B2BGateway.Net launches User Group on LinkedIn

B2BGateway.Net has just launched a User Group on LinkedIn. The group gives a platform to B2BGateway.Net's clients, partners and associates to exchange ideas,solutions and experiences in relation to EDI and associated Data Integration tools such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Scan Based Trading (SBT), Warehouse Support Sites (WSS), Supplier Portals and EDI Testing & Validation Solutions. To join the group please visit www,linkedin.com and select B2BGateway.Net under the Group selection

B2BGateway Houdini

While recently considering the EDI process of receiving orders and sending invoices, I suddenly realised that our organization B2BGateway.Net was a lot like Harry Houdini (no not that we will take your money and disappear!), but rather when a trading partner sends out an order it disappears into cyber space where B2BGateway.Net grabs it, performs some magic and places the order into your Business Application (QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage, SAP etc.) in a human readable format. Likewise B2BGateway.Net does the reverse with your invoices sent back to the trading partner. Oh by the way, this all occurs in real time and there is no re-keying of data or human intervention – Pure Magic, you don’t see a thing, just like Houdini!

Roger Leyden

It's going to be a heatwave....

The weather forecast for Boston is HOT, HOT, HOT!!! The temperatures are going to be 100+ today. Summertime is a time for fun, however, you need to be careful and take precautions to stay safe to avoid sun exposure.
On days like today, don’t you just love the thought of sitting under a big old shade tree drinking a tall glass of lemonade? B2BGateway.Net has been providing paperless EDI solutions since 1999. Since then, we helped thousands of companies become paperless, thus resulting in saving trees. An average tree yields 80,000 pieces of paper. Each Month B2BGateway.Net along with our valued clients saves 3 trees on average. That is over 432 trees so far.
Just think, utilizing the services of B2BGateway.Net to handle your EDI paperless transactions can save you time so that you can enjoy a relaxing day under the tree, as well as protect the trees for the next generations to enjoy.
Take the “shade tree challenge” and help B2BGateway.Net save even more trees for the future.

David Ziegler

How I will save the World!

"Would you like your receipt?"

"No thank you"

...and that's how I will do it. Just like that. Nothing else. You can thank me later.

Every time I go to Dunkin' Donuts, not only do I get a coffee, but also a little piece of paper for proof that I bought my coffee - even when I say the words "no receipt please", I always end up with this piece of paper in my hand. Now, multiply this action, oh say, a couple zillion times across every fast food restaurant in America - - across the globe - and we have ourselves the makings of a national receipt crisis. I'm not saying eliminate paper, it has its place (even though more companies like mine - B2BGateway.Net -have moved to a paperless/digital environment). It just doesn't belong in the wastepaper basket behind me, immediately upon making said transaction.

Solution:

"would you like a receipt with that shake?" says the cashier as I'm ordering and when I say 'no', she or he presses a button that is marked 'No Receipt'. Multiply that action across zillions of transactions and we save so many trees that the air we breathe is cleaner - saving lives, we use less fossil fuel to power the machines used for deforestation - solving the fuel crisis and leaving more land for people to peacefully coexist - creating global harmony and thereby saving the world.

You can thank me later.

oh, and if you do need a receipt for business expenses, you can still get one, there's a 'Yes' button, but there should be an app for that by the time you're done reading this.

Brian Alty

Travel, Backscatter Imaging & Opting Out

As the CEO of B2BGateway www.b2bgateway.net, I travel on a regular basis. One of the difficulties while traveling is the improved security procedures. Yes, we all want to be safe, but security measures can often be intrusive and irritating. Much discussion has been given recently to the controversial backscatter imaging, and I have been through the machines several times. After doing some research on the radiation received, the “naked” images generated and the overall inconvenience of the process, I found out that passengers have the right to Opt-Out of backscatter.

Recently, while standing in a metal detector line with all my belongings in their respective trays, the backscatter attendant called me over. I pretended to not hear him, but he persisted. He insisted that I come over to his line, at which point I told him “I choose to opt-out”. I assumed he would say, “Oh that is fine, carry on with the metal detector, and have a great day”. He did not.

The backscatter attendant yelled to the other security employees, “WE HAVE AN OPT OUT!” He told me to leave my belongings on the metal detector line and stand in the center of the, now closed, backscatter line with my arms extended. The attendant put on a pair of purple rubber gloves, (which is never a good sign), and we proceeded to have a very intimate 15 minutes, in plain view of everyone in security.

When the groping was over, my next stop was explosives screening. Two security representatives unpacked my entire suitcase and briefcase. All of my clothing, suits, shoes, undergarments, etc. were spread out onto tables for full viewing. Ten minutes went by as security swabbed my belongings for explosives. When they were done they said, “You are free to go, pack up your possessions.”

Opting-out added over 30 minutes to the security experience, and although some might find the groping gratifying, I prefer to have candlelight and wine before I am touched that intimately. I recently read that this Wednesday, (the busiest US air travel day) is National Opt-Out day, in protest of the backscatter machines. If it took me an extra 30 minutes to get through the security process, please plan accordingly if you are heading home for Thanksgiving. With that said, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Make sure to have your Credit and Debit Cards topped up!!! Black Friday & Cyber Monday are fast approaching. Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on... the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. According to Reuters, in 2007 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush.
The term "Black Friday" may have originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The term made its debut in 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year". According to the Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, "77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)". In 2006, Shop.org announced that it launched the CyberMonday.com portal, a one-stop shop for Cyber Monday deals. In 2009, comScore reported that consumers spent $887M online on Cyber Monday (excluding travel), the second highest spending day of 2009.

B2BGateway.Net at Intuit ISP Summit 2010

Ok so maybe the saying is not true “It’s always sunny in Southern California” ….. When the B2BGateway staff attended the Intuit Summit in Los Angeles on October 4th – 7th the sunshine was the only thing missing from the business trip. Just a week before downtown Los Angeles set a new all-time temperature record of 113°F however things changed, as a new record was set in Los Angeles during the week of the Summit. A record amount of rainfall fell over much of the area for the entire time of the trip.

The Intuit conference afforded an excellent opportunity for B2BGateway.Net www.b2bgateway.net to speak to key strategic partners such as Right Network, Acctivate, Out of the Box Technology and Fishbowl to name a few as well as meeting face to face with many people to educate them on EDI Solutions by www.B2BGateway.Net.

Just like our EDI solutions the B2BGateway staff went out of the way to make it work. The rain was not going to put a damper on the success of the Summit for B2BGateway.Net. Although we did not get to experience one thing that Southern California is known for the Sun, and we were wet from the rain anyway, we figured we should try the 2nd thing that Southern California is known for………


SURFING!