Virtual Community

A virtual community is a community of people sharing common interests, ideas, and feelings over the Internet or other collaborative networks.

3 Rules of Virtual Communities

1. You are dealing with real people. This rul is sometime lost in the pursuit of good design or community objectives.


2. Make it easy for people to contribute to the community.


3. Give people something interesting to respond.

Steps to Build a Virtual Community

Interested now in building your own community? Read on, we have lots of materials and resources to help you on your way. But before you rush off, here is the overview of the steps it takes to build your own virtual community:
-Identify your community purpose or goal
-Identify your target audience
-Think about which interaction tools would serve your purpose and audience and how to structure the space.
-Think about how you want to host or facilitate your community
-Build it
-Draw in the members
-Go and nurture it

Social network based virtual communities and business
Virtual communities commonly provide both profit and non-profit services and can enhance major social and economic advancements. These digital environments contribute to the increase of creativity and enable citizens to develop interaction and establish socio-economic forces at higher standards (Einemann and Paradiso, 2004). For example, the AOL network aids in delivering locally relevant commerce information and enhances the features such as local advertising opportunities for vertical markets (e.g. auto, real estate, employment and health) (Ishida, 2002). Without profit services, virtual communities are seldom attractive and fail to become a portal to the city. Without non-profit services, the city may become too homogeneous as a result of pursuing economic efficiency (Ishida, 2002).
Social networks also play an important role in commerce activities and economic development. For example, the use of computer-mediated social networks provides opportunities for users to share information about the wide variety of products offered, costs or prices, and quality of the services to increase the popularity of the business site and the services they offer. eBay is one example of virtual community (virtual marketplace) where millions of users worldwide buy and sell products, discuss the products, share common interests and best practices, get help and feedback from others, and advertise the products that helps enhance reputation. This type of virtual communities stimulates economy by augmenting transactions between loosely connected diverse communities of individuals and small businesses.

People in virtual communities use words or screens to exchange plesantries and argue,engage in intellectual discussion, conduct commerce, exchange knowledge share emotional support, make plans, fall in love etc. They do just about everything people do in real life but we leave bodies behind. To the million who have been drawn into it , the richness and vitality of computer-linked culture is attractive, and for many even addictive.

Personal Opinion

Flickr and Facebook are two social networkin website that i prefer the most. We can do lots of photo sahring in them and the other most interseting thing is that what they call groups or communities of people that can communicate and interact with each other via message boards. Each group has user statistics which I found quite helpful. These social network are a great platform for sharing with the masses, not just with small collections of friends. Flickr and Facebook are all about facilitating sharing however the user wants, whereas other sites are more about uploading photos so you can easily print them.

Virtual Community in itself is not bad. But every good thing has to pay price. Thus it could be on the bad books as well. Hositle behaviour is one. Hostile Interactive Behaviors-flames, trolls, spam, and cyber-rape-are those behaviors which do suggest interaction between members of the virtual community, but which emphasize overt aggression and conflict rather than just a social exchange of information. Thus if it is used in a right spirit it could be more informative and a strong medium to create a strong bond of social network.

References

Einemann, E., Paradiso, M. (2004), "Digital cities and urban life: a framework for international benchmarking", Proceedings of the Winter International Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies, Cancun, Mexico.

Ishida.T. "(2002),"Digital City Kyoto" Communication of the ACM.Vol.95 No.7

David Trend (2001) "Reading Digital Culture"

The Most Watched Videos on Youtube

The Evolution Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U76KmEuxN-4
The evolution of dance is the most watched Youtube video in the world. This is a video of a man who dances to many tunes seamlessly going from one dance technique to another, a great video to watch and highly recommended. You must have always wondered what the most watched video is here is the proof. 115 million views, monetary Value - $2 million.

Susan Boyle's Amazing Performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
This singer from Scotland came and blew everyone's expectations in "Britain's Got Talent".Within nine days of her televised debut, videos of her audition, had been viewed a combined total of over 115 million times on the Youtube.

Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Terrorist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go
Jeff Dunham an American by nationality is an stnad up comedian. This very satnd up comedy named as Achmed the Terrorist is one of the most viewed video in Youtube. This video joins the club of 100 million times viewed video on the Youtube. Achmed is the skeletal corpse of an incompetent suicide bomber and is used by Dunham to perform comedy based on the contemporary issue of terrorism.

