Mark Bernardini | AccessPay sets sights on US market with £2 million debt financing

Manchester, UK-based payments router AccessPay has secured £2 million in debt financing from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank amid plans for a recruitment drive and expansion into US markets.

A specialist in cloud-based payments technology, with hundreds of UK-based customers and 35 employees, AccessPay enables payment routing through all of the major UK and international networks including Bacs, Swift, Faster Payments, Sepa and Direct Debit.

With a focus on organic growth, the orgnisation has its sights on increasing its business-reach to more than 10,000 organisations, who will join with other current high-profile clients such as Clifford Thames and European research organisation Cern.

Anish Kapoor, CEO of Accesspay says the funding will enable the business to recruit up to 60 new members of staff, including developers, sales, operations and marketing, before the end of 2017 and provides the platform for expansion into the US market later this year.

The firm has previously raised equity from two primary investors in the US: True Ventures and Route 66 Ventures.

Mark Bernardini | Number of U.S. bank branches to shrink 20 percent in five years: real estate report

The number of bank branches in the United States will shrink by as much as 20 percent in five years, according to a report from commercial real estate firm JLL.
This reduction comes as banks are looking for ways to cut costs and to encourage their customers to embrace mobile banking technology rather than completing basic transactions within a physical branch.
The U.S. banking industry could save as much as $8.3 billion annually if it trimmed the number of branches and downsized the average bank branch from 5,000 to 3,000 square feet, JLL found.
U.S. banks have reduced their footprint by around 8 percent since the financial crisis, from 97,000 branches to roughly 90,000.

Mark Bernardini | Canada-based real estate software firm transfers its U.S. headquarters

A leading Canada-based real estate software and technology corporation is moving its U.S. headquarters to Dallas to ensure a wider reach, the firm announced.

Based in Toronto and serving over 10,000 real estate firms and entities across North America, Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies said that its former headquarters in Las Vegas will remain in operation. The centre of the company’s U.S. operations will be relocating to a 25,000-square-foot office space in the 717 Harwood tower in downtown Dallas.

“This building can accommodate the future growth potential for the company which anticipates potentially leasing up to 100,000 square feet over time,” according to the company’s filings with the city’s Economic Development Committee, as quoted by Dallas News.

“Also, the downtown location offers a favorable ability to attract technology workers in specialties of information technology, software engineering and systems architecture, along with other related fields.”

The firm added that a further 150 jobs will be made available in the new headquarters.

“We are recruiting pretty heavily down in Dallas,” Lone Wolf’s vice president for marketing Kate Annis said. “It’s a great place for technology and we are excited to be down there.”

“Expansion in the U.S. is our focus over the next few years.”

Mark Bernardini | Frivolous spends are leaving Brits out of pocket to the tune of £400 a year, new research has found.

Three quarters of Brits are frittering cash on purchases they don’t need on a daily basis, from takeaway coffees to nail varnishes. These unnecessary spends cost around £32.66 a month, leaving people almost £400 out of pocket every year, money which they could be saving instead of wasting.

Almost half of adults admit their extravagant spending means they often buy things they don’t need when shopping, just because the items are close to the till, with many saying they gorge on snacks they don’t want but can’t resist. Special offers on food and sale items are also among the top three impulse spends.

Kris Brewster, Head of Products for Skipton Building Society, who commissioned the research, said: “It’s surprising to see how much all of these little, everyday expenses can add up to, and how avoidable they can be. And if we’re honest, those ‘one-off’ bigger purchases are probably much more regular than we think as we sleepwalk into spending our money.

“It’s important that people stop and make the time to pause and think about their finances, considering how their spending habits big and small could have an impact on their personal savings. Without taking this time, we can all be led into to wasting money, just because bargains look too good to refuse!”

