Seven Canyons golf resort is now in bankruptcy.Sedona Development Partners filed a petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Thursday, May 27, to restructure its finances and take advantage of bankruptcy protection from its creditors.Headquartered in Scottsdale, Sedona Development Partners is the parent company of Seven Canyons, a 200-acre private residence golf resort community located two miles north of West Sedona off Dry Creek Road.
Remember when cell phones were just for making calls? Now smart phones like the Apple iPhone, for example, let you compare hotel room prices, read a book, even examine brain scans. Tapping into this trend, Bayonet Black Horse, the 36-hole, full-bentgrass facility in Seaside, Calif., has launched an Apple iPhone applications, or app, becoming one of the first golf courses in Northern California to embrace the technology, available immediately at iTunes, free of charge.
Using the Bayonet Black Horse app, players can take advantage of tee time specials featured on golfnow.com, view rates, read about the courses' storied history and scan the menu at the Bayonet Black Horse Bar & Grill.
Remember when cell phones were just for making calls? Now smart phones like the Apple iPhone, for example, let you compare hotel room prices, read a book, even examine brain scans. Tapping into this trend, Bayonet Black Horse, the 36-hole, full-bentgrass facility in Seaside, Calif., has launched an Apple iPhone applications, or app, becoming one of the first golf courses in Northern California to embrace the technology, available immediately at iTunes, free of charge.Using the Bayonet Black Horse app, players can take advantage of tee time specials featured on golfnow.com, view rates, read about the courses' storied history and scan the menu at the Bayonet Black Horse Bar & Grill.
Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. says its first-quarter sales rose 22% to $633.6 million, with most regions and product categories showing gains. The better-than-forecast results pushed net earnings up 135% to $64.4 million. Overall, same-store sales increased 10%, and in the Americas, they rose 15%. (Sales at its New York flagship jumped 26%.)
“Our business performed exceptionally well in the first quarter, continuing the broad-based improvement we began to experience in the second half of 2009,” chairman/CEO Michael J. Kowalski says in a release. “Sales growth was again achieved in most countries and product categories, as consumers around the world continued to turn authentic luxury brands with a legacy of excellence in design and craftsmanship.”
via MediaPost Publications With Sales Up 22%, Tiffany Steps Up Marketing 05/28/2010.
(I have had this conversation numerous times with clients in remote locations – who “poo-pooed” their customers inability to get either cell coverage or Internet access; claiming it gave them an “escape”. Bull. Glad to see the results here … bc)
No matter where vacationers migrate this summer, chances are slim that they will completely disconnect from digital media and communications.Indeed, 72.2% travelers in 2010 say they accessed the Internet, email or social media sites while on their last vacation, according to a new study from ad network Burst Media.That represents a significant jump from 2009, when three out of five — 63.3% — travelers admitted to using the Internet while on vacation.Men are more likely to go online while away — 76.2% — than women — 67.7%.Men or women, why do vacationers go online? Keeping in touch with family and friends was the reason cited by 42.8% of men, and 52.7% of women used that excuse. Meanwhile, 27.3% of men — and 31.6% of women — said they went online to check out local destinations and entertainment. Among men, 33.1% said they used the Web to check news and sports sites, as compared to 23.7% of women. Finally, 22.3% of men and 17.6% of women said they needed to virtually check in at the office.Administered earlier this month to over 2,400 adults 18 years and older, the Burst survey found that one-quarter — 27.2% — of respondents plan to take more vacations this summer compared to last year, and 44% plan to take about the same number.The Internet remains invaluable for travelers, with the vast majority — 88% — going online as a resource when making vacation plans.
via MediaPost Publications Most Vacationers Stay Connected To Internet, Digital, Social Media 05/26/2010.
The shadow inventory of homes with delinquent mortgages yet to move through the foreclosure process would take 47 months to clear at the current sales rate in the market, according to a newly-published housing finance report from Morgan Stanley (MS: 26.11 +1.40%).
