Star hitches its wagon to patent case (Times-Dispatch)
The Petersburg-based tobacco company has been losing money for years as it pushes its vision of safer tobacco. But it has pulled in nearly $100 million from investors, including some professional fund managers who specialize in small, thinly traded stocks, during the past five years on a gamble the company will win big — very big — in a federal patent-infringement case.
UVa’s endowment pool loses $100 million more (Daily Progress)
The loss extends the string of declines to nine consecutive months for the university’s endowment, whose performance has reflected the ongoing economic troubles overall and stock market declines. In the past eight months, marking UVa’s fiscal year to date, the endowment pool value has declined from $5.1 billion to $3.76 billion, a 26 percent drop.
Volvo partmaker Findlay to close plant in Pulaski Co. (Roanoke Times)
The closure of the factory, which makes cab interior parts for Volvo, will idle 100.
Why Facebook Can’t Succeed (Slate)
It’s the users who run the site now. This is dangerous for any business. By current community standards, business strategies like traditional brand advertising or target-messaged campaigns are generally unwelcome by Facebook members. The company’s easy susceptibility to its user base has effectively shut down these known ways of monetizing a Web site, and thus far the company has offered up nothing to take their place.
NCAA, colleges pushing the envelope with sports marketing (USA Today)
From Maryland’s Comcast Center to Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium to San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion, the names of stadiums and arenas are increasingly for sale. Maryland, for example, reaped $20 million over 10 years for naming rights to the Terrapins’ basketball arena and another $5 million for naming rights to the arena’s floor. Ad signage in venues is so pervasive that Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis likens them to billboard-blanketed NASCAR tracks.
How Do I Ask for a Raise in a Recession? (BNET)
Have a meeting with your boss. Set it up beforehand as a formal sit down, not a leaning-in-the-doorway-with-a-cup-of-coffee-in-your-hand thing. The informal route makes it easy for him to just say, “Aw, come on, Larry (or Betty), you know how things are” and move along smartly down a different path. Don’t make it sound dire, but an actual time and date on his or her calendar lets the boss know that you mean business, not schmoozing. There is, sometimes, a difference.
7 Tips for Managing Part-Time Workers (Inc.)
To fill gaps without adding fixed payroll costs, more companies are turning to part-time workers. Here’s how to do it right.
Star hitches its wagon to patent case (Times-Dispatch)
The Petersburg-based tobacco company has been losing money for years as it pushes its vision of safer tobacco. But it has pulled in nearly $100 million from investors, including some professional fund managers who specialize in small, thinly traded stocks, during the past five years on a gamble the company will win big — very big — in a federal patent-infringement case.
UVa’s endowment pool loses $100 million more (Daily Progress)
The loss extends the string of declines to nine consecutive months for the university’s endowment, whose performance has reflected the ongoing economic troubles overall and stock market declines. In the past eight months, marking UVa’s fiscal year to date, the endowment pool value has declined from $5.1 billion to $3.76 billion, a 26 percent drop.
Volvo partmaker Findlay to close plant in Pulaski Co. (Roanoke Times)
The closure of the factory, which makes cab interior parts for Volvo, will idle 100.
Why Facebook Can’t Succeed (Slate)
It’s the users who run the site now. This is dangerous for any business. By current community standards, business strategies like traditional brand advertising or target-messaged campaigns are generally unwelcome by Facebook members. The company’s easy susceptibility to its user base has effectively shut down these known ways of monetizing a Web site, and thus far the company has offered up nothing to take their place.
NCAA, colleges pushing the envelope with sports marketing (USA Today)
From Maryland’s Comcast Center to Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium to San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion, the names of stadiums and arenas are increasingly for sale. Maryland, for example, reaped $20 million over 10 years for naming rights to the Terrapins’ basketball arena and another $5 million for naming rights to the arena’s floor. Ad signage in venues is so pervasive that Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis likens them to billboard-blanketed NASCAR tracks.
How Do I Ask for a Raise in a Recession? (BNET)
Have a meeting with your boss. Set it up beforehand as a formal sit down, not a leaning-in-the-doorway-with-a-cup-of-coffee-in-your-hand thing. The informal route makes it easy for him to just say, “Aw, come on, Larry (or Betty), you know how things are” and move along smartly down a different path. Don’t make it sound dire, but an actual time and date on his or her calendar lets the boss know that you mean business, not schmoozing. There is, sometimes, a difference.
7 Tips for Managing Part-Time Workers (Inc.)
To fill gaps without adding fixed payroll costs, more companies are turning to part-time workers. Here’s how to do it right.