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This is a periodical Togoparts.com newsfeed. Togoparts.com is a community of cyclists, based in Singapore and focused on Asia.

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Human Edited Web Directory

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Daily personal finance observation, musing and decisions in a journey toward financial independence by 36 with at least a million dollars.

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contentSutra.com:India's Digital News Monitor

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paidContent Jobs

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An atheist libertarian gourmet chef in Bangalore.

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What's Cool In Pro Cycling.

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Relax and let us take care of the work.

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Mozilla on Monday unveiled its Mozilla Messaging company–formerly MailCo–and outlined a few plans for Thunderbird 3, the open source email and communications suite. In a blog post, David Ascher, who joined Mozilla to lead Mozilla Messaging in September, said the company’s goal is to help fix email–quite a lofty goal. Ascher wrote: As I’ve slowly internalized over the [...]

Michael Stonebraker has a history of database breakthroughs. He was a founder of Ingres, Illustra, Cohera and StreamBase Systems. He also served as CTO of Informix and helped develop Postgres. His most recent creation is Vertica, which just launched version 2.o of its database. The claims around Vertica Analytic Database 2.0 are significant for querying [...]

New Scientist wrote recently about software from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) that scans organizations e-mails to detect potential thieves...and whistle-blowers. If you think such a system cant really work, I must regretfully inform you that you are utterly, staggeringly wrong.

The messaging out of Redmond about its desires for Yahoo is clear: Microsoft will acquire the company whether CEO Jerry Yang and his merry band of board like it or not. To wit: Dealbook reports that Microsoft will authorize a proxy fight to take Yahoo. Bill Gates makes the rounds with Reuters and AP noting that Microsoft’s bid [...]

Operative /New York, NY

Work in a group that grows and nurtures client relationships for Operative. This is the perfect opportunity for someone with raw smarts and a strong account management skills to grow professionally and get high level exposure at a stage 2 startup that is revolutionizing the way media is managed in the online publishing space.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Maintain contact with assigned accounts through periodic phone calls and in person meetings
• Understand customer's organization and functional business and technical environments
• Development of Account Plans for assigned Key Accounts
• Facilitate customer acceptance of products and deliverables
• Drive adoption of Operative services at all assigned accounts
• Drive and close up sell and cross sell opportunities within account
• Ensure all assigned accounts are renewed prior to the end of existing contract
• Participate in the creation of processes and tools to improve the functionality of the Account Management team
• Create and manage strategic face-off strategy between Operative management and assigned accounts
• Development of quarterly contact calendar – assigning Operative management call or visit responsibilities
• Creation of recap notes distributed, to VP AM, VP Product, VP Ops and any other related party, for scheduled customer calls or meetings
• Follow of action items from customer meetings
• Articulate the companys long term vision (including our functional, technical, and business directions) to current customers
• Obtain through knowledge of software and services to provide customer with alternative solutions, when requested functionality, as requested, does not exist

Retention:
• Respond to Red Flag alerts as needed to address customer concerns
• Conduct Satisfaction surveys as required per quarter
• Development of action items from survey
• Troubleshoot client issues and escalate as required
• Participate and provide input to improve customer retention
• Creation of Cancellation notices as needed

Internal:
• Engage internal groups as needed to resolve customer questions or issues
• Provide Product and others insight to customer requests for enhancement
• Support product in identifying priorities for upcoming DB releases
• Work closely with sales in driving business in customer base
• Insulate implementation team from contract and scope related issues, during an implementation of DB, by interfacing with the client management


Individual Metrics:
• Customer Satisfaction levels equal to or better than previous
• Account plans for key accounts agreed to by VP and AM
• Thorough understanding of the customer organizational structure and incorporated into the Account Plan
• Accounts renewed prior to expiration – 95%
• Participation in corporate activities ie: strategic initiatives, leading training sessions
• Upsell / crossell revenue at least an average of 1 opportunity per account or a total of 100k

Departmental Metrics:
• Improvement of retention numbers by 25% from last year
• Conducting of internal customer focused training at least 2 per year
• Creation of department process and procedures as required
• Use of internal knowledge management tools (group hub, SF, etc)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
• 5+ years of related account management experience (working for of Online Advertising, Online Ad Operations, Online Ad Serving, Web Portal)
• Must have industry experience (strong knowledge of Online Advertising, Online Ad Operations, Online Ad Serving)
• CRM experience desired
• Strong client facing experience

This is a unique opportunity. It offers a huge learning curve and the ability to be truly innovative in online ad operations. The world around us in digital media is in an incredible state of flux and we are squarely riding the wave. If you are passionate about the online ad operations space and the idea of nurturing client relationships excites you, get in touch and give us a whirl.

