a setup–we got to do better–we got to do better," said the young man.
Due to the fact that there is no construction in the area and none of the surrounding area built with bricks of that type, the duo of masked sleuths seems to be right. This can only mean one thing–the package of bricks was placed.
Related: Wall Street admits "civil unrest" may crash markets
Please comment below in the comments section of this website and share this post far and wide on all of your social media channels.
Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, political pundit, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel's America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a contributor to Alex Jones' Infowars platform and is also a regular on Coast To Coast AM with George Noory. Read more from Shep's World. Follow Shep on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Shep's YouTube channel.
©2020. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.
IMAGE SOURCE:Screenshot via Twitter
Iranian terrorists vow to fly plane into U.S. Capitol to avenge death of Qassem Soleimani? Audio threat
Wall Street admits "civil unrest" may crash markets
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July 16, 2018 | 8:16 pm
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Immediate: RADIO. Any position whatsoever, as long as it's in radio.
The William Tell Show is all about folk learning to become autonomous thinkers. Through free and open discussion of the affairs of the day, the host (yours truly) coaches participants to use critical thinking skills and avoid common fallacies — not to conform their stands to the host's own, but to strengthen their own stands, conservative, liberal or whatever. Two referential texts, Guides to Straight Thinking by Stuart Chase and Free Speech Handbook by William Tell, appear as e-books on the host's web site. "Expert" guests are minimized, in order to maximize callers' on-air time; William Tell encourages callers, "Be your own expert." ▪ This can be hard work, especially in the midst of contentious discussion. Accordingly, if your format allows, each hour closes with some selection of upbeat music, to help maintain a positive or humane frame of mind — "Java," "Sir Duke," and the like. ▪ There are also occasional brief comedic appearances by Mr. Tell's fictional associates; the all-important weekly "Tongue Twister;" and gems of wisdom mined from the works of Mr. Tell's personal hero, the prehistoric Sufi Zen master Hooda Thunkit.


text:
Las dos señoras Nahasapeemapetilon, titulado The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons en la versión original, es el séptimo episodio de la novena temporada de la serie animada estadounidense Los Simpson, estrenado originalmente el 16 de noviembre de 1997. Fue escrito por Richard Appel y dirigido por Steven Dean Moore. En el episodio, Apu se casa con Manjula, en una boda tradicional hindú.

Sinopsis

Durante una "subasta de solteros" a beneficio del Departamento de Bomberos de la ciudad, todos los hombres ofrecidos son rechazados, por lo que no se recauda dinero. En un momento, Marge le avisa a Krusty, anfitrión de la subasta, que Apu también es soltero, y al escucharlo hablar sobre sí mismo cinco mujeres juntan dinero para "comprarlo" y salir con él. Una mañana, mientras lee las cartas que le han enviado las cinco mujeres, Apu descubre una carta de su madre, que contiene una flor de loto, y la reconoce como la señal de que su matrimonio arreglado está por celebrarse. Al verlo asustado ante la perspectiva de abandonar su relajada vida de soltero, Homer le sugiere que le diga a su madre que ya está casado. Cuando la madre de Apu llega a visitar a su hijo para conocer a su nuera, Homer le pide a Marge que simule ser la esposa de Apu por unos días, ante lo cual Marge acepta a regañadientes.

Lamentablemente, la madre de Apu se siente muy disgustada ante la situación, creyendo que su hijo deshonró a su familia y su cultura, mientras que Homer, para ayudar a mantener la mentira de Apu, se hospeda en el Asilo de Ancianos donde su padre vive, disfrutando de todas las atenciones que se le brindan, hasta que finalmente la farsa es descubierta y Apu le confiesa a su madre que le mintió porque no quiere casarse. No obstante, los preparativos para la boda son puestos en marcha, y cuando llega el día de la ceremonia, un apesadumbrado Apu se sorprende al ver que Manjula, su prometida (a quien vuelve a ver después de muchos años), se ha convertido en una hermosa e inteligente mujer, y queda enamorado al instante dejando de lado todos sus temores y casándose con ella.

Producción

El escritor Richard Appel planeó la idea de "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" varios años antes de que se emitiese la novena temporada, pero el argumento no era apropiado para ese momento. A Mike Scully le gustó la idea, por lo que decidió usarla en su primera temporada como productor ejecutivo. La historia secundaria de Homer en el Asilo de Ancianos era una idea que Scully había tenido hace mucho tiempo. Como no se podía hacer un episodio cuyo argumento estuviese basado en esa idea, fue incluido en este capítulo.

La subasta de solteros sólo fue creada para hacer evidente que Apu era el mejor soltero de Springfield, y Appel dijo que la escena en sí misma muestra que todos los otros hombres de la ciudad son básicamente perdedores comparados con Apu. La escena fue hecha para comenzar el episodio, y Scully dijo que le gustaría que todos los episodios comenzaran con una secuencia de ese estilo. La escena en la que Apu tiene diferentes cortes de cabello, originalmente incluía tres estilos más, pero fue cortada por falta de tiempo. El momento en el que la madre de Apu resbala y cae al suelo, un gag que fue muy bien recibido por el elenco, fue inspirada por un incidente similar, cuando Moore vio a un hombre caerse de una manera exactamente igual. El gag sólo fue incluido para darles más tiempo a Homer y a Apu de planear una mentira. Antes de la boda, Bart hace un "fuego sagrado", alimentándolo con páginas de un libro de himnos. Originalmente usaba páginas de la Biblia, pero antes de que se animase la escena Scully dijo que el gag era "horrible" y decidió cambiar el título a "Himnos".

Andrea Martin personificó a la madre de Apu, grabando su parte en Nueva York. Quería que la voz quedara perfecta, por lo que para prepararse escuchó cintas de Hank Azaria leyendo sus líneas de Apu, para asegurarse de que su voz realmente pareciera la de la madre de Apu. Durante el flashback de la infancia de Apu, los animadores decidieron no mostrar a Manjula, ya que querían revelarla al final del episodio.

