Interview with Cheryl Reynolds, CEO of SODA Inc, Hamilton's ...

I?m on a mission to establish a Business Incubator in Tauranga next year.

Part 1 of this mission is to learn from people who have already succeeded.

So last week I spent an amazing, inspiring, uplifting 3 hours with Cheryl Reynolds the CEO of SODA Inc and Rachel Wark, the Communications Manager (thanks for making so much time for me guys!).

As a bonus I brought my good friend Alistair McMahon?with me who shares my passion for start-ups and marketing.

Wow. What an incubator. They have achieved so much in just 3 short years and 3 days (their birthday was last Monday).

Here are my notes about SODA Inc.

What is SODA Inc?

• SODA Inc is a fusion of incubator/accelerator + cluster
• The cluster is a fusion of StartUps and Existing Industry
• Lesson for me: I think that sometimes existing industry can see StartUp?s as nimble, agile threat?s that are determined to steal business from them, so I love to see that SODA is working at bridging the gap between startups and existing industry and pointing out the opportunity for both

Empowering story?s everywhere

• The SODA Inc identity is fused to the building and it?s rich history as a soda bottling plant in the 1900
• Each company which has been carefully selected to be included in the incubator has a story: a history, a present, and a future
• One tenant of note is Alistair Grigg, COO of Xero. Alastair oversees all aspects of Xero product development and service delivery, from design to customer support, but from Hamilton where he chooses to live with his family. How 2012 is that??
• Lesson for me: Make sure I have a story to tell. People love stories, they identify with stories, they believe stories.

There is a empowered women component:

• It starts with in the 1870?s when?Mary Jane Innes?seized?control of the brewery business, from her inept husband and made it a roaring success
• Cheryl herself her started planning SODA 8 years ago and now runs it
• And now Rachel Wark as the communication?s manager
• Many of the incubated businesses are either women run and women led
• Lesson for me: About damn time. Hooray for the end of the male dominated business sector

A beautifully designed and modern space

• The design of the space is a fusion of open plan but partitions/cubicles to provide a workspace you can call your own
• No doors, but doorways for a distinct feeling of?territory?(good for minimising distractions)
• Lesson for me: The ?wow? factor is so important. It?s essential to create a space that has form and function and design so the residents feel good, but also it needs to impress the daily visitors

It?s hard to get in. It?s harder to stay in

• Cheryl: ?We are not for profit, not for loss?
• The entry criteria is very strict, and must be so. All incubated companies must have exceptional stories, exceptional growth potential, and with a global expansion focus
• If an incubated company doesn?t double it?s key metric every 6 months they are out
• Lesson for me: I love that! It keeps the residents motivated to push forward and the SODA team/mentors to push forward too?

Who funded it to get it off the ground?

• Once the company was formed, the Hamilton Council donated the space
• Wintec provided initial funding for the fit out
• NZTE approached SODA and now the programmes are NZTE accredited
• Lesson for me: An interesting hybrid between public funding grants and?private?investment

Opened in 2009 but when did the work really begin?

• pre-2004: Cheryl?s series of successes, failures and exits
• 2004: Cheryl started planning SODA
• 2008: Board formed and corporate sponsors in
• 2009: Open for business
• Lesson for me: The public only sees the 3 year history when the doors opened, but so much work had to happen to lead up to that point

Building an ecosystem

• SODA is growing not just a StartUp ecosystem for Hamilton, but for New Zealand.
• Alongside it?s day to day activities they have a number of?initiatives?in place that don?t directly contribute to their own key metrics but are happening because they contribute to?strengthening?and growing the eco-system
• One such?initiative?is ?SODA Labs?: The CEO?s of 3 external, well established companies (plus 1 wildcard from the incubator) are invited into the room for 90 mins. Often those CEO?s walk out with a long standing competitive dispute resolved or a joint venture. SODA provides the neutral venue
• Lesson for me: I love the idea of building an ecosystem that benefits everyone

What?s Next?

A visit to Bizdojo in Auckland.

Related posts:

1. Tauranga 2013: A Business Incubator, A Business Accelerator, And 3 Co-Working Spaces Have I shared with you my plan for 2013? I...

