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Bus Operator: Jam Liner Inc.
Bus number: 203
Area of Operation: Provincial Operation
Seating Configuration: 3x2
Seating Capacity: 61
Bus Manufacturer: Man Truck & Bus
Model: Santarosa MotorWorks Explorer
Chassis: MAN A63 18.232 FOC
Engine: D0836LFL10
I was invited to spend two days at Europe’s most comprehensive IoT Event. This leading forum focused on case studies that show today’s Industry and Enterprises leveraging IoT technologies to transform their business through creating value and efficiencies.
The Internet of things (stylised Internet of Things or IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.
"Things," in the IoT sense, can refer to a wide variety of devices such as heart monitoring implants, biochip transponders on farm animals, electric clams in coastal waters,[16] automobiles with built-in sensors, DNA analysis devices for environmental/food/pathogen monitoring or field operation devices that assist firefighters in search and rescue operations.[18] Legal scholars suggest to look at "Things" as an "inextricable mixture of hardware, software, data and service". These devices collect useful data with the help of various existing technologies and then autonomously flow the data between other devices. Current market examples include home automation (also known as smart home devices) such as the control and automation of lighting, heating (like smart thermostat), ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and appliances such as washer/dryers, robotic vacuums, air purifiers, ovens or refrigerators/freezers that use Wi-Fi for remote monitoring.
Picture This: Annie Leibovitz In Court
Courtney Comstock, 08.04.09, 10:10 AM EDT. Forbes.Com
The acclaimed photographer is sued by creditors over a contract worth $24 million.
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Last year, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz leveraged practically everything but the shirt off her back for a loan from Art Capital Group. From their upscale office on Madison Avenue, the Art Capital Group doles out loans to celebrities and art collectors who put up real estate or pieces from their art collection as collateral. Some of the spoils of the business can be seen hanging on their walls, like the Warhols and the Rubens hanging there now.
In the past, high-profile names like Michael Jackson, Julian Schnabel and Veronica Hearst have turned to Art Capital for loans. Hearst leveraged the aforementioned Rubens. Next to forfeit her collection to their walls of shame might be Vanity Fair's Annie Leibovitz. Art Capital Group Inc. sued the famous photographer for breach of contract on Tuesday, July 28.
Last autumn, Art Capital gained the rights to Leibovitz's house in Rhinebeck, N.Y., her three townhouses in Manhattan's West Village, all of her existing and some of her future art. Leibovitz signed it all away to restructure her finances by borrowing $24 million from the Art Capital Group, a "high-class hock shop," according to most media reporting on the lawsuit. A spokesman for the group, Montieth Illingworth, told Forbes, "Using [the term 'pawn shop'] may make for interesting journalism, but it does nothing to capture [the group's] complicated and sophisticated expertise in art and finance." Perhaps their spokesman's upper-crust name better captures it.
Leibovitz is obligated to pay Art Capital the $24 million on Sept. 8, but it seems that she's still very broke. Just last May, B2Pro Lighting, whom she owed just under $200,000, threatened to file a petition to force Leibovitz into bankruptcy because of her outstanding debt. No petition has been filed yet, but that doesn't mean that Leibovitz has $24 million to repay Art Capital or that anyone ever expected that she would.
Both Leibovitz and Art Capital knew that her loan couldn't be repaid come September, so they made other arrangements via a sales agreement in which Leibovitz allows Art Capital to settle her projected debt by selling off her real estate and art properties, not an easy task considering the wavering art market. The group has the exclusive right to find buyers, make offers and sell on Leibovitz's behalf. They just don't have the right to force her to help them—yet.
Art Capital claims that Leibovitz has not only refused the bankers entry into her homes, which they need to value before she defaults on her loan, but that in general her conduct has been so "boldly deceptive," that it appears to them that she "entered into the sales agreement with no intention of performing or permitting performance under it." In their suit Art Capital petitions the court to order Leibovitz to allow appraisers into her home. They also seek judgment for her "willful breach" of what Illingworth says is "a very simple and clear agreement." Which Leibovitz signed. Four times.
A bit of evidence against her is an agreement that Leibovitz made last March. She entered into a "multi-project collaboration" with Orchard Represents by Getty Images despite owing all future photographic assets to Art Capital Group until after the $24 million loan is repaid. The $1.1 million contract Leibovitz signed with Getty sparked a separate lawsuit in April. The Art Capital Group apparently initiated Leibovitz's collaboration with Getty Images, who then made a similar arrangement without involving Art Capital.
There are plenty of wealthy art collectors out there to buy her photos, but Leibovitz has surely lost one potential buyer, her lenders-cum-collectors Art Capital. It's hard to imagine they'd even want a reminder of this year's legal mess hanging over their heads, even if it were a photograph of pregnant, naked Demi Moore.
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Tacitus receiving wreath from Victory Rare 275AD Ancient Roman Coin i52711
To see Tacitus receiving wreath from Victory Rare 275AD Ancient Roman Coin i52711 visit: ift.tt/1MgGSZt
About the item on this post:
What you see is an item just listed by Ilya Zlobin. Ilya Zlobin, a world-renowned ancient Greek, Roman, Biblical, Byzantine, Medieval and World numismatic coin, antiquities and artifact dealer, expert, author and enthusiast.
You can learn a lot more about ancient coins on his website www.trustedcoins.com where there a link to his eBay coin shop is given in big bold red letters. His coin store has authentic ancient Greek and Roman coins for sale, and also at his youtube video channel with educational videos and how-to’s about ancient coin collecting and investing.
Learn more about Ilya Zlobin, or sign up to his free educational emails about ancient coins which include amazing articles, videos and a lot more, delivered right to your email inbox. The amazing thing about your experience in his ancient coin store is that every coin comes with it’s own attractive custom-made, full-color, Certificate of Authenticity and a Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. This by itself can be considered a $50-$100 value all by itself and it comes standard with EVERY item you purchase, absolutely FREE. Every coin is professionally researched and described with high-quality photos of it taken. This is the best presentation in the entire field, which adds to the coin’s resale value, collectability and to the pleasure of collecting.
These coins are great for beginners or experts and also make great gifts for any occasion, heirlooms and even as alternative investments. In fact, many kids absolutely love collecting ancient coins, as they are a great educational tool and are fun! With over 14,000 items to choose from, you can find practically any item than may be of interest to you. Dealing with him, you are leveraging over 10 years of experience, working full time, which included learning about, finding, researching and describing items. Ilya Zlobin has\ worked with over 50,000 ancient coins and artifacts! If you want to buy ancient coins, you want to shop with the best dealers of ancient coins, who back the products they sell. Ilya Zlobin stands behind every item 100%, and provide a 30 day unconditional money-back satisfaction guarantee, and a guarantee of authenticity for a lifetime.
Ilya Zlobin loves to keep everyone he deals with very happy with the amazing value they got, and having them return for an excellent experience is his goal. You can read what real customers have said about their experience by reading the reviews as feedbacks on eBay. By collecting ancient coins, you will be joining the ranks of some of the most famous people in the world.
