OpenTable and Yelp Inc Shaping the Restaurant Industry

Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), the user-generated review Web site connecting people with local businesses, and OpenTable Inc (NASDAQ:OPEN),the restaurant reservation site, are reshaping the approach consumers take in selecting a restaurant to eat at. Believe it or not, Yelp ratings have a really strong influence on whether or not a restaurant succeeds in one of the hardest industries to survive in. Two Berkeley economists found through researching 328 San Francisco restaurants that a half-star improvement on Yelp?s 5-star rating makes a restaurant 30-49% more likely that a restaurant will sell out its evening seats. The study also found that the movement from 3 stars to 3.5 stars increased a restaurant?s chance of selling out during prime dining times from 13% to 34%. Moving from 3.5 stars to 4 stars increased the chance of selling out during prime dining by 19 percentage points. Until a few years ago, despite the wealth of restaurant information found on the internet, the ability to make reservations online was largely missing. OpenTable provides an efficient solution for restaurants to automate their reservation and simplify life for customers. Combining these two sites, a customer can check, review, view a menu, and make a reservation without picking up the phone or leaving their chair.

D.E. Shaw is the largest shareholder of Yelp common stock. Yelp isn?t very popular among hedge funds. The 400 hedge funds in our database have an aggregate long position of $3 million in the company. Robert Pitts, hedge fund manager of Steadfast Capital Management, is the largest hedge fund holder of OpenTable. The fund owns 1.3 million shares of OpenTable, consisting of 1.84% of the fund?s 13F portfolio. Valiant Capital and Brookside Capital are also among the hedge funds with large positions in the stock. Billionaire Israel Englander initiated a new small position in the company recently as well (see Englander?s new stock picks).

Hedge fund managers clearly have taken notice to these two tech start-ups, but why? The answer lies in the simplicity of the internet. The internet has given consumers the capability of transferring knowledge and information in a short time frame in nearly every developed area, and is accessible from stationary and mobile devices. The ease of surfing the web has changed consumer?s wants and needs, and businesses have been forced to adapt to stay competitive. In a tech driven environment, online services like Yelp and OpenTable have become second nature to many consumers. People have grown accustomed to companies like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAW:AMZN), that allow customers to find the best fits for their wants and needs and have credible reviews to comfort their decisions. Now consumers are evaluating where they want to eat, and what better ways to make a decision than viewing user reviews on Yelp and checking for available seating on OpenTable.

You would think that restaurants would love giving customers the ability to check reviews, view menus, and reserve tables, but there are some who view it as an unnecessary cost. OpenTable comes at a monetary cost, which is $199 per month for each OpenTable terminal, plus one dollar per reservation. While some restaurants believe if they don?t have OpenTable they won?t be busy, other say that the service isn?t worth the 2-3% of revenue. Yelp is offered free to business owners, but can cost some companies their reputation. As the opening paragraph suggest, the star rating given to the restaurant often dictates the company?s success. There have been various issues of companies rating their competitors in hopes of stealing customers.

Angie?s List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI) and Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) are the best comparable for Yelp. Both Angie?s List and Groupon aren?t perfect matches, but Yelp?s services are similar to both of these companies in different ways. Like Groupon, Yelp is free and offers coupons, but Yelp?s review services expand further than Groupon?s. Angie?s List and Yelp both are primarily online rating services, but Angie?s List has a subscription charge and is focused on professional services, where Yelp is free and does not provide reviews for any specific service. ?All three of these companies are in the introductory phase of their life cycles and are not profitable. Both Angie?s List and Groupon have been hit hard recently, their stock prices are down 42% and 80% respectively. Analysts view Yelp as having more potential than both comparables, Yelp is trading at 16.1 times sales, while the battered Angie?s List is currently trading at 3.6 times sales and the bruised Groupon is trading at only 1.1 times sales. We believe that the market is viewing Yelp as a site that has combined the core services that Groupon and Angie?s List offer, and we believe that Yelp will soon be the undisputed leader in online review and coupon services. Yelp?s broad range of services and growing number of users dwarf that of Groupon and Angie?s List. Yelp sales have grown 80% annually on average since 2010, and we forecast a 50% compound annual growth rate for the next five years. If Yelp can meet or beat our estimates, than their sky high P/S may actually be a bit low.

