13_Conference calls
Operator: Good morning. Welcome to the Softcell Incorporated first quarter 2008 quarterly results conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode, but the floor will be open for your questions following the introductory remarks. I’d now like to turn the conference over to Ms Marie Tascon, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.Marie Tascon: Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Speaking today is Softcell’s CFO Peter Goody, joined by COO Jim W. Brook for the Q&A session with analysts. Please note that the information you’ll hear during our discussion today may consist of forward-looking statements regarding revenue and margins. Actual results could differ materially from our forecast. To view the supporting slides while listening, log on to softcell.com/investor. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Peter Goody.Peter Goody: Thank you, Marie. It’s good to be on this call to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Softcell’s history. Revenue grew 35% year over year to $9.6 billion, an increase of almost $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter’s record-breaking results. [Fade]Peter Goody: In closing, we believe these outstanding results reflect the excellence of our innovative products. We are very enthusiastic about our announcements for 2008, including new SoftTalk software and an updated SoftPro.Marie Tascon: With that, I’d like to open the call to questions. Please limit yourselves to one question only.[Question-and-Answer Session]Operator: Our first question will come from the line of Jane Bratworth with Morgan Stanley.Jane Bratworth: On the SoftTalk expectations for 2008, are you guys providing any type of update today?Jim W. Brook: We remain very sure about hitting the 10 million goal for 2008.Operator: The next question comes from Ahmed Jamal with Merrill Lynch.Ahmed Jamal – Merrill Lynch: Jim, in terms of the SoftTalk rollout internationally, there’s been a lot of talk about China – anything specific relative to the China market?Jim W. Brook: We open our first stores in China this year. We’ll also be rolling out additional European countries during 2008.Operator: Next question from Kurt Abramsky with Deutsche Bank.Kurt Abramsky – Deutsche Bank: Could you give us any, either quantitative or qualitative, commentary on how European SoftTalk uptake is faring versus your US experience?Jim W. Brook: Kurt, you know, we just launched in France in November and in the UK and Germany a bit earlier so we have very limited experience but we are very happy with all the launches so far.Operator: The next question comes from Jeanne Beauvoir with Credit Suisse.Jeanne Beauvoir – Credit Suisse: Peter, is it too early to offer a little more colour on the SoftTalk seasonality question? Your guidance obviously implies seasonality for the whole company.Peter Goody: We’ve not yet been through a March quarter with SoftTalk so we don’t have any history to go by as we do with other products. We can report in April.Marie Tascon: Time for just one final question.Operator: And that will come from Tim Lu with Goldman Sachs.Tim Lu – Goldman Sachs: I’d like to ask you, Peter, about your overall market guidance. It’s good to hear you are not seeing any weakness. I understand your products are unlikely to be in the most economically exposed segment, but is there likely to be some exposure if we see, for example, a recession in Europe as well as the US? In your 10% growth forecast have you assumed some kind of economic weakening within Europe specifically?Peter Goody: The 10% is based pretty much on a very concrete situation, how we see the trends. It’s something that we feel is quite solid.Marie Tascon: Thanks very much, Tim, and thanks to everyone. A replay of today’s call will be available as a webcast on softcell.com/investor and via telephone. The number for the telephone replay is 989-313-2111 and the passcode is 5237883. Replays will be available at 5.00 p.m. Pacific Time today.Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s presentation. We thank everyone for your participation and have a wonderful day.

14_Work burnout
Henry: I’d like to thank you both for coming along today. Pam, this is your new book ‘Taking the Blues out of Work – how to deal with work-related health problems’. Pam: Yes. Henry: And Steve, you’ve just recovered from work burnout, one of the most serious – and common – work-related problems, yes? Steve: Yes, that’s right. I’m in the book! (laughing). Pam used me as a case study. Pam: Yes. Steve came along to my clinic for help. He had a serious case of burnout. He followed a course of therapy and … Steve: … and she helped me to get my health back again. Henry: That’s great. It’s good to hear there’s a happy ending. Pam, could you tell us what work burnout actually is? Aren’t we just talking about stress here? Is there a difference? Pam: Yes, there is a difference! A very big difference. But that’s a good question because most people make the mistake of thinking that burnout is just another word for stress – so I’ll start with that. Everyone understands stress. We live in a world where stress is part of our everyday lives. Burnout can be the result of too much stress but it isn’t the same thing. I once heard somebody say that if stress is like drowning in an overload of work, burnout is more like being all dried up. With stress we lose our energy, with burnout we lose much more – our motivation, our hope … and one very important difference between stress and burnout is that we know when we are stressed but we don’t usually realise we are suffering from burnout … Henry: … until it’s too late. Pam: Exactly. Henry: Steve, how did you know that your problem was more serious than just being stressed? Steve: Well, I didn’t realise myself. Other people realised first. I changed my behaviour and started feeling really negative and cynical about everything. That wasn’t me at all. I’ve always been a happy-go-lucky sort of bloke. It got to the point where I felt so hopeless and depressed that I couldn’t even face getting up in the morning. My wife made me an appointment with the doctor. He was helpful and referred me to Pam. Pam: Steve was lucky to have the support of his family and friends. It’s difficult to get better on your own. It’s important to do normal things – exercise, socialise, go for a walk, meet a friend for a coffee … Henry: And did Steve need medication? Steve: No. Pam: We decided to try with everything else first … medication can be effective – anti-depressants aren’t the same these days as they used to be – but Steve got better without any. In fact it was something he felt quite strongly about. Steve: I don’t even like taking an aspirin unless I really have to so I think I made a real effort to listen to Pam and do the things she suggested. I even started meditating! Henry: Meditating? Pam: Yes, it can really help. It calms the mind and helps to shut out the world’s distractions. Henry: And how are you now, Steve? Steve: I feel great. Better than I have for years. 

