Harnden62

Grameen Bank has created partnerships with companies like Danone (yogurt) to form not-for-profit enterprises that demonstrate a model of 'Social Business'.

A new topic I am researching. Interesting points of view on the accessibility of microfinancing through the commoditization of mobile phones. But there is much more going on when you look below the surface. Fascinating topic. B241 - Microfinance Issues and Breakthroughs Class Review View more presentations from palimpsestsoul .

Well it's over. We were classy. We were corny (gotta love those closing ceremonies), and just a little sassy. By inviting the World into our backyard, the World in return has given us (Canadians, and in particular Vancouverites) a precious gift. Our International guests have reminded us how to behave, how to be gracious hosts, and how to be proud while maintaining our Canadian humility. They also reminded us how to have fun. For that we owe our guests of the World a great debt. I hope we can repay that debt by drawing from our self (re)discovery and being just as noble as guests as we have striven to be as hosts. ~a

In my last post, I talked about Twitter moving towards a freemium model with premium corporate accounts. I haven't looked into the premium perks yet. To warm up on the topic, here's a new corporate twitterer (they just showed up in December) that does a pretty good job of micro-blogging. Thanks to my colleague, Jon Maltby, for pointing this one out. No premium account here, but a good use of the basics. Elite Resorts, open for business... http://twitter.com/eliteresorts ...this happens to be for luxury travel, but could easily but modeled for other industries such as home builders - high end home buying (like our friends and Standard Pacific Homes). The tiny.urls are directed to their marketing site which is quite attractive – a good example of compelling visuals: http://www.eliteresortsofasiapacific.com/home.php I say 'interesting' because so far they don’t have much of a following (1 follower at time of writing) even though the design and content is pretty good. Ac...

According to Bloomberg , Twitter generated an estimated $25MM in revenues in 2009. Where did the money come from? Google ($15M) and Microsoft-Bing ($10M). In return, "messages posted on Twitter will be included as part of the search results on both Google and Microsoft’s search engines whenever they are relevant." There is also talk about premium accounts - this time not a hoax. The hoax earlier this year... BBSpot: Twitter Unveils New Premium Accounts By Brian Briggs The real deal... Twitter Premium Accounts Coming by Year’s End ...apparently first in Japan. ~a

My friend, Richard put me onto this book... Younger Next Year The basic principle: using exercise to increase the production of Cytokine 6 , the master chemical for inflammation and decay, which in turn triggers the production of Cytokine 10 , the master chemical for repair and regrowth of the body. Exercise triggers a controlled amount of decay and returns a greater amount of growth. In so doing it stems the tide of decay and, if you are active enough, reverses it. The book helps you separate the issues of aging (inevitable) from decay (chronic in today's society). An easy, motivating read. BTW, I went to the gym today and bought a 3 month pass ;-). ~a

Well, it was inevitable. At some point I knew I'd have to start blogging. While I've dodged the 'publish or perish' bullet with more of a 'repackage or perish' approach (particularly effective in the digital marketing world) I am overdue for an original thought or two. With Day 1, the plan is to go low key. Seeing that I am supposed to stay up on monetization schemes, I'll make note of this latest Googlism and call it a day: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12/19/google-makes-it-easier-to-monetize-blogs-with-amazon-integration/ Oh yes, an original thought... Welcome to the age of the human billboard. You don't need to do community service on the sidewalk outside a Chubby Chicken restaurant to play the placard. ~a