Point 2 Point October

September 2007

THE CHAIRMAN'S LETTER:
Barry Potter

First and foremost, I feel extremely honoured to have been asked to assume the position of chairman for the Association of Relocation Professionals (ARP) for the next year or two.  I have personally been involved in the business of corporate relocation for eighteen years both as a service provider and as an HR manager, and of course, the ARP has always been there for me throughout my career as the source of many useful snippets of information and relocation provider contacts when I have needed them. 
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NEWS UPDATE:
Russian immigration Changes

Over the past few months, there has been a series of political exchanges between the UK and Russia, largely as a result of the Litvinenko affair.In July, the UK suspended visa facilitation negotiations with Russia by making changes to visa practice relating to Russians. Russia responded by expelling four UK diplomats from its country and will also review visa applications for UK officials.  The UK Government announced that the UK was halting a reform under negotiation with Russia to speed up Russian visa applications for diplomats and to fast-track visas for tourists and businessmen.
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DO YOU USE A TOMTOM?:
Important Advice

Make sure you back up your tomtom!  If you lose the memory card, they will not replace your maps for free, but will charge you another £100 to reload them.  The tomtom Home software should be loaded onto your PC, where it will prompt you for a back-up to be made, but it doesn't explain why, or that this will save your maps.  The card in my tomtom One Europe is not secured in place by a cover, and after it popped out, many calls ensued to get my maps back for free, but to no avail, even though the device was only 9 months old - so BACK UP YOUR TOMTOM!

NEWS DIGEST:
Annie Panton

September is an awkward month for good quality news in my opinion! So I’ve gathered my wits and have found a few things you might be interested to know or find out more about.HIPS This is the ongoing property story of the year but at long last, the Government has obviously got its IT act together and has produced what can only be described as a comprehensive website to browse through. The site separates a Buyers’ and Sellers’ section with another for ‘Industry Professionals.’ Infuriatingly, it never classifies any of our industry as being part of the process – which I think should be rectified but in the meantime, the site allows you access to the whole thing - www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk Read More...

ARP DIRECTORY:
New Listings Update System

Yes its that time of year again and members will shortly be receiving details of our new Directory and Web Listing update system in the post.  For the first time, all Directory Entries will be sent to members for approval by email.  You will receive an email, containing a form with all of your current Directory and Web Listing details.  Please make any changes, and send the form back to us using the "Save Changes" feature.  Don't hesitate to contact us if you don't receive these details in the post, or if you don't receive your email by October 5th.
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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE:

VOIP
VOIP technology (full name, Voice Over Internet Protocol) is revolutionising telephone communications, and saving millions of people a great deal of money.  Heard the hype about Skype?  VOIP is one stage further, allowing free calls anywhere in the world through your ordinary 'phone line. But is more than a great business tool - It's a fantastic solution in telecoms for the globally mobile employee. 
If you want to give added value to your clients then you MUST read this article!

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ARP Tracking System - "Evolution"
This October, we begin the first live tests of our members' only tracking system.  Evolution has been planned and built with the consultation of our members and promises a very cost-effective solution for relocation tracking needs.  We still have two places left for members' to sign up to be our guinea pigs!  If you would like to be part of this exciting project, and would like a years free use of the system, then contact us!

MUSINGS TWO:
"Grey Thatch"

By now we must surely all have heard of the ancient Chinese curse which says “May you live in interesting times”
And living in these fast moving days of continually changing global markets we most certainly do that. But now a leading Chinese scholar claims the curse isn’t actually a curse at all. And to cap that he also claims it isn’t even Chinese! 
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ASAP REPORT:
September '07

The ASAP (Association of Serviced Apartment Providers), a division of ARP held a meeting in London, for current and potential new members on the 19th September.  ASAP is the first group of its kind to focus on the provision of serviced apartments, in the UK and Europe, and one of our first tasks was to create a star rating system.  Now this project is well underway, we are looking at ways to strengthen our profile, and our visibility as a part of the relocation industry.
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FEATURE:
Additional Housing Cost Compensation Payments

It is inevitable that people asked to relocate for business reasons regard the opportunity as one of progression from a career point of view and take the family off to the new area to explore at the first possible opportunity – usually before they have all the information needed which can and will influence their choice of where to live.
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THE MEMBER COLUMN:
LMM Apartments

The pressure of finding an ideal home, with often limited deadlines can prove a real challenge for relocation professionals, particularly if the client is temporarily hauled up in a hotel and eager to settle with their family. With this in mind many relocation professionals have turned to serviced apartments to provide their clients with some much needed breathing space.
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