Saturday, December 28, 2019

Dark Night of the Soul Summary Essay - 672 Words

Michael Lanyon Eric Rupert Writing 121 14 October 2011 The Dark Night of the soul summary The following is a summary on the short essay The Dark Night of the Soul by Richard E Miller. This short essay is an essay that has been written with a main point always in mind, that reading and writing has very powerful influences people and their imagination but, the act of reading and writing is not being utilized as much in the modern world. Richard has created an essay that proves his point by taking five very different short stories and giving each a twist that helps the reader see the power of reading. As the reader is chronologically going through the essay he or she is given many possible meanings of the essay. The meaning and the†¦show more content†¦Thus he tells the story of Descartes. Descartes was a man going through what modern society calls, â€Å"a mid life crisis.† He was middle aged when felt like he had lost who he was. To remedy his crisis he locks himself in his house in the dark for six days. Here he breaks down his thinking process as well as his feelings and digests the facts. After solving his problem he comes out and writes â€Å"Meditations on First Philosophy.† Through the act of writing he resolves his problems and, gives his answers to the world. This is much like Mary Karr who in his final story solves her problems with her mom through writing a story. Mary lives a rough childhood where she is almost killed by her mom and accidently flown to Mexico all by the age of ten. Mary forgives and forgets the wrong her mother commits. Then many years later when her father’s health begins to decline she finds evidence of her mother’s evil past. Her mother hides her past because of fear of being rejected by her daughter and society. By writing the story Mary is able to put together her fragmented history, and learn who she really is. Miller writes the story in a very unique way. He gives his readers a chance to explore the words written on his pages, with the hope that the reader is able to draw their own conclusions from his work. His unparalleled approach to the essay forces the reader to use critical thinking in order to make since of the essay. Miller’s feelings about reading, writing and theShow MoreRelatedThe Dark Night of the Soul Essay932 Words   |  4 Pagesby Amber Kramer Summary Essay: The Dark Night of the Soul Richard E. Miller essay â€Å"The Dark Night of the Soul† to be an interesting way to think about reading and writing in today’s world. Richard uses the violence in the world to question if our educational system is relevant to keeping us safe and whether the power literature can be used to change the tragic event that happen around us every day. Richard begins with a few horrific events such as ColumbineRead More the devil and daniel webster Essay1251 Words   |  6 Pagesalike most of his other stories discussing what it means to be an American. Also this story is one of his most famous stories it combines folk-lore and history also it has been made into a play and so to be coming out a movie. Story Summary nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In this story it begins speaking about a character named Daniel Webster, which was from Marshfield, but, later the story begins to unravel and they begin speaking about a character named Jabez stone. Jabez Stone was fromRead MoreExplication Of The Raven By Edgar Allan Poe1102 Words   |  5 Pages his solitude is interrupted by an unanticipated visitor. Throughout the poem, Poe uses imagery, tone, symbolism, and rhyme as a means of conveying his overall themes of undying devotion and lingering grief. Around midnight on a â€Å"bleak December† night, a â€Å"weak and weary† man is reading while â€Å"nearly napping†. He reads as a means of nullifying the sorrow he feels â€Å"for the lost Lenore†. Suddenly, he is jolted alert by some visitor tapping at his chamber door. The lonely man tells himself â€Å" ‘Tis someRead MoreList Of All Harry Potter Books1243 Words   |  5 Pagesbecame a mighty conqueror of evil wizards, warlocks, witches, and goblins. Unknown to him, The Dark Lord, Voldemort, attempted to take Harry’s life when he was only a baby because he knew of Harry’s destiny. However, instead of killing Harry, he killed Harry’s parents instead. Harry was sent to live with his obnoxious aunt and uncle until he was whisked away from his bedroom window in the middle of the night and brought to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, along with other childrenRead MoreCommen Elemements of Fiction 1570 Words   |  7 PagesAnyone that is well situated into the world of literature knows of the literacy genius Edgar Allen Poe. Most of Poe’s works do not have the slightest bit of joy or happiness in them. His literature mainly consists of a dark and gothic mood; mostly due to the fact that his actual life was worse than his stories. For those who have read a few of his stories or poems you might notice a similarity in plot. In his worksâ€Å" The Cask of Amontillado,† â€Å" The Black Cat,† and â€Å" The Tell-Tale Heart,† there isRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe (the Raven)1496 Words   |  6 Pageshigh school students around the world, as well as their teachers. That being said, its still poetry and therefore can be difficult to understand. Read this summary to review the contents and get a better understanding. * Stanzas: 1-2 