Great TIP: There are two additional ways to save even more! One is to use the “make offer” button to offer the price you wish to pay and number two is to take advantage of any advertised promotion that may be available when you add the item to your shopping cart over a certain amount.
Click here to see all discounted items available in his coin shop
| www.trustedcoins.com | eBay Ancient Coin Shop | Youtube Video Channel | About Ilya Zlobin | Educational Emails about Ancient Coins signup |
Click here to check out this interesting item now –Tacitus receiving wreath from Victory Rare 275AD Ancient Roman Coin i52711
Kodak Hawkeye Traffic Surveillance Black and White Film 2485 shot at EI 1600.
Black and white negative film in 35mm format.
Push processed two-stops.
Large version at: emulsive.org/photography/leverage-kodak-hawkeye-traffic-s...
Filed under: #2016July #35MmFormatFilm #BlackAndWhiteFilm #EI1600 #EI400 #EMULSIVEDailyPhoto #ISO1600 #ISO400 #Kodak #KodakHawkeyeTrafficSurveillanceBlackAndWhiteFilm2485
Here’s another device that resurfaced recently as I did some searching deep in the lower compartment of my toolbox.
It is shown in its folded configuration. The handle (the straight part) swings a bit over 90 degrees into its working position. It’s another Snap-On brand item.
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Added hints:
1) Both the curved and the straight pieces have small tapered projections on them on their ends.
2) The tool isn’t of that much use other than for its intended purpose for which it is excellent.
3) Snap-On Tools still offer this item attesting to its continuing need. Their current one has a suffix ‘-A’ added to the catalog number apparently to reflect a slight comfort modification to the handle.
4) It is a leverage tool.
Photograph © Jill Maguire
Ever since Brady was a tiny puppy, we give him cardboard boxes to destroy. He's finally learned (or we've finally noticed) how he uses his body weight to give him leverage in destroying the boxes. You should have seen the disaster area he made with all the boxes and wrapping paper when we opened presents!
An on-going side project I've been working on. Experimenting different ways to leverage my love for LEGO. #WorkInProgress
* All proceeds (minus STRIPS transaction fees) from digital guides goes to charitable organizations.
A water pump (no longer functioning) with a long handle at the Château de Langeais in the Loire River Valley.
The Château de Langeais, to the right of the pump, is a medieval castle that was rebuilt as a château in the Loire region of France. It was restored beginning in 1886 by a wealthy citizen and later bequeathed to the Institut de France.
The romanesque L'église Saint-Jean-Baptiste is to the left.
Leveraging the intelligence of human stem cells, Amy Karle created Regenerative Reliquary a bioprinted scaffold in the shape of a human hand 3D-printed in a biodegradable PEGDA-hydrogel that disintegrates over time.
The sculpture is installed in a bioreactor, with the intention that human Mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs from an adult donor) seeded onto this design will eventually grow into tissue and mineralize into bone on the scaffold.
Credit: Florian Voggeneder
GOVERNOR TOMBLIN HIGHLIGHTS PROGRESS MADE TOWARD BUILDING UP WEST VIRGINIA'S WORKFORCE
Governor has personally convened Workforce Planning Council since 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Jan. 3, 2017) - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today convened the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council for its monthly meeting, highlighting the state's recent progress in meeting the workforce demands of businesses and industries.
As part of his comprehensive work to raise student achievement, Gov. Tomblin re-established and re-constituted the Workforce Planning Council in 2013 to coordinate initiatives, leverage resources and plan for the delivery of a comprehensive workforce strategy to ensure an integrated and strategic approach for aligning classroom learning with workplace needs. Gov. Tomblin has personally chaired the Council since that time.
"We have taken a holistic approach to ensuring West Virginia's workforce is prepared and ready to meet the demands of our businesses and industries," Gov. Tomblin said. "By bringing our top state officials across a variety of sectors to the same table every month for the past few years, we have been able to break down barriers and create new opportunities for West Virginians to get the education and training they need to succeed."
Notable achievements of the Council include:
Implementation of policies and initiatives, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reform, WV Works, justice reinvestment, felon surety bond and juvenile justice and the Governor's STEM Initiative;
Launch of education and workforce programs, including My State. My Life., Learn and Earn, Career Pathways, Simulated Workplace, Governor's School for Entrepreneurship, the Minority Business Expo, Dual Credit and Statewide College Credit Transfer; and,
Establishment of retraining efforts and funding , including the Southern West Virginia Workforce Initiative, Veterans Training Programs, WV Bridging the Gap Consortium, Sector Strategies Job Training Website and Let's Train WV.
"Going through Simulated Workplace has taught me so much and given me much more insight into a career than a typical classroom setting," said Rachael Peele, a Simulated Workplace student at Fayette Institute of Technology. "Simulated Workplace turns okay students into great students, and great students into leaders."
Members of the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council include Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor of the Community and Technical College System; Dr. Paul Hill, Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission; Keith Burdette, Secretary of the Department of Commerce; Dr. Michael Martirano, Superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education; and, Russ Fry, Executive Director of Workforce West Virginia.
Photos available for media use. All photos should be attributed “Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor.”
24 July 2023, Rome, Italy - Special Events: Leveraging urbanization for food systems transformation. UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment. FAO headquarters (Red Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Riccardo De Luca. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
"When the whole universe weighs upon us there is no other
counterweight possible but God himself--the true God, for in
this case false gods cannot do anything, not even under the name
of the true one. Evil is infinite in the sense of being indefinite:
matter, space, time. Nothing can overcome this kind of infinity
except the true infinity. That is why on the balance of the cross a
body which was frail and light but which was God, lifted up the
whole world. 'Give me a point of leverage and I will lift up the
world.' This point of leverage is the cross. There can be no other.
It has to be at the intersection of the world and that which is not
the world. The cross is this intersection."
~ Simone Weil
Gravity and Grace
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*Photograph composition was created for the Our Daily Challenge topic:
A BALANCING ACT
"Suguki" pickles barrel pressed with leverage and an weight stone.
Found at Kamigamo Shrine. Possibly a promotion exhibition by suguki makers.
Panasonic DMC-GF1
G 20mm F1.7
Airmen assigned to the 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard, unload cargo from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of the DEFENDER-Europe 22 exercise, May 16, 2022, at Amari Air Base in Harjumaa, Estonia. DEFENDER-Europe 22 is a multinational training exercise designed to demonstrate USAREUR-AF’s ability to aggregate US-based combat power quickly in Eastern Europe across multiple theaters in support of NATO and the National Defense Strategy as well as to leverage host nation’s capabilities to increase USAREUR-AF’s operational reach. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Enjoli Saunders)
Density Approximations for Multivariate Affine Jump-Diffusion Processes. Filipović, Mayerhofer, Schneider arxiv.org/abs/1104.5326 #q-fin
This is an illustration for Credit Suisse's strategic business design to leverage their existing investment banking business for the private banking business line...
