I’m writing a new NON-fiction & would appreciate your help

Have you lived through a disaster?

Hi, I appreciate your assistance. I will be using your personal experiences for a book I am writing about surviving disasters (natural, man-made, technological, etc.) The only identification I am requesting is your FIRST name; any other ID offered will be kept in my personal file in case I need to contact you for more info and will be destroyed upon completion of the manuscript.

If you have lived through a disaster of any kind your responses will be extremely helpful to this project.

You can copy the questions with your responses into an email and send that to me at ChelleCordero@gmail.com ~or~ you can download the .doc (http://bylines333.com/?attachment_id=661), fill in the responses and attach it to an email sent to ChelleCordero@gmail.com , whichever is easier for you. Please put DISASTER in the subject line.

Email is my preferred method to receive responses, however if you would like you can snail-mail the form to me at: By-Lines; POB 333; Tomkins Cove NY 10986.

1)      What region of the country/world do you live in and what type of disaster has occurred?

2)      Can you give a brief description of what your living conditions were before the disaster (ie: single family home, trailer, apartment complex)?

3)      What was the extent of damage and losses to your family and home?

4)      Did you have any warnings of the impending disaster? If so, what preparations did you make?

5)      What resources were available to you to assist you and your family after the disaster?

6)      Were you able to recover after the disaster and resume a “normal” life? How long did this recovery take?

7)      What were permanent losses that could not be recovered?

8)      What changes have you made to avoid or decrease your losses if future disasters occur?

9)      Based on your experience, what advice would you give to others to mitigate losses and safeguard their families?

10)   Any other comments?

Taylor Swift Most Influential Celebrity for Teens

Ebates.com 2013 Holiday Survey:
Taylor Swift Most Influential Celebrity
for Teens this Holiday

Swift Beats One Direction, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lawrence, and Justin Bieber in influence; while wish lists go virtual

SAN FRANCISCO—December, 2013 —Ebates.com, the pioneer and leader in online cash back shopping, today announced findings from its 2013 Holiday Survey in which teens were asked about their holiday habits and who influences them.  The nationwide survey discovered that almost 4 in 10 (38%) say celebrities do indeed have influence on their holiday wish list. For the second consecutive year, Taylor Swift was named the star that influences their wish list the most (at 13%).  Swift beat out One Direction (11%), Katy Perry (9%), Selena Gomez (7%), Demi Lovato (6%), Jennifer Lawrence (5%), and Justin Bieber (5%). 

The Ebates.com survey also found social media has replaced the traditional letter to Santa.  Young adults ages 12 – 17 say they are more likely to put their wish list online, compared to previous years. While the majority said they will just tell their parents what they want, a little more than one-quarter (26%) said they will take their list online.  Among the top virtual wish list methods are:

• Email—10%
• Facebook—10%
• Twitter—3%
• Tumblr—2%
• Their own blog—1%

7% of teens admitted that they still write a traditional letter to Santa.

“The holidays are all about the kids, but we know the teens are the hardest to shop for,” said Kevin H. Johnson, CEO of Ebates. “With this annual survey, we found out that if all else fails, parents can look to their teen’s favorite celebrity’s fashion for inspiration.  We hope that finding out what teens want and what makes them tick makes the holiday season easier and more enjoyable for parents.”

Ebates.com is offering special promotions throughout December for anyone to save on holiday purchases. Visit Ebates.com for more information. The free Ebates.com app for iPhone is available for download at iTunes for shoppers who prefer to browse and shop on the go.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by TNS on behalf of Ebates.com from October 8-14, 2013 among 1,000 adults 18 years and older as well as 500 teens between the ages of 12-17 years old. For complete survey methodology, including raw data and weighting variables, please contact Alessandra Nagy at Grayling atAlessandra.Nagy@Grayling.com.