Make everyone in class think youre really smart when you bust out everything youve learned in this summary: Stanza 1:  Its late. The poems speaker is tired and weak, reading an old collection of folklore (note that Ravens are prevalent in folklore). As hes aboutRead MoreSOUL SURFER1648 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿A Critique on the Movie â€Å"The Soul Surfer† By: Joed Maghinay 2-a1 Submitted to: Prof. Jovilyn Zaplan- Galindez I. Summary â€Å"The Soul Surfer† In 2003, teenager Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb) lives in Kauai, Hawaii with her parents Tom (Dennis Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt), and two brothers, Noah (Ross Thomas) and Timmy (Chris Brochu). All are surfers, but she and her best friend Alana Blanchard (Lorraine Nicholson) have grown up with a passion for theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Eyes Were Watching God 1556 Words   |  7 PagesIB English III Summer Assignment Universal Statement: Summary: All of Janie Crawford life she always hoped for true love, but while growing up she had to find love a specific way. After having to failed marriages she found the love of her life, which was Tea Cake. After spending a short period of time together, Tea Cake became ill and eventually died. Even though she lost her soul mate Janie still felt the spirit of him in the sky. Theme Word: Love Sentence: In this novel, Janie’s ultimate goalRead MoreEssay on scary places1717 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough the holes of the metal bars, a daunting sign labelled no trespassing stands. Despite the worrisome warning, my heart pounds against my chest as I decide to walk through the threatening entrance of the Garden Cemetery. Soon I find myself in the dark core of the graveyard. A supernatural atmosphere hits me like a brick wall. Even the name of the graveyard is bizarre, as no gardens and almost no living objects exist. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I shudder from the wind now roaringRead MoreThe Witch Wins in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton1097 Words   |  5 PagesEthan Frome and the smash-up that he hears about in bits and pieces. Later, due to a terrible winter storm that caused the snow itself to seem like â€Å"a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending on us layer by layer† (Wharton 20), the narrator is forced to stay the night at Frome’s. As he enters the unfamiliar house, the story flashes back twenty-four years to Ethan Frome’s young life. Living out his life with Zenobia Frome, his hypochondriac of a wife whom he does not

Friday, December 20, 2019

Social Security Number Of An Individual - 1472 Words

Social Security Number of an Individual - The number one priority would be to keep the SSN confidential, this information does not need to be accessed by most individuals. Behind that integrity would be the next priority, to make sure this matches up with the individual at hand. Third of course would have to be availability, without this information, it could prove to be difficult to verify someones identity. First Name and Last Name – I feel that all of these attributes serve the same level of importance, due to the fact there is no description of what sort of situation this worksheet is in reference to. A lot of information can be had, just from a persons first and last name, especially if this name is not very common. Credit Card Number – I also see credit card numbers as all holding the same level of importance. I feel this way because these numbers need to kept confidential to minimize the risk of theft. Integrity needs to be held for the fact that if these are manipulated, depending on the situation, refunds may be pushed to the wrong individuals bank account. And I feel availability is just as important for verification reasons. Qualification – I feel that integrity in this care is the most important, for the fact that that these need to match up with the persons actual qualifications to prevent someone being placed in a position that may hold confidential information, when in fact they are not qualified to hold this type of information. Medical Information –Show MoreRelatedThe New Federal Discriminatory Redlining Policies Affecting Minorities1097 Words   |  5 PagesPreparer Office has been intentionally discriminating against people without Social Security numbers unlawfully. Since there is no law against providing a ptin number to people without a SSN, and The Internal revenue service/Return Preparer Office position is unlawful. Therefore, I am appealing the IRS denial letter 4739 dated 3/24/2016. Background I am an immigrant in the United States without a Social Security number. I have worked hard to integrate into the American society; and while tryingRead MoreEssay about The Social Security Program 1401 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Social Security provides for the needs of a country’s citizens when they are no longer able to provide for themselves through gainful employment, is an issue that evokes multiple viewpoints. Before laying the framework of the argument for meaningful change to social security program, the program itself must be defined. The Social Security Program is based on the premise during your productive working years you pay a percentage of your income as a tax into the social security system, atRead MoreSocial Security and Retirement: An Uncertain Future Essay1162 