Authors Max Allan Collins ("Road to Perdition") and Lee Goldberg ("Diagnosis Murder") announce the formation of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (IAMTW), a professional organization for authors of media tie-ins and novelizations.

What is a Tie-In Writer?

We write science fiction, westerns, mysteries, romance and thrillers and sometimes all of the above. Our work embraces just about every genre you can think of, from STAR TREK to CSI, from GUNSMOKE to MURDER SHE WROTE, from DUNE to James Bond, from RESIDENT EVIL to Lizzie McGuire.

MelodyTrip today announced the winners of The Festies, the 1st Annual US Music Festival awards.

Thousands of fans voted for the Festies in over 20 categories. MelodyTrip staff and an independent of music bloggers and media also contributed to determine the winners.

Bonnaroo was the big winner, taking home Festies for Best US Music Festival and Best Rock Festival and Superfly/AC Entertainment, the producers of Bonnaroo, were recognized as the Best Festival Production Company. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival also fared very well, winning awards for Best Jazz Festival, Best Post Festival Scene/Nightlife, Best Music Festival Performance (Bruce Springsteen). Quint Davis of Festival Productions, producer of Jazz Fest, was recognized as Festival Producer/Promoter of the Year. Telluride Bluegrass also multiple awards, for Best Bluegrass Festival and Most Scenic Festival Setting.

Yaktivate.com is the first global media network that empowers you to connect your passion and voice with your ideal community and market. As a Global Media Network we are proud to announce our sponsorship of a live-streaming pay-per-view event in partnership with JPat Records, this Friday, May 16th, 2008 featuring a new and upcoming R&B group, Kwiet Storm. The event is the 30th Annual Bauder College Fashion and Music Exposition, broadcasting live from the campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

The runway show will be opened and closed with performances by new R&B group Kwiet Storm. Also performing is solo artist Donte. Both Donte and Kwiet Storm are signed to Atlanta-based JPat Records. Also represented by JPat Management, the training ground of multi-platinum R&B superstar Usher, is Grammy-nominated producer James "J-Lack" Lackey, who produced the music for the Bauder Black Tie student fashion show.

Selling with heart gets results – and you can still respect yourself in the morning, according to international sales and marketing consultant Lenann McGookey Gardner on the inspirational Legends in Excellence CD, authored, produced, and directed by Annie Armen.

Got Sales? by Lenann McGookey Gardner

“Selling is not a battle. If you make it adversarial, you’re going to lose. Successful selling starts with a real concern for people and helping them to get into better circumstances now,” said Gardner.

OnlineBenefits, Inc., provider of Internet-based HR solutions, announced that Benergy has been launched for its first two employers in South Africa. Benergy is a multiple award-winning employee communication portal used by over 4,000 companies and 900,000 employees in the U.S.

Informion, a U.S. broker with offices in South Africa, the U.K. and Australia, partnered with OnlineBenefits to bring Benergy into the South African market. Service is what its all about for South African brokers. When we started using Benergy here in the U.S, the light bulb went off," said Steve VanDerWatt, Principal of Informion. South Africa was a prime candidate for the employee portal because the South African benefits market is virtually identical to Americas and currently there are no technology vendors in the HR arena delivering such Web-based solutions.

According to Tim Rocho, CEO of the data provider and investment training company Real Estate Fortune (www.refortune.com), "NOTS filings (notices of trust sale start the legal foreclosure process) increased from 776 in June to 837 in July. This is the highest number since April of 2005."

Cancellations (properties that are sold or mortgages that are caught up to stop the foreclosure auction) hit the lowest level since we started tracking data in 2001. This coupled with the increased filings moved total outstanding foreclosures up for the second month in a row to almost 2,500.

Kroll, the world’s leading risk consulting company, announces the deployment of an upgraded eSignature technology that improves the efficiency of the background screening process. The technology makes it faster for clients to initiate background check requests, helps to improve turnaround time, and reduces associated screening costs.

Since most background screening information sources, like employers and educational institutions, require that applicants sign an authorization and disclosure form, report turnaround time is directly related to how quickly screening providers receive this form. In most cases, providers are legally required to have these forms before they may start processing many screening services. Therefore, the longer it takes for an applicant to ge 00004000 t the form to the screening provider, the slower the background check will take to process.

With franchising in Europe continuing its upward climb, Franchise Direct introduces its one of a kind, must-see list of the Top 500 Franchises in Europe. This list of Europe's best franchises will act as a valuable resource for anyone researching franchising and help potential franchisees determine which successful franchise business to join.

Franchise Direct Top 500

By providing potential franchisees with the in-depth information and resources needed to make the important decision of which franchise to invest in, Franchise Direct plays an invaluable part in the world of European franchising.

Paymetric, Inc. today announced that the Company and its employees are donating $14,000 to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. The funds were raised through an initial corporate commitment, plus a one-for-one contribution matching program initiated by Paymetric to encourage employee participation. Additionally, the company collected numerous non-perishable food and personal hygiene items, which are being delivered to the Houston Food Bank today.

"Paymetrics 71 employees have reached into their hearts and pockets to help the victims of Katrina," said Steven Putney, President and CEO of Paymetric. "We want the victims of this tragic storm -- many of whom are finding refuge in our headquarters city of Houston -- that the people of Paymetric are with you."

DanforthDiamond.com, an online diamond jewelry retailer committed to offering conflict-free diamonds, recently joined StopBloodDiamonds.org. For information about Danforth Diamond or to see their conflict-free diamond jewelry, visit: http://www.danforthdiamond.com.

Company president Jill Renee said the company decided to join the organization because though they are already in compliance with the Kimberley Process, they wanted to go one step further to assure customers of their commitment to conflict-free diamonds.