The report which takes a broad overview of the market, shows the trend for originations flattening, as credit availability remains “negative” and the desire of Americans to form households is “neutral”.
The inaugural issue of Housing Market Insights is aptly titled: “The Long Road Home” as is generated by the investment bank's securitized credit department. Mixed with the above consumer sentiment and market realities, the analysts also note some hard figures.
via Shadow Inventory Could Take Four Years to Clear: Morgan Stanley « HousingWire.
Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 per cent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday .
The co-creator of the Case-Shiller index, who predicted in 2005 that the housing bubble would burst, is raising concerns that the worst may be ahead. That fear is shared by other economists who point to weak job growth, tight credit and many more foreclosures ahead.
“I'm worried still about the risk of a double-dip,” economist Robert Shiller said in an interview.
The month-to-month drop from February to March marked the sixth straight decline. Prices in 13 of the cities fell. Only six metro areas recorded price gains. One, Boston, came in flat.
via US housing slump not over, data shows – Yahoo!7 Finance News.
Newspaper Web sites continue to grow in popularity, with online newspaper operations in the top 25 media markets reaching 83.7 million unique visitors in April — up 10% from March, 12% from February, and 15% from January of this year, according to comScore figures released by the Newspaper National Network.
These visitors generated a total of more than 2 billion page views in April, up 24% from 1.6 billion page views in January.
In the top 10 markets, the number of unique visitors increased 15% from 61.5 million in January to 70.8 million in April, while total page views jumped 27% from 1.1 billion to 1.4 billion. For comparison, the total U.S. Internet population, as measured by comScore, increased just 2% from 209 million to 213 million over the same period. Total page views increased 6% from 533.6 billion to 567.3 billion.
Even more telling, newspaper Web sites posted bigger percentage increases than competitors like CNN.com, which was basically flat at about 43.4 million, and Huffington Post, which decreased slightly from 22.8 million to 22.2 million (a 3% drop).
via MediaPost Publications Digital Futures: Newspaper Sites Draw Record Audiences 05/25/2010.
The Boomer generation is a critical audience for marketers. By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population, according to AARP. And currently, Baby Boomers control over 80% of personal financial assets and more than 50% of discretionary spending power, according to ThirdAge.
However, marketers regularly use small text on their Web sites and in their emails and other marketing materials, creating unnecessary legibility issues for some of their most valuable customers. Speaking at the Forrester's Marketing Forum 2010, an executive from financial services company TIA-CREF said it asked its community how to improve its Web site. The #1 response was “bigger font.”
Not considering the needs of Boomers when designing marketing materials means lost revenue for marketers and a poor user experience for many Boomers — not to mention other visually challenged people like myself.
(amen! bc)
via MediaPost Publications Email Designs Are Neglecting The Needs of Boomers 05/25/2010.
Tired of Facebook mania dominating the news? Blame it on the girls, at least according to a study undertaken for the U.K.’s National Family Week, which found that the social networking site has become one of the most important things in their lives.
We’re talking about fairly young girls, ages 8 to 15. Forty percent of these precious lasses listed Facebook among the “most important things” in their lives, according to BBC News' report on the study. Only 6 percent of boys said that. And technology in general was cited by 41 percent of girls as a major influence in life, compared with 17 percent of boys. So much for stereotypes about tech being male-oriented.
Another stereotype-twister: Boys were more likely than girls to name family as one of the most important things in their lives (73 percent to 53 percent).
The top three influences for girls: parents, teachers and technology. For boys: parents, friends and school. The study polled 1,000 kids.
But the BBC News story doesn't cast social networking sites as isolating or as destructive to relationships; rather, it suggests Facebook and its kind might be more like family complements, indistinguishable from girls' real-world interactions with parents and friends — “central to their social and family life.”
One thing, at least, remains the same: Parents just don't understand (in the immortal words of Will Smith). The survey suggested that parents tend to underestimate how important tech is to their kids — and overestimate how important they themselves are to their kids.
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