text: "Beyond your circle of earthly friends, I urge you to make a friend of your Heavenly Father. He stands ready to answer the prayer of your heart. Being the Father of your spirit and having created you in His own image, knowing the end from the beginning, His wisdom will not fail and His counsel is ever true. Make a friend of Him." -Thomas S. Monson

subset: commoncrawl


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Advertising Feature: Free holiday fun for the kids
Keeping the kids entertained in the holidays can often be a challenge, not to mention expensive for families. There are however, plenty of ways to keep the little people busy and some great deals to be had during holiday season.
Getting outside and active is often the best way to stave off bouts of boredom and ensures bedtime isnt a struggle at the end of the day.
Here are some great ways to keep the boredom at bay these coming holidays.
- Picnic at the beach. We are fortunate in that we have some of the worlds best beaches across Australia and kids love nothing more than with Spring well and truly here why not plan a day out at the beach. Collecting shells, crabbing in the rocks or a game of beach cricket can pass hours. A dip in the waves or swim in the ocean baths in a perfect way to cool down.
- Give them some culture. Most local art galleries have some great programs and often free activities that run during the school holidays for young creative minds. Check websites for school holiday schedules at your local or national gallery and release the inner artist in your children. If theres nothing specific on in your area in terms of programs, a tour of the current exhibit is always well worth a look. Most galleries boast a decent cafe for a pit stop to re-fuel hungry kids.
- Grow your own veggies. Theres nothing quite as satisfying than eating something you have grown yourself and its also an easy way to encourage the kids to eat their fruit and vegetables or try something new. The best part is you dont need a large garden to get started. A small patch or raised bed will do. For those with limited space pots can work well, especially for balconies and courtyards. Allowing the kids to pick which seeds they would like to grow ensures theyll stay interested in watering them until its time to taste the fruits of their labour.
- Strike a pose. Bowling is a fun way to get the all the family active and the best part is, it doesnt rely on the weather. Superstrike runs special offers every school holiday with discounts on games and great specials on food and popcorn. It's also a great place to host a birthday party. With bowling alleys in Maitland, Mayfield, Salamander Bay and Warners Bay theres plenty of locations to chose from these holidays. From April 13 to April 29, take advantage of 2 games of bowling and 3 games of select arcade games for just $20 per person. Visit: www.superstrike.com.au to find out more.


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We will be constructing a new shed for the ducks to live in, and you will learn how to use hand and power tools and building a structure.
Please email firstname.lastname@example.com for more info or arrive 10 minutes before the session start time
Open to all young people over 13 who live in Islington.
This session is part of Islington Children's Services Recreation and Adventure Programme


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Simply building up a site on the web is not a sufficiently very thing now a days. With the overall rivalry and colossal measure of sites unquestionably diminishing the quantity of guests. For these reason website admins attempt distinctive strategies and procedures to snatch the guests on their sites. In any case, producing movement on the site is not exclusively to change over the guests into clients, it requires keen methods to draw in significant or potential guests on your site.
Such a variety of showcasing discussions and sites impart different procedures to produce more activity to your site, the most essential thing is to make sense of which techniques work for you and your web business.
There are various methods to generate potential traffic on your websites, if these methods and techniques used on a right way then definitely they are highly productive. Some of the major web traffic generation strategies are discussed under
Method # 1– Public Recognition
Method # 2– Classified Advertisement
Method # 3– Blogs
Method # 4– Posting on Craigslist
Method # 5 – Promotional Game
Method # 6– Subscribers
Method # 7– Link Exchange
In this smart WSO you will learn the following topics
- Methods to generate website traffic
- What is Link Exchange?
- Link Exchange Principles
- Differentiating Link Exchange Spam
- Search Engine Ranking and Link Exchange
- Link Exchange Web Promotion Strategy
- Finding Good Link Exchange Partners
- Choosing Good Link Exchange Partners
- The Reciprocal Link Exchange
- Manage The Link Exchange Requests
- Three Way Link Exchange Concept
- Pros and Cons of Link Exchange
- Using a Link Exchange Directory
- Link Exchange Ethics
- Dealing with A Link Exchange Pitfalls
- Link Exchange-Don,ts
- Bird Eye,s View


text: Congratulations Russ Westlake and Jack Wohrman in Memphis! April 10, 20150 CommentsBy JLL Atlanta Russ Westlake and Jack Wohrman of JLL in Memphis, have just won the Top 25 Producer Award! Russ also won Top Industrial Tenant Rep Broker of the Year! 0 Comments Categories: Tennessee and tagged Awards, Jack Wohrman, JLL, Russell Westlake.


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Cheap Tunes is an ongoing series about new music available for free or a small fee. Today's spin: NAH's Difficult.
Pennsylvania-reared drummer Mike Kuhn is adept in the art of morphing calamitous noise into something approachable. Kuhn's tornado drumming style has provided gutter-emo duo 1994! with its freewheeling, cathartic abandon all while displaying just of a hint of an accessible pop-punk stomp---though it sounds Kuhn's taken that style on a rollercoaster after filling it with a few cans of Red Bull. His work in 1994! has helped make that band one of the most memorable acts to come out of the new underground emo scene, and it's partially because Kuhn gets some room to stray from a rigid punk sound.
Kuhn really indulges his experimental side with NAH, a solo rap-leaning sound-collage project built on manic and unexpected drum-work. The most recent NAH album is called Difficult, and at times the full-length isn't easy to swallow: On closing number "Pause" Kuhn submerges his feral drumming in so much distortion that at certain times it sounds like waves of feedback have obscured any trace of a beat. The rest of Difficult is, for the most part, far more accessible, and "Neighbours Below" kicks the album off on a particularly high note as Kuhn's barreling drum patterns---which sound like sped-up boom-bap beats that employ empty trash cans---are reminiscent of Death Grips' aggro noise-rap. (It's quite fitting that Kuhn recently released a NAH remix of the popular California noise-rap group.) Songs such as "Record" and "Mr. Tension III" make Difficult sound like a cartoon rendering of a grimy Industrial Revolution factory: It's gritty and a bit grim, but Kuhn provides an exciting instability and an unorthodox pop style to make some of the harshest noises unusually enticing.
NAH's Difficult is available as a name-your-price download from the group's Bandcamp page.


