The report shows that the number of students involved in internships is expected to increase by 4 percent this year, a sign that employers nationwide are turning to experiential education to save money on labor costs. The report also shows that the number of paid opportunities is set to drop by 8 percent in addition to a wage decline of 4 percent, bringing the national average intern wage to $12.38 an hour. However, unpaid and low-paid experiences do not typically translate into results for employers.

The report details that offering as little as one dollar extra per hour could have a direct impact on the student’s future career path and acceptance of a job offer. For example, students who were paid an average of $13.80 strongly agreed they would consider working for their internship employer full-time, where students who earned $11.39 strongly disagreed.

“This is impressive data. We are finally able to directly connect internship program success with the amount of money paid to students,” says Intern Bridge Founder, Richard Bottner. “Unpaid internships have been the status quo for too long, especially when in many cases it actually works against the employers. It’s a practice that needs additional attention. Employers simply do not realize the negative impact unpaid internships have on their business, the economy, and students.”

The report also details that 77 percent of students need to work second jobs when working an unpaid internship experience, with only 35 percent of the total student population able to receive any sort of financial support from their parents. This leaves less time available for interns to focus on working for their employers, or requires students to miss out on important academic activities.

“Part of the problem is that some companies believe that students seek internships to get rich. The data does not support that,” Bottner adds. In fact, the top 8 reasons student pursue internships have to do with building their network and learning about an industry – nothing to do with money. Further, 7 out of 10 students would accept less pay in exchange for greater work experience.

More information about the “2010 Internship Salary Report” can be found online at: www.internbridge.com/workshops/interncomp.htm .

About Intern Bridge:
Intern Bridge was founded by Richard Bottner in 2005 while he was a student at Babson College. Intern Bridge is now the nation’s leading college recruiting consulting firm which serves to assist employers in building meaningful and effective internship programs. Bottner recently published “Total Internship Management: The Employer’s Guide To Building The Ultimate Internship Program.”

More information: www.internbridge.com .

Insight’s newly released market analysis report, “Telecom Services in Vertical Markets, 2009-2014″ reveals that wireless service revenues are expected to grow at a compounded rate of nearly 18.4 percent annually from 2009 to 2014, while growth in wired services remains essentially flat. The biggest spenders on cellular services will come from four market segments: construction; financial, insurance, and real estate; professional business services; and transportation.

The study analyzes 14 vertical industries categorized by the NAICS, and focuses on corporate spending for wireline and wireless telecommunications services in each of the 14 industries.

“The year 2009 was all about cut backs and retrenchment in every industry sector we examined,” says Robert Rosenberg, President of Insight.

“However, it is continued demand for wireless services that will keep the telecom industry in the black over the next five years-and that demand is going to be uneven across the various business sectors,” Rosenberg concludes.

An excerpt of this market research report, table of contents, and ordering information are available online: www.insight-corp.com/reports/vert09.asp .

This 115-page report is available immediately for $3,995 (hard copy). Electronic (PDF) reports can be ordered online.

From mobile Internet to radio that you can listen to anytime, anywhere and with audiobooks available for download at the touch of a button on revolutionary mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and now the newest Apple product, the iPad, the prospects for working voice actors has never been so bright.

Audiobook Highlights:
* Audiobook CD sales represent 72 percent of the audio market.
* Audiobook downloads grew to 21 percent of the market.
* Cassette sales stayed the same since 2007, accounting for 3 percent of sales in 2008.

Mobile Gaming Highlights:
* The number of offerings on the App Store hit 150,000 recently and includes popular games like Texas Hold’em and Crash Bandicoot, business tools like Bloomberg News and Salesforce Mobile, and social networking programs like Facebook and Twitter.
* Games spend an average of 21 minutes of game play and 65 page views per iPhone player session, compared to 11 minutes and 15 page views for sessions on other phones.

