Body slam for wrestling: Sport cut from Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ? For wrestling, this may have been the ultimate body slam: getting tossed out of the Olympic rings.

The vote Tuesday by the IOC's executive board stunned the world's wrestlers, who see their sport as popular in many countries and steeped in history as old as the Olympics themselves.

While wrestling will be included at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, it was cut from the games in 2020, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.

2004 Olympic Greco-Roman champion Khasan Baroev of Russia called the decision "mind-boggling."

"I just can't believe it. And what sport will then be added to the Olympic program? What sport is worthy of replacing ours?" Baroev told the ITAR-Tass news agency. "Wrestling is popular in many countries ? just see how the medals were distributed at the last Olympics."

American Rulan Gardner, who upset three-time Russian Olympic champion Alexander Karelin at the Sydney Games in an epic gold-medal bout known as the "Miracle on the Mat," was saddened by the decision to drop what he called "a beloved sport."

"It's the IOC trying to change the Olympics to make it more mainstream and more viewer-friendly instead of sticking to what they founded the Olympics on," Gardner told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Logan, Utah.

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee reviewed the 26 sports on its summer program in order to remove one of them so it could add one later this year. It decided to cut wrestling and keep modern pentathlon ? a sport that combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting ? and was considered to be the most likely to be dropped.

The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission report that analyzed 39 criteria, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of what's wrong with wrestling; it is what's right with the 25 core sports."

According to IOC documents obtained by the AP, wrestling ranked "low" in several of the technical criteria, including popularity with the public at the London Games ? just below 5 on a scale of 10. Wrestling sold 113,851 tickets in London out of 116,854 available.

Wrestling also ranked "low" in global TV audience with a maximum of 58.5 million viewers and an average of 23 million, the documents show. Internet hits and press coverage were also ranked as low.

The IOC also noted that FILA ? the international wrestling federation ? has no athletes on its decision-making bodies, no women's commission, no ethics rules for technical officials and no medical official on its executive board.

Modern pentathlon also ranked low in general popularity in London, with 5.2 out of 10. The sport also ranked low in all TV categories, with maximum viewership of 33.5 million and an average of 12.5 million.

FILA has 177 member nations, compared to 108 for modern pentathlon.

Modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games, was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement.

It also benefited from the work of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president who is a UIPM vice president and member of the IOC board.

"We were considered weak in some of the scores in the program commission report but strong in others," Samaranch told the AP. "We played our cards to the best of our ability and stressed the positives."

Klaus Schormann, president of governing body UIPM, lobbied hard to protect his sport's Olympic status and it paid off in the end.

"We have promised things and we have delivered," he said after Tuesday's decision. "That gives me a great feeling. It also gives me new energy to develop our sport further and never give up."

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for 2020, but it is extremely unlikely that it would be voted back in so soon after being removed by the executive board.

The other sports vying for a single opening in 2020 are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu, a martial art.

"Today's decision is not final," Adams said. "The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision."

Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year's London Olympics, with Russia dominating the podium but Iran and Azerbaijan making strong showings. Women's wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games.

Tuesday's decision came via secret ballot over four rounds, with 14 members voting each time on which sport should not be included in the core group. IOC President Jacques Rogge did not vote.

Three sports were left in the final round: wrestling, field hockey and modern pentathlon. Eight members voted against wrestling and three each against the other two sports. Taekwondo and canoe kayaking survived the previous rounds.

"I was shocked," said IOC board member Rene Fasel of Switzerland.

"It was an extremely difficult decision to take," added IOC Vice President Thomas Bach of Germany. "The motivation of every member is never based on a single reason. There are always several reasons. It was a secret vote. There will always be criticism, but I think the great majority will understand that we took a decision based on facts and for the modernization of the Olympic Games."

Wrestling was featured in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Along with Russia's Karelin, it has produced such American stars as Gardner, Bruce Baumgartner, Jeff Blatnick and Jordan Burroughs.

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun also expressed surprise at the IOC decision, citing "the history and tradition of wrestling, and its popularity and universality."

