So I'm wondering why the crosstown bus isn't showing up....

and then someone coming from the west side let's the crowd at the bus stop know that a plane just crash landed into the Hudson River and is floating a few blocks north of my son's school.The landing was miraculous as was the rescue effort. How in the world everyone survived is beyond me. The "good fortune" to crash land near the New York Water Taxi docking area...what are the chances of that? Or the chances of not crashing into the George Washington Bridge -clearing it by 1000 feet. Unbelievable. The pilot showed great leadership in great crisis.Life went on as usual just a day later. ..It's a post 9/11 world. Luckily we have an Obama administration to help us navigate our own crash landing -- we'll all have to help in the rescue effort.

Miracle Blanket indeed!!

My sister in law is a certified black belt in shopping. I am NOT joking. It's pretty safe to say her daughter, who is almost 3 now, was probably the best dressed little kid not appearing on the cover of tabloids. Well, lucky us, we inherited little Abby's wardrobe! It came in the mail the other day, and it pretty much looked like a department store threw up in our living room. Beautiful, tiny, multi-colored throw up.Also included in the boxes was this little gem:You better believe it: footed pajamas. I couldn't put them on fast enough! How long have I wanted a pair of these? Probably since the last time I wore some, oh, 25 years ago.Well, nestled at the bottom of these piles was a lonely little blanket. Upon further investigation, I realized it was a Miracle Blanket, the Cadillac of swaddling blankets. I was hesitant to try it at first--it comes across a little straight-jacket-ish. But, seeing as how little miss Summer was up every two hours the past two nights, and I was getting a little bleary-eyed, I decided to give this contraption a whirl.Hot damn, she slept 11 hours straight. It's a Christmas MIRACLE!Derrick woke up around 4:30 and asked me if she'd eaten yet, to which I replied "no...what time is it?" He told me and I bolted up and ran to check to see if she was still breathing. She was, indeed, still alive and as cozy a caterpillar in its cocoon. I came back to bed ecstatic, too excited to sleep.I'm trying not to get too excited about it--one night does not a trend make. But man, oh man, I sure hope it continues!Thanks, Amy!!! I'm forever indebted to you!!

The incredible shrinking World Trade Center

From the Daily News:The incredible shrinking World Trade Center will be cut back from five iconic skyscrapers to just two signature towers under a new Port Authority plan, the Daily News has learned.In place of two Silverstein behemoths, each designed by a British lord and soaring 79 stories, the PA would erect a pair of short, squat buildings no taller than four or five floors - coined "stumps" - that could be used for retail shops, according to the proposal.The vastly scaled-back site plan was disclosed to The News hours before Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on Friday branded budget-busting delays and cost overruns at the 16-acre site an "embarrassment to our city, our state and our nation."Mayor Bloomberg promptly followed up by inviting all warring parties to a summit meeting this week.

