First Mover in Mobile
How Nokia is selling cell phones to the developing world
by Jack Ewing
Looking for ways to make mobile handsets practical for people living in developing countries, Finnish mobile-phone maker Nokia Corp. (NOK) has trekked to far corners of the globe, from the narrow alleys of Mumbai to the vast slums of Nairobi. The result is a slew of new features especially designed for places with harsh weather and harsher living conditions. One example: The company created dustproof keypads—crucial in dry, hot countries with many unpaved roads, as Nokia executives learned from visits to customers' homes in India. Innovations like those helped generate sales in 2006 of $3.7 billion for Nokia in India, making the company the market leader in the fastest-growing mobile-phone market in the world.
But Nokia's initiatives for emerging markets reach way beyond traditional product innovation. These days, it's also breaking the mold on how it markets, distributes, and sells phones in developing countries. In India, Nokia estimates there are 90,000 points-of-sale for its phones, ranging from modern stores to makeshift kiosks, even more than China's 40,000.
More at: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2007/id20070504_299909.htm
Thursday, December 13, 2007
More on Coalitions
Delta merger talks must include pilots, union boss says
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/13/07
Any successful merger talks involving Delta Air Lines will have to include the pilots union from the start, the union's top leader says.
"Any consolidation attempt involving Delta will fail if it does not involve Delta's pilots in the formative stage and does not provide adequate protection and added value for Delta's pilots in any consolidated entity," union chairman Lee Moak said Thursday in a letter to pilots.
institutional shareholder, Pardus Capital, urged management in November to combine with United Airlines in a stock-swap deal. The New York hedge fund, which owns shares in both airlines, hired retired Continental Airlines Chief Executive Gordon Bethune to talk up the proposed merger among other investors.
So far there's been no indication that other investors are pushing a Delta-United combination. But worsening industry conditions could continue to fuel speculation.
On Thursday, German carrier Lufthansa reached an agreement to buy a 19 percent stake in discount carrier JetBlue Airways. Airline shares have dropped significantly amid investor fears that rising jet fuel prices and a weakening economy could undermine the industry's recovery from years of losses.
"We are not opposed to consolidation, could support a rational consolidation strategy, and at some point may even determine that consolidation is desirable," he said.
He said Delta will have to emerge from any deal a stronger carrier, and it will have to "reward the pilots for their participation as stakeholders in the transaction, and will provide the necessary platform for long-term growth in pilot earnings and career progression."
More at:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2007/12/13/delta_1214.html?cxntlid=inform
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/13/07
Any successful merger talks involving Delta Air Lines will have to include the pilots union from the start, the union's top leader says.
"Any consolidation attempt involving Delta will fail if it does not involve Delta's pilots in the formative stage and does not provide adequate protection and added value for Delta's pilots in any consolidated entity," union chairman Lee Moak said Thursday in a letter to pilots.
institutional shareholder, Pardus Capital, urged management in November to combine with United Airlines in a stock-swap deal. The New York hedge fund, which owns shares in both airlines, hired retired Continental Airlines Chief Executive Gordon Bethune to talk up the proposed merger among other investors.
So far there's been no indication that other investors are pushing a Delta-United combination. But worsening industry conditions could continue to fuel speculation.
On Thursday, German carrier Lufthansa reached an agreement to buy a 19 percent stake in discount carrier JetBlue Airways. Airline shares have dropped significantly amid investor fears that rising jet fuel prices and a weakening economy could undermine the industry's recovery from years of losses.
"We are not opposed to consolidation, could support a rational consolidation strategy, and at some point may even determine that consolidation is desirable," he said.
He said Delta will have to emerge from any deal a stronger carrier, and it will have to "reward the pilots for their participation as stakeholders in the transaction, and will provide the necessary platform for long-term growth in pilot earnings and career progression."
More at:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2007/12/13/delta_1214.html?cxntlid=inform
Coalitions
Activision-Vivendi's Game-Changing Deal
The new Activision Blizzard will give EA a heavyweight to contend with in the increasingly important market of massive multiplayer online games
by Reena Jana and Matt Vella
The $18.9 billion tieup between Activision (ATVI) and Vivendi (VIV.PA) is numbingly complex in its structure, but the motivations behind it are simple: Video game publishers want to bulk up to cover the rising costs of developing games, which can easily soar to tens of millions of dollars. And increasingly, game companies are tying their fortunes to trendy online, multiplayer games such as the popular fantasy title World of Warcraft—developed by Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment—which has 9.3 million subscribers and will be owned and operated by the new venture.