Podcasting Highlights:
* 150,000 podcasts currently available in the Apple iTunes Store.
* 7.1 million people listened to podcasts in 2009, less than 4 percent of US Internet users.
* Another 50 million people accessed podcasts and Internet radio on average each month.

To access the 32-page 2010 Report on the Voice Over Industry, simply call 1-888-359-3472 to receive the download link via email.

About Voices:

Voices.com was established in 2004 and is now the technology and industry leading website that connects businesses with professional voice talents. Radio and television stations, advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies rely upon the Voices.com marketplace to search for, audition and hire voice talents with the assistance of our innovative SurePay(TM) escrow service and our Web application.

The winner of several awards, including the 1to1 Impact Award for Full-Suite CRM, CRM Elite Award, and the DigiFest New Voices Award, Voices.com has raised its profile significantly this year ranking on the PROFIT Hot 50 recognizing 534 percent growth over the past two years and just this summer was featured on Backbone Magazine’s and KPMG’s annual Pick 20 Listing as an “innovative company.” Clients include NBC, ESPN, PBS, The History Channel, Reader’s Digest, Comcast, the US Army, the US Government and thousands more.

More information: www.voices.com .

The snacks, which were presented to every athlete at the opening ceremony in the Olympic Village, include Snack-ens, a pretzel mix with bagel chips, craisins, salsa rice triangles and green apple chips to provide an even and constant supply of energy.

In keeping with the Winter Olympics green mission and commitment to carbon neutral events, the snack packaging was custom created of PLA (polylactic acid) a compostable plastic film derived from corn starch. So – not only are the snacks healthy, delicious and not too filling – the packaging won’t spend centuries clogging landfills.

About Unique Amenities:

In 2007, Simon Sheiner left the commercial real estate arena to pursue his passion for a greener lifestyle and ideology. He and wife Libby launched Unique Amenities based on their commitment to creating spa, bath and treatment products and guest amenities with a conscience, for the hotel and hospitality industries. In 2010, the thirty-something couple expanded their business to include snacks, after being approached to create the athletes snack food for the Olympic Winter Games. The nut-free snacks presented in compostable packaging were enjoyed by every athlete in the Olympic Village.

For more information Visit Unique Amenities online at www.uniqueamenities.com .

Katz will discuss how small and mid-sized food companies and brands should use interactive marketing and social media strategies to grow their brands. Katz is a food and beverage brand marketing expert and Adjunct Instructor of Brand Management at the Fisher College of Business MBA Program at The Ohio State University. During the session, participants will review examples of some of the industry’s best practices and case studies, including: Stacy’s Pita Chips, Little Debbie, Sopakco, CafeMom, Hungry-Girl.com, and Whole Foods Market.

When asked about the session Katz replied, “Food companies must focus on their marketing strategy and goals, and not overreact to new tactics. While mid-sized companies can adapt and capitalize on high-growth platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they also should seize growth opportunities from more basic tools like web optimization, database marketing, and customer service.”

The presentation will offer attendees practical ways to focus on practical and immediate ways to grow sales through interactive marketing and social media, including:
1. Build competitive web presence.
2. Build and harvest customer/consumer databases.
3. Leverage customer service 2.0.
4. Monitor and listen to target consumers.
5. Capitalize on personal social media; prioritize Facebook, communities, and YouTube.
6. Network and develop business with business social media; leverage LinkedIn.
7. Market consistently across media.
8. Measure and refine programs.

About Katz Marketing Solutions:

Katz Marketing Solutions, www.katzmarketingsolutions.com, is a brand and marketing consulting firm that specializes in growing food and beverage and consumer products brands and businesses and is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Arkansas Business produces the annual business awards to honor outstanding companies and non-profits around the state who have excelled and prospered in the previous year. A panel of judges from different disciplines chooses a winner in three business categories based on company size. They also honor a non-profit organization and choose an “executive of the year.”

CustomXM is a family-owned business started in 1966 by Ira and Mary Strack and now run by their son Paul Strack. CustomXM began as a traditional commercial printing concern and has, over the last few years, retooled and rebranded themselves as a provider of cross-media, interactive marketing solutions, as well as a traditional print provider.

