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Archie Fraser says it is not a new concept for a structure appointed by the club owners to manage and run the professional league in a country. Photo: Darren Pateman

THE prospect of a breakaway A-League competition managed and run by the owners of the existing clubs is not as fanciful as the FFA might think.

After years of significant losses, some as much as $6 million each year by individual club owners, and A-League annual accumulated losses in excess of $28 million, understandably owners are running out of patience. For now it's all about control by the FFA and the fear that it might lose something, even though by holding on to the A-League it will eventually kill it off.

It is not a new concept for a structure appointed by the club owners to manage and run the professional league in a country.

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After all, the English Premier League was founded on the same premise, where the clubs took over the running of the old League Division 1 from the Football League to form the EPL.

When it was formed the English FA cried foul. However, the results since control passed from the bureaucrats to the owners have been spectacular.

Many question the ability of a governing body to run all aspects of the game and the conflicting priorities they face when the responsibility stretches from junior game development through to World Cup campaigns and the compliance that is required by the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA.

The owners have been more than patient and the FFA must step back and allow this to happen so it can focus on what it is good at - running our national teams and game development.

FFA should keep the media rights to Socceroos games and any sponsorships it can derive.

A breakaway league would need to be sanctioned by the AFC, which is the body to which the FFA reports. Or the FFA could support the new league and the structure, just as the English FA did. If the owners of the A-League clubs want to make this a reality, then they will have to call the FFA's bluff.

My reading of the 10 A-League club owners is that there could be more than half who would like to be part of a structure that allowed them to be driving their own destiny. This group certainly has the business talent and money to make this a success.

Clearly the test is the past and what the FFA has achieved. There has been some progress but the financial plight of the governing body and the clubs is well documented and it does not read well. Sponsors and media will judge how the FFA manages the game and the current crisis, which ultimately affects the total value of the A-League brand.

With a TV and new media deal being integral to the future of the A-League, owners want to know they are getting the best possible result for their product.

They are concerned that based on a string of failed ventures and an inability by the FFA to deliver substantial added value to the A-League brand there will be less on the table when the media offers start rolling in.

The owners believe - and rightly so - that the revenues derived from the A-League through sponsorship and media rights would be more than enough to manage, promote, market and expand the game if the total value of these were applied directly to the A-League.

Long term this would be an outstanding investment for the owners: the A-League brand would grow and the media rights would become increasingly valuable.

Sponsors would flock to a new entity, owners would invest in building their clubs and they would infuse themselves further into the communities, all of which would deliver a larger audience that is starved of free-to-air viewing.

The A-League ownership group has significant intellect, money and desire. When it's your reputation and money on the line you look at things differently.

The new A-League with a new media deal, expansion plans, marquee players, professional referees and a developing brand profile would be a true competitor to the other codes.

The owners are asking for the opportunity to invest more money, be allowed to actually drive the business model and to be in charge of their own destiny.

Just as the Crawford report suggested.

Archie Fraser was head of the A-League in 2009-10.

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Owners must take control of A-League

The beauty of the current birth-control conversation for Democrats is that they not only have public opinion on their side but also have cannily managed to make contraception a front-burner election-year campaign issue — by complaining that Republicans are making it front-burner election-year campaign issue.

The answer, in other words, to the many who are wondering why the Republicans would want to ride such a losing pony is: They don’t.

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“No one is making birth control a topic,” Rick Santorum’s long-time media consultant and friend John Brabender told me. “It’s not an agenda that anyone’s running on. But it’s a distortion that works to [the other side’s] benefit to imply we’re for limiting access to birth control.’’

The narrative that it’s conservatives who won’t stop talking about pills, gels and contraceptive foam is probably set in stone at this point; a story in today’s Washington Post reports that contraception has “suddenly become an obsession of the 2012 presidential campaign. To many observers, it seems that the clock has indeed been turned back.”

The first two such observers quoted in the piece are leaders of the contraception lobby, whose job is to monetize real and perceived attacks, exactly as their counterparts on the right do: “As Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, said incredulously on Saturday during a rally in Austin: “Somehow in this country, in 2012, this election might turn on whether women should have access to birth control.’ ”

Incredulously, or hopefully? It’s Democrats like Richards who keep saying this is what the election will turn on. Which is smart, if you are Cecile Richards, because for any campaign or cause these days, outrage is oxygen. (See Komen vs. Planned Parenthood.) And if the election does turn on contraception, her team wins.

When I looked back at a tape of what Republicans have been saying on the topic, what’s striking is how reluctant they are to go there.

Yes, even including Santorum’s 71-year-old bankroller, Foster Friess, whose assets may until now have buffered him from the news that his jokes need work.

But when he recycled a fragment of an (at least) 50-year-old funny about an aspirin held between the knees being all the birth control a nice girl needs, it was in response to Andrea Mitchell’s question about whether he was concerned that Santorum’s views on birth control and women in combat roles could hurt his viability as a candidate.

