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Max C. Chapman Jr. serves as the chairman of the board of members of Luxon Financial, LLC.
From 1989 until 1999, Mr. Chapman held several executive positions within the Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Tokyo) group of companies. In 1989, he was named co-chairman of Nomura Holding America Inc. He was appointed chief executive officer in June 1992, a title he held until he became non-executive chairman in 1996. He became a director of the Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Tokyo) in 1990 and was promoted to managing director in 1996. He served as chairman of Nomura Europe Holding plc (London) in 1997 and 1998. He relinquished all Nomura positions effective March 1999.
From 1969 until 1989, Mr. Chapman was employed at Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. He began his career at Kidder, Peabody in the corporate finance department, serving as an investment banker until 1980, during which time he became vice president and shareholder. In 1980, he founded the financial futures department, and in 1983 he became director of the fixed-income group while retaining his other responsibilities. In 1986, he co-founded the high-yield bond group, and a year later he was appointed director of Kidder, Peabody's global capital markets group. In 1987, he was elected president and chief operating officer of Kidder, Peabody Group, Inc., the holding company, and president and chief executive officer of Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc., its investment banking and broker-dealer subsidiary. He also served as a member of the board of directors and vice chairman of the management committee of Kidder, Peabody Group, Inc., and was a member of the board of directors of General Electric Capital Corporation and General Electric Financial Services, Inc.
Mr. Chapman joined the board of directors of the American Stock Exchange in December 1990 and became a vice chairman in May 1996, a position he held until the AMEX was sold to the NASD in October 1998. During this time, Mr. Chapman also served as a director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Futures Industry Association, and the Securities Industry Association. He is chairman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Foundation Investment Fund, Inc., chairman of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and a trustee of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the National Air and Space Museum.
Mr. Chapman received a BA in economics with honors in 1966 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA in finance in 1969 from Columbia Business School.
Wendy G. Rogers currently serves as Vice President, National Relationship Management of the Signatry, a Christian foundation that has helped families, advisors and ministries send more than $2 billion to charities across the globe. She works with donors to build their family legacy by connecting them with creative giving solutions.
Rogers is a third-generation family business owner and former corporate leader with 25 years of experience in talent development and organizational leadership, branding and market development, financial and operational stewardship, and nonprofit strategy and governance. She spent much of her career in diverse roles for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, Dow Chemical, DuPont and Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Within her own family office, Rogers currently serves as Director, Griffin Family Investments, LLC and Director, Griffin Family Foundation, where she works in partnership with strategic advisors and family in stewarding all that has been entrusted to the Rogers family in time, talents, relationships and resources.
To enhance her financial management skills, she recently completed an executive program at Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and also received a certification in Private Wealth Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and three daughters, but her family roots are in Georgia. Wendy received her undergraduate degree in International Business from The University of Georgia.
Advisory Board
Prior to his appointment as chief executive officer of the Brown University Investment Office, Joseph Dowling III served as chief investment officer at Brown University since June 2013, a role in which he managed the University's $3.7 billion endowment and its 21-member investment office. Before joining Brown, he was the founder and chief executive officer of Narragansett Asset Management, where he managed funds for institutions, pension funds and endowments. An accomplished investor with experience in public and private equity, real estate, commodities and currencies, Dowling has also worked for First Boston, Tudor Investments and Oracle Partners, and he currently serves on the advisory board for Harbor Funds and on the board of directors for Integrated Electrical Services.
Mr. Dowling has a bachelor's degree and a master's in business administration from Harvard University. His father, Joseph Dowling Jr., graduated from Brown in 1947, taught medicine at the University and served as a Corporation trustee.
Chairman Emeritus
As Founding Partner of Cary Street Partners, Mark Gambill brings to Cary Street Partners nearly 30 years of experience in the leadership of one of America's largest and most highly regarded regional organizations, Wheat First Butcher Singer. At Wheat First, he founded and headed the capital markets group. In 1996, Mr. Gambill became president of the firm and, under his leadership, Wheat First became one of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast's preeminent investment banking and brokerage firms, growing to firm assets of $1.2 billion, revenues of $600 million and 128 offices located in 20 states.
After a 1998 merger with First Union Corporation, Mr. Gambill served as president of Wheat First Union and later Head of Equity Capital Markets. In 2002, Mr. Gambill joined forces with Tom Tullidge to form Cary Street Partners. Throughout his career, Mr. Gambill has maintained an active presence in the financial community as a principal investor, financial advisor and board member.
Mr. Gambill graduated from Hampden-Sydney College, summa cum laude and valedictorian.
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Schmuckler joined Luxon Financial LLC in 2015 after more than 30 years of experience in leading and helping to build and expand global diversified financial service firms.
Mr. Schmuckler joined Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. in 1982 as an associate in the firm's new financial futures and options department. Eight years later, he was named a Partner and led the institutional coverage desk for the firm's global equity-related derivative products and portfolio trading. In 1990, Mr. Schmuckler joined Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR) and began what became a 17-year career helping to globalize the firm. He began where he left at Kidder by developing the firm's equity-linked businesses in the Americas and Europe, and eventually was named co-head of the overall equity business in the Americas. In 1998, he was named President of the firm's US broker-dealer and subsequently the Chief Operating Officer for the firm's business in the Americas.
In 2007, Mr. Schmuckler left Nomura to head the global markets business for one of the world's largest financial organizations, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU). Based in Tokyo and with responsibilities for the securities and capital markets division globally, Mr. Schmuckler led all equity and debt activities in Europe, U.S. and Asia.
In 2010, Mr. Schmuckler joined Medley Capital as managing partner to help build what became one of the leading middle market corporate lending firms.
Mr. Schmuckler graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in finance and from New York University with an M.B.A.
Prior to joining Luxon Financial LLC in 2017, Mr. Beard was with Vollero Beach Capital Partners LLC, a New York based long-short hedge fund, where he joined in 2010 as president. For six years, he was responsible for all managerial aspects of the business, including business development, marketing, legal, service providers, sales coverage/street relationships, client relations, personnel oversight (analytical and operational), hiring, and interaction with all counterparties. Mr. Beard helped facilitate growth in AUM from approximately $100 million in January 2010 to peak AUM of approximately $900 million.
Beginning in 2008, Mr. Beard was with Duff Capital Advisors, a boutique alternative asset management firm, where he rose from a Managing Director and Head of (internal) Investment Manager Sourcing to the Management Committee and named Head of the Investment Strategies Group.
Starting in 2004, Mr. Beard worked at BlackRock, Inc. where he rose to Managing Director and Portfolio Manager. He was responsible for evaluating and selecting investments in long/short equity hedge fund managers globally and monitoring managers utilized by BlackRock's Alternative Fund of Funds group. He oversaw approximately $1.3 billion of BlackRock's exposure to hedge funds, including the Asia-Pacific Partners fund.
In 2001, Mr. Beard was the founder, managing partner and portfolio manager of Archimedes Capital Partners LLC, where he managed a diversified long/short equity hedge fund. He oversaw all aspects of creating and managing the firm.
Mr. Beard worked at Tiger Management LLC where he was one of three analysts responsible for Tiger Management's commodity and basic industrial equity investments. He began his career in 1994 as an associate equity analyst specializing in machinery, metals and mining at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Mr. Beard graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in History and from Columbia University with an M.B.A.
Partner, Ducera Partners
Mr. Slonecker is a Partner at Ducera Partners. Mr. Slonecker has over thirty years of experience working on a variety of restructuring and strategic advisory assignments across a broad range of industries.
Prior to forming Ducera, Mr. Slonecker was a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, U.S. Head of its Restructuring Practice, and Co-Chair of its Fairness Opinion Committee. Previously, Mr. Slonecker was a Founding Partner of Kramer Capital Partners. Prior to Kramer Capital Partners, Mr. Slonecker was a Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey and a member of its Operating Committee.
Mr. Slonecker earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington.
Financial Advisor, Managing Director
Doug Stewart founded Stewart Wealth Management Group in 2002 and merged his firm with Cary Street Partners in 2007. Prior to Cary Street Partners and Stewart Wealth, Mr. Stewart served as Branch Manager for Wheat First Securities' Fredericksburg office. While at Wheat First, Mr. Stewart was consistently ranked in the top 1% of all advisors and recognized as one of the firm's top Branch Managers.
Mr. Stewart has been recognized as a top 10 broker in the country by Registered Representative magazine and as one of the top 5 Financial Advisors in Virginia by Virginia Business Magazine and R. J. Shook's book, "The Winner's Circle."
For Mr. Stewart, serving his clients and community is paramount. He is past Chairman of the board of Fredericksburg Academy, George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, and the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation. He is a founding member of the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region and a board member of the Northern Neck Insurance Company, the Virginia Tech APEX Systems Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the University of Virginia Healthcare Foundation Board. He has also served as a Trustee of St. George's Episcopal Church, Director of Virginia Heartland Bank and board member of the Virginia Tech Athletic Foundation. As a mark of his service, Mr. Stewart has received the Jim Wheat Community Service Award.
Mr. Stewart was born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Business.
Chief Investment Officer, Tradition Asset Management
Mr. Halliburton is a Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Tradition Asset Management. He oversees the investment research and strategy for Tradition. In addition, he heads the Investment Committee and covers the Energy and Technology sectors. Mr. Halliburton has over a quarter of a century of professional investing experience including ten years at Brundage, Story and Rose, a New York City based investment advisor acquired by Bessemer Trust, where he was Director of Research and responsible for overseeing the firm's equity selection process. He was a principal of that firm and a member of its Investment Policy Committee. He also designed, developed and managed that firm's Disciplined Growth Strategy. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and earned an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1990, where he was distinguished as a Fuqua Scholar. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1985.