“This award is the culmination of the 44 years of work and dedication that my parents have invested in our company and of the work of our most valuable asset: our employees. To receive this level of recognition is also an affirmation of the rebranding and repositioning we embarked upon in the last 5 years. We are also honored to be included in this category with the other fine companies, Fischer Honey, Sells Agency, Legacy Capital Group and Tobi Fairley Interior Designs. We wish them the very best in the future as well,” said Paul Strack, President, CustomXM.

To learn more about CustomXM, visit the website at www.customxm.com .

“The equine industry is commonly known to be very labor intensive, with no time to sit at a desk,” Cheek explained. “We have no cutting edge options for marketing. I wanted to create something easy and effective that I would use for my own horse business. In this economic climate there is a critical need for all of us in the horse business to adopt some sort of marketing strategy.”

EquinePro provides entertaining and educational content that is appropriate for all disciplines, then twice each month, distributes the newsletter on behalf of the equine professional to their clients and prospective clients. One of the many benefits of this newsletter is that it functions as an electronic business card, keeping products and services at the forefront of the minds of their targeted market.

The newsletter will position an equine professional as the local expert while stimulating new referrals and business leads.

According to the American Horse Council, there are approximately 9.2 million horses in the U.S. used for racing, showing, breeding, recreation and sport.

Equine Trainers Newsletter is an online company with offices at 5000 Birch Street, West Tower, Suite 3000, Newport Beach, California 92660.

More information: www.equinetrainersnewsletter.com .

“Part of why we love these larger broadcast design projects is that they give us more opportunities to create and flesh out our ideas due to the inter-connected nature of a Show Package,” said Paragon’s Lead Creative Juicer, Andrew Davies. “Plus we get to do it from the comfort of our slice of paradise here in Savannah, Georgia, even though our clients are increasingly based in other parts of the country or overseas.”

Paragon is headed by three Savannah College of Art and Design alumni, Andrew Davies, Susan Isaacs and Philip Joyner, who all made a conscious decision to trade big-city bustle for coastal-community charisma. After almost nine years in business, the decision continues to pay off in unimaginable ways.

“When we show our work to national clients they are sometimes surprised that this is the caliber of work coming out of such a small town,” commented Susan Isaacs, Paragon’s Head Strategic Focus-izer, “but more often than not, they immediately get the connection to SCAD as a huge talent resource, and quite frankly it’s not uncommon for them to say they’ve visited Savannah and would love to live here, too!”

Specifically for “Cantore Stories,” Paragon flexed its broadcast design muscle by creating the show’s logo and then providing the network with a kit of motion-graphic parts to be used for flexibility in assembling transitions, promos and other sequences. The primary challenge they had to creatively overcome was the need to develop a customized end title treatment to correspond with the show’s differing locations and weather conditions. Knowing they couldn’t possibly produce all of the necessary parts for each individual show, Paragon capably met the show’s request by designing templates based on four major color schemes that would give The Weather Channel’s team of animators the ability to create future show elements with ease, all while remaining true to the brand.

“Since we knew we were going to be handing over the project files to TWC’s animators, we made sure that all of the effects we created were done without any special third-party plug-ins. This gave them complete freedom to re-purpose specific elements without risk of incompatibility between our machines and theirs,” remarked Davies.

As for The Weather Channel’s approval of the end product? “We had a vision for Cantore Stories and Paragon turned our words into reality,” stated Ray Sams, Creative Director of Programming and Production at TWC. “During the RFP process, a member of our review committee asked me who created the winning design pitch, an agency from New York or LA? When I replied Paragon was located in Savannah a few eyebrows raised. Paragon delivered a killer package and continues to draw attention to the Creative Coast.”

