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New Bus Service Caters to College Club-Goers BU alums’ Boston Nightlife Express takes offEric Pasinski (SAR’11) (left) and Jonathan Castillo (SMG’11) stick their Boston Nightlife Express sign to the side of a charter bus. Photos by Cydney Scott
With the thermostat hovering in the 20s last Friday night, BU alums Ryan Kaplan, Eric Pasinski, and Jonathan Castillo gingerly applied a sticky sign the size of a giant toboggan to the side of a charter bus. They were shooting for zero bubbling and a level presentation, and they nailed it. Castillo squeezed out extra air with a yardstick.
“This is the most stressful part of our night,” Kaplan (SMG’11) said with a laugh.
That’s quite a statement, considering that their new business, Boston Nightlife Express (BNE), involves shuttling buses of college students to and from Boston nightclubs and adhering to tight schedules despite unpredictable traffic—all while wearing the hats of promoter, market researcher, bouncer, and businessman.
BNE launched Veterans Day weekend, initially serving only Boston University students. Having turned a profit by its fourth run, the alumni now provide rides to Emerson College students going to parties in Allston. And this night they have begun service for Endicott College students, busing them from Beverly, Mass., and back, with plans to expand to more universities, like Boston College in late February and Tufts and Brandeis shortly afterwards.
“There’s not much to do out there,” says Nahant native Pasinski (SAR’11), referring to Endicott. “Kids are dying to get into Boston.”
Many of the young entrepreneurs’ decisions are made on the fly. Just after 10 p.m., as their driver, Alex Bien-Aimé, inched along Comm Ave in heavy traffic after a men’s hockey game, they abruptly changed the pickup spot for their first group, a private party. Pasinski got off the bus in the stop-and-go traffic to corral partygoers as Bien-Aimé made an impressive U-turn.
With the bus parked in front of 1055 Commonwealth Ave., Kaplan joined Pasinski outside as a couple of dozen BU students fumbled for cash or cards to pay. (Private parties pay a negotiated rate per person. Public riders pay $5 each way. That fare falls to $1 for a one-way to Boston after midnight.) Meanwhile Castillo (SMG’11) tinkered with the CD player, coaxing it to blast music as the first customers boarded.
A roar rose from the crowd as the last guest entered. Dressed in a sleek black suit and black and neon yellow sunglasses, Keshav Agnihotri (SMG’12) was the man of the hour: the bus was taking him and his friends to Umbria in downtown Boston to celebrate his 21st birthday.
This night, the students wanted only one-way transportation. But, Kaplan said, BNE does offer private party packages (around $2,000, depending on the club) that cover round trips and special deals, like an entire floor reservation.
Once everyone was aboard, the BNE cofounders slipped into their business roles. Castillo diligently guided Bien-Aimé, shouting into his ear while referring to his iPhone for directions. Dubbed DJ Smooth, he is also in charge of music and multimedia. During the week, he lives in New York, where he works on another start-up, called Regents Help, which prepares high school students for state-mandated exams. People person Pasinski danced in the aisle with customers. He has a full-time marketing job with American First Aid, a national company that provides first aid and safety training for businesses. And Kaplan, a real estate developer with the Martin Group in Manhattan, kept an eye over it all from the front of the bus. “I’m the one who’s going to lose his hair first,” he said with a broad grin.
Kaplan and a team of School of Management students hatched the idea for the shuttle service in an entrepreneurship class senior year. Each of the students had horror stories about taxi rides home after a night of clubbing. They were tired of paying exorbitant fares and waiting in the cold for long periods (Kaplan’s record is an hour and a half). Their idea was voted best in the class, but only Kaplan wanted to pursue it after graduation. He recruited Pasinski and Castillo (both entrepreneurs and college friends), and the trio began work on BNE last summer.
Looking over the sea of dancing BU students, Kaplan said, “Our customers are always the happiest customers.” As if on cue, Agnihotri screamed, “I love you.”
“See!” Kaplan said, raising his eyebrows.
Prodded by Kaplan, Pasinski grabbed the bus microphone as they approached Umbria. He saluted the birthday boy before launching his pitch.
