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DGAP-Adhoc: SMARTRAC announces Changes in the Management Board

SMARTRAC announces Changes in the Management Board

Amsterdam, September 3, 2012 - The Dutch Company SMARTRAC N.V. (stock abbreviation SM7) announces changes in the Management Board of the Company. The Supervisory Board will propose the appointment of M. Gregory OHara as Director A and Member of the Management Board at the SMARTRAC General Meeting of Shareholders to be held at the end of October 2012. Mr. OHara shall also be appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board.

Dr. Christian Fischer will resign from his position as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of SMARTRAC N.V., effective September 3rd, 2012. He will, however, continue to serve as Director A of SMARTRAC N.V until December 31, 2012, and support Mr. OHara in a transition role until the end of 2012.

Mr. M. Gregory OHara is currently Chairman of Certares International Bank, LLC., and most recently served as Chief Investment Officer of JPMorgan Chases Special Investments Group. Prior to joining the private equity arm of JPMorgans One Equity Partners in 2005, he served as Executive Vice President of Worldspan and was a member of its Board of Directors. Prior to this, Mr. OHara was a management partner advising Citicorp Venture Capital and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan; served as Senior Vice President of Sabre; and worked in various capacities for Perot Systems. He also serves on the Boards of Travel Leaders Group and TV Guide Network. Mr. OHara holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Christian Fischer joined SMARTRAC at the end of 2005 and has been a member of the Management Board since the incorporation of SMARTRAC N.V. in January 2006. He has held the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Management Board since July 1, 2007. During this time, the Company has not only grown sales from EUR 25 Mio. in 2005 to some EUR 250 Mio. expected for 2012, but has also become the global leader in the RFID market as developer, manufacturer, and supplier of transponders and inlays for a broad base of applications in all current frequency standards.

About SMARTRAC: SMARTRAC is the leading developer, manufacturer, and supplier of RFID and NFC transponders and inlays. The company produces ready-made and customized transponders and inlays used in access control, animal identification, automated fare collection, border control, RFID-based car immobilizers, electronic product identification, industry, libraries and media management, laundry, logistics, mobile & smart media, public transport, retail, and many more.

SMARTRAC was founded in 2000, went public in July 2006, and trades as a stock corporation under Dutch law with its registered headquarters in Amsterdam. The company currently employs about 4,000 employees and maintains a global research and development, production, and sales network.

If you have any questions, please contact: Tanja Moehler Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing SMARTRAC N.V. Phone: +31 20 30 50 157 Email: tanja.moehler@smartrac-group.com Internet: http://www.smartrac-group.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SMARTRAC_NV

Forward-looking statements: To the extent that this press release contains forward-looking statements, such statements are based on assumptions, planning and forecasts at the time of publication of this press release. Forward-looking statements always involve uncertainties. Business and economic risks and developments, the conduct of competitors, political decisions and other factors may cause the actual results to be materially different from the assumptions, planning and forecasts at the time of publication of this press release. Therefore, SMARTRAC N.V. does not assume any responsibility relating to forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Furthermore, SMARTRAC N.V. does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

03.09.2012 DGAPs Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at http://www.dgap-medientreff.de and http://www.dgap.de

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DGAP-Adhoc: SMARTRAC announces Changes in the Management Board

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Feeder buses will begin plying from Juru and Bandar Perda on the mainland today to link up with the Bridge Express Shuttle Transit (Best) bus service.

Graphic: Rapid Penang

This is another positive move by the Penang state government, working together with the federally owned Rapid Penang, to expand the use of public transport in the state.

Some 800 people are presently using Best. That is close to 800 vehicles fewer on the Penang Bridge during peak hours.

Unfortunately, the federal entity, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad, has not responded to the Penang state governments other plan: to allocate RM10m a year for public buses to provide free transport during peak hours on the island. Why is Prasarana not cooperating?

From the Rapid Penang website:

BEST (Bridge Express Shuttle Transit) was first introduced by Penang State Government in March 2011 as the countrys first park and ride service. The BEST service is an effort by Penang State Government to promote the use of public transport. For the past two years the daily commuter has increased up to 800 commuters. As of 3 September 2012, Penang State Government expand the service by introducing two new feeder hub at Bandar Perda and Auto City at Juru.

The express service will now depart from Bandar Sunway, Bandar Perda and Auto City Juru to FIZ Bayan Lepas, in the morning and return from FIZ area in the evening the operating period for the express service is as follows:

Morning Session : 6.10am to 8.10am Evening Session : 4.30pm to 6.50pm

Car parking will be available at Sunway Carnival Mall, Bandar Perda (opposite LHDN) and Auto City Car Park. Factory personnel can park their vehicles around this area and board the express service to Bayan Lepas FIZ. The express service will cover all areas in FIZ 1,2,3,4 , Technoplex and BLIP.

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Killer virus warning for British tourists who visited Yosemite National Park after two people die

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 17:31 EST, 2 September 2012 | UPDATED: 17:31 EST, 2 September 2012

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is contacting Britons who may have visited the United States national park at the centre of an outbreak of a deadly virus that has killed two people.

Around 100 UK travellers have been identified as having stayed at Yosemite National Park between mid-June and the end of August.

