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influencermagazineuk · 7 months ago

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The Cost of Fast Food in the UK and Its Enduring Appeal in 2024

Fast food. It's a familiar comfort, a quick bite on a busy day, a source of nostalgic memories for many. But in the UK of 2024, with the rising cost of living squeezing wallets tight, is the allure of the golden arches (or the paper crowns at Burger King) enough to keep these chains profitable? Let's delve into the world of fast food costs in the UK and explore whether these eateries can maintain their grip on British taste buds. The Price of a Burger (and Fries): A Breakdown First things first, how much does a typical fast food meal set you back in the UK? Here's a ballpark figure: - Standard burger: Expect to pay around £4-£6 (roughly $5-$7.50 USD) for a basic cheeseburger or similar offering. - Value meals: These combos including fries and a drink can range from £6-£8 (around $7.50-$10 USD), depending on the chain and the size of the meal. - Premium burgers: For those seeking gourmet toppings or larger portions, prices can climb to £8-£10 (roughly $10-$12.50 USD) or even higher. It's no secret that the UK, like many countries, is facing a cost-of-living crisis. Grocery bills are rising, energy costs are soaring, and every pound matters more than ever. This economic reality undeniably impacts consumer behavior, and fast food chains aren't immune. While there's still a market for quick and convenient meals, customers might be opting for cheaper menu options or reducing their fast food frequency altogether. Value meals and budget-friendly options are likely to see a rise in popularity as people prioritize affordability. The fast food landscape in the UK is constantly evolving. Here are some key trends shaping the industry: - Delivery Dominance: The convenience of home delivery has become a major factor for many fast food consumers. Delivery apps like Deliveroo and Uber Eats have partnered with numerous chains, adding a delivery fee to the base cost of the meal. - Healthy(ish) Options: Fast food chains are increasingly offering healthier alternatives like salads, wraps, and plant-based burgers. While these options might come with a slight price premium compared to traditional burgers, they cater to a growing health-conscious demographic. - Tech Integration: Self-service kiosks and mobile ordering are becoming more commonplace. This allows for faster service and potentially reduces staffing costs for restaurants, but it might also lead to a less personalized customer experience. - With rising costs and changing consumer habits, are fast food chains in the UK still profitable? The answer is yes, but with a caveat. While the industry remains profitable overall, individual chains need to adapt and innovate to maintain their market share. Here are some strategies fast food chains are employing to stay afloat: - Menu Optimization: Streamlining menus and focusing on popular, high-margin items can improve profitability. This might involve removing underperforming items and introducing limited-time offers to keep things fresh for customers. - Value Menu Revamps: Value meals are a crucial battleground in the fast food wars. Chains are likely to refine their value menu offerings, ensuring they remain competitive and attractive to budget-conscious customers. - Embracing Technology: Technology can be a double-edged sword. While delivery apps can increase revenue, they also come with commission fees. Finding the right balance between leveraging technology for convenience and managing its associated costs is key. - The future of fast food in the UK hinges on its ability to adapt to changing consumer preferences and economic realities. While affordability will remain a key driver, factors like convenience, health consciousness, and even ethical sourcing practices will likely play a role in influencing consumer choices. Fast food chains that can strike a balance between cost, quality, and innovation will stand the best chance of thriving in this ever-evolving landscape. So, the next time you find yourself contemplating a quick bite, remember – the cost of your meal reflects not just the ingredients, but also the complex economic forces shaping the world of fast food. Fast food might not be haute cuisine, but it holds a special place in British culture. Whether it's a nostalgic indulgence or a convenient solution to a busy day, fast food chains will likely continue to cater to the needs of UK consumers. However, Read the full article

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ketakidesai · 3 years ago

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6 reasons why Digital Marketers should NOT ignore Gamification

For the uninitiated, gamification is most commonly defined as “…an informal umbrella term for the use of video game elements in non-gaming systems to improve user experience (UX) and user engagement…”. (1)

Brian Burke, Research Vice President at Gartner, in a podcast defines gamification further as “The use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals…it’s the use of game mechanics… and uses things like points and badges and leader boards… It is used in a digital engagement model” (2)

Let’s take a look at the 6 reasons why marketers must consider gamification in their digital strategy. (It's a long read but I promise it will be fun!)

Reason 1: Let’s accept it – gamification is not ‘just a fad’

The last decade has seen interest in gamification rise substantially. Growth in digital technologies has further propelled this interest across sectors like Healthcare, Real-estate, Education, and other sectors. Today, mobile technology is using game mechanics combined with UX design to enhance user engagement, aid employee learning, help students with problem-solving, and even help sales personnel reach their targets.

Reason 2: Gamification is everywhere, literally!

The earliest, less refined, version of gamification in marketing was recorded in 1896 (3) when retailers rewarded loyal customers with stamps received from marketers. By 2020, one can comfortably say that gamification in marketing has come a long way.

“It (Gamification) can be applied on many products, services, or any stage of the customer journey and it’s easily adjusted to any budget” (4)

Today, Gamification is seamlessly incorporated in our favorite digital platforms like Google Pay, Fitbit, and even Linkedin. It is common to see a mobile app use badges, points, or virtual currency to drive user engagement. While there are popular applications that have gamification at their core like Duolingo and Nike Run Club, there are apps like Zomato which have incorporated gamification into their product to keep app users coming back for more.

In 2019, Zomato launched Zomato Premier League during the IPL season. Users could predict a winner of the IPL cricket match of the day and gain 30% cashback if they predicted the winner correctly. Zomato released a scorecard of the activity that showed 224 cities and 14 Million predictions achieved during the IPL season. (5)

(On a separate note, Google decided to ruin the game and sent a notice to Zomato citing Play store policy violation – Zomato had to take off this feature in September 2020) (6)

Reason 3: Your digital audience wants to have fun

“Many brands don’t need brand awareness anymore, they already have it. So they’re looking at what’s next, they want to engage the audience, the influencers.” (7)

Digital marketers need not limit themselves to using gamification only in an app – digital engagement can be successfully created wherever the audience is including social media! Micro-gamification moments have been popular on social media platforms for some time now. One example of the micro-gamification moment is Stories Ordering by Burger King.

Burger King Spain used Instagram stories and had some fun with gamification. With “Stories Ordering” followers could pick ingredients and customize their Whoppers by simply clicking on the Instagram Poll Feature. This generated a unique coupon that participants could use to redeem their Whopper for free. A simple creative idea with zero media investment led to 270000 brand interactions.

Similarly, Star Movies launched Play @ 7 (8) to gamify the TV watching experience. Viewers were required to watch the movies played on the channel daily and play 7 games by tweeting the correct answers to the games. Star Movies created a leader-board on Twitter in real-time where participants could track their progress daily and weekly.

Reason 4: Personalise to Gamify and Gamify to personalize

“While the job of gamification is easing the daily tasks in different fields, the users’ interests and likes must be considered to create intrinsic incentives and a moral environment for them.” (9)

For a truly effective retention strategy, a brand must enhance the product experience for the user. For this ethically collecting relevant data along the user journey to personalize content and keep users engaged becomes important. Duolingo emails a weekly report to its users reminding them of their progress in comparison to the previous week. Similarly, Starbucks sends rewards points as a birthday treat to its users.

As the collected data gets richer in quality, marketers can then create loyalty programs, feedback mechanisms, gamified content, and much more, to personalize the user’s experience further.

Reason 5: Gamified marketing survived COVID-19

Locked up at home due to COVID-19, people were increasingly active online, consuming a variety of content, and playing games when not working. Between March 2020 and April 2020, comScore noted a 62% increase in the time spent on playing games online in India. Another report states that the US and UK saw a ‘40% surge in the time spent on online games’.

During this time, Burberry launched its summer collection through a gamified campaign. The luxury brand created a multiplayer game “that lets players dress up their characters in the brand's outfits before grabbing a surfboard and challenging friends to a race around a track”. The game rewards participants with daily prizes and AR-based digital rewards. (10)

ABC Entertainment decided to have fun promoting its classic TV game show “Supermarket Sweep”. To announce the return of the show, the broadcaster launched a Twitter game “Supermoji Sweep”. The audience on Twitter was required to “reply to its @SuperSweepABC account with combinations of nine emoji for grocery items including cheese, bread, steak, turkey and cherries”. Every emoji had a secret dollar value attached to it and the audience was required to guess the combination of items that would cost exactly $20. And the reward for the correct guess? A Special video message from comedian Leslie Jones, who is also the host of the show.

Reason 6: Gamification is about to get better

The overall Gamification market globally is expected to be worth $76298.9 Mn by 2030 (11) and for marketers, the opportunities are endless. Game mechanics are combined with AR/VR in education, tourism, healthcare, and entertainment industries.

In 2019, Ally Bank used AR and Gamification to create an online learning experience for consumers. “The augmented reality game brings Monopoly to life in six USA cities… Ally aims to improve consumers’ financial literacy through gamification while giving them the chance to increase their savings and win prizes."

PetSmart used Snapchat’s AR feature to create a “gamified quiz based around educational reptile facts”. Using this feature users could use the filter to turn themselves into a reptile, answer questions related to reptiles, and win a 40% discount coupon that can be redeemed at a PetSmart store. As a result, PetSmart “has seen a 50% increase in reptile sales, as well as a boost in general pet sales as owners stocked up on food and supplies in preparation for lockdown..”

Digital marketers can leverage these technologies to present immersive and gamified experiences to consumers and expand the scope of digital marketing. Similarly, brands can work towards gathering relevant user data and utilize it to create a better user experience and consumer engagement through personalized in-app gamified experiences.

Parting Thoughts

From engagement to retention, gamification can support most of the marketing objectives. This is a great approach ONLY if the marketer is clear about what objective the brand is trying to achieve when adopting the approach. To elevate a user’s experience through gamification, marketers must weave storytelling or personalization.

