comScore Releases First Comparative Report on Mobile Usage in Japan, United States and Europe

comScore Releases First Comparative Report on Mobile Usage in Japan, United States and Europe

Japan Mobile Audience “Most Connected” with 3 of 4 Users Accessing Mobile Media in June

Social Networking Shows Highest Reach among U.S. Mobile Users, While Europeans Text the Most RESTON, VA, October 7, 2010 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on mobile usage and behaviors in Japan, the United States and Europe from its MobiLens service. The report examined multiple dimensions of mobile usage including content consumption, demographic comparisons and top social networking brands across markets to provide a comparative look at how consumers interact with mobile media across various geographic markets.

“Mobile media usage continues to accelerate across the globe, driven by advancing technologies and the growing number of content options available to consumers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “As we look across markets, dramatic differences in mobile media consumption, brand adoption and user behavior become evident. These differences are even more pronounced than they are for PC-based Internet usage due to the complex nature of mobile – including various device capabilities, operating systems and methods of accessing content. For brands seeking to establish a multi-market presence, understanding usage dynamics across geographies is essential to implementing a successful global mobile marketing strategy.”


Mobile Behavior Varies Across Markets
A cross-market analysis of mobile activities in Japan, the U.S. and Europe revealed significant differences among consumers by geography. Mobile users in Japan were the “most connected” of the three markets, with more than 75 percent using connected media (browsed, accessed applications or downloaded content) in June, compared to 43.7 percent in the U.S. and 38.5 percent in Europe.

Japanese mobile users also displayed the strongest usage of both applications and browsers with 59.3 percent of the entire mobile population accessing their browsers in June and 42.3 percent accessing applications. Comparatively 34.0 percent of mobile users in the U.S. and 25.8 percent in Europe used their mobile browsers, with 31.1 percent in the U.S. and 24.9 percent in Europe accessing applications.

Messaging methods also varied with Europeans displaying the strongest use of text messaging with 81.7 percent sending a text message in June, compared to 66.8 percent in the U.S. and just 40.1 percent in Japan. Japanese users exhibited the highest reach in the email category at 54 percent, while consumers in the U.S. were most likely to use instant messaging services on their mobile (17.2 percent).
Social networking/blogs reached the greatest percentage of mobile users in the U.S. at 21.3 percent, followed by Japan at 17.0 percent and Europe at 14.7 percent. Japanese users were most likely to capture photos (63.0 percent) and watch TV/video (22.0 percent) on their mobiles, while Europeans were most likely to listen to music (24.2 percent) and play games (24.1 percent).

Select Mobile Behaviors in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Percent of Total Mobile Audience
	Japan	United States	Europe
Total Audience: 13+ yrs old	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Used connected media (Browsed, Accessed Applications or Downloaded Content)	75.2%	43.7%	38.5%
Used browser	59.3%	34.0%	25.8%
Used application	42.3%	31.1%	24.9%
Messaging Usage
Sent text message to another phone	40.1%	66.8%	81.7%
Used major instant messaging service	3.3%	17.2%	12.6%
Used email (work or personal)	54.0%	27.9%	18.8%
Social Media/Entertainment
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog	17.0%	21.3%	14.7%
Listened to music on mobile phone	12.5%	13.9%	24.2%
Took photos	63.0%	50.6%	56.8%
Captured video	15.4%	19.2%	25.8%
Watched TV and/or video on mobile phone	22.0%	4.8%	5.4%
Played games	16.3%	22.5%	24.1%
Financial Information
Accessed bank accounts	8.0%	9.4%	7.1%
Accessed financial news or stock quotes	16.1%	10.0%	7.2%
Retail/Travel
Accessed online retail	7.2%	5.5%	4.1%
Accessed classifieds	4.2%	6.6%	4.2%
Accessed travel service	3.3%	4.7%	4.1%
Other
Accessed maps	15.7%	16.0%	10.8%
Accessed traffic reports	12.6%	8.2%	5.9%
Accessed weather	34.1%	22.3%	13.7%

Mobile Media Usage by Demographic Segment
A demographic analysis of mobile media users across markets showed that mobile media consumption was more balanced across age segments in Japan when compared to the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., 25-34 year olds were 44 percent more likely to access mobile media than an average mobile user, with 18-24 year olds 39 percent more likely. In Europe, 18-24 year olds represented the most-connected segment, 54 percent more likely to be mobile media users, while persons age 25-34 were 35 percent more likely.

The U.S. and Europe also showed greater gender disparity among mobile media audiences. Females were 9 percent less likely to be mobile media users in the U.S., while females in Europe were 16 percent less likely.

Mobile Media Usage in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) by Demographic Segment June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Connected Media Audience Index*
	Japan	United States	Europe
Total Audience: 13+ yrs old	100	100	100
Male	102	110	116
Female	98	91	84
Persons Age:
13-17	114	130	133
18-24	117	139	154
25-34	114	144	135
35-44	111	117	103
45-54	105	85	78
55+	80	39	57

* Index = % demographic segment / % demographic base*100

Top Mobile Social Media Brands
Across markets, local and global brands showed varying levels of adoption by mobile audiences. In all three markets, the top mobile social media brand mirrored the top PC-based social networking brand with Facebook leading in the U.S. and Europe and Mixi leading in Japan. Local brands Gree and Mobage Town were the #2 and #4 most accessed social networking brands in Japan. Twitter was the only brand to be ranked in the top four in all markets.

Top Mobile Social Networking/Chat/Blog Brands in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) by Audience Size June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Japan	United States	Europe
Mixi	Facebook	Facebook
Gree	MySpace	YouTube
Twitter	YouTube	MSN / Windows Live / Bing
Mobage Town	Twitter	Twitter

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

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What Does 'Buy Local' Mean To Consumers?

To consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere, "buying local" isn't a top priority in and of itself, according to a new study from Communispace.

Instead, localism becomes an important part of a product's overall value proposition when it is perceived by consumers as a means of obtaining "a high-quality, cost-effective, safe and reliable product," sums up Manila Austin, director of research for Communispace, which employs private online customer communities to generate brand insights for marketers.
 
The firm used a multi-method online approach to explore the meaning of "buying local" to nearly 1,000 consumers from the U.S., Canada and eight other countries in regions around the globe.
 
The research confirms that consumers often see local origin or purchasing as a way to get certain product benefits, such as freshness, geographic convenience or good customer service, not just as a way to "do good." It also shows that consumers seek a sense of personal and civic connection to products, brands, manufacturers and retailers.
 
Other findings:

• Local is contextual. The definition of local changes depending on the country and the consumer's home setting (urban, suburban or rural, for instance), as well as on the individual's own buying needs and personal priorities.