Los productores investigaron sobre bodas hindúes, aprendieron que la flor de loto puede ser utilizada para enviar mensajes, pero la mayor parte de la información no fue "tan entretenida como los escritores esperaban", por lo que fue descartada. Steven Dean Moore, el director del episodio, averiguó sobre cada aspecto de la cultura hindú que se muestra en el episodio. Los eventos de la boda, así como los elementos, fueron tomados de ceremonias tradicionales hindúes.

Referencias culturales

La canción de Foreigner "Hot Blooded" es la que suena en la escena en la que Apu disfruta de su vida de soltero,  y baila en una forma similar a Riverdance. Además, en la boda los cantantes interpretan una versión hindú de la canción de The Carpenters "(They Long to Be) Close to You"; para hacerlo, los productores contrataron a un grupo vocal hindú, y Alf Clausen compuso la música. La escena en la que Moe camina y sigue de largo por el escenario, al principio del episodio, está basada en un hecho similar en un show de comedia en vivo de Red Foxx. En un espectáculo en Las Vegas, Foxx subió al escenario con Sanford and Son como música de fondo, sólo para descubrir que había muy poco público. Foxx reaccionó con furia y se negó a dar su show para tan poca gente, por lo que bajó del escenario. Mientras lo hacía, la orquesta tocó nuevamente la canción Sanford and Son. Hubo otra referencia a este incidente en el episodio posterior "Trash of the Titans", cuando Ray Patterson vuelve a ser funcionario, aunque en este caso la referencia es más similar al evento real. En la peluquería donde Apu se corta el pelo es una parodia del nombre de Harry Shearer ya que el lugar se llama Hairy Shearers.

Recepción

Todd Gilchrist nombró al episodio como uno de sus favoritos de la novena temporada en su crítica del DVD, y Warren Martyn y Adrian Wood, los autores del libro I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, lo describieron como "un episodio muy divertido". Ian Jones y Steve Williams criticaron al episodio, diciendo que es una "sátira desordenada y sin enfoque" sobre la preparación de las bodas hindúes.

Cuando Homer escribe "¿Dónde están los bollos pegajosos?" en una hoja de papel luego de que Apu le pide un consejo es uno de los gags favoritos de Mike Scully.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons en The Simpsons Archive (en inglés)
 The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons en The Simpsons.com (en inglés)
 The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons en TV.com (en inglés)
 The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons en the Internet Movie Database (en inglés)

07
Episodios de televisión de 1997

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Tom Kerr Selected as New Board Chair of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
Conservation People
The board of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association has selected former Wildlands Conservancy leader and conservation award-winner Tom Kerr to serve as chair of the board of directors at this world-famous raptor conservation organization.
Kerr served 20 years as the president and CEO of Wildlands, one of the largest and most successful land trusts in Pennsylvania. Under his leadership, Wildlands protected 45,000 acres of greenspace and established new outdoor recreation/education programs including its unique Bike & Boat program, the popular Lehigh River Sojourn, and the Lehigh River Water Trail. Known for his expertise in balancing natural-resource conservation with outdoor recreation, Kerr helped to design and complete several public parks, including the Bob Rodale Cycling & Fitness Park in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, among others. He also championed a campaign to raise $67 million for open-space conservation in Lehigh and Northampton counties and was among the founders of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, now WeConservePA.
Living here in Kempton for nearly 50 years, Tom is an active outdoorsman who enjoys canoeing, bicycling, and boat racing, and he is no stranger to the Sanctuary. He served previously as director of administration and has remained connected as a board member for more than two decades, including positions as interim president, vice chair, and chair of the board's Land Conservation Committee, among others.
His service includes former volunteer positions on the PA DCNR Citizens Advisory Council, including as second vice-chair. His long-standing membership in the Kempton Lions Club involved helping to design and find funding for an ADA-compliant kayak "launcher" at Leaser Lake. More recently, he worked to establish and serve on the Albany Township Environmental Advisory Council. Accolades include receiving the Ralph W. Abele Conservation Heritage Award from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, L.L. Bean's Outdoor Hero Award, a Lifetime Conservation Leadership Award from WeConservePA, and most recently, the Thomas P. Shelburne Environmental Leadership Award from the Northeast Environmental Partners organization, which includes PA DCNR, PA DEP, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, PPL Corporation, Proctor & Gamble, and Wilkes-Barre University.
"I've been involved with Hawk Mountain in one way or another for almost five decades. I believe I've got more from it than it has from me, but I've never spent an unhappy moment in this special place," Kerr explains. "To be chairing a board of dedicated, enthused leaders and working with an equally dedicated and enthused staff is an honor of a lifetime."
Outgoing chair Jeff Weil is pleased his vice chair has assumed the leadership role. "Tom has all of the qualities that a great organization wants in its leaders: dedication to the mission, good judgment, and an appreciation and respect for the talents of others. Under the combined leadership of Tom and our President Sean Grace, Hawk Mountain will continue to shine as the world's leader in raptor conservation and education," Weil says.
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PA Audubon Council Recognizes DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn With Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award