For more information, visit our corporate website at www.operative.com


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OnMobile Global listed today - Scrip Code: 532944 - in the list of B1 Group Securities on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock, which was priced at Rs. 440, closed 18.61 percent up at Rs. 521.90. During the day, it hit a high of Rs. 579.90, and a low of Rs. 421. On the National Stock Exchange, it closed 17.76 percent up at Rs. 518.15, with a high of Rs. 579, and a low of Rs. 411. Going into the listing, there had been fears that the bearish trend might pull the stock down, but the market on the whole spent the entire day in positive territory, and that must have helped.

OnMobile CEO and MD Arvind Rao told CNBC TV18 that the company is looking at two more overseas acquisitions over the next 12-18 months, but they will do acquisitions "very carefully and conservatively". Theyre targeting companies with product IP. He expects a topline growth of 60-65 percent. They plan to expand their R&D team and "crank out more products faster and better". He says that demand for voice-portal content is huge and relatively inelastic. Watch the video here.

Note: Chart via Rediff (NSDQ: REDF) Moneywiz

Related

• OnMobile IPO Oversubscribed 10.95 Times
• OnMobile Raises $30 Million Via Pre-IPO Placement
• OnMobile To Raise Rs. 350-450 Crores From IPO; Price Band - Rs. 425-450; Opens 24th Jan

DealBook is reporting that Microsoft plans to authorize a proxy fight to capture Yahoo, which has rebuffed the $44.6 billion bid (since Microsoft’s stock went down the deal is valued now at about $41 billion). For the Yahoo board, the fight is heading for the final rounds. Now is the time for Yahoo to come back [...]

Optaros is a consulting and systems integration firm. We achieve business agility by assembling software components into composite applications. Optaros Media Frameworks enable publishers to quickly design, assemble and support new on-line products that generate revenue through content syndication and contextual ads. For more information about Optaros, go to www.optaros.com.

Crisp Wireless/New York, NY (midtown manhattan)

Job Description
February 18, 2007

Director of Sales

Crisp Wireless, a New York City-based provider of mobile content management solutions to the media and entertainment industry, seeks to recruit a consultative sales pro to secure new business and manage client relationships.

Position Summary

Reporting to Vice President of Sales, Director of Sales will meet or exceed sales objectives, creating leads and closing new business among major domestic media companies and advertising agencies. Director of Sales will develop this growing line of business by leveraging the companys industry-leading technology platform and successful track record in media and entertainment.

Responsibilities
• Manage the entire sales process from prospecting and qualifying to closing new business
• Create and execute territory or market segment sales plan
• Generate own leads and identify new business opportunities
• Provide a consultative, creative sales approach over a life cycle of the project
• Assess client requirements, communicate effectively client requirements to internal project team, prepare proposals and price quotes
• Maintain close relationship with existing clients by developing in depth knowledge of clients businesses
Skills and Qualifications

• Prior experience selling technology, advertising, or digital media solutions to media and entertainment companies or advertising agencies is an absolute requirement
• Deep understanding of the digital content and advertising value chains
• Prior experience of working for a mobile content and technology company is a big plus
• Strong record of prior success selling to senior executives at C and VP levels (5 + years)
• A broad knowledge of emerging media technology
• Experience in making sophisticated consultative sales requiring strategic and creative approaches with emphasis on building partner relationships
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent presentation, negotiating, and closing skills
• An ideal candidate will be comfortable creating presentations in PowerPoint to help clients visualize a new mobile solution and preparing business models in excel to forecast mobile business results, and delivering live demos of mobile products
• Self motivated, high-energy team player


About Crisp Wireless

Crisp Wireless is a high-growth, venture-funded software company headquartered in New York City. The company enables the development of revenue-generating mobile portals and downloadable applications for advertising, media, sports, and entertainment clients. Crisps customers include AT&T Mobility, CNN, Discovery Networks, E! Entertainment Television, Fandango, Getty Images, NBC, Time Inc., and Weather.com. Its mLogicâ„¢ technology solutions and comprehensive management services enable consumer-facing companies to rapidly and economically distribute multimedia content and deploy mobile commerce solutions across all carriers and millions of handsets to generate revenue, promote brands, and improve customer loyalty.





