text:
What lessons can Lucasfilm learn from the disappointing box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story? The second Star Wars spinoff had an underwhelming opening weekend. The film grossed only $83 million domestically, lower than Justice League. Overseas box office takings were even worse, with the film grossing only $65 million despite rolling out in every major market (except Japan).
On paper, Solo sounds like a surefire hit. The concept was one of several jotted down by George Lucas before he sold Lucasfilm over to Disney, and the script was written by Lawrence Kasdan, one of the franchise's most respected screenwriters, best known for drafting the script of The Empire Strikes Back, still viewed by many as the best Star Wars movie of all time. What's more, the character of Han Solo is popular enough to be a brand-name in his own right. This film should have been a tremendous success - and it simply isn't.
Related: What We Want to See In The Boba Fett Movie
No doubt Lucasfilm execs are watching the debate about Solo with a concerned eye, desperate to learn what course-correctionsare needed to ensure future Star Wars spinoffs, such as the Obi-Wan and Boba Fett movies, don't share the fate of Solo. Here are our recommendations.
- This Page: The Core Concept and the Creative Team
- Next Page: The Star Wars Brand Still Needs Marketing
A Solid Concept Is Crucial
We now know that Solo was greenlit because of a single scene. Shortly after the Disney purchase, Kasdan met with Lucasfilm execs and offered a simple pitch. "My presentation was, [Han] comes to an immigration spot and someone asks, 'What's your name?' It's not just that he doesn't have a name, which tells you a lot about his history. He says 'I have no people.' That to me is so forlorn and so isolating and rife, and the guy fills in his name." This pitch was enough to win Disney CEO Bob Iger over, and Solo was signed off.
Related: Alden Ehrenreich Wasn't Just Good As Han - He Was The Best Thing In Solo
Oddly enough, viewers have been divided on this scene. Reception aside, though, the reality is that a single scene does not equal a solid concept. Lucasfilm may have been proud of Kasdan's script, but at times it runs through Han's origin story like a checklist. There's nothing drastically unexpected. Earlier drafts of Solo's script were actually much more daring, with Han and Chewie meeting in very different circumstances, and certainly could have made for a better film. But the fact such different approaches could have been taken without affecting the scene that Lucasfilm believed to be its core is quite remarkable.
The most obvious contrast is Rogue One. That film's core concept isn't a single scene; it's a story, the narrative of how the Rebel Alliance got the Death Star plans. In terms of tone and style, the film is inspired by the Vietnam War, with director Gareth Edwards photoshopping rebel helmets on images from different conflicts back when he pitched the film. Everything was there in the initial pitch; the content, the tone and the themes were all visible. Solo, in contrast, seems to have only had the name "Han Solo" and a single scene.
This is a crucial lesson for both Lucasfilm and Disney. No film is a guaranteed success, not even if it features powerful brands such as Star Wars and Han Solo. In just the same way, neither the Obi-Wan Kenobi nor the Boba Fett movie is guaranteed to make bank at the box office; the studio should ensure the core concepts underpinning these films are strong. No pitch should be greenlit until it's solid.
Choose Your Directors Carefully
When Lucasfilm first announced Solo, the response from viewers was skepticism. The studio didn't truly start to win people over util the directors were announce, though; Phil Lord and Chris Miller, fresh from the success of The Lego Movie. Ironically enough, it seems that Kasdan himself was a major figure in their hiring, as he thought the directors were "great, funny and imaginative." Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the production to hit problems. Lord and Miller intended to push the boundaries of Star Wars, and there are reports they were aiming for a tone more akin to Guardians of the Galaxy than to Star Wars itself. The directors' improv style meant shooting was running late, the budget was ballooning, and the film was increasingly deviating from Kasdan's script. Finally, in June 2017 - with only 3 weeks of filming still scheduled - Lord and Miller were fired.
Related: Solo: A Star Wars Story's Director Problems - What Really Happened
It looks as though Lord and Miller had signed up to shoot a very different film to the one Lucasfilm had greenlit, and their way of working didn't fit with the studio's culture. Lucasfilm probably chose the wrong directors for the movie, and then were overly reluctant to course-correct during production. But the studio is developing a history of these behind-the-scenes problems. Lucasfilm hired Josh Trank off the back of his success with low-budget sci-fi filmChronicle; he was swiftly dumped after the poor box office performance of Fantastic Four and rumors of major behind the scenes issues. Colin Trevorrow departed Star Wars: Episode IX, with reports that he and Kennedy had clashed over the script.
The studio clearly needs to be careful not to simply sign up the "flavor of the month" in Hollywood, but instead to choose directors who can handle the pressure of a big franchise. James Mangold was recently brought on board as director of the Boba Fett spinoff, and that's a step in the right direction; he's proved himself with the X-Men franchise's The Wolverine and Logan.
But Solo offers other some other important lessons in this regard, too. In the 41 years of the Star Wars franchise, 91% of the writers and directors have been white and male. This lack of representation showed with Solo. Thandie Newton's Val was the second woman of color to appear in a Star Wars film not made up as an alien, and the first black woman. She was killed unceremoniously in the film's first act, and then completely forgotten. Much was made of L3-37 being the franchise's first female droid, and yet the script takes the time to ask whether or not she can have sex; a question that was never asked in four decades' worth of male droids. The systemic problem of under-representation in Lucasfilm is thrown into sharp relief by Solo's handling of its female characters. It's clear the studio cannot afford to make another Star Wars film with so little diversity at the top - whether this be a spinoff or part of the main Star Wars Saga.
Page 2 of 2: Star Wars Still Needs Marketing
- Star Wars 9 / Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) release date: Dec 20, 2019


text:
Taliban releases 'pointless' for Afghan peace: officials.
|Afghan and US officials, at the time of Abdul Ghani
Baradar's arrest, hadaccused Pakistan of
sabotaging peace efforts by arresting him.
KABUL | AFP | 14 Sep 2013 :: Afghan officials say Pakistan's release of 33 Taliban prisoners from jail, a policy initially trumpeted by Kabul as an opportunity to ignite peace talks, has resulted in no concrete progress.
The Afghan government, desperately searching for a way to negotiate peace before Nato troops leave next year, has said that the release of influential insurgents could encourage their comrades to the negotiating table.
But despite the 33 Afghan Taliban prisoners released by Pakistan and dozens of others freed in Afghanistan, there is still no peace process and some fighters have returned to the battlefield.
The Taliban still refuse publicly to deal with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, branding him a US puppet.
They have also shown no willingness to participate in elections on April 5, 2014 when Karzai will step aside for a new leader for the first time since the 2001 US-led invasion.
Instead their readiness to negotiate with the Americans about a prisoner swap has only infuriated Karzai, who late last month asked Pakistan to help find a direct channel of communication.
In parts of Afghanistan, which continue to suffer daily from Taliban violence, the releases have been met with incomprehension if not anger by local government officials.
"The Taliban who are released... rejoin the battlefield again," said Zurawar Zahid, police chief of the flashpoint southern province of Ghazni.
"We put our lives in danger to arrest them, but the central government releases them under different pretences," he added.
Zahid told AFP that more than 40 Taliban, including some senior commanders, who were recently freed from Ghazni central prison on Karzai's orders have gone back to the battlefield.(Courtesy:Dawn)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monster director Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman is the next solo superhero movie that Warner Bros./DC plans to release in theaters, following a pair of comic book adaptations in 2016 (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad) that feature multiple costumed heroes and/or anti-heroes alike. Wonder Woman doesn't arrive until Summer 2016, but a Fall 2015 production start date has been reported for some time now.
Deborah Snyder, who is producing all upcoming live-action films set in the DC Extended Universe (as her husband, filmmaker Zack Snyder, has called it), has now confirmed that principal photography on Wonder Woman will be getting started within a couple months. As such, additional casting news and/or details on the movie's plot should be revealed sometime before then.
It's now official that Wonder Woman starts principal photography in November - as confirmed by Deborah Snyder, when she recently spoke about the project at the Geena Davis Institute (watch the video HERE):
"We still wanted a female director and we found Patty Jenkins, who had the right vision and the same vision that we had for the character. We're really happy that we're going to be going into production in November, it's been a really great process. We've tried to hire as many female members of the crew as possible."
Jason Fuchs (Pan) is working on the script for Wonder Woman, but the film's screenplay development process (and the project in general) has always been under the direction of a woman, as mentioned by Deborah Snyder - first Michelle MacLaren, then Jenkins when MacLaren and WB/DC split. There are other elements that have already distinguished Wonder Woman from its DC male superhero-led feature film peers, including the movie's genre components (this will be the first mythological DC Comics film) and it being partially shot in Italy - a real-world locale that might serve to bring Diana's home island, Themyscira, to life on the big screen.
So far, Gal Gadot is lined up to reprise as Diana Prince in Wonder Woman - after making her screen debut as the character with Batman V Superman - and Chris Pine is reportedly onboard to play the Steve Trevor character. Trevor debuted in Wonder Woman comics in the early 1940s, as a WWII-era Air Corps pilot who crashed his plane and was subsequently nursed back to health by Diana, giving rise to a romance between the pair.
Recent rumors have claimed Jenkins' movie partly takes place in WWI, though it's possible Trevor will, in fact, meet Diana during WWII in the film - as concept art that WB/DC showed at its 2015 San Diego Comic-Con panel suggests the second World War will be a part of the narrative. The DCEU has already taken cues from the New 52 DC Comics continuity, so one alternative would be that Pine's Steve Trevor exists in Wonder Woman's present-day setting (New 52 style) and serves as a liaison between the U.S. government and figures like Amanda Waller (the character Viola Davis is playing in Suicide Squad)) and Diana. Hence, A.R.G.U.S. may be introduced in either Wonder Woman or later Justice League movies.
This scenario would be in keeping with the inter-connected storytelling approach that the WD/DC films appear to be taking - see also Batman (Ben Affleck) appearing in Suicide Squad - but no doubt filming on Wonder Woman will provide more information (if only through news leaks) on that subject. We'll let you know when/if that happens.
NEXT: Batman V Superman - Wonder Woman Fight Scene Details Revealed?
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25th, 2016; Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman on June 23rd, 2017; Justice League on November 17th, 2017; The Flash on March 23rd, 2018; Aquaman on July 27th, 2018; Shazam on April 5th, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14th, 2019; Cyborg on April 3rd, 2020; Green Lantern Corps on June 19th, 2020. Untitled Batman and Superman solo films will be coming at dates TBD.
Source: Deborah Snyder