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Comin out of a "dead zone" for HipHop in the Midwest is the TawTown Heavweightz reppin Wichita, Kansas. With no major exposure or any established artists out of the Sunflower State, TTH hopes to break out and show their midwest swagger to everyone. Their music shows diversity in every form which is what makes them stand out compared to other local artists in their city. Lil Ace, Lyl Wan and X-tra are the members that make up this group. All of them have very unique styles which let listeners be able to point them out in a song. Formed in July of 2006, TTH has really stepped their game up and really feel they can overcome any challenges thrown at them. They have dropped "1st Round Knockout" and "Best in the Game" as mixtapes. With a new sound and flow, TTH will really try and push their music out by releasin the anticipated mixtape, "FIGHT NIGHT". Also be on the lookout for their first album "COMIN OUT SWANGIN". Thanks to all the support and we hope you like the music! www.myspace.com/tawtownheavyweightz
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Networks and alternative ways of thinking are two things I'm pretty interested in so this videos on the power of networks came of particular interest to me.
I particularly enjoyed the contrasts that were made between trees and networks as organisational structures for knowledge and I liked Ron Weaver's different approaches to complexity. Expanding on this I had a couple of thoughts about how the metaphor of the network could be used to shape thinking and being with regard to careers work.
How could networks shape how we think?
The idea of thoughts having a shape or us having system in which we organise them to make sense out of them seems very appealing. I feel the tree metaphor comes out in a number of ways about how we think about careers I think especially around ideas of specialization and progression.
Tree "thinking" tends to look at us as branches linked together in a trunk but separate from each other, the branches are in effect specialisms. We sometimes use this explicitly such as buy talking about "branches of medicine" and other times it is implied by how subjects are divided up in schools (sciences vs. humanities vs. arts vs. languages or life science vs. natural sciences vs. social sciences) or how jobs are divided up in organisations, specialisms as part of a whole. This makes development often about getting more specialised (think about doing a PhD for an example) and so in effect moving away from other things. Networks by contrast encourage us to thinking of connections as opposed to branches and specialisms. Nodes in networks grow by making more links and opening up new possibilities. So a node would by asking "how do I relate to other things?" "how can I bring my connections into play?" We often ask people to think of the "one" thing they are really good at, their one passions, their one dream. Rather than honing in on a point what if we encouraged people to expand out. Let me give some examples of what this might look like:
- Encouraging people to think about how they can develop more skills not just one at the cost of others.
- Encouraging people not to see themselves as a specialist focussed on one thing but as situated in a number of different networks.
- Encourage people to think in a trans-disciplinary manner, using links to learn from other domains.
- Encourage people to focus out on the many things they can do not the one thing they should do.
- Encourage them to think about many places their skills could be used not the "best" place it could be used.
On the whole this will encourage creativity and multiplicity rather than specialism and simplicity.
But is this actually a good thing? Specialism appears to work quite well in the world of work. Don't people get ahead by showing they can do something better than others? Doesn't this focus on expansive thinking make it harder for people to manage decision making and by extension their careers?
This question brings me on to the second area I want to look at, careers development. Development can itself be often shaped like a tree. We see a future ahead of us where there are several branches getting more and more specialised and moving upwards and upwards with specialism. The tree in effect creates a grid we move through, a pathway to success. This view of success has two main elements I want to discuss, success is linear and success involves isolation. To say that success is linear is to show a tree assumes people are more successful by moving through the system, by advancement and promotion. The network provides a different model of this. In a network by contrast there is no fixed point of success just varying relationships with others. This encourages us to think of success in terms of relationships and encounters. Success becomes a personal construct we can have in multiple areas through how we relate to other people. This makes success linked to concepts such as reciprocity, generosity, service and relationship building. In simple terms it is how we treat other people and have relationships that makes us successful. It also notes how linear structures are subject to disruption in the changing of world we live. Networks are more robust to change and the unexpected. So building social capital and consider the links the individual has to multiple futures are common parts of planned happenstance and chaos theories of career.
This brings us to the concept of isolation I mentioned above. Trees have an inbuilt concept of hierarchy inside them which links to this concept of success and promotion. As people move through this hierarchy and are promoted they are encouraged to relate mainly with people of a similar point in the hierarchical tree. The problem with this is that there are normally less and less people at a similar level of an organisation making you more and more isolated as you progress. Alongside this specialism and hierarchy often encourages people to give more and more time to their role. A specialist has few people they can share work with as they have different specialisms and few people they want to relate to in the hierarchical structure they are part of. This alongside the demanding nature of many organisations means that success is often at the cost of other relationships and commitments outside of work. Work sucks in more and more of the individual.
This is moving slightly away from traditional careers development to think about how organisations are structured. But I thought it would still be worth noting a few points of application for individuals and for organisations.
- Encourage individuals to think about how success is linked to other people and isn't just individualistic.
- Encourage individuals to think about the limits of hierarchy as a model for experiencing meaning.
- Encourage people to build social capital and multiple futures as a response to uncertainty.
- Encourage organisations to limit hierarchies and build relationships and share skills in a more organic way.
- Encourage organisations to build networks around managers including all parts of the organisation.
These are just some starting thoughts, I feel there is more to come in this areas. I would love to hear of theories you know of related to this, your experiences around this, any responses to my thoughts or any new ideas you have of how networks could change how we think and act.


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The main challenge now is to connect the online and in-store customer experiences. Although e‑commerce has grown, the retail store is still king. Customers want to visit the store and try the products for themselves.
Online customer experiences have more influence than ever on in-store purchases. A 2015 Forrester study found that 45 percent of offline sales will be web-influenced by 2020. A full 84 percent of customers turn to mobile devices to help them reach buying decisions in-store.
To find out more about how online and offline customer experiences connect for retailers in 2017, I caught up with Adobe's industry sector lead for retail in Europe, Vijayanta Gupta, and put some questions to him.
Gupta is the head of product and industry marketing and industry strategy at Adobe Systems Europe. He leads Adobe's industry-specific, go-to-market initiatives and Adobe Marketing Cloud product marketing initiatives across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
JB: Let's dive straight in here. What does customer experience mean for the retail industry in 2017?
VG: It means the ways in which customers perceive their interactions with retailers online, in mobile, and in brick-and-mortar stores, and how they perceive the connections, or disconnections, between those touchpoints.
JB: What then do you see as the main customer experience challenges and opportunities in the retail sector in 2017?
VG: The main challenge, right now, especially for multichannel retailers, is definitely to connect the online and in-store customer experiences. A lot of companies have great e‑commerce websites, but many customers use those sites not to buy online, but to give them ideas about what to buy in-store. Although e‑commerce has grown, the retail store is still king. Customers want to visit the store and try the products for themselves. If they like a product they see online but it's not there in the store—or if it looks or works differently than they expected from the website—then the company has probably lost the sale. But this reality also offers a great opportunity for retailers who can connect the online and offline experiences—letting customers try out product variations and see interactive close-ups online, then find exactly what they're looking for in the store. That connectivity provides a huge opportunity to create delight.
JB: What are the benefits for retailers who can achieve that connectivity? Any use cases that spring to mind?
VG: Yes, actually. We recently helped the retail chain Spar integrate its online storefront with in-store offers. The company had a limited ability to centrally store and manage product images and design elements, which meant its messaging often had an inconsistent look and feel, so its customers weren't as engaged as they could be. We leveraged the existing integration points between Adobe Experience Manager and Hybris to merge Spar Austria's corporate web presence and online storefront. We helped the company to not only provide more engaging content on the website, but also deliver real-time online offers to customers who were shopping in-store, leading to a major increase in engagement and purchases.
JB: So by creating a more consistent online experience, and making the online content consistent with the in-store experience, Spar was able to drive more purchases both online and in-store.
VG: That's exactly right. Another really cool example is what we did with the French cosmetics company L'Occitane. The company was providing solid customer experiences online and in its brick-and-mortar stores, but it was still treating these touchpoints as two separate channels, rather than as components in a single unified customer experience. We used Adobe Campaign to help the company integrate first- and third-party customer data, and gain a consistent, 360-degree view of each customer. These robust customer profiles enabled L'Occitane to create personalised customer experiences that would seamlessly connect online and in-store interactions, and turn customers into cross-channel shoppers. Customers now receive offers on a local or regional basis, based on their online and in-store activity—and those offers drive purchases both on the company's website and in its brick-and-mortar stores.
JB: This reminds me of how, a few years ago, retailers were focusing on connecting all their online channels to provide a unified customer experience. Now they're realising that the in-store experience also needs to be connected seamlessly with all the other channels.
VG: Right. That's exactly what these retailers are working to achieve right now, and many of them are already reaping the benefits of this transformation.
JB: What does the immediate future hold, in terms of connected customer experiences in the retail sector?
VG: I see this as breaking down into four key categories: merchandising, personalisation, convenience, and engagement. In terms of merchandising, customers will demand more control over how they interact with retailers. In other words, they'll expect shopping to feel more like entertainment; it should be a pleasurable experience in and of itself, on every channel. This also ties in with personalisation, which is going to become more proactive. Retailers will go beyond just providing personalised product recommendations, and will start to tailor visual merchandising and in-store screen displays around customers' previous activity and geolocation info. We're also going to see more innovation in terms of convenience. For example, 24-hour self-service kiosks, centralised digital shopping interfaces, and other technologies will give customers more choices in terms of how, when, and where they'll interact with brands. And all three of those areas feed into engagement. Retailers will begin offering more engaging product demonstrations, and will give in-store associates more resources for making real-time personalised recommendations to customers. Everyday shopping will begin to feel more and more like interacting with a whole staff of personal concierges.
JB: It sounds like, as in so many other sectors, the customer experience is going to become more central than ever for retailers.
VG: That's definitely true. All these tools and technologies are going to focus increasingly on providing the best possible shopping experience for the customer, across all channels.
JB: I think that sums it up perfectly. Thanks for joining me today, Vijay, and for sharing your insights on customer experience for retailers in 2017.
VG: Thanks Jamie. By the way, readers who want to know more about the priorities in retail for 2017 and beyond as well as learn further details about customer experience in retail should definitely read the research we recently published in conjunction with Econsultancy regarding digital trends in retail, and they can read my perspectives on it in my blog post.
Join me next time, when I'll be interviewing Adobe's industry sector lead for the automotive industry, exploring what customer service means for automotive marketers in 2017. See you there!