• Local isn't just about food, or ecological altruism. Local purchases of many types of products and services strengthen ties to family and neighbors, as well as contributing to the community and the economy at-large by generating jobs and tax revenue.

• Connection is key. In a commoditized world, local buying can connect consumers to an authentic experience and ground purchasing decisions in a sense of history, tradition and community. Brands have an "enormous" opportunity to create this sense of connection by sharing their "stories" and history, as well as establishing roots in local communities, stress the researchers.

• Local is becoming a mainstream criterion for purchasing decisions. Consumers have a heightened awareness of how products are made and are taking a more holistic view of their purchases, the study confirms. They are considering "pre-point-of-sale" factors such as the origins of products' raw materials, where products are manufactured, and their carbon footprints.

Based on the research, the report offers several recommendations for marketers:

• Establish local roots. No matter how large the company, it can and must create a local presence -- not only through an operational presence and hiring practices, but by contributing to local schools and other causes and sponsoring community events.

• Flex to the context. "Most important, companies must remember to be flexible and consider the unique needs of the local community, wherever they are in the world," the report emphasizes. Brands must adjust their messaging, corporate giving and even manufacturing/distribution strategies within different markets.

• Focus on transparency and education. Companies need to be honest and open about their successes and challenges, and teach employees about the product's value proposition and life cycle so that they can, in turn, educate the customer.

• Don't let local stand alone. Promote the practical, tangible advantages of your product or service, in addition to appealing to altruism.

NJ Supreme Court To Consider Bloggers' Argument That Shield Should Cover Comments

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by life coach and blogger Shellee Hale, who argues that a state appellate court wrongly determined that she wasn't a "journalist" for purposes of the state's shield law.

Hale, who criticized the software company Too Much Media on a message board, argues that she was acting as an "internet reporter investigating corruption" at the time she posted her comments on the message board, and therefore is entitled to protect the identity of her sources.

New Jersey's reporter shield law broadly allows journalists to keep their sources' identities confidential. But the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled that Hale could not claim the benefit of that law because she wasn't a journalist. "Defendant has produced no credentials or proof of affiliation with any recognized news entity, nor has she demonstrated adherence to any standard of professional responsibility regulating institutional journalism, such as editing, fact-checking or disclosure of conflicts of interest," the court wrote.

The lawsuit grew out of allegedly defamatory posts by Hale on Oprano, which calls itself "the Wall Street Journal for the online adult entertainment industry." In one post, Hale hinted that Too Much Media engaged in "fraudulent, unethical and illegal uses of technology," according to the appellate court's opinion.

Too Much Media sued Hale for defamation and attempted to discover the identities of people who provided her with information. She unsuccessfully argued to the trial judge and appellate court that the state's shield law gave her the right to protect her sources' identities.

After losing in the appellate court, Hale asked New Jersey's highest court to consider her case.

Her lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock, argues that the lower court's decision could put all online journalists at risk of losing the benefits of the shield law. "If the court were to decide that people writing on the Internet, for the public's benefit, who cite confidential sources are not entitled to the shield law, you are going to have a big problem with freedom of the press in the future."

Too Much Media's lawyer, Joel Kreizman, counters that Hale wasn't acting as a reporter in that she didn't publish news on her own blog or on a Web site affiliated with a news organization. "She participated in an online conversation. That's not reporting," Kreizman says. "Even if you're a reporter working for a recognized newspaper, that doesn't mean you can go outside your newspaper, on a chatroom, and just defame people," he adds.

by Wendy Davis

NJ Attorney General Warns Against Social Media Scams

Stupid is as stupid does, mama always said. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I have a feeling it has something to do with giving money to people you don't know online.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by all sorts of exciting innovation by clever crooks, for example burglars spying on social network users to figure out when they'll be away from home. But social networks are even better-suited for con men and identity thieves, who exploit the inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users. That's according to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.

The NJ officials' statement warns against one common approach in which scam artists hack into a user's account and access their address book, then send messages pleading with their friends to wire cash because they are stuck in some foreign country. To make it extra-alarming, they might construct elaborate stories about being robbed, getting sick, or having an accident in some place that is nice to visit, but not somewhere you'd really want to stay. They can even throw in details like the names of spouses or boyfriends/girlfriend and various kinds of biographical information to make it extra-convincing -- all gleaned from the user's profile, of course.

Dow stated: "People lower their guard when someone they know from a social networking site needs their help. Rather than sending an email to random people, these thieves have learned they can improve their chances by hacking into social networking accounts and then directing pleas for money to the account holder's list of friends." Common tricks used by criminals trying to hack into social network accounts include anything which requires you to paste a URL into your browser, quizzes, polls or contests asking for personal information like your social security number, credit card number or bank account information, requests to update Flash or download a new program, and anything that asks you link to another page and invites your friends there.

Okay, I don't want to be too harsh here because I imagine the criminals can go to great lengths to present a convincing come-on, and they're taking advantage of good-natured, trusting individuals. But trust is overrated, and there is a right way and a wrong way to be good-natured.

First of all, if someone sends me a serious message over a social network, my first instinct would be to ask why they didn't send me an email or call. If they are sending the message to my email address (having located it in an online address book) I would be somewhat more inclined to hear them out, but it would be pretty easy to confirm that they are who they say they are, by asking questions like "where/when did we meet," "when's the last time I saw you," or something else -- not on their profile or anywhere else online -- only they would know. I'd also try calling them and sending messages to their other email accounts seeking confirmation of the story.

And after I finally confirmed they were real, then -- and only then -- would I tell my friend in Turkish prison to go hit up someone else cuz I blew it all in Vegas last week. Good luck and godspeed, voyager! P.S. send a postcard.

AOL Launches 'Political' Campaign

Campaigning for political ad dollars, AOL on Thursday debuted an online destination for campaigns, advocacy groups, and companies interested in targeting constituencies online. The AOL Advertising Politics hub connects to Ad Desk for Politics and Display University, both of which were designed by AOL to educate and enable political marketers to more easily purchase display advertising.

For the push, AOL Advertising has expanded its Political and Issue Advocacy team to include seven dedicated team members focused on evangelizing the importance of display advertising in the political community. The team includes Rena Shapiro, who recently joined AOL from Google, where she created their political team in 2007.

"As more campaigns and issue advocacy groups begin to understand the power of the Web, AOL's original content and advertising technology puts us at the forefront of political online advertising," said Shapiro, director of political and issue advocacy accounts.

Through its Politics hub, AOL is promising to help political marketers determine how best to structure their online campaign, whether they are looking to use display advertising to help fund raise, build name recognition, organize their field operations, persuade voters, respond in real-time to negative press or competitive messaging, get out the vote, and educate voters about the issues relating to the race.

"AOL has positioned itself to be the go-to resource for political marketers needing to reach their constituencies," said Jeff Levick, president, AOL global advertising and strategy. "Our Politics hub lets campaigns and issue advocacy groups take their messages directly to voters and key influencers."