If approved, the deal could effectively realign the industry landscape, creating two massive gaming heavyweights with similarly matched creative clout and global distribution. During a Dec. 3 conference call, executives said the new company, called Activision Blizzard, would start with 15% of the worldwide games market, including PC and console games. In 2006, the total video game market was worth some $28 billion, according to research firm NPD Group. Activision Blizzard's revenues for 2007 are expected to be about $3.8 billion.
All Sights Are on the MMO Market
But rival Electronic Arts (ERTS), with expected 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, has been on its own spending spree. It is retooling its portfolio of games to include more online multiplayer games and original content. In October EA announced the $860 million acquisition (BusinessWeek.com, 10/29/07) of two independent games studios, in part because one is developing a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO, which analysts and industry insiders say could challenge World of Warcraft. In 2006, EA spent $76 million to acquire Mythic Entertainment, an independent developer of online games.
More at:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc2007123_075300.htm?chan=innovation_game+room_top+stories
The new Activision Blizzard will give EA a heavyweight to contend with in the increasingly important market of massive multiplayer online games
by Reena Jana and Matt Vella
The $18.9 billion tieup between Activision (ATVI) and Vivendi (VIV.PA) is numbingly complex in its structure, but the motivations behind it are simple: Video game publishers want to bulk up to cover the rising costs of developing games, which can easily soar to tens of millions of dollars. And increasingly, game companies are tying their fortunes to trendy online, multiplayer games such as the popular fantasy title World of Warcraft—developed by Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment—which has 9.3 million subscribers and will be owned and operated by the new venture.
If approved, the deal could effectively realign the industry landscape, creating two massive gaming heavyweights with similarly matched creative clout and global distribution. During a Dec. 3 conference call, executives said the new company, called Activision Blizzard, would start with 15% of the worldwide games market, including PC and console games. In 2006, the total video game market was worth some $28 billion, according to research firm NPD Group. Activision Blizzard's revenues for 2007 are expected to be about $3.8 billion.
All Sights Are on the MMO Market
But rival Electronic Arts (ERTS), with expected 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, has been on its own spending spree. It is retooling its portfolio of games to include more online multiplayer games and original content. In October EA announced the $860 million acquisition (BusinessWeek.com, 10/29/07) of two independent games studios, in part because one is developing a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO, which analysts and industry insiders say could challenge World of Warcraft. In 2006, EA spent $76 million to acquire Mythic Entertainment, an independent developer of online games.
More at:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc2007123_075300.htm?chan=innovation_game+room_top+stories
Negotiations and Strategic Moves
New EU-Africa trade pacts flounder
10.12.2007 - 09:29 CET By Honor Mahony
EU attempts to get an overall deal with African states on new trade rules failed over the weekend during a difficult summit where there were also clashes over human rights issues.The European Union has been aiming to get all African countries to sign up to new economic partnership agreements (EPAs) before an end-of-year deadline.
But some African politicians made clear at the meeting in Lisbon on Sunday (9 December) that they were pulling out of the negotiations."It's clear that Africa rejects the EPAs," said Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade, according to AFP.
The EPAs were supposed to be a key part of a strategic package that would give Europe more of a foothold in Africa, directly competing with China which has been investing heavily in Africa for years.A new trade regime has to be in place by the end of the year, according to a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which deemed illegal the EU's current regime with African states under which preferential trade systems are in place for former colonies.The EU says that if the new rules are not put in place, African countries could lose tariff-free access to European markets .European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the EPAs were "a good offer for Africa," with the EU now having to take a decision on whether to impose tariffs on all but the poorest African states if the deadline is not met.Under the EPAs, the EU is offering duty-free terms for most African imports on condition that African markets gradually open up to competition.
More at: http://euobserver.com/9/25304
10.12.2007 - 09:29 CET By Honor Mahony
EU attempts to get an overall deal with African states on new trade rules failed over the weekend during a difficult summit where there were also clashes over human rights issues.The European Union has been aiming to get all African countries to sign up to new economic partnership agreements (EPAs) before an end-of-year deadline.
But some African politicians made clear at the meeting in Lisbon on Sunday (9 December) that they were pulling out of the negotiations."It's clear that Africa rejects the EPAs," said Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade, according to AFP.
