Weekend Digest: The Toyota, Trump, Turkey pardon and Tony Romo edition

TV PREVIEW
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock, which airs Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.

Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston is back from Asia. What were the results of his trade trip to China and Japan with Gov. Asa Hutchinson? We’ll explore.

The Syrian refugee crisis sparks emotional reactions. What are the facts and how have Arkansans reacted? TB&P contributor Jessica DeLoach Sabin and KATV’s Scott Inman join the show for a conversation.

And is the economy headed into a boom period? Low unemployment, falling gas prices. A Federal Reserve official weighs in. Business editor Wes Brown discusses this and more.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock on KATV Ch. 7, Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

FACEBOOK ‘DOING ITS BEST TO ACT LIKE A SCRAPPY STARTUP’
Although Facebook has 12,000 employees, the mega-social media company runs lean, which includes its huge home-office building says Fast Company.

“What’s striking about Building 20 is how hard Facebook has worked to preserve the stripped-down, collaborative atmosphere of the workplaces that preceded it. The floors are still bare cement; girders and vents remain exposed. Staffers, as before, are encouraged to write on walls. Everyone – CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg included – works at tables in open spaces.”

In short, any specific nook or cranny resembles the vastly smaller premises that Facebook called home five or 10 years ago. That’s very much by design, and it reflects the company’s obsessive desire to scale up the fabulously successful working environment that Zuckerberg devised in the early years, which is a big part of preserving its culture.

Go to this link for the full story on “how Facebook has managed to keep on being Facebook.”

TOYOTA LATCHES ON TO NASCAR TO ‘SWAY LOYAL AMERICAN CAR BUYERS’
Bloomberg Business says, “One year into its Nascar Sprint Cup experiment, Toyota took new driver Kyle Busch on a tour of its offices and plants. Not in Honshu or Hokkaido, but rather California, Texas and Kentucky.”

“They showed us just how American the company is,” said Busch, who last week drove his No. 18 Camry to the Sprint Cup Series championship – the biggest victory for Busch in his 11-year racing career and the biggest Nascar achievement for Toyota Motor Corp., too.

“For nine years the Japanese auto company has been delivering that same message to a much tougher audience, and Nascar fans are growing more receptive. Two out of three now say they’d consider buying a Toyota, roughly on par with the sport’s domestic sponsors like Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet – and double the number who said they would when the carmaker joined the cup series in 2007. From 2011 to 2014, the company also saw its biggest market-share gains in Nascar’s traditional strongholds, according to research firm IHS Automotive.”

How big a dent is this putting into loyal Chevy and Ford fans? Find out at this link.

THE TOP 10 DIGITAL MARKETING DEVELOPMENTS OF 2015
Mashable has posted the “10 biggest game changers in digital marketing of 2015.”

“Technology is changing quickly, and as a business owner, you need to be one step ahead. From exciting developments in machine learning to Google’s increased focus on mobile SEO, companies big and small need to seize the opportunity to step up their digital profiles and market smarter.”

This year in particular has been momentous for companies and marketers more generally. To find out which trends are going to have the most impact, I asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) what new developments they see having an influence on business for the remainder of the year — and into 2016.

 Link here for their top responses.

SMARTPHONE, COMPUTER OR TABLET?
Pew Research Center says, “As the world grows increasingly digital, choices abound for ways to tap into it. And for many Americans, one device isn’t enough.”

A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that 66% of Americans own at least two digital devices – smartphone, desktop or laptop computer, or tablet – and 36% own all three.

What age group is most likely to own all three, how many Americans only own one device and how many still do not have any?

For a breakdown of these and other numbers, connect to this link.

THE MOST AWKWARD TRADITION IN AMERICAN POLITICS
POLITICO MAGAZINE says the tradition is one “thus requiring that every year thereafter, the leader of the free world submits to an awkward, much-photographed moment with a large and often resistant bird.”

What is it and how did it start?  Take a Thanksgiving “look back at some of the most memorable of those encounters” at this link.

2016 CAMPAIGN TV
U.S. News and World Report posts, “To fill the holiday vacuum before the next debates in December, campaigns are taking to the airwaves.”