About Ebates.com

Over 1,600 online stores have joined the roster of retailers that offer cash back, special deals including free shipping, and over 10,000 coupons to members of Ebates.com. Free membership allows consumers to shop online at their favorite retailers while earning a percentage of every purchase they make; paid quarterly in the form of a “Big Fat Check” or through PayPal. From niceties to necessities, members of Ebates benefit from incentives at top-name merchants for everything from furniture to fashion and appliances to airfare. Because shopping with Ebates is hassle-free: no rebate forms to fill out and no points or miles to redeem, the site supports a strong community of savvy shoppers across the country and around the world.

 

Viamedia’s 2013 Holiday Advertising Study

Majority of Americans say TV holiday advertising impacts their shopping while admitting they would like to see Scrooge-like themes in ads

LEXINGTON, KY, November 26, 2013– Viamedia, the cable industry’s leading independent cable rep firm and provider of online advertising services, today announced its 2013 Holiday Advertising  Study which determined how advertisements on cable TV networks impacts the 89% of Americans who watch cable TV programming.  The study examined the positive qualities that make holiday advertisements most memorable and finally asked what “Scrooge-like” themes, if any, Americans would like to see in holiday advertisements.

A majority of Americans (54%) admitted advertisements on cable TV networks (e.g., ESPN, Lifetime, TNT, A&E, History Channel, CNN) impact their holiday shopping.  The demographics most affected were students (75%), men 18 – 34 (66%) and women (69%) 18 – 34.  The reasons included:   

• 38% – informs me about sales (which was particularly important to 60% students)
• 25% – gives me ideas on what to buy for hard to buy people
• 21% – prompts me to consider shopping at that store or buy products at that store
• 19% – makes me realize how many shopping days are left
• 15% – makes me realize what’s hot
• 8% – makes me shop for myself

An overwhelming majority of Americans (72%) agreed positive qualities make a holiday advertisement on cable TV networks most memorable – especially 82% of households with children.  However when it came to what exactly Americans thought of as memorable, Americans were hard-pressed to agree with the number one choice being emotional appeal – with just 18% of Americans naming that trait.  Emotional appeal was followed by portrayal of the family with 14%.  Only 13% of households with children said portrayal of family was important.  That was followed by holiday tie-in (14%), feature people like me (8%), play on words like “happy Holidays” (6%) and inclusion of veterans (5%).

A majority Americans (59%) admitted they wanted to see “Scrooge-like” themes in holiday advertisements on cable TV networks – which was especially popular with men (77%) 18 – 34 and women (75%) 18 – 34.  Americans ranked their favorite Scroogey scenarios – from naughty kids getting coal to ditching the in-laws: 

• 27% – How do you react to a present you don’t like
• 25% – the best way to return a bad gift
• 21% – the right way to re-gift
• 19% – Naughty kids getting coal for Christmas (24% of households with children said yes – 17% said no)
• 16% – how to shop for people I don’t like
• 14% – what to do with carolers who can’t sing
• 14% – how to shop for myself guilt free
• 13% – how kids can be annoying
• 12% – how to ditch the in-laws

“Viamedia’s 2013 Holiday Cable Advertising Study proves how cable TV advertisements play a key role in how we celebrate the season,” said Becky Jones, Vice President Marketing & Research at Viamedia.  “Cable TV advertising impacts a majority of Americans – giving gifts ideas and even alerting them to how many shopping days we have left.  It’s a good feeling to know that consumers find holiday ads on cable TV to be a meaningful part of their holiday experience.  And, just like with the cable TV programs themselves, their opinions of what makes a commercial’s magic ingredient are as broad as their own imaginations.”

We found it surprising that while Americans can’t agree on the magic ingredient that makes a good holiday commercial, they can agree on wanting to see Scrooge-like themes in advertisements.”

About Viamedia

Headquartered in Lexington, KY, Viamedia is a leading provider of outsourced local advertising sales services and provider of online advertising services. The company specializes in selling DMA-based advertising to local, regional and national advertisers on behalf of U.S. cable and telecommunications service providers, utility companies and municipalities. For more information on Viamedia, visitwww.viamediatv.com.  You can find us on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/viamediatv or like us on Twitter @Viamedia_TV.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States between November 13^th and 15^th, 2013 among 2,051 adults (aged 18 and over) by Harris Interactive on behalf of Viamedia via its Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.