The EPAs were supposed to be a key part of a strategic package that would give Europe more of a foothold in Africa, directly competing with China which has been investing heavily in Africa for years.A new trade regime has to be in place by the end of the year, according to a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which deemed illegal the EU's current regime with African states under which preferential trade systems are in place for former colonies.The EU says that if the new rules are not put in place, African countries could lose tariff-free access to European markets .European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the EPAs were "a good offer for Africa," with the EU now having to take a decision on whether to impose tariffs on all but the poorest African states if the deadline is not met.Under the EPAs, the EU is offering duty-free terms for most African imports on condition that African markets gradually open up to competition.
More at: http://euobserver.com/9/25304
Ratatouille and Strategic Voting
Nose on the Prize, but Which Oscar to Sniff?
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: November 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27 — Eddie Valiant, the hard-nosed private eye played by Bob Hoskins in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” wasn’t about to fiddle with animation. “Forget it,” he said. “I don’t work Toontown.”
Now the makers of “Ratatouille” are about to find out if Valiant also speaks for the movie academy in Hollywood.
As the awards season heats up, the Walt Disney Company and its Pixar Animation Studios unit have been wrestling with a conundrum posed by their warmly received, computer-animated fable about a rat who aspires to become a Parisian chef: Any move to promote it as the year’s best picture might lead to ballot-splitting that would diminish its chances of getting the less prestigious but more easily won Oscar for best animated film.
More than a technical issue, the dilemma goes to the heart of Hollywood’s evolving attitude toward animated movies. Only one, “Beauty and the Beast,” also from Disney, has ever been nominated for best picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (It lost in 1992 to “The Silence of the Lambs.”) In 2002 “Shrek” became the first winner of an Oscar for best animated feature.
But an unintended consequence of the new category was to confine animated movies to a kind of Academy Awards ghetto precisely as they were flourishing at the box office and challenging the best live-action films with their storytelling art.
more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/movies/awardsseason/28rata.html?_r=1&ref=awardsseason&oref=slogin
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: November 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27 — Eddie Valiant, the hard-nosed private eye played by Bob Hoskins in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” wasn’t about to fiddle with animation. “Forget it,” he said. “I don’t work Toontown.”
Now the makers of “Ratatouille” are about to find out if Valiant also speaks for the movie academy in Hollywood.
As the awards season heats up, the Walt Disney Company and its Pixar Animation Studios unit have been wrestling with a conundrum posed by their warmly received, computer-animated fable about a rat who aspires to become a Parisian chef: Any move to promote it as the year’s best picture might lead to ballot-splitting that would diminish its chances of getting the less prestigious but more easily won Oscar for best animated film.
More than a technical issue, the dilemma goes to the heart of Hollywood’s evolving attitude toward animated movies. Only one, “Beauty and the Beast,” also from Disney, has ever been nominated for best picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (It lost in 1992 to “The Silence of the Lambs.”) In 2002 “Shrek” became the first winner of an Oscar for best animated feature.
But an unintended consequence of the new category was to confine animated movies to a kind of Academy Awards ghetto precisely as they were flourishing at the box office and challenging the best live-action films with their storytelling art.
more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/movies/awardsseason/28rata.html?_r=1&ref=awardsseason&oref=slogin
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Fairness of the cost split?
Tuition: Earn More, Pay More?
Some public-college business majors pay more than their liberal arts peers. Schools claim the increases are necessary, but are they fair?
by Alison Damast
Eric DeFries, a senior business major at Utah State University in Logan, has watched his tuition slowly creep up two to three percentage points a year since he arrived as a freshman. The modest increases were bearable for DeFries, who's studying finance. That all changed when he received an e-mail from the business school last spring informing him that because he was a business major, his tuition would be an additional $445 per semester, on top of his $2,150 base tuition and mandatory fees.
While many college students are concerned about rising tuition costs, undergraduate business students at Utah State's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business and elsewhere are finding themselves facing costs they haven't expected. For the first time this year, Huntsman undergrads who register for upper-division business classes are being charged an additional $35 per credit hour. The new fees will tack on an average of $735 more in tuition to their bills over the year, administrators say.
DeFries is part of a growing cohort of college students being singled out by schools because of their choice of major. Many universities are now deploying a practice known as differential tuition, charging different prices to individual students based on their majors or levels. It's a model that is becoming increasingly widespread as public universities struggle with diminishing state financial support and higher operating costs.
