Congratulations to Brian S. of Manchester and Todd E. of Nashua, our winners of the Klipsch S4 in-ear speakers. These high-end in-ear speakers will allow them to have a private concert experience anytime they listen. Thank you to Klipsch for providing these give-aways to our listeners.

• If you travel with kids, then you can keep them busy with items like portable DVD players, personal gaming consoles (Nintendo DS or Sony PSP) or maybe even their own Flip video camcorder to record their travels and have fun. You can check out kids product section for more about these products. Pick up any of these, which makes kids interesting and enjoy. Fewer bored kids are asking “Are we there yet?”
• There are some ultimate outdoor entertainer such as Wireless speakers for listening on your deck, the backyard BBQ or pool party. Maybe talk about the new iPod touch and how you can drop that into a dock for a virtual party jukebox.
• You can also stay in touch while travelling. While some people use vacations to check out, many love to stay in touch and integrate technology into their routine. You can pick up any of the smart phones, which is loaded with Google Maps and Google satellite images during this summer. This will make real difference and you can find your perfect place to eat and walk right by it without knowing it was even there. You can use wireless Aircard or smartphone or mobile broadband, which can be easily connected to your laptop for checking e-mail.
• Picking the right digital camera is really confusing and has lots of options. Do I want to go waterproof? Do I need to buy extra memory? A very quick-and-dirty on what’s out there now. Shooting waterfalls, climbing mountains, wildlife photos, rivers, like a professional photographer is a real fun. You can buy any of these digital cameras from bestbuy and become a nature photography. Trekking on the mountains with your walkies or mp3 players makes your trekking really amazing and fun. So check out the real digital cameras here at best buy.
• You can reach your destination easily with your GPS. With GPS, you can make any strange town as familiar as the back of your hand. Today’s GPS systems are super easy to use, incredibly accurate and have the potential to save a lot of time and money. And they could help you find that great local restaurant you never knew existed. These handy units will tell you where you are, where you’re going and indicate points of interest along the way – everything from the canyons to the cantinas. Another way to have more fun with Geocaching, a high-tech treasure hunting.
• You can talk about how prices have come down using GPS. And did you know they have a feature to help find cheapest gas prices? The Boston Herald earlier this week on it. Check it out

This one is strictly for fun. I wouldn’t call this breaking news or ‘stop the presses’ by any stretch. But I think of it as one of those great “conversation starters.” I think of this as a modern-day version of “If you could take one thing with you on a deserted island, what would it be?” Hope you guys can use it.

Best Buy routinely does surveys, and in a recent one (see end of this note to show that it’s a real survey with legit methodology) they asked the question:

“If you were going on vacation this summer, which one gadget would you have to bring with you?”

Responses were:

• Cellphone 47 percent
• Digital camera 28 percent
• mp3 player 6 percent
• Blackberry or other smartphone 4 percent
• GPS unit 3 percent
• Portable DVD player 2 percent
• None 10 percent

A couple of interesting things to note: When you break it down by age and gender, mp3 went up some for younger males (not much of a surprise, right?).

• mp3 10 percent
• 50-plus 1 percent
• men 10 percent
• women 3 percent

The findings are the results of a total of 1,000 interviews conducted April 18-21, 2008 as part of GfK Roper’s weekly omnibus. A random digit dialling (RDD) sampling method was used to ensure a nationally representative sample of Americans ages 18+ across regions and demography. The margin of error for the total sample at the 95% confidence level is +/-3 percentage points.

Pat Kerrigan – A biography

Pat Kerrigan is the Customer Experience Manager for the Best Buy in Braintree. He’s been with Best Buy for four-and-a-half years. Pat’s been a tech & gadget junkie since he was a kid, with a special interest in home theatre. Pat notes that he jumped on the TiVo when it first came out in 2000. At the time, the best model could record up to 30 hours of programming; now a TiVo can record more than 180 hours. His passion for consumer electronics is what led him to a career with Best Buy. Pat’s a Boston native born on the South Shore who has followed Boston’s sports teams his whole life. He graduated from Bridgewater State College in 2007 with a degree in communications.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) operates a global portfolio of brands with a commitment to growth and innovation. BestBuy employees strive to provide customers around the world with superior experiences by responding to their unique needs and aspirations. BestBuy sell consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through nearly 1,300 retail stores across the United States, Canada and in China. The multi-channel operations include: Best Buy (BestBuy.com, BestBuy.ca and BestBuy.com.cn), Future Shop (FutureShop.ca), Geek Squad (GeekSquad.com and GeekSquad.ca), Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers (PacificSales.com), Magnolia Audio Video (Magnoliaav.com), Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co. (Five-Star.cn) and Speakeasy (speakeasy.net). Best Buy supports the communities in which its employees work and live through volunteerism and grants that benefit children and education.