Read about it on my blog about
Left-overs from track works a crow sits next to the fence at Dronfield as 66723 passes working on 6H10 0556 Wellingborough Up Tc Gbrf to Tunstead Sdgs Gbrf
April 10, 2019 - WASHINGTON DC - 2019 World Bank/ IMF Spring Meetings. Beyond Uncertainty: Leveraging Trade to Reduce Poverty. Leaders address how increased protectionism and uncertainty impact the poor and what developing countries can do to ensure a future where trade benefits everyone. Kristalina Georgieva, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund; Roberto Azevedo, Director-General, World Trade Organization; Stephanie Flanders Moderator - Senior Executive Editor for Economics at Bloomberg News and Head of Bloomberg Economics. Photo: World Bank / Grant Ellis
Matthew Grey Gubler from “Criminal Minds” and Beth Riesgraf from “Leverage” at the 2012 College Television Awards hosted by the Academy of Television of Arts and Sciences Foundation.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week; Cruise Bar hosts famous fashion event; MBFWA business wheels in motion
Cruise Bar Hosts Fashion Week...
When it comes to style the Cruise Bar and Restaurant is a perfect host partner for the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week.
For the first time in many years, Cruise Restaurant is open to the public everyday of fashion week for lunch and dinner.
Fashion Week is Sydney’s premier fashion and lifestyle event showcasing some of our most talented and contemporary designers.
The beautiful waterfront location of Cruise Bar in Circular Quay is an ideal location to enjoy gourmet food, decadent wines and delicious cocktails while enjoying the cultural surrounds that is Fashion week.
For more information visit their official website.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: Business, fashion, beauty, deals and gossip...
Sydney will be enjoying a bevy of catwalk shows and party like events as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia commences tomorrow. But unlike the increasing number of fashion festivals across the country where people can buy tickets to events, MBFWA is invitation only.
Today was media registration day, which was quite an event in its own right.
Over five days, fashion designers show their latest collections to media reps, celebrities and retail buyers, and the response can be paramount to the bottom line.
This year happens to mark Mercedes-Benz’s return to Fashion Week as the title sponsor, which many media and fashion commentators have welcomed.
“The strong link between Mercedes-Benz and fashion was initiated in Australia with the launch of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 1995, so it’s come full circle,” advised Mercedes-Benz senior manager of corporate communications David McCarthy.
The car maker’s Fashion Week events have spread around the world to places such as New York and Berlin, and to Swim Fashion Week in Miami.
The Mercedes-Benz’s sponsorship deal was not exactly a secret last year as Rosemount’s (wine) five-year run came to an end. The new deal is understood to be valued at $1 million over three years but McCarthy says the details are confidential.
MBFWA comes with a many change. A key change from the festival organisers is that IMG Fashion have reduced the price of on-site venue fees. A trend over the past few years.
This year, it set back exhibitors $14,250 to use the newly returned Tent at the Overseas Passenger Terminal as a catwalk venue, $6000 to be a part of Fashion Week but show off-site and between $3000 and $8000 to showcase collections at The Rocks Pop-Up suites.
Two of the festival’s biggest names, Josh Goot and Dion Lee, pulled out a fortnight before their respective shows. The designers who have fallen by the wayside in the lead-up to the five-day event have either opted to concentrate on upcoming overseas shows (Lee), to focus on getting collections out to coincide with northern hemisphere seasons (Goot) or have chosen to disregard Fashion Week from the get-go, with Fairfax Media pointing to Alex Perry as the example.
For Melbourne Business School associate professor of marketing Mark Ritson, having Australian designers drop out is a “tricky” scenario.
“On the one hand, you have to respect any Australian designer focused on building their reputation overseas,” he says. “We are perilously under-represented in Paris and Milan.
“But at the same time, a designer has to be careful of burning branding bridges back home. That said, if Goot or Lee make it in Europe they’ll be welcomed back home in 2013 with open arms.”
Fashion Week is serious business. Alongside Mercedes-Benz, sponsors that have signed on this year include DHL, EYE, HP, Maybelline NY, Redken, Shangri-La Hotel Sydney, Pentax, Keystone Hospitality and Getty Images.
The NSW government, Destination NSW and Austrade are also supporting the event.
In addition, designers are obtaining their own sponsorships. Jayson Brunsdon’s show, for instance, is being presented by Myer and sponsored by Qantas, Woolmark, TRESemme, MAC Cosmetics and Joh Bailey.
Couture designer Johanna Johnson is the virgin Australian designer to showcase her collection at the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Presents show, which has previously featured big fashion names such as Herve Leger by Max Azria, Carolina Herrera and Badgley Mischka.
“To do [the Presents show] during our first year back was a priority,” McCarthy says.
Johnson recently found international success, with Hollywood actresses Christina Hendricks and Maya Rudolph wearing her feminine creations on the red carpet.
The show will have the same feel – glamour, lots of hand-beading and detailed finishes.
“I hadn’t really considered doing it and was focusing more on overseas expansion this year,” Johnson says.
“But we’re having so much feedback from Australians wanting to know more now, it will be really good to showcase our luxury lifestyle line and red carpet ready-to-wear.”
She initially signed on to show in the smallest of the three catwalk venues, the Box, but had to move the show to the Tent (the biggest) as the number of outfits she wanted to parade expanded.
“It’s our debut show so we want it done as well as it possibly can be,” she says.
Australian accessories giant Oroton is launching its first ready-to-wear collection. But for creative director Ana Maria Escobar, the clothes are there to show off the accessories – be they handbags, jewellery or shoes.
“The biggest thing is when I walked into the stores, I saw they needed something soft to highlight the accessories,” she says.
Customers can expect “understated quality” from the new Oroton clothing range.
“To me, functionality is important,” Escobar says.
“So are the materials . . . it can be a simple singlet but made out of really beautiful silk or customised fabrics. There’s a tone of heritage as well.”
While Oroton views Fashion Week as important, Escobar says there is also “life beyond those 15 minutes on the catwalk”.
For the retailer, it’s about reminding people of the brand.
“We want to talk a little louder about the product we design,” she says. “Fashion Week gives us that space without having to scream.”
This year, a great spread of overseas buyers will be in attendance, many from online retailers such as Net-A-Porter, My Wardrobe, Shopbop, Moda Operandi and ASOS. Department store Harvey Nichols and Hong Kong-based Joyce will also have buyers present.
The retail picture in Australia is not particularly strong, and IBISWorld analysts are predicting growth for the local rag trade over the coming financial year will be flat at just 0.5 per cent.
IBISWorld general manager Karen Dobie says the high Australian dollar is a double-edged sword for retailers, as local vendors can buy overseas at a favourable rate, but increasingly tech-savvy competition is straining profit margins.