Of course, as any design studio would be, Paragon was thrilled to dig into its own toy chest of design applications and get to work. Their tools of choice? 3D elements were created in Cinema4D leaving the rest, including simulated weather elements and compositing, to Adobe After Effects.

“One of the challenges we’ve had to adapt to has been the move to HD,” said Philip Joyner, Paragon’s Head Production Maverick. “We’re dealing with some pretty large files but with some creative asset management in-house, we’re able to handle the rendering and storage of 1080p HD digital files, and deliver them with no problems. We deal with revisions and approval all online and digitally send final files via FTP. As we grow to meet even larger challenges, we now have an ally in another Savannah company, Meddin Studios, which allows for faster delivery, asset-management, and previews. With these options available, we can work with anyone, anywhere!”

The Weather Channel has always taken an innovative approach in the creation of stimulating weather programming, which aligned perfectly with Paragon’s style of creative design. TWC continues in this spirit with the addition of such improvements as enhancing graphics, maps and programming for local forecasts and national broadcasts, along with programming in High Definition (HD) from a new 12,500-square-foot facility. TWC will continue to strengthen their competitive position by delivering more visually impactful programming that gives the audience a vivid experience.

Paragon Design Group is known for creating smart design for evolving brands. Whether designing for motion graphics, print or Web, Paragon loves working with clients who are passionate about what they do and are ready to take their brands to the next level. As individuals, the members of Paragon are admittedly a little whacky, but when it comes to client work, they couldn’t be more serious.

Find out more by visiting www.iamparagon.com or 912.238.1991.

There are other grounds for everyone to hate us. Hell, after seeing most of these ads, I hate us. What is more to the point, I am ashamed to admit that I have anything to do with the advertising profession. Other than making money from it, of course.

Okay, on to the ads.

Rogaine Hair Growth Scam Foam
The procession of hype got off to a tacky start with a cheesy bit of sleaze. This spot made everyone in the room say “eeauw.”

Callaway Golf Clubs
Nifty production with nice graphics and lots of fast cuts. The whole thing screams “high tech” but there’s no way to tell what the hell is going on. Why is the golf club good? Why should anyone care? Around here, we believe everyone who plays golf should be quickly killed (except for those who feel their death should be as slow as possible) so it’s difficult to give this ad the benefit of the doubt.

Hyundai Sonata
The Korean carmaker bought a whole fleet of commercials, all featuring cool and assured voiceover work from Jeff Bridges. The first spot offered some nice sheet metal shots. No big deal, but the car looked great. Another ad showed part of the automaker’s painting process. It made the Sonata look like it had about three inches of coating and convinced me to go see the car up close. In a wonderful change-up, one of their spots showed Brett Favre’s acceptance speech for the 2020 MVP award. As we were chuckling, Mr. Bridges gently reminded us that we cannot know about ten years in the future except for the fact that Hyundai’s 10-year warranty will still be in effect. Wonderful.

Bud Light, Budweiser, Michelob
Also purchasing a passel of promo announcements was Anheuser-Busch, the beer-making giant (nearly 50% of the U.S. market with 100 different brands). One of their Bud Light spots featured a house constructed out of the product, which probably made some folks laugh, in the same way that some people still laugh at SNL sketches. Another spot was a parody of “Lost,” which might be entertaining for those who watch “Lost.” One commercial was pretty cool, with party-goers’ voices filtered through an Antares Auto-Tune. A Michelob Light ad showcased Lance Armstrong and, well, I don’t know what the hell was going on in the ad (or I just was so unimpressed that I can’t recall any of it). One Budweiser spot seemed to suggest cross-species dating between a horse and bull; not certain what this has to do with beer. Another spot for Budweiser had people forming a human bridge to allow a Bud delivery truck to cross a stream. Why? How? Can you say “listen to the sound of crickets” while we wait for the nervous laughter? I mean, seriously, guys, WTF? People, why do you purchase products made by firms that hold you in such contempt? (And BTW, what’s with using Elmer Bernstein’s score for “Stripes” on the spot? It’s brilliant music, but for the licensing fee you could have hired an up-and-coming composer to create something new.)