Walden University, an accredited online institution, celebrated the graduation of more than 2,000 students in its hometown of Minneapolis on Saturday, July 21, 2007, at 2 p.m. at the University of Minnesota's Northrop Auditorium. Matt and Jessica Flannery, co-founders of the first person-to-person micro-lending Web site, Kiva.org, gave the commencement address at the traditional ceremony, which can be viewed via Web cast at www.WaldenU.edu.

"We are excited about hosting commencement in Walden University's hometown of Minneapolis for the first time," said Jonathan A. Kaplan, J.D., Walden's interim president, before the commencement.

Facebook is a free social networking directory made up of individuals' photographs, names and other information. Facebook also provides a framework for customizing your account by installing fun and useful applications that interact with core Facebook features.

Earlier this year, Facebook created Facebook Platform and opened up their API (application programming interface) to web and software developers so they could create applications that interact within the Facebook system.

"Facebook Platform creates an ecosystem for developers to build applications that deeply integrate into Facebook and use its social graph," Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook stated in a May 24, 2007 press release. "By enabling developers to make applications within Facebook, we're working together to create a better utility for millions of people."

Approva® Corporation (www.approva.net), the leading provider of controls intelligence software, today released the latest version of its BizRights® Platform and Controls Intelligence Suite (see related press release). With the performance gains enabled by this release, business, IT, finance and audit professionals will now be able to identify what operational, financial and compliance risks they face faster and with more accuracy than any other solution available on the market today. Customers who have already deployed the latest release report a 70% performance improvement.

Sonoma County Grape Camp, a behind-the-scenes three-day wine and food adventure, is designed to explore the fine craft of taking winegrapes from the vineyard to the bottle and more.

Produced by Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and Relish Culinary School, this event offers consumers hands-on experience harvesting grapes and blending wine to take home, as well as exclusive access to influential winemakers and chefs who help make Sonoma County Wine Country a world-class destination.

The second annual Sonoma County Grape Camp will take place during the exciting harvest season, Sept. 29 - Oct. 1. Camp highlights include an outdoor vineyard reception dinner overlooking the Dry Creek Valley at Frei Brothers Reserve Winery, featuring a kickoff toast by Gina Gallo, winemaker of Gallo Family Vineyards. Noted chefs Duskie Estes and John Stewart of zazu restaurant and farm will prepare dinner.

Dave Boggs, CEO of SyberWorks, states, "In today's podcast, Stepheni Norton, Principal Consultant at 21 CFR Consulting LLC, discusses some of the common misconceptions surrounding FDA Regulation Title 21 CFR Part 11, as it relates to learning-management- systems validation."

Boggs continues, "The FDA's Title 21 CFR Part 11 regulation sets down criteria under which a company that is required by the FDA to provide compliance training records may do so electronically, as opposed to via paper records. Many such firms are in bio-tech, life sciences, medical device manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and other regulated industries." Mary Kay Lofurno, Director of Marketing at SyberWorks, narrates the series.

The nation’s top young history scholars will present their award-winning projects in a National History Day (NHD) program at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Students selected from Washington, D.C., Texas and Minnesota, will present their work, reflecting this year’s National History Day theme, “Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events,” between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on June 14. The exhibition will be open to the public through Sept. 30, 2006.

The five students selected to present their projects at the museum are part of a larger group of more than 2,000 finalists participating in the NHD national contest at the University of Maryland June 11-15. These young historians are bringing with them the products of months of research, and creative presentations in the form of research papers, dramatic performances, documentaries, and exhibits.

Every year, there are close to 550,000 spinal fractures, compared to around 300,000 hip fractures. That's just the reported number of fractures: because spinal fractures can be painless, some people may not realize that their bones have become so weak that they've cracked. Even though spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis are more common than hip fractures, hips get more hype. SpineUniverse, as part of National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, will get the word out about spinal fractures. As an authoritative website for back pain, SpineUniverse has expanded their osteoporosis information, working toward helping more people understand the danger of spinal fractures.

For many in Ontario, the Kawartha's remains an undiscovered travel destination. With above average amounts of snowfall expected this winter, there will be no shortage of activities for those who love the great outdoors. The Kawartha's offers a host of activities for outdoor lovers. Visitors can participate in a wide variety of winter sports, such as downhill skiing, cross country skiing and skating. The many lakes of the region provide plenty of opportunities for ice fishing. The Kawartha's beautiful wilderness areas are perfect for snowshoeing. The region boasts many gorgeous trails through wooded forests and scenic lakes for cross country skiing and miles of groomed trails for snowmobiling. As well, visitors to the Kawarthas may attend one of the many winter events held to celebrate winter. Located approximately one hour north-east of Metropolitan Toronto, the Kawartha region is a short and scenic drive from the city and makes a great getaway destination anytime of the year.

NOVACES, a provider of Lean Six Sigma consulting and training services, and the University of New Orleans have announced a seminar designed to provide attendees with a window into the greatest influences on organizational change outcomes, including the proven implementation steps that ensure success and improved performance. The seminar is scheduled for June 11-13, 2008 in New Orleans.

Now more than ever enterprises need to plan, implement and manage change in a fast-changing world. To effectively optimize an organization's response to needed change requires dynamic skills and processes. The seminar will deal with these critical requirements, showing how to achieve sustainable long-term performance improvements.

Bottle feeding… a traditional method of feeding baby that requires holding the baby with one arm and holding and balancing the bottle in the opposite hand. That's been the trend, no matter how awkward and uncomfortable, for mothers and extended members of baby's family for generations, until now. DindleBee, a new company offering natural, ergonomic and organic products for Moms and babies, is announcing the release of the DindleBee Natural Bonder Bottle - allowing Dads, siblings and Grandmas and Grandpas the chance to take part in one of most natural processes in human history - bonding with baby.