Camp is the best demonstration of moral and spiritual order—democracy is the core purpose. Children learn life skills that become habits of the heart. It is tough to be a kid these days. It is tough to be a parent. In a society where the nature of the family, the work place, and the community have changed dramatically, we can no longer assume that the natural process of growing up will provide children the experiences and the resources they need to become successful, contributing adults.

The American Camp Association, New England is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and families through quality camp experiences.

The American Camp Association, New England is a community of camp professionals who, for more than one hundred years, have joined together to share knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. ACA New England accredits nearly 350 day and overnight summer camps in the six New England states.

ACA conducts camps for all ages and offers various types of camps.

Day camp can begin as early as age three and is geared to children who get to experience camp and still return home each evening! They have the best of both worlds—the camp community which is built exclusively for kids and their own home which provides the security they need at a tender age. Day camp focuses on “what is right” than “what is wrong.” Day Camps typically serve children ages 3-15 during daytime only. For more information, click here.

Camp provides one of the very few links with a world larger than the consumer culture we inhabit—and day camp is one important choice in a quiver of options. The camp experience helps children and youth develop an appreciation of their place and their responsibility in a much larger universe. A preschooler—or even an older child who might be reluctant to go to overnight camp—can join a community that is created especially for her to practice growing up.

Specialty Camps offer a program for every interest. It can be found at day or resident camps and offer opportunities to concentrate on certain program areas such as horseback riding, the arts, travel, sports or computers, among others. Imagine a place where you get to be totally immersed in the thing you love to do (or want to try) the most . . . from being wrist-deep in cake batter or filming a movie to jamming all day with rock stars or learning to drive a race car. Specialty camps offer just that type of fantasy-come-true experience – from fine arts, performing arts, and chef camp, to learning a foreign language, science, engineering, motor sports . . . and much, much more. These camps have very focused programs, they typically have more intensive and professional-level instruction, and often include guest speakers, such as artists, musicians, and those who’ve made a career of that particular activity.

Many specialty camps have informal, hands-on, or immersion approaches to various academic subjects, such as math, science, or language, which may help children who struggle in a traditional classroom to learn material and develop confidence for the upcoming school year. For example, at Camp Motorsport, a race car driving specialty camp for kids ages ten to sixteen, campers participate in racing-related activities that convert abstract math and science concepts into hands-on applications—such as figuring out how resistance and drag impact making the car go faster.

Overnight / Resident / Sleepaway Camps usually serve children ages 6-17 for one to eight weeks at a time; children sleep at camp.

General Camps offer a range of activities. Many provide opportunities to focus on one or two activities while allowing campers to try a variety of others. General camps sometimes offer the opportunity to specialize in an activity.

Trip & Travel programs are often camp-based. Most involve adventure and wilderness. Campers spend most of their time traveling away from base camp.

Camps for Special Populations serve specific clientele such as children with particular medical conditions or diseases or individuals with special needs.

Space Car Camp deal more with real experience of space shuttle and its working.

Going Green and preserving environment:

ACA also encourages Children to go green. Camps across the country are encouraging children to put on their plates only what they will eat, then camps teach children about recycling by converting the leftovers into compost. The compost is then used to fertilize the fields that create food for the campers!

Many camps implement an environmental awareness program entitled, “Leave No Trace.” This program teaches and encourages children to clean up after themselves in nature, so as to not pollute the environment.

Camps create educational programs with local wildlife agencies or even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A Camp for Every Budget

While it’s hard to put a price tag on your child’s learning and growth, you certainly have your family’s budget to think about when you consider camp. The good news is that there is a camp program to fit nearly every budget.

For more information about fee, click here

Here are some benefits of ACA Camps:

• Every child deserves a camp experience.