His first response was to deflect the question: “I get such a chuckle when these things come out. Here we have millions of our fellow Americans unemployed, we have jihadist camps being set up in Latin America, which Rick has been warning about, and people seem to be so preoccupied with sex!”

The aspirin inanity that followed has been successfully cast as his candidate’s “agenda,” mainly through the efforts of Democratic fundraisers: “We’ve already accumulated 65,000 signatures on our petition opposing their Aspirin Agenda,” Sen. Patty Murray said in a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraising letter Friday. “But I’m too mad to stop at ‘opposing.’ It’s time we punished the people responsible by taking away their jobs. The DSCC is ready to send the GOP agenda back to the 1950s where it belongs — and send these Republicans packing. Will you click here and give $5 or $10 to help us raise $100,000 by the end of today to fire anti-choice Republicans?’’

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Birth-control debate a winner for Democrats

VALENCIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Lavi Industries, a leader in Public Guidance, crowd control systems and customer flow management, today announced the Qtrac® Media Manager, the company’s latest addition to its popular family of Qtrac Electronic Queuing Systems. The new Qtrac Media Manager centralizes control of digital signage and messaging, both for Qtrac Electronic Queuing Systems as well as stand-alone digital signage installations. See the new Qtrac Media Manager featured later this month at GlobalShop 2012, February 29th through March 2nd, in the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center, booth # 4825.

“The new Qtrac Media Manager centralizes control of digital signage and messaging for Qtrac retail in-queue displays as well as other media-only displays positioned throughout the store,” said Perry Kuklin, Director of Marketing and New Business Development, Lavi Industries. “It’s a fully scalable application, capable of simultaneously and selectively updating Qtrac monitors in hundreds of stores across multiple regions. To corporate management, this means centralized control and instant chain-wide deployment of merchandising and brand messaging.”

“Since its introduction, the Qtrac Electronic Queuing System has been well received by the retail industry, with installations now across the U.S. and Canada,” continued Mr. Kuklin. “The addition of the Qtrac Media Manager, with its centralized control of electronic media, is a compelling reason for retail organizations to adopt the system-wide implementation of a Qtrac Electronic Queuing solution. Our customers have seen a dramatic boost to impulse sales as well as a reduction in perceived wait times at checkout.”

About the Qtrac Media Manager

Lavi Industries’ Qtrac Media Manager, the newest addition to its family of Qtrac Electronic Queuing solutions, enables centralized electronic coordination of display media in Qtrac CF single-line queuing installations, QtracVR “virtual” customer service management systems, and stand-alone Qtrac display installations.

(Media Points)

Lavi Industries’ Qtrac Media Manager centralizes control of in-store electronic signage. A scalable solution that controls media across monitors, queues, stores or regions. Selectively distributes customized media to individual displays, stores, regions or custom groups. Provides “real time” operational status of system-wide Qtrac displays. Featured at GlobalShop 2012, February 29th through March 2nd, in the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center, booth # 4825. For more information, call (877) 275-5284.

About Lavi Industries

Based in Valencia, California, Lavi Industries is the premier provider of public guidance and crowd control solutions in North America. Leveraging its portfolio of world-class brands – Beltrac® stanchions, Directrac® signage systems, Qtrac® electronic queuing systems, and NeXtrac® in-line merchandising systems – Lavi has helped the world’s leading companies effectively guide people in, through, and out of their facilities. More information is available at http://www.lavi.com/.

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New Qtrac® Media Manager from Lavi Industries Centralizes Control of Retail Customer Queue Digital Media and Messaging

MyShindigs.com a new social media website that people are rushing to join helps users manage and grow their social lives offline.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) February 22, 2012

More often than not social networking has been criticised for increasing daily hours wasted that could be better spent performing more quality activities like exercising or socializing in person. Many people spend on average 3 – 5 hours per day glued to their screens whether on a computer, tablet or smart phone without much reward in sometimes strange hunched down positions causing new, pop cultural terms to be introduced for the condition.

The timing of the launch of Myshindigs.com; a website that helps users plan, organize, promote and manage their social calendars could not have been more perfect. The website encourages the fostering of new real life connections and facilitates real life party and event environments. It is in these environments where people can meet others who share their social interests whether it be at a party dancing and listening to the DJ or discussing the current political situation over a cup of coffee.

‘The main idea is to create your own adventure in life’ says Matthew Tautt, Co-founder. MyShindigs is not only for the general public, but also venue owners, bands, brands that throw lifestyle events and all other service providers and professionals in the event and party planning space. The website has many new, unique features, but one of the more interesting ones allows the user to follow the parties and events of not only their friends, but other online users, collectively referred to as the Shindig Nation. Members receive an alert when a party or event is created by those they follow and if it’s a public one the user can invite themselves to it instead of sitting hunched over a laptop adding virtual friends or waiting for the cell phone to ring all day. MyShindigs is best described as being about real people, real interaction and real experiences.