OpenTable is a unique company that does not have a good comparable that is publicly traded. Without another online restaurant reservation site, we compared OpenTable to the online travel reservation site Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN), and their closest competitor Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE). Investors are bidding up OpenTable and the company is trading at 6.9 times sales, while the online travel agent Priceline trades at 6.4 times sales, and Expedia trades at only 2 time sales. Year to date, the cheapest company in terms of P/S, Expedia, has delivered the largest return at 80%. Priceline and OpenTable have returned 27% and 12% respectively to investors thus far through 2012. We see various avenues of growth available for OpenTable, including emerging markets, and believe the company has an abundance of room available for growth in top and bottom line. With room for growth and displayed consumer acceptance in the United States, we believe that OpenTable is undervalued.

Both of these services have been the backbone of the transformation of how people find information on restaurants and make reservations. They both simplify consumer?s lives and can help restaurants draw people in to their business. These companies are market leaders in each of their niches, and have the capital and foundation necessary to continue to innovate. Although we agree that both services can be costly to a restaurants bottom line and reputation, we believe that both services are here to stay because they make customers lives easier. We believe that restaurants will have to conform to the customers desires, like the old saying goes ?the customer is always right.?

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Source: http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/opentable-and-yelp-inc-shaping-the-restaurant-industry-17691/

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Asheville Business Blog: Public Information Forum for the Tourism ...

The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (BCTDA) will hold a Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF) information session for potential applicants interested in learning more about the application process.? The meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18 at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, will include TPDF committee members and Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau staff to discuss legislation governing the fund, the application submission process and criteria for funding.? Following a break, interested applicants are invited to stay for a workshop at 3 p.m. that will focus on best practices for data collection and room night reporting.? Applications are available for download at BCTDA.org and are due on Monday, January 28, 2013.

As guided in the enabling legislation, TPDF funding assists with the construction of tourism projects that will significantly increase overnight room stays in Buncombe County and, subsequently, drive additional dollars into the local economy. The TPDF committee, a nine-member committee appointed by the BCTDA, is charged with reviewing applications and making recommendations to the BCTDA. By vote, the BCTDA ultimately approves final funding awards. ?

Since the TPDF legislation was passed in 2001, the BCTDA has awarded funding totaling more than $13.5 million to 14 community projects.

?The intention of the TPDF is to increase tourism to the area. The TPDF committee is seeking applicants that can thoroughly demonstrate their project?s economic impact through measuring anticipated new room nights,? said TPDF Committee Chair Jeff Covington, senior vice president at Forest Commercial Bank. ?The committee is also looking for interesting projects that are ready to break ground, would spur additional development and complement the Asheville area destination brand.?

Tourism product funding is generated through one percent of the four percent room tax collected from overnight visitors that stay in Buncombe County hotels, bed & breakfast inns and cabins. For profit and non-profit entities are eligible to apply for funding and funds can be awarded as a grant, loan guaranty or pledge of debt service.

More than 3 million overnight leisure visitors travel to the Asheville area annually generating more than $2 billion in economic impact to the region.?

Contact: Marla Tambellini, Deputy Director, Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, 828.258.6138, mtambellini@exploreasheville.com or? Cate Marvill, Senior Project Manager, 828.210.2724, cmarvill@exploreasheville.com.