"It is important to remember that today's action is a recommendation, and we hope that there will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss the important role that wrestling plays in the sports landscape both in the United States and around the world," Blackmun said in a statement. "In the meantime, we will fully support USA Wrestling and its athletes."

FILA said in a statement that it was "greatly astonished" by the decision, adding that the federation "will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC executive board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games."

It said it has always complied with IOC regulations and is represented in 180 countries, with wrestling the national sport in some of them.

The federation, which is headed by Raphael Martinetti and based in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, said it would meet next week in Thailand to discuss the matter.

Gardner cited wrestling's worldwide popularity and urged a campaign to keep it in the Olympics.

"It just seems like wrestling ? if we don't fight, we're going to die," he said. "At this point, it's time for everybody to man up and support the program."

The decision hit hard in Russia, which has long been a power in the sport.

Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, suggested FILA had not done enough to keep the sport in the games.

"We want to hear what was done to prevent this issue from even being discussed at the board," he said on the Rossiya TV channel.

In comments carried by ITAR-Tass, Mamiashvili added: "I can say for sure that the roots of this problem is at the FILA. I believe that Martinetti's task was to work hard, socialize and defend wrestling's place before the IOC."

Alexander Leipold, a 2000 Olympic champion from Germany and former freestyle German team coach, said he was shocked.

"We are a technical, tactical martial sport where the aim is not to harm the opponent," he said. "Competing at the Olympics is the greatest for an athlete."

Wrestling's long history in the Olympics has featured some legendary names and moments:

? Karelin won the super-heavyweight gold in Greco-Roman over three straight Olympics ? 1988, 1992 and 1996 ? until his streak was ended by Gardner, who beat him for the gold in 2000.

? Baumgartner won four Olympic medals, including golds in 1984 and 1992.

? Blatnick overcame cancer to win gold in Greco-Roman at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, bursting into tears after the match. Blatnick died last year at age 55.

? Burroughs emerged as the star of the sport in London, where he won the 74-kilogram gold.

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio.

Among those in Lausanne were the leaders of the recently created World Baseball Softball Confederation. The two sports agreed last year to merge in a joint bid to return to the games.

Don Porter, the American who heads international softball, and Riccardo Fraccari, the Italian who leads baseball, are working out the final details of their unified body ahead of their presentation to the IOC in May.

A major hurdle remains the lack of a commitment from Major League Baseball to release top players for the Olympics.

Porter and Fraccari said they hope to have another meeting with MLB officials in April in Tokyo.

"The next thing is to sit down with them and see how they can help us," Porter said. "It all depends on the timing, the timing of the season. It's not an easy decision to allow players a week off."

___

Associated Press writers Lynn Berry in Moscow and Luke Meredith in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/body-slam-wrestling-sport-cut-olympics-223518799--oly.html

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Sometimes It's Peaceful: Mission creep warning! CME guidance ...

CME (Children Missing Education) is central government's statutory guidance to local authorities on how to interpret section 436A of the Education Act. A new version has recently been drafted and this is open for public consultation requesting an email response before this Friday 15 February 2013 at 5pm.

This section of the law was allegedly not intended to 'catch' or check up on home educating families and the first version made this explicit:

[Clip = 66 seconds long]

["The two sets of guidance were originally conceived to do two different things. I was involved with discussions when the first draft of that was made, of the Children Missing Education guidance, and the civil servants who we were dealing with assured us that this was not something which was being designed to entrap home educators. They assured us that the whole point of that exercise - giving the statutory guidance on section 436A - was to find children who had completely slipped through the net who were not receiving any education at all. It was not designed to target home educators in any way. And the first version of it actually said explicitly that this guidance does not apply to children who are educated at home." - Jane Lowe, giving oral evidence to The Commons Education Select Committee's inquiry into EHE support on Wednesday 5 September 2012]

Later versions were to lose this statement in an ongoing process of mission creep, although I think they did keep the link to the all-important 2007 EHEGLA, thereby rendering their non-statutory status defacto statutory. This new draft appears to have lost that link, which I think is worrying and in need of our urgent response.