Words   |  5 PagesA failing Social Security Retirement program glimmers like broken glass on the horizon. Unfortunately, many people are relying on this program for their approaching retirement needs and by doing so add uncertainty within their future. Misconceptions pertaining to the program are widespread, and require further examination. Two questions may single out whether one has a false impression of the role of Soci al Security and retirement. First, was Social Security meant to be the only source of an individual’sRead MoreGough’s Definition of Needs and His Different Categories for Basic Human Needs1027 Words   |  5 PagesIran, analysing its social security and welfare system, investigating the ways in which Iran’s government attempts to provide these rights for its citizens. This then leads me to consider the criticisms made against Iran’s government for its lack of support and the rising number of people living below the absolute poverty line. As according to Gough’s study on human needs, human needs differ from their wants in the sense that wants are more inclusive and although an individual can be harmed as aRead MoreSocial Security and Medicare Will Hang by a Thread764 Words   |  3 PagesPeople receiving Social Security and Medicare need to prepare for drastic changes. Social Security and Medicare in unity has been around since 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to help the elderly pay for expensive medical necessities from doctor visits to medicine. President Johnson knew that elderly individuals would have less income and pay more for medical necessities than younger individuals. He made Social Security and Medicare a number one priority during his presidency, not knowingRead MoreSocial Security s Optimal Solution1437 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Security’s Optimal Solution At the forefront of many political and economic debates is social security’s insolvency. The number of social security beneficiaries compared to the number of workers is expected to rise 10% over the next 20 years (National Academy of Social Insurance). Specifically, solutions on how to find funding for the program from current workers are being discussed. Concerns about funding social security are not unknown. The unknown is how, if at all, social securityRead MoreSocial Engineering1052 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Engineering This research paper is primarily based on information gathered from secondary sources explaining what the term â€Å"social engineering† is, how it is perpetrated, and the impact it has on individuals and corporations. It will also discuss ethical issues and action that can be taken by both individuals and corporations respectively to mitigate and minimize the risk of social engineering attacks. Social engineering, in the context of information technology, is defined as â€Å"gainingRead MoreBSTRACT Social Networking sites are playing an important role in personal life as well as1300 Words   |  6 PagesBSTRACT Social Networking sites are playing an important role in personal life as well as business. A social networking site has become very popular for people to connect and share their interest with family and friends. Although the use of social networks is increasingly on the rise, many users are properly informed of the risks associated with using social networks. The risks as well as the security and privacy issues of social networks in business and public policy need to be evaluated and studiedRead MoreIdentity Theft : Trends And Issues1224 Words   |  5 PagesIssues Identity theft is the fastest growing fraud crime in America (Finklea, 2009). Gaining knowledge in preventing theft will better the economy and lower the crime rates in America. There are reported 9.9 million victims of identity theft and this number is increasing rapidly as the years go on. It has been reported that an estimate of fifty billion dollars has been charged to our consumers every year due to identity theft (Finklea, 2009). The definition of Identity theft is when someone â€Å"knowinglyRead MoreEssay on Retirement Revamping1377 Words   |  6 Pages Social Security is a major concern in American society today. Social Security first started in 1935 under President Roosevelt when he signed the Social Security Act that provided the elderly with guaranteed retirement income. In 1939, benefits for spouses, dependent children of retirees, and survivors of workers who die before retirement were implemented by congress. In the 1950’s, disabled workers were also given benefits. Now days, Social Security is under close scrutiny. Funds are depleting,

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