But remember, creating a gamified experience is not easy. Experts have researched why gamification fails and these reasons range from lack of understanding of the target audience to not being able to create a compelling story. Brian Burke mentions that gamification fails when it is used to manipulate the user’s experience to meet the organization’s goal, instead of the goal of the customer (2). As a result, marketers must create an experience that helps the consumer achieve their objectives. And this means going beyond mere reward points.

I will leave you with two popular frameworks Elemental Game Tetrad Model by Schell and Octalysis Framework by Yu-kai Chou. Both these should help you start off with planning and designing an outstanding gamification experience for your audiences/customers/users!

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FIN!

Thank you for reading this article. I would love to hear your views on gamification and how digital marketers can leverage game mechanics to improve user engagement.

If you found this article interesting or if you have any feedback for me, do share the same in the comments below!

All references and cited articles can be viewed here.

#digital marketing #Gamification #zomato #burgerking #petsmart #personalization #KD writes

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eddiepowerlink · 4 years ago

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Bayview Village Neighbourhood

BV’s Urban Contemporary Living

I spent most of my life in Thornhill Village and loved it all the way through. Since I moved to Bayview Village (aka BV) in 2017, I just can’t ignore the convenience, accessibility and modernity of this unique neighbourhood. Bayview Village (BV) is stamped as one of the rarest neighbourhoods of Greater Toronto Area away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Toronto yet vibrant and amusing. At the time I am posting this blog, we are dealing with Covid-19 Pandemic. Many restrictions are in place such as social distancing, gathering limitations, restaurants dining restrictions and closures of small businesses among others. I sat down with Shawn R., Master Barber and Hair Designer, who lives and works in Bayview Village to find out his opinion about the neighbourhood and how his work is affected by the Pandemic.

Let’s Talk About History

Just a year later after Toronto became the first Metropolitan city in Canada in 1953, Bayview Village launched its urban development. The development led by Farlinger Development Inc with an aim to “fit the community into the landscape” which was envisioned by Dr. E. G. Faludi. Between 1954 to 1965, most of the Bayview Village was developed and has been regarded as “Contemporary Living in Countryside” (Wikipedia). Today Bayview Village has become an affluent neighbourhood in North York with more than 21,000 (toronto.ca) residents from all walks of life.

Plan Your Visit

Bayview Village is accessible via highway 401 which is connected to northbound highway 404 and Don Valley Parkway from south. If you wish to take the transit and put the environment first, Sheppard subway line is a convenient way to commute to Bayview Village. The Bayview subway station is where you need to get off. The closest Go train station is Oriole station. If you choose to visit between late spring to early fall, please check the weather forecast because you don’t want to miss cruising around with your bikes in adjacent parks and green trails. You can pack your lunch or snacks but if you like to be served, no worries, there are many eateries in Bayview Village area especially in BV Shopping Centre.

Bayview Village Shopping Centre

The posh BV Shopping Centre is more like a special occasion shopping destination. If you like to spend some time window shopping or you are planning an anniversary gift for your significant other, this is a mall you want to spend couple of hours to have on your list.

Come Hungry

Whether you are stopping by for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a Sunday brunch, Bayview Village (BV) Shopping Centre has a wide variety of restaurants to entice your taste buds. Bayview Village has amazing cafes such as Aroma Espresso Bar, Lettieri , Starbucks and Bread & Roses Bakery. Aroma café offers all day breakfast which you don’t want to miss. You can dine and or Take Out from different restaurants with any budget. The fast food options such as Thai express and South St. Burger to white cloth table top and wine pairing menu at IL FORNELLO and Oliver & Bonacini will immediately come to site if you enter from the north east entrance. If crave for ice cream, Laura Secord shop will welcome you with its rich flavored creamery. My recommendation is Salmon dinner at the Tabule Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Restaurant. They also have a number of vegetarian dishes to crave for.

Main Grocery Stores

The main grocery stores are Loblaws and Pusateri’s Fine Foods. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood, check out the cheese section of Pusateri’s and pair it with a nice wine from LCBO right across from Pusateri’s.

Treat Yourself

Sometimes the city’s busy life style, would take away the idea of rewarding yourself with a special treatment. Hammam Spa in Bayview Village Shopping Centre offers a variety of treatment for both men and women. Book an appointment and consult with one of the specialist as how they can rejuvenate and refresh you in couple of hours.

Toronto Public Library

There’s a small library in the BV Shopping Centre which can accessed only from outside of the mall located in the south side. Free parking is available.

The Closest Hospital

North York General Hospital is conveniently located on Leslie St., between highway 401 and Sheppard Ave. East.

Bayview Village Park

City of Toronto’s Parks has designated an area for the residents to enjoy sporting and a place to relax. This park is located on Bayview Ave. just 1 block north of Sheppard Ave. East. The park offers 3 tennis courts, 2 table tennis, 2 chess tables, a splash board and Children’s Playground all for free.

Walk, Bike or Hike

Just at the foot of Sheppard Ave. East and Leslie St, Betty Sutherland Trail Park should be on your list. Weather allowing, it’s a short trail to walk, bike or hike. Spend couple of hours to distress and enjoy the serenity of the nature. Some explorer have found their ways around to bike all the way to downtown Toronto.

photo source: https://scenesto.com/2013/09/29/scenes-from-the-betty-sutherland-trail/

Chatting With a Resident of BV

I took the opportunity to sit down with my hair stylist, Shawn R., who is a resident of Bayview Village and works at King’s Crown Salon in BV Shopping Centre to get his opinion on the neighbourhood and the Pandemic situation.

Below is an extract of my interview:

Eddie: When did you move to BV and why?

Shawn: I moved to neighbourhood back in 2018 because I wanted to be close to work. I was fed up with commuting, that’s why I chose to live in this neighbourhood. After all it’s very convenient. Everything is within walking distance.

Eddie: In one word, how do you describe BV’s neighbourhood?

Shawn: Posh!

Eddie: What do you like the most about BV?

Shawn: It’s very convenient. Most of my daily routines such going to the gym or grocery shopping is within walking distance. If I need to take the public transit, Bayview subway station is a 5 minute walk from my home. On the days that I have to drive, highway 401 is just 2 blocks away which cuts down the commuting time.

Eddie: What do you do for living?

Shawn: I have been a hair stylist since 2015 and joined King’s Crown Salon in 2018. I am also a session guitarist and conduct private guitar lessons as well.

Eddie: What do you enjoy the most in your job?

Shawn: My clients! There’s always something to talk about. Entertainment, Sports, Social dilemmas, Politics, personal life issues and everything in middle. And of course gossips lol

Eddie: How is your work effected during the Pandemic?

Shawn: Like many other businesses, our salon had to shut down. It was somewhat depressing to be away from work and wait in uncertainty. I was glad we reopened. We have to think of time and client management as we have modified our service based on appointments.

Eddie: Are you optimistic about the future?

Shawn: Yes, But it will take time to adapt to a new normal. We all have to be mindful and take extra cautions.

Eddie: Any final words?

Shawn: This is a very special time we are living in. Please support your local businesses as we are going through this economic hardship. Anyone who wants to get a hair style consultation or book an appointment, please visit our website: www.kingscrown1774.com

The Future Developments

photo: urbantoronto.ca

There’s a major expansion plan for BV Shopping Centre which will begin in couple of years. The plan is to build a residential and commercial commercial complex. There will be condominium towers with the shopping centre at the base of them and outdoor retail spaces where shoppers can walk through. To see what’s ahead, please visit: www.futureofbvshops.com

The other upcoming project is the Bessarion Community Centre on sheppard Ave. East which is currently under construction. This community centre is located beside the Bessarion Subway Station on Sheppard subway line which makes it very convenient for those who avoid driving or just simply want to take public transit.

Final words:

Bayview Village will be witnessing major developments along Sheppard Ave East, between Bayview Ave and Leslie St. This will lead to major traffic congestion in this area in the coming years. The residents have to be mindful of these developments and start planning ahead with their commutes. Those who use the subway may not be as affected as those who drive around for their errands. Overall BV is an established community and at the same time a thriving one. I look forward to seeing more improvements within the community and public events for the neighbourhood in years ahead.

#BayviewVillage

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l-l-kristofferson · 7 years ago

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My Last Semester Of School

For those who have been following me on Instagram, you guys have been up to date about things I've been doing. Including the fact that I have finally finished school as of Thursday the 14th. When I finished, I could not describe the feeling that came over me. It was pure and utter joy. I have been going to school since I was five years old. I am about to turn twenty-two next month. That's nearly seventeen years of school. Seventeen years of busting my ass. Seventeen years of stress, irritation, and frustration. But after all that, I have finished with the best grades I've ever had. For the first time since I've been in college, I made the Dean's List. And I am proud of myself.

Although it is the end, the road to get here was not an easy one. There were numerous challenges that I faced to get to this point. I could not have made it without the support of my mom and stepdad, my friends and their kindness, my teachers, my classmates, and the countless number of customers that encouraged me while I was at work. I would also like to thank the staff at my school: my friends in the lunchroom, my friends in the library, my friends at the bookstore, and the many friends I made through the social events I attended in my final semester. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. For your kindness, sincerity, and encouragement. It really carried me through.

Now to get into specifics.

The summer before my final semester, I sought out an internship. To do this, I had to seek out the coordinator of the Experimental Learning program, Angela. She was the sweetest and most hip of most of the people I had met at my school. She liked a lot of the music I liked. Brownie points for that. So she was my push to get the perfect internship. She helped me every step of the way. From the search, to the interview, to the resume, to the cover letter, and to the final stages. I came to her when I was having issues with my internship. For those who don't know, I interned in downtown Philadelphia at a place called US Dream Academy. It is a wonderful program that provides a lot of opportunities for children and teenagers. I got a chance to interact with the staff behind the scenes and the kids on some level. Although it was a good program, my contact person was not the best at communication. Which made no sense since they had Drexel interns and volunteers. Long story short, I had few hours and it was nearing the end of the semester. In light of that situation, I had to get another internship. I interned with the Associate Dean of the Arts at my school. I've had her as a teacher before so we had a preexisting relationship.

