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Greetings!
Here are your articles for April 11, 2012. |
"At Kiesling Associates, we make it our mission to provide timely,
quality services that exceed the expectations of our clients."
Joe Gerot & Jeff Naig, Co-Managing Partners |
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NECA Releases 2012 CAF ICC Mandatory Data Collection |
On April 5, NECA released a mandatory data collection to all Traffic Sensitive Pool member companies. The 2012 CAF ICC Data Collection will be used to determine the new Access Restructure Charge (ARC) rates for companies who implement them and also determine how much support should come from the new CAF ICC Support as a result of upcoming reductions in ICC rates.
The data request has two phases. A preliminary submission of the data must be completed by April 25, 2012. NECA needs time to review and verify this data in order to properly set rates for NECA Tariff #5 for all traffic sensitive pool members. NECA will file a Tariff #5 update in June 2012 with a July 1, 2012 effective date. Pool members will have a chance to review their data, and must certify their responses to NECA by May 23, 2012.
In addition, all companies are being asked to complete a Rural Education Data request. Providing this additional information on regulated and deregulated revenues is highly recommended by NTCA, OPASTCO and NECA. It will help the National Associations advocacy efforts with rural issues. NECA and the national associations indicate all company information is to be held under protective orders, to respect confidentiality.
This is not a trivial data request for two reasons. In addition to helping set initial levels for the ARC and CAF ICC support, coordination of the data collection will bring together information from multiple sources with a very short turnaround. Accountants, billing vendors and consultants will all assist in provision of the detailed data required in the data collection.
Kiesling is staying close to the numerous appeals, requests for clarification, etc., pending with the FCC. If your company needs assistance with the completion of the NECA 2012 CAF ICC Data Collection, please let your Kiesling representative know by Friday, April 13, 2012.
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Individual Tax Returns due April 17 | |
Individual  Taxpayers have until Tuesday, April 17, to file their 2011 tax returns and pay any tax due because April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Monday, April 16. According to federal law, District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do; therefore, all taxpayers will have two extra days to file this year. Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until October 15 to file their 2012 tax returns.
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Can you measure the ROI of social media? | |
Social media marketing is something that cannot be avoided in our world today. It's hard to look anywhere without finding a reference to some social media tool. Many companies have capitalized on this, and have implemented social media marketing in their daily operations, finding a customer base that they never utilized before. But the real question is: how do you measure the return on investment of social media?
As management becomes more aware of social media, they also begin to question their return on the social media investment. The key to measuring this ROI is to turn traditional ROI thinking upside down. Traditionally when measuring ROI on marketing, one would first emphasize your own marketing efforts and then calculate the return in terms of customer response. With social media ROI, one should first consider the consumer motivations to use social media, and then measure the social media investments customers make as they engage in the products.
Essentially, customer behaviors are the key to measuring the ROI of social media. Customers are fully in control of their own online experience. Their motivations lead them to connect online with other consumers. While doing this, they create and consume online content. These are known as the four C's of the customer experience with social media. The four C's are very important in measuring the success of social media, as they lead to a more customer-oriented way of interacting with the consumer base.
Social media is not just another traditional marketing tactic - marketers and managers should recognize this fact if they hope to succeed in their efforts. A customer investment in social media can be measured in a variety of ways: number of site visits, time spent on the application, blog comment content, and status updates are all measures of consumer awareness levels. While measuring by site visits and blog comments is a new concept for management, it is important that traditional thinking be modified in order to fully recognize the customer's power, and thus the effectiveness of social media in marketing.
Source: MIT Sloan Management Review (Fall 2010) |
| The more things change.... |
A local brewery launched a fancy microbrew. It proved to be very popular-so popular, in fact, that they were having trouble getting it distributed to all the stores and bars in the area. The management team met to discuss the problem.
"Here's the schedule," said the manager in charge of distribution. "You can see that we have our biggest shipments on Monday and Tuesday, and then smaller ones Wednesday and Thursday, and all the local deliveries on Friday."
"We'll have to change that," the CEO said, "but we'd better find out why it's scheduled that way." The team couldn't find any logical explanation for the schedule, which had endured over the years, until they reached a former distribution manager, long retired, whose grandfather had co-founded the company. He thought for a while, then said:
"Yes, I remember. When we started out, all our deliveries were made by horse-drawn wagons. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when the teams were rested, they could pull a big load, but on Wednesdays they started to get tired, and by Friday they could only make it a few blocks. So we set the schedule that way."
The company changed its delivery schedule, and learned a lesson about doing things the way they'd always been done.
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Catch Kiesling at Upcoming Events | |
 Conventions and seminars provide a common forum to present new ideas, learn about industry happenings, sharpen technical knowledge, discuss new products and services, and visit with friends-new and old. Kiesling values the opportunity to participate with you at industry events and looks forward to seeing you at the following upcoming events. More
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Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose. |
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