New to MBFWA: Dylan Cooper; Flowers for a Vagabond; Toi et Moi Sydney; By Johnny; Oroton; Watson x Watson; An Ode to No One; Jenny Kee; Aje; Roppa Pemmaraju; Bless’d Are The Meek and Nana Judy
Not present this year: Dion Lee; Josh Goot; Alex Perry; Arnsdorf; Morrison; Friend of Mine; Flannel; Karla Spetic; Lover; Therese Rawsthorne; Ms Couture; Rachel Gilbert; Little Joe Woman (voluntary administration); Nookie; Amber & Thomas; Marnie Skillings; Kate Sylvester; Shakuhachi; Bianca Spender; Dhini; Camilla & Marc; White Suede; Yeojin Bae; Lisa Blue; Limedrop; Stolen Girlfriends Club; Alistair Trung; Saint Augustine Academy (which shut up shop late last year)
Returning to the show: Romance Was Born; Camilla; Aurelio Costarella; Ksubi; Jayson Brunsdon; Akira
Camilla...
Since launching her label eight years ago, Camilla Franks continues to receive global recognition as an Australian designer who has a unique approach to creating colorful, playful and luxurious lifestyle fashion.
Her unique ready-to-wear and resort wear designs are becoming highly sought after products, capturing the attentions of celebrities and fashionistas alike. Camilla’s global fan club (which includes the likes of Beyonce Knowles, Miranda Kerr, Kate Hudson, Lily Allen and Gwen Stefani) reached new heights 2 years ago when the queen of television, Oprah Winfrey, glowed in one of her designs while taping her ‘down under’ series. The general public and the fashion world gushed and stock sold out overnight. Camilla is definitely a brand on the move.
So, how did Camilla Franks become one of Australia’s most iconic fashion designers? This iconic brand came to be whilst Camilla was exploring her passions for theatrical artistry. Here, she embraced her inner creative spirit to craft beautiful elaborate costumes for the various characters in her productions. It wasn’t long before the Australian fashion market caught eye of these imaginative, easy-to-wear designs and catapulted Camilla on this amazing journey.
Today, Camilla has evolved from beach and resort fashion into ready-to-wear clothes that cater to all her client’s needs. Globally, Camilla has begun weaving into the various fashion niches, resulting in a kaleidoscope of high-end editorial and extending an already growing customer database.
Over eight years, Camilla has produced nine collections: these include the highly anticipated 2011/12’s Spring Summer Collection, Labyrinth; which has received significant media attention and 2012’s Autumn Winter Collection Caravanserai, Camilla’s second winter season. The success of her brand is derived from Camilla’s philosophy that “all women have the right to look and feel beautiful no matter their age, colour, size or origin”, this is also a testament to the company’s popularity and growing awareness.
Camilla is a brand that celebrates women, self-expression, beauty and individuality. The signature ‘Camilla’ piece is a statement of brilliant colour, graphics and material rhythm. It is a celebration of shapes that can be tailored to individual styles and that follow global trends.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia Announces Preliminary Line-up...
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia Announces Preliminary Line-upfor Spring/Summer 2012/13 Collections
Sydney, Australia (February 29, 2012) Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is excited to announce cult label Ksubi, celebrity favourite Camilla, Zimmermann, Lisa Ho, Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, Jayson Brunsdon, Ellery, and Carl Kapp will be amongst the line-up of designers showcasing their Spring/Summer 2012/13 Collections at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal, April 30 to May 4, 2012.
"MBFWA is a fantastic opportunity for emerging Australian designers to join already well established designers in showcasing their creations not just in venues that people expect but in venues and spaces that will reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the Australian fashion scene. The shows, presentations and locations demonstrate that MBFWA has a flavour and style that can more than hold its own around the world" says Gavin Allen, General Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific.
A stand out on the 2012 schedule is expected to be Romance was Born. The label is showcasing their polished ready to wear collection combining art and wearable fashion in a sophisticated Spring Summer range. Johanna Johnson will also attract hype as she hosts an intimate salon show for her debut at MBFWA. Mixing old Hollywood charm and modern simplicity, Johnson is renowned for her recent Oscar’s role dressing starlets in her eponymous label.
Iconic Australian brand, Oroton will also debut on the runway at MBFWA for the first time demonstrating the brand is as skilled at creating Ready to Wear women’s wear as well as their well known luxury accessories.
Joining this incredible line up of iconic designers are Magdalena Velevska, Alice McCall, Lisa Maree, Gary Bigeni, Bec and Bridge, Miss Unkon, Bowie, Kooey Australia, Michael Lo Sordo, Kirrily Johnston and Talulah.
New talent showcasing for the first time, Watson x Watson are sure to excite international buyers and media with their collections, providing new ‘ones to watch’ for our global audience. Watson x Watson focus on everyday luxury and easy glamour, with a relaxed, sexy appeal that has become synonymous with Australian fashion.
Other newcomers joining the MBFWA family: We are Handsome, Aje, Elliot Ward Fear, Roopa Pemmaraju, Flowers for a Vagabond, Suboo, An Ode to No One and Project Runway Australia winner Dylan Cooper and alumni by Johnny. Designers involved in the 2012 New Generation, Fashion Design Studio and Raffles emerging talent shows will be announced shortly.
“We’re extremely excited by the response from designers and brands and are looking forward to showcasing the new seasons Spring Summer Collections in our world class facilities on site as well as sharing more of the city of Sydney’s wonderfully unique locations with our expanded off site program of shows and presentations’” says Jarrad Clark, Global Production Director, IMG Fashion.
Leveraging our global network, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is introducing new showroom spaces, exciting venue upgrades and unique presentation spaces to ensure our line up of designers have innovative way to communicate their artistic vision for 2012.
For the first time on Australian soil, many designers will showcase their collections via a studio style presentation space known as The Box. Having established itself at MBFW in NY and Berlin, designers are redefining how they showcase their collections using this blank canvas. Australian designer Dion Lee recently used a presentation style space to showcase his collection at London Fashion Week and wowed crowds with his use of lighting to create drama and engagement around his collection without the confines of the runway.
2012 will also see the much anticipated return of The Tent. Synonymous with international fashion events, the sheer scale of The Tent showroom set on the Sydney harbour foreshore will create an incredible billboard for MBFWA and the Australian Fashion Industry for our attending local and international guests.
Key buyers will have the opportunity to get up close with designer collections during the week via a unique offering of Designer Showrooms via The Rocks Pop-Up Suites, utilising retail spaces within The Rocks historical precinct, designers will be able to house their collections off runway, and meet buyers and media in one on one appointments. It is here that designers are encouraged to create consumer offerings around the Fashion Week schedule to create more retail opportunities for our participating designer brands.
MBFWA hosts the world’s most influential buyers, media and industry players during the 5 day event and bring Sydney city to life with Fashion Week fever. With the support of our official partners, and showcasing designers, the 2012 season will be a standout year showcasing the creative energy and raw talent that Australia has to offer.
Title sponsor Mercedes-Benz is proudly supported by Government partners Destination NSW and Austrade, Maybelline New York, DHL, HP/Intel, Redken 5th Avenue NYC and EYE and as well as media outlet Getty Images. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is an IMG event.
The Spring Summer 2012/13 Collections will take place April 30 to May 4, 2012, Press and Industry Registration opens March 1, 2012.