Top 20 daily frivolous purchases

Snacks you don’t really want but can’t resist the temptation
Special offers on food
Sale items you just can’t refuse
Impulse checkout sweets when queuing
Buying clothes you only wear once
Scratch cards
Buying clothes which then sit in the wardrobe, without being worn once
Lottery tickets
Lunch out instead of taking a packed lunch to work
Takeaway tea and coffee
Flowers for the house
Buying pre-chopped vegetables because you’re too lazy to cut your own
Nail varnishes when you have 20+ pots at home
Makeup
Useless kitchen gadgets
Magazines you don’t end up reading
Brand new notebooks even though you have several unused at home
Vitamin pills which you only remember to take for a couple of days
Shoes which don’t fit properly and you can’t be bothered to take back
Paying for subscription TV and then only watching a couple of channels

Tips to Save Money

Give up the daily coffee
Ditching the daily takeaway coffee habit could save a surprising amount over the course of a year. Giving up a £3-a-day coffee could save around £700 a year. Invest in a half-decent coffee machine and make coffee at home for pennies instead.

Skip the odd takeaway or meal out
Save a few pounds (cash and weight) and break out the cook books rather than takeaway menus. Cutting back on one £25 takeaway or meal out a month will save £300 over the year, as well as being good for your waistline. Plus, it’s a well-known fact that homemade food tastes better than anything you buy.

Downgrade your phone contract
With contracts for the latest flagship phones easily costing £50 or more a month in many cases, trading down to a much cheaper SIM-only deal can save a small fortune. By shopping around, you may be able to shave off £35 or more from your monthly bill. Over the course of a year, that could add up to £420.

Slash that massive pay TV package
Are you paying for satellite or cable TV channels or a package that you hardly use, like sports or movies? A top-of-the-range pay TV subscription can cost as much as £70 a month. Opting for a more basic package could save around £50 a month – or you could consider Freeview, which is free-to-air – and watch any big matches in the pub, saving as much as £600 a year .

Axe your gym membership
How many people signed up to the gym in a bloated, post-Christmas pang of guilt, only to trail off by late January? Get your running shoes on instead, hit the local pool or join the craze for bodyweight workouts (that’s doing press-ups and sit-ups for the rest of us). You could save £300 to £600 a year .

Skip the night on the town
With a night out weighing in at as much as £60, giving your wallet and liver a break once in a while can be a good idea. Stay home one extra night a month and save up to £720 a year.

Have some patience with gadgets and games
Are you the kind of person who just has to have the latest gadget or game as soon as it comes out? Maybe you time your phone upgrades around the Apple release cycle? The price of phones, consoles and other gadgets all tend to fall quite rapidly after their initial release – so having a little patience and waiting a few months can often be a shrewd move. Depending on how many you buy a year, you could save a few hundred pounds

Mark Bernardini | Russia denies involvement after US charges two FSB officers over 'state-sponsored' cyber attack

The Russian government says that its agents weren't involved in hacking 500 million Yahoo accounts after the US charged two spies two spies over a “state-sponsored” cyber attack.

The Kremlin said its FSB domestic intelligence service was not involved in any unlawful activity. It appeared to suggest that no Russian intelligence agents have ever hacked anyone else.

This week it emerged that the US Department of Justice would charge two Russian spies with hacking into Yahoo in one of the biggest cyber attacks in history. It said that FSB agents had paid hackers to steal people's email accounts and try and gather information about journalists and politicians.

Dmitry Peskov claimed Russia had received no official information about the charges and had gleaned all it knew about the case from media reports.

“We have said repeatedly that there can be no discussion of any official involvement of any Russian office, including the FSB being involved in any unlawful cyber activities,” he added.

The Department of Justice announced the prosecutions on Wednesday, calling the 2014 hack “one of the largest data breaches in US history”.

“The defendants include two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), an intelligence and law enforcement agency of the Russian Federation and two criminal hackers with whom they conspired to accomplish these intrusions, “ said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord.

“The Department of Justice is continuing to send the powerful message that we will not allow individuals, groups, nation states or a combination of them to compromise the privacy of our citizens, the economic interests of our companies, or the security of our country.”

She named two FSB officers, Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, who allegedly directed and paid hackers Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov.

They are accused of targeting the Yahoo accounts of Russian and American government officials, including cyber security, diplomatic and military personnel, as well as Russian journalists other network providers and financial services employees.