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Who We Are
Final Vision Technology Ltd Canada is a Nova Scotia IT firm, registered under the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies and the company is based at Cape Breton. Final Vision Technology specializes in computer-based hardware and software application development for industries, government, development agencies like NGOs focusing on poverty alleviation and the private sector both domestically and internationally. FVT became incorporated in Nova Scotia in February 2010. It has since opened operations in Ghana and Uganda under its Africa affiliation.
What We Do
Final Vision Technology is a unique organization focusing on designing and manufacturing its own quality laptops, Smart FvTech machines, Pmachines, E-Library Software Technology(AIDDE), Teleconferencing Systems, Accounting Information Systems and Network Servers that are customized to suit all climatic conditions. Final Vision Technology makes every effort to conduct research in the area of innovative Technology in new hardware devices that use solar energy as the source of power. We design and assemble laptops, Pmachines and servers, which can and will be powered by solar energy for the future generations to come. We are proud in our quest for innovation, creativity, intelligence, and our Vision to improve upon existing technologies.
The Smart FvTech machine is a tablet/laptop/cell phone combined, and other products consist of Personal Computers, development and installation of Knowledge Management Systems Portal, Digitization of Electronic Library Materials. In addition to the above products, Final Vision also designs and implements Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Networks (LAN) Systems, VLANS, MANS and ATM Technologies.
Our E-library System (Africa Intellectual Database for Development & Excellence (AIDDE)) is a great and innovative platform where all universities, industries, institutions of higher learning, colleges, professional and development agencies and our young children can share all educational materials, thesis, full text books, research materials, policy reviews, journals, and articles in Africa and the rest of the world. The platform also provides Share Point, Cloud Data Storage & Security, databases to store digitized archives materials & collections of old historical documents technologies that can be accessed and used for the future generations.
Final Vision Technology also plans to focus on more technological development approaches in education, sustainable agriculture, women empowerment, children and youth empowerment especially in areas of Early Childhood Development, E-Agriculture to support small and large scale farmers for improved knowledge on sustainable agriculture methodologies and business development skills and communications for community empowerment.
With an Affiliate in Africa for marketing and promotion of its products, Final Vision Technology is set to become one of the key development IT firms that supports local small to medium businesses, NGOs, research institutions and government agencies with the technologies and development IT business solutions to grow and expand their business.
Our networks, servers and our international data center provide excellent solutions for businesses to cut back the cost on information storage, (Cloud Computing) software management, and also to utilize the state of the art technology of an online E-Library System that we have now developed for both universities and the general public.
We develop new technologies that are beneficial to mankind and for the future. Every Organization, government, corporations, personal and NGOs have realized that Technology is the bed rock for industrialization and development. The computers, electronics, and software Development Technologies have become the essential dependable tools for every organization on the planet. We started by assembling our own Desktops Machines, laptops and Server machines just like IBM started. Our Research and Development Department has reached to a stage where we can produce our own innovative products and develop software for our clients on a worldwide market. Our goal is simply to DEVELOP GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT.
Where We Work
Final Vision Technology is based in Canada but with offices in Uganda and Ghana. We are also working on our expansion strategic plan to other African countries.
Our Vision
A world with an integrated innovative technology and Intellectual Database for Development & Excellence where all universities, industries, government agencies, policy research institutions and development agencies share skills and innovations
Our Mission
A global village; whereby the establishment of multidirectional communication technologies and the sharing of knowledge among people is vital to the developing economies of countries.
Our Values
Truth, Love, Equality, Justice, Honesty, and Integrity are the founding pillars upon which the company will conduct business with investors and the general public.
Our focus is simple
Green Energy Research, and Software Development, SALES, SERVICES, AND TRAINING in Electronics, Computers, and Computer Software & Hardware Technology Assembly.
Our Strategic objectives
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Notes from the Guest Editor's Desk: Desmond writes on 4 new C's that touch lives
As Guest Editor for exchange4media.com on October 20, 2010, Laura Desmond voiced her views on many developments pertaining to the industry. In this 'Notes from the Guest Editor's Desk', she sites examples of companies such as Procter & Gamble and The Coca-Cola Company to elucidate that when 'profit' and 'purpose' need not be mutually exclusive.
I was at a major marketing conference in the United States last week and heard many of the top global marketers including Mark Pritchard of P&G and Joseph Tripodi of The Coca-Cola Company champion the message of purpose-driven marketing. What was clear from these discussions is that 'profit' and 'purpose' need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, these two respected global companies understood intimately that when an organisation is aligned against a single purpose, profit -- in most cases -- follows.
'Touching Lives, Improving Life' (P&G) and 'To Refresh the World' (Coke) are big, bold goals, yet elegant, simple and timeless. Today, these two companies with a combined history of 200+ years are successful according to any quantitative or qualitative measures.
Four days later, I arrived at the newly renovated Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. I immediately noticed an energy and warmth from the employees, from the maintenance team with their friendly smiles, to the security staff wearing their uniforms with pride and precision, to the retail workers who offered a helping hand when I dropped my handbag on the floor. They too seemed to be driven by a purpose.
Purpose driven organizations—whether it's a 100,000+ employee Fortune 100 company or a newly renovated airport—are extraordinarily powerful because it enriches conversations, builds communities and leaves lasting, positive and memorable impressions. These are the building blocks for sustainable relationships between brands and people, between experiences and action.
At Starcom MediaVest Group, our purpose is to be The Human Experience Company. And our dream is to grow our clients' business by transforming human behavior through uplifting, meaningful human experiences.
And to BE The Human Experience Company requires an aggressive embrace--in language and behavior--of four constructs, or what we call the next generation marketing 4C's.
Some of you may be familiar with the 4 C's of marketing: Consumer, Cost, Convenience and Communication. It was a model that worked for years and continues to be embraced by many.
At SMG, we believe that there are 4 new 'C's,' and they are the new approach to winning the hearts and wallets of consumers, one uplifting, meaningful experience at a time. They are:
• Currency
• Conversation
• Content, and
• Community.
When used strategically and intelligently they will help you forge human experiences that are, simple, meaningful and real time.
Let's start with the first C – Currency.
If there is a single global truth about today's consumers, it is that they are too busy to pay attention to what we call "marketing." We have to make it worth their while or they won't opt in. Currency is the value exchange we have with them. They give us their time and we give them a promise, and then deliver. Stronger. Smaller. Smarter. Cleaner. Better. Our currency is a pact, the handshake we make with them. "Give us your attention and you won't be sorry."
Currency helps make the brand, hence the marketing, hence the human experience it provides, valuable at worst and invaluable at best.
The Second C is Conversation.
Simply put, we think of conversation as how content, ideas and information move from point A to Z, to M, then T, then back to point A. Successful human experiences drive and enable conversations – between consumer and brand, and between consumers themselves. A key requirement for brands is to be active participants in the conversation, and that means being a great listener.
We build this dynamic into meaningful experiences by tapping into the conversations that occur naturally, influencing the drivers of those conversations and making everything exceptionally easy to share. Remember, these are the consumers who say "I don't have time." But they're willing to engage if the currency is there.
The third C is Content.
I won't dwell on our all-too-familiar history. We all know that the craft of marketing focused for far too long on exposure. The process of connecting a company to a customer started with brand-related content, and ended with a mass message distributed across a very limited, but far-reaching, assortment of media.
We tell ourselves that we long ago abandoned the mass exposure model as an effective way to reach people. The truth is, people made that model obsolete. As they retreated from traditional touch points, we also had to abandon them.
People rejected the familiar pipelines and turned away from passive content in search of a "my media" world in which they could tailor their own messages and menus….opting in and out of content and media that had meaning and provided value for them. Digital has revolutionised the media world. Content needs to keep revolutionizing itself. It must be active and iterative; ownable and widely customizable.
Our last and fourth C is Community.
Simply defined, a community is a group united around a shared purpose. We activate this 'C' by giving people a chance to join the dialogue, to become part of the tribe. Most important, we give the community power – to influence, to learn, to experience, to share. Community is king.
Currency. Conversation. Content. Community. When done right and created with care, our dream--to grow our clients' business by transforming human behaviour through uplifting, meaningful human experiences—is very much in reach.
I'll see you in the future.
For more updates, be socially connected with us on
WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube


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Jason Statham has discussed the possibility of his new shark film The Meg getting the sequel treatment.
The film, which was released Friday (August 10), has received generally favourable reviews, with many now speculating on the possibility of the shark flick becoming a franchise.
- 'The Meg' – The NME Review: "a big, fun fin flick that makes Deep Blue Sea look positively cerebral"
Speaking on the possibility of a sequel to The Meg, Statham told Entertainment Weekly: "Well, I think it's like anything in this day and age. If it makes money, there's obviously an appetite to make more money. And if it doesn't do well, they'll soon sweep it under the carpet.
"But that's the way Hollywood works," he continues. "Everyone tries to make a good film and it lies in the hands of the audience. People are the ultimate decider, the audience is the decider of whether anything gets to be a sequel or not."
Meanwhile, Statham's The Meg co-star, Orange Is The New Black's Ruby Rose, has discussed her 'game-changing' latest role as an openly gay Batwoman.
While appearing on The Late Show With Jimmy Fallon to promote The Meg, Rose had a chance to speak on her casting. "It's a game-changer. I found out an hour before I did the premiere for The Meg and I was so nervous doing the red carpet so I basically skipped everybody because I kept spontaneously crying".


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This story has been updated
Last year, 32,000 high school seniors were turned away from their first choice California State University campus because of high demand. The university's trustees are aiming to fix that with two proposals they approved unanimously on Wednesday at a board meeting in Long Beach. The changes are set to go into effect for seniors applying for admission in the fall of 2019. Here's some background:
Which of the 23 CSU campuses and what programs are in highest demand?
When CSU campuses get more applications than seats available, the campuses are labeled "impacted." Impaction allows campuses to use different criteria for admission, such as SAT/ACT scores for residents with a 3.0 grade point average. These campuses get so many applications that all majors at the campuses are labeled impacted:
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- Fresno State
- CSU Fullerton
- CSU Long Beach
- San Diego State University
- San José State
Some CSU campuses are not impacted but some of their majors are. CSU has created a searchable database here to find out which majors at which campuses are impacted.
How would the proposals change impaction?
One proposal would use the CSU's electronic application system, Cal State Apply, to automatically direct seniors to a non-impacted campus if they've been turned down by an impacted campus or major. The second proposal would give advantage to seniors from a campus' local area.
How much would these proposals cost?
Cal State staff say that if 10 percent of the 32,000 students now turned away from their top choice ended up enrolling to another campus, it would add about $16 million to the public costs of funding the system. CSU says it costs about $11,000 to educate each full time student with half of that from state funding and the other half from student tuition.
Although getting more Californians enrolled would comply with a request last year in the state legislature's budget, where that additional money would come from is uncertain. The cost raised eyebrows during a committee meeting on Tuesday because trustees already are considering raising student tuition. Such a hike would compensate for getting less money than they asked for from Sacramento. Gov. Jerry Brown will propose a revised budget for next fiscal year in May and the legislature will approve a final budget in the summer.


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A. Purpose of this Notice
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) is committed to protecting your privacy and rights that you may have related to any personal information that we collect from you as part of the recruitment and hiring process. HJF and its affiliated company HJF Medical Research International, Inc. (collectively the "Company") comply with all applicable international, federal, state, and local privacy laws and regulations. This notice applies to all individuals who submit information to the Company Talent Network, submit an application for a particular job opening with the Company, or participate in any pre-interview screening or interview process with the Company.
Under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), individuals from European Union countries may have additional rights concerning the collection, use, storage, and transfer ("processing") of their personal information – also known as Personal Data The GDPR portion of this notice applies to you if you are an EU resident or an EU citizen participating in the Company Talent Network or the application process. .
B. What Personal Data will the Company Collect?
The Company collects certain personal information from and about individuals who join the HJF Talent Network, or are applicants or potential candidates for positions within the Company. By browsing or submitting personal information through the HJF career portal (careers.hjf.org), or speaking with a Company recruiter you agree to the terms of this Privacy Notice and you expressly consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and storage of your Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
The information below describes the types of Personal Data that we may request and collect as part of the recruitment and hiring process:
Your name, current and past address(es), and other contact information such as phone number and email address;
Your resume or CV including your employment and educational background, your salary history, licenses and certifications, whether you are a veteran or have prior government service;
Other information that you make available from your social network accounts;
Your date of birth, social security number, driver's license number or other identification number;
Information about your citizenship, and immigration and work status;
Whether you have a disability for which the Company needs to make a reasonable accommodation during the employment period;
Other special categories of Personal Data such as gender or race;
Driving record and whether you have been convicted of a crime; and
C. Why is the Personal Data Collected?
As your potential employer, the Company needs to process information about you for employment eligibility purposes. The Personal Data is collected from you and used to determine your eligibility for employment, to provide you benefits, or for other reasons related to your employment. In some cases, we need to process data to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations as an employer. For example, it is mandatory to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the United States before employment starts. We may also collect information about whether or not applicants have a disability in order to determine if the Company can make a reasonable accommodation. Specifically, this information may be used to prevent or detect fraud, for equal opportunity monitoring, to help us to make reasonable accommodations for any disability, as requested by you, and to provide certain disclosures required by applicable law.
D. How We Use Your Personal Data
If you are applying for a specific job with the Company, or wish to join the Talent Network, the personal information we receive from you is used for recruitment, employment, benefit, and other human resource purposes and may be shared with hiring managers and other appropriate staff with the Company, your references, agencies of the United States Government, and other companies that provide services to the Company in connection with the recruitment and applicant process. The Company also may transfer your personal information with worldwide for these same purposes.
The Company may also use your Personal Data to satisfy U.S. Government reporting requirements.
E. How long does the Company keep my Personal Data?
Your Personal Data will be maintained by the Company only as long as is required for the purpose for which it was collected.
If you join the HJF Talent Network, the Company will maintain the information you provided or gave the Company access to for up to 12 months.
If you apply for a specific position within the Company, the Company will maintain your information for up to three years after the position for which you applied is filled in order to comply with certain federal government requirements.
If you are hired for a position with the Company, your Personal Data will be maintained during your employment and for some period of time after your employment ends.
F. Storage, Security and Confidentiality
Personal Data may be maintained in paper and electronic formats at Company work sites and on Company or vendor servers. Company employees who may have access to personal information are required to keep that information confidential. The Company holds its employees, contractors, part-time and temporary workers, service providers, subsidiaries, affiliates, and those employed by others to perform work on the Company's behalf accountable for maintaining confidentiality with your Personal Data. The Company is committed to protecting your Personal Data from unauthorized use or disclosure; while we cannot fully eliminate all security risks, The Company has security controls in place to limit the security risk and address any vulnerability if such a need arises.
G. Children's Privacy
The Company website is not designed to collect information from children under the age of 13. We ask that children under the age of 13 not submit any personal information to us on our website. If you believe that your child has provided us with personal information please see Section K - How to Contact the Company below for who you should contact.
H. EU Applicant Rights under GDPR
For Personal Data that you have provided us, you can 1) request the Company to erase or delete all or some of your Personal Data; 2) request that the Company change, update or correct inaccurate information; 3) ask the Company to stop using all or some of your Personal Data (e.g., if we have no legal right to keep using it) or to limit our use of it (e.g., if your personal information is inaccurate); and 4) ask the Company for a copy of your Personal Data. See Section K - How to Contact the Company below if you would like to make a request related to your personal information.
I. What if You Do Not Provide the Requested Personal Data?
You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide your Personal Data to the Company during the recruitment or application process. However, if you do not provide the requested information, we will not be able to process your application for employment.
J. Updates to this Privacy Statement
The Company may update this Privacy Statement from time to time, so please review it frequently. If we change our Privacy Statement, we will post the revised version here, with an updated revision date. If we make significant changes to our Privacy Statement, we may also notify you by other means prior to the changes taking effect, such as, but not limited to, sending an e-mail or posting a notice on our website.
K. How to Contact the Company
If you have questions related to this Notice or wish to exercise any of the rights listed above, you may contact the following:
Kristin Smith
Director of Human Resources
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the
Advancement of Military Medicine
6720A Rockledge Drive, Suite 100
Bethesda, MD 20817
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 240-694-4008


text: Let's get it on Written by Kevin Wednesday November 28, 2012 Tags: Carnage kayak whitewater Alright who's ready for some good old whitewater kayak carnage? Everyone right? The Quebec Connection brings us a carnage video that they put together from the not so great moments this season. Oh and don't worry, they say no one was seriously hurt during the making of this. read more


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Modern cognitive development theory emphasises relationships, seeing social interaction as the crucible in which children's cognitive development takes place.
Professor Charlie LewisOctober 2018
Since before my first child arrived 34 years ago I have had an active interest in parenting and the role of the father. My more recent focus has been on how children's thinking develops within communication.
I want to influence the public debate on parenting.