“We are here—time to party!” he crooned in a deep voice. “We are the Boston Nightlife Express. Please check out chúng tôi for our weekly Friday schedule.”
After a 20-minute trip, the bus pulled up in front of Umbria and the raucous crowd filed off into the chilly air. Agnihotri found out about the bus service, he said, through a socially connected BU friend, one of several paid BNE promoters.
“It was a blast!” Agnihotri said before joining his long line of friends.
With the Umbria partygoers safely delivered, Castillo turned down the music and Bien-Aimé steered the bus back to the Charles River Campus. “How are we doing on time?” Castillo asked. “I think we’re just on time,” Kaplan answered.
Sure enough, the bus pulled up in front of the School of Hospitality Administration on schedule at 11:15 p.m. for its only public ride into Boston that night. (Barring a private party booking, the service usually offers two runs into Boston on Friday nights and at least one run back to campus.) Five men—some of them friends of Kaplan’s—paid, got on the bus, and sat toward the back. After waiting a couple of minutes, Bien-Aimé began his route to Gypsy Bar.
“All right, you guys,” Kaplan said to the small crowd. “You’ve got a private bus to yourselves.”
Castillo kept the music low as he, Pasinski, and Bien-Aimé talked about the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl prospects. They still had a final 1:40 a.m. pickup round to go, shuttling Emerson students returning from Allston to Boston and gathering BU students for a final ride back to the Charles River Campus and Harvard Street. That last round, they said, is usually the busiest of the evening.
Whether packed with party revelers or just a few club-goers, BNE is rolling along.
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How To Buy A Laptop For College
School is right around the corner, and you’ll need a solid laptop to get you through those long study hours. Well, that and a lot of coffee. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or you’re ready to cut your old boat anchor loose, I’m here to help you separate your nice-to-have wants from your essential needs, so you can get the most bang for your back-to-school buck.
What you need1. Long battery life
No matter how carefully you plan your class schedule, there will be days when you’ll be on campus from morning ’til night—and using your laptop nonstop, which can be hazardous to its battery life. Models with Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor (aka Haswell) cost a little more, but they’re extremely frugal when it comes to power consumption. You can identify these processors by their 4000-series part numbers, such as the Core i3-4010U.
2. Low weight, small profile
If you can get away with just a tablet, Microsoft’s Surface Pro is a lightweight (only 2 pounds) but highly capable alternative to a full laptop.
Lugging around books and supplies all day can be an endurance marathon that leaves you bruised and sore. A laptop that’s slim (to fit in the most crowded bag) and light will ward off fatigue. Tablets with full keyboards and hybrid laptops that combine the best attributes of notebooks and tablets are popular alternatives to conventional laptops.
3. A comfortable keyboard
Whether you’re pounding out a term paper, writing instant messages, cruising social networks, or simply procrastinating by surfing the Web, your keyboard will be instrumental to your happiness. It should be big enough that it won’t give you hand cramps, backlit so that you can see it in a darkened lecture hall or dorm room, and rugged enough to survive until summer break.
4. A large screen for multitasking The Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 has a nice, high-res screen.
Nothing is tougher than multitasking on a tiny display. Researching and writing a term paper while listening to music and chatting on Facebook can make for a pretty crowded screen. A 14-inch or larger panel will offer a comfortable working environment and allow you to keep an eye on everything that’s happening.
5. A warranty or protection plan
Normally, “extended warranties” are money-grabbing schemes that retailers use to get a few more bucks from you—but when you’re buying a laptop for school, you might actually get your money’s worth from such a plan. Laptops don’t take a comfortable, luxurious ride to and from school in a padded briefcase. They get stuffed into backpacks, tossed from car to bench to floor, and handled constantly. But be sure to read any plan carefully so that you know exactly what it covers and what it doesn’t.
6. Security software Avast can keep your laptop happy and healthy.
You can find two types of security software. Programs such as Norton AntiVirus and McAfee Internet Security protect your computer and the information stored on it from viruses, malware, and other unpleasantries you might encounter. Luckily, some of the best options—such as Avast Free Antivirus and Microsoft Security Essentials—are free.