Canon Denied Recall Work on the S1 IS

How the emails went.
ME
First I love my camera, pictures always come out great. But during some
shooting today I started to notice distortion and both screens start
blanking out. Normally use the eye piece over the lcd, the lcd 99
percent of the time is closed and protected. Thought maybe it was just
the screens that were affected but when I uploaded the pictures to the
computer thats when I found out it was more than the screens. Some
pictures have alot of distortion, most have these weird lines going
through them and purple bars. Tried new batteries another flash card
and the problem is still there Just turned it on again and it seems
like it has gotten worse. Informed one of my friend photographers and he
sent me this link that shows a "Recall" that is supposed to fix this
problem.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...3&modelid=9824
Canon
Dear Cj Franger:
Thank you for your inquiry. We value you as a Canon customer and
appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your S1IS. I apologize
for the inconvenience caused by the ccd sensor issue.
It has recently come to our attention that the vendor-supplied CCD image
sensor used in this Canon digital camera may cause the following
malfunction: When the product is used in recording or playback mode, the
LCD screen and/or electronic viewfinder may exhibit either a distorted
image or no image at all. While reports of this malfunction have been
rare in the United States, we have determined that it may occur if the
product is exposed to hot and humid environments.
Based on the information you have provided, it appears that you may have
encountered this issue. To determine if the CCD (image sensor) is
working properly, please follow these steps:
1. Insert a memory card with known good images on it into the camera.
2. Power the camera on to the Playback mode.
3. Press the DISPLAY (DISP) button to enable the LCD panel, and observe
the LCD.
a. If the images are displayed properly, please proceed to step
four.
b. If the images are not displayed, or a "NO IMAGES" message
appears, please ensure that the memory card contains known good images.
c. If the card contains known good images, and the issue persists
with a second memory card, the camera will require service.
4. Switch the camera to the Camera mode. You may use any shooting mode
(i.e. Auto, Manual).
5. Press the DISPLAY (DISP) button to enable the LCD panel.
6. Point the camera at a well-lit scene and observe the LCD and/or
viewfinder. If the scene the camera is pointed at appears on the LCD
and/or viewfinder, the CCD is operating properly. If the LCD and/or
viewfinder remain black, the camera requires service.
Effective immediately, and regardless of warranty status, Canon will
repair, free of charge, products exhibiting the above-mentioned
malfunction if the malfunction is caused by the CCD image sensor. Canon
will also cover the cost of shipping and handling in connection with
this repair.
We would like to send you a pre-paid shipping label so that you may send
your camera to our Factory Service Center for repair. Please reply to
this message with the following information so we may send the label:
1. Phone Number:
NOTE: We are unable to ship to a PO Box, FPO or APO addresses.
Please note that our U.S. Factory Service Centers are unable to accept
packages from or return equipment to addresses outside the United
States.
Once again, your satisfaction with our products is extremely important
to us. We are sorry for any inconvenience this issue has caused you.
Please be assured we are doing everything possible to ensure your
satisfaction.
We look forward to your reply with the information we have requested
regarding your S1IS.
Thank you for choosing Canon.
Sincerely,
Ronald
Technical Support Representative
Me
Sent my mailing address and number
Canon
Dear Cj Franger:
We appreciate your continued correspondence regarding your S1 IS. I
apologize for the inconvenience caused by the ccd sensor issue.
A case has been created for you in our database to document this issue.
A second case has been created to send you a shipping label. This
shipping label will be e-mailed to you at this E-mail address in 24-48
hours.
1. Remove all accessories from camera. Ie. battery, memory card, wrist
strap.
2. Package the camera in a plain cardboard box. Not the original box.
3. Pad the camera with bubble wrap.
Now we will be sending you out 2 email.
1. Within 24-48 hours from today you will be receiving 2 emails.
Excluding weekends.
2. 1st email will come from carecenter@cits.canon.com
Print the evaluation form and place it in the box with the camera.
Verify the information on the form is correct, pencil in any changes.
3. 2nd email will come from pkginfo@ups.com
This will be your shipping label from ups, print the label and
attach it to the outside of the box. This label will cover the cost to
get the camera into the service center. Once the camera arrives at the
service center they will send you an email with 3-4 business days of
receiving your camera. This email will give you the status of your
repair. Our repair time would be 7-10 business days.
Your camera will be mailed to:
Service Center Address:
Canon Factory Service
1440 Chase Ave.
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Upon arrival at the Factory Service Center, your camera will be logged
in to our repair database and assigned a repair number. Next, the
camera will be examined and you will be advised of the findings via
email. If the required repairs are covered by the warranty, the repairs
will begin immediately. When the repairs are complete, the camera will
be shipped back to you via Federal Express.
The length of time for the repair will be dependent upon the nature of
the repair and availability of parts, if needed. Usually, warranted
repairs are completed within approximately 10 to 14 business days of the
camera's arrival at the Factory Service Center. Please be assured that
your camera will be returned as soon as possible. We appreciate your
patience and understanding in this matter.
All decisions regarding warranty coverage are made by the Factory
Service Center at the time of repair. If the repair entails something
that is not covered in warranty, a written estimate will be sent to you
at the address that you have provided. The repairs to your camera will
not begin until you approve this estimate and make payment arrangements.
If, after receiving the estimate, you do not wish to have the camera
repaired, please inform the Factory Service Center of your decision as
soon as possible. If you decline the estimate, the camera will be
shipped back to you unrepaired.
Once you have confirmed with your shipper that the camera has been
delivered, you are more than welcome to contact us for repair updates.
Please include your name, address, and telephone number, as well as the
serial number of the camera, in all repair status inquiries.
Please note that our U.S. Factory Service Centers are unable to accept
packages from or return equipment to addresses outside the United
States.
We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we
can be of any further assistance with your S1 IS.
Thank you for choosing Canon.
Sincerely,
Ronald
Technical Support Representative
Me
Any chance of getting the camera back before May 16th of 2009? Was
hoping to have a camera for this Subaru dealer meet.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...71&postcount=1
Canon
Dear C. J. Franger:
Thank you for writing, I am sorry to hear of any difficulties with the
repair of your PowerShot S1 IS.
Although repairs are not completed here in technical support, we do have
limited access to the database used to track camera repairs. However,
it does not appear that your camera has been logged into that database
as of this morning.
If you have confirmed with your shipper that the package was delivered,
please be assured that the camera has arrived. Cameras delivered to our
Factory Service Center are held in a secure receiving area until they
are logged in to our database. The log in process may take anywhere
from 24 hours to three business days, depending on repair volume at the
Factory Service Center.
Once you have confirmed that your camera has been received, please
contact the Factory Service Center at (800)828-4040 Monday - Friday 8:00
a.m. - 12:00 midnight ET, and Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET
(excluding holidays).
Repair turn around time is usually seven to ten business days, once your
camera is received at the service center.
I really wish that there was more I could suggest. Please let me know if
we can be of any further assistance with your Canon S1 IS.
Thank you for choosing Canon.
Sincerely,
Deva
Technical Support Representative
** So I get a repair order through email today from the repair center for 149.50. I call Canon customer support, they said since the distortion/recall problems are intermittent they will not cover the recall work. The camera is in the first steps to a full blown CCD sensor and they won't fix it under the recall notice until it fully dies.**
Last picture I took, you can clearly see the lines has just started.