International Sports Marketing Sponsorship -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The International Sports Marketing Sponsorship? Answer: Introduction Coca cola has been always at its helm when it comes to advertising, the companys long association with the Olympics further propelled the company to come up with creative advertising. The campaign was focused on how coca cola and Olympics are bringing people close to each other. Coca cola came up with three brilliant advertisements reflecting great positive moments of life. The advertisement relished the long standing 80 years of association between Coca-Cola and the Olympics. It was definitely a sight to see, filled with emotions and lot of earlier achievements and historical footage; it sure was a great campaign. At the same time, Coca Cola also targeted the Chinese market and crafted advertisement for Chinese people (Soderman Dolles, 2008) Outdoor communication Coca-Colas outdoor campaign was reflective of its branding, the company came up with painting of bus shelters and painting on major streets, the painting symbolized bold and dark color of red and it was written Cool is about to arrive. The company launched the campaign in Beijing an year before the actual Olympics in August 2008; it was also successful in creating a good buzz in Beijing (Fullerton Merz, 2008) On pack communication The Beijing campaign was launched by the on pack communication, Coca Cola launched a new composite logo and a cool innovative bottle for Olympics. The new logo was designed keeping in mind a flying red kite intertwined with a background of clouds; it was based on the theme of showcasing China to the world. In addition to this innovative and limited edition bottle, the company also came up with a quirky design to target its young audience (Price, 2008) Online and interactive communication The campaign of Coca cola had an interactive arm to it as well through MyCoke.com, it brought Coca Cola and Olympics game in a fun filled light. Another interactive program by the name of Design the world a Coke allowed people to share their digital bottle with others.WE8 another online interactive arm of the campaign, was a collaboration amongst a number of progressive musicians who designed and created limited edition aluminum bottle designs and free, downloadable companion songs. A collaborative photo experience was also created by Coca Cola for the Olympics, 17 Million people contributed towards creation of this amazing photo Montage (Choi, 2008) Packaging and merchandise Special cans, pins and trading cards were created for the Olympics game. E-Bay was the official partner of Coca cola which helped the company in distributing the merchandise not only in China but all over the world. The special packaging and merchandizing was hugely successful exercise done by Coca Cola in the Beijing Olympics. Sales promotions A number of online contests were created as a part of promotion of the campaign; one of the earliest campaign Win a dream with the Star Team was hugely successful. Another contest was running in China where consumers had to enter unique codes to win exciting merchandize and few lucky winners would also get a chance to meet their favorite footballers. Another prominent campaign was the launch of Delicious Happiness as the Chinese characters of Coca-Cola literally translated to Delicious Happiness (Economy Segal, 2008) Public relations The entire campaign was built on the simple motto of building sustainability communities, the company was focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities in which the company is operating. All these points were part of PR campaign (Mol, 2010) Association of Coca cola with London Olympics 2012 The advertising strategy of London Olympics 2012 was entirely different from all the earlier editions. The company wanted to leverage the power of digital media and move past traditional media. The company curated a large number of online interactive digital campaigns for its audience for a better engagement and conversion ratio. Television advertising was an aid used by Coca Cola to increase the reach of its campaign which was based on the socially responsible objective of the company. Mark Robinson and Kate Perry were featured in an ad Move to Beat campaign in order to promote the sponsorship for the games. 4 short films were also created with time duration of 30-60 seconds and the campaign was aired in multiple countries. The basic agenda of the advertising strategy of Coca-Cola was to create content which teens could relate to and share based on relevancy. Coca cola also ran a couple of Print ads showcasing its recycling efforts, promoting healthy drinking habits, and the amount of People Company employs in the UK. The company also had to launch another campaign highlighting its health ad sustainability credentials as a step against its criticism for sponsoring London Olympics (Poynter MacRury, 2012) On pack communication The on pack communication was in sync with its earlier association with Olympics. Coca cola designed bottles for promotion of London Olympics which were designed on the theme of London Olympics and was based on bringing people closer and together. Online and interactive communication Coca-Colas objective behind sponsoring London Olympics was to bring younger people closer to the heart of Olympics games and thus wanted to use this opportunity in creating positive differences in the UK. The company wanted to create campaign revolving round the youth, inspiring them to lead active healthy lifestyle, and also to connect people with music. Teaming up with Mark Robinson and Katy B was with the sole aim of infusing games with music. The song composed by the singers was launched as the official theme song of the Olympics and it was released as single. A Mobile campaign where the youth could interact with athletes and artist won many awards for being the best integrated marketing campaign. Another campaign on Facebook by the name Track the beat gave young people to access and interacts with the campaign anytime, users were also given powers to collect different beats around the song of London Olympics and share it with their friends. Coca-Cola went in partnership with Sam sung and Android to further promote the spirit of music and game. All in all, the digital marketing campaign was a massive hit across London (Kim, 2013) Packaging and merchandise Like the earlier editions, this time as well coca cola launched exclusive merchandize to communicate the association with London Olympics 2012. 