Source: http://blog.ashevillechamber.org/2012/09/public-information-forum-for-tourism.html

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Gabrielle Union Writes Encouragement To Younger Self on Beauty, Self-Worth and True Love In Ebony

Fri, Sep 07 2012 by Lani_Bitchie | Filed Under: Celebrities
Ebony Magazine loves Gabrielle Union. She?s covering the mag for the second time this year, (the first with Dwyane Wade) and in the cover story, she?s penned a letter to her younger self. In the note, she encourages her younger self to be comfortable with her skin tone and to not let low self-esteem trick her into believing that she has low value. She also tells her younger self and other young women to never worry about love, love will find you and you will find love in an incredible man.

Check out a few excerpts below.

To her younger self
Your deep Mahogany skin may not resemble that of the others in your family, but it?s just as gorgeous and you?re just as worthy?.One day you?ll appreciate how much your brown skin shines in the moonlight, glistens in the sun and ages ever so slowly.

On her self-worth and true love
Don?t let that pesky low self-esteem creep in and fool you into believing that you don?t have value?don?t allow it to crush your will or dampen your spirit?Never worry about LOVE?.real love will find you?.an incredible love with an incredible man?.there is a beautiful rainbow at the end of your storm.

Don?t let other people?s needs, wants, desires, fantasies, hopes or dreams dictate your choices and decisions. Follow your own path, and don?t worry that you?re being selfish or disloyal.

You can read the entire story in the October Issue of Ebony Magazine, on news stands September 10th.
via BET

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NecoleBitchiecom/~3/fIl658oAiQU/

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Last-minute fabulous: quick tips for summer celebrations | Digger ...

The weather?s warming up, and people everywhere are gearing up for the summer season. For many, with it comes the opportunity to enjoy outdoor parties and share great meals with friends and family.

Preparing your home for summer entertaining doesn?t need to be a lot of work; in fact, with a few quick tips, it can be downright easy. To make your summer soirees a breeze, read on and get ready to greet your guests.

Start prepping for summer fun with these simple tips:

* The sun keeps the sky lit up fairly late throughout the summer, but it?s important to provide lighting once dark sets in. Make sure that entry lights are working and your driveway is well lit. Try adding small, solar-powered lights along the footpaths. For additional lighting, colored lanterns or Tiki torches add decorative flair to decks and patios, perfect for setting the mood.

* Even though summer festivities may be on the patio, it?s important to keep your home?s interior guest-ready too. Encourage everyone in the family to keep clutter confined, and take a few minutes each week to tidy up. Lightly scented candles, potpourri and even an open window can make a world of difference in keeping things fresh and summery. Most importantly, make sure any bathrooms guests might use are tidy and stocked with hand soap and paper products.

* Both indoors and out, touches of cheerful summer decor are easy to achieve with accessories. Colorful glass hurricane lamps and boldly printed outdoor furniture cushions feel fun and summery, while the simple addition of bright pillows, light cotton throws and linen drapes bring a beachy feel to your home?s interior. Keep them in place throughout the season and you?ll have the perfect backdrop for hosting a summer party.

* Having cold beverages on hand is essential in the summer ? whatever the temperature. For those last-minute gatherings, the newest French-door refrigerators from LG come equipped with a Blast Chiller compartment, which can chill a bottle of wine in eight minutes or a can of soda or beer in five minutes ? perfect if you?ve forgotten to refrigerate those drinks ahead of time or are looking to chill a gifted bottle from a guest. Keeping your pantry stocked with beverages for both adults and kids ? from juices to sodas and beyond ? is always a good idea.

* Summer?s bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables makes picking a menu easy. Choose your in-season favorites at the local farmers market ? from tomatoes to corn on the cob ? which makes a simple and delicious evening meal. Sweet nectarines and blueberries are always a guaranteed hit, so make sure they?re easily for family and guests to grab on the go. And, whether it?s the festive party cocktail, more of that delicious spread, or even a touch more dessert, an excellent hostess always offers seconds.

Keep your house ready to welcome guests at all times and you?ll be making the most of the season. Not sure what to serve? Fun, tropical drinks ? that can be modified for the kids to enjoy, too ? are always popular. When the temperature heats up, light bites ? like summer salads ? are refreshing. Try these recipes from LG?s Executive Chef for your next party, and find more entertaining solutions at www.lg.com.