Cincinnati Reds Team Report

INSIDE PITCH Micah Owings returns to the Chase Field mound Tuesday, this time wearing the gray visitor's uniform of the Cincinnati Reds. Owings was acquired last August 11 in a trade for outfielder Adam Dunn but was unable to pitch because of a sore shoulder. He did make a trip to Arizona with the Reds in September but was unable to pitch, although he pinch-hit and doubled. In addition to pitching (2-3, 5.08 ERA in five starts, Owings is the team's top pinch-hitter. He is hitting .333 with three doubles and a home run. He hit a pinch-hit home run Sunday against the Cardinals with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and send it into the 10th, which the Cardinals won, 8-7. "I'm not thinking much about how I'm facing my former teammates," said Owings. "They know me and I know them, but I just want to go out there and keep getting better and give my team a chance to win." REDS 13, DIAMONDBACKS 5: The Reds scored the most runs, had the most hits (18) and the most extra base hits (eight) of the season, including five hits and four runs scored by CF/leadoff hitter Willy Taveras. RHP Bronson Arroyo gave up five runs, 10 hits and three homers, but lifted his record to 5-2 with a 7.02 ERA.NOTES, QUOTESRHP David Weathers gave up three runs in the eighth inning Friday to the Cardinals, the first runs he has given up this year. He was then used Saturday against the Cardinals and pitched a 1-2-3 inning.BY THE NUMBERS: 20 Number of quality starts by opposing pitchers in the Reds' first 31 games, and the Reds are 10-10 in those quality-start games.QUOTE TO NOTE: "We want to stay away from .500, above it, as much as we can, and we want to keep ourselves in the rear-view mirror of the Cardinals." Manager Dusty Baker.ROSTER REPORTSS Alex Gonzalez took infield and batting practice Monday to test his sore left side and will be examined Tuesday to see if he is ready to return to the lineup.RF Jay Bruce threw out Arizona's Eric Byrnes trying to stretch a single into a double Monday. It was Bruce's sixth assist, tops for an outfielder in the NL.RHP Micah Owings has two pinch-hit home runs in his career that tied a game. The only other pitcher in the last 50 years with two pinch-hit home runs that tied games is Milwaukee's RHP Brooks Kieschnick in 2005 and 2006.C Ramon Hernandez caught RHP Bronson Arroyo Monday, the first time in Arroyo's seven starts that Ryan Hanigan has not caught him. Hernandez played 1B the last four games and Hanigan caught all four.CF Willy Taveras has a 12-game hitting streak and leads the team in runs (24) and stolen bases (eight). MEDICAL WATCH: 1B Joey Votto (flu) did not play May 7-10. SS Alex Gonzalez (strained left oblique) left the May 4 game and did not play May 5-10. 2B Brandon Phillips (flu) did not play May 7-8. He returned to the lineup May 9. 3B Edwin Encarnacion (chip fracture in left wrist) went on the 15-day disabled list April 28. He might miss two to three weeks. ROTATION: RHP Aaron Harang RHP Edinson Volquez RHP Bronson Arroyo RHP Johnny Cueto RHP Micah Owings BULLPEN: RHP Francisco Cordero (closer) RHP David Weathers LHP Arthur Rhodes RHP Jared Burton RHP Mike Lincoln LHP Daniel Ray Herrera RHP Nick Masset CATCHERS: Ramon Hernandez Ryan Hanigan INFIELDERS: 1B Joey Votto 2B Brandon Phillips SS Alex Gonzalez 3B Jerry Hairston Jr. INF Paul Janish INF Adam Rosales INF Laynce Nix OUTFIELDERS: LF Chris Dickerson CF Willy Taveras RF Jay Bruce OF Darnell McDonald