In my view it's important for home educators to regularly check the CME guidance and respond to consultations when it changes because the guidance is often misused by local authority officers in their approach to home educators, so we need its wording to be very clear and unambiguous, especially considering Ofsted's role in inspecting local authorities' compliance with it. (See Fiona's response for more on this.)

The new draft guidance seems blissfully short and simple compared to recent versions, but I think it contains many problems, as follows:

1. From the Introduction - overview: "The purpose of the section 436A duty is to ensure that local authorities can identify and return to full-time education those children who are missing education (or those at risk of becoming CME)." I can find no reference in section 436A which speaks of "at risk of becoming" and think this should be removed to prevent further mission creep.
2. "The duty relates to children of compulsory school age who are not on a school admission register and not receiving a suitable education otherwise than at school, for example, at home." There is no such thing as 'compulsory school age', only 'compulsory full-time education age' and the guidance should use the legally accurate term throughout, instead of the false one.
3. "Issuing School Attendance Orders (SAOs) to parents who the local authority believes are not securing a suitable education for their child" is the end of a process at every step of which the best interest of the child should be prioritised. If the authority believes a parent is not securing a suitable education for their child, government guidelines advise informal enquiry first.
4. This guidance should reference and link to the Elective Home Education Guidance for Local Authorities for instructions in their approach towards home educating families.
5. "Safeguarding duties, for example, visiting a family if they have concerns about a child?s welfare and poor school attendance and, if appropriate, making an application to the family court." This sentence implies a proactive stance which I believe is an incorrect interpretation of the cited section 47 of the Children Act 1989. My concern is that any proactive conflation of Education with Welfare may lead to home educating families being automatically treated with suspicion when there are no indications that their children are at risk of being harmed or neglected and their privacy and wellbeing suffering unnecessary damage from any such suspicion.
6. "Children at particular risk of missing education" This whole section needs to be removed in my opinion as it contains items of prejudice and refers to the issue of risk itself, which is not mentioned in the section 436A of the Education Act. I think it should be the purpose of this guidance to interpret the law as it stands, not to facilitate mission creep.
7. "Families moving between local authority areas can sometimes lead to a child becoming ?lost? in the system and consequently missing education. Where a child has moved, local authorities should check with other authorities ? either regionally or nationally ? to ascertain where a child has moved to and ensure that they are attending education or being home educated." I can see nothing in section 436A of the Education Act which calls for families' movements to be tracked around the country in this unnecessary way. Section 7 of the Education Act already sets out parental responsibility for the full-time education of children and local authorities should only address evident current failings in this. Tracking movement of families would go beyond this legal requirement and infringe on civil liberties.
8. "Local authorities should regularly raise awareness of their procedures with local schools, partners and agencies working with children and families, for example, GPs and other health professionals, police, emergency services, children?s homes, Youth Offending Teams." I would like to take this opportunity to express a warning about the unintended consequences which may arise from too much connection between issues of health, education and welfare. This is the increased, so-called 'service-resistance' of families seeking to preserve the peace and freedom required for their wellbeing.
9. I think this guidance should somewhere restate the original intention that section 436A and associated guidance should not be used to check or monitor Elective Home Education, because Section 7 of the Education Act and the Elective Home Education Guidance for Local Authorities already adequately cover this area. Local authorities can make inquiries of such families only where it appears a child may not be in receipt of an efficient full-time education as set out in Section & and the EHEGLA Guidance. Further checking and monitoring of home educating families may be damaging to their wellbeing and their children's interest in learning. The wording "where it appears" bears no relation to the term parents who the local authority believes are not securing a suitable education for their child. The former having specific legal meaning and the latter being quite arbitrary and therefore open to misinterpretation. I would like this guidance to state that when a parent states the child is home educated, the Elective Home Education Guidance for Local Authorities should be followed. I do not think the proactive seeking out of such families for checking or monitoring purposes is an accurate interpretation of section 436A of the Education Act.