Undermining Schools' Democratic Mission
Schools defend the practice, saying it helps them maintain their programs and compete with private colleges for expensive professors and programs (BusinessWeek.com, 10/1/07). But the pricing strategy is worrying some advocates of public education, who are concerned that the democratic mission of public universities is undergoing a radical shift, falling prey to market forces as schools are becoming more pinched for money.
Ronald Ehrenberg, the director of Cornell University's Higher Education Research Institute, said that public education used to be viewed as a "social good" that benefited not only the people being educated, but society at large. That perspective is in danger, he said.
"We used to think about education and college education as a place where students would find themselves and they should be free to study whatever they want and not have to worry about a price," he said. "Now, when we put these prices on, we may discourage students from making these switches."
Responding to Rising Costs
Differential tuition isn't new, and for years some schools have been effectively imposing increases on certain majors by tacking on surcharges such as "program fees." But posting higher tuition for certain majors is becoming more common as public universities struggle with funding issues, according to a report released in September by the Boulder (Colo.)-based Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, a higher education consortium of 15 western states. According to the September report, 26 out of 107 four-year schools, many of them state flagships and research universities, are making students pay more for certain fields of study.
It is quickly becoming a national trend that is on the "permanent increase," said John Fernandes, president of the Association to Advance College Schools of Business. "Within the last five years, it has started to take hold in undergraduate business schools," Fernandes said. "In the past, you would be admitted to a university and pay the university's prices. That was the tradition for over 100 years but not anymore, and it is not likely that schools will go back to their old ways."
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2007/bs2007124_770986.htm
Some public-college business majors pay more than their liberal arts peers. Schools claim the increases are necessary, but are they fair?
by Alison Damast
Eric DeFries, a senior business major at Utah State University in Logan, has watched his tuition slowly creep up two to three percentage points a year since he arrived as a freshman. The modest increases were bearable for DeFries, who's studying finance. That all changed when he received an e-mail from the business school last spring informing him that because he was a business major, his tuition would be an additional $445 per semester, on top of his $2,150 base tuition and mandatory fees.
While many college students are concerned about rising tuition costs, undergraduate business students at Utah State's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business and elsewhere are finding themselves facing costs they haven't expected. For the first time this year, Huntsman undergrads who register for upper-division business classes are being charged an additional $35 per credit hour. The new fees will tack on an average of $735 more in tuition to their bills over the year, administrators say.
DeFries is part of a growing cohort of college students being singled out by schools because of their choice of major. Many universities are now deploying a practice known as differential tuition, charging different prices to individual students based on their majors or levels. It's a model that is becoming increasingly widespread as public universities struggle with diminishing state financial support and higher operating costs.
Undermining Schools' Democratic Mission
Schools defend the practice, saying it helps them maintain their programs and compete with private colleges for expensive professors and programs (BusinessWeek.com, 10/1/07). But the pricing strategy is worrying some advocates of public education, who are concerned that the democratic mission of public universities is undergoing a radical shift, falling prey to market forces as schools are becoming more pinched for money.
Ronald Ehrenberg, the director of Cornell University's Higher Education Research Institute, said that public education used to be viewed as a "social good" that benefited not only the people being educated, but society at large. That perspective is in danger, he said.
"We used to think about education and college education as a place where students would find themselves and they should be free to study whatever they want and not have to worry about a price," he said. "Now, when we put these prices on, we may discourage students from making these switches."
Responding to Rising Costs
Differential tuition isn't new, and for years some schools have been effectively imposing increases on certain majors by tacking on surcharges such as "program fees." But posting higher tuition for certain majors is becoming more common as public universities struggle with funding issues, according to a report released in September by the Boulder (Colo.)-based Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, a higher education consortium of 15 western states. According to the September report, 26 out of 107 four-year schools, many of them state flagships and research universities, are making students pay more for certain fields of study.
It is quickly becoming a national trend that is on the "permanent increase," said John Fernandes, president of the Association to Advance College Schools of Business. "Within the last five years, it has started to take hold in undergraduate business schools," Fernandes said. "In the past, you would be admitted to a university and pay the university's prices. That was the tradition for over 100 years but not anymore, and it is not likely that schools will go back to their old ways."