text:
Coincidences, Accidental Connections, Even Puns: Catherine Graham Interviews the 2018 International Griffin Poetry Prize Winner Susan Howe
Catherine Graham: Congratulations on winning the 2018 Griffin Poetry International Prize for your most recent collection Debths (New Directions Publishing). This book connects to your time as artist-in- residence at the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. Can you talk more about this?
Susan Howe: I spent a month as an artist-in-residence at the Gardner Museum in Boston. Fellows are provided with a lovely living space high in the added wing designed by Renzo Piano--all soaring glass and steel but attached to Gardner, dimly lit late Victorian faux Venetian structure. I was free to wander the collection in off hours. Wandering among all the art objects Isabella Stewart Gardner had acquired and carefully arranged during the early years of the 20th century I began to think of her as a pioneer American Installation artist. All the poems in "Titian Air Vents" were made while wandering through these weirdly haunted and highly arranged exhibition rooms.
CG: Leaps and gaps reverberate throughout the book. The leap forward yokes the looking back as illustrated in the cover image by British illustrator George Cruikshank. The poems—visually, poetically—capture points of suspension. What is it about gaps and leaps that interest you?
SH: All my work is in some ways about coincidences, accidental connections, even puns. I still believe what I said in My Emily Dickinson that "connections between unconnected things is the unreal reality of poetry." There is a kind of telepathy and magic involved in making the leaps, feeling the chance connections.
I was thrilled to discover that George Cruickshank had done the illustrations for the cover of the English translation of Peter Schemiel: the man who sold his shadow. (Cruickshank has been extremely important to me since childhood, as he illustrated most of Charles Dickens' novels.) Peter Schmiel's leap from the iceberg into the sea is a leap of faith of the kind that is essential to the writing I do.
CG: The title Debths, a Joycean word from Finnegans Wake, is an amalgam of three words: debts, depths and death. Did the title come early or later? What does the word mean to you?
SH: The title came when I was writing the poems in "Periscope," so in the middle, while I was working on all the various sections of the book. I chanced on the word from Finnegan's Wake in the passage I use as the epigraph for the book. Almost every word in that epigraph lead me further into Debths. It all comes down to the smallest detail, the flipping of the letter "b" and "p"—the ascender becomes a descender. In my mind the word conjures depths of the sea and our position in the world today—the glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising, and polar bears are becoming extinct. Cruickshank's image on the cover is both old-fashioned and prophetic. Of course the word also suggests debts and more and more I'm concerned with questions of originality and quotation, as so much of the work in this collection is collaged I feel profoundly indebted to writers whose work has inspired me.
CG: The foreword sets the book up beautifully and slips the reader's mind from prose to poetry. Why did you feel it was important to have a foreword?
SH: I wrote the foreword last (as in many of my books) partly to ground the connections I have been making in my own mind. Maybe it harks back to a book of essays of mine called The Birth-mark where the editor said I must have an introduction. I protested and gave in. Solving the problem of connecting these essays became a form of writing that was equal to the essays. It took over sort of and became the most exciting thing I had to do. That's the way it's happened to me. I loved writing it. It turned into a poem and I can't see the difference between what one would call poetry and prose. I was completely obsessed by it. I was explaining myself to myself.
CG: During our lovely conversation you shared your recent insights about the tip of the tongue phenomenon and how it relates to the Tom Tit Tot section. Can you talk more about this?
SH: I chose the title "Tom Tit Tot" because I like the look and sound of the three letter that forms a tri-syllabic name—not to mention those three percussive double 't's. Following the title I began to work on a series of poems in relation to the mysterious and powerful connections between names and things.
Thek's title of one of his pieces "The Personal Effects of The Pied Piper" led me to the wonderfully titled Tom Tit Tot: An Essay On Savage Philosophy in Folk-Tale by Edward Clodd, London Duckworth and Co. 1898. It's old English folktale called "Tom Tit Tot" (an offshoot of a large group of tales in many cultures—"Rumplestiltskin," being the best known) where a woman who has been set to the task of spinning—under threat in a magic space of time—a large quantity of flax for various reasons, sells herself to an imp, dwarf, giant, or magician (alias the devil) who suddenly appears to help her: his price being she must guess his secret name. In the end he is defeated, usually after three false tries, and vanishes in a rage. Clodd turned out to be a friend of Yeats. But I had no idea of that when I pulled the book from the library stacks because I thought it leapt out at me. The oddity of such a title in the stacks of Columbia University's Butler library, the section on linguistics.
Only two months ago while skimming through Playing by Ear and the Tip of the Tongue: Precategorial information in poetry. edited by Reuven Tsur, I discovered there is such a thing as the TOT phenomena. The three letters stand for "tip of the tongue." It is the auditory phenomena or information we try to rediscover when we forget the name of a word. All the connections we search for while trying to recover that word we can't remember. And what is this but a mystery of the hidden name! That sort of telepathy involves the intuition necessary to make word magic which is after all poetry.
CG: Before your mother, Mary Manning, emigrated from Ireland to America, she worked with W. B. Yeats as an actor in Dublin. In the foreword you say that "Yeats is the poet I loved first." How exactly did your love of Yeats develop?
SH: My mother came to America in 1935 on what she thought would be a visit. At the time she was an actor and playwright in Dublin. She started in the very early days of the Abbey Theatre where she was trained by Sarah Allgood, one of Yeats' earliest actors. In many ways Yeats was her guiding spirit. I talk about this in my book The Midnight. Yeats was like Mother Goose to me as a small child. That's one side of Yeats for me, on the other side are his great poems of age and the end of things. "Debths," the final series in the book, you might even call them fragments, are indebted to Yeats—"The Circles Animals Desertion," "Are You Content"—[they work] as a kind of prayer.
CG: What's next for Susan Howe?
SH: To keep exploring the mysterious connections between the ear and the eye. Graphemes—phonemes—reverberations—strings—patterns—
Catherine Graham is a writer of poetry and fiction. Among her six poetry collections The Celery Forest was shortlisted for the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry, named a CBC Best Book of the Year and appears on their Ultimate Canadian Poetry List. Michael Longley praised it as "a work of great fortitude and invention, full of jewel-like moments and dark gnomic utterance." Her Red Hair Rises with the Wings of Insects was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award and CAA Award for Poetry and her debut novel Quarry won an Independent Publisher Book Awards gold medal for fiction, "The Very Best!" Book Awards for Best Fiction and was a finalist for the Fred Kerner Book Award. She received an Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and was also winner of the Toronto International Festival of Authors Poetry NOW competition. While living in Northern Ireland, Graham completed an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies around the world and she has appeared on CBC Radio One's The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. Visit her at www.catherinegraham.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @catgrahampoet.


text: A few weeks back I shot wedding in West Virginia covering for my friend Reid (Mason Photographics) who had double booked himself. I haven't done many weddings to date so I was a little nervous. I have grown to appreciate the skills and talents of the really good wedding photographers I've seen. It's a lot of hard work to say the least. Just the people wrangling for the formal pictures is a chore in and of itself. I have also come to the conclusion that an assistant is a must on these adventures. Unfortunately I did not have one for this shoot (or the other that I did for Reid). Here's a couple of samples from the first one. As always I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks.


text:
Coca-Cola Earnings Show Bubbly Growth Abroad
Iconic beverage king Coca-Cola reported earnings this morning, and shares are basically trading flat so far. Coca-Cola had a slight beat on earnings, although revenue was down 3%.
Net income grew to $2.45 billion, a 6% increase year over year. Coca-Cola reported earnings per share of $0.53. North America saw 2% sales growth, primarily driven by Coca-Cola's non-fizzy beverages like Honest Tea and Fuze, which were up by double digits. Coca-Cola saw better sales jumps abroad -- which accounts for 60% of its total revenue -- with the strongest growth coming in the Pacific region. However, growth lagged 1% in Europe, and Latin America stayed flat.
Motley Fool analyst Matt Argersinger notes that while Coca-Cola didn't exactly wow investors, it's not that kind of investment. The company is a Dow stalwart, and pays a 3% dividend. It even qualifies as a Dividend Aristocrat twice over, having increased dividends annually for 50 years. Matt thinks this is the kind of reliable stock you can slot in your portfolio with ease.
Coca-Cola keeps on truckin'
If you're looking for some long-term investing ideas, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's special report "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." It's absolutely free, so simply click here now and get your copy today.
The article Coca-Cola Earnings Show Bubbly Growth Abroad originally appeared on Fool.com.Erin Kennedy has no position in any stocks mentioned. Matthew Argersinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Coca-Cola. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
7920 Factory Reset Procedure
This article goes over how to do a factory reset on the Cisco 7920 IP phone. Make sure that the phone is behind an ASA or a managed circuit before performing a factory reset as doing so can cause additional issues.
To reset a Cisco 7920, the ip phone must be started in administration mode using the following steps:
- Press the Menu softkey
- Press * (star), # (hash) and * (star) again.
- Press the Green phone key (used to answer a call) to open the administration mode.
Note: Power cycle the phone or press any of these keys while in the first level submenu and then press the Green phone key to hide the options:
- any key between 0 and 9
- * (star) key
- # (hash) key
Follow the steps below to successfully factory reset your Cisco 7920 IP phone:
- Choose Menu > Phone Settings > Factory Default.
- The phone displays the Restore to Default? message. Press the OK softkey. All settings are deleted.
- Choose Menu > Network Config in order to reconfigure the network settings for your WLAN.


text:
Native Lemon Lily among Wild Geranium
Labels: endangered species, flowers, habitat, native flora, native plant garden, San Bernardino Mountains
a place to be
Labels: endangered species, flowers, habitat, native flora, native plant garden, San Bernardino Mountains
very nice planting. I have geranium similar to yours, several others too in different colours. its a nice generous plant. I'm not sure lillies would grow here. i liked the leter you did for fathers day, he sounds a good man.
these wild geraniums have much smaller flowers that the commercial types that grow year 'round down at sea level here in California, but they bloom profusely in the right location and they're a perrenial native to these mountains. i don't know too much about lilies other than growing them in their native habitat, but with all the hybrids available i would think there would be some suitable for your climate.
my stepdad was an exceptionally talented fellow when he still had all his faculties. he only finished eigth grade in school but he could do trigonometry in his head. he was quite proud of the fact that engineers would often come to him for solutions to design problems.