The above nine points will form the main part of my email response to the consultation.

Source: http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.com/2013/02/mission-creep-warning-cme-guidance.html

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Downton Abbey, Season 3

Rob James-Collier as Thomas Barrow

Photograph courtesy of ? Giles Keyte/Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for Masterpiece

Last night?s episode of Downton Abbey has turned Slate commenters into historians. Dozens of readers are arguing about the credibility of the plot line that saw Thomas? misunderstanding with Jimmy the junior footman result in his receiving a promotion rather than a jail term or a horsewhipping.

The most unlikely part of this story line is that Thomas would sneak into Jimmy?s room and kiss him while the latter appeared to sleep. Servants in great houses were generally expected to live celibate lives. As we saw in Season 1, below stairs the men?s quarters are separated from the women?s rooms by a locked door, whose key Mrs. Hughes keeps guarded on a heavy metal key ring. In recent weeks, when Alfred invited Ivy to accompany him to the movies, Mrs. Patmore allowed the outing only on the condition that they not go alone. If servants in great houses did wed, there was an expectation that they would leave service. Since there was no room for married couples below stairs, and given the masters? round-the-clock demands, nonresident maids and valets would provide less than adequate service.

The Crawleys, of course, have made an exception for Anna and Bates, finding a cottage for them on the estate. As Robert?s former soldier-servant from the Boer War, Bates? situation is far from typical. But Thomas, who has resented Bates ever since his arrival denied him the job of Lord Grantham?s valet, has been forced to watch his rival enjoy a happy love life.

O?Brien effectively manipulated Jimmy into stifling his natural responses to Thomas? caresses, then she got Thomas to believe that his most deeply held desire?for an reciprocated romantic relationship with a class-appropriate guy who also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous?was on hand. Should Thomas have kissed Jimmy while he was sleeping? No. Would he have believed O?Brien?s stories of Jimmy ?talking soppy? about him to Alfred? Not absent any other evidence. But the fact that Jimmy had never complained about Thomas? touches would have served, to a desperate man in 1920, as that other evidence. As Thomas told Mr. Carson, ?When you?re like me ? you have to read the signs as best you can, because no one will speak out.? Those commenters saying that Thomas should?ve gained Jimmy?s consent before kissing him are asking more than history will allow. Men have been sleeping with other men for millennia; they?ve been talking about it for considerably less.

Actor Rob James-Collier did a great job of conveying Thomas? struggle. After years of loneliness and contempt, love seemed to be calling from across the hall. He knew the risks?a beating, dismissal, jail?but he gave in to his romantic side and kissed the man he had been told was mooning over him. There was no suggestion of Thomas forcing himself on Jimmy, who is physically strong and an independent thinker; he was simply making the first move.

But is there any chance that in 1920, lord and servant alike would?ve been cool with Thomas? homosexuality? Let?s stipulate, first of all, that Julian Fellowes? creation is far from a paragon of historical accuracy, especially in regards to social attitudes. Having Carson reject Thomas? ?revolting world? and call him foul is an inadequate stand-in for society?s institutional homophobia, but as I wrote earlier this week, I give Fellowes credit for finding dramatically convincing explanations for everyone?s tolerance.

Lord Grantham?s acceptance of the predatory nature of Eton life (and let?s not forget that the vast majority of those stolen kisses would?ve come from boys who grew up to lead heterosexual lives) is one of the few things that isn?t anachronistic about Downton Abbey. Would Robert have been content to employ a ?body servant? whom he knew to harbor homosexual urges? If the man did his job well and observed all the appropriate proprieties, as Thomas Barrow apparently did, Lord Grantham would put up with a great deal. It is overt challenges to established rules of propriety?inappropriate evening attire, marrying into the wrong religion, women expressing opinions in public forums?that bother Lord Grantham. (And, yes, Thomas is very good at cricket, but if that really mattered, perhaps we?d have learned who won the match.)

