MAKE SURE HE NEVER RUNS OUT OF BOOKS TO READ WWW.TRAVELINGSTORIES.ORG
$10= BOOKS 3 TO A KID IN NEED
TWITTER.COM/TRVLINGSTORIES
INSTAGRAM.COM/TRAVELINGSTORIES
OUTSMARTING POVERTY ONE BOOK AT A TIME
FACEBOOK.COM/TRAVELINGSTORIES
January 2014 CLICK AN ICON TO VIEW OR FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS
www.industryleadersmagazine.com by Anna Domanska
It a new beginning of a brand new Christian Calendar year and we at Industry Leaders Magazine wish the very best to their subscribers and well wishers. The year of 2014 is speculated to be a year of correction. You will see a lot of corrections happening in the economies and stock markets which are struggling to survive the tough economic conditions. Talking about struggle takes me to our cover story wherein we have narrated the struggle of Blackberry limited to fight the popularity of the new technologies like android and IOS taking over the mindsets of buyers who now feel that Blackberry is outdated. For years, Blackberry has been considered as a premium phone and has stood up to its expectations. Having started from a humble beginning, Hewlett-Packard’s making is certainly a great success story to talk about. A lot of start-ups will get a few pointers on reading how HP made it to worlds No.1 printers manufacturing company. To add a little fun to your read, we have included an interesting account of the world’s most expensive guitar in our Larger than Life feature. All this and more…
Anna Domanska Editor-in-Chief, Industry Leaders Magazine 003 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Anna Domanska, Editor-in-Chief
Christy Gren, Sub-Editor
Aubrey Change, Associate Editor
Laura Gomez Aurioles, Associate Editor
Kevin Paul Sr. Grahpic Designer
Nisha Dhamecha, Graphic Designer
Tony Raval Project Director
Jay Raol Project Director
Jason Miller Sr. Project Director
Richard Dean, Advertising Manager
John Hancock Head-Web Department
Le Manh Coung, Sr Sofrware Coordinator
R R Baratiya
004 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Riana Petanjek, Sub-Editor
Julia Hunt, Magazine Production
Latest In Business Christmas gift shopping boosts the holiday retail business
Leader Talk
Leadership That is an Inspiration to Us
Cover Story
From a tasty berry to a sour failure
006 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Larger Than Life “Strings of Gold”
Success Story Hewlett-Packard
Mergers & More Google: From Android Phones to Android Robots 007 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Bettet Business Destination BERLIN: Where Business Meets History and Culture 008 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Event & Tradeshows
Black Friday Shopping 010 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
According to Accenture’s annual holiday shopping survey, U.S. consumers prefer to spend an average of $646 on gifts this holiday season, which indicates an 11 percent increase over the $582 they planned to spend, on average, in 2012. Additionally, the Black Friday shopping has generated a lot of interest and Thanksgiving Day has emerged as an established holiday season event. Though consumers plan to spend more, they will also be on the lookout for big discounts throughout this holiday shopping season. One in five consumers will want to spend more on gifts this year, compared to 14 percent who planned to raise their holiday spending in 2012. This year they also are more likely to exceed their holiday budget (46 percent, compared to 34 percent in 2012). However, holiday shoppers will be more interested on discounts and sales. Around 94 percent of them said that discounts will be important to their buying decisions this holiday season, up from 84 percent in 2012, and 49 percent want three-quarters or more of their purchases will be discounted or sale items. Online shopping will see a 40 percent increase this holiday shopping season. 47 percent of online holiday shoppers will buy using their PCs or laptops.19 percent of consumers will make purchases through tablets and 18 percent of consumers shop through smartphones. 011 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Facebook 012 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Facebook has reportedly launched a ‘Donate Now’ button to make it easier for the social network’s one-billion-plus members to contribute to nonprofits, all the while collecting their info. The button will collect credit card numbers and other billing information of the users that could ultimately aid the social networking giant in its ecommerce and gaming initiatives. Donate will pop up next to News Feed posts and at the top of groups’ Facebook pages. Clicking Donate Now allows users enter a donation amount, input their payment info and send the contribution then and there. Users can also share the nonprofits’ posts with their friends giving people an easy way to share the call for donations and supporting philanthropy go viral. Currently there are 19 participating nonprofts, but Facebook said it intends to open the feature to additional non-profits soon. “In times of disaster or crisis, people turn to Facebook to check on loved ones, get updates, and to learn how they can help,” a Facebook statement said. Last month, the social networking giant teamed up with the International Federation of Red Cross to open the site to donations for relief in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. 013 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Boston Dynamics 014 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
To add a firm to its always blooming collection, Google has acquired a new engineering company: Boston Dynamics. If the tech giant has already created the most popular platform for smartphones by introducing the Android technology, just imagine what they will be able to accomplish now by owning a company which has created “WildCat�, the fastest-running robot in the world!
Boston Dynamics is the eighth advanced robotics firm grabbed by Google Inc. this year. Based in Massachusetts, the company specializes in building specialized advanced robots with remarkable agility, mobility, speed, dexterity, and behavior. By using sensor-based controls and computation, the firm is able to unlock the capabilities of these complex mechanisms. Furthermore, to field testing and low-cost production, the high-end robotics company takes projects from initial concept to proof-of-principle prototyping in order to build-test-build engineering. Organizations from all over the world, from the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to Sony Corporation turn to Boston Dynamics for counsel and help to manufacture of the most sophisticated robots on the planet. The impact and result of having Google working along with the advanced robotics firm are infinite. For instance, Amazon recently announced plans to set up a fleet of delivery specialized advanced robots or drones. What will Google announce in the months to come..? That is yet to be seen. 015 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Fuel Technology 016 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
In the past, Americans were concerned about running out of energy to keep their cars revving and their homes heated, but with advanced technologies making oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels more abundant, the risk now is that the world might run out of the water needed to generate power. According to energy analysts the power generation and oil and gas development, especially from shale bedrock are threatened in areas of water deficiency because progressive critical extraction techniques are heavy users of water. Reports state, the danger, lies in the U.S. Southeast and West, as well as in the deserts of the Middle East and China, which has some of the most promising fields for fuel extraction worldwide. Other than farming, no other industry uses as much water as energy. Globally, the energy industry typically consumes 15 percent of the water discharged from rivers, lakes and reservoirs. In the U.S. electric power alone accounts for 40 percent of all water use, putting it on par with drinking water and other necessary uses by households and businesses. Report by the energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie found that more than half of all shale resources around the world are in areas where there is water shortage, and the problem especially plagues China, which has the world’s biggest known reserves of shale gas. 017 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Twitter 018 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
After Facebook nailed it for three consecutive years, Twitter, the brief messaging social network, has reached the top spot within the tech industry on Glassdoor’s annual record of the best places to work during its debut on the site’s rankings. The rating company unseated Mark Zuckerberg’s social network which fell behind LinkedIn to the third place on the 2014 awards list. Furthermore, Twitter also placed second overall within firms with at least 1,000 employees, behind Bain & Co.