White Wine Sangria

Ingredients:

2 bottles of dry white wine, preferably Torrontes

1 1/2 cups white cranberry juice

3/4 cup brandy

1/2 cup sugar

1 mango, diced

8 strawberries cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/2 lemon, cut into half pinwheels

Ginger ale

Directions:

1. In a large pitcher or punch bowl, combine the wine, cranberry juice, brandy, sugar and fruits. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 4 hours.

2. To serve, fill a 12 ounce glass with ice and add 1/4 cup (2 ounces) of ginger ale. Top off with wine mixture, making sure to get some of the fruit into every glass.

Makes enough Sangria for about 10 to 12 servings. To make the drink family friendly, substitute white grape juice for wine and exclude brandy.

Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (if you cannot find sherry vinegar, substitute balsamic vinegar)

1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

For the salad:

1 bunch thin, pencil asparagus

8 to 10 ounces of mache or mesclun greens

1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, halved

1 medium shallot

Salt and pepper

Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Directions:

To make the dressing:

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the vinegars, garlic, Dijon mustard and honey.

2. While whisking vigorously, slowly add the oil to the bowl in a slow steady stream to emulsify.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. If refrigerating, whisk again right before serving to re-mix the dressing.

For the salad:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt.

2. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus and cut into 1-inch lengths.

3. Blanch the asparagus for about 1 to 2 minutes in the boiling water until stalks are bright green and slightly softened, but still crunchy.

4. Strain asparagus and run cold water over stems to stop cooking and preserve their bright green color. Alternately, stalks can be dropped into an ice water bath.

5. Once cooled, drain and refrigerate the asparagus.

6. Slice the shallot as thinly as possible, using a mandolin if available.

7. Add the mache or greens, chilled asparagus, tomatoes, and shallot to a salad bowl along with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 of the dressing and toss to mix everything together. Check the amount of dressing and add more if necessary.

8. Using a vegetable peeler, peel thin slices of the parmesan or pecorino cheese over the salad. Serve immediately.

Source: http://www.diggernews.com/last-minute-fabulous-quick-tips-for-summer-celebrations.html

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Internet Marketing for the Small Businesses ~ Technology blog

Internet marketing offers businesses visibility on the online space. However, as the number of websites is increasing every day, all businesses are meeting stiff competition. As per estimation, there are more than 600 million websites on the internet and the number continues to increase.

This poses a tough challenge to small businesses, because small businesses have limited budget and they cannot spend extravagantly on marketing purpose. That?s why, those businesses couldn?t suck out the juice fully from paid marketing campaigns. The soaring number of websites is making the task even more difficult as increased number of contenders inevitably implies decreased amount of visibility for each single contender.

To keep themselves steady in the race, small businesses can follow certain tips and techniques. Such tricks and techniques are related to SEO and social media activities for a business. To carry out SEO and social media works and to get favorable outcome, small and medium size businesses need to follow certain steps;

Content ? Content is utterly important in online marketing. In fact, the importance of content has gone up to such an insurmountable extent recently that ?Content is King? is not an understatement. Websites need to upload contents within a definite duration. That will help those websites to get impressive ranking on search engines. Blog posts, newsletters, videos, images, infographics, eBooks are all contents. They are of different formats.

Link authenticity ? This is a high priority because linking plays a pivotally important role in SEO. As SEO is the lifeline of online marketing, sanguinity of links that are being used for SEO purpose is a big issue. Online marketers are recommended to avoid spammy links and they should get a clear idea on presence of which factors could make a link spammy. After the newest update, Google now checks all the incoming links of a website and determines whether these links are relevant considering the niche of the website.

Social media ? Social media is instrumental in solidifying the branding of a business. The leading social media sites such Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube etc are visited by millions of users everyday. If a website representing a business can be promoted across these sites in methodical way, then the business can expect outstanding return. With passing of time, importance of social media is surging in an outstanding pace. It is becoming as important as is SEO (If not more).