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Tagged as: Business Accelerators, Business Incubators, SODA Inc, Soda Incubator

Source: http://www.marketingfirst.co.nz/2012/10/interview-with-cheryl-reynolds-ceo-of-soda-inc-hamiltons-business-incubator-and-accelerator/

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The nature of UK austerity

Veronique de Rugy sums up many points I continue to be thinking):

When I looked at the data?back in June, we saw that of the roughly ?40 billion that was shaved from the deficit during the 2010?2011 budget cycle, for every ?3 of new tax revenue, U.K. taxpayers got ?1 in cuts ? exactly the reverse of what was promised.

What?s more, the evidence indicates that U.K. has, at best, slowed down the growth of spending, but it has not?engaged in actual spending cuts. I documented the trend in British spending earlier this year:

A look at the data in Her Majesty?s Fiscal Year 2012?Budget shows (see table 2.3) that total managed expenditures will increase from ?696.4 billion in 2011?2012 to ?733.5 billion in 2014?2015, and further to ?756.3 billion in 2016?2017. Adjusted for population growth, this is slow growth, but not a savage cut. That table also shows a ?projected? drop in Public Sector Gross Investment between 2012?2013, but if it ever materializes, it will be contained to that year alone.

Spending cuts in the UK can?t be blamed for the weak growth path the country is on. On the other hand, tax increases can. Here is a list:

(For more, go here.) The bottom line is that the U.K. is another case of private-sector austerity (i.e.,?tax hikes) without public-sector austerity?(i.e., spending cuts).

For more detail, here is a new and very good paper by Anthony Evans.? Here are some interesting remarks from Nicholas Krafts.

Source: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/10/the-nature-of-uk-austerity.html

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Toe The Line | MEN'S HEALTH

When going barefoot don?t let these unsightly problems keep you in shoes.

1. Hammertoe

The middle joint of?one or more toes?bends due to an?imbalance between?the muscles and?tendons that hold it?straight, says William?Fishco DPM, a Phoenix?podiatrist. Over time?the tendons tighten up?and the toes become?stuck in a bent?position.

PREVENT IT Make?sure you have about?a thumb?s width?of space between?your longest toe and?your shoe.

FIX IT Hammertoes?can become painful?and require surgery,?but you may be able to?avoid the scalpel if you?keep the tendons?loose with foot?exercises. Lay a?towel on the floor and?pick it up using your?toes. Then drop it?and repeat.

?

2. Ingrown toenail

A jagged or?curved toenail?edge punctures?the underlying?skin and grows?downward, says?Joel J Heidelbaugh?MD, a professor of?family medicine at?the University of?Michigan. This can?lead to infection.

PREVENT IT Cut?your toenails in a?straight line. File the?sharp edges.

FIX IT Soak the foot?in soapy water for 15?minutes a day to?soften the nail, and?apply an antibiotic?ointment. If needed,?have a doctor?separate the nail from?the skin.

?

3. Bunion

If?your big toe is?misaligned (possibly?from flat feet or a?family history of?bunions), it can swing?toward the other toes,?says J Kent Ellington?MD, an ortho pedic?surgeon based in?North Carolina. As a?result, the joint that?holds your toe loses?alignment and bulges?out?resulting in a?bump called a bunion.

PREVENT IT?Don?t cram your toes?into pointed dress?shoes; they should?fit comfortably.

FIX IT If you notice?that your big toe is?angled or your joint?is forming a bump,?try toe spacers to?keep your big toe?pointing straight.

?

4. Athlete?s foot

You can catch this fungus by going barefoot on an?infected surface.

PREVENT IT Dry your feet after swimming and wash them immediately after?playing sports. Wear socks if someone at home is infected, and wear sandals in?communal areas (such as showers), says Mahmoud Ghannoum, director of the?centre for medical mycology at Case Western Reserve University.

FIX IT Ghannoum recommends applying a cream containing an antifungal such?as terbinafine every day for a week or two. ?JULIE STEWART

?

5. Plantar wart

The human papillomavirus?invades, caus ing an inward-growing wart.?Warning signs: (1) black specks, (2) pain when you?press from side to side, and (3) a disruption of the?fingerprint-like lines across your sole, says New?Jersey podiatric surgeon George F Wallace DPM.

PREVENT IT Viruses thrive on moist, warm?surfaces, such as swimming pool decks.?Dr Wallace suggests wearing sandals until?the minute you step in for a dip, and then?putting them back on as soon as you step out.

FIX IT Start with an over-the-counter product?containing salicylic acid.

?

?

Illustration by Rami Niemi.

Source: http://www.mens-health.com.my/2012/10/25/toe-the-line/

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Destiny Of Love

Have You ever wounder what it is like to fall in love with a Vampire?

