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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would like $215,000 from the county to hire two multimedia specialists and get the technology to "be an advocate for our message."

LaTarzja Henry, head of communications for CMS, told the school board this afternoon that CMS families and the public want more webstreaming, videos and digital communication. She said providing better, faster information will help the district win trust.

"We do not want to find ourselves dependent on external media to tell our story," she said.

The $215,000 proposal includes $180,000 for two multimedia specialists and $35,000 for licensing and technology.

The board is not yet voting on 2012-13 budget proposals being presented by interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh and his staff. Board member Eric Davis asked Henry what the long-term vision for CMS communication is.

She said she wants to be able to deliver "customized communication" for CMS departments and have staff covering news, shooting videos, producing web content and analyzing what people are saying about CMS.

"What that translates to is purely more people," Henry said. "We absolutely owe it to this community to give them access to events as they happen."

The communications department now has a staff of 11 -- down from a high of 27, Henry said -- and a budget of roughly $1 million, including almost $400,000 for the ConnectEd system that makes calls to CMS families. This year's total operating budget for CMS is about $1.2 billion.

In earlier budget meetings, Hattabaugh has outlined more than $30 million in additional requests for county money, including $25 million to $30 million to provide 3 percent across-the-board raises for more than 18,000 CMS employees. Harold Cogdell, chairman of the Mecklenburg County commissioners, has said he will not support that request and doesn't believe a majority of his board will approve it.

Hattabaugh defended that proposal today, saying employees deserve a raise. He said CMS leaders have cut $193 million and almost 2,000 jobs over the past three years.

"We kept our highest performers as we went through this process," he said.

For 2012-13 Hattabaugh has also outlined plans to spend $4.4 million in new county money hiring more teachers and technology facilitators for high schools, and just over $1 million to expand Communities in Schools and truancy courts.

On Feb. 28, Hattabaugh plans to outline proposed cuts to offset some of the increased spending. Enrollment is expected to grow by about 1,900 students next year.

In April, the board will vote on a budget request to present to county commissioners. The state and federal governments provide more than two-thirds of CMS' budget, but local officials have little control over that spending.

It will fall to a new superintendent to put whatever budget is approved into practice. The board is doing a national search and hopes to hire someone as early as March.

More:
CMS seeks money to spread digital message

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

In a large-scale survey that included over 60,000 North American local media users, Triton Digital’s Application & Services division found a substantial untapped opportunity for daily deal programs like those offered by Groupon and Living Social. Additionally, the survey found the assertion that consumers are experiencing “deal fatigue” is overstated.

In the survey, the general consensus was that consumers are taking a tentative approach toward daily deals. When asked about participation in deal programs, 39% have never subscribed to a deal program. However, of those consumers that have participated in deal programs:

28.4% glance at a deal to decide on their interest 19.6% read the entire deal email Less than 17% of respondents had given up on deals 10.2% subscribe but consider deals spam and delete them Just 6.4% have completely unsubscribed from deal emails.

“With all the media attention, a plethora of deal providers, and inboxes brimming with deals, the expectation that consumers would be tired of deals or that the category has reached maturity is clearly false,” explained Triton VP of Business Strategy, Jim Kerr. “A large majority of consumers either haven’t yet participated or are actively participating in deal programs.”

The survey dug deeper into those with negative attitudes and found that the largest issue was with the volume of email, with 30.8% stating, “I dislike them cluttering my email, but that’s the price you pay for the occasional chance to save money”. Only 18.2% found the entire concept worthless, agreeing with the statement, “I hate the whole idea. The emails are spam, and the deals are for things I would never buy.”

Another interesting finding is that deals can be used as a viable customer acquisition tool. Over 50% of respondents would consider trying something they had only passing interest in if the price was low enough. Furthermore, 26.4% of respondents have actively shared a deal with a friend they thought would like it.

The full results of this and other Triton surveys can be found at: http://tritondigital.com/products-services/db-loyalty-engagement/immediate-insights

“As the premier provider of user database programs to local media, the ability for Triton to survey and examine consumers across North America is extraordinary,” said Triton SVP of Engagement, Michael Fischer. “This survey is one in a series that we are releasing which examine the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of millions of people.”