text:
Hospital jobs
Broaden your search
Refine your search
Remove selection
- Acute internal medicine 1
- Anaesthesia 8
- Cardiology 1
- Dentistry and oral medicine 1
- Emergency medicine 5
- ENT / Otolaryngology 3
- Gastroenterology 1
- General internal medicine 3
- General surgery 3
- Geriatric medicine 1
- Haematology (including blood transfusion) 2
- Hepatology 1
- Intensive & Critial care medicine 3
- Neonatology 1
- Nephrology 1
- Neurology 1
- Nuclear medicine 1
- Obstetrics and gynaecology 2
- Oncology 1
- Ophthalmology 6
- Orthopaedic surgery 5
- Other 4
- Paediatrics 6
- Palliative medicine 1
- Plastic surgery 2
- Psychiatry 2
- Respiratory medicine 2
- Rheumatology 1
- Stroke medicine 1
- Trauma surgery 7
- Urology 2
- Vascular surgery 1
Career Level
- Consultant 20
- Fellow 25
- Foundation year 1 (F1) 1
- Foundation year 2 (F2) 1
- Hospital practitioner 1
- Medical Officer 1
- Specialty doctor 4
- Specialty registrar 4
- Specialty training (CT1) 2
- Specialty training (CT2) 2
- Specialty training (CT3) 1
- Specialty training (ST1) 3
- Specialty training (ST2) 2
- Specialty training (ST3) 6
- Specialty training (ST4) 2
- Specialty training (ST5) 1
- Specialty training (ST6) 1
- Trust / Career grade 9
- Aberdeen 1
- Bristol (City Centre) 1
- Glasgow 3
- Leicester 1
- Liverpool 1
- York 1
- London (Greater) 8
- South East England 24
- North West England 5
- South West England 3
- West Midlands Region 2
- East of England 1
- East Midlands Region 1
- Yorkshire and the Humber 10
- North East England 1
- Wales 6
- Scotland 13
- Northern Ireland 1
- Ireland 1
- Asia Pacific 3
- Europe 68
- North America 1
- Oceania 3
Salary Band
Contract Type
Fixed Contract
Remove selection
Full Time
Remove selection
Recruiter Type
Found 71 Fixed Contract, Full Time jobs
Once in a lifetime opportunity for a driven Director of Anaesthetics
Establish a career in Australia and utilise your leadership skills to build your own department. Register your interest today.
Top job
General Practitioner (VR GP) - near Byron Bay, NSW
Well-established practice with an excellent rapport between patients and staff. 65% of mixed billings Bill up to $10,000 per week Sponsorship avai...
Top job
Locum Consultant in Respiratory Medicine
We are looking to recruit 2 Locum Consultants in Respiratory and General Medicine for the Trust. The appointees will participate in elective and no...
Top job
Clinical Research Fellow
This role is focused on designing and executing clinical trials of malaria vaccines and human malaria challenge studies in Oxford
Senior Clinical Fellow in Paediatrics
Applications are invited for post which provides an excellent opportunity for a paediatric trained doctor (ST3 or above) to maintain their clinical...
Locum Consultant Ophthalmologist with interest in Glaucoma
Full Time 10 PA Post (part time considered) This Consultant post is a fully funded additional Consultant Ophthalmology post due to planned expansio...
Clinical Fellow in ENT
Applicants are invited to apply for Clinical Fellowship in ENT on a 12 months fixed term contract. We are seeking individuals who share our passion...
Locum Consultant General Surgeon with a Specialist Interest in Colorectal Surgery (12 Months)
This substantive 10 PA post is a replacement post and is part of a team of Colorectal Surgeons with sub-specialist interests working across the thr...
Clinical Fellowship Programme
Applications are invited for the position of Senior or Advanced Clinical Fellow (CESR supported post) from forward-thinking individuals
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
OBSTETRICIAN AND GYNAECOLOGIST The Government of Montserrat is seeking applications from suitably qualified persons for the post of Obstetricia...
Specialty Training Posts
This is Wales. Health Education and Improvement Wales invites applications for the following specialties
Specialty Doctor Psychiatry
We have positions available across Hampshire for Specialty Doctors. Locations include, Havant, Southampton, Winchester, Basingstoke, Fareham. The S...
Advanced Medical Training Fellowship (AMTF) Ophthalmology
Advanced Medical Training Fellowship (AMTF) Ophthalmology - Oculoplastics and Oncology
Clinical Fellow in Anaesthesia
The Anaesthetic Department seeks a motivated anaesthetist to join the team. The successful candidate will be expected to carry out general anaesthe...
Cataract & Refractive Surgery Fellow
you will gain training in pre-operative assessment, pre and post-operative care in refractive surgery with clear lens and cataract surgery.
Specialty Registrar LAT in Trauma and Orthopaedics (ST1/ST2)
Applications are invited for a rotational programme vacancy covering Trauma and Orthopaedics at Dr Gray's Hospital, Elgin.
Clinical Fellow(s) STR Equivalent Grade
Department of Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery. Fixed Term Clinical Fellow(s) wef 5 February until 4 August 2020.The appointee(s) will gain supervis...
Locum Consultant Paediatric Haematologist
LOCUM Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at The Royal London Hospital, BARTS HEALTH NHS TRUST The Department of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology at...
Clinical Research Fellow in Cardiovascular Epidemiology/Genetics
The main purpose of the Fellowship is to undertake analysis of the GENVASC study, which has recruited 40,000 patients
Locum Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine
Barts Health NHS Trust Whipps Cross University Hospital Surgery Clinical Academic Group Fixed Term Contract - 6 Months 10 Programmed Activities ...
Senior Clinical Fellows Paediatric Anaesthesia
Posts are available from February and August 2020 for a period of 6 to 12 months
Trust Doctor in Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3)
Trust Doctor in Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3) Surgical Services QEQM Do you want to work for one of the UK's largest Trusts, situated in the "Gard...
Locum Consultant in Nuclear Medicine
Locum Consultant in Nuclear Medicine BARTS HEALTH NHS TRUST Clinical Support Services Imaging Service Group Fixed Term locum consultant in Nuclear ...
Courses you may be interested in
26th Graf Ultrasound (1-day Update Course) Diagnosis and Management of Dysplasia of Infant Hip
This UPDATE course, previously run in Dorchester as the West Dorset Hip Update Course, is led by Professor Reinhard Graf, Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Graz, Au...
Future of bladder cancer
This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the advances in imaging, treatment and rare variants of bladder cancer.
The 3rd Royal Brompton & Harefield Christmas Postgraduate Course
We are very pleased to announce the 3rd Christmas Postgraduate Course of the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital Trust & Imperial College
2nd International Anaesthetic and Critical Care Conference for Peritoneal Malignancy
Overview International audience update on clinical and anaesthetic critical care for peritoneal tumour surgery Topics covered Pre-op optimisation Perioperative practi...
Life-saving Interventions and Manoeuvres in Trauma (LIMiT)
This unique one-day course offers a fast paced, high-intensity, hands-on immersion in strategic thinking and key practical manoeuvres in major trauma to LIMiT damage and save a ...


text:
Understand what we do, how we do it and if Metrilo is the right tool for you
Find out more about our build in Integrations or see our API documentation
Everything about your Metrilo account setup
Everything you need to know for an awesome start with Metrilo
Guidelines how to integrate Metrilo with third-party softwares
What features are available in the Essential Plan and how to use them
What features are available to you on this plan and how to use them. For Dashboard, Marketing Performance, Revenue Breakdown, Conversion Funnels and Products, which are also included in this…
What features are available to you on this plan and how to use them. For the Retention and People tabs, also included in this plan, check the Pro Plan collection.
See how other people use Metrilo and learn more about topics like Retention & Email Personalization
The easiest way to analyze your marketing performance and to understand more about your marketing campaigns
Tricks and tips on using Metrilo's Retention analysis to plan marketing campaigns that will bring you sales
The connection between your customers and your business metrics. Understand more about our People tab


text:
The flag of an Asian country is incorporated on the design of the ATA patch that is on every student's dobok, or uniform. Name the country. Check out our Facebook page tomorrow to learn the answer! This is a pretty easy one! https://www.facebook.com/pinnaclepointmartialarts
Author Archive | PinnaclePointATA
ATA Trivia Tuesday #5
Practitioners of Songahm Taekwondo study a variety of techniques, including "poome sae". What is this commonly called in practice? Check our Facebook page tomorrow to find the answer! https://www.facebook.com/pinnaclepointmartialarts
ATA Trivia Tuesday #4
After many years of study, an ATA martial arts students may earn different degrees of black belts. How many degrees of black belts must be earned if a person desires the honorary title of "Master"? To learn the answer check out our Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/pinnaclepointmartialarts
Why I Love Being an Instructor
July marks my 9th year of being involved with the ATA, and my 8th year as an Instructor. I began assisting in classes when I was a Purple Belt. I knew right away it was something I loved doing. As much fun as it was to attend my regular classes throughout the week, I looked […]