Sports and it's Impact on Healthier Life

Sport has a greater impact in the life of many people. It makes people healthier and it’s a good way of spending free time.Sport is good for health, but only if you are sport-lover. Professional sportsmen have a lot of injuries.
A lot of people have heard about the young Russian gymnast Masha Zasipkina who fell during coaching and injured her spine. It was a year ago. She was paralyzed, she had surgery and now she feels O.K. But she would never go to the gymnastic stage again. This might lead to think for a once that is sport really worth of risking a life. But one doesn't have to be professional sports person to be healthy in life. Regular sporting activities is good enough to keep yourself fit.
One of the least dangerous kinds of sport is swimming. You can’t break your spine, leg, hand, etc. Of course, someone can say that you can sink in the swimming-pool, but I think it is less probable then breaking your nose in basketball.
In cold countries people can’t afford to spend a lot of time in the fresh air. But if it is not very cold skiing and skating are a good way to stay fit.If you ask anyone about health, practically all the people will say that sport influences health, and all people should do sport. Sport plays a large role, and there are a lot of kinds of sport which are new for people.Fitness is a combination of body composition and muscular performance. . It decreases your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and other life threatening diseases.Aerobic (means with oxygen) exercise which involves steady constant motion of the muscles increases the body's demand for oxygen. In this manner aerobicexercise works your heart muscle making it bigger and stronger. Examples of aerobic exercises are walking, running, swimming, and cycling.There are some rules for persons who want to stay fit and be healthy.Physically exercise should be given the same importance as any important event. Regardless of what exercise you choose, 20-30 minutes 3 times a week should be placed into your timetable.Pedal your way to fitness and enjoy the scenery and the company of family or friends.To increase your physical activity doesn't always mean going to the gym. Try putting it into your daily routine. If you do this, your are more likely to keep doing it. To increase your physical activity doesn't always mean going to the gym. Try putting it into your daily routine. If you do this, your are more likely to keep doing itbecause you don't have to go out of your way to exercise.Take stairs whenever possible - particularly if you are going four floors or less. Even if you work on the 60th floor, try climbing a few flights and then take the lift Don't use the remote control, get up and change the T.V. channel. If you follow this rule you will fell yourself O.K!
Sports not only helps to improve individuals life but also can help bring individuals and communities together, create a sense of community, encourage active citizenship, and foster trust, reciprocity, and a sense of security among community members.

Ireland's Top 5 Richest People.

The Sunday Times newspaper has published its popular annual Rich List, detailing the top Irish earners and how much they are really worth. One most notable things about the 2009 list is the losses being suffered by the Irish super-rich. In this survey all the Irish born people are eligible.

1. Hilary Weston & Family Retailing (£4,500M)
Weston and family owns Hotel Renfrew stores and Brown Thomas In Ireland & Canada. They have a well connection of Irish and Canadian background. They also own real estate. Galen Sr, owns 63.5% of George Weston,One of north America's Largest Food Processors.







2. Sean Quinn (£2,295m)
He lost £1 Billion by buying 25% Anglo Irish Bank Up as recession proved that it was a wrong decision. He owns Quinns Group which generates about £300m In post-tax profit a year. He Owns Quinn Healthcare, building product companies,landfil sites, glassmaking operations,pubs and hotels.







3. Denis O'brien (£1,734m)
He owns Bermuda-based Digicel Group mobile phone companies, operating in 31 countries which worths £1.2billion. He also owns Independant News & Medis. Across europe which worth around £40m.








4.Dermot Desmond (£1,421m)
He made his fortunes through Finance. His Company IIU Nominees, built a stake of £15 million in the Bank of Ireland and the AIB. He also has 37% stake in celtic football Club.






5.John Dorrance (£1,247m) Dorrance, 59, heads the Irish list for the seventh year even though the falling value of the dollar has knocked £68m off his fortune. As American, he inherited shares in Campbell soup company, the food giant built on his grandfather's innovation condensed soup-in 1989.




Source: Irish Times 2009, 26th April

Fighting with credit crunch (80/20 Rule)

A credit crunch is a reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates. In such situations, the relationship between credit availability and interest rates has implicitly changed, such that either credit becomes less available at any given official interest rate, or there ceases to be a clear relationship between interest rates and credit availability (i.e. credit rationing occurs). Many times, a credit crunch is accompanied by a flight to quality by lenders and investors, as they seek less risky investments (often at the expense of small to medium size enterprises).