Keyword relevance ? Relevance of keywords is very important. If keywords are not properly chosen, then the business can?t expect visibility, let alone be reaching out to potential consumers. Selection of keywords requires quick-mindedness and a comprehensive study of the business. Small businesses mostly operate on local basis and should coin keywords, which are first, inherently related to the main theme of the business and secondly, are focused on the demographics, pertaining to the business.

Using web development ? Some may get surprised as to what role web development has to play in mainstream internet marketing. Truth is, it is instrumental in leveraging an online marketing campaign. Web developers could build applications that are highly useful for a website to reach to users. User-interface is very important in the success of online marketing and web developers can develop apps, through which an improved UI can be obtained.

A mindfully run internet marketing campaign can result in excellent results for small businesses.

Author Bio ? Alice Aires has wide-ranging experience in writing on Internet Marketing, web development and related areas. Being a former web developer himself, he understands the industry quite well.

Source: http://www.itmashable.com/2012/09/internet-marketing-for-small-businesses.html

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So what's so special about iPhone 5??

I have bought every stinking iPhone on Day one from the fist to the 4S but for some reason I am not a all hyped about the new iPhone 5 and will probably wait this time, as I haven't really seems or heard anything that screams gotta have so far.

Now that can change when we see the reveal, but so far Im getting the vibe that it's a slightly bigger screen and taller case in the same current design (look), probably a speed boost and a slight camera upgrade over the 4S.

All things considered a decent upgrade over a 3 or 4 user but nothing worth paying the premium to get out of your current contact on the 4S with unless I am wrong?

Does anyone have any (I know where in rumor town) but does anyone have something to get me excited about the 5???

__________________
?Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.? -Denis Waitley

Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1435190&goto=newpost

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Plain packaging reduces the appeal of smoking

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

While Australia has recently passed legislation to ban logos from cigarette packages and to make plain packaging mandatory, other countries are still considering whether or not to take similar measures. New research published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health provides a report on the appeal of plain cigarette packs, compared to branded packs, among women in Brazil, and finds that plain packs reduce the appeal of their contents.

Tobacco use is responsible for 5.4 million deaths every year across the world and is a leading cause of preventable death. Like many other countries, Brazil has prohibited most forms of tobacco advertising, but has not addressed the issue of marketing by tobacco companies via the cigarette pack itself.

Research suggests that many brands appear to specifically target young women by use of 'feminine' colored packs, fruit flavorings, or by suggestive terms such as 'slim' or 'superslim'. Scientists from Canada, the US, and Brazil collaborated on this online study of 640 young Brazilian women to see if these cigarettes had the same appeal when presented in plain packaging (but still with the brand name and description on them). As a final test, the women were able to choose which they would have preferred as a free gift, one of the plain or branded packs (although there was never any intension for the packs to be sent out).

Dr David Hammond from the University of Waterloo, Canada, who led this study explained, "The women in this study rated branded packs as more appealing, more stylish and sophisticated than the plain packs. They also thought that cigarettes in branded packs would be better tasting and smoother. Removal of all description from the packs, leaving only the brand, further reduced their appeal. In the pack offer test, participants were three times more likely to choose the branded pack as a free gift."

The results from this study, the first to look at the effect of plain cigarette packaging on smoking in Latin America, backs up research in other countries, which has found that plain packaging makes cigarettes less appealing to young people.

Christine White from the University of Waterloo, Canada, concluded, "Our results suggest that plain packaging and the removal of brand descriptors are likely to reduce the appeal of smoking for youth and young adults. Overall, these findings support the recommendations for plain packaging in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control."

###

The potential impact of plain packaging of cigarette products among Brazilian young women: an experimental study Christine M White, David Hammond, James F Thrasher and Geoffrey T Fong BMC Public Health (in press)

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 38 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123183/Plain_packaging_reduces_the_appeal_of_smoking

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