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He co-owned Community Lumber Co. and Community Builders from 1950 to 1982. He worked for B-Dry and Gutter Helmet until his retirement.
He enjoyed fishing, hunting, golfing, boating on Carlyle Lake, playing cards, and was an avid bowler. He enjoyed watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball, and he played baseball for the Pierron "All Stars" in his youth.
He was a member of St. Paul Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus Council 1580 and Knight of Columbus Fourth Degree Assembly 231, all in Highland. He was also a member of the Highland Optimist Club(past president), Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge 2479 in Highland and Lee Iten American Legion Post 439 in Highland.
Survivors include daughters, Kay A. (Richard "Rick") Schuette of Highland, Jan M. ("Butch") Covili of Litchfield and Jeri L. (Jeff) Foehner of Highland; grandchildren, Jami L. (James) Miller of Highland, Jason R. Hemann of St. Louis, Mo., Thomas R. (significant other Melissa Crim) Schuette of St. Louis, Mo., Daniel G. Schuette of Highland, Briana R. (significant other Chad Henningfeld) Martin of Highland, Kayla M. Martin of Highland, Jenee E. (significant other Ryan Mitchel) Foehner of Highland and Maria A. Foehner of Lebanon; great-grandchildren, Connor J. Miller, Aubree C. Hemann and Braden J. Miller; sisters, Lenore "Toots" Windsor of St. Louis, Mo., and Dorothy M. "Dot" Kimberlin of Highland and a brother, Marcellus W. "Popeye" (Agnes) Korte of St. Rose.
He was also preceded in death by his father, who died in December 1955; his mother, who died on Dec. 20, 1991; a daughter, Judy Rose Korte, who died on Nov. 5, 1980 at age 21; brothers, Jerome Korte, who was killed in World War II on Dec. 7, 1944, Alfred J. "Al" Korte, who died on July 17, 1998, Joseph G. Korte, who died on Jan. 4, 2010, and Eugene B. "Gene" Korte, who died on Oct. 28, 2015; and a sister, Magdalen M. "Madge" Haenny, who died on Nov. 11, 2006.
Memorials may be made to the St. Paul School Educational Foundation, Highland Optimist Club or to the family to select a memorial later.
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Highland: Obituaries
Eugene Abert, 91
Eugene A. Abert, 91, of Highland died on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at University Nursing & Rehab Center in Edwardsville.
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Mildred Zeller, 88
Verna Ratermann, 82
Ada Marie Dubach, 93
Gayle Thole, 54
Grace Lanham, 83
Paul Uhring, 96


ProFi Fitness School is the biggest fitness education provider in Europe. We have branches in Ireland, Poland, Spain and UK.
One of our goal is to become leading global platform for professional fitness training by offering an exclusive opportunity to turn out to be a franchise owner.
ProFi Fitness School was formulated to offer comprehensive, dedicated professional courses in order to empower every individual, sport and fitness club, leisure centre, health club, wellness centre, community centre, business and employee to reach their full potential.
ProFi Fitness School provides the best education and knowledge in terms of Fitness Instructor, Gym Instructor as a Basic Certification, and Personal Trainer as a Professional Certification. We offer wide range of Continuing Professional Development with or without music, Continuing Professional Development theory, Advanced professional certification and VIP packages. We specialise in employee training helping your staff and company to succeed.
ProFi Fitness School courses are accredited by REPs Ireland, ACE and approved fitness industry standards of the European Health and Fitness Association.
ProFi Fitness School professional approach, years of experience supported by continual development of current industry trends and adjust out courses to guarantee a success in teaching and our students become highly employable.
All our courses are accredited by REPs Ireland and recognised worldwide through ICREPs. All our short courses are REPs accredited CPD points.
ProFi Fitness School is the only approved Nutrition Advisor provider in Ireland by ACE (American Council on Exercise) approved for 7.0 ACE CECs.