Snickers
The idea of Betty White and Abe Vigoda playing on tackle football teams in the park is humorous. The idea. But not the script, direction, editing, or acting. Snickers left a bad taste in one’s mouth.

Pam and Tim Tebow
Here’s the controversial spot for anti-family-planning that rightwingnuts at CBS approved for some reason. Best line from the party when this spot finished: “If only Pam had been aborted we wouldn’t have to endure this.” (Image from spot, shown at left.)

Boost Mobile
Wow, talk about stupid ads. If ever there was a way to tell people you are an antiquated, out-of-date, know-nothing firm, it would be to use a nursery rhyme rap with irrelevant spokespeople like half-dead ex-Chicago Bears football players.

Robin Hood
Hey, look, they’re re-releasing the Kevin Costner movie! No? Oh, that must mean the Mel Brooks “Men in Tights” spoof is coming back with a portentous soundtrack. No? Well, it couldn’t be that Ridley Scott has now descended even lower than when he made a “Silence of the Lambs” sequel and is now doing a . . . dare I say it? . . . remake! How the mighty have fallen.

Doritos
Several spots, all snarky, but some got laughs, such as the one where a little kid slaps a would-be suitor to his mom. Others, such as a guy eating while inside a coffin, had the effect of equating Doritos with the urge to vomit.

GoDaddy.com
I like cheesecake, pretty girls, and double entendres as much as the next guy, but most of the GoDaddy.com spots are just so-so. They work at getting your attention, but they tell you little about the company. However, I use GoDaddy.com for my web site hosting and since they provide superb customer service every time I call with a question, I am going to give them a pass. (Now, if they could only get THAT point across in one of their commercials.)

Bridgestone Tires
These folks are a puzzle to me. They have a product that interests me and almost every guy who drives a car or truck. They spend a ton of money producing their commercials. Yet they never show their tires or demonstrate any product benefit. What’s up with that? A speeding truck skids and spins to a halt. A speeding car safely stops on a slick highway. Yeah, so? Unless you tell me why a Bridgestone tire does this more efficiently, effectively, more safely, or for less money, I’m going to buy Goodyear or Michelin or Continental or Pirelli or anybody that tells me something about tread, traction, handling, etc.

Cars.com
Ultra-successful guy’s life is shown but it turns out he’s nervous about buying a car. So Cars.com is his choice to resolve that problem. It made me smile and it showed how their service might help me in the future. Of course, since it doesn’t feature people acting stupidly, it won’t win any audience polls. But it will HELP SELL THE PRODUCT, which some people in this industry seem to have overlooked.

Careerbuilder.com
We are as grossed out as the spot’s narrator as he tries to avoid looking too closely at the work force showing up in underwear for “casual day.” So I’d try to find another job, too. But how does this demonstrate that Careerbuilder.com is the place for the job search? Hey, maybe he landed this bad job through that site.

Dockers
Immediately following the underwear brigade was the “I wear no pants” patrol. It’s like when you open the newspaper movie section and see ads for “Legion” and “Tooth Fairy” and they both feature a guy with large white wings.

Dove for Men
YGTBFKM. This abomination appears designed to drive men away from the products. Perhaps the idea is to convince women they should buy this crap for their husbands and boyfriends.

Dodge
Oh wait, now YGTBFKM. Really, this must be seen to be believed. The message of the commercial is: whipped guys drive Dodge.

Acura ZDX
Great music track and nice shots of the vehicle. Okay, it’s not award-winning and won’t score high in the polls. But it will make me check out the car. Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought that was the point of doing a commercial.

Living Spaces and Carl’s Jr.
Ahh, local dreck bringing everything down a notch with their cheapo craptacular approach to advertising.

Carmax
Wait, here’s a national spot that is confusing and stupid. Something about animals watching auto sales on television? The marketing team was combining Jim Beam with lysergic acid diethylamide.