Earlier this year, a Supreme Court ruling lifted restrictions on political ad spending from corporations, so companies can now join campaign and issue advocacy groups in influencing voters online.

Meanwhile, the Presidential race of 2008 as well as the 2009 Scott Brown race in Massachusetts clearly showed the impact that spending online can have on a campaign's outcome.

Like any campaign, however, AOL faces its fair share of competition in the political sphere. The Washington Post, for instance, recently unveiled its answer to Politico. PostPolitics.com is led by Chris Cillizza, who writes the paper's The Fix blog, and aggregates political stories and blog posts from across the Post newsroom.

AOL's Ad Desk for Politics is a 'how-to' guide for political targeting in Ad Desk, AOL's display advertising platform. Its Display University, meanwhile, is a microsite to help marketers build their first campaigns and improve existing ones.

BP Cam - BP OIL CAM -

Since it may be leaking for a while, you can watch the distruction live online

NFL thinks outside the box with New Jersey Super Bowl in 2014

Reporting from Irving, Texas -- NFL owners, historically resistant to change, bundled up Tuesday and took a step into the great wide open.

At the annual May meetings, they voted to award a Super Bowl to the New York area, sending the February 2014 game there and turning back bids by Tampa and South Florida. It was a historic moment because there has never been an outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. The game will be played at the soon-to-open, $1.6-billion home of the Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, N.J.

"We wished for it, we got it, and now we've got to do the work," said Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, after waiting nervously through four ballots, with the New York-New Jersey bid finally edging Tampa by a simple majority. South Florida, which just played host to the Super Bowl, was eliminated after the second round.

In a larger sense, the league's willingness to try something new — a risk not everyone agrees with — is reflective of Commissioner Roger Goodell's push to be innovative in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Consider some of the changes that have taken place since Goodell took over for Paul Tagliabue in 2006. The Pro Bowl was rescheduled for the Sunday before the Super Bowl to give that all-star game more exposure. Overtime has been changed for the postseason, increasing the likelihood that both teams will have a possession in the extra period. There's a very realistic possibility that two meaningless exhibition games will be replaced by regular-season games. Division rivalries have been pushed to the end of the season to give teams incentive to play hard all the way through their schedules.

The draft has been moved to prime time and is now stretched over three days. The scouting combine has become a made-for-TV event. International games are a staple of the regular season. The league has put a renewed emphasis on player conduct and concussion studies. The umpire has been moved from the defensive to offensive side of the ball to protect him. Hand-held devices soon will be commonplace in stadiums to keep fans apprised of games around the league.

Goodell is not directly responsible for all of these things — he didn't have a vote on the rules changes or location of the Super Bowl, for instance — but league insiders say he is relentless when it comes to pushing the envelope to best position the league and maximize revenue streams. That's vital for a game that's going to have an increasingly difficult time coaxing fans off their couches and into stadiums.

"I feel very strongly that we cannot be complacent in what we do," Goodell said. "We have to continue to find ways to grow the game, to reach new fans, to continue to provide quality. That's what the NFL represents.

"So innovation is a big part of our initiative, whether it's the Super Bowl in New York, the changes we've made to the draft, or changes we've made to the Pro Bowl, we're going to try to find new ways to reach our fans and to make sure we're bringing them the highest quality entertainment."

Tisch called that one of the "signatures" of Goodell's young tenure as commissioner.

"There are a lot of people who are going to be fighting for that dollar that's going to be spent on sports and entertainment," Tisch said. "You've got to take some chances. The public wants to see something new."

OT rule tabled

Owners tabled the discussion of expanding the new postseason overtime rules to the regular season. There was strong momentum among many people in the NFL to do that in March, when the playoff rules were put in place, but for the moment that has dwindled. There will be no such changes to regular-season games this fall.

Roethlisberger talk

Goodell said he will issue a decision "within the next week or so" about when Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger can rejoin the Steelers. The quarterback has been suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the league's personal-conduct policy, and the commissioner hasn't allowed him to participate in team activities, pending evaluations.

L.A. stadium talk

Although it's very preliminary, the concept of a stadium in downtown Los Angeles next to Staples Center gets a thumbs up from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He called the plan's backers, businessmen Casey Wasserman and Tim Leiweke, "so credible and so substantive" and said the idea "makes a lot of sense for downtown Los Angeles." That said, the City of Industry stadium proposal is at least a year ahead of that and has the significant advantage of all the necessary land entitlements.

By Sam Farmer

2 Lawmakers Urge NJ Gov to Join Health Care Suit

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gov. Chris Christie says he'll wait for assessments from his attorney general and health commissioner before making any decisions on whether New Jersey should join other states in the lawsuit challenging health care reform.

State Assembly members Dave Rible and Mary Pat Angelini, both Republicans representing Monmouth County, are urging Christie to join 14 other states challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.

Rible and Angelini say a mandate that all citizens should buy health insurance is in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Christie says he hopes to have his Cabinet members' assessments by the end of the week and will make a decision soon after.

Microsoft Integrates Foursquare Into Bing Maps; Turns Attention To Signals

Microsoft plans to deliver new tools in Bing Maps powered by mobile location service Foursquare. The Redmond, Wash. company's Silverlight technology will pull in the data.

Bing has begun to pay more attention to real-time, social and location-based data signals that can provide depth to search queries that serve up tips, comments and other information.

Enhanced location-based services and a variety of other features will become available during the next few months, as Microsoft continues to invest more in its mapping platform. Not just information from "maps" that show location, but a "canvas where you can visualize search data," Adam Sohn, Bing director for the Online Services Division, told MediaPost Thursday. "The concept is related to the notion that there's real data and information behind each search that often gets disaggregated from its physical context."

People searching for information on Bing will finally begin to see the fruits of labor from separate deals inked with Facebook and Twitter last year to deliver real-time data.

The ability to deliver real-time information based on a variety of signals means giving people who search for a particular news source, such as The New York Times, access to connect not only to the main site but to links of the most popular trending stories based on information shared across the Web. Sohn says it's a new way to generate traffic from the search engine to the publisher's site.

Microsoft also plans to enhance Quick Tabs on Bing, moving the tabs from the left rail to the top of the page. The feature aims to deliver results based on what the search engine believes represents the intent of the person searching on the query. The change also represents a new look for the user interface and hopefully a more intuitive way to search.

Bing's focus on "curating content," rather than "cataloging Web sites," supports Forrester Research Principal Analyst Shar VanBoskirk's vision for the future of search. "Think about a search engine as a concierge pointing you to answers you need, instead of presenting lists of sites that have content that matches your query," she says.

VanBoskirk points to the side and the top navigation capabilities. The features allow users to drill into categories of content related to their search without having to do a subsequent search, or click through to pages to see if the content matches their needs.