For more information please visit us online at mbfashionweek.com
Follow us on Twitter @MBFWA and on the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Facebook
Websites
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (Australia)
IMG Worldwide
Cruise Bar
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography
Eva Rinaldi Photography
Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Rome speaking during the Session: Leveraging Data Insights at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 18, 2017
Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary
BRIEFING WITH SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS ANDREW O’BRIEN; DEAN KREHMEYER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA DARDEN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS IN SOCIETY; MATTHEW SWIFT, CO-CHAIRMAN, CO-FOUNDER, AND INTERIM CEO OF CONCORDIA; AND NICK LOGOTHETIS, CO-CHAIRMAN AND CO-FOUNDER OF CONCORDIA
MODERATOR: Thank you again for coming to the New York Foreign Press Center. Since everyone’s made their introductions, I’m not going to go introducing our speakers by name. But all of you have their bios. Today’s briefing is on the record. After our guests make remarks, we’ll open the floor to questions. Please state your name and your media affiliation before you do. And with that, let me turn it over to Special Representative O’Brien.
MR O’BRIEN: Good afternoon, everybody. As I mentioned, I’m Drew O’Brien, and I am Secretary John Kerry’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State. And our office is, obviously, delighted to share this platform today with the Darden School from the University of Virginia and Nick and Matt from Concordia. I’m going to talk a little bit about the importance of partnerships at the State Department and within the U.S. Government and then – and that will sort of help us frame what we’re doing here with the P3 Impact Award.
So our office, the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships, was launched in 2009, and we look at it as the entry point for collaboration between the public sector, the private sector, civil society, NGOs, universities. We’ve talked a lot about universities over the years, so that’s why we’re particularly delighted that Darden is with us in this and civil society. Under President Obama, public-private partnerships have become a priority for the U.S. Government, also under Secretary Kerry. They’re a critical mechanism for strengthening our diplomatic connections, enhancing our development work, promoting economic growth, and safeguarding our long-term security as a nation.
Partnerships bring together the best of the public and private sector resources to leverage the creativity, innovation, and core resources of partners for greater impact and to create a holistic, sustainable solution to critical challenges.
We were – our office was created to serve as a resource for the rest of the State Department in learning how to do diplomatic and development work through partnerships. And we manage a number of these things on our own, a number of these partnerships on our own, supporting the tech ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Southeast Asia, to – we’re the office, the point person for diaspora populations within the U.S. Government, to using mobile technology to help people in remote parts of the world. So we do sort of a number of different things. Tomorrow, we’ll have a big gathering on a virtual educational exchange at the Aspen Institute that will connect students and teachers in the Mideast and North Africa with students and teachers in the United States.
So what we’re doing – we all do pieces of this work, and we’re here together these next few days – what I call spread the partnership gospel to others. We’re recognizing great work that’s done by our partners and organizations around the world. And that’s what got us to this P3 Impact Award with both Darden and with Concordia. We’ve created the award to recognize partnerships that are changing the world in most impactful ways. This collaboration helps to better understand the mechanisms and best practices of a modern P3. So this isn’t just sort of saying wow, aren’t they creative, aren’t they the best. This is actually looking at the pieces that go into it, recognizing there are pieces that can be employed other places toward success.
Judges from each of our organizations read over 50 applications this year and assessed them on each partner’s structure, impact, innovative features, and scalability. And I will tell you, they were – I mean, I don’t like to be – you have these big competitions, everybody’s a winner.
MR KREHMEYER: Right. (Laughter.)
MR O’BRIEN: But everybody is a winner, because this is – in a lot of ways, this is cutting edge of what government’s doing, and we’re very fortunate that we’ve got some very willing and eager partners and enthusiastic partners in the private sector with Concordia and Darden.
So I want to give my colleagues a chance to talk. I think we’ll start with Dean, give a little UVA overview.
MR KREHMEYER: Thank you. Thank you. Let me sort of add the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, delighted to once again partner with both the U.S. Department of State and Concordia in delivering the P3 Impact Award.
Drew sort of mentioned the finalists, and to say they were impressive and all the applications were impressive is kind of an understatement. What we’re seeing and what we are seeing through last year’s applicants and this year’s applicants is that businesses absolutely and increasingly are joining in public-private partnerships to address global challenges. They are providing a far-reaching impact on the communities and societies in which they operate.
What we’re also seeing at the Darden School is this is of interest to our students. This is of interest to students who are going to be the emerging leaders, tomorrow’s leaders, who are going to be engaging in these public-private partnerships. And it’s important that they see this as one of the mechanisms, whereby when they are leading organizations and when they are leading business organizations, that they are looking broadly at how do these organizations really provide value to all of the stakeholders they serve. One of the ways they do that is through the public-private partnerships, and there’s no better examples than the finalists we received.
One more note I’ll make about the P3 Impact Award is certainly it’s an award, and we had great applicants. The team did a super job of selecting finalists. But one of the important things about the award is yes, recognizing the finalists and recognizing who was selected as the winner of that, but also important and maybe more important is capturing the insights and the leading practices that come from those applications, that come from those finalists and that come from the winner, and how can we, through the report that we will issue tomorrow, share those insights and leading practices, so that other public-private partnerships or those that are thinking about engaging in public-private partnerships can utilize those learnings to be more effective in their own realm and sphere.
So let me just wrap up before – and I’ll turn it over to Matt and Nick – and sort of why is this important to the Darden School? The Darden School – our mission is to improve the world by developing and inspiring responsible leaders and advancing knowledge. And I can think of very few examples that would better illustrate that than recognizing these public-private partnerships – not just recognizing them, but also working with them to take the knowledge and sharing it broadly to have impact.
And with that, I’ll turn it over to Nick and Matt.
MR SWIFT: Thank you very, very much, and first let me say on behalf of Concordia how honored we are by the partnership with the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and the U.S. Department of State. This is a partnership that has really grown organically, come together very well, and it is one of the things that myself and Nick are most proud of as far as what we do at Concordia.
Concordia, as an institute, does three things. We offer programming, primarily most known for our annual summit held every year during the UN General Assembly, and Nick will talk a little further about our annual summit, which is coming up starting tomorrow. The second is our annual Partnership Index, and the third is our campaign series, which is really where we’re taking a lot of the public-private partnerships that are being built within the Concordia community, and we are helping make those have better social impact.
But let me talk to the first part, because that’s how it connects really to the award, the raising awareness piece. Concordia, we are proud to say, we strive to be one of the leading advocates for public-private partnerships in the world. And as part of that, our global platform and the community that we have built is a place to highlight some of the best practices and some of the best, frankly, public-private partnerships in the world, and there’s no better way to do that than with the annual P3 Impact Award. I have to say I was very pleased and proud of the number of applicants that came in this year, but also the quality of the applicants that came in this year. The process to judge and determine who was the winner was a challenging one, because all of them were exceptional. And what we hope that this award can do is show leaders of both the public and private sectors the real value of building their own public-private partnerships together.
So with that, I’ll pass to Nick.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Thanks, Matt, and I’ll just – my name is Nick Logothetis, co-chairman and co-founder of Concordia along with Matt. I just want to add my thanks to Dean and the University of Virginia and Drew and the team at the State Department. I’ll just talk a little bit about our fifth annual summit, which is coming up tomorrow and on Friday.