As a consequence, unemployment is rising and people are limiting their expenditure. It has affected all sorts of business. Restaurant business is no exception to it. People are dining less in restaurant. So it is crucial for the entrepreneur to come up with the strategy to survive in this crucial time.

80/20 Rule
The 80/20 Rule states that a small number of causes are responsible for a great number of effects. In business that often means 80% of our sales come from 20% of our customers, so looking after them should be our primary focus. In addition, it further implies 20% of our customers give us 80% of our profit, so looking after that 20% should be a crucial, and the foundation of business survival and success.

So it is essential to focus on those 20% customers who frequently visit the restaurant. Apart from that we should also apply that 80/20 Rule to other areas of restaurant to bear the fruitful result. Those applications can be:

20% of our menu items will give you 80% of our sales, and 80% of it will give us 20% of our sales. It is prudent to look closely at the best and worst sellers on our list and adjust accordingly.
If 20% of our wine and beverage list gives us 80% of our sales, we should check the need to keep so many different labels, especially as it usually involves carrying expensive stock which is a big cost on such idle thing.

80% of food costs come from a very small number of items eg meat, seafood and luxury ingredients. There might need special attention on these food items.

A large reduction in costs could be achieved by working on a small number of the items purchased or suppliers (even one or two). Having only few suppliers can lead us to reliable & prompt supply along with discount. If we have reliable supplier we can also reduce level of stock which reduces the cost of holding stock.We can also assume that 20% of staff will generate 80% of the tips. So, there can be the issue of further training programs for the rest of staff to improve their performance. A small number of staff may be receiving a large proportion of the wages. So we can do the analysis regarding the value for money we are paying.

We can make a strategy to bring business from these 20% customers. It can be as following.
1. Grade our client list A. B. C. D. E.
2. Identify our top 20% (A & B). It can be done by doing record of our business for any ideal particular month.
3. We can create an array of reward schemes, such as free gifts (movie passes etc), Irish river dance programme, group outings, closed door events, special discounts, newsletters etc.
4. Give these gifts often and with regularity, say every 3 or 6 months.
5. Select Cs and Ds for special attention to upgrade to the level of you're A & B clients.
6. Make our Rewards programme and who is a part of it, known to the rest of your list via your newsletters, photos, in-house 'signage' and Case Studies.

One of the most primal needs we have, as human beings, is to be acknowledged; acknowledged for our achievements, acknowledged for our contribution, acknowledged for a job well done, acknowledge for being a worthwhile person. If we fulfill this need in our clients, not only will they continue to advocate us and our business, they may even strive to reach even higher levels of support for us. The rewards are indisputable.
Source: Sunday Times,19th April 2009

Information Technology in Hospitality Industry

Information systems form a fascinating and rapidly expanding field of study. Hospitality traditionally lags other sectors in adopting information technology (Buick, 2003) but this has changed in recent years and research into its application has followed suit.
In the recent years hospitality industry has realised the importance of technology and its impact. Experts have realised that advanced technology provides competitive advantage to the industry. So how has technology become such a phenomenal factor for the industry?

Accounting is complicated, but advanced accounting software gave that needed boost to the hospitality industry. It helps to enable hotel owners to make smart decisions. Services and products that are no longer used can be quickly cut off to save money, while those who show demand can be increased in quantity or modified so as to reduce the heavy usage.
One of the major turnaround that happened regarding technology is the booking and reservation system. No longer have people had to ring the hotels and do the reservation. Online booking and reservation has completely wiped out those issues. Hotels can now work with various online travel companies and booking services to have their rooms booked online, with no need to employ expensive staff. This also allows a hotel to advertise their open rooms and special deals directly to persons who would be most likely to purchase them, instead of wasting lots of money advertising in a way that might not reach to the targeted market. High quality information technology thus allows for better arrangement and management of bookings in order to allow a hotel to better maximize occupancy.
Internet has proved to be blessing for each and every sector of life regardless of who they are. Be it student or people travelling who wish to be in touch with their offices when abroad. Internet and wireless technology has become a very common and very useful tool for the hotel. Having a wireless internet facilities is seen as one of the major factors for hotels in attracting business people as they could do their official work staying in the hotel. Such services are easy to provide, as all that is required is a wireless router and various devices to ensure the entire hotel is filled with the network. Security cameras, door locks, and other devices essential to hotel security and safety can be wired into the network, so that staffs are alerted whenever a door is propped open, a fire alarm goes off or suspicious activity occurs. Though the hotel guests are wholly unaware of it, this sort of added safety and security keeps them safe, and in the event of a problem they will most certainly appreciate the benefits of such a system.
Hotels with room service or other guest services can offer their menus online, allowing for quick updates, high-quality photos, and other ways to allow guests to see and order services before they even arrive. There are also advances in terms of payroll and inventory which make information technology a valuable asset for saving money and maximizing profits.