"I think the other enhancement that really illustrates this shift is the creation of comparison answers and domain task pages," VanBoskirk says. "These are literally aggregations of content, links, images, video specifically to answer the most commonly search goals associated with different topics. Instead of having to scout through multiple pages, content sources, using multiple queries, Bing curates all of what they think the searcher is after into one page."

Thursday marked the beginning of Bing's spring release. Microsoft will experiment, test and roll out these features during the next several months.

AOL To Launch Patch.org; Commits Millions To Revamp Local Strategy

AOL plans later this week to launch patch.org, a charitable foundation intended to improve the quality of life in underserved communities. It is part of a move by the recent Time Warner spinoff to focus on local markets, advertising and editorial content to become every community's online newspaper, Jon Brod, executive vice president at AOL Ventures, told attendees at the BIA/Kelsey conference in San Diego Monday.

Brod laid out AOL's strategy, which will allow patch.org to partner with community foundations. "This is a charitable foundation with all profits being returned to communities we serve," he says. "We believe local information is the most important and helpful information people want and need. And we are committed to filling this need in society without regard to economic status."

Pointing to AOL's commitment to invest up to $50 million this year on local initiatives, Brod says Patch.org ties into AOL's focus on local content that bridges the gap between real-life offline neighborhoods and online communities. It follows the company's push to hire local journalists to write and post community news.

Today, Patch supports 41 communities in four states, up from five markets when acquired by AOL in June 2009. The initiative cost roughly 4.1% of what it takes to run a like-size daily newspaper when you strip out ink, print, and distribution. Brod says as more people migrate to online, AOL believes the project will become profitable.

The concentration on community also means focusing on mobile and Mapquest. The mapping technology will get a complete makeover, including user interface, employee support, and rebranding to give the mapping tool a new look and feel. "Mapquest, quite candidly, has been under-resourced during the past several years, but despite that it has remained a massive brand," Brod says.

Evidently, Mapquest sits at the nineteenth-largest property on the Web with 46% market share and 40 million monthly unique users, according to Brod. However, he declined to provide specifics on local advertising opportunities and skirted questions on specific technologies that might allow AOL to go head-to-head with mapping tools from Google and Microsoft, or geo-tagging tools from Twitter and others.

AOL also plans to revive the City's Best brand in 25 markets between July and September 2010. City's Best is an eight-year-old brand that AOL stopped funding in the end of 2008. The site features the best entertainment options in each city. It will combine professional editorial with consumer opinions that will allow community members to vote for the best in each city.

When asked how this differs from AOL's failed efforts to roll out Digital City, Brod says the billions of dollars spent online by consumers today, along with the penetration of smartphones in the market, and the use of much more sophisticated technology will make work today what didn't work in 1995.

In New Jersey, the For-Sale Signs Are in Bloom

MAPLEWOOD

“GET ready for the block party! Great neighborhood!” That is how an agent named Heather Gilheany verbally baits the hook in her listing for 156 Oakland Road, a three-bedroom one-bath colonial built in 1925.

“Selling the neighborhood,” explained Ms. Gilheany of Coldwell Banker. “That is what we always do — sell not just the house, but the neighborhood.”

But it so happens that on this particular block of Oakland Road, and in the immediately surrounding three or four blocks, for-sale signs abound. While the agents are busy “selling the neighborhood,” someone just driving by might be forgiven for wondering whether the entire neighborhood was for sale — lock, stock and barrel.

Last week there was a for-sale sign in front of No. 157, and one at No. 160 on the opposite side of the street.

There was another at 66 Burnett Terrace around the corner, two on the same block of nearby Highland Avenue, two on contiguous blocks of Plymouth Avenue, and so on. In all, there were a dozen signs within a roughly four-block area, although in some cases, houses were already under contract and the signs were being kept up during the attorney-review process.

This neighborhood of 75 to 80 houses is sometimes called the Tuscan section of town, after the local Tuscan Elementary School. The houses were mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s. The price range on those for sale was $425,000 to $599,000, except for one, a larger house at 104 Plymouth Avenue, which was recently listed for $674,900.

In Maplewood over all, there are 126 active listings, out of 5,541 owner-occupied homes, according to Patricia Ross, a Coldwell Banker agent, who says she has lived in town all her life and sold real estate there since 1984. She found the number high but not unusually so. And she noted that many residents moved from one house to another within Maplewood over the course of their lives.

Ms. Ross has a listing for a three-bedroom one-bath Tudor at 93 Midland Avenue, two blocks from Oakland Road. It has been on the market for five months at an asking price of $459,000. She declined to discuss the situation of the sellers or to say whether she was contemplating a change in strategy as more houses are put on the market this spring. But several agents selling neighborhood houses, in some instances on behalf of heirs, said that they were pressing sellers to cut asking prices because of the growing inventory.

Robert Northfield, another Coldwell Banker agent, said it was “very important for the Realtor to take sellers around to see the competition, take them to open houses so they can understand how best to price theirs.”

Mr. Northfield, who has the listing for 104 Plymouth Avenue, said he thought the presence of two houses for sale side by side, or several on a block, could be a good thing in some ways. “It helps generate traffic,” he said. “The neighborhood sells itself, and each house has a unique character and will find its own buyer.”

He said 104 Plymouth would attract a “totally different” buyer than other houses in the neighborhood, but he would be happy to have other agents “piggyback” on the open houses he schedules there — because attracting home shoppers is positive however it occurs.

On Oakland Road, No. 160 — the largest of the three for sale, and at $549,900 the most expensive — was under contract a couple of days after the first open house on Feb. 28, said Jessica Keefe, the selling agent.

“There were five offers,” said Ms. Keefe of Coldwell Banker in Montclair, “four over asking price.”

The five-bedroom house last sold in 1998 for $200,000, according to Zillow.com. Ms. Keefe said the owners had put in a new kitchen and bath, and “made the product sparkle” before putting it on the market last month.

“Fresh towels in the baths, beautifully decorated family room and first floor, a pristine basement,” were all part of the packaging, she said.

“They had already bought another house in Glen Ridge,” Ms. Keefe said of the sellers, “which was also a multiple-bid situation. They looked very carefully at the multiple listings for homes in their neighborhood, and in setting the price, we thought about the best way to create a perception of value. That’s what it’s all about.”

There are, of course, larger market forces at work right now in all neighborhoods, no matter their size or status. Real estate specialists included the following:

¶Spring is traditionally the most popular time to show and sell a house, coinciding with better weather and the rhythms of the school year.

¶As the national recession eases, a “shadow inventory” is emerging: some homeowners who put off trying to sell are starting to try now.

¶The federal tax credit program for first-time buyers expires April 30, and many buyers are trying to beat the deadline.