Monster.com
Okay, there’s this violin-playing beaver. It’s funny already, right? Yeah, so, he plays for tips in the street and then uses Monster.com to move up in the world, until he plays Carnegie Hall and ends up cavorting in a hot tub with a predatory blonde.

Wrap Up:
There were several million more commercials in the broadcast, but they made me so sick to my stomach that I stopped watching. Anyone who endures that much crap is a moron or owns stock in one of the advertising firms. Ain’t that America.

An article from A.P. in BusinessWeek (among other places, www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9DGTGVG3.htm ), points to a story titled “Blue Cross agrees to pay $95K on illegal robocalls.” According to the story from Jan. 28, 2010, “North Carolina’s largest health insurer agreed to pay $95,000 to resolve a dispute with the state over 100,000 ‘robocalls’ pushing the company’s views on the national health care debate, officials for the state and the company said Thursday.”

So, looks like California will need to hunt them down next. Evil evil evil. Basically these companies should learn that nobody will do business with a “robocaller,” whether it’s pushing a political agenda, promoting a scumbag local business offering chiropractic services (I got about 100 of those last year before the new law took hold), or from any international company promoting lower insurance rates, or credit card refinancing (yeah, like I’m going to do business with a middle east company asking for my credit card and personal info).

I won’t vote for ANY political campaign that robo-calls me, and will never do business with any company doing robo-dialing. Frack you Blue Cross, and the horse your CEO rode in on.

According to the AP story, “Blue Cross spokesman Lew Borman said the company on Wednesday paid the $95,000 penalty, which will go to the public schools, according to the settlement. The agreement also requires the company to create written guidelines for its employees and vendors to ensure they comply with the robocall rules.”

Hey, did you know we have laws in California governing your crappy marketing? Check out this PDF on the cpuc.ca.gov website: www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/51D7DD5B-9902-4C3B-9EB3-B75F56CBB4C2/0/080129_RobocallADAD_FAQ.pdf .

According to the above document:
When can robocalls (ADADs) be used? What companies or agencies can use them?
Robocalls are only legal when introduced by a live person unless:
1) You are a member or a client of a company or organization that uses them to deliver messages (such as an announcement about a sale) or; 2) The police, fire or emergency service agency uses them to contact you about an emergency.

According tor the CPUC:
What can I do if I receive a robocall that I think is illegal?
1) Call your local telephone company to file a complaint. You must give them the name of who called and if possible the telephone number of the robocaller (it may be provided in the message.)
2) Your telephone company will then tell the business that it is not following the law and may give it some time to correct the problem.
3) If the business does not correct the use of the robocaller by the time given by the telephone company, the telephone company can disconnect the phone line.
4) If you are not satisfied with the telephone company’s response to your robocall complaint, you may contact the CPUC’s Consumer Affairs Branch by filing a complaint online at www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/forms/Complaints/ or by telephone at 1-800-649-7570 or in writing to:
California Public Utilities Commission Consumer Affairs Branch 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-3298.

Check your local state government website for similar laws. It’s a good idea to look at your caller ID and write down each phone number, especially if it’s an 866 (toll free), or an out of area (sometimes doesn’t show number). Keep pen and pad by the phone, and write down the number on your ID. Get in the habit. This will allow you to file complaints against these scumbag companies and eventually your state may go after them, if applicable. Of course, you can’t do anything about the calls coming from India (etc.), but many of these robo-callers think they have the right to harass you.

And bozos like Anthem use a system which will keep calling you EVERY DAY until you listen to their stupid message, and sit through the verbal feedback system to identify 1) the person calling is not available (they then ask to leave message), then 2) identify they have called the wrong number.

If you’re a customer, call their support number and ask them how to remove your phone number from ALL sales calls. If they fail to help you, ask how to cancel your policy.

Yeah, get in gear asshole. You (Anthem Blue Cross) just won our award for biggest scumbag robo-calling corporate prick of the month. Congratulations.