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Katheryn_Love

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Ill gladly take the slayer please

ceh12

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Okay, i will resever The slayer for you. Make him on your own time. No rush.

Katheryn_Love

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Okay Ill probably have him up either today or tommorrow

ceh12

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Okay, i will accept when i see that you have made the charater. :D

Katheryn_Love

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Post a reply

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10 Tips to Increase the Facebook Business Page Reach from Top ...

Want to increase the engagement on your Facebook business page?

It?s not easy right now.

You spend $$$?s and work hard to get people to like your Facebook business page and then you struggle to reach out to those people.

To help you, I asked the following question from the top Facebook marketing experts.

Q: What is your best tip to increase the reach of your Facebook page?

I?m so honored and thank full for all the experts who took the time to respond to my question.

Hope you?ll enjoy the post and don?t forget to add your experience regarding Facebook marketing in the comments section below.

#1 Guy Kawasaki

Guy is the author of eleven books including Enchantment, What the Plus!, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple.

Two things: always include a picture or embed a video and always include a link to the source. I?m presuming that the link or video is something that is interesting, so you are providing a valuable curation service to your followers/friends.

#2 Andrea Vahl

Andrea is a Social Media coach, strategist and speaker. She is also the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies book that came out in August 2011.

Facebook Reach numbers have been going down, there is no disputing it.? Whether the decrease in Reach is due to a change in the algorithm or actual reach has been debated extensively.? But what can you do to make sure you are benefiting your audience while getting more visibility?

My advice is to focus on creating the best, shareable content that you can.? I like creating shareable images that either teach something, inspire your audience, or spark conversation.

I take an image from stock photos (I like?www.123rf.com), then add a quote (humanize brand image).? Or I use Snagit to do a screen capture and then add text to give people tips on how they can use social media.? (Get Facebook Stats on any Page)? When your images are being shared, you are increasing your visibility and helping your audience.

?

#3 Chris Treadaway?

Chris is a Founder of Polygraph Media & Co-author of Facebook Marketing An Hour a Day with?Mari Smith

?

I like the strategy of commenting as your page on other pages with a large audience. ?Some might call it a hack, but doing this regularly will promote your page for free and allow you to extend your brand in a friendly, engaging manner.

?

#4 Brian Carter

?Brian is the Author of The Like Economy, Facebook Marketing, LinkedIn For Business. Search/social marketer, keynote speaker and trainer. Improv and stand-up comic.

?

?#1 is use promoted posts or sponsored stories. That?s the fastest way.

#2 is post things that get more interaction. Use InfiniGraph, reddit, and other sources to see what kind of posts get the most interaction, and do likewise.

?

#5 ?Ekaterina Walter

?Ekaterina is the Author of Think Like Zuck (Coming out soon), Social Innovator for Intel, Trendsetter, Speaker, Connector, Passionate Marketer & a Mom.

Don?t be afraid to go slightly off topic with your posts. Even if you have a very engaged audience on your page, you still probably have a lot of your customers who are silently watching your stream but not engaging.

The beauty of Facebook in its FOF effect (friends of fans). That means that when a person engages with a brand, his/her friends see that. That?s an amazing endorsement and opportunity for their friends to engage with you as well.

So try to get those silent types to engage with you buy varying your content, by trying to appeal to their passion points beyond just the topics your brand is comfortable with discussing.

For example, even though Intel is a technology company, we also talk about sports, music, games. We say happy holidays and offer interesting trivia beyond technology. We ask open-ended questions around people?s memories and experiences.

Just asking your fans what their favorite Olympic sport can inspire people to participate and root for the sport of their choice. Don?t be afraid to take some risks with your editorial calendar and content to get the conversation going on your page.

?

#6 Dennis Yu

Dennis is the CEO of BlitzLocal.com, an agency that does online advertising for big brands and yellow page category businesses.

?

My tip is to run page post ads to increase reach. Facebook claims the average is 16%. Without paid reach, organic engagement and EdgeRank suffers.

?

#7 Linda Bustos

?Linda is the Director of Ecommerce Research with Elastic Path Software

Ask your email subscribers to like your page at the bottom of every email. If you?re sophisticated, segment out those that click on the Facebook button from the email and send them emails with a different call to action going forward. Segmenting them out also shows you, which of your email subscribers are true brand ?fans? and who may be more likely to share your messages with their friends, etc.

?