4 pins were produced exclusively for opening and closing ceremonies to get the attention of the consumers and also grab eyeballs for collecting the highly prized collectors items. Three more exclusive designs were created but were limited only to buy at Hyde Park and the Olympic park. A great initiative done by Coca-Cola was to handover all the profit it made from the merchandize to its charity Street games which helps to bring sport to 110,000 young people in some of the most deprived communities in the UK (Taylor, 2012) Sales promotions Company despite launching various promotional offers also came up with London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay to shine a light on the best of British youth and also encouraged people to get involved in the local communities. Coca cola gave chance to million to people to come and witness the grand saga of Olympics by answering simple questions based on its campaign, hugely successful in operation. Other promotion methods like offering unique codes, more quizzes on company, trivia and facts were presented to the youth to increase the engagement and involvement into the sport. Huge promotional displays and point of sale supports such as posters, shelf talkers, cooler clings, banners, and ballot boxes were also created to reinforce the promotional activities of Coca cola in tandem to the London 2012 Olympics. Coca cola also launched a unique campaign in association with McDonald around the world; the promotion ran in almost 65 countries. In the campaign a consumer would get 1 free glass of Coca cola after he collects and give 5 different colored glasses and puts it in the collector box. This was further promoted by creating a viral video, which was posted online and it drove good conversion metrics for Coca Cola (Sheridan, 2012) Public relations The Public release of Coca Cola was in sync with its CSR activity that how it is helping London in achieving the most sustainable games of all times. This was supported by using 100% recycled bottles, which were made from 22.5% of Plant products. This initiative was called as Plant Bottle Initiative; the aim of the campaign was to convert every soft drink recycled bottle back into a new one in duration of 6 weeks. The company also did a press release in which it detailed the step it is taking to reduce the carbon footprint in the UK 2008 Beijing Olympics was inclined more towards the usage of traditional tools of marketing for the promotion of its campaigns. A huge sum of money was spent in creating short films for the campaign, outdoor promotion, and TV advertisements and so on. While the company realized that traditional tools of marketing should be used just to create the awareness around the event, in order to bring the youth and people closer to the event, they have to come up number of digital interactive campaigns for London 2012 Olympics. It has been seen that in terms of consumer awareness about Coca Cola, London Olympics was more successful. Numbers of campaign were launched on Facebook and other media platforms, integrated mobile communication also played a huge hand in the success of the digital campaigns. Social responsibility Coca Cola took a pledge to keep its vending machine free of Hydro Flouro Carbons (HFC) in cooperation with the greenpeace and the United Nations Environment program. The goal of this coalition was to keep a tab on the global warming, and coca cola wanted to keep Beijing Olympics HFC free. A large number of refrigeration systems were also kept in the venues to reduce the effects of the greenhouse gases. While in the year 2012, coca cola was more focused on making its bottle 100% recycled and convert every bottle used in the stadium into a new bottle in duration of maximum 6 weeks. It also underwent through a lot of detailing in explaining to the world how it is further contributing positively towards the sustainability of the environment. It also made a press release to the general public, explaining to them how it is helping in reducing the global carbon foot print. Unique elements of Coca Cola London Olympic campaign An extremely innovative idea by Coca Cola which was initiated at the London Olympics 2012, Coca cola beat box was inspired by its Move to the beat campaign which basically resulted in creation of a ground breaking building in the Olympic park knows as the coca cola beat box. This unique building could be played as a beat box by the consumers and they could create their own beats using the coca cola merchandize. Increased social responsibility London 2012 was important for Coca Cola because of many reasons. It came up with 100% recyclable bottle based on the technology of Plant Bottle initiative. Under this the aim was to convert every single bottle into a new bottle in duration of 6 weeks. In addition to this, Coca-Cola used recycled uniforms and menu cards through the venue, thus contributing towards increased social responsibility. Innovative packaging Coca Cola has always been an innovator when it comes to creating absolutely brilliant designs for its bottles. The company repeated the same by