Universal Orlando - printing efficiencies

Universal Orlando Resort is famous for creating innovative theme park experiences for its guests. That spirit of innovation also extends to helping its team members do their jobs. Universal Orlando is working to create a more productive and greener workplace – with the potential for significant printing efficiencies – through a new Managed Print Services (MPS) contract with Xerox Corporation. Xerox worked with Universal to study the organization’s work processes, and the costs associated with printing, sharing and updating scripts, proposals and promotional material. Using its Lean Six Sigma-based assessment, Xerox designed an office environment that aligns to Universal’s print budget targets, security policies and environmental sustainability objectives. The company provided on-site training and change management tips to help Universal’s team members adapt to the new technology and work processes. (Tracey Stockwell, chief financial officer for Universal Orlando Resort.)

In-flight entertainment

Lumexis Corporation has selected EMS’ Formation business unit to design and manufacture the optical video/application server for the Lumexis FTTS (Fiber-To-The-Screen) in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. FTTS is planned to be the lightest weight, most reliable, lowest cost VOD In-Flight Entertainment system on the market. (Rich Salter, Lumexis’ chief technical officer.)

Giants' season-ticket-holder incentive

Radiant Systems has announced a new agreement with the San Francisco Giants to be a key provider of the new loaded-ticket system, a season-ticket-holder incentive deemed so successful by team officials that they have taken steps to open the program to all fans at AT&T Park.

Major League Soccer tackles counterfeits

Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-level professional soccer league in the United States, has extended its partnership with OpSec Security to acquire expanded services for anti-counterfeiting and brand licensing management. “All of our licensed merchandise totaling $300M in sales is protected by our product authentication program. OpSec’s advanced anti-counterfeiting holograms are a recognized symbol of authenticity for consumers to identify genuine MLS merchandise,” said Stuart Crystal, Vice President of Consumer Products, MLS. MLS’ holographic labels use overt and covert anti-counterfeiting technologies to provide a deterrent to counterfeiting. It also provides a convenient means for fans to identify genuine merchandise from fakes.

Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer is the top-level professional soccer league in the United States and features many stars from the United States and around the world. The League's 14th season kicked off on March 19, 2009. The 15 teams in MLS are: the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Chivas USA, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, Red Bull New York, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Toronto FC, and the newest team that debuted this year, Seattle Sounders FC. MLS continues to grow as the Philadelphia Union will begin play in 2010 and teams in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Portland, Oregon will become the 17th and 18th clubs in 2011. For more information about MLS, log on to the League's official web site at www.MLSnet.com.

Wireless coverage at Florida hotel

ADC‘s InterReach Fusion in-building cellular system has been deployed to provide strong and consistent wireless coverage at the recently-renovated Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort hotel in Florida. After undergoing a three-year, $1 billion renovation and construction program, management at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach discovered that nearby cell towers were not providing adequate service throughout the facility. ADC offered the best price and performance in a multi-operator system. (David Chin, Director of IT at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.)

Hospitality Management System

The Mayo Hotel and Residences has chosen to install PAR’s ^SMS|Host Hospitality Management System. First opened in 1925, The Mayo was the preeminent hotel of its age. Newly reborn as a hotel and residence, The Mayo once again reigns as one of Tulsa’s most elegant and luxurious properties. The Mayo Hotel has selected PAR Springer-Miller’s ^SMS|Host solution for the system’s total property integration capabilities to manage both the hotel and residences from one integrated system. Using the ^SMS|Multi-Property Management module, guest and other property charges can be directly posted to a resident’s account. PAR’s EverServe 6000, the newest POS hardware platform from PAR, has been chosen for the retail and food and beverage outlets. Fully-integrated into the ^SMS|Host hospitality management system, the Mayo will utilize ^SMS|Touch Fine Dining and ^SMS|Retail Point-of-Sale in these outlets. (Wesley Ludloff, General Manager of The Mayo Hotel.)

Network video cameras installed

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the third largest tribe in the U.S., has expanded its use of Axis network video cameras to include more than 1,000 cameras at six casinos. Prior to 2006, the Choctaw casinos used analog solutions, comprised of analog cameras and monitors, co-axial cabling, multiplexers, time-lapse VCR’s and video tape. The tribe decided to move to IP video because its video recordings were not of high enough quality and some video recordings were not good enough to be used as evidence for the prosecution of certain events. In addition, they could not determine insurance coverage for slips and falls and other safety concerns. (Paula Penz, Gaming Commissioner for Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Jason Pritchard, Integrations Manager, Onsite Solutions for Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.)

Optimize revenue and profit

Grove Park Inn has chosen IDeaS V5i, a forecasting and pricing tool, to optimize revenue and profit in the historical Asheville, NC resort. (Terry Price, Grove Park Inn’s executive IT manager, also serves as global vice president of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP).