At the end of it all, I succeeded in my assignments from both internships. I made a post about author and writer Julia Kristeva. If you have not seen that one, go check it out. It is titled "I Love Writing" and it was by far one of my favorite assignments ever. My favorite assignment of all time was designing a poetry workshop for the kids of US Dream Academy. It was a six week program and it was a tedious task. But it was something I loved. I hope they get someone with as much enthusiasm as me to teach it.

If the internships weren't enough pressure, I had to do the homework for six classes. That's a full course load for a full time student. The least to take for a full time student is twelve credits (four classes). I was taking eighteen (six classes). I was initially supposed to take five classes with the internship being something extra. But when it was fully integrated and now a requirement in order to graduate, I was shit out of luck when I thought I could just drop the internship when I wasn't getting the hours. Thanks to Angela and the Associate Dean, it was all made possible. Some of the assignments were ridiculous, especially from my Junior Seminar class. This teacher wanted us to do weekly responses, do a minimum of a five page paper and read three to four hundred page books in a WEEK. A WEEK! I know this is college but come on. We have other classes to attend to. This guy assumed we could solely devote ourselves to his work and get it all done. Despite all this, I got a B in his class. It only got fun near the end when we got to the Zombie Apocalypse. I love that stuff sooooooo much. I love all things zombie.

When I wasn't at home doing homework, out at my internship, or at home sleeping, I was at work. I wasn't scheduled a lot but I was always scheduled to close during the week. The night shift on a weekday is very busy when you work in retail. This is the time that people get out of work and come to pick up the things they need for dinner, the house, or things for their families. The busiest days at the store are Mondays, Fridays, the first of the month, and weekends. If you work in retail, you know that this is all true. At my job, I would have to snack on something during my shift. I only got a half hour lunch. That isn't enough time to relax and eat. So I would have to buy snacks to sustain me as I worked.

During my break, I would listen to music and text so I could detox. Those who have never had a job in retail think that it is easy to be a Sales Associate. You have to deal with customers that get angry when things aren't a dollar or the price they want it to be (I work at Dollar General. Because dollar is in the name, everyone thinks it's a dollar store), customers messing up displays and merchandise, leaving carts in the parking lot, and putting things back because they can't afford it. I have some words of advice for most of the customers that come into my store: please read the signs closely and come in with a budget. If you did that, you wouldn't have problems you have when you come in.

If I wasn't dealing with anything about school or work, I would have to deal with problems in my personal life. For those who have followed me and have gotten to know me, you know I suffer from horrible insomnia. So I normally don't sleep well at night. And when I can't sleep, I am up writing or chatting online. On a lot of mornings, I would have to drink a strong cup of tea to get through the day. I try to drink as little caffeine as possible so I don't end up dependent on it. But I would always deal and get through the day. Thank you Lipton black tea for keeping me awake on those long school days.

But when it wasn't sleep problems, it was problems with my mood, hygiene, and basic self care. In a previous post, I spoke about my two and a half month low in a crippling depression. That spanned throughout most of the semester. It wasn't until mid November that things started to improve. So from the end of August until mid November, it was a struggle to even get out of bed. I nearly lost myself. But I held on and got the help I needed. I thank those who supported me through that hard time and lifted me up to get to this part of my journey. You are all wonderful people.

Now I'll talk about the fun stuff.

I got really close to my friends Amber, Meggie, Jordan, and Rich. There were countless others like my friend Chris (Big Brother), my fellow loco Puerto Rican Manny, my very close female friend (I've talked about her before), my friend Karyn (Danni), and my good friend and coworker Adriel.

This year, I got to help out at my school's haunted house, which my friend Meggie ran this year. We raised money for the Ferocious Fighters, a charity that supported research and treatment for the neurological condition RSD. My friend Meggie suffers from the condition and has for nearly five years. She is by far the strongest friend I've ever had. She has to deal with constant pain everyday. But she doesn't complain and she faces every single day with a bright smile and a strong sense of determination. I admire her very much. She is a fighter like me. And the kindest soul. I love you Meggie.

My friends Amber and Jordan were like the dynamic duo. I would hang out in their class if I happened to be free on Thursdays. We would chat it up and have a good laugh. Jordan was the king of memes. He would make them all the time. He is also my go to guy when it comes to anime pictures. If I ever needed something, he was there to find it. As for Amber, she was queen of Vans merch, along with being queen of the bands The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball. She reminds me of Tina from Bob's Burgers. When the three of us were together, Jordan was Gene, Amber was TIna, and I was Louise (mostly because I was an outspoken, crazy and at times mischievous guy). They enjoyed my weird humor and quirkiness.

Thank you guys for being my friends. You brightened my days when they seemed so bleak. For listening to my problems and never turning me away. You guys will always have a place in my heart and a place in my phone. I've never met a group of people so awesome. And Alisitie, don't think I forgot about you. I love you too you amazing human being.

This post was not only about me. It was also to appreciate all the people that played a part in me getting to this place. I love you all so much. Words cannot describe what you mean to me. I am grateful for you.

Quick update for you guys. I have a new email address to interact with you guys. If you want that email, DM me here. I will also post my social media and story handles for you.

Instagram: lame_dude_20 (Profile picture of Roxas)

Kik: kingsebastianisdead (Profile picture of Ventus. Username is The Roxas Joker)

Wattpad: WarriorEmpath

I will be posting a yaoi vignette on Wattpad before the new year. So stick around for that.

Thanks for listening. Write again soon.

#writer #writing #blog #friends #imadeit #iamagraduate #hellyeah #iamthankful #thankyou #iknowthebestpeople #thekindestsouls #igotthis #welcometomyworld #iloveyouall #family

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gomangodigitalblog · 4 years ago

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Chatbot development trends in 2020

Featured Image Courtesy: https://www.techaffinity.com

Chatbots are a phenomenal breakthrough in the field of AI. The industry is all set to hit a trillion dollar mark by the end of 2024. It is also estimated that 47% of customer care calls will be handled by intelligent chatbots. Also, 40% of health-care Virtual assistants will be chatbots indeed.

Simple user based queries can be handled by these chatbots or virtual assistants in a placid manner. Developers are also working around advanced predictive analytics facilitating more naturally flowing real-time conversations.

Helping you unveil some of the top Chatbot development trends for 2020:

Develop chatbots that are more human-like

Presently chatbots are unable to understand multilingual accents of people across the globe. The chatbots need to understand the right intent behind what the query of the customer is. Only then, will they be in a position to resolve customer grievances in an effective manner. With this aspect in mind, mobile developers develop chatbots taking help from varied technologies. These include Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

This way, chatbots can grasp the varied accents or dialects of people residing across the globe. Thereby providing the right kind of support or help.

AI works at call centers

Businesses can easily migrate to technologies supporting AI. These include usage of chatbots, virtual assistants, messaging platforms, etc. First level queries can be handled by conversational chatbots without much of a problem. These include

Changing passwords

Scheduling appointments with doctors or dentists

Requesting for a bank balance or a statement print of account details, etc.

Providing a 24/7 customer support for educational help lines, health-care centers, etc. can prove to be very expensive to afford. Given the amount of training to employees to adapt to multiple lines of business and handle queries of customers speaking different languages!

Hence, conversational bots can save 20-30% of the overall cost of running call centers across the globe. Moreover, the attrition rate among call center employees remains at 30-45%. This particular constraint can be resolved by emerging chatbots in a hassle-free manner.

Messaging platforms

Chatbots are able to initiate quick conversations with customers who are wanting to buy products online. You must have encountered it yourself. When you log into a website, you have an instant chat window opening in front of you. It asks if you would need any assistance in going further. This can be a perfect example of a chatbot handling the messaging board very intelligently.

It has roughly been estimated that around 68% of consumers prefer shopping for online products or services with chatbots. The chatbots provide a complete overview on what kind of products an e store offers. It helps them locate products from a store. The Virtual assistant further facilitates the sale of the product. Furthermore, an efficient degree of after-sales service is also provided to consumers in a friendly manner. This way, the brand awareness of the firm catapults. Customers love engaging and pleasant conversations that chatbots provide to them. This way, chatbots go a long way in improving customer service and automating sales.

Voicebots

Today, you have a number of mobile companies developing simple and easy chatbots helping you perform various functions. You have Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant doing the rounds for Android and iOS platforms. Starting from helping you track calories on your fitness jog up until keeping doors or windows closed at nights, the electronic surveillance machines do everything for you.

You can use voice bots at banks too to automate varied functions like filling out deposit forms, opening accounts, closure of accounts, etc. This way, when too many customers are there to attend to, voice bots can take over.

AI-pioneered chatbots to help social media

Thousands of brands emerge via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You have FMCG companies raising their brands via FB and Instagram. You have travel firms showcasing their brands via Twitter, FB and Linked In. You have Snap chat providing customers with instant chat facilities.

Hence social media channels may see a huge upsurge of products or brands that get launched online. This being the case, you will have millions of purchase related queries posed by online shoppers who would love buying products or services. Hiring customer support agents or shopping assistants to answer queries repeatedly can be an expensive affair. Automated chatbots may channelize this field too. Simple price related queries or product description queries can well be answered by pre-programmed chatbots or virtual assistants too. Hence chatbots will be taken squarely by social media biggies too.

Food chains

Chatbots are now the preferred marketing personnel of the booming digital era indeed. As these chatbots work tirelessly, you have consumers hooked to conversing with them. Be it apparels, food industry, airlines, health-care or educational sector, you have chat bots or AI programmed virtual assistants taking space at every miniscule corner.

Burger King, Dominos and Pizza Hut have started making use of Food bots to help consumers in a wide-spread manner. Starting from finding tables, ordering food, the foods delivered right across and getting the bills paid by customers, everything is well taken care of. You can order via Food bots at your home too. This can be done via your I-pads, tablets and mobile devices. Some companies have gone a step further to automate ordering and delivery of food. You can have drones delivering pizza packs and a lot more.

Chatbots can take payments

Digital wallets can be organized by leading banks to make payments hassle-free. Instant messaging can be facilitated via FB messenger. You make sure that your customers don’t leave the app while they make the final payments. Conversational bots can allow customers to buy products based on the pricing or the budget they have on mind.

Similarly, digital wallets connect consumers to buy or sell products on a 24/7 scalability. MasterCard has recently organized a chatbot in order to facilitate consumer payments. You can check your account balances. The Virtual bots help you set payment alerts. And also pay or receive money from your business partners. This way, chatbots are entirely helpful in making digital wallets a grand success.

HR initiatives

As you know, Human Resource comprises a tedious and repetitive set of activities that are highly time-consuming. If you look at the overall proforma of the HR unit, there are quite a lot of mundane activities that can easily be tackled via chatbots or virtual assistants. Let us see how this can be done in three real-time scenarios

Human Resource or HR-

As you all know, HR is the pulse of every company. You can use chatbots to help new employees answer basic HR related queries. Plus these bots can complete transactional HR services too. Say like initiating new bank accounts for on-boarding employees or giving them a TPin to access the company’s ATM.

Employee On-boarding

Employee on-boarding is the most complex and time consuming HR initiative. The personnel have to screen through file applications, have a look at relevant employment docs and so on. You can allow chatbots to initiate the interview handling process. You can allow them to field screening questions and simultaneously capture answers too. You can also allow chatbots to guide new hires through the internal policies of the company.

Internal Help desk

Chatbots can handle the IT desk by answering common queries in a neat and stream-lined manner. The bot can answer repetitive queries and can increase the response time too.

Conclusion

These are the 7 fascinating chatbot development trends for 2020. You have AI automating a variety of human functionalities. While many employees fear it might cost them their jobs, there is a positive side added to it. You can allow new employees to directly apply for Senior positions as mundane aspects of the job can be automated by the bots. Hence, decision making or intense management policies can be designed by career focused individuals who have the potential to tap into.

About Us

For your daily dose of technological updates get connected to Mango Digital via https://mangodigital.solutions/ For every tech hangover, there is a Mangoer. Mango Consulting is one of the leading web design & development companies in the UK. We specialize in the field of mobile app development, content writing, IT support, digital marketing at very much affordable prices.

#chatbot development #chatbot #chatbot development platform #Mango Digital Solutions

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gurmanproperties · 5 years ago

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Americas Best Franchise

Contents

Favorite authors. mosquito

Fastest growing pizza chain

Exhaust hood cleaning provider

Top franchise region award

Franchise home quiz: find

Portal. browse videos

Up And Coming Franchises 2019 Franchise 500 ranking: franchise information from Entrepreneur.com – Page 1 … Click the Follow button on any author page to keep up with the latest content from your favorite authors. mosquito Hunters lets you build a renewable business based on improving the quality of life for the people in your community – Up and

The 2018 rankings of the country's best and worst franchise brands.

Start a Little Caesars Pizza franchise and join the fastest growing pizza chain in the U.S. Our simple, successful business model allows owners to focus on growth. America’s Best Franchises

The 2018 rankings of the country’s best and worst franchise brands. The 2018 rankings of the country’s best and worst franchise brands. … America’s Best and Worst Franchises to Buy.

America's Best may refer to: America's Best Franchising – operator of America's Best Inn and other lodging brands; Vantage Hospitality – operator of America's …

Find 100's of franchises and top franchises for sale. Learn how to start a franchise and the best franchises to invest in for 2019. Hot franchises where you live.

2018 Franchise 500 Ranking: Franchise Information from Entrepreneur.com – Page 1. … and those that rose to the top reveal the latest trends as well as the companies that continue to evolve to keep going …. HomeVestors of America Inc. Logo.

North America’s largest and most reputable commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning provider, was recently ranked in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500®, the world’s first, best and most …

Latest Franchises In Usa But for a handful of franchises that might land at No. 1 on Tuesday, it’s worth a long look at whether they should try to … About the Top New Franchises. What are some of the newest stars in the franchising world this year? To answer that, we’ve compiled this list of the top 100

"The top franchise region award went to Brian and … EmployBridge is recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as America’s largest industrial staffing firm. The company puts more than 400,000 …

Franchising.com franchise profile for Americas Best Inns & Suites. Find detailed business information such as news, financials, franchise history and other corporate data on Americas Best Inns …

Samurai Shodown will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 25 in the Americas and Europe … with us during the long …

These gains were primarily driven by the Americas segment which added 86 managed properties … we expect the company’s top …

Americas Best Value Inn Franchise Information from Entrepreneur.com. Video Events Start A Business Subscribe Books. franchise home quiz: find Your Franchise Business Opportunities List Franchises …

Whether you’re an experienced franchisee looking for your next best investment or just warming up to the idea of buying a franchise for the first time, we’re here to help you. We’ll introduce you to some of America’s best franchises and business opportunities, sorted by their relevance to your budget, location, skills and passions.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kim Pegula’s desire to grow women’s professional hockey will no longer involve a relationship with North America’s remaining professional league … League as it struggles to keep its …

Jun 22, 2016 · Our special report on franchising, including our third annual list of the best and worst franchises to buy, as well as a number of other articles and …

Nov 25, 2018 … We reveal the most successful franchises in the USA.

Nov 8, 2018 … Chicken Franchises. 4. Burger King. United States of America. Fast Food Franchises. 5. Pizza Hut. United States of America. Pizza Franchises.

Best New Franchises To Open Franchise Business For Sale Find A Franchise find 400+ franchise and business opportunities for sale with Franchise Direct, the world's #1 franchise portal. browse videos, read industry news and how-to … Find franchise opportunities in a wide variety of industries. Be your own boss, search our franchise directory for franchise investment opportunities. Franchise Business Opportunity Best

Originally posted on Americas Best Franchise via Open To Cheapest Franchise

#franchising #franchises

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effieworldwide · 8 years ago

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Winner Spotlight: Burger King & Interaction, “Whopper Dealer”

February 2, 2017

Images courtesy of Interaction.

On October 5, 2015, Burger King ceased operations in Costa Rica, closing all 29 of its locations overnight. While the restaurant had previously enjoyed success in the country, the abrupt closure left customers with a bad taste in their mouths. Costa Ricans were confused by the sudden disappearance, yearning for one last bite of Burger King’s most famous menu item: The Whopper.

In 2016, Burger King was set to relaunch in Costa Rica, but new competition had gained ground. Burger King not only needed to raise awareness, but also improve brand perception. To remind people in Costa Rica of their love for the Whopper, Burger King teamed up with agency partner, Interaction, to launch “Whopper Dealer.” The Whopper Dealer was a mysterious entrepreneur who sold burgers exclusively through WhatsApp messenger, first selling to “friends” (paid influencers), then to friends of friends connected by word of mouth.

After hundreds of real orders and significant earned media coverage, the Whopper Dealer was contacted by a Burger King representative, who announced the return of BK by offering the Whopper Dealer a job. During its opening month, one of its reopened locations achieved the highest sales per capita among all Burger King locations worldwide. “Whopper Dealer” took home four trophies at the 2016 Effie Awards Costa Rica Gala, including the Grand Effie.

We asked Néstor Villalobos, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Interaction, to share how the notorious “Whopper Dealer” came to life. Read on to learn the three key ingredients of the effort, and how the team rejected traditional media in order to make an authentic connection with consumers.

Tell us a bit about your Grand Effie-winning effort, “Whopper Dealer.” What was the objective of the effort?

NV: The main objective was to re-launch Burger King in Costa Rica.

In order to understand why this was a challenge, you must know that BK closed in Costa Rica two years ago in a dramatic and controversial way, shutting down its operation overnight due to problems with the former franchise managers. As a consequence, 29 restaurants were closed, 434 people were laid off and severe damage was caused to the brand. As BK exited the Costa Rican market, its main competitors took advantage and improved their market position.

The challenge was to relaunch the brand in a highly competitive market, 24 months after abruptly leaving the industry and with a limited budget, given that the new owners were starting the business from scratch with only two restaurants. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a communication strategy to announce the comeback, generate buzz, and incorporate a major positive component to restore the brand’s image.

What was the insight that led to the big idea?

NV: BK’s restaurants literally closed overnight; therefore, the customers did not have the chance to say goodbye to the brand by tasting its products one last time. As it happens sometimes when couples end a relationship, this one did not have closure and led the customers to realize how much they missed it. It even got to the extreme that whenever they traveled to cities with BK restaurants, they documented the achievement of having a Whopper. They even tried to find the Whopper’s iconic flavor in BK’s competition. From the customer’s desire to taste the Whopper again surged the idea of the Whopper Dealer.

The idea was simple: Selling Whoppers in a country with no BK presence, so that the public realized how much the brand meant to them, and that its return would be “hoped-for” instead of “unexpected.”

How did you bring the idea to life?

NV: Given that BK was no longer in the country, we had to prove to people how much they missed it. We created a character “from the people” that showed how much they missed the product. This was the same character that the brand would later decide to support as sign of goodwill and the brand personality they would bring back this time, showing BK as a modern, open-minded, non-restrictive brand.

The Whopper Dealer is a guy that sells Whoppers so similar in taste to the originals, that even the biggest skeptic would be curious. However, we started his story as an entrepreneur selling his Whoppers only to friends and friends of friends, all through its personal WhatsApp number.

How did we scale a “clandestine dealer?”

To make it big, we needed 3 ingredients: 1. A powerful story that could be shared organically. 2. Massive channels to plant our message without it feeling paid. 3. Validation among the real people that used the service.

THE POWERFUL STORY: An entrepreneur “from the people” that sells a quality product, that polemically is called and tastes like one from a big fast-food corporation, from a brand that left our country in a dramatic way.

PLANT THE MESSAGE: We partnered with digital communities “from the people” that are massive in our country, with the goal to use them to release the key message. We also used influencers, but instead of them publishing on their public social networks, we requested that they share the story only on their personal, private WhatsApp groups, where other influencers and also journalists were. This way, the message felt real and not paid.

VALIDATION FROM REAL PEOPLE: Finally, it was key that the proposal of the dealer was real. The Whopper Dealer not only prepared and delivered the Whoppers, but actually charged for them ($5 for a Whopper and the express delivery). This made people feel the service was real and without loose ends. The dealer also asked their clients for a photo of the delivered burger to check if everything was ok. However, this was really intended to encourage people to have digital proofs of the Whopper, so they could easily share them on social networks.

BK Global HQ contacts the Dealer: The buzz was so big that unpaid media gave coverage to the Whopper Dealer. At this moment, we released the final phase: BK Global contacted the dealer. However, instead of censoring or threatening him for the prohibited use of the brand, they offered him a job at the first new BK location they would open in Costa Rica. This helped to achieve good publicity among the people, and also officially announce the big return of BK to our country.

The big news was first announced by the dealer to his WhatsApp contacts, making them feel grateful for the scoop and for the positive outcome the dealer achieved.

“Whopper Dealer” relied on very little traditional media to make an impact. How did your marketing approach help build momentum for the return of Burger King and spread your message to consumers without them “feeling” like they were being marketed to?

NV: The key was that the dealer actually worked for the people. He replied naturally to all messages, he actually delivered all the burgers (and even charged for them), so people were never tricked. Also, the real story that inspired the dealer (ex-employees that used to work at BK) was completed with BK actually hiring as many ex-employees as they could, so people really felt good about the brand’s intentions in Costa Rica.

What was the biggest challenge that you faced throughout this effort? How were you able to overcome that challenge?

NV: The biggest challenge with this kind of idea is not allowing any loose ends in your story. We developed tons of extra material, for inner or outer use, only to correctly develop the story behind the dealer. We actually built a “bio profile” to really get to know who our fictional dealer was, where he was raised, how he was, why he would act like this, etc., so that every interaction, press inquiry, and WhatsApp message would be coherent with his story.

What is the biggest learning you’ve taken away from this effort?

NV: We all love great stories. For decades, advertising has let people be spectators of great storytelling, but when you let them be the protagonist of these unbelievable real-fictional stories, people will never forget how you made them feel. Making advertising that actually puts the consumer at the center of the experience, presented as reality and not advertising, is a formula that has worked for us over the years.

To learn more about the Effie Awards Costa Rica program, visit effie.cr.

#Burger King #Interaction #Effie Awards Costa Rica #Whopper Dealer #Marketing Effectiveness Playbook #Winner Spotlight #Grand Effie

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jeramymobley · 7 years ago

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Voice AI is the Latest Brand Battleground

Voice AI is emerging as a winner among the many new outlets for brands to express themselves.

In the twenty years since Google and Amazon were founded, the physical world has begun to be transformed into a huge voice-activated web fueled by smart speakers, Google Home, and Amazon Echo.

Forty-five million voice-assisted devices are currently in use in the U.S., and eMarketer projects that number will rise to 67 million by 2019.

Amazon Echo, and its brain, Alexa, own nearly 70 percent of the smart speaker market and Steve Rabuchin, VP Amazon Alexa said, “Our vision is that customers will be able to access Alexa whenever and wherever they want.”

“That means customers may be able to talk to their cars, refrigerators, thermostats, lamps and all kinds of devices in and outside their homes.”

As Adweek notes, “With voice replacing fingertips, search is ground zero right now when it comes to brands.”

How that will effect paid search is a big question for brands and their agencies.

360i president Jared Belsky said in Adweek, “In the near term, [organic search] is going to be the way to get your brands represented for Google Home. Then ultimately, the ads auction will follow. You’ll be bidding to get your brand at the top of searches. I believe that’s the way it will go. Think about it—it has to.”

ComScore predicts that 50 percent of all search will be via voice tech by 2020.

The new search paradigm will upset the status quo. Belsky adds, “There’s going to be a battle for shelf space, and each slot should theoretically be more expensive. It’s the same amount of interest funneling into a smaller landscape.”

Belsky reports that “every CMO, every VP of Marketing and, especially, every ecommerce client is asking about this subject first and foremost. And they have three questions. ‘What should I do to prepare for when voice is the driver of ecommerce?’ The second one is, ‘What content do I have to think about to increase my chances to be the preferred answer with these devices?’ And, ‘Will all my search budget one day migrate onto these devices?’ There’s not obvious answers to any of these questions. Being early to all of this means you get the spoils.”

One early adopter already garnering the spoils is call intelligence company Invoca, whose just released Signal AI technology analyzes the context of phone conversations in real time to identify customer behaviors and patterns. It recognizes language patterns with specific intents and outcomes—requesting a quote in insurance, booking an appointment in home services or placing an order in telecommunications.

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca said, “People are using voice to interact with the world around them more than ever, and they’re using mobile phones, home devices and even landlines to call businesses at staggering rates.”

“Customer conversations have been an underused, yet valuable, data source for marketers as they seek to meet and even predict the subtlest of consumer needs and intents. Brands will differentiate themselves from the competition by leveraging rich insights from conversations to optimize digital marketing investments and improve the customer experience.”

IBM’s Watson Ads let viewers “talk” with a brand’s ad and request additional info and Toyota, Campbell Soup and Unilever have trialed the units, averaging between one and two minutes of engagement.

“Voice is a productivity tool,” said Linda Boff, CMO of GE in Adweek. GE has built a prototype to let an insentient locomotive send a voice message to a repair technician telling what needs fixing.

While the potential for greater efficiency and responsiveness is high, so are the implications for security and ethics. Last spring’s Burger King TV spot that hacked Google Home devices nationwide raised the ire of privacy advocates—and garnered a Cannes Grand Prix.

Advertising lawyer Ronald Camhi told Adweek, “As in-home, voice-controlled AI technology becomes even more prevalent and evolves in terms of substance—more capable of offering real answers to real questions—marketers will need to be increasingly careful to properly follow FTC disclosure and advertising guidelines.”

Security technologist and lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Bruce Schneier sums it up thus:

“Just as people have learned photographs cannot be fully trusted in the age of Photoshop, they may need to get used to the idea that speech can be faked.”

The post Voice AI is the Latest Brand Battleground appeared first on brandchannel:.

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thepacificprince · 4 years ago

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Purchasing Real Estate In Up And Down Markets

Some people who doubt there is a right time to get started in real estate investing worry there presently exist too many people buying houses to find a deal. Competition is without a doubt everywhere. If you can't understand - that in business, competition will be normal - then real estate investing is not for you. You need to a look at the marketplace in companies such as Coke and Coke, Nike and Reebok, McDonalds and Burger King, along with a million other services and products out in the marketplace. So if you see a wide range of investors competing against you then know that it's a rewarding industry to be in because you are not the only one that sees the prospects for profit. Plus, there are more than enough deals to make everyone high, in due time. At any given time there are hundreds of properties for sale in your own local market niches, enough for each investor hunting for them. Some investors know that events such as the September 11th tragedy, the huge number of job layoffs and the downfall in the stock market will kill the economy, and things they buy will go down in value. But, over again, this need not be the time to fold-up your tent and additionally quit before you get started. In order to be successful in investing, discover ways to make money in "up" and "down" markets. Have ways of utilize in both "up" and "down" markets for you to survive when the economy is bad or thrive after the economy is booming. And if everyone else is forecasting "doom & gloom" it only clears out the competition whilst you have more market share to profit from, as this is a good thing! Ask yourself: "When do I want to make money? " And the alternative is usually right now! Thus, go out and get your investing home business going, right now! And not base your actions on what many people are saying because the majority of the population is not rich, only the few who dare to take the right risks and receive the necessary steps to be successful. Stay in 'the Game, ' and stay in 'the Course' (persist) One of the major disappointments of the common, 'rental real estate' approach is there's just hardly any money in it NOW, only after a long period of title. There's not enough spread between the income realized from hire - versus - the expenses of mortgage payments in addition to repairs for the investor to make any money today. You rarely get by in the early years of your property's ownership. You must have other income to support your lifestyle. You can't just trust in the rentals to support you. Most likely, in the beginning you'll be encouraging your properties with your other income if you bought through the traditional way. That's not too attractive. A lot of investors do not own the stomach to endure the rough and rough financial stresses of the rental business. Even more so - people just don't have the desire to hang in there to help with making it work, in due time. Thus, if you persist you will outpace your competition because they will no longer be in the business, and you may have "no competition". This business is a long-term commitment along with over 80% of real estate investors - who have been in the commercial for that long, go on to become millionaires. What I'm expression to you is this: Stay the course, and you will combat most all of your competitors because you can ride the fluctuations of the market in the Real Estate Game, in due occasion. Opportunity is everywhere This is 'NOT' a common statement My spouse and i hear from new investors. True, it may work in a different way in some markets than in others, but there are buyers making money in every city (large or small, metro-area and / or the rural-areas), every day of the week. You have to learn any market: the rents, the trends, the local customs, lenders, the title companies, etc . Then, learn the strategies and adapt them to your market. One thing is for of course, everyone needs a roof to live under, either renting or perhaps owning. People need to live somewhere. So study your current market carefully, because there are tons of opportunities in every current market. You just have to learn your market and be able to service the market accordingly. If you don't believe this, simply read the 'Success Stories' of all my students achieving financial independence and even earning big profits using my field-tested and perfected real estate investing system. Typically, the main argument of housing "Nay-Sayers" is by associating real estate with toilets, damaging tenants, property damages, tenant evictions, etc . - the bad tasting things that may happen to an investor getting ready to soar into the real estate game. For somebody who believes all that is to real estate is getting a loan and buying a run-down duplex, in a bad part of town, entering the real estate adventure most certainly could turn into a major nightmare very quickly. However , individuals open to possibilities and who is willing to learn various ways and strategies - will very quickly discover that's the methodology is not the most profitable way to be transacting real estate property deals. A True Wealth Builder Well, if you shudder around the very thought of spending your nights and weekends unstopping troubled toilets, painting scarred up walls, and pacifying angry/upset tenants, you are in good company. I have basically no interest in dealing with ill-affecting and time consuming renter-problems or the negative attitudes. When you follow a systematic approach to committing, you won't have to deal with negative outcomes!! There are other creative solutions to manage properties that involve no hassles and no severe headaches whatsoever, such programs exist in our "Automated Management System" which take away those ownership nightmares. Much more profitable procedures exist if you are open to ' nontraditional ' ways of purchasing piermont grand. For example , in our System approach, there are "Rent Credits" used to maximize your time, while minimizing your overall risks, even while creating positive cash flow versus, living with negative cash flow not to mention tenant-troubles. There is a better way!! Your properties will be exquisitely managed and maintained. Your Tenant-Buyers will be happy, you are going to pocket plenty of positive cash flow and you'll be able to spend your own free time locating additional real estate investments, doing the things you like and have passion for doing, which is the very point to become a professional real estate investor in the first place!! If you really are serious about properties investing and do extensive research into the real estate small business, constantly learning and improving your knowledge level you are likely to realize that your risks are minimal when compared to other business enterprise models. If you talk to any knowledgeable real estate investor and also compare the cost of starting a real estate investing company opposed to some other type of business, you'll see that a real estate business seems to have far less risks. I like to be upfront with you that you will demand some marketing dollars at the least to launch your realty business. You also need to have a long term vision of this travel and at least give it at least a good 6-12 many months to make it work. Otherwise, your money (marketing budget) plus time will be a waste. I know this but most people need ideas of that it takes at least some money initially to make money in the form of real estate investor. I don't mean to scare any individual away but let's compare a real estate investing enterprise to a restaurant/carryout business. I know these types of businesses very well for the reason that relatives of mine own restaurants/carryouts, so even though When i never owned a restaurant, my relatives have coached me the inner workings of that business and what can be done to sustain it to be profitable. First, for a common restaurant it takes $30K in gross sales just to break actually each month. And this does not include the 15 hour days, as well as six days per week, and the initial investment of $120K down payment with great credit for a bank to sometimes lend you the money needed to open it. You also have to obtain years of knowledge and experience before you invest your wellbeing savings to start a restaurant business. Then, it normally requires about 1-3 years until the profits really come in, therefore, this is only if you can survive to stay in business that rather long. My father-in-law is currently running a carryout and he has received over seventeen years experience and he tells me ways fed up he is with the restaurant business. That is why he's even getting started as a real estate investor and he's asked others to invest some of his money into our rehab real estate. He sees the huge rewards and minimal chances involved in real estate compared to his restaurant business or other sorts of businesses he has been in. And he is seriously considering reselling his business to do real estate investing full-time. When you compare negative aspects in real estate investing versus investing in other business paths and/or endeavors, as you can come to your own conclusion: real estate shelling out is the 'Best Game' in town, when it comes to generating great huge selection, while achieving your American Dream for financial diversity. Real estate investing has cycles just like any other business Typically the stock market has it's cycles. We experienced that following the September 11th Tragedy. Only less than two years prior, we all saw a peak in the stock market with high tech stock option soaring and making stock market investors 'paper rich. a The stock market has it's 'ups' and it's 'downs. wi Modern real estate thrives on doing things smarter, smarter, strategically - not harder, more time consuming, with profit-eating outcomes. At the end of the day, the key to success will be to focus on being a 'great entrepreneur. ' I asked an event investor (he owned about a quarter of Blacksburg, Virginia) what his specialty was in real estate investing and the response was not that he was good at Lease Options, Wholesaling, Short Sales, REOs, Rehabs, Notes, Residential, Land Changes, or Commercial real estate. But he said he was basically an 'expert at making money. ' We both laughed within that but I will never forget that conversation. You need to know around the marketplace and technical factors involved in a deal, but your main duty whenever you are investing is always to make money. Therefore, at the end of the day, your job is to make money in 'up' as well as 'down' markets. And if you focus on being a 'great entrepreneur, ' you'll be able to make money with many techniques, practices, and skill sets to be successful in any market.

#piermont grand

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sandlerresearch · 5 years ago

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Restaurants Brands International Inc.: Enterprise Tech Ecosystem Series published on

https://www.sandlerresearch.org/restaurants-brands-international-inc-enterprise-tech-ecosystem-series.html

Restaurants Brands International Inc.: Enterprise Tech Ecosystem Series

Summary

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) is a quick-service (QSR) restaurant operator. The company owns, operates, and franchises restaurants under Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes brand names. Its Tim Hortons restaurants offer premium tea, espresso-based hot and cold specialty drinks, wraps, soups, blend coffee, classic sandwiches, grilled paninis, etc.

RBI also provides fresh baked goods such as donuts, cookies, bagels pastries, and muffins. Popeyes restaurants offer fried shrimp, other seafood, spicy chicken, rice, chicken tenders, and red beans. Its Burger King restaurants provide chicken, specialty sandwiches, flame-grilled hamburgers, soft drinks, and French fries.

As a part of its global growth strategy, RBI has been strengthening its digital expertise by hiring skilled individuals and having a dedicated technology team

RBI is focusing on modernizing its Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes stores with drive-through digital menu boards and self-ordering kiosks (SOKs) to provide seamless, fast, and connected in-restaurant customer experience. SOKs can increase in-restaurant order placement and help the customers to make payments through mobile apps and getting the food served at their table. The digital menu boards provide offerings based on the location, time, and weather.

RBI is collaborating with app-based delivery platforms to enable digital delivery for its customers at their homes, workplaces, and beyond.

The report provides information and insights into Restaurant Brands International ‘s activities, including – – Insights of its digital transformation strategies and digital innovation programs – Overview of technology initiatives covering strategic partnerships – Insights on each technology initiative including technology theme, objective, and benefits – Details of estimated ICT budgets and major ICT contracts

Scope

– RBI is tapping the power of artificial intelligence, analytics, cloud, blockchain, digitalization, and online & mobile payments for achieving operational efficiency and enhancing customer experience. – In 2019, as part of the digital strategy, Burger King introduced a “Burger King of Tomorrow” store in the United States. The restaurant is equipped with innovative technologies, dual drive-throughs for improving throughput and faster delivery, self-ordering kiosks, and outdoor digital media boards which can be further integrated with other technologies such as mobile apps. – RBI has a functional team of researchers and engineers called RBI Tech, based out of Miami and Toronto. The team is focusing on developing innovative products and solutions to deliver digital customer experience and to generate new ideas and test new solutions.

Reasons to Buy

– Gain insights into Restaurant Brands International ‘s fintech operations. – Gain insights into its digital strategies and innovation initiatives. – Gain insights into its technology themes under focus. – Gain insights into various partnerships of Restaurant Brands International.

#Information Technology

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sudsybear · 6 years ago

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Packing Up

It was time to think about what to do for summer break. I presumed I would return to Cincinnati and find a job, maybe pick up more babysitting. It would be good to see the old gang. Instead I got other news over the phone. Mom and Dad were putting the house on the market and moving to California. They were to be in San Diego by July 1st. I would have to make other arrangements for the summer.

By this time, I was accustomed to the lipservice of support from home. The mail continued to arrive almost daily, full of, “Dad’s traveling,” “I did such and such to settle your grandmother’s estate,” “Here’s ten dollars for whatever,” “I’m sick again, an intestinal virus,” “I’m working another shift this week.” Clearly, Mom was overwhelmed with her own struggles, and Dad was just out of the picture. It’s not that they didn’t care, they just didn’t have time or energy for me and my petty concerns.

I availed myself of the University Career Center (or whatever they called it) and looked for summer internships, on-campus positions, anything that would pay me enough to live on and earn enough to save for the following semester. I found a brochure for the Fresh Air Fund camp in Fishkill, NY. I filled out the application and sent it off. Six years of Girl Scout camp ought to qualify me for some position with the camp. It would be a summer-long experiment in working with kids from inner-city housing projects. I’d get a place to sleep, food, and a paycheck every week. Not a lot, but certainly enough to give me some spending money once the summer was over. I’d have to budget, but it could be done. I was offered a position, and I accepted. Fishkill, New York would be my home for the summer of 1986.

During final exam period, between working on final papers, studying, and swapping summer addresses, I packed my dorm room into boxes and paid the $50 storage fee. I took home a suitcase full of paraphernalia, some summer addresses of friends, and not much else. Another ride across I-90 and down I-71 with Andy, and my life was once again, forever changed.

I stayed in Cincinnati for about three weeks. Long enough to catch up on sleep and laundry and visit with the few friends still in high school and those few who were home from college.

David and Victor drove down from Ohio State for Igor’s and Christopher’s graduation. Ohio State wouldn’t be out for another month. We congratulated Christopher and Igor heartily, posed for photos with our arms round each other and goofy grins on our faces. While the new graduates left for their own final fun as a class, Victor and Erin left together for their own fun, and David and I spent the rest of the afternoon swapping anecdotes and plans for summer break. He would be back in Cincinnati while I went to the Hudson Valley.

Scot-X was a part of Christopher and Igor’s class. I snapped his photo as he walked through the graduation arches; another desperate attempt to mend the broken relationship with Ross. I don’t remember seeing Ross at the ceremonies. Perhaps I saw him sitting with his parents across the lawn. If we spoke at all, it must have been awkward. More likely we were both aware the other was in attendance and so stayed away from each other.

* * *

During those few weeks, I was charged with sorting through my childhood bedroom. Pitch the garbage, winnow out the unimportant. Anything I really wanted to keep needed to be packed away. Those memories were going to San Diego without me.

The exercise was an organizational and emotional challenge. Certainly a distraction from the emotional turmoil of the previous school year. The task set before me, I felt no choice but to get the job done. So I sorted through my stuffed animals, weighing sentimental values against each other and giving away those that didn’t make the cut.

Pulling notebooks out of my closet, pitching dittos on Ohio history from seventh grade, and colored maps from studying the second World War with Mr. Miller. I filled file boxes and labeled them “Susan’s Stuff”. In them, neatly organized into class and year, spiral notebooks from ninth grade earth science with Mr. Schmid along side my leaf collection from tenth grade biology class, hand written “programs” written in BASIC with mimeographed copies of the history of programming. (Twenty years after we took the class from the high school basketball coach, I turned these over to Moj in misguided hopes they would be accepted as a peace offering.) Another spiral notebook with notes from Dr. Waksmundski’s eleventh grade economics class, and from senior year, notes from AP English – scribbles, more accurately – starts of essays, random thoughts, poetry exercises - a series of verses about classmates set to the tune of “Clementine”. All Boxed, covered and labelled for the movers.

I cleaned out and organized for the great move to California – I sorted winter clothing, packing it away and labelling it so Mom could ship it from San Diego when I wanted it. I sorted clothing, trendy ripped sweatshirts buried with embarrassment and taken to Good Will. Old shoes, penny loafers and saddle oxfords put into the trash. Bulkier items went into separate boxes, a piggy bank from my grandmother, an old cigar box from my other grandparents, unicorn suncatchers, a green girl scout pocketknife.

Some things I needed for camp – summer clothes, camping equipment – flashlights, sleeping bag, my backpack, laundry bag, and books for a course I would take the following fall – Classical and Scriptural backgrounds. I packed copies of the Iliad and the Odyssey, a bible, Ovid’s metamorphosis. In between teaching inner-city girls about the great outdoors, I needed to immerse myself in the ancient classics. All those things went into a beat up footlocker that had been in the attic for years.

While I was losing my childhood home, I got to keep the car. Dad gave me the Pinto for the summer and following school year. Dad arranged a business meeting in New York City, so we drove to Fishkill together – a footlocker full of summer clothes in the hatchback, camping gear, a pile of books to read for the coming fall semester, and Dad’s suitcase for his business trip. Once again, we drove across the Pennsylvania Turnpike, we spent the night with brother Jack in Allentown before finally driving to Camp ABC in Fishkill.

We arrived in the early afternoon, just after lunch. I checked in at the administration building and was told where to stow my gear. I asked where I could park the car, and got my orientation and welcoming kit. After a brief walk around the grounds, Dad drove me back down the mountain. We had dinner at McDonald’s or Burger King and I dropped him at the train station. We waited for the train to take him into Manhattan for business. When it arrived, I choked back tears, bit my lip, breathed deeply and tried to be brave. We hugged briefly – he admonished me to be careful, reminded me of the AAA card, and told me to call if I needed anything. I wouldn’t see him again until who knew when.

After he got on the train, I drove back up the mountain alone. I was once again terrified, but did not see any options. At least I got a car out of the deal this time. I would have freedom of movement which I lacked the previous months. That was something.

Chapter 1

Summer Camp

As part of orientation I met young women from all over the country. We were assigned to our camping groups and bunks. I was to be a “floater” – a substitute – working with whichever group of counselors needed the extra hands because of days off. I had learned to look like I had confidence. Smile and laugh and everyone thinks you’re okay. Hide insecurities and nervousness in friendly overtures. Sing camp songs and swap stories and you’ve made a friend. I was the perfect candidate to work with each group of counsellors – don’t get to know any of them well enough to get hurt. Keep my guard up while it looks like I have no guard.

I bunked with Martine, a sixteen-year-old boy crazy junior counselor from a project in the city, Ann, a competitive Vassar grad, and Maria a soft-spoken woman studying at the City College of Manhattan. I didn’t spend much time with them during the day, they had their hands full with 11-year-old girls, shuttling them from activity to activity. Instead I spent each day with a different group of counselors and campers.

On my own off days, I drove down to the laundromat in town and wrote letters while my wash spun around in the machines. To Cincinnati, I mailed out a dozen postcards – numbered 1-12 – with part of the message on each post card. Most were found – it was a fun exercise to keep the old gang in touch with each other. But they never found numbers 9 or 10. I’d sent those to Scott and Ross in hopes one of them might answer. Neither did.

I wrote other letters to Jim, telling him how much I missed him and about my bunkmates and the kids I was working with. I wrote to my parents, giving them updates on my status. I wrote to my friends from UofR and then with writer’s cramp, I addressed and stamped the envelopes and dropped them in a mailbox on my way back up the road to camp.

* * *

Jim sent me letters, too. I have them tucked away, and curiosity got the better of me during this project. I opened a few and started re-reading them. But instead of inspiring warm comfortable memories, Jim’s letters bring bile to my throat. I get nauseous and shaky. How could I have ever been so beaten down to be attracted to such a man? He sent me reading lists, recommendations of titles to improve my literacy. Oh sure, he sent cookies and other endearing remembrances – creative writing stories from his childhood. But he also sent exhaustingly detailed descriptions of what family members were up to, how his cat had escaped the house and killed a bird in the yard, and how he was planning a crab feast for his friends from high school. These weren’t love letters, these were documentaries.

A sample:

Postmark June 17, 1986 Baltimore, MD

Well I’m bored, so I decided to write another letter. If you haven’t gotten the first letter, then don’t open this one. You can tell the first letter because it’s not this one. The first letter makes no self-referential statement which says it is the first, because at the time I had no idea that I would be writing a second. I hope these letters reach you before you leave for Fishkill.

Speaking of which, tonight we had fish for dinner which my uncle caught while he was on his annual fishing trip in Northern Canada. It was quite delicious.

I tried to call Eric B---------- & Danner D----- but they both weren’t home.

I am still in the throes of The Idiot, which is quiet exciting and adventurous. As with other Dostoevsky, the novel consists of a pack of wild and seedy people who chase after women & spend other people’s money doing it, and one valiant upright and gloriously noble protagonist who vainly attempts to lead them all in the right direction. You gotta love it. Unfortunately I am looking forward to the next books I have picked to read so that I feel like giving up on Dost. And starting them. They include The Terrible Swift Sword by Bruce Catton, about the middle

(2)

part of the Civil War, The Fourth Protocol a spy thriller by Frederick Forsyth, the Historian as Detective, a collection of essays by Historians, and a possible re-reading of Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts. Bruce Catton is a civil war historian and an incredibly good author. Kenneth Roberts writes historical novels about the United States. When I think about it, its incredible the # of good books I’ve read and how much I’ve remembered of them, and how they’ve affected my thinking. Here are a few of the very best, all of which I recommend that you read, or would make great gifts for your parents or friends (if they haven’t read them, that is):

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

20,000 Leagues under the sea and

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

Contact by Carl Sagan

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts

Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain by Mark Twain

(3)

Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Farhenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi)

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton (About the end of the Civil War)

Freedom at Midnight by ? (About the liberation of India in 1947)

The Source by James Michener

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

(Also an incredibly good Humphrey Bogart movie)

Well, anyway you get the idea. Right now you’re probably struggling through the Odyssey. Have fun with that one in the mean time.

Love,

Jimmy

P.S. None of the books is especially “meaningful” or “deep”, their (sic) just funny, exciting, adventurous and well written. That’s all.

On my first weekend off, I drove from Fishkill to Baltimore. I looked at the map, plotted my route, and called Jim with an ETA. He said, “See you then, and tell me all about the Tappan Zee,” (a large bridge spanning the Hudson River just north of NYC.) The route I plotted crossed the Hudson at Bear Mountain. But as I drove, I saw signs for the Tappan Zee and lost confidence and followed them, crossing back over to the east side of the Hudson. Then I was lost in the middle of Harlem, and finally worked my way back across the George Washington Bridge. An hour or more behind schedule at this point I had to make an instant decision. While driving 65 mph in a small Ford Pinto on an eight-lane highway in Jersey with semis all around me, do I take the New Jersey Turnpike, or the Garden State Parkway? I chose the Garden State Parkway. Wrong highway.

A couple of hours later, I stopped at a toll plaza and asked one of the attendants where I was. I pulled over to a phone booth and called Jim. “I’m lost. How do I get from here to Baltimore?” He and his mother talked me through the possibilities, and I drove the rest of the way, frustrated, exhausted, and very annoyed.

He first truly assaulted me later that weekend. In the basement of his parents’ home, among the boxes and dust and cobwebs, we shared a romantic stolen kiss while away from his parents. His passion escalated and despite my pleas of “No” “Don’t” “Not here” “Stop” he put one hand on my breast, tugged at my shorts with the other and put his hand on my now exposed crotch. At that point I folded. I learned earlier in the year that Jim would continue until he was satisfied, so it was useless to protest. I acquiesced and allowed him his bidding. He satisfied his primal urges – ever without penetration. He scraped his penis against my dry and sore vulva, providing lubrication with his own saliva. I was confused, hurt, and angry. I spent the rest of my time in his family’s home publically cowed and supplicant, while privately angry and devastated. Would he ever learn?

* * *

I had weekends off, and spent the 4th of July weekend in NYC with some other counselors. I drove us to the station, and we caught the train into Grand Central. We visited Battery Park, and danced in the streets, celebrating both Independence Day and the Statue of Liberty’s 100th birthday. She was wrapped in scaffolding, but stood proud and tall. In the evening as we walked up the Avenue of the Americas back toward the train station, we looked out across 14th Street and could see three sets of fireworks going off – one set from a barge in the East River, another set from a barge in the Hudson, and another set being launched from the Bay near Liberty Island. A magnificent sight I’ll carry with me always.

Another weekend in August, I dragged three other counselors with me to meet Jim and his family at a campground in Cape May. Four of us folded into that Pinto with our gear in the hatchback. This time, when I crossed the Hudson, I was confident of my navigation. We needed to take the Garden State Parkway. We drove down on Friday night, set up our tents and gear, and enjoyed the beach on Saturday.

I met Jim’s sister, his aunt and uncle, and we all shared dinner at the campground. Then on Sunday afternoon, with thousands (millions?) of other motorists, I double-clutched my way back around NYC to get to camp. It was a long drive, and we were grateful for air conditioning.

Erin worked a boring desk job that summer. She had oodles of time to write, so she sent me gossip. Her letters are full of updates of what the gang was doing. She and Victor were madly in love. Julie was madly in love with a guy she met at Miami. When she wasn’t working, she was visiting him or he was visiting her. Valli was busy at her summer job as a lifeguard. Victor and Igor and another buddy were hired to gut a building, so were busy with sledgehammers. Beth and Boyd were going here there and everywhere. Her letters are fun to read, even all these years later. But never any news of Ross.

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dangerouslywaywardbouquet-p-blog · 7 years ago

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usnewsaggregator-blog · 7 years ago

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How foreign investors are transforming a long-forgotten D.C. neighborhood

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/how-foreign-investors-are-transforming-a-long-forgotten-d-c-neighborhood/

How foreign investors are transforming a long-forgotten D.C. neighborhood

Angelique Brunner is founder and president of EB5 Capital, a firm that connects foreign investors with developers. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

On the site of a shuttered Burger King in a long-neglected Northeast neighborhood, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser donned a hard hat and dug a shiny shovel into a pile of dirt. It was a groundbreaking for a luxury apartment — made possible by $27 million in foreign investment.

Bowser, bundled in a black overcoat, touted her trade mission to China, where city officials and developers had invited wealthy Chinese to invest half a million dollars each in D.C. building projects in exchange for U.S. residency.

“That mission has resulted in the type of investment that will allow this project to go forward,” Bowser said that February day at the Highline, a 12-story apartment and retail complex going up in a rapidly gentrifying slice of NoMa where cranes now crowd the skyline.

The development is among the latest in D.C. funded by foreign investors through the controversial EB-5 visa, which some lawmakers have derided as “citizenship for sale.” Congress is expected to weigh the fate of the three-decade-old federal program by year’s end.

Its defenders say the program helps economically depressed neighborhoods attract capital — and jobs. But critics note instances where developers have used the low-cost financing to build luxury skyscrapers and high-end hotels in affluent areas, as President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has done.

NoMa — adjacent to Union Market — has the highest concentration of EB-5 financed projects in the city, said an official with an EB-5 lobbying group. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

Bowser and other proponents of the program cite a half dozen blocks near Washington’s Union Market where foreign investment is helping to spur rapid transformation.

[Congress soon could make it harder for rich people to move to the U.S.]

A longtime budget motel was redeveloped into two Hilton-branded hotels in 2015. A trash-sorting depot became an REI flagship in 2016 — not far from a homeless encampment beneath a railroad overpass. In addition to the Highline apartments going up on Florida Avenue, two parking lots across the street are slated for new housing and retail by late 2019.

All were partially financed — between 15 and 64 percent — by foreign investors after banks declined to fully back the projects, which are on the other side of the tracks from where most development was occurring, said Angelique Brunner, founder and president of EB5 Capital, a firm that connects foreign investors with developers.

“It would be very scary for a financial institution to step into this neighborhood the same way they might step into downtown Washington,” Brunner said, a forerunner in bringing EB-5 investments to Washington. “What we do in this neighborhood is really the heart and soul of what EB-5 was intended to be used for.”

The NoMa neighborhood seen from the top of Uline Arena in Northeast Washington. With the hotels, restaurants and amenity-rich apartments comes the specter of gentrification to a historically African American neighborhood of modest row homes. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

Changes in the old neighborhood

The foreign investor visa program has funded projects in other transitioning D.C. neighborhoods such as Shaw and Anacostia, and more recently, the Navy Yard and Southwest Waterfront. NoMa, though, has the highest concentration of EB-5 financed projects in the city thanks to Brunner, said Peter Joseph, executive director of Invest in the USA, an EB-5 lobbying group. Brunner said she expects EB5 Capital to finance at least two more NoMa developments by 2018, bringing total foreign investment in the neighborhood to more than $150 million.

With the hotels, restaurants and amenity-rich apartments, though, comes the specter of gentrification to a historically African American neighborhood of modest row homes. Some residents say they appreciate that the area is now being revived with conveniences they have long sought, after being decimated by the 1968 riots following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But they also lament feeling like tourists in their own neighborhood, with parking getting more difficult as hipsters and empty nesters move in.

“I’m all for change, but it’s so evident what they do for white folks,” said Moyer Fowler, 67, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than three decades, long before it was branded as NoMa. “We’re not going to know this city after awhile.”

The changes started around 2004 with the opening of the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro station. Within a few years, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headquarters opened, with its influx of federal workers. Back then, Fowler’s block was mostly black families; about 10 are left out of roughly 60 homes. Now there’s a dog park. And bike lanes. A Trader Joe’s grocery store is slated to open in 2018.

“You’ve got Airbnbs now, and people walking with strollers and kids in the neighborhood. Before if somebody came out, it’s like, ‘Yo, you’re lost,’ ” said Eric Markham, a 46-year-old maintenance mechanic who is white and has rented in the area for a decade. “Back in the day people couldn’t give their houses away, and now you could come offering what they’re asking and still not get the house.”

Construction on Florida Avenue in Northeast Washington. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

End of an era for one business

Some longtime business owners say they can no longer afford to stay, because redevelopment has pushed up property taxes. Central Armature Works, an electrical installation and construction firm that has been a fixture in the area since 1992, plans to relocate to Prince George’s County, said Robert Dorr, president and general manager of the 102-year-old family business. Dorr said his property taxes have climbed from $55,000 to about $700,000 over 25 years in the neighborhood.

“We thought we had a home here for at least another 50 years,” Dorr said. “But the city thinks the best use of this property is not industrial, so we will be forced to move. We can’t afford the taxes.”

The Dorr family has entered into a joint venture with Trammell Crow to develop apartments, condos, a hotel and retail space at the site. It’s become more profitable for business owners to develop the land on which their companies sit than to continue operating there.

Brunner said the NoMa developments perfectly fit what Congress had envisioned when it created the EB-5 program in 1990, and that her projects have created thousands of jobs. Hotels often provide the highest income jobs for an undereducated local workforce, she said.

“We struggle with the issue of gentrification,” Brunner said. “When you redevelop an area, you really have to be very sensitive to what you provide and how you provide it.”

She said the redevelopment has spurred amenities that will benefit the entire neighborhood, new and longtime residents alike.

“No one was going to build a new grocery store for the rowhouse residents,” she said. “You needed to improve the density in the neighborhood to attract the grocery stores and other services.”

The luxury apartment complex at the old Burger King site also has a plan to include affordable housing, she said, with 13 units available to people making 80 percent of the local median income of $110,300 for a family of four. In addition, the developer is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to provide 13 townhouses for sale to families earning up to 50 percent of the local median income. Those homes will be located a mile up the road in Ivy City, on the other side of Union Market.

The Uline Arena in Northeast Washington, which is now home to a flagship REI store. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

‘It was a tale of two cities’

Brunner, who as a black woman stands out in a field dominated by white men, has been primed for this particular slice of development financing since she was a young adult. As a full scholarship student at Brown University, Brunner held an AmeriCorps job renovating abandoned properties in South Providence, R.I., and conducting credit counseling for recent immigrants to become homeowners.

“One of the most painful points we could not address was there were no services there — no grocery stores and no banks, even though people lived in these neighborhoods,” Brunner said.

When she moved to Washington after receiving a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University, she saw the same problems, a daily reminder of the riots.

“Really it was a tale of two cities,” she said. “It was a federal city, which everyone saw on TV. And then it was the local city, which had apparently been forgotten.”

That is where foreign investors enter the picture — to bridge the funding gap for commercial development when institutional investors feel there is too much risk. The EB-5 program became especially popular among developers after the 2008 financial crisis made bank loans harder to secure.

[‘Everyone in China has the American Dream’ — and a popular path to it may disappear]

Seats from the old Uline Arena in REI. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

Beau Athia, who grew up on New York Avenue NE in a Super 8 motel that his parents owned after immigrating from India, said his family relied heavily on foreign investors to fund the construction of a pair of Hilton-branded hotels when they wanted to redevelop the site after the economic downturn.

“At the time when lenders weren’t willing to originate debt for new construction, EB5 Capital was more than willing to partner with us,” Athia said. “We were an immigrant family that basically spent most of our livelihood building up the asset and trying to help an underserved community improve.”

[In a Beijing ballroom, Kushner family pushes $500,000 ‘investor visa’ to wealthy Chinese]

But now legislators as well as the Trump administration are considering changes, including raising the investment threshold from $500,000 to $925,000. Lawmakers say they hope new rules will help prevent abuses, such as money going to build say, the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria, instead of helping rural or distressed urban communities.

Foreign investors have an opportunity to recoup their money, with low interest, and become eligible for permanent residency once authorities confirm that the money has created at least 10 American jobs.

With congressional authorization for the EB-5 visa set to expire next month, Brunner is hoping lawmakers will hash out permanent legislation for the program.

As she toured NoMa recently, Brunner said she thinks it would likely take another decade to fully develop the neighborhood — with more housing, retail and full-service hotels.

An iconic barrel-shaped building where the Beatles played their first U.S. concert in 1964 had become an eyesore as a trash-transfer station and then a parking lot. Today it is revived as REI’s fifth flagship store.

Walking out of the store, Brunner pointed down Third Street NE toward Florida Avenue, where she had stood alongside Bowser during February’s groundbreaking for the Highline. Construction is now in full swing.

“This block will be one of the strongest retail corridors in the entire city, connecting NoMa to Union Market,” Brunner said. “We will continue to invest in this neighborhood until it’s complete — or until Congress outlaws our investment.”

Construction seen from the roof of the Homewood Suites in Northeast Washington. (Jared Soares/For The Washington Post)

Original Article:

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joejstrickl · 7 years ago