creating never to be seen attractive design and packaging for its bottle. It created three exclusive pins, which were kept only at Hyde and Olympic park for the consumers. People were seen queued to grab a hand at those exclusive bottles placed at those locations. Targeting young people Coca Cola wanted to target the youth as part of its sponsorship with London Olympics 2012 and divert their interest towards healthy lifestyle habits and games. In order to do so, it came up with exclusive integrated mobile campaign which allowed the youth to interact with their favorite footballers. A number of campaigns on Facebook allowed the youth to connect any time with the campaign. Content was created by Coca Cola in sync with the interest of the Youth. References Choi, J. A. (2008). Coca-Cola China's Virtual Olympic Torch Relay programme at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: adding interactivity to a traditional offline Olympic activation.International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship,9(4), 4-13. Economy, E. C., Segal, A. (2008). China's Olympic nightmare: What the games mean for Beijing's future.Foreign affairs, 47-56. Fullerton, S., Merz, G. R. (2008). The four domains of sports marketing: A conceptual framework.Sport Marketing Quarterly,17(2), 90. Kim, H. D. (2013). The 2012 London Olympics: Commercial partners, environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility and outlining the implications.The International Journal of the History of Sport,30(18), 2197-2208. Mol, A. P. (2010). Sustainability as global attractor: the greening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Global Networks,10(4), 510-528. Poynter, G., MacRury, I. (Eds.). (2012).Olympic cities: 2012 and the remaking of London. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Price, M. E. (2008). On seizing the Olympic platform.Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the new China,86, 114. Sheridan, P. D. (2012). An Olympic Solution to Ambush Marketing: How the London Olympics Show the Way to More Effective Trademark Law.Sports Law. J.,17, 27. Sderman, S., Dolles, H. (2008). Strategic fit in international sponsorship-the case of the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship,9(2), 22-37. Taylor, C. R. (2012). The London Olympics 2012: what advertisers should watch.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

EToys Essay Example For Students

EToys Essay II. Company Mission; Background/HistoryThe vision of eToys is to create the premier family-oriented destination on the Internet. eToys was launched in October of 1997. eToys was created to offer an extensive selection of products from well known and specialty toy brands, a combination that would be both economical and physically impractical to stock in a traditional store like KBToys or Toys R Us. It came became known as the leading Internet retailer of childrens products, carrying more than 100,000 competitively priced items. Another key feature of eToys is the fact that people can shop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and have instantaneous access to product information, helpful shopping services, and innovative merchandising strategies. Not only does eToys provide toys, but they also provide a number of services to the consumer. They supply gift recommendations by age, relationship, and price specification, child-appropriate gift wrapping, personalized message cards to accompany the gifts, and electronic gift certificates. eToys also provides a birthday reminders service, through which they notify shoppers of a childs birthday three weeks in advance via e-mail. Through the Wish List service, parents and children can e-mail family members and friends a list of the gifts they would like purchased for them. eToys launched http://BabyCenter.com as a resource for shoppers of infants and toddlers. Another website wholly owned by eToys is http://www.ParentCenter.com which serves as a resource for parents as their children grow beyond BabyCenters prime age range. This new parent center site also provides the company an additional high margin revenue opportunity. eToys advertises on major sites such as AOL, Sesame Workshop, Excite, Infoseek, Microsoft Network, Yahoo!, and Lycos. In October 1999, they initiated an international expansion by launching http://eToys.co Free Media Violences: Media Violence is No P EssayeToys stands behind the quality of all of their products . A consumer may return any item in its original condition, for any reason, at any time. eToys will gladly issue a gift certificate covering the value of the return that may be used to purchase any item(s) they carry. Or, if the consumer prefers, they will replace any item, or issue a fully refund its the consumers choice. If eToys made the mistake, they will also refund the shipping and any Gift Wrapping charges. Software, videos, video games and equipment, and audio products must be returned unopened. Information about their return policy is included with each shipped order on the back of the packaging slip. It takes approximately two weeks to process a return once it arrives at the warehouse. A consumer can email eToys to check on the status of a return. eToys has over 100,000 childrens products, including toys, books, video games, software, videos, music, and party goods from more than 750 manufactures. eToys carries more than 750 brands, including well-known brands such as Barbie, LEGO, and Disney, as