Focusing more tightly, though, real estate agents in northern New Jersey said a concentration of for-sale signs was often the result of sociological change, rather than change of season or economy.

“I think what happens is a natural progression,” said Perri K. Feldman, an agent based in the Keller-Williams office in Summit. “People move into a neighborhood when their children are young, and then when everyone is older, and their children have stopped boomeranging back home, one decides to put their house on the market.

“Then, all the nosy neighbors come to the open house,” Ms. Feldman continued. “And they start to chat back and forth: ‘Oh, did you hear that the house on the next street over sold, and it went pretty fast? Oh, and this neighbor and that neighbor are putting their houses up, and the other one is thinking about it.’

“And pretty soon, they start calling me, because, well, they’ve been thinking — and it’s time.”

N.J. Court Rules Gmail User Accused Of Libel Can Remain Anonymous

Upholding the right to send anonymous emails, a New Jersey appellate court has rejected a request to unmask a Gmail user who accused a student of underage drinking.

The court ruled that although high school student Alexandra Zubowski alleged she was libeled in the email, she didn't submit an affidavit stating the email's content was false. Without such a document, she had not presented a solid enough case of defamation to be able to unmask the sender, the court ruled.

Zubowski and her parents sued after a Gmail user sent an email to her school alleging that she wasn't living up to promises of good conduct that she made as a member of the school's "Heroes and Cool Kids" program. The email, signed by "a concerned parent," included photos from Facebook of Zubowski and other students. One showed Zubowski standing in front of a ping pong table with plastic cups and seven beer cans on top of it.

The school forwarded the email to the police, who investigated but declined to press charges.

Zubowski sued the anonymous author for libel and a judge ordered Google to provide information about the IP address associated with the account. Zubowski learned that the Internet service provider was Optimum Online; that company notified the customer about the subpoena, after which the author moved to quash it.

A trial judge in Bergen County, N.J. agreed with the author and quashed the subpoena.

The appellate court upheld that decision earlier this month, ruling that "no reasonable factfinder" could conclude that the email was false. Not only did Zubowski fail to deny that she had engaged in underage drinking, but the anonymous author also presented several other Facebook photos that, according to the court, showed her "holding and drinking alcoholic beverages."

Courts in New Jersey have said that people have the right to speak anonymously online, and therefore can only be unmasked if libel plaintiffs show they have a potentially valid case and if their interest in suing outweighs the speakers' First Amendment interests in keeping their identity secret.

Zubowski argued that those requirements only apply when people seek to unmask anonymous online authors who post in a public forum, and not to senders of emails, which she called a "private communication" similar to physical letters.

She argued that the court should simply decide whether she had alleged sufficient facts to proceed on the libel case without then weighing that against the sender's right to anonymity. But the appellate court said it didn't have to decide whether to balance Zubowski's right to sue against the speaker's right to remain unknown because Zubowski hadn't made out a potentially valid defamation case.

"We consider all of the photographs in conjunction with plaintiff's failure to present any certification of her own, or from any other witness, certifying that she was not consuming alcoholic beverages on the occasion that is depicted in the original photograph," the court wrote. "Having done so, only one conclusion can be drawn: plaintiff has not presented prima facie proof that [the sender's] statement was false."

Twitter Turns on Its Geolocation Feature and It's Opt-in

Twitter March 11 switched on its long-awaited location-sharing feature and made the service opt-in. Twitter's geolocation feature, which works for Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and Google Chrome on Windows, tags users' tweets based on where they are tweeting from. The way Twitter has done this should endear it to privacy hounds that get nervous about location-sharing services. Facebook, meanwhile, is set to launch its own location-sharing service for its 400 million users. The leading social network would do well to follow Twitter's flexible approach to location.

Twitter March 11 switched on its long-awaited location-sharing feature and made the service opt-in.

Twitter's geolocation feature tags users' tweets based on where they are tweeting from. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and his team believe this additional layer of context will make Twitter a richer network. See Stone's example of why this is useful:

"Let's say I'm at my office and I hear a loud boom. It sounded serious, so I search Twitter for 'boom.' Among the first results could be someone who tweeted 'Boom go the fireworks!' This could be anywhere in the world. However, if that person had activated the new tweet location feature then the neighborhood data under the tweet would read, 'SoMa.' Now I know it's just fireworks going off in my neighborhood."

What the cool technology integration users get to see is that the key tweet word "SoMa" is linked to a Google map to let users explore the area some more. The point is that Twitter can now not only help its roughly 70 million users discuss what is happening, but where.

This is a concept that will be explored to the hilt at South-by-Southwest in Austin, Texas, this coming week. ReadWriteWeb's Marshall Kirkpatrick said at least 25 companies will be making location-related announcements at SXSW this week.

Tweet by location works for Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and Google Chrome on Windows. To use the tool with older versions of these Web browsers, users will have to download the not-yet-defunct Google Gears app.

To get started, users may navigate to the How to Tweet Your Location Web page on Twitter and enable "Add a location to your tweets" in Twitter's account settings page. Twitter client applications will then be able to tag a tweet with exact location.

To tweet with location on a per-tweet basis after Location has been enabled, users must click the crosshair icon below the update box on the left. Users will then be asked to let Firefox "Remember Your Location." Double check to make sure "Remember for this site" box is checked and click "Share Location."

Location will then show below the update box. Of course, users who want to turn this off can click the "x" next to their location. This turns off Tweet With Your Location on a per-Tweet basis. Location will not be shown until users re-enable it by clicking the crosshair icon.

To disable Tweet With Your Location entirely, users must go back into accounts setting and uncheck the Add a location to your tweets box. Users may also delete specific tweets with location data, or remove all location data from all of your tweets by clicking the "delete all location data" button on the settings page.

This can take up to 30 minutes, but note that it does not guarantee the information will be removed from all thirdparty application's copies of the data or results from search engines such as Google or Microsoft Bing.

The way Twitter has done this should endear it to privacy hounds that get nervous about location-sharing services. Google recently discussed this issue -- the creepy factor associated with location-based services -- in detail with eWEEK.

Facebook meanwhile is set to launch its own location-sharing service for its 400 million users. The leading social network would do well to follow Twitter's flexible approach to location.

New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners Sussex-Warren Chapter to hold networking meeting

BLAIRSTOWN -- The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO) Sussex-Warren Chapter, the state’s leading organization addressing the specific interests of women entrepreneurs, will be holding their monthly breakfast meeting 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, March at the Andover Diner, 193 Main Street, Andover.

This month’s breakfast meeting discussion will focus on employee benefits. Attendees will discuss ways that have been successful for them to acquire and maintain employee benefits for their small business including healthcare, dental, vision and 401ks.