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2007/bs2007124_770986.htm
Auctions&Bidding
27-year-old who needs date turns it into a bidding war and a blog
By HELENA OLIVIERO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/12/07
Karen Adler's objective for the office holiday party is spelled out in evergreen-colored letters on a newly created Web site:
1. Obtain a legitimate date to the Fitzgerald & Co. 2007 holiday party. 2. Increase favorability and preference for the Karen Adler brand among eligible bachelors in the metro Atlanta area.
Faced with another last-minute scramble for a date to the holiday party, Adler took her quest online — and added a holiday twist.
She's auctioning herself to the highest bidder.
It's not for money, and it can't be a complete stranger, but there's no question the 27-year-old advertising executive is taking the date-seeking challenge seriously this year, turning her quandary of lonely hearts into a game of romance. It all plays out at happyholidating.blogspot.com.
The best nonmonetary gift wins the date.
Photoshopped in an elf costume, a smiling Adler (who looks much prettier in person) blogs and is keeping the line open for bidding until noon Friday — one day before the office party.
"I love parties. But then I found out that dates and spouses are welcome, and that's where the wheels fell off the bus," said Adler. "As a single girl who has attended many a holiday party, I know from experience that the pressure is on to bring someone, and to bring someone good."
About a week into the dating experiment, she's received about 10 offers. Most are from men, but some pals and family members have also offered to keep Adler company.
Some of the offerings are intriguing. She's warm to the promise of a home-cooked meal and massage. And she's touched that an old college pal has offered to fly in from Chicago for the party.
Others get a chuckle but not much else. One guy has promised to give her a lobster, but she'd have to promise to keep it as a pet.
"What good is it if I can't eat it?" she asks.
Others just don't make the cut.
Carlos Ricque, 38, an executive creative director at the agency, offered a wind-up toy featuring a duck riding a tricycle. Ricque said he's kept the colorful tin toy on his desk for years for inspiration.
"It's pretty awesome, but at some point, you have to hold yourself up to a higher standard than a wind-up toy," she said.
Her ploy for a date was almost not needed.
Her company's original party plans called for a simple brunch and early dismissal. But employees wanted the royal treatment — the cocktails, the miniature beef Wellingtons, smoked trout and carving stations.
So the boss decided on a more lavish affair for the company's 160 employees at a Buckhead mansion, complete with DJ and dance floor.
Suddenly, Adler found herself bemoaning the change. Some of her single co-workers felt her pain and suggested they all go stag.
But Adler said she wouldn't fall into that trap.
"Everybody says they will go by themselves, and then in the end they bring someone and you feel like the 17th wheel," said Adler.
She will make her decision at noon Friday. The party is the following evening.
On a recent morning at the Buckhead advertising agency, scores of staffers were checking the blog and bids.
David Rollo, a media planner at the company, has been using a Google tool to track the number of visitors to Adler's site and tallying the average time spent perusing.
Rollo, who is married, said it's been fun to watch co-workers get involved in the game.
Many of Adler's co-workers think she's a catch. Described as hardworking, she's also playful at the office, keeping a Nerf gun at her desk. She started a daily "5 o'clock dance party," which involves a mix of '80s classics and R. Kelly. And when her "office sweater" went missing, she posted missing signs all over the office.
After keeping a close eye on the bidding for the past several days, Ricque knows his chances are slim.
"That guy who's willing to fly here from Chicago? He'll win hands down!" insists Ricque.
And then, with Adler nearby, he grabs 45 yards of twine and smiles.
"You think I would do any better with this?"
THE CONTENDERS
Here's the short list of date contenders based on current bids.
1. Tim, an old pal from Chicago (they went to graduate school together), offers to fly last minute for the bash. That's chivalry and expensive.
2. Shira, Karen's older sister, offers her designer clothes and shoes (includes Manolo Blahniks).
3. The mystery man. A friend of a friend, who works at another ad agency across town, posts as "Anonymous." He throws his name into the ring on Karen's birthday. Nice touch.
4. Marcee, a friend of two years, offers to be her "wing girl." Her safety.
5. Carlos. An agency VP offers a wind-up toy duck. It's funny. And Carlos is cute. But it's still just a duck.
KAREN'S FIVE EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. Potential compatibility
2. Unique value of offer
3. Monetary value of offer
4. Humorous value of offer
5. Value specifically to Karen, as determined by her own parameters
Source:
http://www.ajc.com/holidayguide/content/holidayguide/stories/2007/12/11/officedate_1212.html?cxntnid=biz121207e
By HELENA OLIVIERO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/12/07
Karen Adler's objective for the office holiday party is spelled out in evergreen-colored letters on a newly created Web site:
1. Obtain a legitimate date to the Fitzgerald & Co. 2007 holiday party. 2. Increase favorability and preference for the Karen Adler brand among eligible bachelors in the metro Atlanta area.