About Triton Digital

Triton Digital is the leading digital service provider to traditional and online radio with a rapidly expanding roster of media clients emerging from the television and print space. Our infrastructure, applications, and innovation are powering digital audience and revenue growth for clients around the globe. Our platform makes digital content extensible, personal, social, and profitable. Triton Digital is a portfolio company of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., a leading global investment management firm.

Read more:
Triton Digital Daily Deal Survey Finds Lots of Opportunity, “Deal Fatigue” A Myth

Mark Twain supporters, attraction operators and collectors across the country are hoping to receive a huge gift in 2016.
That’s when a commemorative coin honoring the great American author would be distributed in limited quantities of silver and gold will be produced and sold.
But there’s work getting done now to secure the celebrations four years from now. The coin would be produced by the U.S. Mint and the bill giving the department the go-ahead to do the work has to be signed by the president.
The bill has 297 signatures (it only needs 290) in the U.S. House of Representatives thanks to big pushes by Missouri’s Blaine Leutkemeyer and Connecticut’s John Larson, now it’s a matter of moving everything along so there can be talk on the congressional floor so the bill can proceed to the Senate and eventually President Barack Obama.
“The bill would normally start in the sub-committee that’s chaired by Ron Paul and because he’s out on the (presidential) campaign trail, we are going to try and have to skip over that committee and go directly to the full committee for the markup and get the bill out that way,” Leutkemeyer said Monday afternoon. “That’s our next hurdle we have to overcome, shouldn’t be a difficult process because Mr. Paul’s not going to be there, and it’s not that unusual to be able to do that.”
Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill already support the bill along with senate members from states where there are Twain attractions; New York, Connecticut and California. Included in that mix is former vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, a Senator from Connecticut.
“This coin is a budget neutral bill and what will happen is collectors buy these coins — they mint a limited quantity of silver and gold coins each year to different themes and then those coins are sold to collectors,” Cindy Lovell, executive director of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, said. “The proceeds from this will be divided equally among the four Mark Twain sites. This has the potential to yield quite a bit of money for the museum.”
In fact the commemorative Mark Twain coin could bring in an estimated $1 million to the museum. The funds would go toward restoring the historic Grant’s Drug Store.
“It needs total restoration, and that’s a million dollars waiting to be spent. We do not have a million dollars sitting around here, so if we could keep that building in good shape and hold it together, keep our regular maintenance on it, come 2016 we could count on those funds and we could jump in there and get that restored,” Lovell said. “If a miracle hasn’t occurred in the meantime to provide those funds.”
There is an urgency to get this bill passed as quickly as possible and sent to the president’s desk. This is the third attempt in honoring Mark Twain with a commemorative coin and since this is an election year, not only the president, but a number of other politicians supporting the bill, could be voted out of office by November.
“It’s a bi-partisan effort. It’s not a controversial piece of legislation. It’s a suspension-type bill that often times leadership is looking for to be able to have extra votes on the floor and they need suspension bills to do that. It’s just a matter of getting through the process now,” Leutkemeyer said. “Hopefully by late spring, early summer, we’ll be able to get the bill through the House and to the Senate so they can get to work on it.”

Read more from the original source:
Pushing the Bill: Twain coin could benefit museum

14 February 2012

The Isle of Man's Office of Fair Trading is proposing to increase the maximum award limit under the Isle of Man Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme from GBP100,000 to GBP150,000.

If adopted, the new limit would apply where an act or omission which gives rise to a complaint occurs on or after April 1, 2012.

The Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme is a free, independent dispute resolution service for customers with a complaint against a financial service provider operating in or from the Isle of Man. It became fully operational in January 2002 and is now established under Schedule 4 of the Financial Services Act 2008.

Those in receipt of financial services can bring a complaint if, in the course of receiving financial services, the firm involved caused losses (including material distress or inconvenience) through maladministration or negligence. For the purposes of the scheme, financial services include insurance, investments, banking, mortgages and credit as well as pension and other financial advice. The Pensions Ombudsman covers complaints about the administration and running of personal and occupational pension schemes.

The current maximum award limit of GBP100,000 has remained unchanged since the Scheme was established in 2002. This limit has decreased in real terms as increasing the amount in line with inflation since January 2002 would see it set at approximately GBP146,000.

The UK?s Financial Ombudsman Service increased its maximum award limit to ?150,000 on 1st January 2012. In addition, the proposed financial ombudsman for Jersey and Guernsey is also expected to adopt this figure.

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IoM Consults On Ombudsman Scheme Changes