Glassdoor recollects company ratings from job seekers and employees to share on its webpage. Every year, it analyses the ratings of the companies that have at least 50 reviews on the site and evaluates them based on a proprietary scale that considers everything, from evaluations of top management to work-life balance. For instance, according to Glassdoor chief executive Robert Hohman, the brief messaging social network scored a home run after its employees wrote about their respect and admiration for the company’s culture. The reviews underscored that chief executive Dick Costolo centers his attention in training good managers at the firm, organizing a quarterly management training course himself in order to promote a culture of accessibility, transparency, and authenticity. Hohman acknowledged that thanks to Dick Costolo’s leadership, among other aspects, Twitter employees consider that their work has a global impact. 019 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
National Security Agency’s (NSA) 020 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
According to analysts, big technology companies are seeing signs that the user’s concerns about government digital spying are a threat to their future revenues, especially for businesses selling cloud-based products. Last summer disclosures about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) methods, which included findings about how it is constantly obtaining data from big firms, represent one of the main worries of both users and service providers.
After asking the United States government -through a printed letter in several newspapers- to change how the NSA works, the eight tech giants involved in the movement against government digital spying -including Facebook, Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Yahoo!, AOL, and Twitter- have started to look after their own interests actively. The enterprises wrote that they understood that governments had a duty to protect its citizens; however, the last summer revelations highlighted the vital need to reform government surveillance practices across the world. Documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden appeared to disclose that the government agency has direct access to the principal tech companies’ servers, even though the firms stated they had never knowingly provided the authorities such privilege. The enterprises’ effort has being acknowledged, for the companies that signed the letter have increased their stock market value since Snowden’s infiltrated documents were first reported by The Guardian and The Washington Post in June. 021 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Dwight D. Eisenhower 024 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
There’s something about the quality of a great leader that makes him or her stand out no matter the situation or the crowd. History’s greatest leaders have all had that quality, though they may not have all started out as leaders of many or even very few people. US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, for example, started out World War II as an obscure colonel who was recognized for his ability to think outside the box, though that that wasn’t what such thinking was called back then, but for little else. However, great leaders always seem to rise to the occasion when most needed, and Eisenhower certainly did that during the war. Never having held a single elective office in his entire life, once he’d retired from the military as a five-star General of the Army (one of only a very few in the history of the country) Eisenhower became the Republican nominee for president after Harry Truman’s second term, going on to easily win office. “The Eisenhower Years,” as his two-term presidency is often called, are now looked back upon as a serene time in US history and a period of strong growth. 025 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Abraham Lincoln 026 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Today, great leaders are all around us and inspiring us with many words and deeds. These leaders fall into a couple of different categories; the traditional types found in politics and business and nontraditional leaders seen throughout society and heading up various organizations or groups dedicated to the betterment of humankind. Traditional leaders, as always, seem to garner the lion’s share of the publicity but that may be because we’ve always thought of leaders in areas like business, politics and associated activities as being the men and women we look to first whenever a great crisis or other matter of importance arises. Certainly, these men and women have always seemed to have been ability to rise to the occasion and it’s no different in this new millennium than it was back in Eisenhower’s day or in Abraham Lincoln’s or George Washington’s day. The point is, whether the crisis creates the leader or the leader is there and just waiting for the crisis it matters little. What matters is that these leaders seize the moment, inspire us all to greater things and continue to do so consistently and with a purpose. 027 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Martin Luther King Jr. 028 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
One of the greatest US leaders of the 1960s, and who headed up no government or any political movement, was Martin Luther King Jr. His genius lay in the fact that he was able to harness the inchoate anger of African-Americans of the day, who faced brutal prejudice and institutional segregation in many parts of the American South and even in other areas of the country, and turned that anger to one of the greatest social movements of the 60s; the fight for civil rights and justice for all. That Martin Luther King Jr. did all this in a calm, steady voice that held no anger towards those against whom he was protesting -- to the point where he even strongly stood for nonviolence against all -- was historic and almost awe-inspiring. His “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,� which he penned while being locked up in a Birmingham, Alabama jail for protesting against Jim Crow laws in that southern city, stands today as one of the greatest single letters to a people, in advocating for peaceful resistance and social change, in US history. 029 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Mohandas K. Gandhi 030 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
In other parts of the world, the great Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, who worked tirelessly to replace British rule in India (known as the Raj), eventually succeeded in seeing the British turn over control of its former Crown colony, unfortunately only living long enough to see the culmination of his dreams before falling at an assassin’s hands in January 1948. Gandhi was a relentless campaigner for the rights of fellow Indians living under British rule, though he was just as tireless in advocating for peaceful, nonviolent resistance to the British, often enduring savage beatings at British hands before becoming a recognized leader of the entire Indian effort to free itself from British colonial administration. Gandhi, an extremely wise man, inspired by words and deeds the efforts of his people, and today we would call that “leading by example.” Great leaders all seem to instinctively know that in order to be a great leader great effort must issue forth, including setting the example and the pace for the people whom they lead. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi (though his given name was Mohandas, Gandhi was most popularly known by the Hindu name “Mahatma”) knew that if a movement were to succeed the leaders of that movement had to demonstrate supreme commitment to the ideals of the movements that they were in fact heading up. 031 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Bill Gates 032 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Leaders who have inspired us in both the 20th and 21st centuries include people like Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, the late Pope John Paul II and Oprah Winfrey. Microsoft today is probably one of the most well-known companies in the world and one or another of its products probably sit on 95% of all computers in use nowadays. John Paul II, in his great struggle in the 1980s and 90s against communism, especially after he was nearly killed in 1981 by an assassin’s bullet, stands as one of the most important religious leaders of the last hundred years. Even in his final days, as he lay on his deathbed, he demonstrated a respect for the dignity of life that was peerless, entering into the veiled world that lay beyond with grace and in full public view. Even millions, or perhaps even billions, of the world’s non-Catholics mourned his passing because he was a religious and a social justice icon, standing up for the rights of the oppressed in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. Since she got her television start in the 1980s, Oprah Winfrey has inspired more people in more ways than almost any other celebrity on TV in the last quarter century. Her talk shows have given more guests a chance at worldwide fame than any other television outlet ever has. If she even mentions the title of a book on one of her network shows, for example, the book becomes an instant New York Times bestseller. But Winfrey is more than just a superstar celebrity herself, because her tireless efforts and support on behalf of the poor and oppressed in Africa and in America have helped to inspire more people to pitch in and do what they can then most any other celebrity does through their own words or deeds. Again, Winfrey demonstrates why it’s necessary for great leaders to lead from the front, so to speak. 033 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
034 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
There’s always going to be a debate about whether the circumstances make the leader or the leader is made well before then, or perhaps even born well before then, and is the “right person at the right time.” Whether leaders are born or made, it’s fortunate for us that all of them seem to have an almost preternatural ability to know what to say and do to inspire those around them, even if it’s only for that brief, shining moment required of leaders in certain instances before they fade into the background yet again. What we know for certain, though, is that all of us are better for having them in our midst when they’re needed most. 035 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
How Blackberry lost the battle in the smartphone market 038 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Even though BlackBerry Limited is now struggling to survive and keep its ship navigating in the smartphone market, having only a 1.7 percent of the juicy electronic cake and presenting a sales drop of 41.6 percent from last year, it must be said that this Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment firm was once successful, so successful that there was a moment where it had 43 percent of the US market. From 43 to 1.7 percent‌ what happened? Keep reading and find out how a success story may not last forever if a company stays too long in its comfort zone.