Faced with another last-minute scramble for a date to the holiday party, Adler took her quest online — and added a holiday twist.
She's auctioning herself to the highest bidder.
It's not for money, and it can't be a complete stranger, but there's no question the 27-year-old advertising executive is taking the date-seeking challenge seriously this year, turning her quandary of lonely hearts into a game of romance. It all plays out at happyholidating.blogspot.com.
The best nonmonetary gift wins the date.
Photoshopped in an elf costume, a smiling Adler (who looks much prettier in person) blogs and is keeping the line open for bidding until noon Friday — one day before the office party.
"I love parties. But then I found out that dates and spouses are welcome, and that's where the wheels fell off the bus," said Adler. "As a single girl who has attended many a holiday party, I know from experience that the pressure is on to bring someone, and to bring someone good."
About a week into the dating experiment, she's received about 10 offers. Most are from men, but some pals and family members have also offered to keep Adler company.
Some of the offerings are intriguing. She's warm to the promise of a home-cooked meal and massage. And she's touched that an old college pal has offered to fly in from Chicago for the party.
Others get a chuckle but not much else. One guy has promised to give her a lobster, but she'd have to promise to keep it as a pet.
"What good is it if I can't eat it?" she asks.
Others just don't make the cut.
Carlos Ricque, 38, an executive creative director at the agency, offered a wind-up toy featuring a duck riding a tricycle. Ricque said he's kept the colorful tin toy on his desk for years for inspiration.
"It's pretty awesome, but at some point, you have to hold yourself up to a higher standard than a wind-up toy," she said.
Her ploy for a date was almost not needed.
Her company's original party plans called for a simple brunch and early dismissal. But employees wanted the royal treatment — the cocktails, the miniature beef Wellingtons, smoked trout and carving stations.
So the boss decided on a more lavish affair for the company's 160 employees at a Buckhead mansion, complete with DJ and dance floor.
Suddenly, Adler found herself bemoaning the change. Some of her single co-workers felt her pain and suggested they all go stag.
But Adler said she wouldn't fall into that trap.
"Everybody says they will go by themselves, and then in the end they bring someone and you feel like the 17th wheel," said Adler.
She will make her decision at noon Friday. The party is the following evening.
On a recent morning at the Buckhead advertising agency, scores of staffers were checking the blog and bids.
David Rollo, a media planner at the company, has been using a Google tool to track the number of visitors to Adler's site and tallying the average time spent perusing.
Rollo, who is married, said it's been fun to watch co-workers get involved in the game.
Many of Adler's co-workers think she's a catch. Described as hardworking, she's also playful at the office, keeping a Nerf gun at her desk. She started a daily "5 o'clock dance party," which involves a mix of '80s classics and R. Kelly. And when her "office sweater" went missing, she posted missing signs all over the office.
After keeping a close eye on the bidding for the past several days, Ricque knows his chances are slim.
"That guy who's willing to fly here from Chicago? He'll win hands down!" insists Ricque.
And then, with Adler nearby, he grabs 45 yards of twine and smiles.
"You think I would do any better with this?"
THE CONTENDERS
Here's the short list of date contenders based on current bids.
1. Tim, an old pal from Chicago (they went to graduate school together), offers to fly last minute for the bash. That's chivalry and expensive.
2. Shira, Karen's older sister, offers her designer clothes and shoes (includes Manolo Blahniks).
3. The mystery man. A friend of a friend, who works at another ad agency across town, posts as "Anonymous." He throws his name into the ring on Karen's birthday. Nice touch.
4. Marcee, a friend of two years, offers to be her "wing girl." Her safety.
5. Carlos. An agency VP offers a wind-up toy duck. It's funny. And Carlos is cute. But it's still just a duck.
KAREN'S FIVE EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. Potential compatibility
2. Unique value of offer
3. Monetary value of offer
4. Humorous value of offer
5. Value specifically to Karen, as determined by her own parameters
Source:
http://www.ajc.com/holidayguide/content/holidayguide/stories/2007/12/11/officedate_1212.html?cxntnid=biz121207e
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