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Other | WI Software Co. Consolidates Duluth Offices, Plans Hires
WI Software Co. Consolidates Duluth Offices, Plans Hires
Milwaukee-based e-commerce and Web services provider looks to add staff as it consolidates its offices into a former Duluth car dealership.
After assuming Duluth-based 50 Below, Inc.'s retail division operations last year, ARI Network Services, Inc., is moving its approximately 135 Duluth employees from two offices into one 25,486-square-foot office downtown.
Milwaukee-based ARI—which provides e-commerce software and Web services to numerous industries—is consolidating its Duluth operations to accommodate additional website platform development, it said.
ARI spokeswoman Colleen Brousil told Twin Cities Business that consolidating the company's locations and moving its employees to one location also creates "a more engaging, team-driven atmosphere."
Brousil said that in addition to the cost of a five-year lease, the company has spent more than $450,000 to renovate a building that formerly housed a car dealership and furniture store for its new office space. The company, which has already consolidated down from four Duluth locations since last year, plans to move its Duluth operations to the new location in January.
ARI will have an additional 10,000 square feet compared to its current Duluth facilities and will be able to accommodate up to 200 employees at its new location, according to Brousil. She said the company is currently hiring but declined to disclose an exact number of how many new hires the company will be adding.
ARI purchased 50 Below's retail division assets in November 2012, following the e-commerce services provider's declaration of bankruptcy. The assets included websites in the powersports, automotive tire and wheel, medical, and marine markets. In addition to maintaining 50 Below's powersports accounts in Duluth, ARI moved its own powersports business to the city.
Since the acquisition of 50 Below's retail division assets, ARI said that of its five U.S. locations, its Duluth site has been a significant driver of the company's growth. ARI's revenue increased by 34 percent from $22.5 million last year to $30.1 million this year. According to the company, the acquisition "more than doubled the size of ARI's website business" and "made websites the company's largest source of revenue."
ARI currently employs 275 employees at its five U.S. locations in addition to an international team at its Leiden, Netherlands-based office.
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Header Background
Change Report
to pagetop
Snam Group
Snam's presence in Italy
Snam's pathway of growth in Europe
Scope of consolidation at 31 December 2014
Snam and the financial markets
Letter to the shareholders and stakeholders
Segments of operation
Pricing framework
Natural gas transportation
Operating review
Distribution on the national gas transportation network
Withdrawals of natural gas
LNG regasification
Natural gas storage
Business developments
Analysis of income statement items
Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
Net financial expense
Net income from equity investments
Reconciliation of the financial statements
Snam S.p.A. financial review
Risks and uncertainties
Rating risk
Debt covenant and default risk
Operating risk
Sector specific risks
Corporate governance and ownership structure
System and rules
The sustainability model
Health, safety, environment and quality
Technological innovation and research
Comprehensive income
Changes in shareholders' equity
Statement from management
Independent auditors' report
1 Basis of presentation
2 Consolidation principles
3 Measurement criteria
4 Financial statements
5 Use of estimates
6 Recently issued accounting standards
Current and non-current assets
7 Cash and cash equivalents
8 Trade and other receivables
9 Inventories
10 Current income tax assets/liabilities and other current tax assets/liabilities
11 Other current and non-current assets
12 Property, plant and equipment
13 Intangible assets
14 Equity-accounted investments
15 Assets held for sale and directly related liabilities
Current and non-current liabilities
16 Short-term financial liabilities, long-term financial liabilities and short-term portions of long-term financial liabilities
17 Trade and other payables
18 Other current and non-current liabilities
19 Provisions for risks and charges
20 Provisions for employee benefits
21 Deferred tax liabilities
22 Shareholders' equity
23 Business combinations
24 Guarantees, commitments and risks
Disputes and other measures
Other commitments and risks
25 Revenue
26 Operating costs
27 Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
28 Financial expense (income)
29 Income and (expense) from equity investments
30 Income taxes
31 Earnings per share
32 Information by business segment
33 Relationships with related parties
34 Significant non-recurring events and transactions
35 Positions or transactions deriving from atypical and/or unusual transactions
36 Post-balance sheet events
37 Publication of the financial statements
› Management report
› Sustainable development
›People and organisation
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2014 was characterised by both a major initiative to change the employment mix, and by the development and consolidation of systems and policies for leadership and performance orientation.
Under an agreement signed with the union organisations, at least 250 young people will be hired during the two-year period 2014-2015, compared with the departure in 2014, due to ordinary mobility or facilitated redundancy, of more than 5% of the workforce. One of the effects of this will be an important contribution to the containment of personnel costs. The initiative, which began in 2014, will continue to produce its effects over the coming years.
Hiring new young people not only tackles the progressive ageing of the workforce, but also refreshes the pool of skills, talent and motivation, which are decisive factors in the international scenario in which Snam competes.
Managerial action within Snam is based on the assignment of precise objectives to each position of responsibility and on transparent assessment of the results achieved, thus allowing constant improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of organisational processes. On this basis, a new model for the development of professional and managerial skills has been defined. Integrated with the new performance assessment system, this makes it possible to accelerate the individual development paths of staff members with reference to tomorrow's leadership, which has a strategic value for the development outlook of the business.
A major drive for the simplification and standardisation of organisational processes: the adoption of the Corporate System Framework in 2013 helped to rationalise business processes, procedures and systems.
The strong sense of belonging to the group, which has been highlighted by internal climate surveys, is an asset on which to build active and constructive participation in the processes of change, constantly improving communication and information-sharing.
Thus, a new compact takes shape between the business and its personnel: Snam undertakes to provide new opportunities for growth to those who offer their talent and skills, while its personnel undertake to treat change as an opportunity to acquire new skills and promote their own professional development. This is a cultural paradigm that will make Snam an ever more dynamic, open and competitive business.
At 31 December 2014, the Snam Group employed 6,072 people. The analysis by contractual category and company included in the scope of consolidation is shown in the following tables:
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PERSONNEL BY COMPANY
(number)
Snam S.p.A
Gasrule Insurance Ltd
Snam Rete Gas S.p.A
GNL Italia S.p.A
Italgas S.p.A
Napoletanagas S.p.A
Azienda Energia e Servizi Torino S.p.A.
Stogit S.p.A
PERSONNEL BY STATUS
Office workers
Manual workers
More specifically, the employment figures recorded during 2014 were as follows:
an increase of 398 people, of whom 185 were recruited from the market (40% university graduates and 60% with technical college diplomas) and 213 from Italgas and subsidiaries, due to the consolidation of A.E.S. (203) and new concessions acquired (10 people);
a reduction of 100 people, of whom 75 due to termination of employment and 25 for other departures from service.
Approximately 96% of Snam personnel have permanent employment contracts. The remaining 4% have apprenticeship contracts that, by law, are temporary (although historically, nearly all apprenticeship contracts have become permanent contracts at expiration, demonstrating the stability that Snam offers by providing lasting employment).
With respect to the group's distribution country-wide, 3,368 people are employed in the northern regions of Italy, 1,178 in the central regions and 1,525 in the south.
EMPLOYEES BY GEOGRAPHICAL AREA (NO.)
STATISTICAL DIVERSITY: EMPLOYEES BY AGE BRACKET (NO.)
Some 12.6% of the total staff are university graduates, while 52.4% have diploma qualifications; the average age of the people employed by the group fell compared with previous years, from just over 49 to below 48, while the average length of service was around 24 years, stable compared with the previous year.
It is also worth making a separate analysis of the proportion of women within the group.
Despite the typical characteristics of the business activity, which requires a particular technical training taken predominantly by men in the market, the proportion of women is increasing. Women accounted for approximately 20% of total hirings in 2014.
In the business as a whole, women account for around 11.1% of the entire workforce, and this figure has been rising steadily over the last three years. In 2014, with respect to the reference population for each category: 7.3% of executives and 12.8% of managers were women.
To this must be added the evident increase projected for the female population. Analyses carried out on the business population involved in the Leadership Development program show that the presence of women in top management positions is set to increase. The current ratio of women to men is 13%, but this figure will rise to 33.3% among the managers who take part in the programme and to 38.8% among the High Flyer participants.
To this analysis must be added the appointment in July 2014 of 4 new executives of the group, 50% of whom are women.
FEMALE PRESENCE (%)
FEMALE PRESENCE BY STATUS (%)
The principal organisational changes that occurred in 2014 can be summarised as follows:
continuing along the path of strategic development of the Snam Group as a European infrastructure operator, the Corporate departments were reorganised, with the creation in each department of a unit to coordinate their respective international activities. The first two departments to adapt to the new model were Planning, Administration, Finance and Control and Legal and Corporate Affairs and Compliance. The Foreign PAFC Planning, Control and Coordination unit and the Foreign Legal, Corporate and Compliance Coordination unit were established respectively within these departments, reporting directly to the Director;
in the Planning, Administration, Finance and Control Department, all Administration and Accounting activities – including those linked to the Corporate Reporting Internal Control System – were incorporated into a single department reporting to the Director, and the Accounting Standards Centre was created, with the main task of issuing interpretative guidelines in relation to the new legislative provisions for all departments involved in administration and accounting, at corporate level and for subsidiaries;