Blackberry 039 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Research In Motion Limited (RIM) was founded almost 30 years ago, in 1984, by Douglas Fregin and Mike Lazaridis. In those days, both were engineering students, Fregin at the University of Windsor and Lazaridis at the University of Waterloo. A decade later, in 1995, the firm was financed by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors through a private placement in the privately held company. Later, Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. made a $5,000,000 investment with the proceeds being used to finish the development of RIM’s two-way paging system software and hardware.
040 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
It was until 1998 that the Inter@ctive Pager 950 was released. The device was about the size of a bar of soap and represented the competition against Motorola’s SkyTel two-way paging network. BlackBerry 850 Pager was introduced a year later, the name made a reference to the similarity of its keyboard’s keys to the duplets of the blackberry fruit. This product could receive push mail from a Microsoft Exchange Server thanks to its additional server software BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). This was the moment when the company started to write history, for their new toy set the stage for oncoming enterprise-oriented products from the firm. The next year BlackBerry launched its first smartphone.
Research In Motion Limited (RIM) 041 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
042 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
The BES and the BlackBerry OS platform continued improving and increasing their functionalities. Furthermore, the incorporation of S/MME and encryption support aimed the firm devices to increase usage by businesses and governments. In the following years, the company introduced devices created for the consumer market as well. The list began with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100, which was the first phone to include multimedia tools such as camera. The Pearl series was a huge success in the market as well as the subsequent series: Curve 8300 and Bold 900. Important carrier partnerships fueled the quick expansion of BlackBerry users across the world in both consumer and enterprise markets.
BlackBerry Pearl 8100 043 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
044 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
It was until 2007 that a real threat for the Canadian firm was unveiled: Apple’s iPhone. This groundbreaking device featured a powerful mobile browser, huge multimedia capabilities, a pioneering touch screen interface, and, some time later, a bundled application storefront with a full catalogue of mobile apps. Lazaridis was at home watching television when he first saw the Cupertino-based high tech’s new toy. He was shocked. For him, it appeared that Steve Jobs had stuffed a Mac computer into a smartphone. The device broke all the rules: the operating system alone occupied 700 megabytes of memory, plus the device used not one but two processors; in contrast, the entire BlackBerry ran on one processor and only used 32 megabytes. Furthermore, the iPhone featured a fully Internet-capable browser, something carriers like AT&T had not previously allowed. “How did they get AT&T to allow that?’ It’s going to collapse the network,” he thought. Well, the battle was just beginning… The Canadian firm belittled Apple’s smartphone and its shortcomings, like short battery life, initial lack of e-mail, and weaker security. Nevertheless, Lazaridis was still concerned. He recalled warning his staff how big the challenge could be. “If that thing catches on, we’re competing with a Mac, not a Nokia”, he remembers. Soon, Blackberry was forced to produce its first touchscreen device for the competing Verizon network. The BlackBerry Storm was launched in 2008 and even though it sold well, was embraced with mixed to poor reviews. Costumers were not satisfied. However, thanks to RIM’s head start and wider carrier distribution network, Apple was still behind in both active users and shipments. Despite everything, the “pin” smartphone was yet ruling and, in the fall 2010, BlackBerry user base reached 21 million users in the United Sates-37 percent of the 58.7 million smartphone users-and 36 million users globally. BlackBerry success continued around the world, even after Google’s Android launch. In December 1, 2012 the firm had 79 million BlackBerry users across the world from which only 9 million were in the United States. Apple - Blackberry 045 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
The silent turning point
Despite BlackBerry huge market success, media and investors became increasingly apprehensive about the company capabilities of competing with iOS and Android devices. In addition, analysts were also concerned about the strategic direction of the co-CEOs’ management model. RIM’s technology was based on an operating system and a Java computer code built in the 1990s, while its rivals featured newer software platforms that made it easier to create friendlier user interfaces. If Blackberry wanted to survive, it needed to change its DNA. However, RIM executives underestimated the time they had to update their system, since they had successfully overcome challengers before and iPhone did not seemed like a treat to the Canadian firm most loyal base of users: businesses and governments. The fall began. Soon, smartphone users became more concerned about software applications, such as the ones offered in the Apple and Android stores, rather than in devices based on hardware. RIM experienced a difficult transition. Their flaw lied on believing they knew better what customers needed. “Consumers would say ‘I want a faster browser’. We might say, ‘You might think you want a faster browser, but you don’t want to pay overage on your bill.’ ‘Well, I want a super big very responsive touchscreen’.’Well, you might think you want that, but you don’t want your phone to die at 2 p.m.,’” a former RIM insider elaborated. RIM’s ship was sailing through fug. On one hand they had business and government users, who wanted efficient, low-cost devices; on the other, regular consumers urging for fancy smartphones. Corporate users didn’t want personal applications on corporate phones. Regular costumers did not care about battery life or security features; they wanted apps, and apps that didn’t look as “ugly” as Blackberry’s. The latter was one of BlackBerry’s Achilles Heel, for they exerted tight control over developers, stifling creativity. Consequently, hot apps such as Tumblr and Instagram bypassed BlackBerry. 046 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Thorsten Heins (BlackBerry CEO) 047 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2013
Even though the two CEO’s of the company got along perfectly-Mr. Lazaridis focused on product managements, engineering, and supply chain, while Mr. Balsillie was in charge of sales, finances and other functions-the two sides of the firm did not functioned as well below. Executives faced difficulties to get definitive decisions and this contributed to a chronic deficiency for RIM which involved a lack of speed and efficiency. The company would continuously experience delays in launching products and in approaching the market. One of the main problems, for instance, was that the middle management would not bring to senior executives the feedback from consumers. Finally, in April 2010, after Apple had passed Blackberry in the American market, Mr. Lazaridis announced to acquire Ottawa-based QNX Software, a firm which would provide the fundamentals for the creation of the BlackBerry 10 operating system which would be built from scratch. However, the flaw in this decision was that while the new team was developing a new system, the original team, which created the original BlackBerry platform, was still working on the previous platform, BB7. The company was still divided.
048 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
BlackBerry 10 049 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
After a 6 month delay, BlackBerry PlayBook tablet was launched on April 2011 and failed to sell. It lacked contacts, e-mail, and apps, while it did not work as a standalone device as other tablets; it was an awkward accessory for BlackBerry’s smartphones. This was soon considered another failure to the list and a costly distraction. Moreover, the decision to isolate the QNX team from the rest of the employees created tension: What was going to happen to the “old fashion” team when the BlackBerry 10 was finished? The question was answered couple months later, when the firm had to undertake a lay-off of 2,000 employees. On January 22 of the following year, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned as the CEOs and Thorsten Heins took over the company. On March 29, 2012, the firm reported its first net loss in years and the QNX-based platform BlackBerry 10 was delayed a second time in January 2013. The strategy was at first to launch
050 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
an all-touchscreen smartphone and after revising that sales were still going well for the BlackBerry 7 keyboard phone, Mr. Lazaridis-deputy chairman by this moment-felt that the company should stick to the keyboard version, which would meet the demand for BlackBerry die-hards and would represent an iconic difference from other devices. Therefore, two phones were manufactured: Z10 touchscreen and Q10 keyboard versions. Nevertheless, when the devices reached the consumers in January 2013, analysts agreed that BlackBerry was 2 years late. Building the new platform took too long. BlackBerry PlayBook 051 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
The main problem that the last BlackBerry devices faced was, ironically, their new platform. Many BlackBerry users found that the new system presented huge differences from the classic experience. In addition, the company was slow to provide several services to business users, including helping them to transfer applications they had from the old system. It seems that the plan did not work that well. Just a few years ago, the Canadian firm was the premier mobile gadget maker and its device was so obvious on Capitol Hill and Wall Street that it got the nickname “CrackBerry�. In 2009, BlackBerry was chosen by Fortune magazine as the fastest growing firm worldwide, with revenues exploding by 84 percent a year. Things have changed and BlackBerry’s stock price has collapsed to under $7 at its lowest point last summer. The company is now a case of study of what could happen when tech giants fail to innovate. If the firm will be able to get over this huge drop is yet to be seen, in the hazard waters of technology anything could happen.