The other type of security software protects you if your PC is lost or stolen. Programs such as GadgetTrak, Hidden, and LoJack can help you recover a laptop that has gone missing.
Install both types to prevent your semester from coming to a screeching halt.
What you don’t need1. A quad-core processor
Power is great, and having more cores is usually better. But most students don’t need superpowerful computers. Additional cores are typically beneficial for computationally heavy tasks, such as transcoding audio and video files, or editing digital photos or videos. If you’re just writing papers and surfing the Web, a dual-core processor is all you really need, and it’ll be much kinder to your battery.
2. A discrete graphics processor
If you’re looking to play hard-core games, invest in a decent desktop or buy a game console in addition to your laptop. A heavy gaming notebook with a power-draining discrete graphics card won’t help you make the grade. Your main machine should be a lightweight, power-efficient, thin-and-light laptop.
3. Solid-state drive
These storage devices are quick, quiet, and available on all the sexiest notebooks these days. Since an SSD has no moving parts, you’re less likely to lose data from it when (not if) you drop your laptop. But SSDs have two significant drawbacks: low capacity and high cost. Whereas even inexpensive laptops boast 750GB and larger mechanical hard drives, the SSDs in lower-priced notebooks typically deliver just 128GB of storage.
We love SSDs, but a good student laptop should have a capacious mechanical hard drive.
4. A touchscreen
Windows 8 is designed for touch, but a touchscreen is a luxury that a student can easily live without. You can perform any Windows 8 command using a laptop’s touchpad and keyboard, so you have no good reason to spend extra money to get a touchscreen. Focus on more-critical components, such as the CPU, memory, and storage capacity. Leave the touchscreen to your phones and tablets.
5. 4G wireless
Staying connected is really important—when it comes to devices such as your phone. Many laptops offer mobile-broadband devices and service plans, but you shouldn’t sign a contract for that. Students can get online using free Wi-Fi hotspots just about anywhere on or around campus. If you do find yourself stuck in a Wi-Fi-free wasteland, you can always use your phone to check email or transfer files.
2 Major Questions About Bittorrent’s New Chat Service Answered
1: What Does BitTorrent’s Chat Do That Others Don’t?Remember when I explained how DHT works? If you don’t, you might want to read up on it, because BitTorrent’s chat service uses the same principle. This means that all chat messages will be transmitted through peer-to-peer (P2P) communication. You’ll discover who’s available by downloading an address list from one of the first people you connect to. This is a very effective way to maintain anonymity, but I doubt that BitTorrent is stopping there. As I understand it, your client will send and receive messages using some form of encryption.
Exactly what type of encryption you’re going to get is beyond me, but I have reason to suspect that BitTorrent will use some type of symmetrical cipher like MSE. This is a safe assumption, considering the type of encryption BitTorrent uses for peer-to-peer file sharing.
2: How Safe Is It?All things considered, bootstrapping into the DHT seems to be the only viable method of achieving as pure a P2P experience as possible. What makes P2P safe is the fact that your chat messages don’t have to be relayed into a central server. All transactions happen strictly between you and the person you’re talking to. It’s when you send public messages that you run into problems. A person who wants to snoop around a chat room only needs to connect to it to gain access to everything people are saying, since the messages will also be relayed to him.
Regarding the encryption, let me once again make it clear that I don’t know exactly what type of encryption this new chat service will be using. But if it’s anything similar to the encryption that BitTorrent uses in its file sharing clients, you really stand little chance of being sheltered from someone who really wants to read your messages. ISPs can, if they wish, block encrypted traffic very easily. A report by Sweden’s Internet Infrastructure Foundation demonstrates that an ISP can easily detect traffic from transmissions using protocol obfuscation very accurately by looking into the first 100 packets’ sizes and directions.
Also, Brian Cohen, BitTorrent’s original inventor, wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the encryption (when implemented in the file sharing program), saying,
The so-called ‘encryption’ of BitTorrent traffic isn’t really encryption, it’s obfuscation. It provides no anonymity whatsoever, and only temporarily evades traffic shaping.