Baltimore promotes PEACE

The city of Baltimore has teamed with HipCricket to promote its “PEACE” (Pledge to Engage in Actions Considerate of Everyone) initiative – a community activist program which aims to highlight the many positive activities offered by the Department of Recreation and Parks and to create fun, safe, social activities for local youths. Through the program, the city hopes to connect directly with adolescents through their most personal possession, their mobile phone. The Peace Baltimore Text Club was created by the City of Baltimore in conjunction with various community and business partners including Waterfront Partnership, the Maryland Transit Administration, Downtown Partnership, Visit Baltimore (formerly BACVA), and Cordish and Company.

St. Louis casino to get VOIP

Beacon Enterprise Solutions Group is to provide VOIP solutions for a major new casino in St. Louis, MO. Beacon will be providing the VOIP system design and phone system installation throughout the entire facility in two stages. The new casino is located approximately ten miles south of downtown St. Louis in the community of Lemay. The $380 million multi-use complex will be modeled after the look of a Missouri riverboat town at the peak of the steamboat trade on the famed Mississippi River. The first phase of the project will include a 90,000-square-foot casino, with more than 2,000 slot machines and more than 50 table games, several restaurants, an entertainment venue and other amenities.

Network infrastructure for Peabody Hotel Group

AFL Network Services, provider of integrated network solutions for the hospitality and telecommunications industry, has been selected to install network infrastructure as part of Peabody Hotel Group’s $450 million expansion of the Peabody Orlando. AFL will provide engineering support, materials, and installation for the voice, data and video networks. Given the high rate of leisure traffic and ranking as the nation’s No. 2 convention destination, Orlando has a reputation for some of the best hotels in the country. At the top of the list is the Peabody Hotel, one of the most luxurious sites in the city and neighbor to the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive. (Michael Craft, executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Peabody Hotel Group.)

Massively multiplayer online games

Gazillion Entertainment, a leading developer, publisher and operator of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, is using RTView enterprise-wide across all projects to monitor and analyze gameplay. The Gazillion studios are taking advantage of the flexibility of the RTView platform to provide their varied teams with customized, real-time visibility into the multitude of different events that impact their customers. RTView currently provides Gazillion’s studios with real-time visibility into critical play habits (via advanced interfaces such as heat maps), game service and safety events, and conversion activities – those activities that highlight play habits that will most likely result in conversion to full-paid subscriptions.

For MMO games, the ability to respond to customer interests in real time can be the difference between a successful property and one that reacts too slowly and fizzles. Understanding gameplay – knowing where critical players are at any given time and how they’re interacting with the property and organization – is of paramount importance. There are a myriad of requirements from different departments to understand customer gameplay. For example, requirements vary widely for game designers during play test sessions, marketing executives during promotional periods, and customer service representatives during in-game events. The flexibility of the RTView platform enables Gazillion to provide these different teams the right level of visibility to the right information in real time. Moreover, by combining the millions of real-time gameplay events with data sources from billing, customer service and other systems, RTView can provide all team members with the full picture of a player’s experience.

One-to-Watch: Operator of computer-based gaming centers enhance customer loyalty and optimize profits with software from Game the World. http://www.gametheworld.com

3-D facial modeling technology

Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., platforms for consumer projection of self into digital life, has licensed its proprietary 3-D facial modeling technology to Virtual Space Entertainment for their new high definition, photo-realistic 3-D virtual universe, Blue Mars 2150. Blue Mars 2150 launches August 2009 with support to follow from innovative interactive museum exhibits, television and a million dollar race around a transformed virtual planet that is ready for colonization.

68 percent of households play...

68 percent of American households play computer or video games, according to research from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. The number of households playing games increased three percent over 2008.

Other findings of the survey include: 42 percent of American homes have a video game console; adult gamers have been playing for twelve years on average, a decrease from 2008, an indication that more Americans are picking up video game controllers for the first time; the average game player is 35 years old; 78 percent of parents believe that the parental controls available in all recent video game consoles are useful; only 45 percent are rated ‘E’ for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board; and, 43 percent of online game players are female.

In addition, the report includes statistics about the high level of parental involvement in video game play. 63 percent of parents who have children under 18 with a gaming console in the home believe games are a positive part of their children's lives. Those parents are present when games are purchased or rented 92 percent of the time and report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 91 percent of the time.

The research was conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and gathered data from almost 1,200 nationally representative households that have been identified as owning either or both a video game console or a personal computer used to run entertainment software.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. www.theESA.com.

