July 2009 : Reviews of Web Sites, Magazines & Books : Library : FIDM

Monthly Website Review - July 2009

http://sundancechannel.com

For A Change

Sundancechannel.com is the official website for both the Sundance Channel and the renowned film festival that bears its name. The Sundance Film Festival was first organized in 1978 in Park City, Utah. The idea was to showcase American films with a focus on independent film. Over the years, this event has taken on a life of its own and has become a place where films flourish with the help of the Sundance Institute. Films such as "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" probably wouldn't have been made if not for Sundance and their assistance. The name Sundance is taken from Robert Redford's famous film, “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid.”

Sections for the website include:

Films - Featured films currently being shown
Series - Favorites such as Iconoclasts and the Lazy Environmentalist
Schedule - Find when your favorites shows or movies are going to air
Videos - Featured video clips
Festival - All about the film festival

The website contains a section with extensive information pertaining to the world-famous Sundance Film Festival, complete with its own blog, photos, videos and a complete list of winners. For those that can't get enough, you can even sign up for e-mail updates. The site also has a tab for discussions on everything from films, shows, the festival, other discussions and blogs. This website has a host of fantastic bloggers including Sundance founder and acclaimed actor, Robert Redford. Redford has chosen to use his notoriety and platform provided by the Sundance Festival to promote his love of the environment and to champion those causes.

Reviewed by Library Staff Member - Monika Earle

Monthly Magazine Review - July 2009

Title: ViewPoint
Publisher: Metropolitan Publishing BV
Saxen Weimarlaan 6
1075 CA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
31 20 617 7624
31 20 617 9357 fax
Website: http://view-publications.com
Catalog Number: 1386-3959
Published: Bi-Annually
Subscription Rate: $95.00 per issue

We are what we read. Viewpoint is self-titled as: The Trends Brands Futures and Ideas Magazine. The spine's sub-title states the magazine is “A View of the Future That Will Influence the Design and Sales Strategy of Tomorrow”. Cutting deeper than the surface of buyer behaviorisms, Viewpoint dissects new markets via directions of consumer psychology today. With so much information to deliver in one issue distributed bi-annually, the layout of the pages give you visual intermezzos for contemplation as well as a concentration of text.

Within the magazine, there is another complete publication anointed simply as “THE” magazine manifested by one of Europe's leading trend consultants, The Future Laboratory. All-together, editorial pictures demonstrate proof of their convictions supporting their forecasts. Paragraph blocks are reader-friendly since articles are vertically formatted. The hybridization of words is put together in a way that the mind is not accustomed to grouping together and lets readers exercise vocabularies to describe unique psychographic and demographic profiling articulated by their researchers.

Case studies have identified markets that translate into potential profits such as the Slash/Slash Generation, Rolodex Teens, and Culturepreneurs. Recent back issues include: The Future of Retail: Art, Shopping and the Lust for Intimate Pleasures; Our Synthetic Future: How Designers, Brands and Consumers are Waking Up to a Man-Made World; and their most current copy to date, The Eve-olution Issue emphasizing what their analysts have tagged as the “AlphaFemale”. Subscribers may also supplement this reader's digest at www.view-network.com and give feedback, since everyone has a right to their own Viewpoint.

Reviewed by Library Staff Member - Glenda Ronduen

Monthly Book Review - July 2009

Title: Greentailing and other revolutions in Retail
Author: Willard Ander and Neil Stern
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 978-0470288580
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 241
Price: $29.95

Greentailing is the retail industry's response to an increasingly eco-conscious consumer whose buying decisions are shaped by their passion for a sustainable environment. Authors Willard Ander and Neil Stern discuss how the future of retail will be shaped by this and other “green” revolutions, and share what they believe companies need to do to in order to remain competitive.

Some of the practices that have proved successful for some retailers in this dynamic and competitive industry include:

Flexible store formats to meet the changing needs of their customers
Creative retail practices
Innovative product marketing
A renewed focus on service
Opening brand-driven retail stores

There are also examples of some big businesses like: Apple, Patagonia, and even Wal-Mart, all who have successfully adopted a variety of practices to “.think, act, sell, and convey green” to remain relevant to their customers. Their efforts serve as an inspiration to others to follow suit and become not only leaders in their retail communities, but a business which will continue to meet the demands of their customers.

Reviewed by Library Staff Member - Lucy Bellamy