If BitTorrent’s chat service goes in the same direction, you’re very far from safe.
What Are Your Thoughts?Miguel Leiva-Gomez
Miguel has been a business growth and technology expert for more than a decade and has written software for even longer. From his little castle in Romania, he presents cold and analytical perspectives to things that affect the tech world.
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A Winning Season For Bu Men’s Club Golf
A Winning Season for BU Men’s Club Golf Heading to nationals with hopes of first program championship
Matt Kim (ENG’17) at the East Coast NCCGA Match Play Tournament at Crestview Country Club in Agawam, Mass., earlier this season.
It’s been a remarkable year for the BU men’s golf club. After securing first-place finishes in the two opening tournaments of the four they played this season, the 16-member team qualified for the national championship for the first time. Starting today, they’ll be among six teams from around the country competing in the National Collegiate Club Golf Association (NCCGA) Match Play National Championship, being played in Hot Springs, Ark.
“We’re all really excited,” says club member Aaron Slamowitz (ENG’17), sports information director. “I think it’s great for the club. It shows how far we’ve come over the last year. It’s definitely going to be really special. It means a lot for the club and for recruitment going forward.”
The golfers began the season—which starts in the fall—with a win at the East Coast NCCGA Match Play Tournament, followed by a win at the annual Golf Beanpot Tournament and a second and a third place finish at the next two NCCGA Stroke Play tournaments.
“With golf, anything can happen,” says Slamowitz. “The best players can have bad days, and the worst players can catch fire. There are some big schools going to Arkansas, but if a lot of us can put together some steady golf, I think we’ll have a chance.”
Club members trace their success this season to a series of meetings that began last year. Despite a remarkable individual performance by Peter Gunawan (CAS’18), the team finished in the middle of the pack in the NCCGA New England region. Sensing that they had the potential to be better, Matt Kim (ENG’17) says he and a few other players decided to hold biweekly meetings, to book more tournaments each semester, to play every weekend (weather permitting), and perhaps most important, to find a practice facility with an actual course, as opposed to just going to a driving range a couple of times a week.
Kim says that he, Slamowitz, and Mike Hanna (ENG’17) “just started calling every course in the area. We would literally call up every day and ask, ‘How much would it take for the BU club to practice here?’ It took a lot of calls, but eventually we found a home.”
That home turned out to be the Harmon Golf and Fitness Club in Rockland, Mass., which has a nine-hole course, a grass range, and plenty of practice greens and bunkers. The BU team joined the club in the fall, but it didn’t come cheap—dues had to be increased from $100 to $700.
They also decided that being as competitive as possible meant that for the first time they needed to cut players from the team. Of the 28 people trying out last September, 16 made the cut, 12 of them returning players.
“We had to cut people,” says Slamowitz. “If you’re not under a 15 handicap, you shouldn’t try out. I think 10 of the kids on our team are under a 10 handicap. If we want to continue this trend of getting better, that’s just what we have to do.”
Head coach Steve Tasho says that despite the team’s new, more competitive edge, he reminds his players to have fun. “Golf is the hardest game in the world,” Tasho says. “Everyone who’s played knows how frustrating it can be. I just like to remind them to enjoy themselves. They need to have fun in order to do well. That’s when you’re playing your best.”
The team’s seniors say they are as excited about the future of the program as they are about the prospect of capturing a national title.
“I think we’ve built a really strong foundation with everything we’ve done so far,” says Kim. “We already have some scratch golfers along with some other guys who can shoot in the 70s and low 80s. If we can just add some more scratch golfers in the future and qualify and win a few national championships, this team could make it to the next level. From what I’ve heard, the club can turn varsity in less than 10 years if it stays on this upward trend.”
The Boston University men’s golf club competes in the National Collegiate Club Golf Association Match Play National Championship today, Thursday, April 27, and tomorrow, Friday, April 28, at the Hot Springs Country Club, 101 Country Club Drive, Hot Springs, Ark. Find more information about the tournament schedule here.
