06 Thursday Feb 2014
Posted in Air New Zealand, Airlines, Culture, New Zealand, News, Safety Videos, Social, Sports Illustrated, Tourism, Travel
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Air New Zealnd, Airlines, Entertainment, New Zealand, News, Safety Videos, Sports Illustrated, Travel
Coming soon, to a screen near you: “Safety in Paradise.”
That’s a video produced by Air New Zealand in partnership with Sports Illustrated.
The video was shot in the Cook Islands and features several top models.
“Safety in Paradise” will be released on Feb. 12.
A trailer of what is billed as “the world’s most beautiful safety video” has been posted on YouTube.
24 Sunday Nov 2013
Delegates from nearly 170 countries are meeting in Paris this week to choose the host of the 2020 World Expo.
The competition is between front-runner Dubai, UAE, and Ekaterinburg, Russia; Sao Paulo, Brazil and Izmir, Turkey.
All indications are that the Bureau International des Expositions will overwhelmingly choose Dubai on Nov. 27.
There are many reasons for that, primarily no other city competing for the world’s fair can match what Dubai offers – it has ultra-modern infrastructure, solid financial backing and above all an impeccable track record of hosting mega events.
The Dubai Airshow that concluded just last week is just an example. It generated a record US$206 billion in business for Boeing, Airbus and others.
Dubai has also won the endorsements of several countries, including Britain, France and Canada.
“Canada believes it is time for the Middle East to host the world at a time of such hope and challenge in the region, and Dubai is best placed to bring together the most diverse group of peoples from around the world, to share ideas, aspirations, and concrete solutions for the future,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement earlier this month.
“Canada’s support for Dubai reflects our commitment to the dynamism, hope and future of emerging economies in the region and beyond.” 
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, a frequent visitor to Dubai, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also have endorsed Dubai’s bid.
“Dubai’s model of shared prosperity is more important today than ever and an inspiration to many countries in the Middle East,” Clinton told students of the American University of Dubai in April.
Dubai under its charismatic Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has made dramatic progress in the past few years.
The emirate has delivered everything it ever promised. Expo 2020 will be no different. It would be another jewel in Dubai’s crown.
But win or lose, Dubai has made its case.
“The UAE will be successful whether it wins the bid or not, as we are working and moving forward with various development plans,” Sheikh Mohammed was quoted as saying this month.
All photos are courtesy of Dubai Expo 2020 and Dubai Government. The video, “Then and Now,” is from YouTube.
20 Wednesday Nov 2013
The agency that looks after the welfare of children around the world is the most followed international organization on Twitter.
That is the conclusion of Twiplomacy, a study of the use of Twitter by governments and international organizations, conducted by the communications firm Burson-Marsteller.
The United Nations International Children’s Fund, @UNICEF, has almost 2.3 million followers.
“UNICEF is very active with an average of 11 tweets per day and mentions other Twitter users in every second tweet. Almost a quarter of its tweets are retweets and UNICEF often lends its social media power to promote other UN campaigns,” Burson-Marsteller said.
UNICEF is closely followed by its parent organization, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
“However, the number of followers is not the only indicator of an organization’s popularity,” Burson-Marsteller said.
“Another important measure of influence is the number of times an account appears on Twitter lists. In this regard, the UN is the most listed international organization appearing on 25,643 lists.”
Along with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, UNICEF is also among the most effective Twitter users, the study found.
“Their tweets are retweeted on average more than 100 times,” Burson-Marsteller said.
The UN is a distant third, followed by the WWF, Greenpeace and the World Health Organization.
The study revealed that their tweets are retweeted on average more than 63 times while the median average of retweets per tweet among all international institutions covered is only four.
For the study Burson-Marsteller identified 223 Twitter accounts of 101 international organizations.
The firm said it collected the data this month. More than 50 variables were considered, including tweets, following, followers, listed, the date the organization joined Twitter, etc.
Some other interesting conclusions of the study:
– All organizations combined have sent more than 770,000 tweets.
– 
Nabil Elaraby, secretary general of the Arab League, is the most followed head of an international organization, with more than 340,000 followers.
– Richard Sezibera, secretary general of the East African Community is the most conversational head of an international body. More than 65 per cent of his tweets are replies to other users.
– Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are in second and third position with more than 150,000 followers each.
Burson-Marsteller said the study showed that no international organization can ignore the power of digital communications and, especially Twitter.
All screenshots are courtesy of the respective organizations.