So Concordia initially started as a yearly summit, which then grew to a multifaceted organization, but our summit has always been our flagship event. And this year we’ll have about 1,000 people. We’ll have over 20 current and former heads of state. We’ll have some leading CEOs from companies Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, General Mills, Hershey’s, amongst others. And we’re very particularly excited that this year we’ll have remarks from Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, at the end of the day tomorrow.
So as we continue to expand Concordia, we also have developed partnerships with organizations that are real experts in what they do – organizations like the Atlantic Council, like the Rockefeller Foundation, like others. And so we have individual sessions with those different organizations throughout the day.
So we hope that you’ll be able to join us tomorrow and the next day, or one of the days. Will Hummel in the back there is working with us on our press outreach, and so we’d welcome you to come and see and experience what Concordia is about. And I just wanted to say thank you again.
MR O’BRIEN: I think if I could add two more cents about both partners – University of Virginia, the Darden School, where there’s – the colloquial expression is “Talk the talk, walk the walk,” and they do. As Dean said, you will see what we’re talking about today is infused in their students, it’s infused in their learning life.
And that makes a big difference, because what I think we’re trying to do – the State Department angle of this – we are trying to help people around the world prepare for an economy that’s 21st century and beyond. I – different parts of where I go in the world, I use the metaphor that we’re trying – a lot of places 100, 150 years ago had a shipyard or a big factory in their town, small town, big city. They had something that everybody went to every day and went to work. That’s how they paid their mortgage, fed their families. Those don’t exist anymore; we all know that. There are large companies, but those don’t exist. We are trying in a lot of ways – I use the metaphor, we’re creating the shipyard of the future. And it’s at people’s kitchen tables, at their home offices. It’s at a small business park in a non-urban area. It’s everywhere. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to help people think differently.
Concordia. If you have not been to the Concordia summit, my opinion – my opinion – it’s the premier private sector – public-private sector event in the world. I mean, I go to a lot of events. This is a room loaded with excitement, it’s a room loaded with people that are eager to talk about the issue. So we are very fortunate to have this great university partner and this forum that this team here at Concordia’s put together. It is – if you get a chance to go, go. You will be completely overwhelmed. So --
MR SWIFT: Thank you. Thank you.
MR O’BRIEN: No, and it’s true. It’s very accurate.
Questions? I know that you joined a little bit late.
QUESTION: I’m sorry.
MR O’BRIEN: That’s quite all right.
QUESTION: Sorry about that.
MR O’BRIEN: No, no worries. We can talk to you a little bit afterwards if you’d like to. Questions?
MODERATOR: The floor is open for questions. State your name and media affiliation.
QUESTION: I don’t even know where to start. I’m really overwhelmed. This is really very powerful and insightful. So my name is Bukola Shonuga; I’m with the African Views Framework. And I attended a few events this week with the president of Nigeria in town. And they’re looking for foreign partnership – for foreign partnerships and foreign direct investment and so on, and also looking to see how they can harness (inaudible).
So when you talk about best practices, Nigeria can be a case study of corruption and lack of adequate resources. Even when you look at a university education in the last 30 years, that’s an issue that (inaudible) taking over the government right now. So there are no existing industries for graduates to directly work when they graduate and come out of the universities. So I think that finding a way to private partner with this group will be one thing that we would like to recommend to the Nigerian Government, like let’s – it’s a new day. So if you’re talking about that much population and you’re looking to have youth employment or reverse, you have to first talk about best practices.
So it’s a long-winded, but my direct question is – and I’m really sorry that it was long-winded – will you take Africa in this context? What are your views of what is happening in Africa towards best practices, and how they can better utilize their resources to be the 21st century climate that it should be? And what would you – in terms of partnership with African countries, what would that look like to you?
MR O’BRIEN: Would you like me to – it’s a very good question. And – so President Obama in particular has placed a lot of emphasis on our outreach to Africa as a U.S. Government for what is now amounting to a good chunk of his both terms. And there’s – not only is it important in a geographical sort of way, but the reality is the world’s youth population is in Africa, and it will obviously continue to be that way. So it’s – the world population will be very Africa-centric in the years ahead. Africa has the potential to be the world’s bread basket. Africa is a place where people are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship and education, and I can talk a little bit about something our office does there.
There are – there’s a lot of opportunity there. It’s a matter of harnessing – doing sort of what we’re doing; making sure that government is focused on bringing the private sector to the equation, working with universities, working with other – we do a lot of work with hospitals and health centers. We – you have to be creative about this, so I think you have to be very open-minded about it, because government – and I’m talking about the United States Government – but government at one time was seen as fixing everybody’s issues here, right. If you look at sort of the post-war – post-World War II economy, U.S. Government did a lot for people, particularly after the Depression; not even the World War, but after the Depression. And that sort of – that influence has waned a little bit. You can see it in our political climate. And the direct foreign investment that we used to give away as a country has declined sort of steadily too.
What’s the solution? The solution is public-private partnerships. It’s bringing the private sector into the equation. Now, that could mean a Fortune 500 company; it could mean a Fortune 50 company. But I think for the work we’re doing, it’s getting people to think differently about how this equation works, and it’s finding young entrepreneurs, people who have great ideas, people who haven’t had the opportunity to have a formal education who may need that. And how do we make those links, and how do we show people who are – everybody’s going to – not everybody, but a lot of people make their living around the world, like I said, at their kitchen table, in their home office, at a small business park. Nobody should be left behind because that’s how the world economy is headed.
MR LOGOTHETIS: And just to add, what Concordia tries to do is not be an advocate for business and not be an advocate for government. We’re an entirely nonpartisan, nonpolitical organization. We try and bring the two groups together to help them better understand one another, to help them work more efficiently together, but also, as Matt said, I think, to learn from other experiences. Because there are unique ways to do business in different parts of the world, but there are many things that are similar. And so that’s what we try to play a role in.
Specifically as it relates to Africa, I’ll be honest with you: Concordia has not been as strong in Africa as we would like. We hope that’s changing. This year we have our first African CEO representative, a gentleman by the name of Jabulane Mabuza, who’s the CEO of Telkom in South Africa. And we’re very excited about that and hope to build upon what – he is on a panel to talk about youth unemployment – and build upon what sort of comes from that panel.
MR SWIFT: And I will also say we have a session entirely dedicated to public-private partnerships and health, focusing on Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, which is a very important initiative from the State Department as well. So we will be – this will be the first year that we’re doing programming focused on the continent, and specifically in the area of health.
MR O’BRIEN: There’s – so we do – we have – our office has a program called LIONS@FRICA, which makes linkages between entrepreneurship communities in the United States – Cambridge, Massachusetts; Silicon Valley; Charlottesville, Virginia; and – just to name a few of sort of the – Miami – places we work with in connection with aspiring entrepreneurs, and takes them through trainings over the course of five to seven days on how to pitch a product, how to talk to an investor – soup-to-nuts entrepreneurship crash course. We do that. The Global Entrepreneurship Summit was just on the continent this past year. There’s a lot happening there. There’s a lot of things to be excited about.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR O’BRIEN: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Bingxin Li from People’s Daily in China, but I’m based at the UN. Talking about the Africa – the partnership in Africa, China has a lot of investment in Africa, and there used to be a lot of state-owned companies there, but now there are more and more private companies in Africa, and also as well as the U.S.