All NJAWBO members, prospective members and guests are welcome. There is no charge for participation in this meeting for members and first time guests. Interested participants may join the NJAWBO group at 7:45 am, leaving as their work day and schedule requires. All women business owners are invited and encouraged to attend the event.

The Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO meets once a month for a breakfast meeting and one evening a month, rotating venues throughout Sussex and Warren counties. The meetings are both educational and social in nature. For more information, or to join the Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO, email chapterinfo@njawbosw.org.

The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners is the oldest statewide organization in New Jersey with a mission to address the concerns and issues of business ownership by women. The organization’s objectives are to encourage and support business ownership by women, enable women business owners to network, provide a legislative voice for the interests of women-owned businesses and provide entrepreneurial training and assistance. Since its founding in 1978, the organization has grown to include 12 chapters across the state. Classes, seminars and informational events are offered to members and aspiring entrepreneurs through NJAWBO and NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center.

For further information about NJAWBO or NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center, call the state headquarters at 609-799-5101 or visit http://www.njawbo.org/.

In New Jersey, No Consensus on Foreclosure Problem

IN gauging the severity of the foreclosure problem in New Jersey, the experts could hardly be farther apart. Some see the state as relatively unscathed at this point, with the situation about to improve; others see worsening conditions that may turn downright severe.

But then again these same experts are the first to admit that they are handicapped by extremely unreliable information. Real estate market analysts, lawyers, academics, public officials: there are clusters of them on either side of the debate.

“Precise numbers on foreclosures are very elusive,” said James W. Hughes, the dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. But he said he was hearing reports from researchers in the field that foreclosure filings in some county courts were increasing. That trend may pick up steam as federal home-buyer stimulus programs expire, and high-paying jobs continue migrating out of state.

Jeffrey G. Otteau, whose Otteau Valuation Group provides real estate market analysis to the industry, sounded a similar note on the quality of available statistics. “The numbers from the various sources do not square,” was how he put it. Mr. Otteau quoted data from RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that monitors court filings around the country, in characterizing New Jersey’s current foreclosure rate as very low — just .04 percent of households. He also predicted that foreclosure actions would decline as the overall economy improved. RealtyTrac, a subscriber service, is a primary source of information about distressed properties for investors.

As one of very few sources for up-to-date statistics detailed down to the local level, it also provides data to Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. But its tracking and counting methods have been criticized, not only by Mr. Otteau in New Jersey but also by state officials in Colorado and Georgia, among others.

For instance, in 2008, when RealtyTrac reported that New Jersey’s rate of foreclosures increased 101 percent, Mr. Otteau accused the company of overcounting — in effect listing the same property repeatedly as it moved through the various steps in court. That might include a lender’s initial filing when an owner is 90 days delinquent on payments, as well as transfer of ownership to a lender, and a court-ordered sheriff’s auction.

“All indications are that RealtyTrac has stopped doing that,” Mr. Otteau said last week. “But the accuracy can in no way be positively verified.”

In 2009, according to RealtyTrac’s numbers, the rate of foreclosure filings in New Jersey increased by just 1 percent, to 1.8 percent, which equates to 18 of every 1,000 homeowners, Mr. Otteau noted. Nationally, foreclosures were reported to be up by 21 percent, for a foreclosure rate of 22.1 per 1,000 homeowners.

“That meant New Jersey ranked 39th of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia,” he said, “placing it in the better-of-the-pack.”

Cross-checking RealtyTrac numbers with other statistics often amounts to an “apples and oranges” problem, according to Mr. Otteau and Mr. Hughes. For instance, a report last month by the New Jersey court system estimated the number of foreclosure filings rose 29 percent from 2008. But the number is a raw count, not a calculation of rate.

Still, Mr. Otteau said, it does not jibe with RealtyTrac’s report as best he can tell. Goldie Sommer, a real estate lawyer who specializes in short sales for the firm Sommer & Engelhart in Fairfield, said she had ended up relying on the anecdotal reports of brokers who list properties available for short sale — and on the fact that she is extremely busy — to infer that the number of homeowners facing foreclosure was “bouncing up again.”

Ms. Sommer said she had handled about 250 short sales in the last two years. In her view, the process benefits both sides: the bank can avoid higher court costs, the potential need to evict after foreclosure and the prospect of the low-bidding “sharks” who show up at sheriff’s sales. And borrowers are saved from a damaging credit report, Ms. Sommer said. “Rather than show a foreclosure on a credit report, which takes off 200 points on a person’s credit score,” she said, “with a short sale a person will be able to get another mortgage later on.”

Information on short sales is not published by the state Multiple Listing Services. But the tally of short sales is disclosed to brokers as members of the listing services, and some do try to keep track of trends.

For instance Michael Hawley, of the United Association of Realtors, said that 35 to 40 percent of Essex County homes currently listed in the $300,000-to-$350,000 price range were short sales. At $700,000 and above, he added, 10 to 15 percent of listings are short sales.

An office manager for Weichert in Caldwell estimated that 15 percent of all listings right now were delinquent-mortgage properties; at Unicasa United Realty in Newark, a manager estimated that more than 60 percent of the agency’s listings were for properties whose owners were “underwater,” or owed more than the home was worth.

The short-sale alternative does complicate the calculating of foreclosure rates, Mr. Otteau said, because it means a large proportion of homes fall out of the process before actual foreclosure. He said that was why statisticians usually relied instead on the number of foreclosure filings — even though it too can be suspect, presenting “the potential for another type of miscounting.”

“It’s uneven,” Mr. Otteau said of all the estimates and anecdotes. “We do know that, but again, it’s a general sense of things, not a snapshot.”

Single Throw Hires Search Specialist

Single Throw Internet Marketing consultants are pleased to welcome brand new Search Specialist Jennifer Piasecki to the Single Throw team.

Single Throw Internet Marketing is thrilled to announce the company’s new Search Specialist, Jennifer Piasecki. Single Throw is one of the nation’s top Internet Marketing companies, popular for its Search Engine Optimization offering. Jennifer will be assisting the company in strategizing Pay-Per-Click campaigns, as well as integrating search engine optimization into the Internet marketing strategies and website development of Single Throw’s many local and national clients, some of which include Bath Fitter, DCH Auto Group and Ray Catena Motor Cars.

Piasecki joins Single Throw with an agency background, where she worked with a variety of different clients and industries. She specialized in search marketing and display advertising, and was most recently in charge of Online Marketing and Public Relations for Global Goddess Beauty and Mindfully21.

“Jennifer has a distinct background in search marketing, which will be an incredible addition to our company. Her knowledge of public relations is an excellent tool, and something that really makes her a standout new employee,” said Larry Bailin, President and CEO of Single Throw.

Piasecki looks at her new position as Single Throw’s Search Specialist as an opportunity to work with some of the most distinguished and knowledgeable professionals in the industry. “I am excited to be working at Single Throw, assisting our clients in reaching their maximum benefit online, while teaming up with some of the brightest minds in the business,” she said.