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LAKE CHARLES – On Tuesday December 18, 2018, Bishop Glen John Provost, D.D., M.A., announced the appointment of Deacon Brian Kirk as Chief Finance Officer (CFO) for the Diocese of Lake Charles. The appointment is effective January 1, 2019 and is for a period of five years.
Deacon Kirk currently serves as a Deacon at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, where he will continue in that ministry. He is married to Stephanie Kirk and the couple has three children.
Deacon Kirk is a Public Accountant, certified to practice in Texas and Louisiana, and holds a Master's degree in Business Administration.
The appointment of the CFO for a diocese requires the consultation of both the College of Consultors and the Diocesan Finance Council. Both bodies enthusiastically supported the Bishop's recommendation.


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Training on Resistivity Survey
Acquisition, Processing and Interpretation
About Training
The Disaster Preparedness & Prevention Centre (DPPC) to organise the above-mentioned event to showcase good practices in conducting geophysical survey for the environmental and engineering industry. Tentative topics include resistivity survey, data acquisition, processing and interpretation as well as a visit to the DPPC, MJIIT facility.
30 & 31 July 2018
Disaster Preparedness & Prevention Centre (DPPC), MJIIT
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Participants are expected to BEAR THEIR OWN COST of accommodation, transport and meals. Registration is free of charge on a first-come-first served basis, with a deadline of 25 July 2018.
Geophysical Survey
The benefit of geophysics is that it is non-invasive and can rapidly map large areas and reduce the chance of missing buried targets.
Registration Closed
Our Services
Site Characterization
+ Buried Foundations
+ Tanks and Drums
+ Buried Services
+ Contamination Plumes
Ground Hazards
+ Mine Workings
+ Karst
+ Slope Stability
+ Rockhead Profiling
+ Fractures/Faults
+ Geological Mapping
+ Engineering Properties
Archaeology/3D Survey
+ Archaeology Mapping
+ Heritage Structures
+ Historical Sites
+ Building Scanning & Survey


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A new book edited by Rosanna Maule and Julie Beaulieu has been released. In the Dark Room examines Duras's contribution to contemporary cinema. You can purchase the book here.
Haidee Wasson and Lee Grieveson's new book has been released. Inventing Film Studies shows how the study of cinema has developed in relation to a constellation of institutions, technologies, practices, individuals, films, books, government agencies, pedagogies, and theories.
Rosanna Maule's new book has been released. Beyond Auteurism: New Directions in Authorial Film Practices in France, Italy and Spain since the 1980s is a comprehensive study of nine film authors from France, Italy and Spain who since the 1980s have blurred the boundaries between art-house and mainstream, and national and transnational film production.


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April: 3DCeram showcases its new solutions at Ceramics Expo and Hannover Messe
24 avril 2016
3DCeram participates in Ceramic Expo exhibition from April 26 to 28, in Cleveland, Ohio and in Hannover Messe 2016 from April 25 to 29, in Hannover, Germany. At these shows, visitors will discover new ceramics slurries developed by 3DCeram and new development to get the best of volume production with the Ceramaker 3D printer. The company pioneered the 4.0 industry years ago and it is now glad to support customers for the next step.
Please come and visit us at Ceramics Expo (stand # 534) and at Hannover Messe on the stand of TASK, the network of technical ceramics professionals (Treffpunkt Keramik/Ceramic Applications Hall 6, stand B16).
3DMiX Ceramics slurries and desktop printers to explore ceramic potential
3D printing allows to test new concepts and pushes the limits of production. To open the technology to a larger number of professionals, 3DCeram completed its 3DMix ceramic paste range with new ceramic slurries that fit a range of approved desktop 3D printers developed by partners. This solution enables customers to produce the first parts quickly.
3DMix slurries make the cleaning of the green part faster and consumption of ceramic suspension lower; it also enables an easier filtering of uncured suspension. Liquid alumina formulation is available right now, other ceramics will follow soon.
The combination of accessible printers and ceramic slurries allows customers to learn how to design parts quickly and understand the principles of 3D printing dedicated to ceramics. 3DCeram also offers training, a hotline and a new service to help customers optimize their parts (weight gain, improved mechanical strength, etc.).
Ceramaker ceramics 3D printer for series production of high quality parts
The Ceramaker printers are used by the company to offer on-request production service for high quality parts. Thanks to the expansive working surface (300 mm x 300 mm), it can produce parts up to 20 cm (8 inches) in length with a very high density as well as a high resolution (30 microns regardless of the size of the work surface of the printers. This service is particularly suited to the production of single parts or volume production and yields the same material properties as those obtained by conventional methods (machining, injection …). The company has developed a proprietary technology, called Link Free Support, for the production of printing support. It allows the production of parts without leaving any surface remnant. The biomedical market was the first to adopt 3DCeram's technology for the production of ceramic implants in 2005. Since then, many customers in the luxury market or in various industrial fields (aerospace, automotive, etc trust 3DCeram for the production of their parts or use the Ceramaker printer for their in house production.


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I think as a writer it's easy to pick other author's work apart. I know that I'm guilty, and my stuff is by no means perfect in every way. We try to cross all our T's and dot all our I's. We try to tie up loose ends in our stories. We do our best to make each and every page of our books a work of art. Some are better at this than others. Ultimately, it all boils down to experience, practice, writing consistently, reading constantly, and learning what to fix or leave be when it comes to our own book's criticism. We learn and we grow with everything we do… or don't do, for that matter.
My point is, when was the last time you writers out there reading this, was actually able to sit down and enjoy an entire book WITHOUT placing it under the magnifying glass of judgement? Sentence by sentence, word by word. When was the last time that you made a mental note before going in, to just enjoy the story?!
I know from experience that this can be next to impossible at times, especially when reading something with the exact same phrases used over and over… or even an over use of filler words, and spelling mistakes. Naturally, it's noticing these things that in a way put us on the next level of professionalism as writers. On the other hand, it's our burden to bear in our inability to NOT scrutinize every single book that's splayed open in our hands.
If this particular issue has been a struggle for you as of late, the way it has myself, and it's interrupting your ability to properly devour a book… Then I please, oh please take some time for yourself. WE ALL AUTHORS NEED TO DO THIS ONCE IN A WHILE!! Take a break from your promised reviews, the TBR pile of unknowns, and grab something written by an author you already know you love. A book that you can't put down, even if you've already read it a million times. Do it for yourself, for the love of books, but more importantly do it for the sake of sanity. Just so that you can give yourself the break needed to slow your scrutiny! I do this myself at least once every two months. As a writer, I can't think of anything more refreshing.
Happy reading, friends! More importantly happy writing!
ALSO, if you want to share the character personalities of your WIP with the world, in a way that doesn't give away your plot points then there is still time to join Septembers writing challenge! Write a short story of your characters at the poker table, and lets share them to the blogasphere!! See the challenge rules below!
Here's how it works:
As the initiator: Every month I'll give a real time circumstance, hang out spot, or every day situation. I'll post the exact scene/challenge the first week of every month.
As an Author/challenge joiner: All you need to do is use the characters from your WIP (work in progress), or even a published works, and plug them into the given scene for a short story style post. It can be funny, serious, deadly, really just whatever you want as long as it's true to your characters (as in, what they would actually do in this situation)!! It's a fun way to be creative with those personalities that you as their creator love so much. It's also a fun way to introduce them to the world and your blogs, without giving away your plots and twists… Just pure 'meet my characters, and get to know their personalities' separate from their book.
How we work together as Authors and the Initiator: I'll do my own scene/challenge post on the very last day of the month (that way I can be sure to link in every joiner, and you can do your posts at your own leisure). Write your scene's anytime you wish, at any point of the month. All that I need is your final challenge post link. You can give it to me in any comment, or even link me into your post so that it'll pop in my newsfeeds! So simple!
(If you do just link me in to your own posts, then make sure you use a regular blog post to link me in with, rather than my pain page, that won't actually give me a notification. I don't want to skip anyone over! This particular post is ideal, but do your own thing.)
For Sept… Use the scene of playing poker!! READY GO
Good luck writers! Lets have fun with this! I can't wait to share my own little scene's and look forward to reading yours!