052 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
053 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
054 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Besides your business skills, are there any other skills you are hiding? Skills like singing or playing guitar, something you keep only for yourself. There are many entrepreneurs among the globe who relax themselves by playing favorite accords on guitars which they have ever since high school or guitars they bought recently. But have you ever wondered how would it be to play one of the Clapton’s or Hendrix’s hits on the same guitar he played it on? Priceless, every true fan would think, the truth is some don’t have to wonder, they have the opportunity. How much would you pay for a privilege like this?
055 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Paul Allen 056 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
When you look around you today most of your dreams might have come true, but if you think of your childhood dreams there aren’t too many of us who could say that. While being a child rarely who dreams about offices, business meetings, suitcases,… most of the time we all dream about becoming rock stars, actors, baseball players, models or something similar. Through years we kind of have to change our plans; grow up as some would say, but the child inside of many never dies and they treasure childhood dreams even if their job description is far different from the childhood dream. The easiest way to recognize it is when you find out how much somebody is ready to spend on grown up toys. One of the most famous and most expensive toys for keeping childhood dreams alive are guitars. Because of the collectors who are ready to spend enormous amount of money in order to have some particular guitar, some guitars have literally become as legendary as the guitarist who they used to belong to. One of the best examples is Microsoft co founder Paul Allen who has the whole collection of amazingly expensive guitars, for instance one of Jimi Hendrix guitars made him spend 1.3 million dollars, but for him who still didn’t give up on his becoming a rock star dream even after achieving so much, this was nothing. Paul Allen has a time to play in his rock bend besides being among the 100 Most Influential People in the World; this is a true dedication for sure. Many other collectors don’t have their rock band but are still are ready to spend a lot of money on toys like guitars and we bring you stories about the most expensive guitars ever.
Paul Allen Guitar Collection 057 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Eric Clapton 058 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
If somebody wants to become a rock star just an expensive guitar is far from being enough, you do need a good tool to deliver epic riffs, but charisma, talent and pure hard work are more than obligatory in becoming successful in the business. However you don’t even have to be a rock star in order to be a master in using strings, or to be able to recognize an amazing guitar and if you are serious about your craft you know you would pay a lot for real master’s guitars. Especially if you consider the fact that in the case of famous and incredibly valuable guitars, their reputation is almost as legendary as the guitarist themselves. One of them is for sure “Blackie” Eric Clapton’s favorite mid-career modified Strat. There aren’t many words needed in order to describe the influence of legendary Eric Clapton in the world of music today, anyone who knows basic things about music is familiar with this guitar virtuoso and his art. Clapton was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times already, so playing on his guitar for sure means a lot to anyone who is trying to achieve virtuosity in making the strings producing magic for the ears.
Blackie Stratocaster Guitar 059 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Jimi Hendrix 060 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
The guitar that gained even higher price than Clapton’s Blackie is the 1968 Strat that Hendrix used in Woodstock. Without any doubt Jimi Hendrix is considered as the greatest man who ever played the guitar and one of the most important musicians in history of music. Every time he would take a guitar in his hands he absolutely showed prodigious ability of playing the same. No wonder many would pay millions to have his guitar, either for hoping to make them wonder makers as well or to have something that belonged to the biggest legend of guitarists. Now you might already guess who had the privilege; Paul Allen again. I have already mentioned that he has spent 1.3 million dollars to experience the feeling of playing on Hendrix’s guitar, but some of the rumors have it that it was actually two millions, in either way pretty expensive toy. But just as many he believed that nothing was too much to own something that was part of Jimi’s history, legendary musician who was able to achieve in four years more than most musicians can ever dream of in their lifetimes.
Hendrix Woodstock Guitar 061 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Bob Marley 062 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Bob Marley, man who brought not only the reggae music to whole planet but the certain lifestyle and Rastafarian movement as well. Definitely shoulder to shoulder to greatest Hendrix consequently is the price of his guitar too. But as he was special as he was the story around his legendary guitar is also. Washburn guitar which was custom-made for the reggae legend finally isn’t part of Allen’s private collection. Bob Marley personally gave it to a technician named Gary Carlsen in 1979 in Vancouver with the words “Take it because you’ll understand later.” He is for sure the only person in the public domain of the entire world that has been given a personal guitar personally from Bob aside from Bob’s family & band mates. Carlsen has been offered millions of dollars in order to sell it, but he decided to do something different with it. With the rare guitar and bless from Marley he wants to spread Bob’s message of healing, faith, peace, & love with a help of it. So the guitar is up as a charity prize among other rare prizes which will help raise monies for charities & organizations that are already part of DJOD team started by Gary Carlsen.
Bob Marley Washburn Guitar 063 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Asia Fender Stratocaster Guitar 064 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
When you combine most of the living music legends with charity and raising money for the ones in need, you get the most expensive guitar ever sold; “Reach Out To Asia” Fender Stratocaster Guitar. The signed Fender Stratocaster was sold at auction and at the end gained benefit for the Reach Out to Asia charity for $2.8 million. Idea was to raise funds to help the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster. The music world came together to help aid the massive disaster that affected millions. This guitar was never played in concert but it didn’t have to, all of the big names in the music world have signed it. Musicians like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams, who actually initiated the project. It was bought by Qatar’s royal family for a million dollars and donated back to the Asia Program, bringing in $2.8 dollar for the victims.
