Doing Good Is Good for Business Exclusive interview with
Sir Richard Branson
and Dr. Ivan Misner
Rocking Italy! Body Language that Builds Trust
By Dr. Josephine Gross 82
Networking Times
CONTENTS
PERSPECTIVES 5 LEADOFF
Capitalism 24902
Dr. Josephine Gross Richard Branson’s vision of Capitalism 24902 calls business owners to look beyond profit and assume responsibility for people and planet. 6
SPECIAL SECTION Networking University Letter from the President – Webinar Schedule - Faculty Recommends
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WORDS OF WISDOM About Social Enterprise Memorable quotes by Francis of Assisi, Walt Disney, Mahatma Gandhi, and others.
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OUR TIMES – PART 1 Are Network Marketers Social Entrepreneurs? • Tony and Randi Escobar, The Privilege of Serving Others • Ana Garcia, Change Your Mind, Change the World • Denny and Merlie Kluver, Multilevel Benefits • Marijke Long, A Sanctuary in the Jungle • Jordan Adler, Let the Money Flow • Megan and Anthony Wolfenden, Service Breeds Happiness • Sarah Fairless Robbins, Changing Lives Beyond Our Own • Billy Looper, My First Bike • Cecilia Stoll, Influence with Purpose • Donna Johnson, Give and Grow Rich
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17 DEPARTMENTS 22 COMMUNICATION Look Me in the Eyes Marvin Brown This article outlines seven simple ways of using body language to instill trust in business settings.
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November/December 2013
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CONTENTS
FEATURES 24
LEAD INTERVIEW Do Good, Have Fun, and the Money Will Come Richard Branson is one of the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs alive today—perhaps even in history. In 2004, looking to increase the global positive impact of his businesses, he founded Virgin Unite, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. In 2008, he started hosting gatherings on Necker Island with prominent entrepreneurs, celebrities, and world leaders to discuss sustainable solutions to global problems. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, was invited to several of those meetings and asked Branson how home-based entrepreneurs can contribute to global change.
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HEART OF BUSINESS Giving Changes Everything Sam Caster has always had a heart for leadership, intercultural understanding, and humanitarian outreach. After founding a network marketing company based in Texas, he recently transitioned his business into a social entrepreneurship model by integrating giving as a core component to their mission. He recently rallied his associates around a movement he calls Mission 5 Million, linking 5 million consumers with 5 million children in need. At a recent symposium on social enterprise, Sam had a chance to share his vision with Vicente Fox and Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
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MASTER NETWORKER Sustainable Success Mondez is a young network marketing leader from Washington, DC who heads up an organization of over 10,000 active distributors and almost 30,000 loyal customers. Trained as an engineer, he started building his business part time by being extremely productive a few hours here and there. Thanks to his focus and determination, he was able to leave his job and is now thoroughly enjoying every moment of his life. Mondez met his wife Kayla at a training event and they recently obtained the top position in their company.
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MASTER NETWORKER Focus on Education Bikramjit Singh is a network marketing leader from Malaysia who joined an American network marketing giant in the mid-nineties. He built a sizable organization using a traditional training system, then moved to a new company and incorporated e-commerce and online marketing, building a business in over 100 countries. In 2010 he expanded his dreams and started his own network marketing company, selling online education in tablet format. Headquartered in India, the company is now operating in twelve countries spanning Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. Networking Times
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CONTENTS
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OUR TIMES – PART 2 Are Network Marketers Social entrepreneurs? (Continued) • Leah Wagner Leonard, Teaching People How to Fish • Marion Culhane, The Call of Social Entrepreneurism • Carolyne Rodrigues, Grateful for My Why • Ron and Lois Zehr, We Are Change Agents • Bob Quintana, The Most Fulfilling Profession • David Frey, Five Lessons in Social Entrepreneurship • Dana Wilde, Start Small • Fatemi Ghani, Helping Blind Children • Caroline McFarlan, A Better Way to Fundraise
DEPARTMENT 74 67
COUNTRY OVERVIEW Italy: La Dolce Vita for Direct Selling? Alessandro Ghidini Direct selling was introduced in Italy in the late fifties and has enjoyed excellent acceptance by both business builders and consumers.