The agency said it was not aware of any cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) - which is carried by rodents - in Britons who had been there on holiday.

Yosemite Valley, a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Up to 10,000 people who stayed in the lodging cabins in the parks Curry Village may have been exposed to the virus

But it is warning people who had stayed at the park and also providing health advice and information on the situation in the US.

A total of up to 10,000 people who stayed in the lodging cabins in the parks Curry Village may have been exposed to the potentially fatal disease.

The California Department of Public Health has confirmed that six people who visited the park have now contracted the virus, up from four suspected cases earlier in the week.

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Killer virus warning for British tourists who visited Yosemite National Park after two people die

Networking guru creates new business, offers social media tips

If the world of social media seems like a cyber jungle to you, take a look at the courses offered by Baker Labs, a company recently founded by Knoxville social media expert Gavin Baker.

Baker Labs offers small business owners and employees training on how to manage social media like Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube, blogging and email marketing. Classes are for anyone, novice to expert, Baker said.

"At the end of the day, social media is a powerful tool," said Baker. "A lot of businesses want help with social media. There's a lot of demand, but most people can't afford to hire an agency to help them with strategy."

Baker is former social marketing director of Moxley Carmichael public relations firm in Knoxville, and he's taught social marketing classes for the University of Tennessee's noncredit programs. He started his new business in July and is now offering two classes a week, $50 each. A set of five classes, called Social Media Standards, costs $200.

Baker said that social media is much different than standard marketing because it's two-way communication with the customers.

"For years, business leaders would sit around tables and wonder what customers were doing. Social marketing gives you that collaborative feedback from your customers," Baker said.

If a business has to pick one social media site to use daily, Baker suggests using Facebook. He said it delivers the most bang for a business's buck. Seventy percent of U.S. adults have Facebook accounts, according to Forrester's North American Technographics Online Benchmark Survey.

"You're engaging your loyal customers, and they're commenting on things you're posting. Others may see it, so then they're exposed to the brand via their friend."

However, if that exposure is from negative comments about a business, that can be a problem, Baker said.

"Restaurant owners are especially sensitive about that," said Baker. "But, this is a chance to recover a customer, a chance to engage them. If their meal is so-so, most people don't call in, but they may say something on Facebook or Twitter. This is your chance to say, 'Let's make it right.'

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Networking guru creates new business, offers social media tips

Media find it hard to ignore 'I' word

I've seen several articles complaining that rather than being a celebration of the human spirit there's a danger the Paralympics may reinforce old prejudices about the disabled.

The excellent blogger Lisa Egan, who describes herself as a "speccy, disabled gay Essex girl," who failed to become a Paralympian swimmer, wrote in The Independent that "the use of the word 'inspirational' triggered my gag reflex . . . Inspirational, overcoming, against the odds, suffers from, brave and other such nonsense are spewing forth from the mouths of anyone allowed near a microphone. While many of us are glued to the telly wanting to see some amazing sport, there are some who are only watching because they want the gory details about how the athletes acquired their impairments."

And the comedian Lawrence Clark, who has cerebral palsy, has also warned against condescension. "What about those athletes who come last? Or the ones who didn't qualify in the first place. Surely they can't all be inspiring."

I have to admit that comments like these gave me pause. Because it was pretty likely that any column piece by me on the Paralympics would include the 'I' word. It just seemed the best way to describe someone like Mark Rohan, the former Westmeath under 21 footballer who is a world champion in the handcycling event and one of Ireland's gold medal hopes in London. Rohan took up disabled sport after being paralysed from the chest down in an horrific road accident 11 years ago.

And there I am, mentioning his injuries. Committing one of the sins of media coverage. At first I was inclined to think the views of disabled people venting their frustration at what they perceive as the condescension underlying the media attitude to the games are a bit harsh. Isn't it good to see so much Paralympic coverage even if it's not done the way you'd like? Which is a pretty patronising attitude to take.

And I'll have to admit that it's easy, while watching the Paralympics, to start congratulating yourself for making the effort and feel bathed in a warm glow of self-righteousness. This is the kind of attitude which annoys the likes of Egan and Clark so much. And they're right. Because there's no point in the Paralympics resulting in the replacement of one set of stereotypes with another.

Personally, I would agree with the view of Channel 4 Paralympics presenter Alex Brooker that "we'll see athletes with incredible stories behind their achievements, and it is not necessarily patronising to celebrate that."

And I think some of the complaints regarding press coverage miss the fact that sports pages and shows revel in the inspirational and the heart-warming, whether it's an Olympic Games, a World Cup or a Paralympics. We're not going to focus on wider disability issues because that's not what we do. But it's no harm to be reminded of them.

Ten years ago, I went to a wheelchair basketball match in Limerick. In the opening stages I focused on the wheelchairs and the differing degrees of mobility enjoyed by the players. But as the game went on I became fascinated by the contest and the levels of skill and physicality involved. I don't mean that the players were very good considering they were in wheelchairs, I mean the game was extremely exciting.

By the closing stages, it had become just one more sporting contest I'd got wrapped up in. The wheelchairs, and this may sound odd, seemed somehow incidental to the thing.

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Media find it hard to ignore 'I' word