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$9.99 Flat rate shipping with Canada Post | Free Shipping over $100
Our distribution center has reopened. Due to the higher than normal orders received, please expect a two week delay in shipping. Thank you for your patience and continued support.
*The following rural/remote areas do not qualify for flat rate or free shipping Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut and Newfoundland.


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- Bibliography
- Filmography
- Biography
- Address
Franciszek Grembecki
*ok. 1747, †26 I 1827 Ciepliny
Until now, little was known about Franciszek Grembecki, a witness at the wedding of Justyna and Mikołaj Chopin and official godfather to Fryderyk Chopin. Particularly disputed was the essence and nature of his close relationship with the Chopins. Recent research allows us to clear up these doubts unequivocally.
Franciszek was born c.1747, the third son of Marcin and Marianna, née Słucka, doubtless in the region of Kujawy, which is where he would hold a number of public posts: in 1785 he appears as burgrave of the town of Przedecz, in the years 1792 and 1807 as 'regent' of Przedecz, and in 1812 as land bailiff. These functions characterise Grembecki's personal, social and professional career rather well. In Poland, a burgrave was a sort of assistant to the starosta, by whom he was appointed. His duties were not clearly specified and often overlapped with those of the deputy starosta. Initially, the burgrave's sphere of competence included maintaining safety on the highways, executing court sentences, catching criminals and tending to the castle, but with time he became an officer of the judiciary. The regent (regens) of Przedecz worked at the municipal court; he was in charge of the court office and prepared the documentation and procedure before the municipal judge. The land bailiff was most probably responsible for land boundaries (camerarius granitialis terrestris); appointed by the chamberlain, he too was linked to the judiciary, being responsible for dealing with boundary disputes between landowners, delineating these boundaries, establishing the conditions for agreements between neighbours, producing plans of the land and acquainting himself with the court records concerning disputes. Such an official had to be familiar with the law and calculation, and also skilled in geometry and surveying.
All these functions, discharged by Grembecki in Kujawy over several decades, gave him excellent qualifications and the trust of the local landowners. Testimony to this effect are the numerous powers of attorney given to him to appear in court on behalf of third parties. Among those to issue him such proxies were Franciszek-Ksawery Zboiński, Castellan of Płock (in 1812), Kacper Skarbek of Izbica (in 1791) and his ex-wife Ludwika Skarbek, née Fenger-a key figure in the Chopin family history. It is the proxy given to Grembecki in Warsaw on 1 September 1807 by Ludwika Skarbek that provides the key to understanding the character of their relationship. In it, the countess empowered Grembecki to conduct all legal actions in her name, accepting all his decisions in advance. This shows her complete confidence in him-not surprising when one considers that Grembecki had already conducted many of the Skarbeks' affairs for over a decade.
His quite frequent appearance in Kujawy court records and his long residence in the neighbourhood of Izbica during the period when Fryderyk Chopin's grandparents, Jakub and Antonina Krzyżanowski, were living there allow the authors to advance the hypothesis that Grembecki's presence in such important circumstances for the Chopin family was due mainly to his long-standing intimacy with Justyna's parents, especially since Jakub was no longer alive (he died in 1805). It is telling that around the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Franciszek's brother, Jan Grembecki, lived with his family in the locality of Długie (the birthplace of Justyna Krzyżanowska). Therefore, it also seems highly likely that he was acquainted with the family of Jakub Krzyżanowski.
On the basis of the above-mentioned documents, we are able to characterise Grembecki's relationship with the Skarbek family, and with Ludwika Skarbek in particular, when she was living at Żelazowa Wola: a long-standing acquaintance with Grembecki from her time in Izbica and a complete confidence in him with regard to official matters, leading her to entrust to him difficult legal affairs. There was certainly a need for Grembecki to make quite frequent visits to Ludwika Skarbek, be it at Żelazowa Wola or in Warsaw when she was staying there, and by the same stroke frequent personal meetings with Mikołaj and Justyna Chopin. Given that Grembecki had known the Krzyżanowskis for several decades (he must have known Justyna and her siblings since they were children), Justyna Chopin doubtless saw these encounters almost as family meetings, reminding her of the years she spent with her parents on the Skarbeks' estate in Kujawy. We may imagine these encounters as carrying a certain sentimental aspect, and so it is not surprising that Franciszek Grembecki led the orphaned Justyna down the aisle at her wedding and held her son at his baptism.
Grembecki lived a long life, dying childless in his Ciepliny home on 26 January 1827. A preserved inventory made after his death not only allows us to infer certain details of his biography, but also-through the picture that emerges of the material surroundings in which he lived at his manor house-to sketch a portrait of his person.
Grembecki, a confirmed bachelor, possessed no hereditary estate; for over thirty years he leased the village of Ciepliny in Kujawy (in the parish of Izbica), belonging to the Modzerowo estate, and on that account paid 'rent to the Izbica demesne'. He also had a couple of monetary endowments on the estates of Konary and Koczewy in the district of Orłów. According to the aforementioned inventory, drawn up before witnesses and family in his home in Ciepliny two weeks after Franciszek's death, he left the sum of 681 zloty in deposit with his nephew, Józef; a will was found in his desk in which he bequeathed certain sums to his employees. For thirty years his closest companion was one Mateusz-Michał Ziemecki, a country gentleman who, 'in the duties of service but as a friend', fulfilled the role of steward and managed Grembecki's domestic affairs, as the latter's activities demanded frequent travelling and absence from home. For the last four years of his life, Grembecki's housekeeper was Marcjanna Dąbrowska, and his servant was Jan Krassowski. His brother's son, Józef Grembecki, lived in the nearby village of Złota in the district of Łęczyce, and his sister's son, Agaton Szatkowski, Polish army captain (12th infantry regiment; 1807-1813) and Knight of the Cross of the Virtuti Militari, lived in the village of Chodów in the district of Orłów. The inventory also mentions the names of Zuzanna Grembecka and Joanna Borkowska, née Grembecka, although their kinship with the deceased is not specified.
The Grembecki family hails from the region of Płock, and its seat is the village of Grąbiec in the district of Sierpc. Many Grembeckis appear in the records of the regions of Płock and Dobrzyn, but-just as the representatives of other families-Grembeckis also moved to other regions of Poland. One of them, Franciszek (b. c.1760), appeared in Kujawy and the neighbouring region of Łęczyce. He was married to Zofia Pruska (d. before 1758) and in 1755 transferred his estate of Obałki to his son, Mateusz. His other children were Józef, Marcin, Jan and Petronella. Mateusz (or Tomasz-Mateusz), married to Teresa Rydzewska, widow of Józef Polichnowski, died childless. He served as burgrave of the town of Łęczyce (1758-1765). His brother Józef, married to Magdalena Słucka, widow of Piotr Rożniecki, leased, in the years 1760-1765, the estate of Roguszki in the district of Przedecz in Kujawy. Another brother, Marcin, married to Marianna (Franciszka) Słucka, died c.1766 and left four children: Sebastian, married to Helena Zabokrzycka, Jan, 'our' Franciszek and a daughter, married name Szatkowska, whose son was the above-mentioned Agaton Szatkowski. Jan married twice: first to Rozalia Kossowska, with whom he had a son, Józef-Florian, and a daughter, Zuzanna-Klara (b. Długie, 1806); later to Urszula Myślińska.
Piotr Mysłakowski and Andrzej Sikorski (June 2006)
Piotr Mysłakowski and Andrzej Sikorski, Chopinowie. Krąg rodzinno-towarzyski [The Chopins. Their Family and Social Circle] (Warsaw, 2005).