Electronic Arts may disclose material developments

John Pleasants, Chief Operating Officer of Electronic Arts will present at the William Blair 29th Annual Growth Stock Conference on June 10, 2009. During the course of this event, Electronic Arts may disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet under four brand names: EA SPORTS, EA, EA Mobile and POGO. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies.

E3 Expo 2009 takes place June 2 – 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Contact Roger Frampton at ExportAction for a list of exhibitors with profiles.

One title to watch includes The Six Week Golf Lesson, an innovative online tutorial presenting a sequence of six lessons coaching and explaining the elements required for you to accomplish your golf swing. "I would wholeheartedly recommend the 6 Week Golf Lesson to anyone wishing to take up golf, or improve their swing. This is a revolutionary teaching product which is easy to understand, but will teach pupils everything they need to know to form a good golf swing." - Michael Bannon, head golf professional at Bangor Golf Club, and the coach of Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland's golfing sensation.  http://www.6weekgolflesson.co.uk

Another to watch is Spysure. At home this PC product helps protect children from paedophiles and blocks adult content. In the office it monitors and views employees' activities and tells you what is happening online. http://www.spysure.com

Taking the UK by storm, GrowVeg.com is an innovative garden planning tool which helps you grow fruit and vegetables to the best of their ability, whatever the size or shape of your garden or plot. With GrowVeg.com it is easy to draw out your garden plan and decide how best to plant it. The GrowVeg.com planning tool clearly shows how much space plants require and how to group them for maximum success, removing the need to look up planting distances and crop families. Growing advice is just one click away as you select the plants that you wish to include, enabling you to solve problems and maximise your harvest from the space you have. An annual subscription costs just $25. http://www.growveg.com

Target previews at Electronic Entertainment Expo

Target is getting together with Ubisoft and Activision Publishing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, June 2–4, for a preview of upcoming titles. For the first time Target will be participating in one of the world’s most influential video game trade shows. By partnering with publishing partners to showcase upcoming titles. Target Corporation serves consumers at 1,699 stores nationwide and at Target.com. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Gaming industry research

According to recent market reports, consumer spending has slowed in all markets, but less so in the gaming industry, and in particular less in the PC gaming segment. Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, has announced the market forecast for PC gaming hardware and the results are encouraging overall, even with the modest drop due to economic conditions. The total PC Gaming Hardware market is forecasted to drop $1.4 billion (-7%) in 2009 versus 2008 (from $20.07 to $18.65 billion.). The decline is due to reduced sales because of the recession, and lower prices on PCs and components (also due to the recession and competitive pressures.) But, in such an environment, PC gaming systems seem to have suffered the least discounting which illustrates the value consumers place on such systems. Furthermore, in 2009 the PC Gaming Hardware Market, approaching $19 billion, is forecasted to eclipse the hardware market for all gaming consoles combined by almost $2 billion. (Console costs include the console, a certain amount of accessories, and a factor for the cost of an HDTV to display the games on.) http://www.jonpeddie.com/about/press/index.shtml

Operators of computer-based gaming centers enhance customer loyalty and optimse profits with software from Game the World. http://www.gametheworld.com

50 percent of hotel guests use Wi-Fi

BelAir Networks has been selected for Wi-Fi deployments in Omni Hotels. The Omni Fort Worth, the city’s newest and largest hotel was the brand’s first BelAir Networks deployment site, followed by the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. AFL Network Services provided network design, installation and technical support for the projects. This trend is driven by the growing number of Wi-Fi applications and mobile-enabled devices that guests use when they travel. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), in its study “2008 Current and Future Technology Use in the Hospitality Industry”, identified Wi-Fi services as the “IT system that guests care about most.” “With nearly 50 percent of our guests using Wi-Fi and their bandwidth demands continuing to accelerate, we sought a high-performance network partner which could ensure we continue to serve our customers’ needs on a ‘go-forward basis’,” said Richard Tudgay, vice president of information technology for Omni Hotels.

Hyatt powers corporate intranet

Hyatt is using the Vignette Web Experience Platform to power its corporate intranet. Vignette Portal integrates information from multiple systems and allows Hyatt employees to quickly update, search for and locate accurate business and employee information. This relieves the human resources team of administrative burdens normally associated with manual processes while creating a more personalized environment for each user. Hyatt’s intranet search function spans the width of the enterprise to yield appropriate content and streamline business operations. Global Hyatt subsidiaries own, operate, manage or franchise more than 370 hotels and resorts worldwide. (Robb Webb, chief human resources officer for Global Hyatt Corporation.) www.hyatt.com.

Food safety is a major concern for hotel groups: guest confidence is invaluable. Kelsius automates temperature monitoring of refrigerators and cold rooms, simplifying task management and providing cost effective compliancy reporting for users in the food industries. http://www.kelsius.com