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Monday, January 18, 2010

Ideas Economy

Innovation: Fresh thinking for the ideas economy. http://ideas.economist.com

Basic Human Pleasures

Nicholas Kristoff's opinion piece in the New York Times about happiness was a brilliant piece. I think being helpful, being focused on helping others is a state of mind, it's an attitude. If you do it right, it's a good one, really.

Useful links:
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com
www.happinesshypothesis.com
www.smiletrain.org

World Economic Forum 2010

Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild. World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. January 27 - 31, 2010. www.weforum.org

Barack Obama Musical

A tribute to Barack Obama. A musical that charts his meteoric journey from community worker to the White House. Check it out. http://hope-musical.com

Golden Globe Awards 2010

The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards. January 17, 2010. Don't miss.

Useful link:
www.goldenglobes.org

VicenzaOro First

New Trends in Jewelry. Visit VicenzaOro First jewelry show.

Useful link:
www.vicenzaoro.org

JBT CreditShare

The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) has introduced a new, free online platform called JBT CreditShare, a unique platform to confidentially share/retrieve customer data. I wish the gem business had a similar platform. www.jewelersboard.com

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Philanthropy 2010

Philanthropy—corporate and individual—2010. The BusinessWeek special report was educational and insightful. Thanks.

Useful links:
www.corporatephilanthropy.org
http://rockpa.org
www.gatesfoundation.org
www.redcross.org
www.philanthropyaction.com

Jancis Robinson Viewpoint

A great wine review. Thanks Jancis.

Useful links:
www.jancisrobinson.com
www.ft.com/arts/columnists/robinson
www.de-villaine.com

Ivory Update

Robin McKie's viewpoints in the Guardian about illegal ivory trading was interesting and insightful. Killing for tusks is a particularly gruesome trade. Elephants are intelligent animals whose sophisticated social ties are exploited by poachers. They will often shoot young elephants to draw in a grieving parent, which is then killed for its ivory. So true.

Useful links:
www.cites.org
www.traffic.org
www.wwf.org

River Twice Research

Economic/Political Trends. www.rivertwice.com

Random Thoughts

Film-making is very similar to entrepreneurship. The role of a film producer is analogous to that of a venture capitalist. Good producers, like smart venture capitalists, know that it's not just about writing a check and it's not just about big stars and quality music. In the same way, simply providing venture funding or throwing money at a start-up cannot ensure success, and it's not necessarily a great thing for entrepreneurs to have lots of work experience and domain expertise in their industry. The actors and the director, like entrepreneurs, work to bring the script and business plan to life. More than anything else, making a good film and building a business from scratch both require oodles of creativity.

- Rajeev Mantri
www.navamcapital.com

Spot on.

Offshore Wind Projects

European Wind Energy Association Report. www.ewea.org

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Pecha Kucha

I really liked the Pecha Kucha format: 20 images x 20 seconds. Think visually. Refine. Go. Amazingly it works. Thanks Scott Berkun for sharing the info.

Useful links:
www.pecha-kucha.org
www.klein-dytham.com
http://ignite.oreilly.com

Michael Wolf

Architecture of density. A Michael Wolf project. www.photomichaelwolf.com

Jewelry Market Update

Rob Reuteman's viewpoints in Fox Business about the state of the U.S jewelry business was interesting. Thanks Rob.

In many cases of independently-owned jewelry stores, the owners simply reached a point where they'd had enough. They either didn't have heirs to take over as they neared retirement, or they were tired of working 10-hour days and struggling against rising metals prices and a tanking economy.
- Hedda Schupak

Useful links:
www.foxbusiness.com
www.sageworksinc.com

So true!

The Rules Of Winning Chess

The Rules of Winning Chess by Nigel Davies is an insightful book to enjoy and savor, and has lesssons for all of us. A must read.

Useful links:
http://tigerchess.wordpress.com
http://ndavies.myzen.co.uk

globalDESIGN

The globalDESIGN tradeshow opens on February 12, 2010, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Check it out. http://jewelersresource.com