Southern New Jersey Patent Attorney Stuart M. Goldstein Secures approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ...

Marlton, New Jersey (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Stuart M. Goldstein (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com), partner and founding shareholder of the law firm of Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC, has been successful in securing approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a new revolutionary patent (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com) that overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of prior supercharger control systems - efficiently, easily, effectively.

The new invention by Billy Machner of Browns Mills, New Jersey, addresses the problems that plague most current superchargers. A supercharger is installed on a vehicle internal combustion engine to provide air at high pressure into the engine's intake manifolds. Added high-pressure air increases engine horsepower. However, since most superchargers are driven by the engine, the engine has to work harder to operate the supercharger. As a result, engine efficiency is reduced and more fuel is consumed. There are more emissions and more wear on engine components. Simply put, that means added expense for fuel and parts, as well as an increased negative impact on the environment.

Machner's supercharger control system is a compact, solid mount unit that is easily installed on an engine's existing crankshaft by a supercharger clutch assembly. The supercharger control system directs the operation of the vehicle's supercharger, allowing the driver to simply and efficiently switch the supercharger on or off. When the supercharger is not needed, the driver can switch it off - the clutch assembly is disconnected to stop the operation of the supercharger. The driver can easily switch it on when opting to obtain high-speed performance. This on/off process helps, over the long run, to increase fuel efficiency, limit exhaust emissions, and reduce wear on the engine, crankshaft and other engine components, including the supercharger itself, by keeping cool when disconnected.

Retrofitted into aftermarket vehicles with superchargers or offered as standard or optional equipment with new production vehicles, this supercharger control system offers a wealth of practical marketing opportunities.

It is through Mr. Goldstein's expertise in matters involving a variety of industrial and consumer products as well as equipment and systems within the mechanical, electrical, and marine disciplines that make him the patent attorney clients seek out in order to receive patent protection for their creative products and improvements.

Mr. Goldstein oversees Hollstein Keating's southern New Jersey office's Intellectual Property Department, specializing in patent and trademark law. Mr. Goldstein's solid background, experience, and technical knowledge in the mechanical, electrical-mechanical, and marine arts began with his B.S. in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York in 1972. For six years, he worked as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., attaining primary examiner status. Since 1978, he has been registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney (Registration #22817), handling patent application prosecution and related litigation.

As a specialist in the patent field, Mr. Goldstein advises manufacturers, businesses, and individuals on product design, development, and integrity, guiding them efficiently through the complex patent approval process. Says Mr. Goldstein, "If it is new and useful, if it can be made, if it has potential value, it should be patented. When you are looking to protect your original invention or improvement on existing technology, when you are looking to secure intellectual property ownership rights, when you are looking to safeguard future commercial success, the goal is to protect your patent ownership rights. Over the years, I have seen the consequences of not obtaining patent protection (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com), of opportunities lost, and the loss of investment, time, energy, marketing possibilities and ownership. With patent protection, your creative product or improvement becomes your exclusive property. And the rewards that come with it can be enormous."

Mr. Goldstein's representative patent areas include all types of mechanical and electrical products and improvements, methods and systems: for example, construction tools and equipment, cleaning tools and appliances, electrical lighting and switches, household appliances, plumbing and electrical tools, appliances and related equipment, hardware and gardening tools, conveyor systems, automotive products and accessories, vessel and marine-related products and systems, recreational and leisure-related products, and medical devices and appliances.

Among the newest technical patents that have received patent approval through Mr. Goldstein's professional guidance are the Chair Storage Rack (U.S. Pat. No, 7,578,400), which allows for the simple and efficient storage of beach chairs and beach accessories, and the Adjustable Fishing Rod Holder (U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,171), allowing the fishing rods of anglers and fishermen to be maintained in place in a variety of pre-selected fishing angles. The Bow Mounted Vessel Propulsion System (U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,810), which is a practical, effective, and efficient vessel propulsion system that addresses the limitations of prior propulsion systems, by reducing hull surface drag, enhancing fuel efficiency, and increasing vessel speed and maneuverability. The Conduit Rack Electrical Junction Box (U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,912) provides for a more efficient installation and use in suspended conduit racks. Invented by a licensed electrician for use within the construction industry, this invention accepts runs of protective conduit in conduit rack systems without interfering with the horizontal run of the conduit. This improvement eliminates the need for bending runs of conduit, saving time, material costs and labor. The Bimini Twist Jig (U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,346) offers a simple, easy to use product that always results in the tying of a perfect Bimini twist - considered to be the most important knot in fishing. The Eyeglass Display and Demonstration System (U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,799) is a convenient and practical system that allows the eyeglass wearer to visualize how a given pair of glasses will actually look with any given lens shape and tint before the lenses are fitted in the frames.

For additional information, contact Angela Forte, Office Administrator at 856.810.8860. Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.

About Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC

Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC (http://www.hollsteinkeating.com) is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.


Websites:

http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com

http://www.hollsteinkeating.com


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Free Business Symposium to Bolster Monmouth & Ocean County Year-Round Tourism

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Robert Hilton
Executive Director
Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tel: 732.337.7061
robertjhilton@aol.com

BUSINESSES OF ALL SECTORS UNITING TO SHOWCASE A SHORE FOR ALL SEASONS
Free February 12 Symposium to launch “A Partnership for Success” to promote year-round tourism in Monmouth and Ocean Counties

Freehold, NJ – February 8, 2010 – Drawing from nearly every business sector – from hotels, restaurants and seaside arcades to commercial laundries, restaurant supply houses and local markets – a new business force is rising like high tide and launching a wave to showcase Monmouth and Ocean counties as a shore for all seasons.

“A Partnership for Success” is the powerful idea behind the newly organized Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (JSCVB) and its 2010 Symposium scheduled for February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakewood, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The JSCVB is supported by a joint effort of the Monmouth County and Ocean County departments of tourism created to foster a coordinated partnership between government and the wide variety of businesses in both counties impacted by tourism. The symposium is being co-hosted by the MODC Cultural & Tourism Committee.

The symposium will allow businesses, as well as local chambers of commerce and government bodies, to learn about the benefits of the $100 membership in the JSCVB, which include preferred treatment on the web site; priority consideration for inclusion in press and travel trade tours; priority consideration for reference in press releases and marketing campaigns; representation at consumer and travel expositions; and advocacy through the NJ Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Travel Association.

“We are a destination marketing organization and our goal is to market the Jersey Shore,” said Robert Hilton, executive director of the JSCVB. “With the economy the way it is today, the greatest challenge is letting people know what’s going on in this region. People can’t advertise individually the way they did before. We have the ability to advertise, get to trade shows, put information on the Internet and reach people to tell them what’s happening year-round. Individually, businesses don’t have the budget to do all that.”