With the holiday week curtailing retail campaigning and the next set of debates still three weeks away, the 2016 presidential candidates are turning to television to fill the political void.

 The objective of the stepped-up broadcasting blitz is to keep a presence in voters’ minds as their attention gravitates to the traditional holiday rituals of family, travel, shopping, worship and football.

 “As much as they’re competing with each other, candidates will be eagerly vying for people’s time – even if it’s just a fraction of a minute – in order to punch their messaging through during a busy time of the year.”

 What kind of TV messages can we expect from the top presidential candidates? Take a look here.

HILLARY’S OLD ARKANSAS FRIENDS ARE HITTING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
A special group of Arkansas supporters is back, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton met with them recently on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

 “But this was no ordinary group of supporters. These were the ‘Arkansas Travelers,’ a cadre of loyal Democrats – some of whom are longtime friends and colleagues of the Clintons – who got together in 1992 to travel the country to campaign for the future president’s first White House bid.”

In 1992, the group’s efforts turned out to be a real boon for Bill Clinton, who was still relatively unknown to many across the country (“Travelers” recall knocking on doors in Iowa and meeting person after person who had never even heard of him).

Ever since, the group has become a staple part of a Clinton presidential campaign –- reuniting for Bill Clinton in 1996, for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and now in 2016. And in an election year that’s never seen more of an emphasis on digital campaign strategies, these “Travelers” are doing things the old-fashioned way. After all, it’s worked for them before.

 For the complete story connect to this link.

COULD TRUMP ACTUALLY SEEK A THIRD-PARTY RUN?
He has skirted with it before and now The Hill reports Trump is resurfacing the idea of a third-party run despite his GOP “loyalty pledge” in writing to not do so.

“Donald Trump is again raising the possibility that he might run for president as a third-party candidate, suggesting that the Republican Party is not meeting its end of their loyalty ‘deal.’”

Republican officials feared earlier in the year that Trump would run as an Independent candidate in the general election, which could vacuum votes away from the Republican nominee and ultimately hand the White House to Hillary Clinton.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus convinced Trump to sign a loyalty pledge that he would support the party’s eventual nominee, and when the front-runner did so, on Sep. 3, the party thought the issue was over.

Trump said at the time: “I see no circumstances in which I would tear up that pledge.”

So what has happened that could change his mind? Complete details at this link.

BOMBING SYRIA WON’T MAKE PARIS SAFER
The Atlantic says, “Bomb ISIS. Go ahead. They deserve it. It certainly satisfies the primal need for visible retaliation after the Paris attacks. It may even do some good in the struggle against terrorism in Europe. Some – but probably not very much.”

The enemy against which France and Europe are struggling is not centered in Syria. It receives examples and inspiration from Syria. It travels to Syria for practice and training. But it arises and is formed at home, inside Europe. It threatened Europe long before ISIS ever took shape.

“The military campaign against the Islamic State, however successful, is unlikely to make much difference in curbing the violence-enabling radicalism present within Europe’s Muslim minority.”

Learn more about the troubling situation at this link.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING SOLD ON THE INTERNET?
Fast Company says, “You’ll never guess.”

Tis the time of year when the primary function of the Internet switches from being a communication or information gathering tool to being a shopping tool. And this year we’ll be shopping online – and spending more – than ever before, according to Adobe’s holiday shopping forecast. Starting with Black Friday and continuing until Christmas Eve it’s projected we’ll spend $83 billion buying online goods this holiday season, with $3 billion alone spent on CyberMonday.

Those dollars will be spent on everything from iPhones to cat scratching DJ decks, as we snap up deals from behind our screens in the comfort of our PJs and near a plate of leftovers. But what was the first online transaction?

Find out here.

IS THE TONY ROMO ERA OVER AFTER THANKSGIVING NIGHT WHIPPING?
Forbes reports, “Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his two sons – Stephen and Jerry Jr. – must now, I mean right now, recognize that after the 33-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers last night the Romo era for the Cowboys is over.”

Now Forbes says, “It’s time for the Jones family to replace Romo and rebuild. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake.”

Get full details by clicking this link.