Finally - I stitched the buttons on

Finally - after 3 or 4 days of just looking at the black cardigan I stitched on the buttons. I am not a particularly good sewer upper, no matter how hard I try, which is probably why I am such a convert to Doris Chan's patterns as there are very few seams (if any) to sew up on any of her garments. I try hard to match patterns up at seams and sew tails in securely but I invariably have little sprouts of tails that work there way to the right side resisting all attempts to darn them in up, down and sideways. Short of superglue I guess it is something I have to put up with.The cardigan is crocheted in Sirdar Wash n'wear 4ply which isn't perhaps the prettiest of yarns to look at, and maybe shunned by some as it is all acrylic, but I would recommend it for durability. It has been a best seller for years and it's no wonder. It truly does wash and wear. I used to use it for my son in 4ply and DK when he was young and his sweaters used to come out of the washer, without pilling, and look good despite his rough handling. I have garments in my wardrobe that I made 15 - 20 yrs ago that I can put on and know that they still look good and I could not say that about a lot of the luxury yarns.Yesterday I went to the hospital (Thanks for the lift Deb you were a lifesaver) for a spinal appointment. The specialist did look at my knee for me and agreed that all is not well. He wouldn't, of course, comment upon the operation but said the scans and X rays of my knee were not good and in fact the cartilage was non existent and it's just bone rubbing on bone in the knee plus I have grade (some number - 3 perhaps?) arthritis which is the worst that it can get. He also examined my wrist and thumbs and said arthritis was in there as well. He is going to get in touch with my GP about changing my medication to something suitable for arthritis as I mentioned my Gp was reluctant to prescribe when he didn't know the results of my bone scan tests. The good news was that the bone scan showed that my hips are OK at the moment ( Thank goodness for small mercies)My Neoprene knee support arrived yesterday and whilst it is too soon to say it is making a big difference I do feel more supported when I walk and am hopeful of it making a difference to my distance walking. I am a hobbling advert for Neoprene supports at the moment. As I refuse to stop crocheting, no matter how much my wrists ache, I am sporting wrist straps as well when I am crocheting. At least they are all navy blue so I do co-ordinate. We had a bit of a floor show at the hospital which passed away the waiting time. Some poor guy slid off his wheelchair and had a really bad fit. He was rolling around and thrashing about. The medical staff came running to try to help him but they got accidentally kicked as they tried to stop him from hurting himself on chairs and pillars. A friend of mine is epileptic but she has never fitted as badly or violently as he did. I do have a black sense of humour and although I was concerned about him I could see the funny side. Luckily there were not many people in the waiting area but the staff are asking us to move out of his way as the chairs were getting kicked etc and as it was an orthopedic clinic is was funny to see people trying to hobble out of the way quickly. They put screens around him for his privacy but he kept kicking out at these and one almost fell on Deb so we had to move even further away. If it hadn't have been serious it was like a scene from a Carry On Film as staff were dashing about with pillows putting them in front of anything that he might hit his head on. Eventually he stopped fitting and everything calmed down. Deb said she heard him tell the staff that he wasn't an epileptic when they asked him about his medication so I don't know exactly what happened to him but the staff took him off to be examined. If it was his first fit at least he picked the right place to have it with all the medical help at hand. If he had been in the street he could have been badly injured.The sun is shining today so I do hope that we have a better day than yesterday. I am off now to don my wrist straps and do a bit of crochet as not a lot gone done yesterday. Tomorrow I will post some photos of the blue All Shawl. I had an e mail from Lisa yesterday to say that she has got the Granny Takes a Trip jacket (I had left it with Bev as Lisa was away) and is thrilled with it.