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Nasdaq listed Jupiter Media is taking a cautious approach to India: the companys Chairman and CEO Alan Meckler was in India for a couple of days - his first trip to the country - and I met him on Saturday to talk about their plans. Jupiter Media (NSDQ: JUPM) has two divisions - JupiterImages and JupiterOnlineMedia, and a fairly large number of properties, including Internet.com, MediaBistro.com, graphics.com; more on their bouquet of properties at this page. Excerpts from my discussion with Meckler:

What brings you to India?
Ive come to India for three things - one is to hire an ad (sales) representative firm for our media properties. The second is for our images business: we will be announcing the launch of our image sales operations in India in a few weeks time. We have just hired a top Getty (NYSE: GYI) sales person, who is due to join in March. We intend to start small, and grow the business, and we believe we have the right assets for this market. I also came to meet our outsourcing partners in Bangalore and see the operations there. They have 15 people in Bangalore, and we intend to grow that to around 35 by this time next year.

What are your plans for the media business here?
Our media properties get a combined 1.1 million unique visitors, around 3.3 million page views from India. So were tying up with an ad rep firm - we have spoken to some, and will make our decision in a few weeks. We have plans for Internet.com, and if all goes well, we will launch india.internet.com by summer. The beauty of India is that we dont need to do local language here, so we dont need to invest much. One part of the media business that might work for us here is the online education business. 

You appear to be rather cautious about your approach to the Indian market on the Media side...
In 1999, I opened up offices in Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Japan. We also opened offices in England, Belgiun, Canada, among others, with around 3-4 people in each office. And then the bottom came off the Internet business and we had to shut down most offices. We just kept Sydney Germany and Japan. I want to be very careful this time.

Will you be launching MediaBistro here?
No, we wont. We might launch a job site - we have justtechjobs.com - but whats different about us (from a site like Dice) is that we have a community and a job board plugged into it. We bought mediabistro last year for the jobs. With that technology, well also launch a job board with graphics.com this year.

Update: Exchange4media reports that Ramji Ravindran has joined JupiterImages as Sales Director, South Asia and Dubai. He moves from Visage Media, which represents Getty Images, where he was National Sales Head, South Asia.

I logged on to ibibo.com a couple of hours ago to check if theres anything new, and noticed that theyve launched a television show called iSuperstar in collaboration with MTV India. Its a dance based reality show, with contestants from the social media portal itself. From the site, it appears that offline auditions will be in Mumbai, Delhi and Lucknow. MTV VJ Sophie has a blog on the site, quite a few questions are being asked here at ibibo Sawaal, and theres a video promoting the competition on YouTube, here. The MIH owned company has been quite active on the marketing front over the past few months, looking to acquire users with TV advertising and tie-ups. I spoke to Ibibo CEO Ashish Kashyap on their products, marketing strategy and plans for monetization: 

What is iSuperstar all about?
iSuperstar is an application on ibibo, and we hope it will start off a chain reaction: you write about which Bollywood star you would like to dance like, and then your friend do the same, and it spreads. You blog and ask questions. Eventually some people will be shortlisted, and will be called for a below-the-line audition. 18 ibibo users will be selected for the reality show. Only users from the ibibo community will be allowed to vote. (Ed: this is likely to drive signups)
So it must be a huge cost for you, since the entire TV show is yours?
Its a partnership with MTV. Since we released it online a couple of hours ago, 720 people have enrolled for it. We think it adds huge value for the partnering media channel too, since it gives users an opportunity to express themselves on the medium as well.
How will it help generate revenue for you?
Right now were not getting a sponsor on board, but as we go along, well get partners. All such activities are monetizatible. The applications are monetizable too.
But is advertising really working on social networking portals? There are fears that they just arent generating enough click-throughs...
We dont want to do advertising based on click-throughs on users personal pages; we will look at branded applications. Advertising is possible on content pages where the click-throughs are fine. It works on Q&A pages too. Well have to learn and evolve, and see if we can involve the brands more clearly. It was one of your predictions and we also really believe in the Cross Media strategy.

More in the extended text

Youve recently launched a slew of marketing initiatives. Is ibibo complete as a product, and are you now focusing on acquiring users?
We went to the market after acquiring a million registered users: so its not like we did marketing without a community already there. The platform is ready, but product will keep evolving. Well focus on innovation: the way we brought answers into the social graph was really innovative. Everything needs to come under the social graph. If you play around with the product, youll figure out that weve done what a lot of people havent done.
Whats been the impact of marketing campaign?
Page-views have gone up daily by 4-5 times. Signups have increased by 3 times, and more users are doing more. Each user session is contributing to more page views. Things like Public ka Vittmantri, and activities around the Chak De India girls have driven a lot of genuine profiles. Whats interesting is that 57 percent of our users are from outside the metros. Also, after the marketing campaign, people have sampled our photos product and weve got really good content there in the last 25-30 days. In fact, ibibo photos is available on Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) Live as well.
What else is new on ibibo?
Weve also launched a multilingual news search - I think its Indias first. Well launch personalization features on that.

