Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Active International Does It Again. . .
New Joint Venture Will Aid Event Organizers & Hoteliers

For event organizers and hotels, attrition and the subsequent fees for non-attendance are one of the most significant problems in the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry.

According to a survey report by the Convention Industry Council, the percentage of event organizers assessed attrition fees rose dramatically—to 32% in 2002/2003, from just over 4% in 1998. (Only 52% of respondents have a formal organizational policy to cope with attrition, the study showed.)

To remedy that issue, Par Avion Meetings & Conventions (PAMC), one of the leading conference housing, travel and registration companies, and Active International, the world’s largest corporate trading company, have announced an innovative financial solution.

The Attrition Solutions program will reduce or eliminate financial risk, and alleviate the strain between event organizers and their hotel partners. This joint venture can provide a potential solution for up to 100% of the liability for the attrition costs of hotel room blocks.

To inquire about the Attrition Solutions program call Par Avion at (800) 826-5977, e-mail attrition@paravion-inc.com, or visit www.activeinternational.com/travel.

Every barter company in the world is listed on our web site, click through to our Global List of Barter Companies.

Dagenais Shares Unique Vantage Point With Barter Industry

An accomplished 23-year veteran of the barer industry, Douglas Dagenais has authored a powerful, must-read 4-page article in the just published BarterNews issue #64.

Titled “Barter As Viewed From Both Sides,” it draws on Dagenais’ vast experience with Sue Groenwald’s Chicago Barter Corp., which he worked for from its inception in 1981. By 1999 he was managing the national sales force and national accounts program, completing some of the largest transactions in the company’s history. Then in 1999 Barter Corp. was acquired by BarterTrust (now known as Intagio).

Today, Dagenais is a vice president of SV Trade Group, the barter and consolidated purchasing division of Shell Vacations in Northbrook (IL). (Shell Vacations is a privately held, $360 million resort operator with 16 luxury properties. Web site: www.shellvacationsclub.com.)

Having spent time on both side of the desk, Dagenais provides readers with insights both revealing and worthwhile. He covers “relational” situations from two perspectives—the barter company and the client—on building and maintaining relationships, product availability, service options, and barter’s value.

He also outlines the four keys to managing a barter client—master them, as a broker, and you’re guaranteed to have successful, long-term relationships with your clients!

Get New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!

You can obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue of BarterNews.

New Surveys By U.S. Chamber Of Commerce & National Association Of Manufacturers

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports the average U.S. company’s fringe benefits increased 2% to $18,358 per employee last year. Those benefits include $5,653 for medical benefits, $4,932 for paid time-off, and $3,303 for retirement and savings.

Employee benefits costs are 37.6% of payroll, with manufacturers spending even more than other types of companies—an average of 40.1% of payroll.

Another study, by the National Association of Manufacturers, says that American productivity now carries a burden of external costs as big or bigger than those borne by the reputedly hardened European economies. Indirect costs (corporate taxes, litigation costs, pollution abatement, regulatory compliance, employee health benefits) are now higher than in any of our nine largest trading partners...save France and Germany.

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Here & There...

• Ric Zampatti, founder and CEO of The Barter Company in Atlanta, will be hosting the upcoming National Association of Trade Exchanges Annual Convention...held May 5 - 7. Zampatti has lined up the impressive Chateau Elan winery and resort for the NATE membership’s comfort and enjoyment.

• International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), along with three other companies, was rated “Most Undervalued” in a Buyside article. According to Investrend Research, which wrote the piece for the February edition of Buyside magazine, International Monetary Systems’ shares are 38% under its target valuation.

• Boston-based Mercer Management Consulting says that growing consistently and profitably is hard work. Even during the boom 1990s, only 7% of publicly-traded U.S. companies increased both revenue and operating profit by an average of 10% a year.

• The recent jump in eBay’s new fees (the company has raised some of its fees each January for the past five years) now sees an average commission of 7.3%...coming closer to the trade exchange industry’s transaction fees. The online auctioneer doesn’t disclose how many sellers it has, but it does says that 430,000 U.S. users make all or some of their living on the site.

• The International Monetary Fund estimates that the world’s GDP for 2004 was $40 trillion, racking up a phenomenal annual growth rate of 5%.

• Have you signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday Report every week? If not, go to the top of this issue (right hand corner) and sign up!

• Apple Computer is one of today’s hottest stocks (up 26% this year after rocketing 201% last year), and Microsoft’s Bill Gates is all smiles! Why? When Apple brought back its co-founder Steven Jobs in 1997, one of his first moves was to turn to his longtime rival, Bill Gates.

  The two struck a deal under which Microsoft bought $150 million of Apple stock and promised to keep supplying Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer for the Mac. Today Microsoft’s stake in Apple is worth well over $1 billion!

• Former MIT engineering professor turned Washington telecom lawyer Peter Huber has joined forces with Mark Mills, a physicist and former science adviser to the Reagan White House, to author a new book, The Bottomless Well.

  Together they arrive at the insight that energy ultimately comes not from sunshine or buried Cambrian goo or even from uranium left over from the Big Bang—mere fuels. Rather, energy (or, more accurately, power) is what happens when you apply human intelligence—the “bottomless well” of the book’s title—to the physical world.

• It’s interesting to see that the United Arab Emirates state-owned Dubai Holding has bought a $1 billion stake in DaimlerChrysler...making Dubai Holding the third-largest shareholder in the automaker. UAE is looking to diversify its economy away from energy (oil reserves) and is focusing on trade, services, and real-estate development. There is also speculation that the new investment could foreshadow a car manufacturing operation with Dubai.

• International airline passenger traffic grew 15.3% last year (2004), according to the International Air Transport Association. The IATA, a global airline-industry trade group, said that of the busiest regions in the world, the Asia-Pacific region led the way with a 20.5% passenger increase.

  Passenger traffic to and from North America was up 14.8%, while European traffic, which includes flights between its countries as well as flights into and out of the region, climbed 10.1%.

• Roger McNamee, co-founder of private-equity firm Elevation Partners, recently penned a book titled, The New Normal. In it he states, “You need to develop effective professional relationships with all the people who influence your career.”

  Using venture-capital lingo, he elaborates, “A J-curve runs through the new normal. That’s when you invest more than you reap in the early stages, but in the long run you get paid huge dividends.”

• Edward Leamer, director of the Anderson Business Forecast Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, accurately predicted the coming 2001 recession a year before it hit. Speaking at a real estate event last week in San Francisco, Leamer said San Francisco prices have peaked and he expects to see a flattening in the Bay-area market.

  Leamer also said the national housing market shows signs of weakening and warned that eight of the last 10 recessions started with a plunge in home sales and prices.