in the Legal and Corporate Affairs and Compliance Department, the Extraordinary Operations Italy Legal and Finance unit was created, with the aim of strengthening oversight in the Distribution area, and the Distribution Operations Legal Assistance unit was subdivided into two units handling the northern and southern areas respectively. In addition, within the Compliance Legal department, the Internal Control System unit was created to handle all matters relating to criminal law, corporate administrative liability, anti-corruption and the domestic legislative system in general;
within the HSEQ, Property and Facilities Management department, responsibilities relating to the construction of new buildings were incorporated into the Property Investments and Property Management unit, along with those relating to the maintenance of existing assets, with the aim of streamlining the processes linked between them.
During the year, there was a continuation of the "Convergence" project, which saw the participation of personnel from both Snam and Fluxys, with the aim of assessing the opportunities arising from the strategic alliance between the two companies.
Completing a project begun in 2013, a captive insurance company, Gasrule Ltd, was created in Ireland as a wholly owned subsidiary of Snam, with the aim of ensuring more efficient risk management for the group. The project concerned the design of the Company's organisational structure and the definition of the related processes, and made it necessary to adapt the insurance management procedures of Snam and the companies of the group.
In the area of transportation activities, the new organisational structure was consolidated by defining and strengthening operating mechanisms for optimising the various processes involved in Operations, Commercial Development and Government Relations. With reference to these functions, the following points are of note:
the development of the new IT solution for managing the commercial processes of gas Scheduling and Balancing, in line with the new requirements imposed by the constant changes in the regulatory and business scenario;
in the area of Operations, (i) the operational implementation of the organisational restructuring of technical activities, including through changes to the current manual worker professional roles and the introduction of more advanced technological tools for the management of activities relating to gas pipelines and compression and metering stations; (ii) provision of the necessary support for developing overseas transportation activities; and (iii) continuation of the trial that provides for commencement of the working activities of manual workers leaving home without passing through their working bases;
the review of procurement and logistics processes and the development of new operating models, with reference to the automation of certain activities at the Codogno storage facility and traceability;
the start of the "ISO 9001 quality certification" project, aimed at extending the related certification to the entire Company, which requires, inter alia, adaptation of the regulatory system of Snam Rete Gas.
In the course of 2014, within the scope of storage activities, organisational changes took place as summarised below:
in the area of Operations, the organisational and operational model was implemented, relating to the imminent separation of the services hitherto provided by eni Exploration & Production for the static and dynamic modelling of deposits and the drilling and renewal of wells; in particular, to ensure the transition to the new organisational and operational model, internal oversight was strengthened in terms of specialised resources and skills, and scheduled initiatives for the training of personnel and the qualification of new suppliers for the acquisition of the relevant services are close to completion;
in storage and logistics activities, a centralised management procedure was launched for certain materials management processes, similar to the model already developed by the group, such as the management of materials registers, testing, materials planning, transport and management activities.
In the regasification segment, the organisational and regulatory system was strengthened, with a more in-depth examination, in particular, of the plant operating and maintenance processes, including through the issuance of dedicated operating instructions.
On the other hand, in the scope of distribution, in 2014 the following are of particular note:
in relation to Italgas and Napoletanagas, work continued on technical and functional analysis and development and production of the technical solution identified for the technological upgrade of the group's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (the final go-live is scheduled for January 2016);
activities aimed at the progressive standardisation of processes and organisational structures also continued. In relation to Italgas, the Gas Distribution Rome unit assumed an organisational structure consistent with that of the Districts, with a consequent adaptation of the IT systems supporting the processes concerned. In relation to Napoletanagas, the processes involved in storage management, materials transfer management and the delivery of materials to operational teams were brought into line with the group model;
a project was launched with the aim of progressively bringing the processes and systems of A.E.S. into line with the model and services of Italgas;
the merger by incorporation into Italgas of Metano Arcore and the integration of the Municipality of Paderno Dugnano following the tender award made it necessary to implement a project to update the operational and organisational procedures for the management of gas distribution activities and the integration of resources and assets within Italgas, with a consequent upgrading of the IT systems;
with reference to Napoletanagas, the OONN Sector Accreditation Committee of Accredia resolved, on 27 October 2014, to accredit the Company for the periodic inspection of volume conversion devices associated with gas meters (Type 1) in accordance with the provisions of Ministerial Decree 75/2012, and accordingly provided for the creation of the Inspection Body organisational unit and the definition of procedures for the management of these activities.
With reference to the group Regulatory System, there was a continuation of the review project begun with the publication in 2013 of the Corporate System Framework. In this context, the Management System Guidelines issued by eni and adopted by Snam were all repealed, and their content was inserted into the group operating procedures and instructions. Work also began during the year on the project to overhaul the documentation system that contains the group regulations, with the aim of making it easier and quicker to consult documents.
Involvement and participation initiatives
Snam believes that communication plays a key role in promoting the participation and involvement of its staff in growth and in the development of their respective business activities.
Communication directed at group personnel is not just a transmission medium, but should also be an "agent of change" affecting values, suggesting new viewpoints, contributing to change in the corporate culture and stimulating new forms of behaviour.
Special attention was paid to the instrument panel used for communicating, with the launch of an organic plan of changes whose main features are as follows: content more appropriate to the needs expressed by staff, a more direct style of communication, more space devoted to staff and life within the company, greater use of video for sharing experiences, initiatives and company events, more space for welfare initiatives, and "listening" with surveys on specific issues.
A few examples of the channels and tools used by Snam to share values, challenges, goals and projects are the company intranet, the "Saperne di+" ("Learn more about it") initiative, the circulation of newsletters, brochures and other paper products, and the now firmly established annual meetings with executive staff: an opportunity to reflect on the most significant moments in the activities of the business in order to ensure adequate information and a constant sense of involvement and responsibility with regard to company strategies and objectives.
In 2014 the intranet portal was the favoured channel for disseminating a new way of communicating: the home page became the space for headline news, highlighted issues, launches of company initiatives and pop-ups; new features were introduced into the portal, such as galleries with videos and photos to provide immediate and graphic information about company experiences and events.
With the aim of creating a "new intranet", a dedicated working group was set up to respond to the needs expressed by staff and to support change, so that the portal can become the main point of contact with the company and carry its identity. The new portal will be completed and usable during 2015.
Development and consolidation of the system of professional skills, in tune with trends in the environment in which the business operates, are an integral part of the personnel development process.
Training is an essential element for enriching the employment opportunities of personnel and for supporting the processes of organisational integration and change management.
In 2014, more than 174,900 hours of training were provided in total (amounting to 28.8 average hours per employee) to 17,043 participants.
TRAINING BY POSITION
(hours)
The proportion of Company personnel involved in training initiatives was 93.2%, a sure sign of the continual and all-encompassing commitment to update and develop the knowledge of all personnel.
During the course of the year, the Forma(re)ti project, launched in the previous year, was completed. The training programme, shared with Terna, gave a group of executives and managers from the various companies an important opportunity to compare notes on business issues of common interest.
With a view to greater openness to the international context, Snam pursued its commitment to language training courses with the relaunch of the Energienglish Project, which offered all Snam personnel the opportunity to take an online English course provided by EF Corporate Language Learning Solutions. The Company also offers other dedicated courses for those who need advanced language skills.
Snam is at pains to emphasise the strategic value of leadership, a necessity that is becoming increasingly pressing, especially when operating in a European market.
With this in mind, the "Leadership Development Programme" was launched: this is a management development course aimed at accelerating the development paths of around 200 people selected from among executives, managers and younger employees. In support of this project, a structured programme of initiatives was prepared, using a variety of levers including training, individual mentorship provided by executives, compensation and deferred incentive plans for managers.
The "Young Graduates in Engineering" project was also launched. As well as helping to replenish the mix of resources, this aims to prepare young engineers for taking on responsible roles by means of a specific professional and training path. This path involves, for a period of three years, changes of activities, objectives and the type and place of work, as well as a structured training programme in the various areas (financial/business, behavioural and professional).
Snam's corporate welfare system is a carefully structured group of instruments and services that aims to provide employees with a better work/life balance and, more generally, a better working experience.