For example, the JSCVB soon will be launching a $35,000, five-week media marketing campaign using radio station WPLJ that will promote local activities and drive consumers to www.visitthejerseyshore.com.

“Tourism makes a vital contribution to the social and economic well-being of the region,” said Jeanne DeYoung, director of tourism for Monmouth County, who noted that each visitor spends nearly $550 and creates $64 in state and local tax revenue and that every 160 visitors creates one job and $240 in wages. “Tourism is an economic engine that provides jobs, builds interest in the environment and maintains the economic viability of many local businesses.”

Barbara Steele, director of public affairs and tourism for Ocean County, added, “This symposium will be an opportunity to network. It will provide nuts and bolts information about the resources and support that are available to anybody who has tourism dollars flowing through their business or organization, either directly or indirectly.”

That brush paints a very wide stroke, according to Hilton. While many business sectors benefiting from tourism are obvious – such as hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts; restaurants; seaside entertainment and shopping outlets – others are less apparent, he said. They can include such disparate businesses as commercial laundries and restaurant supply houses; non-traditional shore entertainment venues for rainy days; local markets and convenience stores that enjoy greater foot-traffic when tourism increases; contractors and construction companies; business services firms; and many others, he said.

The JSCVB already boasts an impressive membership list, including Monmouth Park Racetrack, Six Flags Great Adventure, the Molly Pitcher Inn and the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, Jenkinson’s Pavilion in Point Pleasant, Seastreak Ferry and Seaside Heights. However, the JSCVB is not just for large businesses, DeYoung stresses.

“In the current challenging economy, the JSCVB offers an additional outlet for businesses, large and small alike, to access a customer base through cooperative marketing and partnerships year-round that perhaps would not be accessible to them on their own,” she said.

Hilton added, “The local food market, pharmacist or hardware store may never have felt a need to advertise to out-of-town travelers, but when more people visit the region, they have more customers. Tourism benefits all of us. When people come to the Jersey Shore it creates revenue, it generates taxes and keeps property taxes down. It raises all boats.”

The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium – Tourism & Business / A Partnership for Success will be held Friday, February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1885 Route 70, Lakewood. Networking and a continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:00 a.m. There is no charge to attend.

To register for the symposium, contact the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau by phone at 732-303-5984, fax at 732-845-0412 or email at director@visitthejerseyshore.com.


What:
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium
Tourism & Business - “A Partnership for Success”

A panel discussion about the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, its activities to promote year-round tourism for Monmouth and Ocean counties and the benefits of membership.

Where:
Hilton Garden Inn
1885 Route 70, Lakewood

When:
Friday – February 12
Networking and Continental Breakfast - 8:30 a.m.
Program - 9:00-11:00 a.m.

How:
To Register:
Call 732-303-5984
Fax 732-845-0412
Email director@visitthejerseyshore.com
There is no charge to attend the symposium

Forrester: Social Media, Web Spend Up, TV Down

A new Forrester Research/Association of National Advertisers survey says TV marketers plan to spend 41% of their media budgets on television in 2010 -- the same level as a year ago.

Still, this was down from the 58% level of two years ago. The survey says this illustrates a continued lack of confidence in the effectiveness of television ads.

The survey looked at 104 U.S. advertisers in 21 industries representing nearly $14 billion in measured media budgets. It included companies such as Cisco Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, ING, Kraft, Marriott, State Farm and Clorox.

Some 62% percent of companies say TV ads have become less effective in the past two years due to increased advertising clutter. Worse still, virtually all advertisers believe the TV industry needs new audience metrics beyond reach and frequency; 82% of respondents would be interested in ratings for individual commercials.

But one sign that has turned around for TV marketers: The expectant lifespan of the 30-second commercial. Now, 19% say the 30-second spot will be dead in 10 years. This is down from 28% a year ago.

The future of addressable advertising is showing some mixed signals. While 78% are interested in targeting consumers more precisely, only 59% would be willing to pay a premium for it.

Future branded entertainment deals will grow, according to 80% of advertisers. And in 2010, 38% say they will spend more on branded entertainment as an alternative to the 30-second commercial.

Social media, Web advertising and search are stealing budgets from TV and other media. Of those surveyed, 77% said they would be moving TV dollars to social media this year; 73% plan to shift money to online advertising, and 59% will be spending more on search-engine marketing and 46% on e-mail marketing.

Other non-TV traditional media doesn't seem to be part of this trend. Only 15% said they plan to increase spending in traditional media such as radio, outdoor, magazines or newspapers.

"CMOs need to prepare for television's digital future by forcing change upon the TV advertising ecosystem," said David Cooperstein, vice president and research director of Forrester Research.

"We recommend that advertisers get ready for the future of television by preparing to deliver targeted commercials, delivering true branded entertainment experiences and embracing the connected TV."

The survey findings will be presented at the ANA's "TV and Everything Video Forum" on Feb. 11 in New York.

Top Information Technology Predictions

Gartner continues to investigate the changing balance of power from across its research areas, and selects Internet Technologies as the focus of this year's crystal ball gazing.

Here's our future according to Gartner:

• By 2012, 20% percent of businesses will have no ownership of IT assets. Fueled by technological developments in 2009, such as virtualization and cloud computing, there's a movement toward decreased IT hardware assets and more ownership of hardware by third parties.

• By 2012, India-based IT companies will represent 20% of cloud service providers in the market. Gartner attributes this to companies leveraging their market positions and R&D efforts in cloud computing, resulting in cloud-enabled outsourcing options.

• By 2012, Facebook will lead the pack in developing the distributed, interoperable social Web through Facebook Connect and similar mechanisms. The interoperability will be critical to survival of other social networks.

• Other social networks (including Twitter) will continue to develop with focus on greater adoption and specialization. However, they will all revolve around Facebook.

• By 2014, building on server vitalization and desktop power management as savings in energy costs, more organizations will be driven by the need to be responsible for carbon dioxide emissions and will include carbon costs in business cases. Vendors will have to provide carbon lifecycle statistics for their products.

• In 2012, 60% of a new PCs total life greenhouse gas emissions will have occurred before the user first turns it on. In its lifetime, a typical PC consumes 10 times its own weight in fossil fuels, but around 80% of a PC's total energy usage occurs during production and transportation. Buyers will be paying more attention to eco labels.

• Online marketing by 2015 will control more than US$ 250 billion in Internet marketing spending worldwide.

• By 2014, mobile and Internet technology will help over 3 billion of the world's adults to electronically transact. Emerging economies will see increase in mobile and Internet adoption through 2014. Worldwide mobile penetration rate will get to 90%.

• By 2013, mobile phones will replace PCs as the most common device for Web access.