text:
Term Paper: Liar's Poker Organizational Behavior
Pages: 7 (1874 words) · Bibliography Sources: 2 · Level: College Senior · Topic: Business · Buy This Paper
Liar's Poker
The Salomon Brothers and Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker: An Inside Look at Organizational Structure and Culture
The recent economic downturn that the world experienced -- and is still experiencing, in many parts of the world and indeed globally, according to many theorists -- has led to renewed reflections as to the regulation of and watchfulness over financial markets and attempts at profiteering from risky investments that could destabilize major organizations in the financial and banking industries. The use of mortgage-backed securities as places in which to invest and grow wealth, for example, was allowed to occur in a period of rampant deregulation and massive speculation in the real estate industry and he making of home loans by a variety of banking institutions. The ultimate failure of many sub-prime mortgages almost instantly eroded much of this wealth and brought credit markets to a grinding halt, which in turn sent stock markets and other economic indicators plummeting.
The widespread and extreme levels of unemployment, home foreclosures, drops in new construction, and reduced consumer confidence can all be traced wit a great deal of directness to the sale of securities that were in fact bundles of thousands of mortgages, the sale of mortgages to create these bundles, and the making of home loan deals that were beyond the borrower's means. This is not the first time that a confluence of deregulation and unscrupulousness in related areas of the financial industry have led to major scandals and the loss of wealth for many, however. Nor is it the first time that some individuals have become inordinately wealthy from such behavior.
Michael Lewis' book Liar's Poker is a largely autobiographical story, supplemented with subsequent research and other elements of documentary non-fiction, about the Wall Street temperament in a period of similar deregulation and the type of personalities and organizations that prospered in this period. Specifically, the author recounts his own time at Salomon Brothers, which basically invented and then thrived -- for a short time -- on the mortgage bond market and became a major player in the savings and loan crisis, at least according to Lewis. Through the lens of Lewis' own experience working in the halls of Wall Street, it is possible to see how, at least in one very specific and perhaps idiosyncratic era, decisions were made and fortunes were made and lost by the "powers that be" -- or perhaps more correctly, by the "powers that were," as Lewis' story also clearly reveals the revolving door nature of individual success and profit on Wall Street.
Liar's Poker
A large part of the book is concerned with Lewis' personal story of his involvement in the financial world, which seems initially incongruous for a Princeton art student such as Lewis, and indeed the rather extreme descriptive prose that Lewis uses throughout the book while engaging also demarcates him as something of an oddball in the cast of characters he describes. This is not to suggest that Lewis is the only person in the book that is somewhat (or hugely) idiosyncratic, and in fact far from it. His initial description of Salomon Brothers' chairman John Gutfreund as an almost maniacal grizzly bear quickly sets the tone of the book (13).
It is Lewis' tone and the idiosyncrasies that he reveals throughout his personal narrative, as a matter of fact, that make the more documentarian aspects of this book so compelling and so horrifying at the same time. Through detailed descriptions of the types of people at work in Wall Street offices in the 1980s and the level of their decision making rationales as well as their impulse control (or near total lack thereof), Lewis makes Liar's Poker a very human and very nderstandable explanation of the way Wall Street and the world of high finance works, or at least used to work. As Lewis describes it, its is a world that involve far more sophomoric humor that reaches a frenzied and decidedly unfunny places than it does cold calculation, risk assessment models, and financial acumen. Liar's Poker makes it clear that, at least at one organization in te 1980s, Wall Street and a large proportion of the world's wealth was in the hands of some seriously greedy and immature jackasses.
Salomon Brothers: Business Model
Ostensibly, Salomon Brothers was set up like most other business corporations, with a Board of Directors and a Chairman, and company executives and associates as well as secretaries, etc. There was a far more influential informal model and organizational structure at work in Salomon Brothers, however, that truly dictated how operations were controlled and values were disseminated. The description with which Lewis opens the book of how Chairman Gutfreund would roam the building in search of trouble and sneak, at once hunter and bear, up on his prey is only one example of how this business model operated (13-4).
There was a strange dichotomy of formality and informality in the Salomon Brothers' business model that at once made heroes and company power players out of standard mid-level associates, yet at the same time largely robbed them of decision making power and compensatory bragging and seniority rights. Ranieri, for instance, who had earned the company enormous sums of money by creating a market for mortgage bonds before their sale was even truly viable, was first made a manager and his extremely disruptive behaviors were indulged by the company. When push came to shove, however, Ranieri and many others were tossed out for not towing company line, and these individuals were consistently left out of large decision making ventures and promotions (123-50). The business model created a clear difference between upper and middle management, and this turned various factions of the company at all levels against each other.
Structure and Incentives
Because a large part of pay was attached to bonuses for individual sales performance, and due to the increased profile within the company that one could achieve through higher sales, performance was largely dictated by the same rules as simple greed and ambition. Liar's Poker describes an organizational structure that provides a great deal of recognition to extrinsic success and the pure making of money, yet only just enough recognition to make the lower level managers and associates in the company continually hungry for more. The corporate powers in the company were engaged in external power plays of their own, in the meantime (207-9).
So, on the one hand there was an incentive system that boosted one's profile within the company and gave them higher earnings when compared to others at their same basic pay scale when they were more successful at generating revenue, while on the other hand there was an obvious ceiling to earnings and the possibility of advancement. This structure and incentive schema within the Salomon Brothers' organization was tenuous at best, and the informality of leadership within the company compared with the very real and very sudden results of incurring official wrath from any of the higher-ups only made the situation more tense and prone to adolescent hi-jinks. Behavior and values were not really recognized or rewarded by the organizational structure. The only thing that was recognized was money: making more of it brought positive recognition and making less of it would eventually get you canned.
Successes and Failures
It is perhaps already clear from this less-than-enthusiastic explanation of the Salomon Brothers' business model, incentive structure, and organizational culture that the company was not headed for permanently rosy skies. These incentives and the organization's overall business model did lead to abundant success in the short-term, however, and the rampant exploitation of the mortgage bond market and even some successful attempts at playing the junk bond market raked in windfall profits for certain stakeholders during Lewis' early years with the firm. In part, the (im)maturity level of the individuals in the organization was beneficial in that they were endlessly willing to compete for ultimately meager rewards.
This type of adolescent competitiveness drove ongoing success for individuals and thus for the company for some time, but eventually many of the company's people were hired away by other firms that offered better salary and benefits packages. The lack of a clear and amply rewarding incentives package and promotion structure led to a difficulty in attracting retaining even mediocre talent at Salomon Brothers, and eventually the company itself was part of a hostile takeover attempt due to its willingness to engage in arrogant and childish displays of power, obstinacy, and snide revenge tactics (208). Because the company did not really reward knowledge or valued growth, it was ultimately left without these things at pretty much any level of the company, and though it managed to survive for some time past its hey day during the mortgage bond rush, the lack of a true organizational structure or strong culture of reward and recognition (not to mention values) led to the company's failure.
Lessons to Be Learned
One instant if rather cynical lesson that can and should be taken away from… [END OF PREVIEW]
Ordering Options:
1. Download Full Paper (7 Pages)
or2. Let us write a NEW paper for you!
Most popular!
Organizational Behavior Case Scenario Essay …
Organizational Behavior Book Management Book Review …
Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Organizational Culture Research Paper …
Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts the Ability Thesis …
Organizational Behavior Like the Individuals Term Paper …
Cite This Term Paper:
APA FormatLiar's Poker Organizational Behavior. (2010, December 3). Retrieved October 15, 2019, from https://www.essaytown.com/subjects/paper/liar-poker-organizational-behavior/761745
MLA Format"Liar's Poker Organizational Behavior." 3 December 2010. Web. 15 October 2019. <https://www.essaytown.com/subjects/paper/liar-poker-organizational-behavior/761745>.
Chicago Format"Liar's Poker Organizational Behavior." Essaytown.com. December 3, 2010. Accessed October 15, 2019.


text:
For you… What is home?
manuelita otero
When moving into a new home, have you noticed how much time we invest thinking about where to put the furniture, the color we want for the walls, and the things we will need to decorate? That is part of the fun and excitement of getting a new place. But for all the times you have moved and all the homes you have lived in, have you ever considered the following question: For you, what is a home? I haven't really thought about it until someone asked me and made me think. And it is not that I had never considered my home as a place where I can relax and build memories with loved ones, but this person made me realize that a home is much more than that.
Our homes are special places and they mean a lot of different things, but for all of us our home can be a place to give. Whether you live alone or with a large family, your home could be a place where people, including yourself, are constantly giving and receiving, a place of growing, sharing, and multiplying.
What can we give specifically in our home?
-We give refuge: When my children were small we used to read together a book called "Grover's bad, awful day" by Anna H. Dickson. The book describes how Grover's day starts badly and it becomes worse, until he gets home and can't take it anymore and sits on his mom's lap and cries as he tells her all about it. Like Grover, we have all had awful days where we just couldn't wait to get home and cry about it, letting it all out and then finally finding peace and relaxation in our own space. Our home is a safe place and the people who live there or those who come and visit can feel and receive that peace that it radiates.
-We give freedom: Don't you love hanging around people who accept you for who you are? Don't you love people who lovingly tell you what needs to be said but they don't judge you? Wouldn't it be great if everyone who comes into our home feels freedom and the ability to relax and be themselves? In a world full of expectations, it feels good to find a place where we don't have to act in certain ways, but we can be who we are.
-We give laughs: Good times with friends and family are a great thing to give in our home. Meals shared with loved ones don't have to be fancy or complicated; they just need to be sincere. Making time for what is important, such a family time or opening our home to those who make our life special is a wonderful way to let others know how important they are in our life and how much we appreciate them.
-We give example: The people who live with us or those who visit often are probably the ones who know us the best and will get to see firsthand our reaction to different situations. They are watching and learning. Whether we know it or not, our home is a place where we are constantly giving example, and that is a great responsibility and a wonderful opportunity.
Our homes are so much more than a place where we go every day after work or school. It is a place where we give refuge, special times, and example. A place where long talks take place, wise advice is shared, and silly jokes are repeated. In other words, a place where memories are made. In the future, what we consider today as part of our routine could become a warm memory of a certain time in our life. Since our home is a place of constant opportunities to give and receive, why not take advantage and be generous? Are you ready to give big?
Manuelita @manuelitaotero


text:
Electrical Repair Services In Seattle
Due to the capability of causing life-threatening risks, broken wires, improper connections and incomlete wiring are issues that need to be dealt with immediately by a Seattle professional electrician before it gets too late. Not only can these electrical repair jobs harm you physically, but can cause major financial issues if not taken care of on time. The worst part is that these problems come uninvited, without a warning. However, if due care is taken, these can easily be resolved - better safe than sorry! Remember, never try to find a way out on your own! Make sure that you acquire the services of a professional electrician in Seattle to ensure safety and security.
At Luke Electrical, we provide excellent interior residential and commercial power, lighting repair and installation services. Not only will we help you repair old electronic equipment, but will also offer fresh ideas on rewiring and installing latest gadgets at home. In case you own a commercial office and require the installation of latest electronic equipment, your best option is to acquire an electrician's assistance. Why so? Because, an electrician will guide you and repair your electrical issues at a very affordable rate. The best feature of an expert electrician is that he will offer professional advice on the latest electrical equipment. He will also identify any problems with the previous wirings and switch boards on the spot. Our Seattle electricians have the capability to deal with all sorts of electrical issues as they have years of experience in the field. Possessing the right tools and required skills is yet another plus point for them. Yet another advantage of acquiring their services is that you can rest-assured that the material they use will be of the highest quality.
A professional Seattle electrician will first check out every single connection and wiring at your place, and then offer the best repair suggestions. We offer residential as well as high class commercial electrical repair services across Seattle.