The unique power of a camp experience complements and reinforces what children are taught at school, at home and at extracurricular activities — rounding out children’s development in optimal ways. Camps specialize in providing physical activity, time spent in the out-of-doors and experiences in teambuilding, athletics and the arts — activities that have been eliminated or are at risk of elimination for more and more school systems.

• Childhood is compromised without a camp experience.

Camp is vital! Camps have the capacity to change children’s lives — influencing, even transforming, their choices and chances and their characters and capabilities.

• Campers learn life lessons.

Camp memories often stay alive in people’s hearts and minds well into adulthood. Lessons include: becoming a responsible member of a group and community, personal and group decision-making, the art of compromise, resilience, how to bust out of one’s own comfort zone to try something new and many more. Campers are often attracted by a specific activity or two; they usually get an added bonus and learn something new and important about themselves at camp.

• Camp gives kids a world of good.

Expect camper growth in independence, self-esteem, leadership ability, peer relationship skills, spirituality, environmental awareness and decision-making when children attend day or resident camp. The largest study of camper outcomes in the U.S., conducted by Philiber Research Associates and ACA, confirmed these benefits of the camp experience — that camp gives kids a world of good!

ACA also offers volunteering and employment opportunities for adults.

Bette S. Bussel
Executive Director
American Camp Association, New England

Bette S. Bussel – A biography

“I had no idea when I went to summer camp at age 4 that one day I’d be in charge of thousands of campers who are looking for a positive summer camp experience, just like I was. Life is truly one big circle.”

Bette has been involved with camps since age 4, where she began as a day camper. She evolved to an overnight camper, Counselor-in-Training (CIT), Counselor, Program Director, Camp Director and is now the Executive Director of ACA New England. Bette brings a rare blend of organizational and interpersonal skills to this position, which she has held for more than 17 years. She has established herself as a person with professional competence, strong commitment and the ability to build on the established strengths and esteemed history of the regional nonprofit organization she leads.

Bette received a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Management from Ithaca College and a Master of Science in Recreation Management from the University of Maryland.

Prior to coming to ACA New England, she served as the Program Director, Teen Director, Group Services Director and Day Camp Director for the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven. In those roles she received a special citation from the Kovod Society of the JCC, and a Women in Leadership award from the YWCA.

Since taking over as ACA New England’s Executive Director in 1990, Bette has been honored with the New England AIC Award (1994), National AIC Award (1996), ACA National Service Award (1999), and ACA Special Recognition Award (2004).

Bette is a well-informed resource on legislative issues that impact camps throughout New England. She has been effective establishing positive relationships with legislative and regulatory bodies that monitor camps and has worked to strengthen respect of and input by camp professionals in legislative matters.

Bette serves as a member of the national ACA’s Technology Task Force, which advises all 24 regional offices of the association on the use of technology. Currently, Bette plays a leadership role on a committee which is reinventing ACA’s online camp search tool—the Find A Camp Tool.

As I predicted last year, the RIAA, lead by Warner Music Group, continues to resist changing market places. They are now lobbying Congress heavily for a new Internet Tax, just like they did a few decades ago to place an additional tax on blank video tapes followed a decade later by pushing for a tax on blank CDs. These bohemian music companies are avoiding the inevitable demise of their current business model every way they can.

What does this mean? Expect a strong pitch for a $5 per user tax on all Internet access. The big boys are going to stay alive by taxing your Internet use and will be giving you unlimited rights
to share music online.

Where will this new tax money go? Looks like it will help to defray the drop in their revenues $5 billion, or some 33%, in less than 10 years. Ok, maybe defray is a bit of an understatement.

According to Jim Griffin, a music industry veteran, the net result to the big music companies will be a pool as large as $20 billion annually, which will be distributed to artists and copyright holders.

Hmm, let’s see. They’ll double their revenue, they’ll be bigger than ever before, and they’ll share the money. According to musicians who have contracts with these same self-serving recording companies, the only way the musians make any real money is by performing at concerts. I guess they haven’t been sharing a whole lot of the $10 billion annual revenue they’ve currently got.

And how about the little guys? The musicians we see on American Idol, or the band in the garage next door? They find it almost impossible to brake into the music ‘biz thanks to these same self-serving huge music companies. They don’t stand a chance to share in any of this revenue.

It looks like their stranglehold on the entire music business will be continued, maybe even strengthened. Not sure there’s a better solution on the horizon. Scary.