German sponsors inch across Olympics highwire

The Olympic Games are never just about sport.

So German firms Adidas and Volkswagen, which have both signed up for the right to use the Olympic logo in China, are now busy with a balancing act that sponsors must carry off as the Games approach.

On the one hand, their involvement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics lets them burnish their brands in a fast-growing market: On the other, it is raising objections at home which they need to manage to preserve their image.

"It is not an easy situation for the sponsors," said Wigan Salazar, managing partner for public relations group Publicis Consulting in Germany. "They have to think about certain sections of the market but also the whole market."

In sponsoring the Beijing event despite protests over Tibet, both companies have their sights set on a global market prize for Germany. China, with about 1.3 billion potential consumers, is a battleground where Adidas fights with Nike, and Volkswagen is grappling with General Motors.

"For the first time we will sell more cars as a group this year in China than in Germany," Volkswagen chief executive offiver Martin Winterkorn told German daily Handelsblatt this week. China already accounts for nearly 15 per cent of its auto sales.

But the companies face pressure at home to defend their involvement, and Tibet has been contentious at a political level. Chancellor Angela Merkel rankled Beijing last year by meeting with Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who visited Germany again at the weekend.

Adidas, which says its founder supplied kit to Jesse Owens during the 1936 Berlin Olympics - when he disgusted Hitler by winning four gold medals - is ready for controversy.

"No one in our company is surprised when there are demonstrations surrounding the Games," chief executive officer Herbert Hainer told magazine Der Spiegel earlier this month. "They will not be the last."

Critics used Adidas' annual meeting earlier this month to voice their concerns. Groups including Reporters Without Borders say companies sponsoring the Games are linking their brand with human rights violations in China, and some members of the German Olympic team are planning to wear protest armbands with the slogan "Sport for Human Rights" at the Games.

Mr Hainer sought to absolve the company from responsibility: "We will not let ourselves be held morally responsible for a situation which we did not create and for which we are not accountable," he told the meeting, criticising some protestors as "moralists who just spout rhetoric".

Adidas, Volkswagen and Puma, which is not an official partner but does supply kit to participants, say they have so far seen no damage to their brands from the protests.

But Adidas, which depends on Asia for about one-quarter of its €7.2 billion annual sales, says it cannot rule out a negative effect in the future. To limit any damage in mature markets, all are now navigating a delicate course.

Puma has noted that it was the official sponsor of both the Iranian and Israeli national teams for many years despite the conflict in the Middle East.

"They cannot stand by without commenting on the situation, as a sponsor they must clarify why they are doing it and explain why there are good reasons to sponsor the Olympics," said Mr Salazar.

Adidas' Mr Hainer has said the criticism of sponsors has been particularly loud in the German and French media, but other countries have focused on the positive aspects of the Games.

Volkswagen, one of Germany's most recognised brands and the first foreign auto-maker to enter the Chinese market, took the opportunity of its annual meeting last month to urge the host to open up its society. The group has rejected boycott calls, underlining the Games as an opportunity for China.

The German firms - which unlike the main sponsors including McDonald's, Coca Cola and Visa have marketing rights for the logo in China alone - are not the only targets of controversy about China's Tibet policies.

French retailer Carrefour, not an official sponsor to the Games, said its trading in China had suffered when it became a target of Chinese demonstrations, sparked by pro-Tibet protests in Paris.

Three corporate sponsors of the Olympic torch relay in Japan - Lenovo, Coca-Cola and Samsung - decided against sending vehicles to take part in the flame motorcade through Nagano, two of them citing security concerns.

But the stakes for the German companies are high: China is Germany's most important Asian trading partner and 90 per cent of German companies have expansion plans there, according to the German chambers of industry and commerce (DIHK).

Adidas is targeting €1 billion in sales in China by 2010: Volkswagen expects to sell at least one million vehicles in China this year.

Top global sponsors
May 20 - The Olympic Games are one of the most effective international marketing platforms in the world, reaching billions of people in over 200 countries and territories. Here are facts about the Beijing Games' top 12 global sponsors.

Atos Origin (France): Information Technology. French IT company Atos Origin is building the Olympics computer network. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) does not release details on how much sponsors pay, but Atos Origin is believed to have a combined cash and services payment deal.

Coca-Cola: Non-alcoholic beverages. It has clocked up 80 years of continuous Olympic sponsorship and backed the torch relay since 1996. On April 16, about 100 pro-Tibet activists protested outside its annual meeting. A company statement expressed "deep concern for the situation on the ground in Tibet," but said Coke believes "the Olympics are a force for good".

General Electric: Various products and services. It will provide power, lighting and security such as alarm systems, and ultrasound for doctors to treat athletes. Along with Vivendi, it owns NBC Universal, which has exclusive US TV broadcast rights. GE won the best 'grade' awarded to Games sponsors by US advocacy group Dream for Darfur in November 2007; a C-plus, largely for making contact with the IOC over Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region.

Manulife: Life insurance/annuities. Canada's Manulife Financial Corp, the world's fifth-largest life insurer, became a global sponsor after merging with subsidiary John Hancock insurance in spring of 2004.

