Southeastern Regional Event Set For Atlanta
WASHINGTON -- SCORE-Counselors to America's Small Business and HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced scheduled regional events for the continuation of their highly successful Business Matchmaking initiative for 2007.
Business Matchmaking is a public-private partnership sponsored by SCORE and HP in cooperation with other leading corporations. It brings together buyers from all federal agencies and many Fortune 500 companies to meet with small businesses offering various products and services. Business Matchmaking has, through regional events held all across the country and in online sessions, generated more than 50,000 one-on-one appointments resulting in more than $750 million in contracting opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Four regional Business Matchmaking events are planned for 2007: Atlanta on April 17, Chicago on Aug. 28, Dallas during October, and Little Rock, Ark. on Dec. 11.
This past year, Business Matchmaking added an online network. This dynamic online resource offers web-based educational tools including the Virtual Business Matchmaking Workshop, monthly "webinars" featuring procurement and supplier diversity experts, access to important downloads of articles and links to helpful resources.
"Business Matchmaking has been a remarkable success and continues to help thousands of small businesses with opportunities to sell to government agencies and major corporations. We are particularly pleased at our expanding relationship with HP in serving the small business community utilizing their outstanding technology and corporate resources," said SCORE CEO Ken Yancey. "Last year, SCORE provided expert business advice to clients through face-to-face meetings throughout the country and we look forward to continuing to provide this vital service to America's entrepreneurs."
"As a one of the largest procurers of goods and services from small businesses as well as a company that develops technology with small businesses in mind, we see great value in our work with SCORE to foster the small business community," said John Dayan, vice president of marketing and business development - Americas, Personal Systems Group, HP.
Complete details on Business Matchmaking, including the 2007 schedule and the new online network, may be found at www.businessmatchmaking.com.
About HP
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers - from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world's largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $94.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2007. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" has assisted more than 7.2 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops. More than 10,500 volunteer business counselors in 389 chapters serve their communities through entrepreneur education dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small business. For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Or, visit SCORE on the Web at www.score.org.
Disclaimer: The SCORE Association is funded by the SBA (Cooperative Agreement No. SBAHQ-06-S-0001). Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested, at least two weeks in advance. Contact: information@businessmatchmaking.com. Cosponsorship Authorization Number: 06-6100-04.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2007_April_16/ai_n19003072
Monday, April 30, 2007
Matchmaking and species marriage: A game-theory model of community assembly
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, P.O. Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545; and § Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Communicated by Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, November 25, 2002 (received for review July 19, 2002)
Theories developed to explain the processes that govern the assembly and composition of natural plant communities can be divided into two broad categories. Niche-based theories propose that coevolutionary changes among species lead to character divergence (displacement), which allows for coexistence by partitioning resources among species. In contrast, ecological-drift theories propose that species diversity results from a balance of migration, speciation, and extinction, with little microevolutionary change. We use a game-theory model to reconcile drift and niche perspectives by developing a theory of species "marriage." Initially, ecological drift may determine which species encounter each other in a competitive arena. Once species come into contact, historical niche development as a result of prior coevolutionary molding of competitive ability determines which species may coexist. The model shows that only species that display the well-known tradeoff between seed size and competitive ability as a result of past competitive histories comply with the requisite for mutual evolutionary stability. Mutual evolutionary stability of competitive ability tends to make reproductive outputs more similar between species, increasing the chances of ecological equilibrium, i.e., the coexistence of species competing for a single resource. Moreover, mutual evolutionary stability guarantees that such an ecological equilibrium will be stable. The species-marriage model predicts that two or more plant species will coexist indefinitely (i.e., "marry") when their difference in seed size, their densities, and the resource availability obey a specific quantitative relation. For example, when resource availability is high, married species should be characterized by a greater asymmetry in seed size than when resource availability is low. Thus, in the species-marriage model, competition can shape the detailed properties of communities without violating the postulates of ecological-drift theory.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/4/1787?etoc
Communicated by Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, November 25, 2002 (received for review July 19, 2002)
Theories developed to explain the processes that govern the assembly and composition of natural plant communities can be divided into two broad categories. Niche-based theories propose that coevolutionary changes among species lead to character divergence (displacement), which allows for coexistence by partitioning resources among species. In contrast, ecological-drift theories propose that species diversity results from a balance of migration, speciation, and extinction, with little microevolutionary change. We use a game-theory model to reconcile drift and niche perspectives by developing a theory of species "marriage." Initially, ecological drift may determine which species encounter each other in a competitive arena. Once species come into contact, historical niche development as a result of prior coevolutionary molding of competitive ability determines which species may coexist. The model shows that only species that display the well-known tradeoff between seed size and competitive ability as a result of past competitive histories comply with the requisite for mutual evolutionary stability. Mutual evolutionary stability of competitive ability tends to make reproductive outputs more similar between species, increasing the chances of ecological equilibrium, i.e., the coexistence of species competing for a single resource. Moreover, mutual evolutionary stability guarantees that such an ecological equilibrium will be stable. The species-marriage model predicts that two or more plant species will coexist indefinitely (i.e., "marry") when their difference in seed size, their densities, and the resource availability obey a specific quantitative relation. For example, when resource availability is high, married species should be characterized by a greater asymmetry in seed size than when resource availability is low. Thus, in the species-marriage model, competition can shape the detailed properties of communities without violating the postulates of ecological-drift theory.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/4/1787?etoc
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