Giving Affiliates a Voice: Melanie Seery’s path to advocacy

The formation of an industry requires the development of a group identity. Often that development is neglected because group members are focused on growing their business. Over the last year the affiliate industry has been experiencing growing pains in the form of legal challenges brought about by such things as the so-called New York Amazon Tax. In the aftermath of that tax being ratified a group of New York affiliates pulled together to provide guidelines to those impacted by the tax. Melanie Seery was part of that group and found herself drawn into the role of advocate on behalf of the affiliate industry. As part of that advocacy effort she recently launched new industry organization Affiliate Voice. Almost a year after the New York Amazon Tax was passed I sat down with Melanie Seery to discuss her involvement in the affiliate industry, her quick learning curve with political advocacy, and how she sees the tax issues evolving. How did you get started in affiliate marketing? I got involved in affiliate marketing about five years ago. Before affiliate marketing I had a business writing employee how-to manuals, which is really, really boring work. I would go into a business, take each and every position and write down step by step everything that employee had to do in the course of the day. Not fascinating and not interesting from a creative perspective. After that I got into multilevel marketing. What I liked about MLM was that I was selling vitamins and health food products. I really enjoyed that aspect of helping people be healthy. But when I started I didn’t realize how big a component recruitment was to MLM. Ultimately it kind of discouraged me. Thats when someone told me about affiliate marketing and sent me off to Commission Junction. After some exploring I found an interesting coffee merchant and that was the beginning of it. Why is being self-employed and working at home important to you? I am independent by nature and have been self-employed for the past 12 years. Its real important for me to be home with my children and my family. My children have neurofibromatosis, so do I. Neurofibromatosis is a neurological disorder that can cause tumors to grow on nerve endings. There are lots of challenges to maintaining health with such a disorder, as you can imagine. I have to keep constantly on top of it with my family. Being self-employed allows me to maintain that balance. At what point did you feel affiliate marketing was the right business for you? It was two or three months down the line and all of a sudden I started getting some really good sales. I created sites around my interests. It wasnt just things I liked to drink like coffee, tea and accessories. After the birth of my children I began reaching out to parents whose children had similar disorders. I would post topics like, “How do I get my child to sleep all the way through the night?” I found myself connecting with other parents and sharing information. The process of creating a support group of sorts became another website. Before you know it I had several websites going and 10 more ideas. Affiliate marketing seemed to pull the best of all worlds together for me because I could use my writing to educate while sharing my creativity and connecting to other people. It was like talking with my friends and community; only in this case I’m being creative and making a website. Its amazing being able to grow a business out of that sharing. Its very exciting for me. Everybody seems to start with Commission Junction. At what point did you realize that there were other networks? Through places like ABestWeb I found networks like ShareASale. The discovery of ShareASale was a major point turning point for me. It was a combination of finding a network that had smaller niche merchants and allowed for real personal contact with the network and with the merchants in the network. I sort of came out of my shell and found myself becoming part of the industry when I received my first invitation to a ShareASale Think Tank. It was funny but I thought to myself, “They must have me confused with somebody else”. Because even though I was doing well I still didnt think I was doing as well as everybody else out there. I had never met anyone in the industry prior to that or even spoken with anyone on the phone. The Think Tank showed me the importance of being an affiliate in direct touch with the merchant. Its all about relationships in this industry. When did you first hear about the Amazon Tax and how did it affect you? We had heard rumblings prior to April. But we also heard from New York lawmakers that it would never pass. Suddenly when April came around we learned that Governor Patterson had signed it into law. It took us by surprise because of our “it could never happen here” attitude. I don’t think we ever truly realized how much it would impact our businesses. Now I see the same process happening in other states like California, Minnesota and, Connecticut. Its phenomenal how quickly things change. It’s great to see the industry is actually being proactive and stepping forward to fight these bills before they become law. It’s a lot easier to fix things before they’re broken. When the New York law took effect many merchants removed affiliates from their programs. This destroyed a lot of businesses. But what was worse was the lack of communication between merchants, networks and affiliates. There were