Asia Fender Stratocaster Guitar 065 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Hewlett - Packard 066 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
HP: More Than Half Century of Success For more than 60 years Hewlett-Packard has been present in the lives of millions of people around the globe. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the company sells everything from low priced ink cartridges to multimillion dollar super computers. Furthermore, besides its products and services, HP is recognized for its corporate culture, also known as the HP WAY, and has inspired many techno-entrepreneurs inside and outside of Silicon Valley. Great things can be learned from the tech giant’s walked pad, the way to success is not easy but somewhat always fulfilling. 067 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2013
Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard 068 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Hewlett-Packard was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto in 1939. William “Bill” Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard, both part of Stanford’ssuccessful alumni list, started the dream with only $538, mentored by their fellowship professor Frederick Terman. The company went public in 1957 and had its first financially successful product named HP200A; a precision audio oscillator that generates one pure tone or frequency at a time. HP priced the oscillator only at $54.40 dollars to beat the competition that sold a less stable oscillator well over $200 dollars. Walt Disney Productions was one of the firm’s earliest customers, purchasing 8 models of HP200B, a modified version of HP200A, which helped construct the sound for their movie Fantasia. At the beginning, the company wondered around different kinds of products and services, with clients and markets going from industry to even agriculture. From the 1940s until the 1990s the firm centered its attention on electronic test equipment, which included voltmeters, signal generators, frequency counters, time standards, thermometers, among others. In the 1960s HP partnered with Sony and Yokogawa Electric companies in Japan; however, the products were not a big success. Three years later, Yokogawa Electric and HP formed a joined venture to market Hewlett-Packard products in Japan. 069 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Hewlett - Packard 9100A 070 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
This alliance brought business growth and diversification while it was perceived as one of the most admired ventures in Japan. In 1999, HP bought Yokogawa Electric’s share of Hewlett-Packard Japan and the firm became a 100-percent owned HP subsidiary, by that time HP already owned 75 percent of HPJ. The tech giant entered the computer market in 1966, with the HP2100/ HP1000 series of minicomputers. These models had a simple accumulator-based design and were arranged somewhat similarly to the Intel x86 architecture that is still used today. In addition, HP focused on business computing servers, some of them commonly used on banks ATMs and gas pumps nowadays. In 1968, HP was identified by Wired magazine as the creator of the world’s first electronic device identified as a personal computer, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A. This machine was called “desktop calculator” and its logic circuit was produced without any integrated circuits and it did not have an alphabetic keyboard. From this point, the company started to gain global recognition for a variety of products, which included the first world’s handheld scientific electronic calculator in 1972. Later, in 1984, HP introduced both laser and inkjet printers for the desktop. These devices, along with its scanner product line, have evolved into a successful multifunction products joined in a single unit. 071 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Carly Fiorina and Michael Capellas 072 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
An important and controversial chapter in the history of Hewlett-Packard started in 1999,when HP decided to spin off all its businesses not related to computers, imaging, and storage. This resulted in several new companies such as Agilent, which manufactured scientific instruments, semiconductors, and electronic test equipment. That same year, CEO Lew Platt was replaced by Carly Fiorina, who would go on to become the first CEO of a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Carly Fiorina had a big task ahead of her in transforming Hewlett-Packard into a modern company. Fiorina started by the logo, she decided to have only HP and the tag line “invent” rather the founders’ complete last names. Furthermore, she wanted to differentiate the company by changing its aim: HP would become a total solution provider-a one-stop shop-rather than a retailer of individual products. Consequently, she consolidated over 80 independent product divisions into a front-back organization, which meant that the front-end focused on customers and the back-end on production and R&D. During Fiorina’s 5 years tenure the company doubled its sales and she led the most important acquisitions in the history of the company: the merge between HP and Compaq in 2002. This move helped HP become a major player in laptops, desktops, and servers for a diverse range of markets. 073 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
HP Pavilion dv 1658 074 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
In 2004, HP released its DV 1000 Series, which included the HP Pavilion dv 1658 and the 1040 model two years later. During this time, the company launched its campaign The computer is personal again, which was designed to underscore the fact that the PC is a personal product. Later, in 2008, the tech giant signed a merger agreement with Electronic Data Systems (EDS). The latter is now HP’s global business and technology services division known as HP Enterprise Services. In 2009, Hewlett-Packard announced its acquisition of 3Com, a firm recognized for its computer network infrastructure products, for $2.7 billion in cash. This is one the biggest purchases within the collection of companies that HP has bought thought its history in order to become the most complete worldwide one-stop shop. The integration of 3Com to HP’s catalogue represents the firm’s incursion into the networking gear market-which includes interface controllers, routers, switches, wireless access points, and intrusions prevention systems-recently dominated by Cisco. 075 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
HP TouchPad 076 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
In 2010, HP acquired Palm for $2.1 billion in cash and debt. The addition of the Palm handsets and operating platform, known as webOS, to the Silicon-Valley giant’s repertory benefited the launch of its first tablet, the HP TouchPad, on 2011. However, just a couple months later, HP announced that it would exit the smartphone and tablet business in order to focus on higher-margin strategic priorities such as Cloud solutions and software with emphasis on government, commercial, and enterprise markets. The company even considered spinning of their personal computer division into a separate firm; nevertheless, the PC division was too integrated to the business operations of the company and the idea was discarded. The latest news reveals that the PC maker has being struggling with the decrement of desktop revenues as consequence of the popularity of smartphones and tablets. HP’s annual sales have declined from $127.24 billion in 2011 to $112.3 billion in 2013, while an IDC report showed that phablet shipments to Asia and the Pacific region increased by 88 percent quarter-on-quarter between the end of 2011 and June 2013. Therefore, in order to address the dramatic drop in consumer personal systems sales, HP has plans to launch several low-cost phablet devices geared at emerging markets such as China, India, and Indonesia. It is worth mentioning that despite the challenges the firm was able to return to profitability in fiscal 2013 with net revenues of $5.1 billion against a loss of $12.65 billion the preceding financial year. 077 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Paul Holden 078 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
The story of Hewlett-Packard involves not only its success in revenues but also its impact in the business culture worldwide. Its founders nurtured a transparent management, job security, performance based rewards, freedom in working hours, team work, and it was one of the first companies to foster telecommuting, with up to 10 percent of its employees working via modem in the United States. Nowadays, many of these strategies are the gold standard in Silicon Valley and it is hard to realize how unusual and radical they were at the beginning. But they were. For instance, in 1942, David Packard was jeered rather than cheered for his conception of management. At the age of 29, he attended a Stanford seminar on wartime production where a discussion concerning responsibility of management was addressed. “Paul Holden (a major management guru at that time) made the point that management’s responsibility is to the shareholders-that’s the end of it. And I objected. I said. ‘I think you’re absolutely wrong. Management has a responsibility to its employees, it has a responsibility to its customers, it has a responsibility to the community at large’. They almost laughed me out of the room”, Packard told Peninsula journalist and historian Ward Winslow, ’52. Hewlett and Packard walked a long road to implant a sense of teamwork and egalitarianism. They insisted in using first names and dismissing visible trappings of hierarchy. 079 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
HP Centre 080 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
They were truly concerned about its employees’ ideas and integration, which was clearly reflected on the architecture and design of the offices: wall-less structures and no doors at all-the open door policy was visibly established in order to air grievances without fear of retribution. All these techniques and approaches became part of what now is known as The HP Way, which in Hewlett words is a core ideology which includes a deep respect for the individual, a commitment to social responsibility, a dedication to affordable reliability and quality, and a view that the corporation exists to make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity. The tenets of Hewlett-Packard’s philosophy are the following: 1. We have respect and trust for individuals; 2. We focus on a high level of contribution and achievement; 3. We conduct our business with uncompromising integrity; 4. We achieve our common goals through teamwork, and 5. We encourage innovation and flexibility. In addition to the Hewlett-Packard’s set of values, the company was among the first corporations to use Stanford’s honor co-op program, enrolling hundreds of its salaried engineers for advanced degrees. Furthermore, as part of the multiple strategies that HP has followed to fulfill its social responsibility policy, which include plans to recycle toner and ink cartridges and gas emission reduction programs, the firm revealed its first net zero energy data center in May 2012. These facilities will use solar energy and other renewable sources instead of traditional power grids. 081 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
To add a firm to its always blooming collection, Google has acquired a new engineering company: Boston Dynamics. If the Silicon Valley search giant has already created Android, the most popular platform for smartphones, just imagine what they will be able to accomplish by owning the firm that has created “Cheetah”-the fastest-running robot in the world-and leaves Andy Rubin, the executive who led the development of Android, in charge of this ambitious enterprise. Yes… big fish! 084 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Cheetah Robot 085 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Robin Williams - Bicentennial Man 086 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
James Cameron’s Terminator
For the past three decades, or even more, humanity has been flirting with the idea of creating robots: from tender cybernetic creatures, such as the Teddy Bear robot in Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) or Chris Columbus’ humanoid friendly robot-incarnated in Robin Williams-in Bicentennial Man (1999), to frightening and threatening androids like Wachowskis’ Matrix Revolutions’ killing machines (2003) or James Cameron’s Terminator (1984). A few years back, these films appeared merely fantastic tales, distant premises… Now, the future has finally connected its path to the present and newspapers along with internet sites feature the latest news: Google has bought its eighth robotic company. Why is the tech giant collecting android firms? Well, let us help you discovering how science fiction is not just fiction anymore. In addition to Boston Dynamics, over
the last 6 months, Google has discretely acquired other seven technology firms featuring grasping technology, software for advanced robot arms, and computer vision. The purpose of the purchases is yet to be confirmed, but it is clear that the plans are going beyond web browsing and smartphones. For now, these are the lucky companies enjoying Google’s shelter: SCHAFT, a Japanese firm specialized in android development; Industrial Perception, an artificial intelligence and robotic vision company that is focused in the logistics sector; Holomni, which manufactures advanced vehicle casters; Redwood Robotics, a company that develops robotic arms for manufacturing; Meka, also involved in humanoid robot development; Bot & Dolly, which created a robotic platform for design solutions and movie cameras, and its sister firm Autofuss.