Mark Bernardini | Avoid this while hiring an event staff

Mark Bernardini is the founder and owner of PUSH marketing & promotions NY/NJ, the fastest growing live marketing and event staffing agencies. Mark Bernardini has established himself as a major player in the live marketing and social media marketing business. He has a Strong creative sense and ability to deliver innovative and strategic programs that are relevant and highly effective.

Mark Bernardini has established a long standing partnerships with many of the top players at the leading advertising, promotional and event marketing agencies and Fortune 500 marketers nationwide.

Mark has an extensive background in the special events and nightlife industry, providing premium talent and marketing resources to his valued clients for some of the biggest VIP events and marketing campaigns across the country. PUSH is the industry leader for brand ambassadors, event talent and promotional modeling staff.  We have 90,000 talented brand ambassadors, the largest team in North America on standby ready to represent your brand. Mark Bernardini has more than 20+ years of experience.

Mark is into this industry for over many years and knows how to take it to next level. He has worked for many reputable companies and promote their business with his marketing and promotional strategies. With his smart and talented staff he is providing services to many well-known companies of the nation.

In this blog Mark Bernardini has enlisted 10 mistakes you should not make when hiring event staff.

According to Mark Bernardini, success of any event mostly depends on its event staff, how they are working and how well they engage with the audience. Event staff represents your company as they are the face of your brand who helps you to build relationships with your clients. Sometimes to just move on with the event, we overlook staffing that can be really harmful for the event. It can even flop your show. Thereby, to avoid such mistakes you should follow these tips while hiring event staff.

Delaying the Decision Process

One of the worst mistakes an event planner can make when hiring event staff is taking too long to make a decision. While event staff understands that a lot goes into planning and executing an event as they also have their own personal schedules. Delaying the decision process for more than 1-2 weeks can make unavailability of top event staff. Thereby to ensure that you will offer a best quality event staff, you must avoid delaying the process and keep it as short as possible. Besides keeping the decision process short, you must keep in mind that event staff represents your company. They are the face of your promotion. Therefore you need to be very careful while hiring your event staff as it is very necessary to hire, keeping your brand image in mind.

Overlooking event’s needs and not consulting the team:

You cannot overlook the needs of the event says, Mark Bernardini. Before hiring a staff take care of some particular factors like size, length and the audience. Keeping such factors in mind will help you to get ideal number of staff you require. It is also very important to consider the other members of the team. You cannot take decisions on your own, as nothing can be worse than having a team who is not together, so be sure to take decisions after consulting your team while selecting the staff.  

According to Mark Bernardini, if you are working in a team, everyone’s consultation is recommended as it makes the decision more accurate and makes your business strong.

Hiring staff without interviewing them:

Whatever be the purpose of hiring a staff, you must interview them, said Mark Bernardini. He adds, be it modelling or ambassador, one must be hired in a proper manner. Without interviewing, asking general questions related to your industry you cannot come to a decision.

For event staffing, ask important event staffing questions first. Not interviewing event staff is the biggest mistake that most of the companies make.

Not asking for Photographs:

While interviewing the event staff you should always ask for their updated resume and photographs. Though in some countries, asking for photos is allowed in modelling agencies only but as per Mark Bernardini it is an important step to be followed for any event staffing agency. Without having a photograph or resume you cannot take any decision on hiring process as these items will help you to determine whether their credentials and experience are ideal for your brand or company. Thereby, non- collection of photos and resume can be termed as harmful for any agency.

Working with unprofessional event staffing company:

It is always better to hire professional and reliable event staffing company. Quality of the event staff directly correlates with the amount you pay. Sometimes, to save money we hire unprofessional event staff, causing downfall of the agency. Instead of spending less or saving money always go for experienced and reliable staff who not only provides best service but also glorify the future of your company.

Not sharing necessary information with event staff:

Your company is your identity. While hiring event staff you must share necessary details and information of your company. Doing so will keep your staff well informed and prepared to face any situation and answer the questions related to the company.

