Transportation firm founded by 24-year-old soars to $80 million in annual revenue

GlobalTranz, a Phoenix-based logistics management firm which specializes in carrier, supply chain and warehouse management has seen tremendous growth since its inception; the company announced expansion plans that will almost double its Arizona workforce with some 35 new positions at its Phoenix headquarters and more than 75 positions in Prescott, where the company’s customer service call center is located.  These new positions include call center management, customer service, sales, accounting and freight brokerage with average starting salaries from $50-75,000 per year.  GlobalTranz is also hiring at its regional offices in Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles.  (more…)

May 17. On this day in 2006, the world lost a vibrant, beautiful woman named Lauren Hanavan. Her unexpected death from complications with diabetes was devastating. Like the rest of her family and friends, I miss her dearly.

Lauren, who was a 23-year-old senior at UNLV in Las Vegas, was set to graduate and was applying to law school. She was also engaged to be married to Bryce Taylor, a recent UNLV graduate (and wonderful human being). UNLV graciously granted Lauren a posthumous degree; I’m helping to raise money to establish a scholarship at UNLV in her name- if you would like to contribute please contact me. (more…)

According to a report released by Nielsen today, the total time spent on social networking sites by users worldwide grew more than 100% over the past year, as Facebook and Twitter posted massive gains in unique users.
Traffic to Facebook.com was up 69% year-over-year through March, while Twitter saw a 45% increase in site traffic during the period.

Globally, the total minutes spent on social networks monthly saw a more than 100% gain over the same time last year, driving the average time per person spent on social networks to over six hours per month.

View the report at http://blog.nielsen.com.

Seton Hill University wants to give students the best in technology and collaborative learning tools so they will be uniquely suited to whatever careers they choose.  As part of the university’s Griffin Technology Advantage program, every full-time, undergraduate and graduate student will receive an Apple iPad, starting in the Fall semester of 2010.

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The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) has a fashionable new way to find animals a loving home, thanks to the Westcor Corporation. Petique, a new adoption center and pet boutique at the Biltmore Fashion Park, utilizes an empty retail space provided rent-free by Westcor and a community celebration is being planned for this Saturday, March 20, from Noon – 2:00 p.m. at the Biltmore Fashion Park.  A book signing by animal artist Ron Burns is planned along with the opportunity to meet special guest Asher, a young pit bull mix who lost his leg and was given a second chance at life, thanks to the AHS and its Second Chance Animal Hospital™.

Asher’s heartwarming story is the perfect example of the important work that AHS is doing; proceeds will go to support their Second Chance Animal Hospital, which saved Asher and found him a loving new home.  Burns will also be there to unveil his painting of Asher and judge an animal art contest for youth from Starshine Academy.  This event will have great visuals with animals, kids and artwork and AHS’ Emergency Animal Medical Technicians™ will be on hand to greet visitors.

The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get their daily news, according to a new survey conducted jointly by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio. Getting news online fits into a broad pattern of news consumption by Americans; six in ten (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day. (more…)

According to The Nielsen Company, global* consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same time last year when users were spending just over three hours on social networking sites. In addition, the overall traffic to social networking sites has grown over the last three years. (more…)

Poll Finds 89% Use Blogs, 65% Use Social Networking Sites, and 52% Use Microblogging Sites — but Reliability is a Major Concern

A national survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

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The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors has nominated Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., to be a new independent director, effective upon her election at the Company’s next annual meeting.

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Among Women, Facebook Dominates and Twitter is Growing Rapidly; But Study Reveals Important Differences in Social Network Usage

Women have truly integrated social media into every part of their lives, from friends and family, to networking, to shopping. SheSpeaks today announced the findings of a new study, revealing 86% of women are now using popular social networks, a 48% increase compared to one year ago. In addition, social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have emerged as key drivers of purchase intent among women, with one-half (50%) of social media users reporting they have purchased products because of information on social networking sites, and 40% reporting they have used coupon codes found on social networks.

The second annual Social Media Study of the national SheSpeaks membership, yielding more than 1,500 responses, revealed the most dramatic increase in social media use was among women 50+ years of age, whose participation grew from 31% in 2008 to 70% in 2009. Social media participation was up across all age groups this year, with participation among younger women up 10% compared to 2008. In addition, more women are frequently logging into social networking sites since 2008, with 36% more women reporting they log in at least once per day (73% vs. 53%).

“Last year our members were going online primarily to research purchases, but now they are looking to social media to help them research, guide and facilitate every kind of transaction, from social exchanges to purchases,” said Aliza Freud, Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks. “Women have become more comfortable using social media, and for marketers, the overall growth and habitual use of social media represents opportunities to reach and engage women of all ages, and influence their purchase decisions.”

Facebook has dominated social media this year with 95% of those women who use social networks on Facebook, up 46% from one year ago. MySpace participation declined over the last year (63% to 42%), while nearly 40% of the women surveyed reported they have Twitter accounts. Although many women use both Facebook and Twitter, an astounding 80% prefer Facebook. In fact, 25% of those surveyed abandoned Twitter after creating their accounts, while Facebook use only declined 7% for women after creating Twitter accounts. Facebook users also reported they are two times more likely to log in daily (72%), compared to Twitter users (36%).

 “Although Facebook is currently more popular than Twitter among women, they each share a purpose in women’s lives,” said Freud. “Facebook serves women’s need to interact with friends and share photos, while Twitter has become a tool that is primarily used for professional networking and learning about up-to-the-minute news, promotions and deals.”

The study also found online video has grown in popularity over the last year. Almost 40% of the women surveyed reported they frequently watch video and TV content online, and 85% say they watch it frequently or sometimes. A separate poll of SheSpeaks members found that clips from news and TV programming were the most commonly watched type of online video in the prior week (68%), followed by videos that are forwarded (49%), full news and TV programs (40%), and videos posted by friends (40%). Entertaining advertisements were the least popular type of video, but were still watched by one-third of women within the last week.

“Our members are spending more time watching video on the Web, especially now that more premium content is available,” said SheSpeaks CMO Fiona Pietruski. “It is important for marketers to recognize that influential female consumers are spending their time with many types of digital media, where they can be reached with advertising and marketing messaging.”

Additional results from the SheSpeaks Second Annual Social Media Study can be found at: www.shespeaks.com/research.

About SheSpeaks
SheSpeaks is a social media platform that creates and operates consumer insights and influencer communities. At Shespeaks.com, women members gain access to products and services, and a forum to offer their honest feedback directly to the companies that create them. For participating brands, including Garnier, Heinz, Food Network, Philips, AOL and more, SheSpeaks offers a tremendous opportunity to spark consumer’s interest, obtain candid feedback, grow word-of-mouth awareness and build long-term brand advocates. Clients also work with SheSpeaks to facilitate branded experiences, including home parties and branded online communities. For more information, visit www.shespeaks.com/corp.