The more traditional and established components of the corporate welfare system are as follows: supplementary insurance against workplace and non-work-related accidents, supplementary healthcare assistance covering public and private healthcare and hospital expenses, and supplementary pension funds, which in most cases are topped up by employer contributions.
In addition to these benefits, there are initiatives and services for people in the following major areas: family, health and well-being, time and space, savings and relationships.
With the aim of offering a range of services and initiatives increasingly in line with employees' expectations, the welfare services study, which began in 2013, was completed. This involved the following measures: an analysis of the Company's workforce and identification of needs, with an assessment of the services currently provided and the creation of a map of priorities; a refinement of the map with direct involvement and feedback from staff through special focus groups, with the aim of identifying the need for implementation of new services; and an in-depth investigation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the existing services, resulting in a proposal for a new and enlarged "welfare package".
With regard to "sustainable mobility", this year saw the first implementation within Snam of the "Home-Work Commuting Plans" at the San Donato/Milan, Turin, Rome and Naples sites, with the aim of identifying and taking action to improve the quality of employees' commuting journeys.
The relevant national collective labour agreements (the energy and oil contract for the transportation, storage and regasification segments and the gas/water contract for the distribution segment) apply to all Snam workers.
Snam guarantees all workers the right to express their thoughts freely, to join associations and to engage in trade union activities. At the end of 2014, 49.5% of employees were members of a union.
Union activities can be held in appropriate meeting places, and employees are given special time off in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force and the applicable sector trade union agreement.
For the issues that concern them, all employees can refer to the Unitary Representation Bodies (RSUs), which are periodically renewed through elections.
During 2014, 130 meetings were held with the trade union organisations; a high number of meetings, at both national and local level, is a feature of the relationship between Snam and these organisations.
The negotiations paved the way for the use of a participatory model across all levels, as agreed in the new Industrial Relations Protocol signed by the parties on 17 October 2013. This agreement represents the reference instrument for strengthening a relationship model capable of allowing the development of further tools for promoting a participatory culture among employees.
In accordance with the rationale behind the industrial relations aimed at strengthening Level Two negotiations, the Parties agreed on the 2014-2016 performance-related pay structure for all group companies. The negotiations, which involved the trade union organisations at all levels, were aimed at establishing the correlation between salary components and competitive business performance, by defining profit-sharing models.
During the course of the year, action was also taken on the basis of the provisions agreed in the Employment Protocol signed in October 2013; in January 2014, for all group companies, the mobility agreement pursuant to Articles 4 and 24 of Law No. 223/91 was signed. In addition, with the aim of enhancing dialogue between the parties, a group mobility Verification and Control Committee was established, consisting of representatives from Snam's Industrial Relations department, the national secretariats of the trade unions for the energy, oil, gas and water sectors, and the regional RSUs/trade union bodies. Periodic meetings of the Committee were held, throughout the entire duration of the mobility procedure, in order to monitor the implementation of the system and of the agreements reached, with particular reference to the implementation of the employment plan provided for in the above-mentioned Protocol. Specifically, work is currently under way to define the plan for the recruitment of resources in the group's various operating units, according to the departures that take place under the mobility procedure.
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text:
Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive announce co-headlining 2019 US tour
Metalcore bands Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive recently announced that they will be going out on a co-headlining tour of the U.S. in spring of 2019.
The two bands have been touring together is Parkway Drive's native Australia and they liked it so much, they want to continue on with their journey on a tour dubbed the 'Collapse of the World Tour.' The bands will trade off nights that they will be closing so no two shows will be exactly the same. In between show dates, they will also be performing at a number of festivals including Houston's So What?! Music Fest and the Ufest in Mesa, Arizona. They will also be joined on a number of stops by After the Burial.
"This co-headlining tour with Killswitch Engage is a landmark for Parkway Drive in North America," said Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall in a statement. "Having smashed our way across the land for over a decade now, it is a humbling and defining moment to be sharing this slot with true heavy metal icons and personal heroes. We have always aimed to maintain the highest standard of energy, connection and entertainment at our shows, a standard that has been set and maintained by KSE their entire career. The concept of how epic this tour will be is mind blowing to me. Bring on the insanity!"
Killswitch Engage singer Jesse Leach also commented, "After having the pleasure of destroying stages all over Australia with the Parkway guys just over a month ago, we couldn't be more stoked to share the stage with them once again, this time in the States. Parkway Drive puts on an incredible live show and we are excited to combine forces and bring the energy every night to a town near you."
Parkway Drive will continue to support their most recent album, Reverence which was released this past May. The album hit #1 on the album charts in Australia and was in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart. Earlier in 2018, Killswitch Engage dropped the news that they were signing to Metal Blade Records, with plans to release a new album in 2019. Though a release date has yet to be announced, the band's social media posts have indicated that they are tracking almost two dozen songs and will eventually narrow those down for the tracklist of the upcoming album.
Killswitch Engage/Parkway Drive "Collapse The World Tour" Dates:
04/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre *
04/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium #
04/20 – Mesa, AZ – 98 KUPD @ Ufest ^
04/22 – Colorado Springs, CO @ City Auditorium #
04/23 – Wichita, KS @ Cotillion Ballroom *
04/24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom #
04/26 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom *
04/27 – Austin, TX @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater #
04/28 – Houston, TX @ So What?! Music Festival ^
04/30 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater #
05/01 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre *
05/04 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle #
05/05 – Nashville, TN @ War Memorial Auditorium *
05/07 – Niagara Falls, NY @ The Rapids Theatre #
05/09 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *
05/10 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall *
05/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall (Outdoors) #
05/12 – Rockingham, NC @ Epicenter ^^
05/12 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues **
05/14 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring *
05/15 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit #
05/16 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Club Stage *
05/17-19 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple ^
* = Killswitch Engage closes show
# = Parkway Drive closes show
^ = Festival – Both Bands performing
^^ = Festival – Killswitch Engage only
** = Parkway Drive only
Tags: 2019After the BurialAtlantaAustraliaDallasDiscount TicketsHoustonKillswitch EngageMetal Blade RecordsmetalcoreParkway DriveSoWhat?! Music FestivalTicketsUfest
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Next story Trey Anastasio Announces New Group and 2019 Tour Dates
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text:
An empirical investigation of gist helpfulness in online reviews
Sanjay Bhāle
Indira Institute of Management, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), India,
Ketan Tongare
Vishwakarma Institute of Management, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), India,
JBRMR , Volume 13 Issue 02, 01 Dec 2018
Sanjay Bhāle; Ketan Tongare; An empirical investigation of gist helpfulness in online reviews, JBRMR , Volume 13 Issue 02, 07 Dec 2018
e-commerce; gist helpfulness; online review; online recommendations; purchase behaviors
The online-purchase trends suggest that consumers' online reviews have become very important for customers and the sellers in purchase decisions and product sales respectively. Although the significance of online reviews has been examined, there are research gaps in studies on how to make title of online reviews helpful. The paper explores the traits that influence the formation of title of online reviews.
The study proposes gist helpfulness for the title of online reviews adopting elements such as online recommendation, online reviewer, and online review timeline, online review indicator. Our analysis of data from survey of 528 customers shows that daily use of internet positively influences gist helpfulness. The analysis was conducted through binary logistic regression. It is found that review depth and online reading experience have significance over gist helpfulness. The approach in this study is empirical where it attempts to improvise selection of reading reviews based on titles. The scope of the study is as such that it can be adopted by online companies to upgrade the current online review system and enrich customer experience to maintain relationship with their users. Besides, this paper aims to develop a normative model considering important strategic issues to develop an insight related to consumer reviews.
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9. Appendix A: Categorical Variables Coding
Parameter coding
Hours daily
Less than 1 hour (Reference group)
Hours daily (1)
online review reading
No reviews (Reference group)
online review reading (1)
1- 3 reviews
4-7 reviews
7-10 reviews
more than 10 reviews
Access medium
PC (Reference group)
Access medium (1)
review_indepth
No (Reference group)
review_indepth (1)
Access place
At home (Reference group)
Access place (1)
photos_inreview
photos_inreview (1)
Linking expectations and culture at links of London
The Role of Price as a Determining Factor in Grocery Retail Store Patronage
Exploring digital marketing resources, capabilities and market performance of small to medium agro-processors. A conceptual model
The relationship between internal marketing and employee job satisfaction: A study from retail shops in Bangladesh
The impact of social media brand communication on consumer-based brand equity dimensions through Facebook in fast moving consumer goods: The case of Egypt
Consumer Decision-Making Styles: Relationships with Consumer Alienation