MR O’BRIEN: Right.
QUESTION: Mainly, they’re private companies. How – is there a possibility of U.S. and China partnership in helping African countries to – especially in the industrialization of them, (inaudible)?
MR O’BRIEN: I think one of the things that actually – of the equations – and I’m sorry to jump on this question, gentlemen --
PARTICIPANT: Please.
MR O’BRIEN: One of the equations we see that works very well is when we do have a multilateral or even a bilateral arrangement with another country on a particular issue area. We see this work very well with health and health care. We see it work very well – I mentioned the event we have tomorrow down in Washington at the Aspen Institute of virtual educational exchanges, because it’s multilateral. It’s the United States Government working not only with the private sector and NGOs, but also with other governments.
So I would say the direct answer is yes, and it’s a matter of doing what we’re doing here, which is trying to find the pieces to put together for success.
MODERATOR: Yes.
QUESTION: Vasco De Jesus Rodrigues, I’m from Vasco Press Communications in Brazil. Any thoughts on the Brazilian situation with the economy --
MR O’BRIEN: So --
QUESTION: -- on the low side? Okay, please --
MR O’BRIEN: Anyone want to – who wants to – I mean, I can talk about --
MR KREHMEYER: We’ll let you start on that one. (Laughter.)
MR O’BRIEN: Sure, but – so we work with other countries that – whose economies are on an upswing, we work with them that are stagnant, and we work with them when they are on a downturn. So I think what we do is actually – it’s not – I don’t want to say it’s immune from the larger economic situation, but in fact, we’re a solution – what we’re trying to do here. Public-private partnerships are a solution to that. We try – the things that government cannot do, we go to the private sector to help us. For the things that the private sector cannot do, either we’re doing or helping find other pieces to put together.
There’s a very significant large corporate U.S. presence in Brazil. General Motors comes to mind. It’s a great – and a great partner to our office – to the Secretary’s office, and they do help with other initiatives around the world. So we’re – I think we’re one of the solutions when it comes to sort of difficult economic times. We’re one of the – we sort of keep on chugging. In fact, opportunity may even knock when that happens.
MR KREHMEYER: I would just sort of add, and another way of looking at it is times of stress are often some of the times that create some of the innovations. And we actually, at the Darden School, have another awards program where we have looked at, within the Commonwealth of Virginia and looking at growing it, what makes resilient businesses resilient. And it’s looking at how have those companies that are in some of the most difficult economic areas within Virginia – how have they thrived, how have they grown, how have they added employees.
And once again, it’s an award, but let’s don’t stop at the award. We certainly don’t. We want to take the learnings from that, which we’ve done, given it to our faculty to look at what are some of the success factors. And I’ll tell you what one of them is. One of them is kind of what Drew referred to, is is there an ecosystem around those businesses that is providing support. And that includes communities that are engaged with the business, that includes trade associations, that includes government, public sector partners – all those things that create an ecosystem where success raises all those stakeholders together.
So we’ve seen that on the scale of a Virginia. I would suggest that the findings would be true globally as well.
QUESTION: Could you give us a bit of – sorry, I’m Gabriel Mellqvist with Sweden’s business newspaper. Could you give a historical perspective on the growth of this compared to five, ten years ago as the private sectors obviously demonstrated a bigger interest, or how has this (inaudible)?
MR SWIFT: I would say significantly. I think --
MR O’BRIEN: They know this stuff inside and out. (Laughter.) This is their thing.
MR SWIFT: I think for the last 15 years you’ve seen public-private partnerships, or P3s as we call them, as becoming very trendy in the business community. I think there are so many instances that can be cited where there’s been a failure of the public sector, a failure of the private sector, to accomplish what they need to. I think disaster relief is a very obvious arena where the private sector has stepped in and played an enormous role. And it is partnerships between corporations and governments – state, local, federal government here in the U.S. – where that has played an enormous role. And so one of the reasons why Nick and I founded Concordia in early 2011 was because we saw this as a trend that was growing. And if you’re the CEO of a large corporation, whether it’s your corporate social responsibility initiatives or something else, the public-private partnership model, I think, is a very appealing one to a CEO.
MR LOGOTHETIS: And it’s more and more, in certain cases, becoming not only appealing but essential if you want to do business in some places. And I mean, we can say that there are – another reason why Matt and I founded Concordia was there are – at times it is difficult to work with business and it is difficult to work with government. People – I think the question we get asked the most is: Who’s more difficult – business or government? (Laughter.) And it really – there’s no answer to that. It really varies in case to case.
In some cases you have a very entrepreneurial government, and I mean in different countries and different cities, who are pushing for it, who are acting like business in a sense. And in other cases you have a very bureaucratic government and a very entrepreneurial business where – but it really varies. And so what we tried to do was, as one of our main tenets, create a hub where those two groups could come together and learn from one another.
MR SWIFT: And let me comment on the private sector side. Here’s what – where we see this going. The CSR models at a lot of corporations today I think have an impact, but I think the public-private partnership model – the tool of P3s – are very much going to become the norm as part of the CSR approach that these companies take. And that’s very important, because there’s a lot of goodwill and interest on the public sector side and the private sector side, and in so many instances the public sector brings tremendous scale, the private sector brings great efficiency, and those two brought together really can create powerful P3s. And I think all of the P3s that applied for the award this year, and certainly the five finalists, which will be highlighted over the next two days, with the winner being announced by Drew and Dean and our director of research on Friday – I think you’ll see the evidence of that.
MR O’BRIEN: Yeah, and when I first took this position, when I was appointed to this position almost two and a half years ago, one of the first reactions you get from people is that you basically have your hand out, that you’re the U.S. Government going to talk to the private sector about what can – what’s in it for us, can you donate to this, can you donate to that. And that’s one part of the job.
I came to understand very quickly that it’s – and again, this is – these folks around the table with me study this and know this – this is about so many other things beyond money. This is beyond you’re – it’s the CSR that sort of everybody has in common, it’s that social responsibility that everybody has in common. It can be a question of resources. And I’m throwing names up, but Bank of America is very good with – a very great partner to our office and to the State Department on resources at different level. IBM has a model where their employees go and work in country. Not only are they working at maybe an IBM facility, but they’re actually engaged in some sort of public-private initiative in the area. That’s a tremendous model.
So as much as this can be about money that goes to a certain effort, you name it, this is about a lot of other things – resources, people sort of putting their shoulder behind it and their brains behind it. So again, everybody with me studies this and knows sort of the intellectual promise of this, and it is – as Matt said, it’s – it is where everything is headed on the business front. They were very wise to go down this road.
QUESTION: A quick follow-up. Do we know why companies suddenly are so interested in this? Do you have any idea where it comes from?