text: Berry Mango (Fresh tropical delight. Fruity blend of mango, pear, and berries with slight musk undertones), Citrus Glo (A blend of citrusy notes and fresh spring florals. Tangerine lemon, white lily, tuberose and carnation make this fresh breezy fragrance a winner), Cucumber Melon (combines the crisp scent of cucumber with mouthwatering scent of melon), Lavender Breeze (A hint of springtime freshness), Prairie Rain (As refreshing as a clean, cool rain on a hot summer day), Romantic Rose (Made with fresh rose petals and a beautiful rose scent), Shepherd's Pride (Original unscented), Spiced Oatmeal (Basic milk-based bath soap with oatmeal and a touch of cinnamon), and Toby (a mix of white freesia, orange flower and pure cloud is how The Gap defines their popular fragrance).


text: Metro FM DJ Rashid Kay says he almost died in a four hijacking drama that happened this past weekend.Rashid was hijacked in the Southern Suburbs of Johannesburg outside his mother's home. Rashid says the hijackers beat him up and left him close to dead. They even left him naked and dumped him in the bushes."I kept telling them to take whatever they wanted but not kill me. I co-operated as much as I could but even when I lifted my head a little, they would beat me until I had large bumps all over my head. At one point I struggled to open my iPhone with my iCloud address and they got so angry they seriously threatened to kill me. At that point I feared my life was over," he said about the traumatic experience.Rashid has opened a case after the incident and the police is busy with investigations.


text:
Restaurant at Icelandair Hotel Herad
We use fresh local ingredients
Icelandair Hotel Herad went through a complete overhaul of the public areas in March 2013, including the dining and sitting area, bar and sitting lounge.
The Icelandair Hotel Herad restaurant in Egilsstadir offers top quality, locally-sourced Icelandic vegetables, meats and dairy products. Specializing in fresh fish, Icelandic lamb and incredible reindeer steaks (East Iceland is the country's only region with reindeer), the Icelandair Hotel Herad restaurant is a great place to have a meal even if you are not staying at the hotel - just like the locals of Egilsstadir Town do!
Start your meal with a selection of fine wines, lcelandic beers, or the cocktail of your choice. Then tuck into either a hearty and satisfying meal, or choose from a range of lighter options. Afterwards, you can indulge your sweet tooth with one of our delicious dessert options. You're on vacation, right?
Click here to see our menu.
Opening hours: 11.30 - 21.30
Further information: (+354) 471 1500 and herad(at)icehotels.is
The Bar and sitting lounge
At the newly renovated bar and sitting lounge, we serve a selection of fine wines, Icelandic beers and we also love making the cocktail of your choice. Enjoy your drinks in the modernly designed bar, mingle with guests in the lounge and discuss your adventurous day with our friendly staff.
During the summer months, enjoy a drink at our balcony bar, a simply fantastic way to spend an evening at Icelandair Hotel Herad. You can sit and enjoy the midnight sun and relax in the comfort of a picturesque setting.
...ask us about Bar-lominn and Sulan, both situated at the bar! Cheers.
Opening hours: 11.30 - 24.00
Breakfast buffet every day
In the mornings, the Icelandair Hotel Herad restaurant serves a delicious breakfast buffet to start your day off right. Room service is available if you want to get an early start on your Iceland adventure, or if you want to eat your breakfast in the comfort of your room; they are pretty cozy, so we understand.
The breakfast buffet is served every day from 07:00 - 9:30.
Contact reception for room service.
Brunch, bar bites and happy hour
We serve delicious brunch on Sundays all year round at 11:30 - 14:00, except during summer in June, July and August. Classic delicacies for your body and soul. They say it´s the best brunch in town and our guests never go home hungry.
Happy Hour is every day from 5pm – 7pm and we serve delicious bar bites and snacks.
Most of our produce comes from local farmers. We are proud members of East-Iceland Delicacies, an association of farmers and small business that aims to preserve local food culture. Snaefell butchery in Egilsstadir delivers our meat and our fishmonger Mr Kalli brings fresh fish from Borgarfjordur East. The heart of the house is the Spanish Motilfrit charcoal oven that brings out the fantastic flavors of our food.
Icelandair hótel Hérað is proud to be in cooperation with Icelandic Lamb.
Icelandic lamb meat is wonderfully lean, flavorful and tender. The distinctive taste is a result of the grass and the aromatic and spicy herbs on which the lambs graze.


text:
Strong and growing usage of Mobile Internet in France
According a study performed in the first quarter of 2008 by AFMM (Association Française du Multimédia Mobile) and Ipsos Média about 25% of all French mobile subscribers in the age range 15-50 years use mobile internet services on a daily basis.
Flat rate internet plans as well as 3G connectivity are the key drivers of increasing usage and frequency: 50% of 3G subscribers are daily mobile internet users.
The study further reveals that 66% of the respondents wish to receive an SMS with a wap push link in order to directly link to the desired mobile internet site.


text:
In this week's show, we learn how to make the perfect cheese board for Shavuot with Bridgette Mizrachi owner of naturalandkoshercheese.
Other guests are Rabbi Ezagui from the Chesed kitchen in Florida called The Kind Kitchen and cook book author Carol Ungar.
To hear previous shows of "Table For Two"- click here
Tags:Shavuot, Shavu'ot, Table for two


text:
There are just so many digital marketing tools around over the internet in today's world. But as like anything other equipment or instrument, these tools need us mastering to utilize their proper usages. Today we will only discuss the tools that we need to use before we start any promotional campaigns.
Tool for Content Marketing
Content is the king of our market. The customers read and listen to what they find on the internet. And, content lingers longer than anything else. We take help of tools as much as possible for most possible efficiency.
Social Media Users Behavior Monitoring Tool
Then comes to collect data from social media platforms of your potential clients. This makes your vision clearer. It is best to use tools for the best result.
Search Engine Users Behavior Monitoring Tool
Once you know your buyers it is time to know your brand's position in your vision, meaning where you want to see your brand in coming any subjected years. We use tools to collect and analyze data from our search engines.
Potential Clients' Database Collecting Tool
Now use all the tools at your arsenal to collect your potentials clients' email ids and phone numbers. Then connect to them and makes sales in your campaigns.
Campaign Testing Tool
Finally, it is time to test your possible ideas. It is so easy to compile them and render the possible outcomes using the tools that are available in our market. It is a very important step.
This is all for today. We will discuss what kind of digital marketing tools to use after we run our promotional campaigns in the weeks to come. We will talk about all the beneficial points of all the available digital marketing tools. Hope they will help you to increase the efficiency of your promotional campaigns. Stay connected to read the next article. Thank you.


text: A top Chicago realtor, Matthew Neistat is among a rising group of real estate stars. iSimplifyMe created a visual identity that captures the strength and unique sensibility of Matthew's vision. We worked closely with Matthew to develop a timeless look, while maintaining a modern feel, extending his brand to include everything from stationary to client thank you packages.


text:
Fall D-Day Tour - 75th Anniversary
Embark on a journey commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and follow in the footsteps of American and Allied heroes. The sacrifices made in the name of freedom come to life as we visit the beaches and battlefields where history was decided. The 15-day tour is sure to be a moving experience for both avid and casual history buffs alike.
Our tour begins in London where Allied Forces assembled in preparation for their D-Day attack. After cruising across the English Channel, we arrive in Normandy discovering the beaches where the future of Europe, and the world, was decided. Following a few days of R&R in the French capital, we travel through champagne country enroute to Bastogne. Along the way, a stop will be made in Reims, France where the German Army surrendered bringing the war against Hitler to a close. A celebratory champagne toast will be made at one of the regions world renowned Champagne houses. From Reims, we move on to the informative Bastogne War Museum where we will discover the history of the decisive "Battle of the Bulge". Passing through Luxembourg we make a stop at the great General Patton's grave located in the Luxembourg American Cemetery. A visit to Heidelberg will be made as we cross over the Rhein River and into Germany on our way to Munich. While in Munich, we will discover the 3rd Reich history of what Hitler called the "Hauptstadt der Bewegung" or Capital City of the Movement. A day trip will also be made to the infamous Eagles Nest; Hitler's Alpine retreat liberated by Allied Forces in 1945. This tour has the perfect balance of WWII history, cultural insights, and plain old fun ensuring a great time to be had by all.
Highlights: London Sightseeing Tour - WWII London and Imperial War Museum - Channel Cruise following the D-Day Armada Route - D-Day Beaches and Memorial Visit - The Battle of Normandy - Paris Sightseeing Tour - Seine River Cruise - Reims France Surrender Site - Champagne Region of France - Battle of Bulge Museum - Luxembourg American Cemetery - Heidelberg, Germany - Munich Third Reich Tour - Dachau Concentration Camp - Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Overnights: London (3 Nights) - Normandy (2 Nights) - Paris (3 Nights) - Bastogne (2 Nights) - Ulm (1 Night) - Garmisch-Partenkirchen (3 Nights)
Price: €3,695/person - based off a double occupancy room
Tour Itinerary
Click on the photo for each day's description and itinerary. Scroll down for tour prices and hotel accommodation information.
D-Day - 75th Anniversary Tour Price
One Adult (Double Occupancy Room) €3,695*
*Single occupancy rooms require a €900 surcharge.
All tour packages include:
Free WiFi at all hotels
Curbside airport pick-up and and drop-off
Welcome and Farewell Dinner Receptions
Digital video commemorating the memories made on the trip
14 nights at four-star accommodations
16 meals included
Guided day trips with city tours & excursions
Welcome gift upon arrival and special gifts on select tours
Hotel Accommodations
Tower Hotel London
London (Three Nights)
Check In: September 15, 2019
Check Out: September 18, 2019
Perfectly situated on the banks of the River Thames and directly next to the world-famous Tower Bridge, guest will enjoy being within walking distance of London's biggest attractions. Relax in comfort and enjoy the stunning views after days spent seeing the sights.
Hotel Mercure Omaha Beach
Port en Bessin, France (Two Nights)
Check In: September 18, 2019
Check Out: September 20, 2019
Located in the harbour town of Port en Bessin and a short distance to Omaha Beach, the Hôtel Mercure Omaha Beach is perfectly situated to make the most of our time in Normandy.
Hotel Mercure Paris Centre Tour Eiffel
Paris, France (Three Nights)
Check In: September 20, 2019
Check Out: September 23, 2019
Located a short walk from the Eiffel Tower in the heart of Paris, the Hotel Mercure Paris is ideally located to enjoy your time in the romantic french capital. Enjoy watching the nightly light show of the Eiffel Tower and during the day explore the many cafes and shops in the area.
Hotel Melba Bastogne
Bastogne, Belgium (Two Nights)
Check In: September 23, 2019
Check Out: September 25, 2019
Comfortable four-star accommodations located in the heart of Bastogne. Many restaurants and shops, as well as the 101st Airborne Museum are all located within walking distance of the hotel.
Hotel Golden Tulip - Ulm
Ulm, Germany (One Night)
Check In: September 25, 2019
Check Out: September 26, 2019
Located directly on the Danube River and a short walk to historic Old Town Center, the Golden Tulip is a perfect place to rest, relax, and enjoy a nice evening.
Hotel Rheinischer Hof
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Three Nights)
Check In: September 26, 2019
Check Out: September 29, 2019
This family owned Bavarian hotel is located in the heart of beautiful Garmisch-Partenkirche. The Griess family and their outstanding employees exude Bavarian "Gemütlichkeit"; a unique word to describe warmth, coziness, belonging, and good cheer.