a lot of behind the scenes activities with program managers and their CEOs about that never brought the affiliates into the loop. That did a lot of damage. We would get terminations with little or no notice. Once they passed the law we started to receive sudden terminations in the mail. Even retroactive terminations-it would be June 15 and you’d get this email from a merchant that told you were deactivated as of May 30. Affiliates were kind of steamrolled and quickly our incomes and businesses were gone. A group of us got together and said this isn’t right. We felt there had to be a solution we could work out. Thats when Kevin Webster and I started talking about holding a meeting among New York affiliates. When we announced it a lot of people stepped up to help, providing us resources so we could find a good corporate lawyer. At the time I had set up a personal blog that I put together to help keep people up to date about what was going on. It was called New York Affiliate Voice, which is what many people think the name of the group is, but it’s really the Albany Group because thats where we first met. We managed to set a course of action and put together a plan for how New York affiliates and any remaining merchants who wanted to work with us could go from here. In many cases it still wasnt enough because merchants were still terminating affiliates rather than attempting to comply with the new law. My income was down 72% last year because of the knee jerk reaction of many businesses. From the affiliates I talk to thats pretty average. Were you frustrated with the fact that the industry was slow to respond to this threat? At the time we were all frustrated because all we saw was a lack of action for New York affiliates. There was a sense of hopelessness or resignation in everybody. At the time when we were going through the horrible effects of this law upon our businesses, I kept thinking why doesnt anybody care about us? I think the whole industry was in a state of disbelief. I remember two things were said to me after the New York Affiliate session at Affiliate Summit. They were: 1) We didnt understand how deeply this would impact your, meaning affiliates, business and livelihoods. People sometimes forget that for many of us this isn’t just a hobby. It is the income that we rely on to pay a mortgage, to pay our bills, to take care of our children and our families and, 2) everybody felt they “didnt know what to do”. I think it had to be the affiliates who took control the situation in New York because that was the group directly affected. It empowered affiliates to take a course of action and pull together. It let everyone know this was a serious challenge to our industry. I am proud of the things the Albany Group put together. Was that your first involvement with political advocacy? Yes. (laugh) I learned a lot over this last year. I learned an incredible amount about the legislative process, not only in New York but in other states as well. I found myself thinking, I dont remember learning the ins and outs of how this works back in school. I think people take so many things for granted, including how their local government works. At the beginning of this year you won several awards including the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Advocate of the Year. How did that impact you? One thing it showed me was that we made a difference last year. And by “we”, I mean there wasnt just me, there was a whole group of us that pulled this together. What the recognition also did was start me thinking about advocacy in general because I knew it was important. Basically, the work on the New York Tax Law took over the whole last 10 or 11 months of my life. Over time it became a larger part of my day whether it was answering emails from affiliates or phone call questions from a merchant. I realized that I had to make a choice of whether I wanted to be an advocate or an affiliate. I came to the conclusion that the advocacy needed to continue and I couldn’t give it up. How did Affiliate Voice come about? When I made the choice to focus on advocacy I was simply going to change New York Affiliate Voice into a type of advocacy group. When people found out about my idea they kept asking why just New York? I ended up speaking to Haiko de Poel Jr. and Rhea Tannenbaum and they encouraged me to form a larger organization and call it Affiliate Voice to open it up to everybody. So I took the ball and ran with it so to speak. After the beginning of the year there seemed to be a lull then suddenly there was a domino effect of new legislation that came out. How have you perceived the recent changes? Well, thats a good way to describe it. There was that little lull and I was just beginning to think that I could go back to focusing on my business. Then legislators in my area that I had gotten close to working with the Albany Group, pointed me towards pending legislation in several states, including California. It seemed to spring up one after another. Equally scary is legislation on the books in some states that includes sales representatives, solicitors and other representatives in the definition of “nexus”. It is so open to interpretation and in my mind it could easily encompass affiliates as well. Whats the biggest misunderstanding that legislators have about the affiliate industry? I think it is important to understand both sides of the issue. See the states are faced with incredible economic challenges right now. They