087 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Meka Robot 088 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Larry Page After analyzing the kind of companies the search giant bought, experts have predicted that Google’s direction points toward automation in factories and manufacturing rather than building larger than life humanoid androids; after all, it was Google CEO Larry Page himself who said that one of the firm’s aim is to free up humans form repetitive tasks through
technology. The enterprise could go from package delivery to warehouse work and even elder care. Andy Rubin has described the robotic effort as a “moonshot” which will need time to be developed and achieved. He declined to give further details of the project or how much Google is investing in both the endeavor and the different firm acquisitions.
089 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Carl Zeiss AG 090 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Andy Rubin
The leader of this dreamlike project is the 50-year-old Google executive Andy Rubin, renowned for his engineering career in robotics and his long passion for creating and building intelligent machines. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Rubin worked as a manufacturing engineer for Carl Zeiss AG and later for Apple Inc. It was until 2003, after contributing in different firms, that he co-founded Android Inc. and, in 2005, he joined Google as the leader of the successful Android scheme, which now is run in more than the 80 percent of smartphones worldwide.
“I have a history of making my hobbies into a career,” he said in a phone interview. “This is the world’s greatest job. Being an engineer and a tinkerer, you start thinking about what you would want to build for yourself”. Veteran of several previous Silicon Valley start-up firms, and twice a chief executive, Rubin shared that he has pondered the odds of a commercial effort in robotics for more than 10 years. He has come to think that a great variety of technologies have grown and matured to the point where new types of automated systems can be commercialized.
091 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Boston Dynamics’s Darpa 092 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics is the eighth advanced robotics firm grabbed by Google this year. Based in Massachusetts, the company specializes in building specialized advanced robots with remarkable agility, mobility, speed, dexterity, and behavior. By using sensor-based controls and computation, the firm is able to unlock the capabilities of these complex mechanisms. Furthermore, to field testing and low-cost production, the high-end robotics company takes projects from initial concept to proof-of-principle prototyping in order to build-test-build engineering. Organizations from all over the world, from the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to Sony Corporation turn to Boston Dynamics for counsel and help to manufacture of the most sophisticated robots on the planet. Founded by former professor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Marc Raibert in 1992, the advanced robotics firm has consulted for Japanese
electronics leader Sony on different consumer applications such as the robot dog Aibo. The high-end robotics company does not sell specialized advanced robots commercially and mostly develops off-road robotics and mobile technology, funded by the Pentagon’s Darpa. Boston Dynamics current contract with the latter, which is around 10.5 million dollars, establishes that the high tech firm has to supply Darpa with a set of humanoid androids called Atlas. These robots will participate in the Darpa Robotics Challenge, which is a two-year contest offering a 2 million dollars prize. The competition’s aim is to create a class of robots that can perform successfully in natural disasters and catastrophes such as the recent nuclear power plant meltdown in Fukushima, Japan. Google has expressed that it would respect the existing military contracts between Boston Dynamics and Darpa and that it does not plan to become a military contractor on its own.
093 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
VGo Communications Inc. 094 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Analysts predict that Google’s recent purchases signals a rising awareness towards robotics use by consumer internet firms. This will benefit both public and private robot firms, such as iRobot Corp, an American advanced tech company that designs robots for both home cleaning and military purposes, which experienced a stock value rise of 17.3 percent after the Silicon Valley giant last purchase. “It really validates what is going on in the robotics industry. Google is not going to do something small. If they are getting into this, they believe it is a large market. I think it’s going to float everyone’s boat in the robotics industry,” explained Tom Ryden, chief operating officer of VGo Communications Inc., a Nashua robot maker which has sold hundreds of robots for remote video-teleconferencing in schools and hospitals and has risen up to 18 million dollars in funding. Google Plus service Chief Executive Larry Page said that he was excited about Andy Rubin’s next assignment and was eager to see the progress, for Rubin’s last big betAndroid-started off as a crazy proposition that ended up putting a computer in hundreds of millions of pockets. The impact and result of having Google working along with the advanced robotics
firms are infinite. For now, one of the most relevant outcomes is the push that the tech giant is giving to robotics. The robot renaissance is stating and Google is not the only one leading it, Amazon recently announced plans to set up a fleet of delivery specialized advanced drones and Apple Inc. has become more interested in artificial intelligence as well, purchasing the Israeli fables semiconductor firm PrimeSense, specialized in gesture control and 3D sensory technology. Frank Tobe, editor of the industry blog The Robot Report, wrote that the phenomenon is happening because the public is beginning to see clearly that androids and robots are cheaper and functionally faster than ever, which motivates people to conceive using them in their factories and stores. Nowadays, around 100 robotics companies are based in Massachusetts, which has one of the largest robotics firms and researchers concentrations in the United States. In total, the state’s robotics companies recorded 52.4 million in private investment in 2011 and almost 2 billion dollars in sales. According to the Mass Technology Leadership Council, the industry employees more than 3,200 people.
095 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Since the fall of its renowned “Wall�, Berlin, the European city that once represented division and tension, has spent the last two decades transforming its society and atmosphere in every facet. The German capital has become one the most tolerant, diverse, fresh, and vivid metropolis in the old continent. From music, art, and cuisine to history, culture, and heritage, the city offers a great variety of reasons not just to travel and explore but also to invest and crystallize successful business plans.
096 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Berlin 097 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
With a population of 3.4 million citizens, Berlin is the largest city in Germany and is the second most populous city proper as well as the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union. The metropolis is situated in the northeastern Germany and is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has around 4.5 million residents from over 180 countries. Furthermore, around one third of the urban area is composed of parks, garden, rivers, forests, and lakes, which enrich the environment for those who inhabit or visit the city.