Related

• Kreeda Ties Up With NDTV Imagine For Nachle VeOrkut, MTV And Airtel Come Together For A Cross-Media Contest
• Ibibo Partners With Zee For Cross-Media Budget Speak
• Endemol Plans More Interactive Shows For TV In India

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been silent on the offer to acquire Yahoo. He has been purposely taking a back seat to CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie in lieu of his retirement from active duty in a few months. He officially exits day-to-day activities in July to focus on his philanthropic [...]

Google recently filed its 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission and dished out the usual batch of figures, but the charting the growth tells the tale. Here’s a look at Google’s annual report by the charts and some of the more interesting items. First up, the revenue growth is stunning. But we knew that already. Meanwhile Google [...]

Hewlett-Packard reports its fiscal first quarter earnings on Tuesday and all eyes will be on the company’s outlook for demand. Among the key questions: What’s the PC unit growth picture amid slowing consumer demand? Will printers be weaker than expected? And will enterprise demand remain steady? HP is expected to report pro forma earnings of 81 cents [...]

Toshiba officially dropped its plans for HD DVD Tuesday after Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Netflix and a parade of others abandoned the high-definition video format for Sony’s Blu-ray. The statement indicates the obvious–HD DVD was doomed. The writing on the wall has been there for a while with the wheels really beginning to fall off the wagon [...]

Notable headlines: Robin Harris: What your disk drive isn’t telling you. Toshiba: We’re done with HD DVD Report: Toshiba to announce HD DVD pullout Tuesday. Microsoft says end of HD DVD won’t hurt Xbox 360 Mary Jo Foley: No update from Microsoft on Vista SP1, Media Center problems. Microsoft adds new features to its Popfly mash-up tool. Microsoft keeps [...]

Two of the businesses that were showcased at an IIM Calcutta business plan competition will receive funding from Seed Fund, reports Mint. Mudranik allows users to publish and sell their own books online. The second - and havent we heard this one before? - is a student information portal on colleges and courses available in India, called UniApply. Seedfund is also in talks another co from the competition, this time a "travel media" company. Whats that they say about the road less traveled, again?

An Indiagames study averages over 100,000 mobile game downloads a day in India, at an average price point of Rs. 30. The top 100 users download an average of $20 of games per month. Whats interesting is that the unique user base of downloaders is up 85 percent; Samir Bangara, COO of Indiagames told me that the availability of GPRS on handsets has changed things drastically, particularly since new Nokia (NYSE: NOK) handsets, since around 6-9 months ago, automatically detect settings for GPRS based on the mobile operator. Thats helped in the growth of GPRS usage, and increased the instances of content discovery. However

The average mobile game download price on GSM is Rs. 35.5, compared to Rs. 22.25 on CDMA, and Rs. 14 on CDMA if you exclude Reliance BREW. GSM currently has 79 percent share on a revenue share basis, with 70 percent in terms of download. In terms of downloads, CDMA has 30 percent market share, even at lower price-points.

Download the report here, or here, if youre facing problems with the first link.

More in the extended text.

The top gaming handset: Nokia 6030. Indiagames estimates 5-6 percent gamer penetration (with a base of 400 million users) in 2010, with 20-24 million gamers generating an ARPU of $1 per month. Based on that, the company estimates that the business will be $250 million by 2010, at an annualized growth rate of 106 percent.

Those looking at entering the mobile gaming business should know that this doesnt necessarily mean that the mobile games business is booming: a lot depends on the shelf life of games, the number of games a company has on operator decks; the revenue shares are highly skewed in favour of the mobile operator. Apart from that, the auditing of number of game downloads (and hence the payouts from operators) has been suspect.

Readers should bear in mind that this may not be an actual representation of the Industry, and is based on Indiagames data and on interviews with others in the Industry. 

Message by NONE
What does it take mentally for professional cyclists to be successful in a stage race like the Tour of California? What can the rest of us mere mortals learn from their experiences? Pez talks candidly with Katheryn Curi Mattis, Steven Cozza, and Ben Jacques-Maynes, and hears some surprising and inspiring stories. - [Read more]

Message by Richard Pestes
Like a lot of Italian designed kit, the fit is snug, the look stylish. And befitting of top of a top brand like De Marchi, the gear is high-end all around. Heres a look at their Contour Plus Jacket, tights, gloves, and bean warmers. - [Read more]