Condé Nast hires crisis expert

After a rough fall (shuttering six magazines, at least 460 employees fired, reported sharp decline in ad revenues and morale hitting an all-time low) Condé Nast is getting PR help by hiring crisis manager and media coach Michael Sheehan. At the same time Conde Nast Digital is finally in the works to revamp its digital presence by organizes its magazines' Web sites into a cohesive structure.

Survey: United States World's Top Country Brand

According to FutureBrand and Weber Shandwick's Global Travel & Lifestyle Practice's 5th annual Country Brand Index (CBI-2009) the top ten countries are: the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, Germany and Spain.

Gelato University in Bologna

Students at Carpigiani Gelato University, which offers weeklong sessions on how to learn to do ice cream - Time Magazine.

How firms are conducting long-distance interviews via webcam

Time magazine run one article about how Skype Is Changing the Job Interview and how companies are turning to video-chat and webcam interviews to vet job candidates.

Survey shows social networking sites are costing U.K. firms $2.3B a year, but they shouldn't be banned.

According to a Forbes Magazine's article, Social media costs U.K. companies $2.3 billion annually in employee time and work resources. Quite a lot, according to a new survey by TNS. From the 1,460 office workers surveyed by TNS, 57% said that they used social networking sites during the working day for personal use, and were on average spending 40 minutes on these sites each week, according to the survey. That equates to just under a full working week being spent or "waste" each year on social networking sites during working hours.

U.S. newspaper circulation falls again

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the average weekday circulation of nearly 400 dailies slid 10.6% from April to September 2009, compared with a 7.1% decline during the previous six-month period. The Los Angeles Times indicates that newspapers have seen their circulation decline sharply in recent years as readers increasingly have turned to online sources for news.

How a Beverly Hills bakery is keeping up with customers on Facebook

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Los Angeles is building buzz for its sweet treats by posting a secret word -- such as "ganache" or "love" -- on Facebook that fans can whisper in a store for a free cupcake. The company uses its fan base of 70,000 to decide its next location, as well as address customer feedback. "Requests. Complaints. We're watching. It's not just me, it's our entire team," said bakery President Charles Nelson.