In business, as in conflict, Know thyself and Know your enemy have long been rules number one and two. But a third maxim -- Know your friends -- is steadily moving up the list.

Harvard Business Review's September 2006 article, With Friends Like These: The Art of Managing Complementors (hbr.org) offers case studies about Microsoft, Intel, Apple and others. Google's recent alliances with eBay, Viacom / MTV / Nickelodeon, Dell, Intuit, MySpace (to name a few) have been widely documented, as the media company evolves as an enormously effective partner / enabler / distributor.

International educators can glean valuable lessons when considering their global promotional campaigns, which increasingly involve more variables (i.e., online advertising, overseas fair participation, agent relationships...).

For example: usjournal.com's fundamental services revolve around the Internet, and generating qualified inquiries for our advertisers. But we also seek synergies with other respected players in global student mobility. Cases in point:

• Our Overseas Fair Schedule
• Our Multi-lingual Search Results for ESL Directory.com
• Our Cross Promotions of like-minded sites and events (below)

Stay tuned. We'll report on other cases of synergistic relationships, both inside and outside of usjournal.com. Here's a sneak peek of a few common threads:

• usjournal.com and Online Funds Verification
• Multi-Lingual Software Packages for non-U.S. Consortia
• Cigarettes and International Education Promotion

usjournal.com Participation in NAFSA Regionals: C.E.O. Cheryl Darrup-Boychuck is co-presenting an all-new session, eRecruitment: A Dynamic S.W.O.T. Analysis at four NAFSA Regional Conferences this November:

• Region X: Rochester, NY; 5 - 7 November
• Region II: Kansas City; 7 - 10 November
• Region VIII: Washington, DC; 8 - 11 November
• Region IV: St. Louis; 13 - 14 November

Contact cheryl@usjournal.com if you would like to schedule an appointment during any of those conferences.

Reminder of Rate Increase: usjournal.com will increase its advertising rates by approximately ten percent, as of 1 January 2007. Lock in 2006 rates now: Contact cheryl@usjournal.com or complete the 2006 Space Reservation Form: usjournal.com/en/educators/multilingual06.pdf

a2 International Education Fairs: Contact Serena Olmezoglu, serena@aafair.com or http://www.aafair.com/

• 4 - 8 Nov 2006: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir (Turkey)
• 11 - 12 Nov 2006: Almaty (Kazakhstan)
• 11 - 15 Apr 2007: Izmir, Ankara, Istanbul (Turkey)
• 27 - 28 Apr 2007: Casablanca (Morocco)

* 10 percent Early Bird Discount if you sign up for any 2007 events by December 15th.
* a2 Fairs: 15 years of education counseling; 5 years of student recruitment fairs; 215 institutions from 24 countries have attended a2 Fairs. Join us!

The ICEF Berlin Workshop: Contact Harald Kreiner, tel +49 (0) 228 201 1946, h.kreiner@icef.com or http://www.icef.com

• 5 - 7 Nov 2006, Hotel InterContinental, Berlin (Germany)
• More than 700 education agents from 80 countries worldwide (1,200 event participants)

The ICEF Americas Workshop: Contact Harald Kreiner, tel +49 (0) 228 201 1946, h.kreiner@icef.com or http://www.icef.com

• 3 - 5 Dec 2006, Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami (USA)
• More than 200 education agents from around the world (special focus on Latin America)

3rd International Fair of Education: Contact Olivera Zikic, oliveraz@nsfair.co.yu or nsfair.co.yu/eindex.html.

• 30 Nov - 2 Dec 2006: Novi Sad, Serbia

5th Washington International Education Conference: Contact inquiries@washcouncil.org or washcouncil.org.

• 22 - 23 Jan 2007: Washington, D.C.
• Network with Washington-based government agencies, and gain practical insight on marketing and global student mobility