Retaining Job Information

It is important to be updated with all the candidates about the duties of your event. Although it may seem far better to leave out the downsides or flaws of the staffing role, it may consequence in more stress. By being sincere with your applicants about their roles throughout the event, they are most likely to work the overall event

Hiring based on looks

Eventually, one of the greatest blunders event planners make while choosing event staff is hiring based on appearance. While looks are an important aspect for gaining attention, but it is more essential to hire event staff based on experience level, professionalism, and personality. Event staff that is hired for reasons other than looks are more likely to deliver the outcomes your team is looking for.

Mark Bernardini says that for an event planner, hiring an event staff is the most important work that needs full attention and dedication. It is an essential factor to get lead so it should be treated as such. Mark Bernardini is the founder of PUSH agency, a New Jersey based live marketing and promotional event staffing company. Push agency provides turn-key event staffing services, social integration and support for special events, promotions, trade shows, street teams, in-store product demos and other branding and marketing campaigns.

How to become a professional event planner | Mark Bernardini

Event planners are the miracle workers of events. They bring the possibility to that which ordinarily, seems impossible.

Too numerous are they that like to claim for themselves the title- ‘Event planner.’ These are the ones whom in reality, knows very little about planning an event. Their lack of awareness lends invitation to disarray; making an event totally different from what it should have been if it was coordinated by a professional event planner.  

For example, think of a flopped function you have attended before. I mean an event characterized by disorganization and complaints. Now upon enquiry, try seek out the group or person who was behind the stage, and you shall find an acclaimed event planner; one of those proud agents of disarrangement.  

Who is a professional event planner?

A professional event planner is a person that brings life and sway to an event; a developer of grace and beauty. And this is made possible because a professional events planner knows first, what planning an event entails.

So you want to become an event planner? Not just an event planner but a professional event planner? Then you I think it is ideal for you to  know first- what every professional event planner first knew.

What is event planning?

Event planning can be defined as the process of managing a function such as a meeting, convention, trade show, ceremony, party, e.t.c.

Event planning also includes budgeting, establishing timeliness, selecting and reserving the event sites, acquiring permits, planning food, coordinating transportation, developing a theme, arranging for activities, selecting speakers and keynotes, arranging for equipment and facilities, managing risk, and developing contingency plans.

With this in mind, it becomes easier to understand that becoming a professional event planner has more to do with just desire alone. Education, experience and passion must not be found wanting in a professional event planner..

What do I need to become a professional event planner?

1. Education: Although having a degree in event planning is not a criteria for becoming a professional event planner, still, it is a good idea because it makes it possible for you to have a good knowledge to begin with.
2. Experience: Experience is golden, and everyone knows this. Whether an event planner has a college degree or not, many clients expect to see event planning experience on a resume. Even an amateur event planner can boast of one or two years of experience. Professionalism evolves with time, it grows with experience.
3. Passion: Passion is like a fire, it burns. A professional event planner must possess this fire; the fire to succeed.

What are the duties of a professional event planner?

1. Before Event: Professional event planners work closely with their clients to determine the purpose and scope of an event. The client establishes the time and location, and sets for the planner a budget to work with. Working under these parameters, the event planner seeks bids from local meeting places and providers. An example of such service provider, is a catering service.
2. During Event:The event planner supervises setup for the event, including the use of equipments while the event progresses. The planner strives to meet the needs of his host and guest in other to make every aspect of the event successful.
3. After Event: Inspection, accountability and cleanup.

4. What skills should a professional event Planner have?

   • Tolerance
   • Multitasking
   • Negotiation skill
   • Visionary
   • Creativity

   How to become a successful professional event planner:

1. Develop event Goal and Objective
2. Organize a planning team
3. Set a Date (Give yourself enough time)
4. Create an event  master Plan
5. Determine Administrative Process
6. Create a Publicity Plan
7. Establish a Budget
8. Determine Evaluation Process                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    In conclusion, it should be emphasized that professional event planner makes sure the event stays on schedule and that featured speakers or performers are prepared and cued. At the end, the event planner is responsible for supervising cleanup. The planner meets with the client to review the event, discuss bills and receive payment. Read More...