15_Managing diversity
Interviewer Tell me, Mr Griffin, are diversity risks really still an issue? Aren’t companies these days dealing with diversity?Mr Griffin Oh yes, they are very much an issue. We have come a long way since those days when employers were allowed to discriminate against job candidates just because of their race or their sex. The trouble is, the boundaries of diversity and discrimination are widening. Companies have a lot more to consider than a person’s skin colour or a person’s gender.Interviewer So can you give listeners an example of what kind of things you are referring to here?Mr Griffin Okay, let’s see. Well, one growing area of discrimination is ageism. In 1998, companies in the United States had to pay out more than fifty­-five million dollars to employers who had filed age­-related discrimination complaints against their companies. That’s a lot of money.Interviewer Phew! So how should companies protect themselves from this kind of thing?Mr Griffin Well, first of all they should think carefully about their recruitment policies and then they should take out insurance to cover themselves.Interviewer Isn’t that expensive? For the companies, I mean.Mr Griffin No, not as expensive as you might think. These days most small and medium-sized organisations take out EPLI – that’s Employment Practices Liability Insurance. The cost of the insurance has fallen over the years, and if a company isn’t covered and loses a discrimination case, well, let’s just say this is the cheaper option!Interviewer You’ve mentioned ageism as a growing concern, but what other kinds of diversity should managers be aware of?Mr Griffin Well, you’d probably be surprised to hear about some discrimination against single people, against married parents, against people who are too tall, too short, too heavy!Interviewer Really?Mr Griffin Oh yes. Security firms are a good example here. They typically state that their employees need to be over or under a certain height or weight. They claim it’s necessary for the job, but there have been cases where people have claimed discrimination.Interviewer And won?Mr Griffin Sometimes, yes. Then there are people with a criminal background. Employers used to feel justified in turning away job applicants just because they’d been in trouble with the law.Interviewer Isn’t that still the case?Mr Griffin No, not exactly. The law states that employers can only reject a job applicant with a criminal record if the crime bears a direct relation to the job in question. So somebody who has served a sentence for, let’s say, stealing cars would be all right in a job as a kitchen porter.Interviewer And Mr Griffin, tell me, how many people actually go through with their threats to sue a company for discrimination?Mr Griffin Well, I haven’t got the latest figures for the UK, but in the United States the Equal Opportunities Commission receive around eighty-five thousand complaints every year and that figure is rising. Race and sex account for most of the complaints that are filed, but age discrimination is on the increase too.Interviewer So, any words of advice for risk managers?Mr Griffin Well, first of all make sure that you have adequate insurance. Then address the issues of diversity from within the organisation. Get the employees involved. Celebrate the differences and try to build up a reputation as a fair employer. And remember – it is worth investing time and effort in addressing these issues because statistics have shown that you’re much more likely to be sued by an employee than a third party.

16_Public relations
When I was at university, I did a business course that covered advertising, marketing, sales and public relations. I’m really glad I did this particular course as, although it was vast, it gave me an overview of business in general and the different careers in communications.While I was studying, I realised that I was most interested in Public Relations and so I joined a couple of associations so I could start networking before leaving university. Through one of the organisations I joined I was able to meet lots of experienced professionals who gave me advice on getting into the industry. I was also offered an internship in my final year. This meant I could build up my portfolio even before I’d finished studying. I think that it’s extremely important, especially today when there are so many people wanting to work in PR, to do an internship to a) get a foot in the door and b) have more on your c.v. than simply your studies. You have to show willing and prove that you’re an enthusiastic, ambitious person who wants to succeed. It was hard studying and working at the same time but at least it prepared me for the deadlines and long hours you’re expected to put in with a PR job.My internship also meant that I built up a list of contacts in the media and PR industry itself. Both areas were very important in helping me get my first job as an Account Coordinator with a corporate public relations agency. I had to write and proofread flyers, keep track of media databases and other admin-type stuff. It wasn’t the most exciting of jobs but at least it gave me a better insight into PR and helped me decide what I wanted to do after. I didn’t have much journalism experience either before working for this company so I learnt that as I went along.After about nine months, when I felt ready to tackle something a bit meatier, I applied for a job, still within the same company, with more responsibility. I became an Account Executive and very quickly felt at home in my new job. That was about two years ago. I’ve much more contact with our clients and I play a large role in developing public relations strategies. I still do a lot of writing with press releases but I’m also more involved in organising special events like press conferences.I love what I do because I get to meet loads of different, interesting people every day. You have to be quite outgoing and able to communicate easily which I guess is more of a talent than a skill. If I had to start again I’d choose to do a journalism option at university as employers like you to have a journalism background. Otherwise, getting an internship was the best thing I’ve ever done and I’d do it again, no problem.
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