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National Regifting Day

Two points about regifting: First, if Jacqueline Onassis did it, how tacky could it be? In 1971, she gave her second husband, Aristotle Onassis, a watch once owned by JFK that had been a gift from a socialite couple. It was recently auctioned for more than $150,000. Second, regifting is smart, not just for your pocketbook but also for the earth. According to a survey by research firm Money Management International, the second-most-popular reason for regifting was a desire to recycle. (The first was saving on holiday expenses.) No, we don't buy that excuse, either, but one more reindeer sweater and we'll probably try it too. -- ACL

Fri, December 18
Give
National Regifting Day

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Avatar

According to Hollywood hype, James Cameron's Avatar -- a blockbuster tale pitting blue, loincloth-clad aliens against human invaders -- will kick-start the 3-D age of film. But if the Titanic director's sci-fi spectacular is going to make back its $200 million -- plus budget, his visual tricks had better look good in 2-D too. Today, only 9% of the world's 110,000 cinema screens are 3-D enabled, according to a recent Dodona Research report. Since an extra dimension costs a theater owner around $100,000 per screen, 3-D uptake isn't likely to soar until the economy gets rolling. For the time being, flat is where it's at. -- TB

Fri, December 18
Gawk
AVATAR Directed by James Cameron

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World Anti-Aging Congress

With 77 million boomers marching toward early-bird specials and Viagra-fueled nights, the anti-aging business is ... booming. But let's look past the (wrinkle-free) surface of the $56 billion industry: The real growth has been in bolstering the deteriorating insides of the aging. Soaring sales of an alphabet soup of supplements (vitamins D, C, E, omega-3, DHEA), exercise gear, and hormone replacements have given new life to the sector, if not, as buyers hope, to themselves. -- KR

Wed, December 09
Rejuvenate
World Anti-Aging Congress
Las Vegas

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Expo! Expo! 2009

If you're wondering why the International Association of Exhibitions and Events stages an event about staging events, you're not alone. "I've tried explaining it to my elderly mother," says IAEE president Steven Hacker. "She never understands." We do: Some 13,000 exhibitions and trade shows occur each year in the U.S., and events are a $100 billion business. But tighter corporate-travel budgets mean that business is hurting. No wonder 1,500 sector leaders will meet to laugh (with funnyman Dale Irvin) and learn (from social-media guru Guy Kawasaki). Says Hacker: "They're attending an event ... to the second power." -- DM

Tue, December 08
Organize
Expo! Expo! 2009
Atlanta

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Search-Engine Strategies '09

What's today's best search-engine strategy? "Look beyond the search engines," says What Would Google Do? author Jeff Jarvis, who will give a keynote address at this event. Traditionally, companies looking to get discovered online have stocked their Web sites with buzzwords to "optimize" them for Google and Yahoo. But now that Twitter link-trimmer bit.ly is generating just as many clicks as Google News -- roughly 1 billion each month -- Jarvis says marketers have a choice: "They can generate conversation [within social media], where real humans discuss fresh information, or stick with Google, where content ferments like wine and cheese." Sounds del.icio.us. -- DAN MACSAI

Mon, December 07
Search
Search-Engine Strategies '09 Chicago

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Vaccine Technology Conference

The 1950s and 1960s were momentous for drug manufacturers, which introduced vaccines for polio, measles, mumps, and a host of other diseases. Over time, though, many pharmaceutical companies deemphasized vaccines in favor of prescription drugs. Today, according to the organizers of this conference, "we stand poised for the second golden era of vaccines." Researchers will discuss an array of novel delivery techniques (patches, sprays) as well as new targets (cancer, addiction). And necessity may prove to be the mother of not just invention but also attention: Because of the global swine flu fright, the urgent quest to find a prophylaxis for the H1N1 virus has put vaccines firmly on the public agenda. -- ERICA WESTLY

Mon, December 07
Protect
Vaccine Technology Conference London

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United Nations Climate Change Conference

After 12 days of heated wrangling, world leaders should emerge from this meeting with a new treaty to combat global warming. Or maybe not: We wouldn't be shocked if U.S. negotiators, spooked by the potential effect of carbon cuts on the fragile economy, refused to back a deal. (That's the official reason that the planet's No. 2 polluter -- China is now No. 1 -- never ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.) A quick study of host nation Denmark might help allay American fears. The Scandinavian nation's economy grew by 45% between 1990 and 2007, while carbon-dioxide emissions fell 13%, thanks to high energy taxes and generous subsidies for clean tech. Green energy is now a major moneymaker for the Danes: Its wind-power firms, which control 40% of the global market, generated a breezy $8 billion in exports last year. -- TB

Mon, December 07
Cool It
United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen, Denmark

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Humanoids09

This four-day conference is all about pushing the robotic envelope, building humanoids that are more like their creators and in the process teaching us a thing or two about human movement and speech. But what we really want to know is: When can we expect those creatures to become part of our day to day? Japan, that land of aging elders, is at the forefront of using humanoids as home-health aides, servants, and even sex partners. But French startup Aldebaran is most likely to swoop into American homes first: Its 2-foot-tall humanoid Nao, who is already reading aloud and recognizing faces and giggling into its cute three-fingered hands in robotics labs around the world, will hit the consumer market in 2010. No word yet on the ethics of putting Nao to work to pay off its own $15,000 price tag. -- KATE ROCKWOOD

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Jay-Z Turns 40

The self-proclaimed God of Rap has lots to celebrate. Jay-Z earned $35 million over the past year -- mostly from a sold-out world tour and his stakes in the New Jersey Nets and 40/40 bar chain -- making him hip-hop's top player, according to Forbes. (No. 2 Diddy tallied $30 million.) It looks like 2010 will be another bumper year for Jay-Z Inc. Parlux, which did perfumes for Jessica Simpson and Queen Latifah, recently inked a licensing deal with his firm Iconic Fragrances to release signature scents for Rihanna and Kanye West. (A Jay-Z cologne will follow in 2011.) While other celebs usually take perfume payments in cash, Jay-Z requested stock, which could make Iconic a major Parlux shareholder. He wasn't boasting when he rapped, "Every deal I ever made set precedent." Okay, maybe a little bit. -- TB

Fri, December 04
Rap Up
Jay-Z turns 40

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25th Anniversary of the First Mandatory Seat-Belt Law in the U.S.

Live free or die, indeed: Twenty-five years after the first state law requiring buckling up took effect in New York, only New Hampshire still lacks one. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the economic benefits of seat-belt laws -- in dollars saved from prevented injuries and deaths -- exceeds $3 billion per year. So why is New Hampshire holding out? "The small minority who are against it are very passionate," says state representative Sally Kelly, sponsor of the latest proposed seat-belt law. The Union Leader, New Hampshire's largest newspaper, wrote an editorial earlier this year claiming, "There will be no stopping the flood of laws that will come, all to protect us from ourselves." If only it were so easy. -- ZW

Tue, December 01
Click
25th anniversary of the first mandatory seat-belt law in the u.s.

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