098 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Potsdam_Brandenburger 099 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
For those interested in making business in the great German city, it is vital to know that its economy is primarily supported by high-tech industries along with the service sector that encompasses around 80 percent of all companies doing business. The latter segment includes a diverse range of research facilities, convention venues, creative industries and media corporations. Other important industries in the zone include communications, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, traffic engineering, biotechnology, and renewable energy. Companies such as the state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn, Bayer Health Care, Air Berlin, and Siemens-considered a Fortune Global 500 company as well as one of the 30 German DAX companies-are headquartered in Berlin. 100 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Campus Adlershof
Concerning research and scientific progress, it is worth mentioning that the Berlin-Brandenburg region ranks among the three most innovative zones in the European Union and is a great place to nurture new inventions, discoveries, and products. In addition, the Science and Business Park of Berlin Adlershof, a district emerging on 420 hectares of southeastern Berlin, is among the 15 largest technology parks of the world and it hosts close to 820 companies and institutions, employing close to 14,000 people. The conglomerate’s most recent findings, achievements, and products have already attained international renown, for the complex won the “Excellence for Innovative Regions Award� at the 3rd European Forum for Innovative Companies in 2002. 101 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Being technology and social networks some of the basic ingredients in business nowadays, before attending an international symposium or starting any enterprise in Berlin, it is of great importance that you get along with the leading Business Network in Germany: XING. Like the American LinkedIn, this social software platform-with around 10 million users, mostly from
Xing 102 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Austria, Germany, and Switzerland-offers a small-world network for professionals and allows its members to check personal profiles, join discussion forums, and coordinate events, among other usual social community features. Furthermore, those accessing with a premium membership can benefit from better functions such as searching for people with precise qualifications and messaging users to whom one is not connected yet.
If you are looking for business contacts in the German metropolis you will definitely need to be ready and active on XING, for LinkedIn has just started to approach this market segment and only has around 1 million users. It is uncertain if the American social network will succeed in convincing XINGs users to migrate from its platform, since LinkedIn is perceived by Germans only as an international CV database which lacks the offer of many events in Germany and fails to cultivate a powerful network of trust through physical meetings. 103 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Berlin is among the top three convention cities of the globe and it is home to the biggest convention center in Europe, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC). A variety of large-scale trade fairs have their quarters in the German capital, such as the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA), one of the world’s most important trade shows for home appliances and consumer electronics; the Grune Woche (Green Week), an international fair for marketers and processors in agriculture and diverse food industries; InnoTrans, focused on transport technology and innovative components for vehicles; Artforum, which promotes arts, and the ITB, which is one of the world’s leading travel trade show presenting tour operators, destinations, booking systems, hotels, carries, and more.
104 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC) 105 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
In a cosmopolite city such as Berlin different kind of business opportunities can be found. For instance, the creative arts sector is very promising and includes areas such as music, advertising, film, design, architecture, fashion, art, publishing, performing arts, software, R&D, radio, video games, and television. There are about 22,600 creative enterprises in the urban area which generate over 18.6 billion Euros in total income. Consequently, it was estimated that the creative industries contributed a 20 percent of Berlin’s gross domestic product in 2005. Getting into more specific grounds, let’s talk about a truly successful art industry in the city: film. The German metropolis has reestablished itself as a media capital, looking for regaining the reputation it had back in the Golden Twenties of the past century. A vivid proof of these efforts are the multiple film premieres featuring international stars which take
106 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
place frequently; Berlin International Film Festival is not the only occasion for rolling out the red carpet! In addition, the city has being used as a backdrop for a great range of movies and film companies across the world appreciate the local affordable production conditions.
Berlin International Film Festival 107 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
If what you are looking for is to promote your company or product within the German market, Berlin is the place, for it is home to more than 1000 international and regional radio and television stations as well as film production companies. For instance, the public broadcaster RBB and the commercial broadcasters VIVA, N24, and MTV Europe have their headquarters in the city. The German international public broadcaster
108 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Deutsche Welle has settled its TV production unit in the city along with most national German broadcasters, including ZDF and RTL. Even the American radio programming from National Public Radio is broadcasted on the FM dial. In addition to the audiovisual media, written classics are available as well. Berlin has the largest number of daily newspapers in Germany, which include numerous local broadsheets like the Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, and Der Tagesspiegel, as well as three major tabloids and the different national dailies like the Die Welt, Junge Welt, Newues Deutschland, and Die Tagerszeitung, all with different political affiliations.
Deutsche Welle 109 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
When choosing a great business destination, iconic places, culture, entertainment, restaurants, and touristic attractions are relevant elements in the check list. Berlin meets all the requirements. In a city that hit the record of 24 million overnight stays in 2012 and that is considered a continental hub for rail and air transport business can bloom and expand easily. Just imagine how many cultures and people you may encounter while strolling the emblematic streets or drinking your favorite beer in a local pub. The possibilities are countless.
110 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Berlin was acknowledged as the “City of Design� by UNESCO in 2005, with that fact in mind, picture how many interesting artistic disciplines you may find. Some of the places highly recommended to visit include a great selection of art scenes: the city is home of approximately 420 art galleries. Here, you may approach young people and international artists who might even be living in the city. Furthermore, the city counts with 153 museums form which the Museum Island is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Other relevant spots include the National Gallery, specialized in European painting from the 20th Century; the Jewish Museum, which features a remarkable exhibition on the two millennia of the German-Jewish history, and Natural History Museum, which exhibits the largest mounted dinosaur in the world-a brachiosaurus.
The Jewish Museum 111 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
If you are fond of live action performances and would like to have a relaxing moment after a business meeting, Berlin is also the place. Home of more than 50 theaters, the German capital offers a great mixture of performances and shows. The city also has three main opera houses-The Berlin State Opera (the oldest, opened in 1742), the Deutsche Oper, and the Komische Oper-and seven symphony orchestras, featuring The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, considered one of the most preeminent orchestras in the globe.
112 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 113 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Energy and Renewables Saudi Downstream
Date: 04 - 05 March, 2014
The Forum Showcasing the Kingdom’s industrial offerings to the world and highlighting strategic investment opportunities Held annually in a different industrial city and under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Adbullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Saudi Downstream combines a strategic conference and international exhibition. The forum annually attracts the biggest international downstream players, with over 20 sponsors, 450 delegates and 50 exhibitors participating each year..
Venue: Yanbu, Saudi Arabia East Texas Oilfield Expo
Date: 05 - 06 March, 2014
The East Texas Oilfield Expo is the largest oil and gas trade show in the ArkLaTex. This year’s event will feature over 800 exhibitors, heavy equipment area, industry speakers, demonstrations, door prizes and more. This industry-oriented expo is meant to stimulate the regional oil and gas industry by allowing companies to come together and network about new technology, industry and product developments, and to showcase these developments to an audience made exclusively of oil and gas professionals. This years event will also feature an Open Golf Tournament on March 6th.
Venue: Longview, United States of America Clean Energy Building
Date: 06 - 08 March, 2014
Clean Energy Building allows for the international growth of the markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency through its international focus and communication. Clean Energy Building comprises international, national and regional conferences, congresses and workshops in the fields of technology, R&D, marketing, consulting, international markets, software, finance, promotional programmes, emission trading and networking.