#8 Debbie Hemley

Debbie is a social media blogger and writer, and consults with businesses on social media strategy. She has written countless articles about social media even before people were reading about the topic!??She has a passion for words, research, writing and reading. When she first discovered blogging a number of years ago, she says she ?found a voice and a short form that connects my personal and professional life in a way nothing else ever has before.? You can follow her on her blog?DebbieHemley.com

My?best?tip?be a continuing student of Facebook, and stay as up-to-date as humanly possible. Just when you think you?ve gotten the hang of Facebook they go and change something!

Tips that are relevant today may be old news by the time you go to implement them. That?s why I think if a business has identified Facebook as an integral part of their social media marketing strategy then the social media managers need to make a concerted effort to stay up-to-date on?everything Facebook related.

One way many people accomplish this is by adding a few industry blogs to their reading list, making sure to catch all articles with updates and how-to tips on Facebook. (In fact, my colleagues who have contributed on this post are a great place to begin?they are excellent go-to-sources on Facebook, I know they?ve been mine for a long time!) Having a social media community where you can share and exchange ideas is what helps make it so effective and real-time.

?Like? the?Facebook Marketing page?on Facebook where you can follow updates that Facebook themselves makes to help businesses stay up-to-date. For example, some of their recent updates were a series of optimizing tips, and a link to how to show promoted posts to the friends of people who like your page.

You can also follow @Facebook on?Twitter?and monitor hashtags related to Facebook, e.g. #facebook, #facebookmarketing. There are a number of monitoring tools that make this an easy, manageable task, e.g.?Hootsuite,?Monitter,?TweetChat,?TweetGrid, to name a few.

Finally, try to remember, maintaining presences on social networks is really akin to gardening?where you need to plant and water regularly to help them live long healthy lives.

?

#9 Wong Ching Ya?

?Ching Ya is a social media enthusiast, freelancer and a Facebook fanatic on discovering ways to increase brand visibility. Heavy user of visual content in writing social media tutorials on her blog Social @ Blogging Tracker

It?s vital to understand your audience first by experimenting the type of postings that will get fans to respond.

In my case, I?m a heavy user of visual content on both my blog and Facebook Page. It?s recommended to create unique, branded images but do take into considerations on the time, budget and effort involved: is it worth the purpose or if you have a better way to deliver the message, say, a Video instead?

There are many ideas you can try for your page when it comes to visual content. Here?s a free resource if you?re interested.?20 Innovative Ways to Use Visual Content to Rock Your Facebook Page.

Don?t forget to experiment, measure and improvise.

?

#10 ?John Paul

?John is an Internet Entrepreneur ? Social Media Consultant and Experience Online Marketer.

?

For me, I much rather have people focus on expanding the reach of their blogs, since that is what they OWN. But if you are more focused on growing your FB page, then A few good ways to expand your reach are?

Add your FB url or button on your blog, in the header, footer and end of posts.

Add your FB url or button onto every social site you are on.

Add your FB url into all your outgoing emails, using a sig file works nicely.

Give something away Free, and ask people to like your page to receive the gift. Then promote this across your blog and social sites

?

I hope this post will help you to increase the reach of your Facebook business page.

Question: Have you tried any of the above tips to increase the reach of your Facebook page? Feel free add your ?Facebook marketing tips or experiences in the comments below.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are ?affiliate links.? This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (at no extra cost to you). Resources I have shared with you because I think these are helpful and I trust the companies not because of the commission I will get. Please do not spend money unless you understand the products and feel that can help you to achieve your social media marketing goals.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Source: http://www.ranashahbaz.com/facebook-business-page

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Toasting Washington's newest wine region!

Washington is one of the fastest wine-growing regions in the world and this week, it added a new region to its ranks. This week, the federal government designated the Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley viticultural area, the 13th such region in the state.

The region includes the Quincy and George areas of central Washington and includes wineries like White Heron Cellars and Cave B Winery. The scenic land was formed by Ice Age floods and currently grows more than a thousand acres of wine grapes.

So, what does it all mean? An AVA is a designated wine grape-growing region with specific geographic features and boundaries. To add the AVA designation onto a bottle of wine, at least 85% of grapes used in the wine must be grown within that region.

For more information about the new AVA and what wineries you can visit, check out the Tasting Room magazine's feature.

?

Source: http://moseslakegrantcounty.kxly.com/news/85183-toasting-washingtons-newest-wine-region

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Breakthrough technique images breast tumors in 3-D with great clarity, reduced radiation

ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2012) ? Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.