Jimmy and Alfred are both worried that no one should think them gay?much of that concern having been ginned up by O?Brien?but all the other characters have credible reasons for wanting Thomas to keep his job. After his wrongful imprisonment, Bates is fighting for justice. Mrs. Hughes believes Thomas to be a war hero. None of the servants want to believe that anyone they know could be dismissed without a reference, since that?s tantamount to destitution. Let?s face it, Thomas is a nasty piece of work?the servants have no shortage of reasons to dislike Mr. Barrow without bringing his sexuality into it?but he?s good at his job, which buys a lot of forbearance in this world.

Would there have been gay society within Thomas? cruising range? It?s hard to know how much real-life exactitude to bring to Julian Fellowes? invented world, but the chances are very slim. George Chauncey?s Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940 describes the signals that New Yorkers used to announce themselves as ?fairies?: Gay male attire included ?green suits, tight-cuffed trousers, flowered bathing trunks, and half-lengthed flaring top-coats.? Gay men were also known to wear ?excessively bright feathers in their hat-bands.? According to Chauncey, the most famous signal of gayness was a red necktie. In faraway Northern England, it?s hard to imagine circumstances in which a working-class man like Thomas, so proud of the fine black suit his position as a valet permits him to wear, would be able to obtain, much less wear, such items.

I could find no chronicles of gay life in Yorkshire in the 1920s, but in the 1980s, Terry Sanderson, a working-class gay man from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, described his coming out in the 1970s in an essay in the British collection Radical Records: Thirty Years of Lesbian and Gay History. It?s a story of an active but hidden world. Sanderson describes being measured for his first suit by a man who ?lingered over my inside leg and when he realized I wasn?t going to object, gave me a comprehensive fondling,? which brings to mind Thomas? unslapped hands on Jimmy?s shoulders and legs. Later Sanderson got a job at a camera shop managed by a gay man, which received regular visitors from various pillars of the community who were living secret lives: ?I came to realize that the twilight world actually existed unseen, but in parallel, with everyone else?s world,? he writes. Even 40 years ago, few had any concept that a gay relationship was a possibility. ?Many of them had had sex with other gays, but few of them accepted that you could make a way of life out of it.?

Thomas? gay pride?or at least his refusal to hate himself?may be anachronistic, but as long as he didn?t say too much about the love that dare not speak its name, it?s easy to believe that how well he did his job would count for more than whom he pined for.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ba4a50024e21a48e0e71e4472b24aa47

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15 to Spend on Food and Drink ? Chris BBQ & Grill - Dannie ...

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Source: http://clinthowards.blogspot.com/2012/12/15-to-spend-on-food-and-drink-chris-bbq.html

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Laura Linney: I'm Happy 'Love Actually' Is So Popular

For Laura Linney, this is indeed the most wonderful time of year. Not only is she in the holiday spirit "all the time," but she is thrilled to be part of a movie associated with the season.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/laura-linney-loves-love-actually-christmas-tradition/1-a-508122?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Alaura-linney-loves-love-actually-christmas-tradition-508122

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Obama and Boehner Missed That Redskins Game to Negotiate the Cliff

MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Filipinos jumped from their seats and watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face first to the canvas after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent on Sunday as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, tasted his second straight defeat this year. "I'm so shocked, I can't believe it when Manny was ahead on points," barber Pedro Varela told Reuters after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-boehner-missed-redskins-game-negotiate-cliff-220747022.html

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7 Key Takeaways From BIA/Kelsey's ILM Conference

I just returned from the jam-packed annual BIA/Kelsey ILM West conference in Los Angeles, where there was a lot of excitement about what?s next in local SMB advertising. As we head into 2013, local businesses have some important trends to consider when developing their marketing plans.

The ways in which consumers are both searching and finding local businesses are rapidly changing, and local businesses and marketers are quickly adapting to take advantage of new opportunities to drive business in the door.