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We attended an appointment back at our clinic in January to get the results of the endometrial function test (Yale test) I had done and the FISH test my husband had done in the never ending quest to find a reason why our cycles with blastocysts keep failing or, in the case of one, ended in miscarriage.
The Yale EFT involved completing a dummy FET cycle so basically I took the same medications as if I was doing a frozen cycle. This meant that most of December and Christmas was taken up with this. I had the biopsy for the test on 6th January, what a lovely way to start the New Year! This followed much the same procedure as for an endometrial scratch. However, although I got through the (short lived) discomfort, I did find this more painful than the endometrial scratches. Afterwards I felt very dizzy and lightheaded and had to be given some oxygen and chocolate to recover myself. Luckily my husband had come in to collect me. The Yale EFT looks for certain markers in the endometrium that may indicate a lack of receptivity to implantation. The biopsy is sent to Yale University for analysis.
The FISH (Fluorescent in-situ hybridization) test looks more deeply at certain chromosomes in the sperm. It looks at the X and Y chromosomes, chromosomes 13,18 ,21 and the level of diploid sperm (sperm with 2 sets of chromosomes instead of one). All that was required for this was just a semen sample.
My Yale EFT came back normal. My husbands FISH test was fine for the chromosomes X, Y, 13, 18, 21 but it noted a higher presence than average of diploid sperm, 0.49% instead of 0.24% for the control population. Our consultant seemed to point the finger at this as a possible reason for our failed cycles. This news was devastating for my husband who remained silent for the rest of the consultation, processing it all. The talk moved to our options. The consultant suggested that if we had another attempt using our own eggs/sperm, that PGD/PGS (pre implantation diagnosis/screening) would be an option. However, he didn't recommend it on grounds of our age, the cost and the likelihood that we would not produce large numbers of embryos to select from. It would really only be for diagnosis to prove that the embryo was abnormal or otherwise. He suggested that we take some time to think about it all, but pointed out that our best chance would probably be with double donation, using donated sperm and eggs, or possibly donated sperm on its own. Sperm donation could be done in the clinic as could egg donation, but double donation would require going to a clinic abroad as no Irish clinic has a licence for it. PGD/PGS would require going to a different clinic as well.
The consultant suggested another specialist to whom we could talk in order to discuss other options. This specialist works with many different clinics including those abroad. We came away from our consultation feeling somewhat deflated as it felt like clinic 2 have run out of options for us unless we do either egg or sperm donation on their own. The consultant did suggest arranging a follow up phone consultation when we had time to process the news but we haven't so far. When we got home, my husband cried his eyes out. I'd never seen him cry like that in the whole time we have been together. There was nothing really that I could do except comfort him and reassure him that it was not his fault, that he had done everything to help his situation and agree that yes this was highly unfair and unfortunate.
After a few days of licking our wounds I arranged a counselling appointment for my husband with his agreement. He found the session beneficial and started to get back to his usual self. I made an appointment with the other specialist who had been recommended at clinic no 3. This person is an embryologist who works as a fertility consultant and runs a practice that provides support services for people undertaking treatment abroad, but which also has a clinic attached for standard IUI/IVF locally. Our appointment was scheduled romantically enough on the afternoon of Valentine's Day. This was a very lengthy appointment. I had brought copies of all my results and the specialist went through various suggested options. The double donation option was mentioned again but he did not rule out cycling again using our own sperm/eggs just on the understanding that the chances of success would be greatly reduced (about 10%). He did not put as much emphasis on the FISH diploidy result as he said that these sperm would be unlikely to fertilise an egg in the first place and if this test was so crucial, why is it not provided as standard in all clinics? My husband hadn't been feeling well all day (he had a viral bowel infection we found out later) and actually blacked out briefly in the consultation. This was nearly a repeat of what had happened to him at our very first fertility consultation back in March 2012. He said afterwards it was like a form of PTSD, it just brought him back to that experience. He was revived with tea and Oreos. The specialist suggested that it might be worth while taking a fresh approach and cycling abroad, the cost would work out much the same as cycling here even with travel. He suggested a clinic in Prague and said he could send our notes there and get an opinion. He considered a change in protocol would also be worthwhile, maybe one with less suppression than previously and a different stimulation drug, possibly Menopur. My husband was clear that he would like us to try one more own egg/sperm cycle before moving onto a donor path. The specialist could see that he was not there on the donor issue yet and that I was nearly there but not quite. Part of me wants to see if the months on DHEA and high dose Co-Enzyme Q10 have made any difference.
An information pack was provided which included a list of basic tests to be repeated. It was stated we would not be asked to repeat any major tests as these had already been done at previous clinics and provided to this clinic no 3. The tests for me included a repeat antral follicle count scan, day 3 bloods, thyroid profile, dhea, amh and for him, just a semen analysis.
The following week I happened to be on the right part of the cycle so I got the scan and bloods done. These proved to be a bit depressing for me. My antral follicle count which had been 14 in 2012 (7+7) and 12 in mid 2013 (6+6) had dropped to 6 (4+2). My right side had always been the better performing side and now it has only 2 follicles. Equally gloomy was the fact that my amh which had been a higher than average (for my age) 34.87pmol in 2012 had now dropped to 6.7pmol. The sad fact is that my biological clock is starting to tick out. I feel it is like the little clock that appears in the corner of the screen on Jools Holland's New Year's Eve TV show in the last minute before midnight. My FSH though had oddly improved. It was 6.8 in 2012, 6.2 last year and is now 5.6. My mind is already thinking towards donor eggs even though I will give this one last try with my own my best shot. It's just the sad fact of getting closer to 42. To think that I had good fertility less than 2 years ago and now it is low makes me sad, especially as my husband managed to get his count to 10mil from a low of 400,000 over the same time period but yet got hit with the news of this FISH diploidy result.
At least we can say we are both broken I guess. I feel like I have come from hero to zero in this timeframe and hubby probably feels the same.
I can't generate any excitement about a final own egg/sperm cycle. In one way I want to get it over with so that I can move on from it. I am trying to read more about donor conception and both my husband and I attended a donor conception meeting recently which was very helpful. It was good to meet and talk with others who have either embarked on the donor path, are thinking about it or have had success with it. It's nice to feel that our situation is not unique, that we are not 'defective' and that lots of perfectly ordinary normal people have travelled a donor path for whatever reason.
My husband had a repeat semen analysis in clinic 3 and this ended up being better news insofar as his count is now 20 million which is the minimum of normal. Motility and Morphology were also ok. He didn't feel ready to go down the donor route and after some soul searching and a meeting with the new gynaecologist we decided to give one last own egg/sperm cycle a try in a clinic in Prague recommended by our new satellite clinic. I am concerned that I won't get enough eggs or that the quality will be poor even with all my DHEA and co enzyme Q10 supplementation. But we will give it our best shot and if it doesn't work out I think I can move on to donor egg and maybe there will be a chance for my husband's sperm yet. If not we will have to think long and hard about double donation.
We applied for international adoption but this process is essentially stalled in Ireland at the moment with wait times exceeding 8 years and no guarantees. This is heartbreaking when we think of the children in need of homes and unable to be placed with a loving family here.
For now though I will do my best to try and keep positive. The protocol suggested by the Prague clinic is quite different to the long protocols I've had before. It is a flare protocol that avoids down regulation and over-suppression of the ovaries. I will have Menopur as the stims drug and Cyclogest is the progesterone. IMSI, PICSI, embryo glue and embryoscope are available options if needed. Maybe it will help having a completely different protocol. I am lucky to have lots of support on Twitter, my fertility yoga class and other support groups through which I have a number of email contacts and couples I now know in person. I'm getting counselling in advance too as I want to go into this with a better frame of mind than the title of this blog post might suggest.
I'll be back to update on my Prague adventure….


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Whatever be the reasons behind the near-simultaneous withdrawal of emergency and the creation of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for finding an all-party solution to the 'national question', they should be welcome. Taken to the logical conclusion, the former could be a precursor to the beginning of the end to the ethnic tensions in the nation, and the latter the beginning of a fresh beginning, for leaving the past behind.
More may need to be done on both counts. UNP Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Ranil Wickremesinghe, unhesitatingly welcomed the withdrawal of the emergency when President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the Government's decision in the House. He qualified it with a demand for a further easing of war-time application of legislation like the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
The TNA, among others, should adopt such a positive approach to the Government's initiatives of the kind. A positive wordage of their perceptive position may not hurt. Their reaction implying that it's all 'too little, too late' too does not serve any purpose. Post-war, the TNA has changed its strategy in dealing with the Government. It has to change its tact and tactics, to become even more acceptable. Past experience could be a leading light but should not be a baggage to view every step of every government, this one and later, with suspicion and mistrust.
The PSC is a different issue. The terms of reference is said to be too broad to comfort the TNA, yet it does not mean their concerns would not be addressed. The Government should confer greater credibility on post-war efforts aimed at rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation. It would not hurt to be circumspect and gracious at the same time.
Confusion still remains also about the stalled talks between the Government and the TNA. This apart, the two sides should bestow greater clarity on establishing linkages between the talks on the one hand and the PSC on the other. Procedural clarifications by the PSC, when it commences work, could also help.
Post-war, the PSC would be the first national institution of the kind to focus on power-devolution and a larger political solution. In comparison, even the APRC was a creature of the war era. That does not mean that the APRC was wrong, or its report could be among the basic documents for the PSC to refer to.
It is all a part of the national reconciliation process, and Parliament as an institution under the Constitution has as much responsibility as the Executive and the polity. That way, the PSC is not only about addressing the concerns of the Tamil community. It is about power devolution to the Provinces. In the coming years and decades after the ethnic war, the issues and questions would become as relevant to the rest of the country as to the Tamil areas.
The Sri Lankan State and the constitutional institutions created for its care and guardianship should give up the past habit of contributing to the fire, then end up fighting that fire. It did not help the majority Sinhala community in the past. It will not do so in the future. The post-war preventive measures have to be constitutional measures aimed at greater institutionalisation of democracy and pluralism in the country. Pluralism here does not stop with ethnicity, either.
Militarist efforts at enforcing discipline in a people comforted by democracy for centuries would be transient and counter-productive, over time. The past is proof to the future in this case. The Tamils created the LTTE, but the militant form of JVP was not their creature.
It can begin, here and now. The TNA, among others, have sought greater relaxation of the emergency-like situation, with the withdrawal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the surrender of lands occupied for the purposes of the armed forces. Both could be done in phases but a beginning has to be made.
It could well start with the de-linking of the Police administration from the Defence Ministry. Bringing the Police under the control of the Defence Ministry was among the early orders passed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa after coming to power in 2005.
It had remained so for most parts of the war era, even before President Rajapaksa. Delinking the civilian Police under a civilian ministry could now be among the early orders (after the withdrawal of the emergency) that he could pass to further herald the return and permanency of post-war normalcy in the country as a whole.
This in turn could set the tone for the national discourse that the PSC should be engaging in.


