December
17, 2002
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
Remarkable
9-Month Turnaround Achieved As ITEX Posts Third
Consecutive Quarter Profitability
ITEX Corporation
(OTCBB:ITEX), the largest trade exchange in the U.S., announced operating
results for its first quarter ending October 31, 2002.
The company generated
net income of $122,000 compared to a net loss of $725,000 for the same
period last year. It's the third consecutive quarter ITEX has shown
profitability.
Moreover, the restructuring
of ITEX shows a bottom-line improvement of almost $3 million--a profit
of $409,000 compared to a loss of $2,512,000 for the nine months preceding
the initiation of the restructuring program.
Scott
Whitmer Supports New Orlando Web Site
Advertising
"Exclusive" Available On IRTA"s Universal Currency
An international
web site based on the best-selling Fodor's travel book, Orlando
Like A Pro, is expected to provide, along with a video and DVD,
information to many of Orlando's 43 million annual tourists with up-to-date
information on theme parks and businesses in Central Florida.
The web site, www.orlandolikeapro.com,
is set to debut on January 1.
Scott Whitmer's
Orlando-based The Exchange, www.exchan.com,
has an exclusive contract the first six months and will be offering
the advertising on the site exclusively to IRTA members through the
Universal Currency.
Whitmer is a very
busy man these days, having taken over as the president of the International
Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA). He reports that since the September
Convention IRTA has held two Global Board meetings.
Bob
Bagga Of Seattle's BizXchange On NPR
Bob Bagga, who recently
returned to the barter industry and was elected to IRTA's Global Board
of Directors, had an interview on National Public Radio. Bagga was in
his early twenties when he teamed up with Robin Maini to build one of
the top exchanges in Toronto.
Now a decade later,
as one of the principals in BizXchange he was eloquent in discussing
the need for barter in today's marketplace. To hear Bagga's comments:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=4
29424
Trade
Shows Must Evolve Or Wither Away
It wasn't long ago
when trade shows were viewed as de rigueur...an opportunity to make
deals, catch up on old friendships, and have a good time in the process.
Times are changing.
Attendance numbers
are falling, exhibitors discontent rises, and the organizers of many
shows are faced with the necessity of evolving their events or facing
the consequences.
Changing
Times For A New Era
What's ahead? Attendees
are looking for something different and impactful...the traditional
learning model, an expert dispensing wisdom while attendees sit there
to absorb the information like sponges, is bordering on the obsolete.
It's more important now for people to retain information so they can
use it in the future, and listening to something once isn't enough.
There will be a
shift toward interactive meetings--people will talk about what's important
to them. People want pragmatic information they can use. Right away.
And, more and more, the onus will be on every participant to contribute.
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And There. . .
- Congratulations
to Ilan Ben-Josef, BXI Orange County area director, for bringing together
169 vendors for another winning Trade Faire. One of the exhibitors--Jacqueline
Sloboda of BuyersMartOnline.com--came all the way from Hoboken (NJ)
for the BXI Trade Faire.
Another exhibitor was an old friend and former owner
of Trade Services International...Stephen Hayes. (His trade exchange
was later purchased by his CPAs Danny Weibling and Lisa Peters.)
Hayes was one of the independents who, in 1986,
formed the California Reciprocal Trade Association--a loose affiliation
of exchanges which desired to further their intertrade activity.
Two months ago he married Isabelle, a lovely French
woman who is a designer of beautiful jewelry. Hayes has followed
his artistic talents opening a studio in a classic 1896 Victorian
Church nestled in the redwoods of Mill Valley. For further information:
www.TheArtSpirit.com.
-
More coverage for publicly-traded International
Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM)...they're being profiled by www.smallcapresources.com.
-
SBC Southwestern Bell is bartering space on the
covers of its phone directories.
-
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) to sign up!
-
The U.S. aerospace Boeing Company, with $56 billion
in annual sales, foresees senior management meeting with top officials
in India. Objective: to develop a manufacturing base there. Boeing
wants to work with India on a countertrade deal wherein Boeing would
build manufacturing plants in India to produce spare parts, and
then be paid for its plant investment in parts.
The countertrade arrangement means India can put
people to work without any investment whatsoever. (Boeing also wants
to assist the Indian government with IT systems that could help
their army monitor the country's borders.)
-
Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor of Organizational Behavior
at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, questions
the nearly $38 billion companies will spend on CRM (customer relationship
management) software between 2001 and 2005. (Statistics from ARC
Advisory Group.)
Pfeffer contends that before you can manage a relationship,
you first need to build it. And relationships are built less by
fancy data mining than by what happens to customers when they actually
make contact with your organization.
Don't forget "the final 3 feet"--that
distance between the customer and the associate--is the most crucial
piece of real estate in customer relationships. It is in this space
that the battle for survival and growth will be won.
-
Correction: Last week's story on the online LET-System,
a portal for individuals, cited the incorrect web site. The correct
web site is: www.tauschmituns.de.
-
Read the financial pages and one would think that
acquiring stock in an IPO is the way to go. Actually, IPO gains
have long been concentrated among a few winners. Since 1980, 1%
of companies that have gone public have created 82% of long-term
IPO gains, according to a recent Morgan Stanley study.
-
Robert Coen, director of forecasting for Interpublic
Group's Universal McCann, says ad spending in the U.S. will increase
5% to $249.3 billion in 2003. (Worldwide ad spending will jump 4.9%
to $470 billion in 2003.) Coen's expectations are more bullish than
those of ZenithOptimedia Group, as reported here last week.
-
What's the hottest new amenity for hoteliers? According
to those in the business, when renovation or additions take place
today, a must is adding a spa. It's now rivaling golf for the upscale
travelers.
-
The fastest supercomputer is made by Japan's NEC
Corp. and has been clocked at 36.5 teraflops, or trillions of floating-point
operations, a second. Work is moving forward both in Japan as well
as in the U.S. to build supercomputers that will reach 100 teraflops!
Which, incidentally, is the estimated speed of the human brain!
-
According to a survey by the National Association
of Credit Management (NACM), one of every two businesses is tightening
credit.
-
Fund manager and investment adviser Marc Faber says
that China's rapid development and industrialization will fuel stronger
demand for a wide range of commodities. And that should benefit
commodity-related companies in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines.
As China's economy grows and a significant portion
of the population--perhaps 400 million people--becomes more prosperous,
eating and spending habits will also change. Diets will see less
starch and more protein, thus helping agriculture-based economies
such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.
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