A Canadian energy producer's latest effort to build a wind farm on the Great Lakes is one of several projects industry officials say is spurring interest in the concept.
The Great Lakes basin serves as a prime location for offshore power facilities because of high wind volumes and space, industry leaders said, which has some south Wood County business leaders poised to take advantage of what they call an invaluable resource.
"It costs a lot more to construct a tower in the water than it does on land, but when you put wind turbines on land, they're set away from cities, so you need transmission lines," said Jenny Heinzen, a wind-energy technology instructor at Lakeland Technical College. "What you're spending in construction is far less than what you'd spend in transmission costs."
Toronto-based Trillium Power Wind Corp. is gearing up for its planned 710-megawatt offshore wind facility in the middle of Lake Ontario that would power at least 300,000 homes a year in the Canadian province, according to a news release the company issued Thursday.
Its project, which also has connections to Denmark-based wind-energy component producer Vestas Wind Systems, is just one of many recent events the top executive of a Wisconsin Rapids-based manufacturer says further support the company's plans to build what officials now say is a 535,000-square-foot $70 million wind turbine blade plant in the Rapids East Commerce Center.
"The market has validated our conversation," said Sam Fairchild, chief executive officer of Energy Composites, which launched a Great Lakes Consortium in August to help promote the Great Lakes region within the wind-energy industry.