RESOURCES
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JUST FOR FUN Word Puzzle
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LIFETIME MEMBERS Description of Lifetime Loyalty Leaders program and members list.
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DEPARTMENT SUMMARIES Overview of articles in this issue.
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THE CLOSE What Goes Around, Comes Around Ron Forrester and Leslie Hocker Social entrepreneurism is especially effective in network marketing because it gives individuals leverage to bring about collective change.
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November/December 2013
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Cofounders Dr. Josephine Gross Chris Gross Publisher Bob Proctor Publisher Emeritus Frank J. Keefer Founding Editor John Milton Fogg Consulting Editor John David Mann Editor in Chief Dr. Josephine Gross Design Editor Yan Z. Hughes Contributing Writers Jordan Adler, Marvin Brown, Marion Culhane, Tony & Randi Escobar, Ron Forrester, David Frey, Ana Garcia, Fatemi Ghani, Alessandro Ghidini, Leslie Hocker, Donna Johnson, Art Jonak, Dr. Charles King, Denny & Merlie Kluver, Marijke Long, Billy Looper, Caroline McFarlan, Bob Quintana, Sarah Fairless Robbins, Carolyne Rodrigues, Orjan & Hilde Saele, Cecilia Stoll, Leah Wagner Leonard, Dana Wilde, Megan & Anthony Wolfenden, Ron & Lois Zehr
Give the Gift of Education, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
Web Services Lyman Benton, Yan Z. Hughes, Jim Richardson
Global Prosperity through a Philanthropic Economy® Gabriel Media Group, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chris Gross Controller Yan Teng Board of Directors Michael Cunningham Chris Gross (Chairman) Dr. Josephine Gross Glenn Head Don Karn Bob Proctor George Shaw Networking Times is published six times a year by Gabriel Media Group, Inc. Copyright © 2013 Gabriel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.networkingtimes.com Toll Free: 866-343-4005 Int’l: 818-727-2000 editors@networkingtimes.com 4
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LEAD INTERVIEW
Do Good, Have Fun, and the Money Will Come Sir Richard Branson: Screw Business as Usual
By Dr. Josephine Gross with Dr. Ivan Misner 24
Networking Times
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ir Richard Branson is one of the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs alive today—perhaps even in history. Founder and chairman of the Virgin Group, he is the fourth richest citizen in the UK according to the Forbes 2012 list of billionaires. Branson’s first business venture was a magazine called Student which he founded in 1966 at the age of sixteen. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business and in 1972, he opened a chain of record stores that became known as Virgin Megastores. Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly as he set up Virgin Atlantic and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In the late nineties, even though the Virgin Group comprised over 200 companies, Branson still felt something was missing, questioning the impact his businesses were having globally. Together with musician Peter Gabriel, he discussed with Nelson Mandela the idea of gathering a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest to solve difficult global conflicts. In 2004 Branson founded Virgin Unite, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group dedicated to making sustainable change through economic development towards tough social and environmental issues. In 2008, he started hosting gatherings at his private island in the Caribbean with prominent entrepreneurs, celebrities, and world leaders to discuss sustainable solutions to global problems. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, was invited to one of those early meetings and has since returned to Necker Island as he developed a relationship with Branson, connecting him to his network of small business owners and homebased entrepreneurs. In this issue on social entrepreneurship, we gave Dr. Misner a chance to share a short interview as well as some lessons he learned from his billionaire business mentor.—J.G.