Here are my 7 key takeaways from the event:

1. ?Local Business Spending Remains The Same

But, this spending is increasingly fragmented and focused on online presence.?Over the past 12 months, total annual spending on advertising and promotion by SMBs has remained consistent at about $3,000, according to BIA/Kelsey?s Q3 2012 update to its Local Commerce Monitor survey, which was presented at the conference. But the ways SMBs are spending those dollars is increasingly changing.

As the number of media platforms continue to grow, local businesses are broadening their spend. In 2007, SMBs on average used three types of media for advertising and promotion. In 2012, they used 5.8. We can only expect this diversification to continue as new platforms like social media, mobile and tablets take greater hold in the consumer shopping experience.

Today the platform getting the most attention is online, where SMBs are continuing to increase dollars spent on their website and other web properties. They SMBs surveyed by BIA/Kelsey said they spend an average $1,190 on their online presence as of 3Q 2012, up an astounding 36% from $876 in 4Q 2011.

Key takeaway: SMBs shouldn?t worry that the only way to compete in today?s changing media environment is to dedicate more resources to advertising. Rather, they need to strive to spread those dollars across a wider array of platforms to reach consumers in more of the places they?re searching. Right now, many SMBs see building their online presence as an increasingly important part of that effort.

2. ?Social Media Serves As The Central Platform For SMBs

While SMBs are investing in everything from landing pages to website videos and mobile websites, social media is dominating the field.

The BIA/Kelsey report found that about 63%, or nearly two-thirds, of SMBs said they use social media as a marketing tool for their business. The study showed that 46% of SMBs have a Facebook page, and that an additional 15.3% will likely create one within the next year.

According to data released by Facebook to coincide with ILM West, the number of local business pages advertising on the social network has doubled since January. Local businesses are also doing a better job of keeping pages up to date: active local pages increased more than 40% since January.

Additionally, more than 300,000 pages have promoted more than 2.5 million posts since Promoted Posts for businesses feature launched in June. While Facebook figures don?t focus specifically on SMBs, there?s no doubt that SMB activity is a strong part of this trend.

Key takeaway: SMBs should strongly consider the benefits of building and maintaining their social media presence. Nearly half (49%) of SMBs say Facebook is extremely or very important to their business, according to the BIA/Kelsey study. And it?s no longer seen by SMBs as just a place to build brand awareness or community.

An astounding 41.7% of SMBs surveyed by BIA/Kelsey say they see Facebook most importantly as an acquisition tool. SMBs believe there are transaction opportunities that social media can provide.

3. ?Customer Loyalty Programs Are Seen As Growing Opportunity For SMBs

A majority of SMBs said they currently have (34%) or are likely to add (21.3%) customer loyalty programs to their marketing mix, according to BIA/Kelsey?s survey. Approximately 53% of SMBs described loyalty customers as ?high quality,? and nearly half (49%) said their competitors have loyalty programs already.

Key takeaway: Consumers today have greater access to information when it comes to the businesses they choose and the products and services they buy. A couple looking for a restaurant or a mom shopping for cleaning supplies at the local grocery can easily whip out their cell phones and find reviews, deals and other information that can guide their buying selections.

One of the strongest opportunities to build and maintain momentum for an SMB is to develop customer loyalty programs that have real meaning to the customer and make them feel that the extra dollars they spend with the business are worth it. Their enthusiasm about a business could translate into them checking into a store on Foursquare, tweeting about the business, liking its Facebook page, writing a positive review and a host of other activities that generate important visibility and new business opportunities.

4. As Smartphone Usage Grows, SMBs Are Taking Mobile More Seriously

At ILM West, Mike Boland, program director at BIA/Kelsey, talked about the significant gap that exists today between mobile usage by consumers and the advertising demand that follows.

According to Google Mobile data cited at the conference, 50% of mobile searchers are local. Like all businesses, SMBs have a lot of opportunity ? and work to do to ? to better connect with new and potential customers in this space.

One area that I?ve discussed previously in this column is the value of creating something as simple as a mobile website, so that consumers searching on their phones can easily access information about a local business. So I?m glad to see that while just 15% of SMBs said they have a mobile website today, a remarkable 52% said they plan to add one in the next 12 months, according to the BIA/Kelsey survey. This represents widespread recognition that mobile is key to the local advertising mix.