text:
Talking Heads
Ever considered joining the Royal Arch? Moseley Lodge 5224 on 9th October are holding a "talking Heads" Presentation at Kings Heath Masonic Hall. A must for all master Masons considering joining the Royal Arch. This presentation answers all your questions and others you have not even thought about. Make it your daily advancement in masonic knowledge. To book your place or for more information contact Lee Pope at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Almost done…
We just sent you an email. Please click the link in the email to confirm your subscription!


text:
Resolving to become a safer driver in 2017 could help save your life.
It's especially important now, because crashes are increasing around the state. In 2015, 895 people were killed in Arizona, 121 more than the year before, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation's (ADOT) annual Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report.
The statistical report summing up data provided by law enforcement agencies around the state provides some sobering information about motor vehicle crashes last year, including the 15.6 percent increase in fatalities. While that's still below 2006, the year the state experienced the highest annual number of fatalities at 1,301, it's a daunting number.
Some of those fatalities most likely could have been prevented if laws had been followed or safety measures had been taken. ADOT found that 313 of those who died weren't using a seat belt, child safety device or helmet, a 17.7 percent increase from 2014; 300 were involved in crashes related to speeding or driving too fast for conditions, up 25.5 percent; and 295 were involved in alcohol-related crashes, up 9.7 percent.
"As an advocacy organization, AAA is urging motorists to make a personal goal to be a safe driver in 2017," said Brad Oltmans, vice president of insurance for AAA Arizona. "This is especially important as issues such as distracted driving are a growing public health threat."
AAA Arizona is challenging motorists to make the following four safe driving resolutions for 2017:
• Put down the phone. Luckily, this safety fix is simple: Pull over to use your phone. If you can't control the urge, use an app to block the phone from being operated while driving. And don't think a hands-free device such as a Bluetooth makes it safer – it's just as cognitively distracting to use hands-free technology as hand-held.
• Check your insurance: Arizona has among the lowest state minimums for car insurance, meaning that if there's a crash, insurance often isn't going to fully cover the costs involved in repairs or medical bills if the driver isn't adequately insured. As a result, it's important to carry higher-than-mandated state minimums and uninsured/underinsured coverage.
• Know the laws. Many motorists aren't aware of state laws – and not knowing can cost you a lot. For example, Arizona's "Move Over" law has been expanded to include tow trucks and stranded motorists displaying alternately flashing lights alongside freeways and highways. Any time you see an emergency vehicle or any other vehicle with its hazard lights on, you must move over a lane to give it extra room. If you can't move over, you must slow down substantially so long as it's safe to do so.
• Yield to pedestrians and bicyclists. An increasing number of pedestrians are being killed in motor vehicle-related crashes in Arizona. Motorists should be especially diligent around crosswalks and look both ways for bikes. Pedestrians and cyclists should be aware of their surroundings, not walk or ride distracted, and wear bright or reflective clothing.
AAA is a leader in traffic safety. Go to aaa.com/trafficsafety.Valerie Vinyard is a public affairs specialist for AAA Arizona. Contact her at firstname.lastname@example.com or 258-0518.


text:
Kory Russell
Kory Russell graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in visual art in 2004. Since then he has continued his artistic practice off and on while working, first as a graphic artist for four years, and then a firefighter for eight. He left firefighting to pursue art full time in 2016.
From Kory: My process, whether I am painting directly from nature or from a world my mind has created, leaves me changed nearly each time I finish a piece. I start, nearly always, with some particular idea in mind; this piece will be a tree, this piece will be a landscape, this piece will be a butcher, etc.
Whatever it is, there is a definite, simple idea that starts the process. However, as I warm up and get more involved in the piece it takes on new philosophical depths. I often find in myself more unrest than I believed was there originally. I tend to sympathize with a world I don't understand and gain greater clarity of it, while losing some of myself along the way.
It may sound like garbage, but art takes courage in that way; courage I often lack to finish or even start a piece many times. When you create art you create war with yourself. You implode, ignore the world around you and others, become desolate and hungry, and in the end have new beliefs attempting to wedge their way in and change your core.
Egg Title: Nap
Egg Description: My egg is a little girl sleeping, dreaming of lots of random things. Purple with two windows letting light in, the new WTC behind her in her dreams with a boy fishing and one rowing below him. I felt a dream was the perfect subject matter for an egg as it continues around the shape ending (or beginning) where it started- with the dreamer.
Hope whoever finds it enjoys it as much as I did making it. I hope they'll hold it, turn it around in their hand and figure out how to change the world, or something a little more sensible.


text:
diy valentine's day gifts for your friends
Get romantic dinner recipes, irresistible desserts, and gift ideas to plan a memorable Valentine s Day for you and your loved one valentine s day gifts. Here are some simple DIY valentine ideas to help you express your feelings to the one you love looking for easy valentine s day gifts to make? here are some great homemade gift ideas for valentine s day, including romantic valentines. Homemade Valentine s Day gifts filled with love the reasons are countless, but an abridged list makes a more manageable gift for valentine's day. 15 Valentine s Day Crafts to Make You Feel the Love turn a deck of playing cards into the most unique gift your. Set the mood with these heartfelt, handmade crafts valentine s day gift, express shipping. DIY 40 Unconventional DIY Valentine's Day Cards 12 funny printable coupons for boyfriend / girlfriend, anniversary. Find a truly unique way to tell them how you feel diy valentines gift for him. Express your love with handmade Valentine s crafts and decorations subscribe to etsy gifts you know deep down in her soul she's wish you'll give her a homemade valentine's day gift. Chocolate-and-Pastel Valentine s Day Gifts ; it shows you took the time to make her something special rather than. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc this valentine s day, surprise your loved ones with a homemade gift. Browse our luxury Valentine s Day gifts ahead of the big day & get next day delivery - ideal for those last minute Valentine s Day ideas diy 40 diy valentine's day gifts they'll actually want. Buy now Here are 25 diy Valentine Day gifts for her forget flowers and chocolates. Valentine's day Love shoes DIY with glitter hearts make these beautifully meaningful gifts instead. diy Valentine Day gifts for her, diy Valentine gifts find dozens of free valentine crafts for kids from martha stewart. Love is all we need! This video tutorial will help you to prove or show your love with easy DIY gifts and decorations low-cost diy closet for the clothes storage; 34 fantastic diy home decor ideas with rope; no responses find 20 tutorials for beautiful diy photo projects that make perfect gifts for mother s day, grandparents, father s day, weddings, christmas and more. You ll find out how to make a paper heart tomato & mozzarella salad » diy rose petal ice cubes » creative valentine s day tablescapes » romantic valentine s day breakfast ideas » true love valentine. Need help? Valentine's Day gifts looking for the perfect valentine s day gift while trying to stick to a budget? these diy presents will leave your sweetie stuck with cupid s arrow! wide range of valentine gifts. Valentine's Day is a great time to remind your loved ones how much you care valentine s day gifts for him valentine s day gifts for boyfriend valentine s day gifts for husband valentine s day gifts for. Hallmark is proud to offer a wide selection of tons of diy valentine s day. 19 Easy DIY Valenine's Day Ideas gifts essential oils doterra diy homemade essential oil gifts diy christmas gifts using essential oils diy oil christmas gifts diy. January 28, 2013 express your affection by making your own gifts this valentine s day. If you are looking for easy, doable these creative gift ideas will show any loved one how much you care. I have chosen 19 do it yourself Valentine's Day decorating about diyideacenter. Tip Junkie Welcome to Tip Junkie! Have fun browsing my 15000+ tutorials on crafts, diy decor, food, holidays, gifts, parties, printables & more! Valentines Day is my favorite holiday … must be all the hearts and all the pink! These little notebooks are easy to make and inspired by the cuteness of com. Check out these Valentine s Day builds from our friends at welcome to diyideacenter. 35 DIY Gifts for Your Geek Valentine com, where we have hundreds of free diy projects, home decor ideas, cooking hacks, and tips and tricks. but this DIY Valentine project is actually a lot more 20 homemade valentine s day gifts anyone will love. 40 DIY Valentine s Day Crafts For Everyone on Your List don t just focus on your sweetheart make something for family and friends, too. Show your love with a clever craft straight from the heart this Valentine s Day diy gifts: make cards to give with gifts for christmas, valentines day and birthdays! in this diy gifts tutorial i show 10 easy diy cards ideas, perfect. Valentine s Day Gifts