Johnson & Johnson: Healthcare products. US-based Johnson & Johnson is sponsoring the Games for the first time as a global partner. It will supply consumer, pharmaceutical and other healthcare products.

Kodak: Film, photographics and imaging. In Beijing, Eastman Kodak Co. will run an imaging centre for photojournalists, a diagnostic centre to treat athletes' injuries, and provide thousands of Olympic identification badges. A sponsor since the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, the company has said it will end its long-running association after Beijing to redirect its marketing strategy.

Lenovo Group: Computing equipment. China's top PC maker Lenovo is the only Chinese company that is a global partner. It aims to showcase technological prowess in computer products and build its brand globally. Lenovo designed the high-tech Olympic torch, constructed to burn brightly even on Mount Everest.

McDonald's: Retail food services. Fast food giant McDonald's Corp. is building four Olympics outlets in Beijing to be staffed by 1,300 of its best personnel from around the world. The official restaurant for the last seven Games, it has been a sponsor since 1976. In 1968 it airlifted hamburgers to US athletes at the Winter Games in Grenoble, France. On Tibet, it said political issues need to be resolved by governments and global institutions such as the UN.

Omega: Time pieces and timing systems. Omega, owned by Switzerland's Swatch Group, has supplied time pieces and timing services for all but three Games since 1932. US actor George Clooney, who advertises Omega watches and has been outspoken over China's role in Sudan's Darfur region, has said he has raised the issue with Omega.

Panasonic: Audio/TV/Video Equipment. Osaka-based Panasonic, a global Olympics partner since 1988, will make Beijing the first Games to be produced and broadcast in high-definition (HD) television, and is also installing 2,000 surveillance cameras at venues. On Tibet, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, maker of the Panasonic brand, has said it would not comment "on political issues concerning any government".

Samsung Electronics: Wireless Communication Equipment. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has been an Olympic TOP sponsor since 1997. On Tibet, it said the Games should not be a focus for demonstrations "and we hope that all people attending the Games recognise the importance of this".

Visa: Consumer Payment Systems (credit cards, etc.) Credit card network Visa Inc.,issuer of more than 1.4 billion cards, has been the official payment service at the last 11 Olympics, and a top-tier sponsor since 1986.

A further 11 China sponsors have rights to use the Olympic logo in China: China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile carrier, Bank of China, the country's largest foreign exchange bank, and Sinopec Corp, Asia's top refiner, are all country sponsors for the Beijing Games.

The perfect 'absentee' employee

You never hear complaints about him from his supervisors and he floods your inbox with great ideas. He is, however, never around. He is a telecommuter.

Telecommuter, teleworker, e-worker, WAHs (work at home), virtual work and mobile workers, telework or the ability to work from anywhere outside your office is being embraced by corporations large and small around the world.

The good
According to Rose Stanley, a work-life practice leader, from the nonprofit association, WorldatWork, trends in e-working will continue to increase globally. "A 2006 estimate by JALA International says there are 100 million workers currently under some type of telework programme (at least one day per month) globally with it forecasted to more than triple by 2030."

While the numbers may seem startling, experts are quick to note that e-working is an extension to concepts such as teleworking and telecommuting which were coined in the 70s by Jack Nilles.

A physicist and engineer from Lawrence University, Nilles demonstrated the first telework project in 1970s.

"At that time, those concepts were limited to certain flexible work practices, in particular working partially from home, say one day per week," says Jasper Lim MS researcher at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. These types of home teleworking were originally used to solve traffic congestion problems, he adds.

The idea was to reduce the need for office space and improve balance of work and family. But, says Lim, since the appearance of new forms of information and communication technologies (such as wireless networks) there are even more e-working practices. "For instance, people can now work on the train during business travel, checked their emails during vacation or even work during a trans-Atlantic flight."

Telework was also the beginning of outsourcing some difficult to staff positions. "IT professionals from India are hired remotely to work for a company based in Europe," says Lim. So as technology evolves, the way people work evolves.

Just as Lim suggests, Robert Smith, director of the US-based ITAC, agrees that technology has driven the tele-commute. Founded in 1993, Smiths' ITAC is an organisation dedicated to awareness, progress and success of work independent of location. He believes people can work from anywhere due to the increasing availability of portable computer and high-speed communication technologies.

"For example, the use of broadband in the U.S. home by teleworkers increased by over 60 percent during the past year resulting in 25.6 million home-based teleworkers with high speed access."

Large companies are finding that employees are more willing to work for flexibility [telework] than ask for more money, says Stanley. And teleworking is a boon to small companies too.