have to find new revenue resources. In the Quill Corp. v. North Dakota case it was ruled that in order for an interstate transaction to have sales tax applied to it, as opposed to a use tax, there has to be a substantial presence on behalf of the business providing the goods. Whats happening is these tax bills you are seeing are not new taxes. The only thing that is changing is the method which the states are using to collecting the tax. Thats a not just something legislators are saying to make it sound better to consumers. That is in fact what is going on. If you look at how quickly internet shopping and affiliate marketing have grown over the last couple of years it is easy to see why states want to collect this tax. Its an incredible amount of revenue they’re losing out on. But by the same token those states that are trying to enact these anti-affiliate laws have to understand how uneven this makes the playing field for affiliates and publishers in their state. In their current form these laws will prompt many merchants to simply avoid paying the tax by cutting loose all their affiliates or moving to a different advertising model. For those reasons it won’t bring the kind of revenues states are hoping for. Also legislators have to understand the complexity involved for a merchant trying to deal with the more than 7,500 different US tax jurisdictions regarding interstate transactions. It’s not just a matter of installing some software and remitting sales-tax. Each of these 7,500 different tax jurisdictions has a different set of guidelines a merchant must comply with. Can you imagine 7,500 different filings every quarter? What business has those resources? How do you see this playing out long-term? I believe it will come down to some kind of federal involvement, maybe through the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which is still gaining momentum. The Streamlined Sales Tax Project is a destination-based sales-tax which allows each state to designate one flat rate. All states that have sales and use tax will have to charge tax on the same items. Because right now items that are taxable in New York may not be taxable in California or vice versa. So the Streamlined Sales Tax Project wants to unify and streamline the process by designating which items are taxable in every state and allow each state to have one flat rate with the tax being paid by the receiving State. Thats the ideal situation. The governors in general are pressing for such a process but to enact it nationwide will be a slow process and require changes to multiple state laws. Recently Scott Jangro wrote an excellent article posing the question of whether the affiliate industry needs two associations? Are you worried about an us-versus-them mentality creating a split in the industry? I think having two organizations actually strengthens the industry. I dont look at the Performance Marketing Alliance and Affiliate Voice as competing. I look at us as two slightly different entities but with the same relative goal which is to help change the direction of our industry, to help spur new growth, and not leave our destinies in the hands of legislators who have no clue what we are all about as a professional industry. Prior to launching Affiliate Voice I reached out to the PMA to let them know we wanted to work together and complement one another’s strengths. I think Affiliate Voice is well suited to advocate for an Affiliate Bill of Rights and help affiliates maintain their business should these anti-affiliate taxes or other similar legislations be ratified. The PMA can do more with lobbying and organizing challenges to legislation. They are very well equipped to do this. I have no interest in wasting energy or time in petty politics or some kind of nonproductive competition. Every industry has multiple organizations and the affiliate industry shouldnt be any different. What are the goals for Affiliate Voice in 2009? We are working on establishing an industry Code of Ethics. We also want to formulate and ratify an Affiliate Bill of Rights to help improve relationships between all parties in the affiliate industry. In terms of keeping up with all the legislative efforts in various states, well, that will be an ongoing challenge throughout the whole year. Since affiliates by nature seem to be fiercely independent and private. Do you feel they will join an organization, any organization? As people get used to the idea that you can be part of an organization without having to open your business model to scrutiny attitudes will change. Especially if we can demonstrate how organizations can achieve good things. Perceptions wont change overnight but I think people will come to realize that they need organization. Right now I feel the affiliate industry is a bit demoralized but, as people see two groups out there fighting for change they will become more encouraged at the efforts being taken. Personally I am encouraged with all the effort Ive seen over the last couple of months with people rallying and stepping up, including the networks, to take a public stance against this type of legislation. I have seen merchants reaching out to their affiliates to help provide advice. All this effort is such a fabulous change compared to what happened in New York. It shows we have learned as an industry. I think this could be a rough year while we battle this legislation but ultimately were going to be able to adjust this industry and be all right.