Tryouts for the golf club are held in September. Follow and like the club on Facebook or email Aaron Slamowitz at [email protected] for more information.
Manny Gomez can be reached at [email protected].
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How To Provide Efficient Customer Service
Anyone who’s worked in customer service knows you can’t please everyone. When you’re dealing with a large number of customers daily, it’s difficult to give everyone the experience they expect. This task can be especially challenging if your company has multiple locations. So how do you ensure each branch is sending the same message and delivering the same level of quality service?
Plus, in the age of social media, small issues with customers can quickly get blown out of proportion online and become a big headache for your company. That’s why it’s so important to focus on creating an efficient customer experience, which may be even more essential than offering a friendly face.
Efficient customer service vs. friendly customer serviceFriendly customer service is exactly what it sounds like: Your customer service employees are pleasant and make the customer feel welcome. But being friendly isn’t enough on its own; your representatives also need to be able to handle problems quickly enough to satisfy the client.
Efficient customer service means reps are knowledgeable about your products or services and can quickly give customers the answers they need. If a problem arises, they resolve the issues and leave customers satisfied. That’s better than providing a staffer who’s friendly but doesn’t know how to solve the customer’s problem or preserve the sale.
As kind as it is to greet customers with a smile, it’s more important to give them reliable, effective service. That may mean improving your overall customer service experience with a combination of in-person and online tactics. This is actually a win-win proposition, as the results of efficient customer service will help your customers and your company.
FYI
Amazon, one of the most successful internet companies of all time, is built on the foundation of efficiency. The website design is warm and welcoming, but the reason customers keep returning is because Amazon’s service is often the most efficient way to purchase the products they want. For another case study, see what your business can learn from Southwest Airlines‘ approach to customer service.
FYI
When you’re considering what customer service structure is best for your business, evaluate the pros and cons of outsourced customer service. You may want to be more hands-on, or you may find that it’s worth it to hand off this aspect to a call center.
How to deliver efficient customer serviceWhether you outsource your customer service department or provide customer service via text message for a more personalized experience, there are key strategies all businesses should embrace if they want to deliver efficient customer service.
Keep your promises, and show consistency.It’s essential that you keep any promises your business makes to its customers. Failure to follow through can damage both your relationship with your customers and your company’s reputation.
Consistency is another important aspect of efficient in-house customer service, especially if you have multiple locations. You need to deliver the same message and level of service across the board. If you look at a global company such as Starbucks, you’ll notice that the message, service and product are pretty much the same no matter which location you visit. That’s because Starbucks focuses on meeting a consistent standard for all customers.
Be available via online channels.For brick-and-mortar businesses, it’s vital to deliver efficient customer service in person, but it’s equally critical to provide it online. If a problem arises, some customers will contact you via social media or email, and they’ll expect a quick response.
According to SuperOffice, 12% of customers expect businesses to respond to email inquiries within 15 minutes, and 46% look for a response in less than four hours. But it can be difficult to respond that quickly, especially if you’re managing multiple social media platforms and company inboxes. Fortunately, some of the top CRM software has customer service features and social media integrations that can help you quickly address customer inquiries and complaints from a single platform.
Of course, some customer questions are very simple to answer, and you may find that you receive certain inquiries over and over. Equipping your team with suggested responses can cut the time your customer service reps spend answering questions. Another function of being socially available is that providing customer service through social media is an additional way to manage your online reputation.
Provide self-service.Some customers don’t want to speak to a customer service representative and would rather solve the problem on their own. If given adequate resources, many customers can do just that, possibly lowering the number of customer service staffers you need on hand. If you offer enough quality self-service options that can direct clients to the answers they need quickly, you can provide efficient customer service without relying on employees to deliver personalized experiences.
Self-service tools are a scalable solution to customer service problems. For instance, you can provide a detailed and regularly updated knowledgebase on your company website where customers can find answers to frequently asked questions. You could also offer a forum where customers can ask questions and chat with other clients for help in resolving any issues.