"However," says Lim. "the motivation for applying e-working in a company depends on a number of factors." He suggests that CEOs and CFOs need to ask themselves: Is any employee requesting e-working, such as family life issues? Are there benefits for the company in terms of cost reduction, in terms, for instance, of office space? Does the company care about society and environment - reducing traffic congestion, pollution?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy assists with traumatic injury

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was originally created to treat medical conditions caused by scuba diving. One condition, decompression sickness, or 'the bends,' can be painful and sometimes deadly. During a dive, nitrogen gas enters the body. If a diver surfaces too quickly and returns to normal pressure, the gas expands rapidly inside the body without being released fast enough. In divers, HBOT is also used to treat gas embolism, which occurs when gas bubbles enter arteries, veins and/or capillaries, resulting in poor blood flow.
Traditionally, HBOT uses a pressurized chamber to deliver 100 percent oxygen to the body. In our normal environment, the air we breathe is about 20 percent oxygen and 80 percent nitrogen. According to the United States National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, the air pressure inside a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber is two and one half times greater than normal atmospheric pressure.
For certain conditions approved by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), Medicare and some health insurers will cover HBOT. In private clinics, HBOT sessions can cost from $100 to $200 while hospitals may charge over $1,000.
HBOT has also been found to be effective for traumatic brain injury, strokes, cerebral palsy, autism, near drowning, near hanging, birth injury, genetic disorders like mitochondrial disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, among other conditions.
Paul G. Harch, M.D., a hyperbaric and emergency medicine physician, talks about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Elitist Charge Not New for Obama

Well before Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) remarks about small town voters growing bitter, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) labeled the Democratic presidential candidate an elitist because of one telling item on his resume. Inouye said, during an interview with the Honolulu Advertiser before the Feb. 19 Hawaii caucuses, that Obama may have grown up and graduated high school in the Aloha State, but most Hawaiians know little about him because "he went to Punahou and that was not a school for the impoverished."Obama jumped on the remark, scolding Inouye. "Shame on Danny for trying to pull that stunt," Obama said. "I went to Punahou on a scholarship. I was raised by a single mom and my grandmother." Inouye later apologized to Obama -- and Punahou.

Britain tries to be a nation of savers

Contrary to popular opinion, Britain is a nation of savers as over two thirds of us try to set aside money each month.

However we have many other monthly priorities - including insurance payments, telephone bills and subscription payments - that take precedence over our best savings efforts.
Making regular savings contributions still only takes up a tiny 0.6% of all our of monthly direct debit payments, according to a detailed study of the UK's payment methods carried out especially for This is Money by payments organisation Bacs to celebrate its recent 40th anniversary.
Paying for non-life insurance remained the top priority for people when it comes to setting up regular direct debit payments, which make up over 15% of the 2.85m payments made in 2006, up to which the latest figures are available.
This has overtaken life insurance, which makes up just over 13%, in recent years.
Although direct debit remains the most popular payment method for insurance, the number of people paying for their insurance costs via debit and credit card has doubled in recent years.
Perhaps in a sign of the increasing levels of cheap credit available this century, more and more people were giving less priority to their loan repayments and more to their telephone bills and subscription payments in the last three years.
Between 2000-2006, the number of people making regular loan repayments from their monthly salary fell by 2.2% to 6.2% of all direct debt payments.
Mark Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, said: 'In 2007 alone, we were responsible for processing more than 5.5bn payments. That's an average of 90 payments for every man, woman and child in the UK, a figure which puts us in a unique position when considering the changing household payments landscape.'

$38M deal reached for Minn. bridge collapse victims

By MARTIGA LOHN

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers reached agreement on a $38 million compensation package for victims of a deadly bridge collapse, culminating months of work to provide relief beyond the state's legal liability.
The deal struck in a joint committee of the House and Senate will offer everyone who was on the bridge up to $400,000, with an additional $12.6 million pool for the people who suffered the most severe injuries and losses. Thirteen people died in the Aug. 1 collapse, and 145 were hurt.
"This is what we've been fighting for the whole time," Kimberly Brown, who suffered back, neck and knee injuries, told reporters Friday. "For everything that everybody's been through, thank God that they have figured out a way to help everybody."
The package is expected to be approved by the Legislature on Monday and sent off to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who called it "needed relief and support" for victims.
If victims agreed to take the money, they would have to sign away their rights to sue the state and other governmental entities in Minnesota. They would not be precluded from suing other parties in the collapse.
The deal came after months of hearings and negotiations among lawmakers.
"We believe this is going to be an offer which the survivors would be well advised to accept," one of the negotiators, Democratic Sen. Ron Latz, said at a news conference.
Victims said they were thankful for the compromise.
Jennifer Holmes, who lost her husband, Patrick, in the collapse, thanked lawmakers and said she plans to take the settlement to avoid the waiting and uncertainty she would face if she sued the state.
"There is no way possible that we can get that day back," Holmes said. "Or get back what we have been through in losing our loved ones or going through numerous surgeries that people are still doing. But this does help in making sure that we have a safe future."
Helen Hausmann lost her husband, Peter — the sole breadwinner for Helen and their four children, ages 8 to 17.
"It's been so hard," she said. "Every day, little things he used to do, you find yourself doing it alone. Things we used to decide, I decide by myself. It's so hard. You once were a family of six; you're a family of five."
The Hausmann family has been getting by on Peter's life insurance policy, and compensation from the state will be a big help, her attorney, Bill Harper, said.
"It will not make her whole," he said. "It is a remarkably positive step to keeping her nose above water as she pursues the other potential remedies."
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the collapse. Officials have focused on a design flaw involving gussets, the plates that help connect steel beams, and the weight of construction materials at vulnerable points in the bridge. Victim lawsuits are on hold until a final determination is made.