OVER THE years, quite a large number of former Jerusalem Post editorial staff members have moved on to other important media outlets. In fact, it is quite a feather in the Post's cap to see the extent to which its writers and editors are courted by other publications, radio, TV, and now Internet Web sites. The announcement last week that Calev Ben-David, a senior analyst and writer with the Post, had been lured to head the newly established Bloomberg News Jerusalem Bureau in the Malha Technology Park did not come as a complete surprise.
This is the third time that Ben-David has expanded his journalistic horizons beyond the Post. The first time was when he went to The Jerusalem Report; after several years there he returned to the Post. Then after a few years back at the Post, he was called to head the Jerusalem bureau of The Israel Project. After building up a most successful venture, he was once more back at the Post, until tempted by yet another challenge.
Ben-David is by no means the first JP staffer to go to Bloomberg. He was preceded by David Rosenberg, who also had more than one stint at the Post and who has just been promoted to senior economics reporter for the region. There is also Alisa Odenheimer, who launched her career as a journalist at the Post, starting in the economics department without any previous experience. She did so well that it was only natural for her to progress to a media service that deals primarily with news that is related to economics. Susan Lerner, the immediate past editor of the Post's business and finance section, was pursued by Bloomberg for quite some time before she finally agreed to join its staff.
It should be remembered that just as Ma'ariv was created by a group of disgruntled journalists from Yediot Aharonot, so was the English-language edition of Haaretz created by a group of disgruntled journalists who, not happy with the Post's previous management, walked out and played a major role in adding to the reading options of those who like their news in English. Several of the by-lines of former Post staffers never disappeared from the paper because they joined wire services to which the Post subscribes.
AFTER NINE years of serving as director of the Keren Hayesod United Israel Appeal's Marketing and Communications Division, Yosh Amishav submitted his candidacy for a newly created position and was recently appointed to take charge of a new unit that will be developing donor recognition. He will remain in his current position for the next few weeks, until a replacement is found. Like his boss, Avi Pazner, Amishav is a former diplomat - a background that will surely stand him in good stead in his new role.
NO ORGANIZATION is better suited to promote "blue-and-white" products than the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Its blue-and-white division has declared a competition for blue-and-white acquisitions. The announcement of the competition was made by blue-and-white chair Michal Segal, who is the proprietress of Aluvin. The prize winners will be announced and prizes awarded at the association's annual general meeting in January. Only association members may enter the contest. Manufacturers will be judged on the number of made in Israel materials they use in production. According to Segal, reducing imported raw materials by 20 percent in favor of locally made products will improve Israel's balance of trade by $4 billion and will create 13,000 jobs.
THE JEWISH propensity for ignoring a recession is most obvious during holiday periods, when expenditure on food and gifts goes on is as if there were no tomorrow. Not everyone wants to go to the trouble of preparing a Rosh Hashana feast at home, and many people find it more convenient - time-wise, work-wise and even in terms of money - to go to a hotel. The Dan chain alone will be serving up meals to more than 6,500 guests on the first night of Rosh Hashana. Some will be tourists, but many will be Israelis who simply don't want to be at home.
According to Rafi Be'eri, deputy marketing and sales manager for the chain, reservations at this stage indicate 91% occupancy overall, and 100% occupancy in Dan hotels in Eilat, Haifa, Caesarea and Ashkelon. Meals alone range in price from NIS 220 per head to NIS 485 per head, depending on the particular Dan hotel. The most expensive is the Dan Accadia in Herzliya Pituah; the least expensive is the Dan Gardens in Ashkelon.
Curiously, there is a huge price difference between the Dan Panorama in Jerusalem, which is charging NIS 250 for an evening meal, and the King David, around the corner, which is charging NIS 340. Guests at the Dan Panorama will have a wider choice of food and can eat more for less because the service will be buffet style, whereas at the King David it will be a la carte service with waiters bringing food and beverages to the table.
IN AN age of ever-advancing technology, traditional norms and values are fast disappearing and are being replaced with synthetics, which may look more streamlined but somehow fall short of the real thing. This is noticed most in unheated homes in winter, when several blankets and duvets filled with technologically produced textiles fail to keep out the cold; they can't create the warmth of a simple feather quilt. That would explain why companies such as Fried are still in business, selling feathered quilts and cushions and down-filled jackets.
Fried Brothers Industries recently signed an agreement with businessman Beyla Andovich for the purchase of a feather-arranging company in Hungary at an investment of €1 million. Situated on an area of 18 dunams, the company has some 60 employees. According to Eran Sheivitz, Fried Brothers marketing manager, the Hungarian acquisition will provide the company with an entry card to the European market. There are 20 Fried shops in Israel. The company produces a million cushions and quilts per annum.
MAAS INTERNATIONAL, the Dutch company that specializes in vending machines for coffee, confectionery, snacks and soft drinks, has entered the Israeli market via the Israeli Coffee Club. Coffee Club, which is one of Israel's dominant franchisees of global brand names in the coffee and coffee-machine business, imports and markets MAAS. Coffee Club owner and CEO Ofer Frimmer anticipates that revenues in the range of NIS 10m. over the next five years.
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