These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

The research is published the week of Oct. 22 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The most common breast cancer screening method used today is called dual-view digital mammography, but it isn't always successful in identifying tumors, said Jianwei (John) Miao, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy and researcher with the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

"While commonly used, the limitation is that it provides only two images of the breast tissue, which can explain why 10 to 20 percent of breast tumors are not detectable on mammograms," Miao said. "A three-dimensional view of the breast can be generated by a CT scan, but this is not frequently used clinically, as it requires a larger dose of radiation than a mammogram. It is very important to keep the dose low to prevent damage to this sensitive tissue during screening."

Recognizing these limitations, the scientists went in a new direction. In collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France and Germany's Ludwig Maximilians University, Miao's international colleagues used a special detection method known as phase contrast tomography to X-ray a human breast from multiple angles.

They then applied equally sloped tomography, or EST -- a breakthrough computing algorithm developed by Miao's UCLA team that enables high-quality image-reconstruction -- to 512 of these images to produce 3-D images of the breast at a higher resolution than ever before. The process required less radiation than a mammogram.

In a blind evaluation, five independent radiologists from Ludwig Maximilians University ranked these images as having a higher sharpness, contrast and overall image quality than 3-D images of breast tissue created using other standard methods.

"Even small details of the breast tumor can be seen using this technique," said Maximilian Reiser, director of the radiology department at Ludwig Maximilians University, who contributed his medical expertise to the research.

The technology commonly used today for mammograms or imaging a patient's bones measures the difference in an X-ray's intensity before and after it passes through the body. But the phase contrast X-ray tomography used in this study measures the difference in the way an X-ray oscillates through normal tissue rather than through slightly denser tissue like a tumor or bone. While a very small breast tumor might not absorb many X-rays, the way it changes the oscillation of an X-ray can be quite large, Miao said. Phase contrast tomography captures this difference in oscillation, and each image made using this technique contributes to the overall 3-D picture.

The computational algorithm EST developed by Miao's UCLA team is a primary driver of this advance. Three-dimensional reconstructions, like the ones created in this research, are produced using sophisticated software and a powerful computer to combine many images into one 3-D image, much like various slices of an orange can be combined to form the whole. By rethinking the mathematic equations of the software in use today, Miao's group developed a more powerful algorithm that requires fewer "slices" to get a clearer overall 3-D picture.

"The technology used in mammogram screenings has been around for more than 100 years," said Paola Coan, a professor of X-ray imaging at Ludwig Maximilians University. "We want to see the difference between healthy tissue and the cancer using X-rays, and that difference can be very difficult to see, particularly in the breast, using standard techniques. The idea we used here was to combine phase contrast tomography with EST, and this combination is what gave us much higher quality 3-D images than ever before."

While this new technology is like a key in a lock, the door will only swing open -- bringing high-resolution 3-D imaging from the synchrotron facility to the clinic -- with further technological advances, said Alberto Bravin, managing physicist of the biomedical research laboratory at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. He added that the technology is still in the research phase and will not be available to patients for some time.

"A high-quality X-ray source is an absolute requirement for this technique," Bravin said. "While we can demonstrate the power of our technology, the X-ray source must come from a small enough device for it to become commonly used for breast cancer screening. Many research groups are actively working to develop this smaller X-ray source. Once this hurdle is cleared, our research is poised to make a big impact on society."

These results represent the collaborative efforts of senior authors Miao, Bravin and Coan. Significant contributions were provided by co-first authors Yunzhe Zhao, a recent UCLA doctoral graduate in Miao's laboratory, and Emmanuel Brun, a scientist working with Bravin and Coan. Other co-authors included Zhifeng Huang of UCLA and Aniko Sztr?kay, Paul Claude Diemoz, Susanne Liebhardt, Alberto Mittone and Sergei Gasilov of Ludwig Maximilians University.

The research was funded by UC Discovery/Tomosoft Technologies; the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health; and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft-Cluster of Excellence Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles. The original article was written by Melody Pupols.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Yunzhe Zhao, Emmanuel Brun, Paola Coan, Zhifeng Huang, Aniko Sztr?kay, Paul Claude Diemoz, Susanne Liebhardt, Alberto Mittone, Sergei Gasilov, Jianwei Miao, and Alberto Bravin. High-resolution, low-dose phase contrast X-ray tomography for 3D diagnosis of human breast cancers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204460109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ntdE71Otn_U/121022162710.htm

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