November/December November/December2013 2013
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HEART OF BUSINESS
Giving Changes Everything Sam Caster: Social Entrepreneurship Is Our Future By Dr. Josephine Gross 34
Networking Times
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am Caster has always had a heart for leadership, intercultural understanding, and humanitarian outreach. After founding a publicly traded network marketing company based in Texas, he recently transitioned his business into a social entrepreneurship model by integrating giving as a core component to their mission. At the company’s latest national convention, he rallied his associates around a movement he calls M5M™: Mission 5 Million, linking five million consumers with five million children in need. At a recent symposium on social enterprise, Sam had a chance to share his M5M vision with Vicente Fox, ex-president of Mexico, and Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient who developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. After Sam explained how his company uses a seamless distribution model that links networks of distributors and consumers all over the world willing to champion the M5M cause, President Fox jumped in and said it was the first time he’d ever seen the possibility of creating a global footprint in the new industry of social entrepreneurship. Talking to Dr. Yunus, Sam found out that social entrepreneurship so far has been regionalized because of the distribution models that are being used—retail, banking, and vocational schools. “That’s because no one has ever used the network marketing distribution model,” Sam replied. Excited to be charting new territory, he is committed to showing how networkers around the world can bring sustainable change to ongoing global problems through the exciting new model of social entrepreneurship.—J.G.
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MASTER NETWORKER
Mondez Hollomon: Teaching Leaders about the Profession By Dr. Josephine Gross 44 44
Networking Networking Times Times
Credit David Patterson
Sustainable Success
M
ondez is a young network marketing leader from Washington, DC who heads up an organization of over 10,000 active distributors and almost 30,000 loyal customers. Trained as an engineer, he started building his business part time by being extremely productive a few hours here and there. Today, his day looks drastically different compared to when he was cramming in as many calls as possible in those few hours after work. He says he is now thoroughly enjoying every moment of his life. Because most candidates for his business are at work during the day, Mondez spends that time preparing for prime time. He takes care of his health and personal development. He learns about new technologies and takes classes in online marketing. Around four o’clock everything picks up: the phone begins to ring and presentations start. In the evenings he gives trainings and holds conference calls, but he doesn’t calls it work because he loves doing them. Mondez travels frequently for events because his organization is all across the United States and Canada. He met his wife Kayla at a training event and while she was growing her business independently, they ended up building together and most recently obtained the top position in their current company. “The growth of our organization has been tremendous,” says Mondez, “and we owe it all to our systematic approach and educating people about the profession. We forego the getrich-quick approach that some people take to motivate others. “Over the years, I learned that if you grow the organization and not the people you will have short-term growth; If you grow the organization and the people you will have long-term growth; but if you grow the organization and the leaders you will have lifelong growth.”
Two Failed Attempts Mondez was finishing up his B.S. in civil engineering when one of his classmates invited him to a “private reception.” “I attended even though I didn’t know what it was,” he says. “What was being shared made a lot of sense. The concept of having time and money together resonated with me. The different lifestyle elements that came as part of the story intrigued me.” Mondez became engaged because of the end goal he envisioned, but the product and services that were being offered also made sense to him. Allured by the dream of becoming wealthy and having the lifestyle of a millionaire, he signed up. Once he got his feet wet, it didn’t take him long to realize that “very few people ever achieve
November/December 2013
financial freedom without self-development and distinguishing themselves as a leader first.” “I found out the hard way,” he says, “and it caught me off guard. I failed miserably in my first company, but I did learn what I didn’t know.” Mondez started building right after graduation as he was en route to take his first job. He didn’t question the business model because he had a lot of trust in the person who had brought it to him. Soon after he started, he had a rude awakening. “I was shocked to find out that there was so much negativity towards network marketing,” he says. “My friends, my family, especially my dad, were aggressively opposed to it. They all wanted to protect me. Understandably, they wanted me to pursue my civil engineering degree, since I spent four years in school.”
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MASTER NETWORKER
Focus on Education Bikramjit Singh: Eradicating Illiteracy from the Globe
By Dr. Josephine Gross
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ikramjit Singh is a network marketing leader from Malaysia who currently has homes in Kuala Lumpur, Chandigarh, India, and Melbourne, Australia. Bik got started in the profession by joining an American network marketing giant in the mid-nineties while living in Malaysia. He built a sizable organization using a traditional training system based on tapes, books, and functions. Five years later he moved to a new company and incorporated e-commerce and online marketing, building a business in over 100 countries. In 2010 he expanded his dreams and applied his experience to start his own network marketing company with his brother Harvinderjit (Harry), selling online education in tablet format. Headquartered in India, the company is now operating in twelve countries spanning Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. As founder and CEO, Bik leads his research and development team and works with his company managers to create sustainable growth. He also meets with government officials around the world to communicate his vision of eradicating illiteracy by offering high-quality, low-cost education. Bik is passionate about showing decision makers and professionals how network marketing combined with cutting-edge technology has the power to connect people in the most rural and urban regions, helping them achieve their highest potential.
A Better Way Bik’s family emigrated from India to Malaysia about one hundred years ago in search for economic opportunity. “As the Indian population was growing, land was becoming scarce,” he says. “The only option was to move out. My great-grandfathers were contractors and my dad is one of the senior police officers for the Malaysian Intelligence police.” Bik remembers his father telling him, “Son, whatever you’re going to do, make sure you have integrity and that you always walk tall whether in business or in a job.” Bik’s parents sent their children to the U.K. to further their higher education. Bik earned his Bachelor’s in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Sunderland with honors. “In my society, most parents want their children to become a top engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor,” he says. “After I graduated, I worked in the U.K. for a couple of years, specializing in satellite fiber optics engineering.” In the early nineties, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Malaysia head-
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hunted Bik to move back there and spearhead one of its fiber optics cable television projects. Due to his excellent performance, Bik was sent to the U.S. for further exposure and training in 1995. “While living in Denver, Colorado, I bumped into an old friend named Scott Davis,” says Bik. “One day he told me about a business conference that was taking place and asked me if I could come and join him. Since this was after working hours and I had nothing else to do, I said, ‘Okay, why not?’ “As we walked into the coliseum, there were easily 20,000 attendees. The speaker sounded like an accountant and for about two hours I felt totally lost. After the meeting, as we talked to some of the attendees, I noticed that the vast majority of them were professionals, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, and architects. There were also some students and housewives, and all of them were talking about a concept called network marketing. I had no clue what that was, but was intrigued to find out more.” After the conference, one of the people Bik met, and who happened to be a retired judge,
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DEPARTMENT SUMMARIES
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LEADOFF Capitalism 24902
COMMUNICATION Look Me in the Eyes
Dr. Josephine Gross In the preface of Screw Business as Usual, Richard Branson introduces the concept of Capitalism 24902, named after the number of miles that make up the circumference of the earth. He calls it “a vision that entails a new level of responsibility to people and planet on the part of every one of us, as well as a commitment by business, government, and not-for-profit organizations to work together in order to develop solutions to our most pressing challenges.” Known for their philanthropic bent, network marketers are part of this emerging movement. Once they reach their personal goals, they use this foundation to reach out beyond their own teams and companies to help society at large, be it through charitable giving, volunteering, mentoring, or raising awareness around social and environmental issues.
Marvin Brown Trust is at the core of every type of business transaction. When you’re inviting a prospect to a presentation, for example, he or she needs to feel that you’re trustworthy before accepting your invite. If you’re asking a customer to buy your product or service, gaining that buyer’s trust has to come before you even start to pitch your offering. How do you get a new acquaintance or relative stranger to trust you? The best way is by using body language. There are many elements of body language, including things like where you stand (closely vs. far away), how you move your hands and arms, how you stand (with arms open or arms crossed), and much more. However, this article focuses on three of the most basic and important elements of body language: your facial expression, your eye contact, and your handshake.
COUNTRY OVERVIEW Italy: La Dolce Vita for Network Marketing?
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Alessandro Ghidini Since direct selling was introduced in Italy in the late fifties, it has enjoyed excellent acceptance by both business builders and consumers. This is due to the country’s intrinsic factors: its culture of open-mindedness, its propensity to independent commercial activities, and its 60.8 million inhabitants spread across the territory in densely populated areas facilitate relationships and personal interaction. Not surprisingly, Italy is seeing a constantly growing presence of both national and international direct selling companies doing the equivalent of over $3.24 billion, making Italy the third country in Europe in terms of sales volume and the sixth country based on the number of consultants, estimated at 406,000. Direct sales is the only economic sector in Italy that for ten consecutive years has been growing, even during times of overall economic slowdown and increased unemployment.
Networking Times
DEPARTMENT SUMMARIES
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THE CLOSE
What Goes Around, Comes Around Ron Forrester and Leslie Hocker Social entrepreneurism is especially effective in partnership with the home-based business model. Why? Because of the leveraging that takes place at the grassroots level when individuals take personal responsibility to change some segment of society and truly make a difference by collectively changing the system—which sometimes happens rather quickly. We can observe the effects of this collective difference by examining programs that have already produced
results through this type of partnership. Many direct selling companies contribute in large measure, from the biggest billion-dollar giants to brandnew start-ups. By providing an avenue for individuals to contribute personally to collective change, these companies create the ultimate win-win-win scenario: the cause wins, the company wins, and individuals win at every level.
Statement of Ownership, Management & Circulation(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685, United States Postal Service) 1. Title of Publication: Networking Times 2. Publication No: 1539-3151 3. Date of filing: September 19, 2013 4. Frequency of issue: Bimonthly 5. No. of issues published annually: 6 6. Annual Subscription price: $47.77 U.S. $52.77 International 7. Mailing address of known office of publication: 11418 Kokopeli Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311 8. Mailing address of the Headquarters of general business offices of the publisher: 11418 Kokopeli Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311 9. Name and complete mailing address of Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Bob Proctor 11418 Kokopeli Place Chatsworth, CA 91311, Josephine Gross 11418 Kokopeli Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311 10. Owner(s): Gabriel Media Group dba Networking Times: Chris Gross, Josephine Gross, Laura Kall, Glenn Head, Marion Culhane, Lei Pan, Steve Siebold, George Shaw, Don Karn, Life Success, Scott Dickens; 11418 Kokopeli Pl. Chatsworth, CA 91311 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages and other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or more of the Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or other Securities: None 12. The Tax status for Gabriel Media Group has not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Title: Networking Times 14. Issue date for Circulation Data Below: September/October 2013 Issue 15. Extent & Nature of Circulation (a.) Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run)Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 9,219 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 14,050 (b.) Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail). (1.) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions States on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 2,119 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 2,100 (2.) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions States on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies). Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 0 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 0 (3.) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS. Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 5,448 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 10,250 (4.) Paid Distribution by other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail).Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 571 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 97 (c.) Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 8,136 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 12,447 (d.) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail) (1.) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541 Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 0 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 0 (2.) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 0 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 0 (3.) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through US PS (e.g. First-Class Mail) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 0 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 0 (4.) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 330 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 268 (e.) Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15 d (1), (2), (3) and (4)) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 330 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 268 (f.) Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 8,467 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 12,715 (g.) Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page #3) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 752 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 1,335 (h.) Total (Sum of 15f and g) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 9,219 No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 14,050 (i.) Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 95.82% No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 97.89% 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership. If the publication is a general publication, publication of this statement is required. Will be printed in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of this publication. 17. Signature & Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager or Owner: Yan Teng – Controller 9/19/2013
November/December 2013
Answers to the Word Puzzle
(Over, Down, Direction) 1. FLOATING (9, 1, SW) 2. BENEFITS (15, 3, SW) 3. BODY (6, 18, W) 4. MOBILE (15, 16, W) 5. INDIA (1, 2, S) 6. SMILE (8, 17, NE) 7. OPPORTUNITY (14, 11, NW) 8. HANDSHAKE (14, 2, SW) 9. PARETO (2, 6, NE) 10. UNITE (8, 11, W) 11. FOURTH (1, 14, S) 12. CONVINCING (2, 13, E) 13. BUTTERFLY (12, 19, W) 14. PARTYPLAN (14, 9, NW) 15. LIVING (8, 1, SE) 16. CIRCUMFERENCE (13, 1, SW) 17. PHILANTHROPIC (3, 12, E) 18. UNNECESSARY (11, 1, SW) 19. GOVERNMENT (10, 20, W) 20. COMPENSATES (12, 11, NW)
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