MR O’BRIEN: I would say the pressures of the global economy are making companies better global citizens.
MR SWIFT: Yeah. I think also the information revolution has made every person in the world sort of aware of what’s going on around them and sort of created a reporter out of everyone. And that puts a lot of pressure on companies to act in a certain way. I think you also see a lot of cities – cities are really leaders in this front – and countries that are looking to reconstruct or re-reconstruct, like a city like Athens, Greece. It’s not an emerging country. It’s sort of re-emerging, in a sense, after economic depression there, using – trying to use public-private partnerships as a tool to really reinvent their city. And cities often have more flexibility to act over states or countries.
MR KREHMEYER: And I will add from my perspective students.
MR O’BRIEN: Students.
MR KREHMEYER: Students, millenials. This generation is one that – and I think we should all be very optimistic about it – it’s a generation that wants to positively change the world. And you see all those complexities that we talked about. You see the integration of the global economy. You see the information age. They are looking at how can I lead organizations and lead initiatives that are really going to drive a lot of positive impact, notable impact. And for all the reasons that in particular Matt was just describing of why the public sector and private sector are coming together in these partnerships, those are exactly the reasons that students see as well. And that is certainly a tailwind that is pushing these public-private partnerships, I think, in a very positive way.
QUESTION: I was just going to – on a (inaudible) note, this sounds like the TED talk. (Laughter.) And on a serious note, I think it’s – I mean, especially with the breakthrough of technology, there are so many ways to get information across the world without having to be there. So I was just wondering again, in developing countries, if there are any plans, especially on the Acordia part – what’s your organization again?
MR SWIFT: Concordia.
QUESTION: Concordia, I’m sorry – to make this information available via a virtual training platform so that other young people, especially entrepreneurs and professionals around the world, would gain access to this information and be able to use it to empower their community.
MR SWIFT: Absolutely. And that’s something that we will do in the future. We have not done that yet, but every – at all of our forums and especially our annual summit, we have a series of sessions that we call P3 toolboxes, which is really where you come and you learn real – the basics, the fundamentals of how to construct a public-private partnership. Those have been very popular with our community, our global community that comes together, especially for the annual summit. But I think incorporating technology in that would be a – would be a great way to --
MR LOGOTHETIS: In other words, to package those eventually and then sort of release them to the world.
QUESTION: It’s also very clear that young people around the world actually have – they know the solutions to their problems; they just don’t have the resources to make some of these things happen. And I think an organization such as yours do really a lot of good if they have access to that information.
MR SWIFT: Absolutely.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Absolutely.
QUESTION: I’m a little bit slow, so can you give me – can you tell me more about the competition – how it works, who applies, what are the criteria, and just a little background?
MR SWIFT: Dean?
MR KREHMEYER: Sure, happy to do it. So what we do is we open the competition at the beginning of the year and use a number of media channels, social media channels, including great channels at all of our organizations, to invite applications. And we invite them from, as you might imagine, partners in the private sector, partners in the public sector, and oftentimes NGOs that might be involved as well. So we invite those. We extensively use our network.
The applications, when they’re received, are then reviewed by an esteemed panel of judges. Each of the applications gets multiple readings, and the judges then select the finalists – the five finalists and the winner, which, as Matt said, we will be featuring the finalists over the next two days at the summit and announcing the winner on Friday.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Are we allowed to say the finalists now or no?
MR SWIFT: Of course, that’s public who the finalists are. We can take you through the finalists if you would like.
QUESTION: Sure.
MR SWIFT: So I think we’ll start with the first one. Partners in Food Solutions. That’s a partnership between USAID as well as TechnoServe, and it’s a partnership with General Mills, Cargill, Royal DSM, and Buhler; also a partnership between the Nature Conservancy and Dow Chemical; a partnership focusing on Madagascar between Coca-Cola, RAIN, WSUP, and the Africa Foundation; TV White Space, which is a partnership between Microsoft and USAID; and then also the U.S. Global Development Lab partnering with Village Capital. Did I – did I miss anything?
MR KREHMEYER: Yep, that’s correct. Yep.
MR O’BRIEN: That’s it.
MR SWIFT: And so they will be – there will be five-minute features of each partnership over the two-day period, and then the winner will actually be announced by Secretary Kerry.
MR O’BRIEN: That’s right, via video. (Laughter.)
MR SWIFT: Yes. (Laughter.)
MR KREHMEYER: Secretary Kerry.
MR SWIFT: Asterisk.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Asterisk.
MR SWIFT: Yeah. (Laughter.)
MR O’BRIEN: Via video. Statistic-wise, just important to reference Matt’s indication that this will grow, we had – and we did the first one last year in 2014 – we had 18 applications. This year, I think we had at least 50.
MR SWIFT: Fifty-two.
MR O’BRIEN: Fifty-two.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Read off some of the names. I mean --
MR SWIFT: We have Chevron, Dow, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wal-Mart, Save the Children, Unilever, Nike, Discovery Education, Walt Disney Company, Yale University, the Nature Conservancy, TechnoServe, RAIN, USAID, Microsoft. All were applicants in some form, those partnerships.
QUESTION: Was there a theme of this year’s competition? Is it about water or --
MR O’BRIEN: No.
QUESTION: Just any --
MR O’BRIEN: We look at – I mean, anybody in the partnership space can apply. We had a whole range – health and sanitation, environment, education, technology, public safety, economic development. We had applications from across the board.
MR KREHMEYER: What’s interesting to me about the names of the organizations that you read, Matt, is – and encouraging to me – is that these are leading global organizations. These are organizations with – yes, deep resources, both financial and capability leadership skill-wise, and a lot of demands on those resources. And yet one of the important priorities that they place at the head of this list is their engagement in these public-private partnerships, which I think reinforces some of the points we’re making here – is to see these leading organizations, it’s in a lot of ways – we get some, I think, intangible benefit because we actually get to read through all these and really see the exciting things going on in the world of public-private partnerships.
QUESTION: In the light of this – something just came to mind – with the recent recall of 11 million cars by Volkswagen – is that the news, something to that effect, they have recalled --
MR SWIFT: I think it’s 17.
QUESTION: How many?
MR O’BRIEN: It’s more than 11.
MR SWIFT: I think it’s 17 --
MR O’BRIEN: Seventeen --
MR SWIFT: -- as of today.
QUESTION: Anyone comment on that quickly?
MR O’BRIEN: I don’t – I actually don’t know enough about the issue.
QUESTION: So – okay.
MODERATOR: So I think we’re just about out of time unless I see a hand raised, one more question or so? Well, if --
MR O’BRIEN: Thank you.
MODERATOR: -- there are no more questions, everyone, thank you all very much.
MR O’BRIEN: No, that’s very great. Thank you very much.
MR SWIFT: Thank you all for coming.
MR LOGOTHETIS: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Today’s briefing was on the record and our transcript will be posted as soon as it’s ready at fpc.state.gov, and that concludes today’s briefing. Thank you so much.
###
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015, 3:00 P.M. EDT
NEW YORK FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, 799 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, 10TH FLOOR
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Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary