This week, Airbnb, a service that I use when I travel, unveiled a new brand mark. They say that the logo is a combination of a home, a heart and a location pin. They call the symbol “Bélo”, meaning “belonging”. Others, it would seem, have pointed out that it is far from an original creation. All… Read more »
This week, I led a webinar for a client about the importance of supply chain visibility. Supply chain visibility is key for a logistics company for customer retention, revenue generation and proactive communication. Let’s briefly touch on each one and why it is so crucial. Customer retention Freight rates are constantly in flux regardless of… Read more »
Confession: I’m an Apple Fanboi. Those who know me are acutely aware of this. If it starts with “i”, chances are I’ll buy it. I can be a little discriminating, but my experiences with the brand and every customer service touch have reinforced that feeling. P:G uses QuickBooks for our accounting, The interface is old,… Read more »
Last Thursday, the CCBFA and Roanoke Trade were kind enough to host an outreach seminar on ACE. The featured speakers were Steve Hilson and Vince Annunziato of Customs and Border Protection. Their message? If you’re a Customs broker, get on ACE now. It doesn’t have to be a full dive into the deep end of the pool… Read more »
Brazil’s economy is, without question, the economic engine that drives South and Latin America. Besides the futbol tournament currently underway and the Olympics slated for Rio in 2016, Brazil leads all South American countries in population and GDP. They are also a country besieged by poverty, high taxes, crime and infrastructure challenges. Brazil is the… Read more »
This week brought Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, or WWDC. While Apple holds many events for the consumer (think their iPhone and iPad launch events held every year), this is one aimed at the people who build software and applications for their ecosystem, Mac OS X (for Apple desktops) and iOS (for the aforementioned iPhones… Read more »
Last week in Miami, the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee, or COAC, put forth a series of recommendations to Customs and Border Protection. COAC meets quarterly and is comprised of members of the trade representing importers, exporters, trade associations, Customs brokers and others. Members of the Committee are appointed to two-year terms. The present construct of… Read more »
Don’t take that headline to mean that you have carte blanche to purloin, take or willy-nilly start putting stuff on your site or in your corporate communications. Whoever took that picture or made that video owns the rights to it, and there’s a huge difference between you sharing it with friends or in your social feed and… Read more »
Net neutrality is the concept that all traffic that moves on the internet does so without impediment or priority based on financial advantage or incentive. President Obama campaigned as a proponent of net neutrality and understands fully why it is important. WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY? Over time, though, the concept of net neutrality has been… Read more »
On Monday, employers (PMA) and labor (ILWU) open discussions on the master contract that governs all port operations along the West Coast. Anyone with a long memory or access to the Wiki can remember what happened in the early 2000’s when things got so contentious that the employers locked out the longshoremen inflicting billions of… Read more »
Gone are the days when placing an ad in a trade directory or local charity ad book are the best way to promote your brand to your potential customers. Whether you are using PPC (pay per click) or display ads on a search engine, sponsored posts on LinkedIn or Facebook or sponsored Tweets on Twitter,… Read more »
At the NCBFAA Annual Conference in Summerlin, NV, one of the major points of discussion was the future of Customs broker licensing requirements in 19 CFR 111 as CBP moves forward with ACE and entry processing evolves. The regulations today require that a company acting as a Customs broker have a corporate license holder to… Read more »