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There are 2.2 million Australians living with disability who are of working age, but Australians with disability are under-represented in the workforce. In fact, the employment rate for people with disability is almost half compared to those without disability. DSA will be taking part in AccessAbility Day – an Australian Government initiative developed to connect jobseekers with disability and employers, with an event in Bankstown on 27th November.
Disability Services Australia is an employer of 500 people with disability through DSA Packaging Solutions, our Australian Disability Enterprise and are proud to be part of this important initiative.
AccessAbility Day gives us the opportunity to host a number of job seekers with disability who are interested in working in Asset Care our Property Maintenance Service.
For more information about AccessAbility Day, visit www.jobaccess.gov.au/accessabilityday or call 1800 464 800. TTY users can phone 1800 555 677 and then ask for 1800 464 800.
For information about DSA Employment Solutions and the event, call our Customer Connections team on 1300 372 121.


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The Lunar New Year is upon us, and according to the Chinese zodiac chart, 2019 will welcome back the Year of the Pig. It's been 12 years since the pig had its turn around the sun, and turns out there's a lot in store for those of you who were born during the time of the swine (1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007). We have put together a comprehensive breakdown of what to expect in every aspect of your life in the coming year.
Rarely an area of worriment, a pig's health tends to stay pretty consistent given your traits of natural high energy and stamina. But that doesn't mean you can slack during your weekly workout routine or not maintain a balanced diet. One area to focus on more than ever before is your mental health. Take care of yourself and home in on what you really need to better connect with the world around you.
Not to be a downer, but a pig's love life will be, for lack of a better word, stale. Sure, there will be solid moments of attraction and affection, but romantic relationships will not be making huge waves in your life in 2019. The silver lining? This lets you focus on creating new friendships, which in turn will help your social life flourish.
Primary traits of the pig are intuition and attachment to luck. You may feel like you are one lucky pig now, but limit any investments that you feel even the slightest skepticism toward. Instead of exploring new career paths, stick to the one you are currently on to set your future self up for success. According to the zodiac calendar, your luckiest moments will occur between the months of April and July.
2019 is slated to be a transitional year for the pig. You will find harmony by calling upon your innate characteristics of patience and discipline. Set your sights on long-term projects and goals that will allow you to cash in when the right opportunities arise. Listen to yourself and discover what it is you really need, and positivity will abound. Happy Chinese New Year, dear pig!


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Hours of Operation
Open 2pm to 6 pm
Monday through Friday
Open teacher planning day and early release day
Arts, Wellness & Academics at North Hialeah Baptist Church Daycare is an after school and summer program offering K-5 students a unique curriculum of academics, arts, and wellness under the supervision of talented and caring professional staff. Both English and Spanish literacy skills are encouraged and supported.
Through fun daily activities in filmmaking, reading, homework support, healthy snacks, chorus, dance, and sports, every student will show measureable improvements in:
North Hialeah Baptist Church Daycare
5800 Palm Avenue / Hialeah, Fl 33012
The main office can be found in the main building located behind the church on 58th street. Suite 2A on the second floor.
Contact us at 786-567-1280
Schedule a tour today!


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Two Guys Have Xxx Backdoor SexMay 13, 2013 – 9:52 pm
Without any of the other roommates around, Gino and John can act on the longing they have for each other without any interruption. That is why their tools were so subrigid only after a not many minutes of enormous petting on the sofa. As in a short time as he saw his buddy's weiner drooping, this chab opened up his face hole and moved his lips up and down his meatstick, sucking his wang before having him bend over so he could slide his tongue up his poop chute. He was hungry for every part of his body, and so was this petticoat chaser, as he took a face hole pumping before bending over for his salami. He gave it just as fine as he received it, and both tools discharged all the spunk that they had!


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Shine bright at Connecticut Concert Ballet!
Click the link below to register at CCB. Once you hit Submit, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to pay your $25 Registration Fee.
Come to the Manchester studio to choose your class(es) and your tuition payment plan.
Manchester studio hours are:
Monday through Friday from 4:00 - 8:00 pm
Saturday from 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
All ballet dancers must wear our CCB uniform. Uniforms are purchased at our Manchester studio during regular hours.


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The image slider (also referred to as a carousel), located on your website's homepage, is an area in which multiple images can be placed to help your parish highlight some of its website content visually. In this article we have some tips for how to best maintain your image slider.
Before reading on: Are you unfamiliar with how to use the image slider? Learn how to do that in this article.
How many slides can I have in my image slider?
There is no strict limit to the number of slides you can add to your EVO site. However, too many slides can distract from the clear messages you are trying to get across. Visitors to your site will definitely see the first slide. They'll likely see the second and third slides. It is less likely that your users will see more than 4-5 slides, though.
Select or create an image for the slider
Choose a graphic or photo to display as your slider image. You will want an image that is wider than it is taller. Though FlexSlider will auto-resize based upon the size of your images, we recommend that you choose a consistent size for your images. See Appendix A in our Image Optimization instructions:
You may either create a graphic with overlaid text using photo editing software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Pixelmator, Canva, etc.) or just crop a photograph or graphic to the proper size and customize the slider to overlay text for you. As a good rule of thumb, if the graphic you are posting has text already on it that is descriptive enough for your site visitors, then there is no need to overlay text through the slider.
Optimizing your slider images
A good practice to follow is to optimize your images before you upload them to your website. Images which have not been properly optimized can cause storage and performance issues and contribute to a degraded user experience. Learn more about image optimization and the tools available for optimizing your website's images: https://support.goarch.org/-/optimizing-images-for-the-web
Put your best slide forward!
- Your users may not stick around for slides 2, 3, or 4, so make sure your most important slide comes first.
- Use clear images when choosing images and photos for your slider. Photos that are clear, simple, and best tell a story are going to grab the attention of your visitors. Images or graphics that are well designed and convey a clear message will also grab the attention of your visitors.
- Use artistic restraint when adding slides to your site. Remember that more isn't better - better is better.


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Lingua is proud to announce, in partnership with ELS Language Centers,
its 2015 TEFL Certification Program.
Our TEFL program is held at ELS St. Petersburg, located on the beautiful waterfront campus of Eckerd College. St. Petersburg is situated on Florida's tropical west coast and is well known for its beaches and yearlong great weather (361 days of sunshine each year). Only a five minute drive from the Center are 42 kilometers of white sand beaches and clear blue water. Additionally, there are eight world-famous theme parks and four water parks all within a 90 minute drive, including Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.
With an average of some 361 days of sunshine each year, and a Guinness World Record for logging the most consecutive days of sunshine (768 days), it is nicknamed "The Sunshine City". Due to its good weather and low cost of living, the city has long been a popular retirement destination, although in recent years the population has moved in a much more youthful direction. American Style magazine ranked St. Petersburg its top mid-size city in 2011, citing its "vibrant" arts scene.
Along with beautiful beaches, St. Petersburg attracts visitors with the Salvador Dali Museum, Fort De Soto Park and the St. Petersburg Pier. Presently, the St. Petersburg Pier building is closed. The pier approach and walkways are open to walking and biking along the waterfront. The approach area has a boat/sailboat/electric boat business, the St. Petersburg Museum of History, two large parking lots and stops for the St. Petersburg Trolley service. Beach Drive is a block away and features a variety of dining and shopping opportunities.
The city, which glimmers between the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay, is known for its warm weather and delightful breezes. Clearly a cultural center and family favorite, St. Petersburg offers an array of interactive, art, science and natural attractions to spark your group's curiosity, while its beaches - some of America's best - offer major fun in the sun. Don't miss the newly gentrified downtown strip of park-side cafes and other establishments. And, oh, by the way, Central Florida's theme parks are just a short drive away.
|See dates and fees here
Arequipa (Peru) | Boston (USA) | Budapest (Hungary) | Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Crete (Greece) | Guzmán (Mexico) | Florence (Italy) | Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
Istanbul (Turkey) | Louisville KY (USA) | M. Antonio (Costa Rica)
Marrakesh (Morocco) | Panama (Panama) | Pattaya (Thailand) | Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
Porto (Portugal) | Rabat (Morocco) | Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | Saint Petersburg (Russia)
St. Petersburg (USA) | Santiago (Chile) | Sardinia (Italy)