Venue: Stuttgart, Germany
Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo
Date: 12 - 13 March, 2014
Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo is one of the unique trades fair which offers excellent platform for the fuel marketing and convenience store. This event is organized by Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama at Biloxi, USA.
Venue: Biloxi, United States of America 114 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Construction CSC Toronto Chapter Trade Show
Date: 05 - 05 March, 2014
CSC Toronto Chapter Trade Show is in its 35th year and having been there since so many years, it has acquired the status of a veteran show for the construction industry here. Construction sector is booming and being hosted in a favorable place, the event will get maximum exposure which will help it become a successful commercial venture. The expo will feature a number of added attractions which will also attract a large number of visitors.
Venue: Toronto,Canada Fencetech
Date: 06 - 08 March, 2014
Fencetech ranks as one of the premier security fencing, railing and deck-manufacturing trade shows in the world. The Fencetech 2014 show is held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in the United States and is attended by more than 4500 visiting participants at each of its editions. The show serves as an ideal platform for leading professionals from the fencing industry to meet and directly interact with each other, exchanging the latest information and updates from this sector. The total number of exhibitors taking part at the show stands at an impressive 300 and different types of chain link products, fence accessories, gateoperating tools, access control instruments vinyl products and railing items are showcased during the event. A large contingent of senior corporate personnel and purchasing authorities attend the show on a regular basis and welding tools and home and garden fences are also displayed here.
Venue: Las Vegas, United States of America Central Valley Facilities Expo
Date: 12 - 13 March, 2014
Central Valley Facilities Expo is designed to provide solutions to industrial end-users to keep their facilities and operations running safely, smoothly and efficiently.
Venue: Modesto, United States of America Budma
Date: 11 - 14 March, 2014
BUDMA-International Construction Fair-Building Technology, Building Equipment, Building Materials, Interior Construction, Building Advisory, Glass Construction, Windows, Doors, Gates, Information Systems, Communication Systems, Chemical Auxiliaries for the Building Industry, Roof Construction.
Venue: Poznan, Poland
115 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Manufacturing Expo Manufactura
Date: 04 - 06 March, 2014
Expo Manufactura is recognized as the leader among Mexico’s metalworking and manufacturing events. With renewed growth in the manufacturing sector, EXPO MANUFACTURA will be the meeting place where buyers and builders come photo together to exchange ideas and conduct business transactions. The exhibition will create the best international business environment where professionals will meet to talk about key industry topics.
Venue: Monterrey, Mexico Active Vital
Date: 07 - 09 March, 2014
The Active Vital is one of the famous events going to be organized to focus on fitness and wellness, nutrition, beauty and natural beauty. This is one of the most important events as it constitutes the most critical issue, i.e. fitness and wellness. It is based on the concept that an individual can provide the best output if he is completely fit and fine. It serves the motto of enhancing the health and wellness sector by creating new methods of treatment. Active Vital event has the principle to attract modern healthcare consulting service providers to promote system and practice modernization.
Venue: Dresden, Germany Satellite
Date: 10 - 13 March, 2014
Satellite is an event during which long-term business contacts are developed, contracts are signed, products are demonstrated and leaders within our industry share marketplace intelligence and business solutions. The satellite industry’s most comprehensive and established conference and exposition invites you to be a part of SATELLITE, presented by Via Satellite magazine, an Access Intelligence publication.
Venue: Washington, United States of America IFAI Canada Expo
Date: 13 - 14 March, 2014
The IFAI Canada Expo is one of fourteen divisions and country sectors within the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). Divisions and country sectors are organized groups of Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) members who share common interests and concerns in a particular market and actively work toward solutions to common industry problems.
Venue: Toronto, Canada
116 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Logistics and Supply Chain MarineTech Bangladesh
Date: 12 - 14 March, 2014
International Marine Industrial Equipment and Shipbuilding Technology Trade Show of MarineTech Bangladesh 2014. An One2One business meet is scheduled to be held on 12-14 March, 2014. Top listed Exhibitors and Special Foreign Delegation will be meeting with local registered visitors to search agents, dealers, partners and key business ideas for local collaboration.
Venue: Dhaka, Bangladesh Flint Camper and RV Show
Date: 13 - 16 March, 2014
Flint Camper and RV Show will take place in Flint, United States Of America for four consecutive days. The primary objective of this international trade show is to bring into lime light the importance and value of camping and RV lifestyle in the recent times. All sorts of latest and advanced RV sales and service and modern methods of camping will be highlighted in this event. Professional experts related to this field will take an active part in this event and will make this event more advanced and more popular.
Venue: Flint, United States of America Oapt Conference And Trade Show
Date: 16 - 19 March, 2014
Oapt Conference And Trade Show will be held for a period of four days in Dublin, United States Of America. More than three hundred school Transportation Directors and Supervisors from all over the world will attend this event and will get a chance to get familiar with all kinds of pupil transportation program and all sorts of products and services related to school transportation industry. The presence of pupil transportation administrators will make this event more valuable.
Venue: Dublin, United States of America Supply Chain & Transportation Usa
Date: 17 - 20 March, 2014
Supply Chain & Transportation Usa is an international trade fair that will be held in Atlanta, the United States of America for the period of four days. It is intended to facilitate the supply and transportation and logistics industry. This business to business affair will promote new industrial technologies and innovative transportation possibilities in every sphere of the commercial market in the international level. This public forum will smooth the progress of global logistics industry while enhancing networking opportunities.
Venue: Atlanta, United States of America
117 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014
Food and Drink Snaxpo
Date: 01 - 04 March, 2014
SNAXPO is the world’s largest tradeshow of its kind that brings the complete International snack food industry under one roof. Owners, executives and buyers from around the globe throng to SNAXPO to explore the latest trends in the industry and make the best out of the contact base that the show offers. Be it startups or organizations with a strong presence in the international market, SNAXPO gives common business grounds to all.
Venue: Dallas, United States of America International Fast Food Fair
Date: 04 - 06 March, 2014
International Fast Food Fair is an International exhibition of food products, drinks and equipment for the fast food industry in Russia. This is one of the biggest exhibition in Moscow for food and beverage sector which will be held between 04-06 March 2014 and being organized by ITE LLC MOSCOW.
Venue: Moscow, Russia Cafe Asia
Date: 06 - 08 March, 2014
Cafe Asia offers a comprehensive range of brewing and serving equipments which are manufactured by applying advanced technologies. This show aims to benefit the cafe community sector by providing the branded range of products which are easy to handle and effortless to install. The event strives to offer complete information about the recent inventions which have come up to promote the cafeteria industry.
Venue: Singapore, Singapore Salon De Gourmets
Date: 10 - 13 March, 2014
The Salon De Gourmets event will be taking place in Madrid and will be held over a period of four days. The show will be heading the twenty-eighth edition of the exhibition which will be hosted by 1,270 exhibitors. The show is expected to draw in 78,444 trade professionals. The exhibition will display more than thirty eight thousand fine food products to the targeted delegates and increase the product visibility. This show will help the exhibitors to increase the brand recognition and explore the business in the regional market as well as in the international market. The Salon De Gourmets event will provide the visitors with an opportunity to buy the food product from the exhibition.
Venue: Madrid, Spain
118 / Industry Leaders Magazine / January 2014