Another importanct factor regarding technolgy is Customer Relationship Management(CRM).Two articles investigate the implementation of a CRM system. Based on qualitative and quantitative research with Italian hotel operators, Minghetti (2003) proposes a CRM system and complementary matrix for evaluating guest information, which serve as a convenient blueprint for implementing or evaluating the CRM process. Louvieris and Driver (2004) suggest how the developing XML web standard could enable the CRM process. Consumers increasingly use a variety of devices (for example cell phones, Interactive television and kiosks) to access the web, and need different types of interactions, information and procedures depending on the relationship stage. They show how the current one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful. However providing the required personalisation to service each situation is difficult using current technology. They propose how the unique characteristics of XML, which uses content specific rather than stylistic tags, could help hotel companies implement the needed device specific and loyalty level personalisation.

The unique nature of the hospitality industry makes it a great place for new and emerging information technology, and forward-thinking hotel owners and managers are always looking for smart equipment and software to invest in.
Reference
Buick, I. (2003). "Information technology in small Scottish hotels: is it working."
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Louvieris, P., J. Driver, et al. (2003). "Managing Customer Behaviour Dynamics in the Multi-channel E-business Environment: Enhancing Customer Relationship Capital in the Global Hotel industry." Journal of Vacation Marketing

Minghetti, V. (2003). "Building Customer Value in the Hospitality industry: Towards the Definition of a Customer-Centric Information System." Information Technology and Tourism

Nick Nikolis, Atlantica Hotels and Resorts (2006)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is a process of optimizing one’s website to get better results in search engines. SEO is a medium of getting your web pages highly ranked and listed near the top of search engine results.

How SEO Operates
SEO are often termed as spiders or crawlers. When a user submits the keyword that they are looking for, SEO scans that keyword and then rank of websites appears. In doing a so large site are favoured more and appears top in the rankings.
Advantages of SEO:
· Competitive Edge against your competitor.
· SEO enables to gain popularity.
· Improve company’s ability to sell products.
· Higher site visitors as SEO your your business website among the top ranked sites in the Web.
· Higher number of visitors leads to more profits through pay per click.

According to a recent study, more than 60% of websites lack the proper web programming to be ranked properly by Internet search engines. According to the Front Page Public Relations report, websites, in many cases, do not contain the necessary titles, descriptions, keywords and other Meta tags required to be read and indexed properly by leading search engines, nor do they include the beneficial language in search results to entice customers to click through to their websites.

Thus, when you're brainstorming keyphrases, consider terms that represent:
-problems your prospects are suffering from
-benefits your products or services offer
-competition your product or service competes against (although be careful of copyright laws)
-outcomes your prospects want to achieve

Source: http://www.livingroom.org/

Manang To La Pass

Nepal, home to Mount Everest, is dominated by the world's most imposing mountains. Although the country is relatively small (147,181 square kilometers), 80 percent of its territory is occupied by the amazing peaks of the himalayas. I hope after reading my trekking experience you will want to redscover the experience yourself.

Leaving Manang gives you kind of special feeling, as you climb up the trail that will take you up to the pass in two days. In the begining of this trek you spend a lot of time thinking of the pass, as - at least to me - reaching 3400 m sounded quite unreal and a little bit scary: Will I be able to climb up to so high and will the weather be good enough, what about altitude mountain sickness or your equipment? Will it be very cold? So I left Manang very excited, which was actually good as I perceived the following three days as the most fabulous in my life.
As you go on trekking through this journey all those fears and doubts slowly turns into excitement and joy. The only time you miss your warm and comforatble rooms were during night times as it was absolutely freezing. We had a local guide with us so finding our way wasn’t that difficult. The guide was of great help to us to adapt in that freezing condition. After every one hour walk you could find a small tea shop where we used to drink hot lemon tea which was the best tea i ever had. After every tea break the fisrt hour of walking was horrible, you really need to take your time ti find your pace. But then after that one hour it was all fun.

After two days of walk we reached the peak of the base camp of La Pass and that was the feeling of my life. The serene beauty of La Pass is unbelivable. Words fall short to describe it, so i have added some picture.. enjoy..