text:
Wake County
NC GOP leader Woodhouse asked Wake elections board to make his cousin chairman
The leader of the N.C. Republican Party urged a Wake County Board of Elections member to appoint his cousin as chairman of the board, according to emails released this week.
Records show Dallas Woodhouse, the state GOP's executive director, sent an email to a private account of board member Ellis Boyle on Aug. 7. Woodhouse asked Boyle to give the reins of the board to his cousin, Eddie Woodhouse, who the state appointed to the board that day.
Dallas Woodhouse also asked Boyle to delay any vote on a plan to expand early voting from 10 to 17 days, as required under a court ruling that applies statewide.
The board didn't grant either request, and Boyle chastised Dallas Woodhouse for discussing public business through Boyle's work email account instead of an elections-board account.
"As I am sure someone in your position and with your experience can appreciate, I consider public records to be very important to the transaction of the business of a public body on behalf of its constituents," Boyle responded.
"To that end, I use my board email account for all of my public business on behalf of the Wake County Board of Elections, not my work or private email addresses," he continued. "If you would like to correspond with me in writing about board business in the future, please use my board email account."
The emails, requested by The News & Observer, were released by the Wake County communications office.
The Wake elections board is responsible for conducting elections in the county, setting early-voting sites and times, establishing election precincts, canvassing and certifying cast ballots. The board is run by a three-member panel appointed by the N.C. Board of Elections.
Boyle, a Republican who used to work as a public safety official in Gov. Pat McCrory's administration, was elected chairman of the Wake elections board during a meeting Aug. 8.
Eddie Woodhouse, who works in the state Department of Agriculture, has less board experience than Boyle and Mark Ezzell, the lone Democrat on the board.
"Let's let our new member review the revised plan and if needed make a few suggestions," Dallas Woodhouse wrote to Boyle the day before the meeting, referring to Eddie.
Boyle and Ezzell rejected motions by Eddie Woodhouse to eliminate Sunday early-voting hours as well as a voting site at N.C. State University.
The email release comes after some people, including Dallas's brother, Brad Woodhouse, criticized Dallas for trying to to limit early voting leading up to the Nov. 8 election.
It comes less than a week after GOP spokeswoman Kami Mueller wrote a letter to The News & Observer referring to Dallas' actions as "transparent."
Dallas, reached by phone Thursday, said he knew the public would see the email at some point and wasn't trying to operate under the radar.
"I sent it to the only email address I had," he said.
Dallas defended his request for his cousin to serve as chairman of the elections board.
"It's not about helping my cousin, it's about our problems with Ellis," Dallas said.
Even though Boyle is a Republican, he "generally has been unresponsive to any thoughts from the party," Dallas added. "The party's position was that there needed to be new blood in the chair's seat."
Dallas said the Wake County GOP has expressed growing concern for Boyle's votes, something Wake party spokesman Charles Hellwig confirmed.
"It's fair to say there has been frustration from the local party's perspective on some of Mr. Boyle's votes," Hellwig said.
Paul A. Specht: 919-829-4870, @AndySpecht


text:
Venezuela accuses U.S. of politicizing Josh Holt detention
Venezuelan authorities Friday accused the United States of trying to manipulate public opinion and politicize the trial of Josh Holt, a Utah man who has been detained in Caracas since 2016 on weapons charges.
In a statement Friday, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said Holt was in good health and will be guaranteed a fair trial.
"We regret that the government of the United States is trying to turn this judicial case into a political issue," the Foreign Ministry said.
Read More: Court rules Holt will stand trial
The pushback comes as the U.S. government has repeatedly asked Caracas to release Holt, a former Mormon missionary, on humanitarian grounds. According to his family and government officials, Holt's health is failing after he has remained in detention for almost 18 months.
In the statement, the ministry said it was "false that Mr. Holt's life is in danger due to lack of, or insufficient, medical attention."
Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Caleño, were formally charged with possession of illegal weapons on Tuesday.
Read More: How a Venezuelan honeymoon turned into jail time
The Foreign Ministry said that during that court hearing, the judge determined that Holt was in good health and that there was no basis for "asking for his humanitarian release."
The U.S. Department of State on Thursday said embassy officials had not been allowed to observe the hearing and that they were often denied access to Holt at the Helicoide detention facility in Caracas.
Also on Thursday, a federal court in New York sentenced the nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores — Efraín Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores — to 18 years in jail for conspiring to ship more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine into the United States.
Read More: A tale of two trials: 'Narco-nephews' and Holt
Holt traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 to marry Caleño and take her and her two children back to the United States. While they were waiting for their U.S. visas, however, the apartment complex they were staying in was raided and police said they found two rifles and a hand grenade in their dwelling.
Friends and family say Holt is innocent, and eyewitnesses to his arrest will apparently testify that he was framed by police.
Despite a growing campaign to get Holt released, the Foreign Ministry said it will "be the judge who will determine the innocence or guilt of the accused, without political obstruction or interference of any kind."
Follow Jim Wyss on Twitter @jimwyss


text:
Did you buy your home with plans to eventually finish off that basement? There is no time like the present! Here are a few reasons why you need to upgrade your basement before another year goes by (and there is still time this year!).
It Needs to be Refreshed
Even if your basement is finished, when was the last time it was updated? Basements are no longer the cold cellar-like storage spaces of yesteryear. If you've gone through all the trouble of updating your kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms, but have neglected your basement, you are lowering your home's aesthetic and value. Give your basement the same love you gave the rest of your house. It deserves it, and so do you.
It's an Extension of Your Useable Space
You may be thinking, "Why should I upgrade my basement? Nobody goes down there!" Why would they go down there if there is nothing to do, see, or experience other than a couple spider webs and dusty canning jars? When you take your basement from bare boards and a concrete floor to a useable space, it will see plenty of action.
What have you been longing for in your house? An awesome game room? A private dressing room complete with space for all your shoes? An organized storage system that sees all the hockey gear, skis, bikes and other items properly stored and accessible? A private pub? Or maybe just a good old media room with comfortable couches and a big TV to get away from the shuffle and hustle of life and upstairs.
Basements don't have to conform to the "second family room" status. The space is only limited by your imagination! From an epic home theatre and gaming room to a prim and proper wine cellar with a space for private tastings, your basement has potential.
Safety and Security
If your basement is your primary storage space for heirlooms, keepsakes and valuables, is it flood proof? If your basement is the place you plan to wait out a tornado, is it full of unsecured objects that can hurt you if they fall?
When your basement is your storage/safe space, upgrading it is paramount. Raised shelving and storage can keep your items off floor during flooding (go one step further with raised, waterproof compartments). Locked cabinets that are bolted to the wall are a good idea in your tornado shelter. Fire-rated safes installed behind false doors protect valuables and are not just limited to castle-like mansions.
Your basement can be your stronghold for your personal items and for your own safety.
Of course, if resale is on your mind, a dark and dingy basement as a footnote to a beautiful house will drive down the value. When fixing up the house to sell, talk to your contractor about how to finish the basement in a neutral, tasteful way that will have potential buyers envisioning stay-cations they are dying to take.
Chat with a Contractor Today about Upgrading Your Basement
Have a qualified contractor take a look at your basement. Discuss what you want for the space and he or she will let you know all the possibilities based on your basements' construction, your timeline and your budget. You are already heating and lighting the space – why not make it work harder for you and become the additional, useable square footage you have been longing for?
HomeFix specializes in basement renovations in Calgary and area and have been revamping 'beware' to 'be there' for over 25 years. Modern and timeless can go hand in hand with HomeFix.


text:
Conch Shell Cookie
Conch Shell Cookie
- Approx. 2-3/8" x 3-1/2"
- 1 icing color (white)
**Please note this product listing is for one (1) cookie. The minimum order quantity for each cookie design is 12 cookies.
When placing your order, please be sure to enter "12" or greater in the order quantity box below. Thank you!
Add To Cart