But SMBs and local marketers need to more strongly focus on opportunities available in targeted, location-based ads, which are the fastest growing segment of mobile advertising, according to Boland. He discussed how location-based ads have higher click-through rates and also encourage secondary actions in consumers including making a purchase.

Key takeaway: While SMBs are starting to realize that mobile is something they need to invest in, many are just getting started with the basics. And there?s a long way to go.

IdeaLab?s Bill Gross, who delivered the opening keynote at ILM West, talked about creating mobile advertising that adapts to customers depending on their particular wants and situation. He cited an example of a consumer receiving a pizza ad after he tweeted that he?s craving pizza. The opportunity for SMBs to tap into that type of advertising is unprecedented, but it will take a lot of effort and commitment.

5. Show-rooming Phenomenon Is An Increasing Threat To SMB Business

As I mentioned earlier, there?s little stopping a customer from testing an SMB?s products and receiving its expert salesman?s advice, and then taking that information to make their purchase for a cheaper price online.

In a session on local online retail innovation at ILM West, comScore?s Matt Archer shared that 37% of consumers say they have engaged in show-rooming at stores, and that 72% of those say they do so to find a better price online. That trend can only be expected to grow.

In addition to building customer loyalty programs and other initiatives that give consumers incentive to keep their business with the SMBs they visit, local businesses also need to be sensitive to the types of customers walking in their stores and their intentions, so as not to invest valuable time and effort focusing on those who have no intention of making a local purchase. But they should also look for opportunities to play in this new field.

Key takeaway: As show-rooming gains popularity, Google?s Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are emerging as a popular way for retailers to list their products and get found by customers searching for those products.

Kenshoo Local?s Paul Wicker, who once worked as a YP sales rep, said he wants to help SMBs better understand the value of PLAs. He said Kenshoo Local has developed an algorithm to help SMBs increase the impact of the PLAs, noting that?beta tests so far have showed positive metrics?in terms of cost per call and ad effectiveness. So there are opportunities out there for SMBs to take their share of this growing trend, too.?

6. ?SMBs Need To Continue To Invest In ?The Phone Call?

As someone who started in the Yellow Pages business a long time ago, I know the value that SMBs have placed on customer phone calls, which play a big part in the decision-making process for consumers. And while online and mobile advertising gain increasing traction, the old-fashioned phone call is retaining its prominent role ? particularly for professional and home services as well as appointment-based companies. As CityGrid?s Jason Finger noted at ILM West, ?phone calls aren?t going anywhere for a long time.?

Key takeaway: While SMBs are spreading out their advertising dollars onto new platforms, one fundamental investment that can?t be compromised is ensuring that there?s a voice at the end of the phone. Consumers are increasingly relying on online and mobile in their decision-making process, but often times they want to call up a store and have a direct conversation about the product or service they want to purchase. If no one answers the phone, they are significantly less likely to move forward with that business and will go elsewhere.

7. ?It?s Time For SMBs To Claim Their Online Directory Listings!

My final takeaway has to do with something I?ve often talked about here in my column: the importance of SMBs claiming their online directory listings. The rationale is simple: with consumers increasingly searching for local business information online and via mobile, SMBs with incomplete or inaccurate information on online directory sites stand the chance of losing easy business.

So I was very surprised to see that only 14% of SMBs have claimed their listings on one of the major online directory sites (and that only 18% plan to do so in the next year), according to BIA/Kelsey?s survey.

Key takeaway: Research has shown that consumers are increasingly looking for basic local business information online: address, phone number, website, social media channels, hours, menus and the like. Most online directories offer local businesses with the opportunity to claim their listings ? for free! Therefore, there is no excuse for an SMB not to take the time to claim their listing.

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Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: Local Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing

Source: http://searchengineland.com/7-key-takeaways-from-biakelseys-ilm-conference-141835

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