‘In the first release we started with what we believed to be the pillars and foundation for the website to get people out of their homes and interacting with others, but the real revolutionary features are on the way in upcoming beta releases’ Says Jason Andrews, Co-founder. ‘We are very excited to be a part of the next generation and the evolution of social media as a whole’ add Jason and Matthew.

While some people in Asia, Europe and South America have been signing up, the website has been primarily released for North America in early February 2012. These kings of leisure as the two company founders have come to be known have their eyes set on expanding the social lives of people of all ages all over the world.

MyShindigs.com has been catching the attention of venue owners across North America. Nyood Restaurant and Bar is one such establishment that has recently signed up. Nyood Co-owner Aaron Prothro says ‘We recently used MyShindigs.com to organize and promote a Retro 80’s party and had great success. What the marketing people liked the most is that the website’s features help to better manage and promote parties, contacts and invites on an ongoing basis without the downfalls of some of the larger social websites which try to be everything to everyone rather than focusing on core features.’

MyShindigs seems to do a better job in protecting the privacy of members by allowing them to choose between a party nickname and their real name as well as implementing other event specific features.

‘We see people’s social lives as one long continuum rather than one event invite at a time. It was our decision to use the Shindig Calendar feature as the focal point on the site. The Shindig calendar is pivotal to managing a user’s social agenda.’ Say Jason and Matthew. Once an event has expired it becomes archived and can always be accessed along with all related images and videos.

‘There is a lot of potential in using MyShindigs as one channel to promote parties and events using social media and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store’ says Aaron.

About MyShindigs

MyShindigs is a social networking platform that specializes in allowing members to plan, organize, manage and promote their public, private and company events and parties. MyShindigs allows users to search out, share, follow and join each other’s events and parties of interest to expand their social calendar throughout their lives. For more information, visit http://www.myshindigs.com.

###

Jason Andrews
jason@myshindigs.com
416-788-7028
Email Information

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How MyShindigs.com, a Social Networking Website, is Redefining the Way We Socialize

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and LONDON, Feb. 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BroadVision, Inc. (Nasdaq:BVSN - News), a global leader in social business solutions, today announced that Dr. Pehong Chen, Chairman, President, and CEO of BroadVision, will be speaking at Digital London, a summit and showcase connecting digital innovation, technology, and creativity. The presentation will take place on March 13, 2012 from 2:00-2:20 p.m. local time in Summit Room B at the International Convention Centre, ExCeL in London.

In the presentation titled "How Social Networking will Change the Way We Work," Dr. Chen will discuss how the business world has changed with the advent of social solutions and the steps an organization can take to align their strategic goals to deliver an engaging experience for employees as well as business partners and customers. Convention delegates will learn how to break out of organizational silos to collaborate more effectively and deliver productivity gains and other benefits through enterprise social networking.

"More and more businesses worldwide are using enterprise social networks to connect and engage with employees, customers, and partners for improved business agility and productivity," said Dr. Chen. "BroadVision is thrilled to present at Digital London and we look forward to sharing our insights for effective social enterprise transformation."

Also on March 13, Richard Hughes, Director of Product Strategy at BroadVision, will speak on how to use social feedback and content usage to identify subject matter experts and determine the most valuable resources within an organization. In a second session, Mr. Hughes will speak on how to socialize business processes to derive even greater efficiency and productivity gains.

BroadVision is one of Digital London's founding sponsors and will demonstrate Clearvale, the company's cloud-based enterprise social networking solution, at the exhibition on stand number 210 on March 13-14, 2012. Leveraging the latest in enterprise 2.0 technology, Clearvale also provides the social business platform for Digital London, connecting delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors associated with the event for pre- and post-event collaboration.

Digital London is organized by Maven Cast and supported by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Industry innovators, entrepreneurs, solution providers, business leaders, executives, and investors will gather at Digital London to discuss digital innovations and enabling technologies, explore opportunities in the digital ecosystem and inspire digitally connected smart cities. For more information, please visit http://www.digitallon.com.

About BroadVision

Driving innovation since 1993, BroadVision (Nasdaq:BVSN - News) is an innovative provider of e-business and social networking solutions for organizations seeking to grow profitably by improving online business processes through invited participation and social interaction. Our solutions -- including Clearvale, the world's first network of networks for the socially driven enterprise -- enable mission-critical e-business for next-generation organizations around the globe. The customers benefiting from BroadVision(R) solutions include Baker Hughes, Canon, Epson, Fiat, W.W. Grainger, Hilti, Iberia, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Company, SINA, SOFTBANK TELECOM Corp., Sony, U.S. Navy, Vodafone, and more. Visit http://www.BroadVision.com for more details.

The BroadVision logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5621

BroadVision and all its case-sensitive permutations are trademarks or registered trademarks of BroadVision, Inc. in the United States of America and other countries.

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BroadVision to Share Expertise on Transforming the Workplace With Enterprise Social Networking at Digital London