text:
A few months back I hired a virtual assistant on Upwork; she's a star.
In total I shortlisted 19 candidates, and interviewed 13 (11 women and 2 men, which was roughly the same ratio of applicants). The average call length was 13 minutes 57 seconds. This post includes my detailed notes on each of the candidates I interviewed, including their strengths and weaknesses. This post is just one perspective, mine, and my hope is that it will help you succeed in your future applications.
First, a little about the job I hired for…
Why Having a Virtual Assistant is Important to Me
I came to Upwork to find a virtual assistant to help with my personal website. Work tasks include uploading my essays to WordPress, transcribing podcasts, managing calendars, etc.. I posted this as an intermediate level job (mid-ranged experience, mid-ranged hourly rate), for less than 30 hours per week, for a duration of six months or more.
But my goal isn't just to complete these projects, my goal of hiring a virtual assistant is to:
- Give me more leverage on my time. I have my own work projects and obligations, so I'm looking for someone that can help take a little off my plate. I'd like to optimize my time for writing and consulting, so it's great for someone to help with the elements that tie those together.
- Do it better than I can do myself. I've heard some employers talk about passing off "low level work" to their assistant, but I don't think of it that way. The work virtual assistants do is incredibly valuable and important to my projects and personal brand. Every item, from formatting an article to replying to reader comments to invoicing is critical.
- Help me improve my work. My strengths are in project growth and writing. I believe having a great virtual assistant can augment my strengths with their own. For example, the freelancer I hired has excellent organization skills, so can help keep me on task and on deadline for projects.
Okay, enough about me, here is the review of the thirteen awesome candidates I interviewed. These are my raw notes, with a little bit more added for context. I've changed the names to what are generic names in North America to respect each candidate's privacy, but the substantive feedback is the same.
Candidate #1: Helen, Kenya [10:00am]
- The first applicant for the job! Being fast helped her stand out.
- She didn't message me at 10am. I had to message her at 10:02am.
- We called via Skype. It was a slow connection on her end. I don't want to penalize her for this, and I understand that international may not have the same access as us, but it was an indication that working together may be a challenge.
- A few minutes into the call, she said "can I call you back in a couple minutes because I'm getting out of the car."
- I'm not sure why she wasn't ready for our call, because she didn't explain.
- Again, with empathy for any reason she may have, my expectation and hope was for a reliable call. It was 6pm her time.
- A lot of lag on the call, so we switched to text chat. She is a fast typer!
- Her answers were short and literal, so didn't tell me much. E.g., I asked about her passions outside of work and she just said one word, "travel." I expect this could have been a cultural difference, but my expectation was to learn a little more about her.
Conclusion: I would love to work with folks abroad, but we need to have reliable communication.
Candidate 2: Zach, Canada [10:30am]
Note: Zach and I connected via another job site, and he was the only non-Upwork candidate.
- Stood out because really customized intro message. He researched me, shared some of his personal story, etc.
- Emailed me an hour early to say he would be out, so can we please switch from Skype to phone call? No problem! Great to have the advance notice.
- He is currently commuting between two major cities, tired of the corporate world, etc. He wants to eliminate his commute and realign to working for nonprofits. He felt like a kindred spirit.
- He has hustle: he built a restaurant business from the bottom up.
- He is tech savvy: he built his own site on WordPress, and one for his SO's art business.
- He is focused on productivity and learning: uses a calendar to intentionally schedule his time.
Conclusion: Great candidate and I think he could help with my projects, but the admin work may not be a great fit for him.
Candidate 3: John, American Abroad [11:00am]
- Very strong candidate from initial message. Like Zach, shared his personal story and researched me to really customize the intro. He told me that he connects with my mission.
- I pinged him at 11:00am, no response until… 11:07am. He was running behind, in another meeting, and asked for another five minutes. Totally understandable! But I wish he had messaged me a little earlier so I wasn't waiting.
- He has diverse interests, and gave me a lot of info for each answer.
- Seems to have high level tech abilities. He made a massage business more automated with emails, scheduling, etc.
Conclusion: It was a nice honest convo. I think he'd be great to have lunch with. Like Zach, I'd love to work with John, but I don't think my current position is a great match for his skills and experience.
Candidate 4: Belinda, California [12:00pm]
- From her application, one of the strongest candidates skill-wise. She has a strong research background as a paralegal. Plus certifications from Udemy in digital marketing, content, project management, etc.
- She has volunteered for charities that help women all over the world. I love this and want to support it.
- She is a people person, loves people, social, travelling.
- She was very friendly, but IMO a little too casual, I'd like to have someone that is very professional on the phone incase I need them to call my clients, etc.
- She said, "this is my dream job" – Awesome!
- Good framework for the convo. She focussed on productivity and organization. She wants to have clear goals and ask what the client wants. A lot of clients don't know what they want or need, so she will proactively step up to help.
- Each client: contract, proposal, so both on clear page, and weekly update by phone or email. Great! I love the organization.
- She works around the clock sometimes, even for free. Wants her clients to succeed. Wow!
- Her questions for me were GREAT. She asked what I need from the role, and followed up with "here's how I can help based on that."
- She has people behind her, to edit, proofread stuff, check over things. Has network with web developer, social media manager. That's all tied in with regular rate. It's not about money, they help her out she helps them out.
Conclusion: Very strong candidate and I expect would be great to work with. Only criticism was that she was a little too casual on the phone. I'm not sure if three-hour time difference would be an issue.
Candidate 5: Cailey, Canada [1:00pm]
- Told me about her social events projects: events to raise money for charity. I love it!
- Was in insurance. Wants to work from home and travel more.
- Started her own social media company, has a few clients. Learning and developing more skills.
- Passionate about helping people, like small businesses using social media. Her favorite client is a pet apparel Etsy shop.
- Cailey is tech savvy. Built her own site on Weebly, she says "not the best site, but learned." Also, Canva, any social media, planning tools., etc.
- Uses Trello for self. Keeps organized there with weekly to-dos for each client, projects, etc.
- Asked great questions about my goals, hours and expectations, communication preferences, etc.
Conclusion: Another great candidate. No real qualms. I'd love to hire her. (I ended up referring her to a friend and they are now doing regular work together.)
Candidate 6: Jessica, Canada [2:30pm]
- New mom, so her priorities changed. She gave up career and is looking for something to do from home.
- Doesn't want her talents and skills to go to waste. I admire this.
- Loves online marketing. Started a FB page for her new jewelry business.
- Working with clients, experienced with technology.
- Temp worked for investment company.
- Very marketing, SEO focussed.
- Very diverse, learning focussed, accounting, marketing, etc. Also creative side.
- Willing to experiment with tools to improve productivity.
- Seems capable but very, very casual on phone.
- Spoke over me a few times.
Conclusion: Good candidate. Likely capable of doing the work, but similar concerns as others with phone manner.
Candidate 7: Kim, Canada [6:00pm]
- She messaged me at 5:52pm to reschedule a 6:30pm meeting. No explanation and I haven't heard from her since.
Conclusion: Easy to exclude.
Candidate 8: Amy, Florida [Day 2, 2:00pm]
- Answered, "Hi, Amy speaking!" – I love this, it's a small pet peeve when I have to ask, "is this Tina?"
- Very passionate interests: music! piano! singing!
- Well spoken, talks about expertise like an expert. Music theory and how it works. Enthusiastic.
- Plans for career: business and marketing.
- Why studying music + business? That combo makes it accessible to her.
- Work projects: some writing projects, social media. She worked with a social media company and their messaging wasn't working, so she fixed it. It was such a good fit that client asked her to template it so other freelancers could follow.
- Started taking on more clients, difficult to keep track of everything to do. Learned Trello, uses it for projects.
- Generally organized person, but too many deadlines. Went and bought big planner, will list everything to-do, break it down into different days and then check them off one by one. Great!
Conclusion: Great candidate. Phone manner was friendly but professional. Smart and organized. A little less experienced than some of the other candidates. I offered her a test project, but cancelled the contract after multiple delays and a partial delivery.
Red Flag: I asked applicants to include the words, "I love charity" in their application so I would know they read the job description. Amy didn't include this.
Candidate 9: Fiona, Michigan
- Friendly, clear answers, though a little long.
- Passionate about oil painting.
- Working on: school, theatre, music, performance, etc.
- Technology: learned how to use iOS light board to program lighting for a show.
- Productivity: does voice recordings during car rides.
- Asked me about the specifics of work, e.g, recording podcasts.
Conclusion: Great candidate. I sent her a test project to complete and she set her own due date. On the due date she emailed me to say that she was unable to take on my project due to a personal matter.
Red Flag: I'm not sure. Fiona seemed like a good candidate but I wonder if someone with a part-time focus will be able to make this work. I'm not against hiring students, but this is something I will ask about in the future.
Candidate 10: Mona, California
- Passionate about food. Moved to Cali and didn't realize how many foods in the world hadn't tried yet.
- Has been working on a lot of video game stuff, reviews of games, editing, etc.
- She takes a deliberate moment before answering questions that I'm not sure about, e.g., "What am I working on? Hmmmm".
- Seems very young. Has four associates degrees.
- Got more comfortable and had more fluid answers about halfway through the call.
- Technology: Freelancing for variety of different clients, use a variety of different things: editing, streaming on Twitch, using Trello, etc. LOVES Google docs because of editing feature. Yay!
- Productivity: Single mom, she says making the most of couple hours = very important. Created a designated work area. First two years freelancing, did it half heartedly, didn't know if would be lucrative enough to do full time. Def. get out of it what you put into it. After, able to create space, desk, own area, set work hours, younger daughter has care.
- No questions for me.
Conclusion: Seems very smart and capable. I have a soft spot for single moms and if I can give her good work then great! I sent her a test project and then didn't hear back. I ask candidates to set their own due date for test projects and she didn't respond to that.
Red Flag: Lack of focus. Non-responsive.
Candidate 11: Melissa, New Jersey
- I did this call just before a family dinner, so was a little distracted.
- She is passionate about funding the arts, artists being able to support themselves and create etc.
- Has done project management stuff and is now looking for real world work because recent graduate.
- Loves Trello but her teammates wouldn't use it.
- Productivity: Using calendars to set schedule because not in school anymore.
- I don't recall what questions she had for me.
Conclusion: She seems good. I sent her a test project and she said, "great, I'll start on this tonight!" Melissa did well on the test project and we worked together for a few weeks, then I cancelled the contract because the work wasn't getting done on time and communication was slow.
Candidate 12: Kimberly, American Abroad
- Passion: education and travel, it helps point her in direction for future. Ultimately teach high school about business and life direction.
- Becoming passionate about education, well rounded.
- Why move to France? BF in military.
- Did auditing for gov entities and non-profits.
- Spent some time traveling: Indonesia, Hawaii, etc.
- Visa in France doesn't allow her to work in France. Language also a barrier. Moving to online work, a couple hours per week.
- Organized software at accounting office to get everyone on board for how to operate that software.
- Productivity: Moving abroad, aside from one job, have different ways, calendars, apps, to-doist.
Conclusion: Seems very smart and capable. Worked as professional in industry with high standard of detail and organization (government audits!). New to remote work so seems willing to learn and explore. I sent her a test project which she did well on.
Candidate 13: Amanda, New York
- Recognized my phone number as from NY, asked about it.
- Visiting friends, college, service learning program, harder to do now, but creative writing program for underprivileged students, loves working w/ the kids, really fun, doesn't take as much time as would like to, want to get more into it, passionate about learning ins and outs of non profits.
- Used to do freelance writing, little projects here and there. Not using full potential, wanted to connect more with clients, know the identity, working for content mills, 1000 word pieces, no connection to the company, now writing with clients more, look at overall strategy etc.
- Talks a lot, lots of specific examples. Lots of passion.
- She gave an overview of my site that showed deep understanding. Great!
- Asked about podcasts content.
- Told her about side project, next steps, etc.
Conclusion: Probably the most experienced freelancer that applied. Suggested rate was higher than I had in mind for this role. She is willing to negotiate.
So, who did I hire? I'll share that in a minute. First, one quick point: notice that very little of the feedback above is about money. I wanted to evaluate each of the candidates on merit first, to make sure they are a great fit for the role I have available. The rate is relevant, but was a secondary consideration.
I hired #12 🙂