Ra:IN interview after Japan Expo | JaME U.S.A.
PATA's band, Ra:IN gave us an interview on the morning after their concert.
On Monday July 7th, we met with the two members of Ra:IN, michiaki (ex-LOUDNESS, The Toys) and PATA, (X JAPAN), in their hotel for a lengthy interview a few hours before their autograph session at the Harajuku shop. The interview took place the day after a much-enjoyed performance at Japan Expo 2008 and, with a relaxed attitude and in a good mood, we had a pleasant discussion about the band's career and their new album, METAL BOX.
Hello, could you please introduce Ra:IN?
PATA & michiaki: Ra:IN is a band of idiots (laugh).
What did you think of Sunday's showcase at Japan Expo?
michiaki: We really enjoyed the concert on Sunday.
Did you expect anything special from this concert?
michiaki: We were surprised because we didn't expect to see so many people. We loved how welcoming the public were and their reaction to us. Too bad it was only the two of us from the band.
On that topic, wasn't it too hard to play without the other members? Were you pleased with the result?
Michiaki: Yes, it wasn't easy, it was the first time we played in these without D.I.E. and Tetsu, but we're pretty happy with the result as there weren't any problems during the show (laughs).
The introduction music that we heard yesterday was pretty soothing and calm. Is this a way to help the audience to get into your music?
michiaki: Yes, being Japanese, we like Asian sounds so we use them to get the audience in the mood at the beginning of each live.
Are you planning to come back to France soon with the entire band?
PATA: As a matter of fact, yesterday (Note: Sunday, July 6, 2008) we had planned to come with the entire band but it couldn't be done due to a few problems. We also had other offers but they didn't fit in with our schedule. So it was only possible to the performance with the two of us yesterday evening.
michiaki: But we plan to come back with the whole band very soon.
michiaki: We don't know yet but we'd like to come back as soon as possible (laughs).
Would you be tempted to perform concerts in the United States or other countries?
michiaki: Yes, anywhere would be good.
The new album, METAL BOX, introduced a new member, D.I.E., how did it go recording with him?
michiaki: We've known him for years and he was already a session member on the previous album, so there weren't any problems.
Did he, once he was part of the band for good, change your way of seeing and conceiving music? If so, was it to a heavier or more melodic style?
michiaki: Yes, he brought some changes to our way of seeing music. There is now a more electronic feel in our sound.
In METAL BOX, there are more solos than before and they're really impressive. Is it part of the evolution of Ra:IN to offer more and more solos?
By the way, speaking of solos, michiaki, in yesterday's live, you did a bass solo. That's something we seldom hear from Japanese bands coming to Europe. Why did you decide to play this solo? Where you trying to convey something special when you played it?
Your three albums are really different- METAL BOX stays true to its name. Did you have the idea that you wanted to play in a more fierce way or did it just turn out that way while playing together in the studio?
michiaki: For the first album, it was just a meeting of three session members who wanted to play together without any particular idea, as a "primitive" band. From the beginning, we played without knowing what the sound for the next album will be. It just comes together while we're playing.
Speaking of compositions, how do you organize yourselves to create your music?
michiaki: It depends on the songs. There are songs that we write together by bringing our ideas and improvising the rest. Other times, one of the members will bring a completed song and show it to the rest of us.
Singing is becoming more and more prominent in Ra:IN's songs. Do you eventually want to make an album where there will be singing in all the songs?
michiaki: It's true that there is more singing on our last album. We wanted to make that change.
But are you looking for a singer or will you recruit one if given the opportunity?
michiaki: you write and sing on several songs on the album. What are your favourite themes? What do you like to sing about in your lyrics?
michiaki: I write mostly about abstract topics. The people who listen to these songs can interpret these lyrics in their own way.
When we see your band, we feel that the Japanese heavy metal scene is kind of like a big family. Like when we see PATA was featured in the movie Attitude, is it like that outside of that scene?
Currently, what are your favourite bands?
Except for Ra:IN what albums are you listening to at the moment?
Michiaki: I listen to a lot to rock and Indian-like ethnic music.
What have you done in Paris since you arrived and what do you plan to do?
Michiaki: First we'll have a rest, then we plan to visit Paris as soon as we have some spare time.
PATA, you said on your guitar DVD that you started to learn your instrument by playing Queen songs, but then you stopped playing when you tried to play the solos. Can you play them now?
But you still listen to Queen?
And what do you think of their comeback?
PATA: I saw them live and I'm a great fan of Paul Rodgers (Note: Paul Rodgers is the singer of the bands FREE and Bad Company, and currently singing with Queen).
What did you think of the French audience during your concert?
michiaki: We were really surprised by the audience! (laughs) Last time we came here, we had felt a split between the different parts of the audience, the Japanese and European audiences. Yet this time we really appreciated the community and the mood of all the people attending.
What was the difference you felt before that wasn't there this time?
michiaki: We've been very pleased with the mood that has been created and are happy that we were received with a lot of joy and cheerful behaviour (laughs). In 2005, we played with apprehension. We didn't know what kind of welcome we would get, and this time we've been very well received. I think it's still very hard to explain the differences between the two audiences we've had.
Is working with other artists something you want to do if the opportunity arises or do you just want to play together?
Do you have anything to say to your fans and to our readers?
PATA: (thinks hard) We hope to come back to France soon!
michiaki and PATA: Thanks a lot!
JaME would like to thank Nicolas from Paris Visual Prod, Yumi for translating and Ra:IN for their kindness and availability.
The pictures are from their concert on the 6th of July at Japan Expo.


Snacks and tea will be provided. Not able to read the full book? Not a problem! About a week before the event, we'll send a supplemental article (a shorter read related to the book theme, so all can participate meaningfully in the discussion) to everyone who is RSVPed to book club.
Meeting location — Since we typically meet in private homes, we'll announce location via email to all registrants (so be sure to get your ticket early!). We select homes within the greater Seacoast area.
The ticket price helps us cover refreshments and other costs for the host and organizers. Proceeds are split with Feminist Oasis, our facilitator and the month's host. Feminist Oasis members: Use your discount code at registration to get your discount on tickets!
All genders are welcome! Feminist Oasis members, remember to use your discount code for this event!