well as specialty brands such as BRIO, which are not available at toy superstores like Toys R US. Aside from just toys, eToys offers personalized message cards, electronic gift certificates, and a birthday reminder service to its consumers. In October 1999, eToys initiated their international expansion by launching etoys.co.uk. Then, in March 2000, they launched yet another international site called babycentre.co.uk. These sites, as stated earlier, were designed specifically to meet the needs of the customers in the UK and serve as the springboard for further expansion across Europe. eToys is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and has regional offices in San Francisco, California; Danville, Virginia, and London England. In keeping up with its strongest competitor, http://www.ToysRUs.com, Etoys has expanded its business to acquire http://www.Toys.com and http://www.eparties.com to keep up with the financial presents of Toys R Us, Inc. With similar fluctuations in their stock prices, the ever expanding ideals of eToys into other areas such as parties, videos, and overseas markets, eToys is holding its spot as the number one online retailer in childrens toys. A decision, announced in April of this year, decided to spin off the European segments of the company in order to reach that goal of finally turning a profit for the company. During our fifteen day assessment of eToys there has been a decrease in the stock prices of our company for twelve of the fifteen days. Even with the downward spiral in the stock prices, reaching a fifty two week low in the assessment, analyists predict that with the up coming holiday season it will all turn out for the better. Since the opening of the web site in October 1997, there has been a rapid growth in the net sales of the company. Yet like all of its competitors it has yet to see a profit. Some predict that within five years that eToys will see it first net profit in the companies short history. During the past year, eToys shares have fallen on the Nasdaq to less than $2 from $70.52. EToys long-term rating was downgraded to neutral from accumulate by Merrill Lynch and the assessment J.P. Morgan was also downgraded. The people at J.P. Morgan forecast a doubling of revenue to $220 million in the third quarter of this year up from $106.8 million a year ago. Five reasons for their doubts are: competition, the challenge to diversity from the toys business, heavy seasonally of sales, the cost of building three brands (eToys, http://www.babycenter.com/, and http://www.parentcenter.com/) and a shift in product mix from mass-market to specialty and private-label goods. eToys extended its position as the Internets leading site for kids-oriented commerce, content and services with the launch of its new party and Hobby stores and the introduction of new merchandising features designed to enhance the sites overall customer experience. The Party Store is a one-stop shop for birthday, holiday and other kids-oriented parties. The Party Store allows eToys for the first time to tap into the $5 billion kids party goods segment, a fast growing and non-seasonal addition to the companys product lines. The Hobby Store is stocked with thousands of hobby products including trains, planes, automobiles and rockets. Hobby enthusiasts comprise a $4 billion market in the U.S. and eToys Hobby Store is designed to make shopping for hobby products easy. There have been some major alliances between some major competitors for example Amazon.com and Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Kmarts Bluelight.com and Target. Last year, Amazon.coms toys and related business brought in $95 million in sales, comparable to EToys $107 million. EToys has shifted its product mix to specialty retail and private-label products from traditional mass-market products, which may affect the profitability target. And Wal-Mart has implied that it will keep improving their Web site and may become a major online player by Christmas of 2001. eToys received a $40 million revolving credit facility from Foothill Capital Corp. It will use funds from the two-year facility, which is backed by certain company inventory, for working capital and general purpose. The Wall Street Journal said in September that eToys needed about an additional $100 million to sustain its operations until profitability. eToys Inc. entered into an amended agreement with shareholders of its series D convertible preferred stock, according to a Form 8-K filed November 18 with the securities and Exchange Commission. The preferred shareholders waived their rights to enter into a short sale of eToys stock. Shareholders also agreed to waive their right to convert the preferred stock at any time if eToys common stock fell below $3 a share for 10 consecutive days. eToys common shares originally closed below $3 on Nov. 8, dropping 78 cents to $2.56 a share. Since that time, eToys shares havent closed above $3. They submitted to the shareholders a conversion election notice for 2,000 shares of the convertible preferred stock. eToys issued 10,000 shares of the convertible preferred stock. They agreed to provide at least 1,000 preferred shares by Jan. 1 for a conversion to take place after Jan. 31 to shareholders with a conversion option. Bibliography:VIII. Referenceshttp://www.wsj.comWall Street Journalhttp://www.Excite.comhttp://www.eToys.comhttp://www.gartner.comhttp://www.cbs.marketwatch.comhttp://www.quicken.com/news