Facing a withering attack from Vanity Fair magazine that called into question the competency and vision of Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Ballmer, Microsoft has fired back on the criticism of Kurt Eichenworld’s VF story, “Microsoft Lost Decade,” in fine academic, “forensic debate” form.
Microsoft Communication’s Chief Frank X. Shaw, responding to initial coverage of the scathing Vanity […]
Expedia.com®, the world’s leading online travel agency, today announced the Expedia® 2012 Insiders’ Select® rankings, an annual crowd-sourced list of the world’s best-reviewed hotels.
Celebrating its 6th year, Insiders’ Select rankings are largely determined by crowdsourcing more than 500,000 Expedia customer reviews received during the course of 2011. Hotels that consistently deliver value, in […]
When Avvo burst onto the Internet scene as the first online professional directory to algorithmically score and rate attorneys, (and later, doctors and dentists), according to an empirical set of ranking criteria, the white-collar world world was spun off of its traditional axis.
In the new world order of the computer-mediated Internet, Google had already demonstrated how its […]
by Larry Sivitz
This week, Google CEO, Larry Page, (Why couldn’t he have named the “PageRank” algorithm “LarryRank?”) celebrated his one-year anniversary since stepping into the Chief Executive Officer’s post at Building 43 in the Googleplex. After his first year on the job, what kind of grade, or, (ahem), “PageRank,” should we give to Mr. […]
By Rod Rasmussen, IID President and Chief Technology Officer
The numbers are truly staggering. More than 100 million people’s names, home addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and more were stolen at Sony, while tens of millions of additional email addresses were stolen during a data breach at marketer Epsilon. And […]
by Tom Metz, Author, Investment Banker, Founder, T.V. Metz & Co., LLC.
Selling a company at the right time can make a big difference in the price. The reason for selling can also affect the timing.
One of the primary reasons that a technology company sells is that it has reached an inflection point. […]
by Larry Sivitz, Seattle24x7, Editor in Chief
The process of link building for search engine optimization and traffic building is time-intensive, but just how long should it take for targeted link building actions to take hold?
Planning is essential and, based on your roadmap, your speed and mileage may vary. Link building involves multiple […]
by Amy Balliett, Co-founder, ZippyCart.com.
By 2014, ecommerce spending is projected to increase 98% in the United States and Canada, which equals nearly $203 billion of yearly ecommerce revenue in these two countries alone. World-wide, ecommerce spending will reach nearly $525 billion. In other words, now is the perfect time to start selling online, […]
by Mike Davidson, BizBuilder Networking Groups.
The SpringTides ActionStorm Business Summit to be held June 4th, 2011 at the Hilton Convention Center in SeaTac is offering to have Corporate Trainers come and deliver very powerful training, at no charge and no obligation, to companies or groups of 10 or more.
“Some people get an education […]
by Joe McCarthy.
Data Camp Seattle was a day-long unconference / hackathon organized by the Code for America Seattle fellows in collaboration with Socrata and the City of Seattle. The event brought together city leaders, neighborhood leaders, technologists and [other] civic-minded individuals and groups to share ideas, data and tools, and […]
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Apr 17 2018
Starbucks to Close All Stores Nationwide for Racial-Bias Education on May 29
Starbucks Coffee Company today announced it will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 partners (employees) across the country, and will become part of the onboarding process for new partners.
“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson. “While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.”
All Starbucks company-owned retail stores and corporate offices will be closed in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 29. During that time, partners will go through a training program designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome.
“The company’s founding values are based on humanity and inclusion,” said executive chairman Howard Schultz, who joined Johnson and other senior Starbucks leaders in Philadelphia to meet with community leaders and Starbucks partners. “We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer.”
The curriculum will be developed with guidance from several national and local experts confronting racial bias, including Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Heather McGhee, president of Demos; former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; and Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Starbucks will involve these experts in monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the measures we undertake.
Earlier this week, Starbucks began a review of its training and practices to make important reforms where necessary to ensure our stores always represent our Mission and Values, by providing a safe and inclusive environment for our customers and partners.
Once completed, the company will make the education materials available to other companies, including our licensee partners, for use with their employees and leadership. [24×7]