Tip
If you’re looking for a call service to manage your customer service needs, check out our picks for the best call centers.
Be proactive.Another way to provide efficient customer service is by anticipating problems before they occur, which saves the customer from having to reach out with questions. Using customer analytics is a great way to assess your client base so you can strategize accordingly.
Providing proactive customer support is powerful because it allows you to go above and beyond in meeting customers’ expectations. This kind of service can help you turn your customers into lifelong fans. Find out more about what makes customer loyalty so important.
Support your staff.If you want your customer service reps to provide efficient customer service, you have to give them the tools they need. If staffers are only equipped to solve problems within narrow parameters, they can’t be very effective. That’s why it’s crucial to provide your staff with the budget and resources, such as employee training, necessary to solve customer problems adequately. It’s also worth rewarding your employees, such as with a discretionary bonus, for efficiently handling customer problems. This creates a company culture of employees who are willing to go above and beyond for the company’s customers.
Megan Ritter contributed to the writing and research in this article.
How Manchester United’s Board And The Glazers Failed The Club
Man United were supposed to be too big to fail. However, when the Glazers – a family of prominent American entrepreneurs – bought the club in 2005 with a leveraged takeover, they plunged the club into debts of around £600m. What happened over the coming years is a classic example of a boardroom full of directors who ignored their duty to their stakeholders, particularly their fans.
Since 1980 Manchester United have been an attractive commercial prospect. Between 1984 and 1998 there were three separate takeover bids for the club.
American real estate billionaire Malcolm Glazer took a 3% share in the team in 2003. He already was involved in sport in the United States, being the owner of NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Over the following years he increased his stake in Manchester United, and by 2005, the Glazer family owned 98% of the United stock.
Where it went wrong
Despite Glazer’s fabulous wealth, he didn’t just use a credit card to purchase the club. Instead, he actually used a leveraged buyout, raising £600 million in loans which was secured against the club’s assets.
This brought huge financial obligations, with £60 million repayments due every year. On top of that was £200 million in other loans which were sold into hedge funds.
The Glazers could have paid these debts themselves, but they chose to use revenue generated by Manchester United itself. This meant syphoning away millions every season, and in order to make up the shortfall, they went about securing deals and sponsorships which would bring more money into the club.
Taking dividends out of the club
In 2010, United fans became distressed by what was happening, claiming that the owners did not care about them. They ultimately attempted to take over the club themselves but were not successful.
The Glazers went on to sell their shares on the New York Stock Exchange to pay down some debt and take home some cash. Malcolm died in 2014 and his sons retained ownership of the club.
In 2023, they decided to start taking dividends out of the football club, and fans blasted this action as the Glazers essentially paying themselves. Four years later, they had racked up a total of £90 million of dividends from the club leaving the fans feeling betrayed and hurt.
Ed Woodward
Fans think that the Glazers do not care about the results on the pitch, only money, and that this is not how a sports club should be run.
In 2013, chief executive David Gill was replaced with Ed Woodward, an excellent marketing man but lacking in football knowledge.
Over the eight years he was CEO, he refused to put in place a director of football or a proper recruitment structure. This led to the club spending over £700 million on players they did not need, while managers began to criticise a “toxic club culture”.
Sponsors and share price drop
The club’s current sponsor is Team Viewer, but that firm has decided not to renew its contract with Manchester United when it ends in 2026 due to the club’s plummeting share price. It dropped by a substantial £1.32 billion in June 2023, which proved to be a record free fall.
Ignored issues
While other Premier League clubs have renovated all of their facilities, Manchester United’s ‘Theatre of Dreams’ – Old Trafford – has been falling into a state of disrepair. There are leaks coming through the roof of the stadium and even infestations of mice, but the Glazers did not appear bothered to do anything about it.
In summary
The Glazers bought the club using the club’s own assets, saddled it with debt, and syphoned money through the club into their own bank accounts. They look likely to hold onto the side and one day sell it at a huge mark up – earning themselves a multi-billion dollar payday in the process.
The fans, meanwhile, can only look on in anguish as their once great club crumbles before their eyes.
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