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Wrapped up my last wedding for 2016 and it was the bees knees, soooooo good.
Luke + Briar, you two are my type of people and bloody legends, can't wait to share all the goodness with you guys!
Ps if you're ever after super slick, maximum feels video, checkout Sink or Surface, Ben is super good dude and super talented!


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Compact Flash, sometimes shortened to CF, is a type of mass memory storage used in portable electronic devices. The CompactFlash card technology was developed by SanDisk in 1994 and has grown in popularity throughout the years so that it is now used in a variety of electronic devices.
CompactFlash cards generally use flash memory within a standardized enclosure to store information. Over the years, CompactFlash cards have become increasingly popular as a memory storage device in digital cameras. Though CompactFlash cards have recently started being replaced by smaller cards (such as the SD memory card, also made by SanDisk), they still remain in popular usage for one of the most common types of digital cameras – the SLR (or single lens reflex camera.) Essentially, CompactFlash has historically been one of the most successful mass memory storage devices and has maintained control of its niche, professional digital camera users. One reason for this maintained control is that CompactFlash cards are considered more durable and rugged for the harsh conditions in which photographers sometimes find themselves.
CompactFlash cards are generally a little bigger than what we have lately come to associate with memory cards. And in fact, there are actually two types of CompactFlash cards. The type 1 is 3.3 mm thick, and the type 2 is 5 mm thick. While the CompactFlash card type 1 is in general usage, the CompactFlash card type 2 is commonly used in devices such as microdrives (a miniature, 1-inch hard disk.) Further, There are four main speeds of cards including the original Compact Flash, CompactFlash High Speed (using CF+/CF2.0), a faster CompactFlash 3.0 standard and an even faster CompactFlash 4.0. As a rule of thumb, the thickness of the CF card type is dictated by the preceding PC Card standard which was used for data storage in previous years.
Many computer users will tell you that CompactFlash memory is efficient and cost-effective. They generally have high storage capacity in relation to cost, and their sturdy manufacture means that they have a long usage life. CompactFlash cards can be used directly in a PC Card slot with a plug adapter, used as an ATA (IDE) or PCMCIA storage device with a passive adapter or with a reader, or attached various other types of ports, including the ubiquitous USB port. As the technology advances and some of the newer CompactFlash card types become smaller, some can be used directly in a CompactFlash card slot along with an adapter.
But be careful when you find a deal on CompactFlash card that seems too cheap or too good to be true. There has been a widespread rash of counterfeiting of memory cards, and that includes all memory cards, not just CompactFlash cards. Unscrupulous sellers may sell low-capacity cards formatted to indicate a higher capacity, or else use types of memory which are not intended for extensive rewriting. It is for this reason that you should do your homework before buying a CompactFlash card or other memory card on eBay or from a seller you have never heard of.
It is not uncommon for counterfeiter's to even find ways to penetrate the supply chains of reputable electronic stores such as Best Buy or Radio Shack, so always consult a professional salesperson if you are unsure of the quality of a CompactFlash card you are considering purchasing. Some reputable CompactFlash card manufacturers include ATP, Canon, FujiFilm, Kodak, Lexar, Memorex, Olympus, Panasonic, San Disk, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and UMAX. Just because their names do not appear on this list does not make them a counterfeiter, but it is better to be safe than sorry before using an inferior product in your expensive electronic device.
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Your chance to ride the best sections of the 2019 World Championships Mens Elite Road Race ahead of the actual race in September 2019. You will ride out through Wharfedale and take on the big climbs of Kidstones, Buttertubs pass and Grinton Moor. Then experience one of the flatter fast sections heading towards Masham before taking a scenic route back to the start point in Ilkley.
The route misses out some of the urban sections of the actual race route and also the finishing circuit in Harrogate as it is not rideable under usual traffic regulations.
Ride distance: 109 miles with 9,636ft ascent
Full route mapped on Strava available via our website
Key climbs:
Buttertubs Pass
Grinton Moor
NEW FOR 2019: Lunch now included in the price, choice of sandwiches, cakes and fruit + good quality coffee / yorkshire tea!
STOP PRESS: all riders will receive a copy of the official Yorkshire 2019 UCI World Championships brochure!
About YVT Challenge rides:
Our Challenge Rides are fully supported rides in the Yorkshire. The routes are incredibly varied with each one having its own very distinct character to show off the wide variety of terrain and scenery in the Yorkshire Dales and South Pennines.
The rides are an exclusive individual guided and supported experience similar to 'sportive' ride in that there is a set route, but are not timed. What you get over and above a typical sportive is a pre-ride bike check, a support vehicle and team mechanic, the benefit of riding in a small group with your own dedicated ride leader and a lunch. The rides are a great way of exploring new territory in safe hands of YVT and will be of interest to local riders as well as visitors to the area. We guarantee to give you an epic day out that will last long in your memory! If you are concerned about running out of energy on the ride, there are spaces available in the support vehicle, so you can hop on board if necessary.


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By Janice Huckin
(ISN) – The Intermediate Shamrocks were looking for their first win at home in the young 2012 season. They had a 6-2 lead early in the second period but were unable to hold on, losing to the visiting New Westminster Salmonbellies 11-10 in overtime Saturday afternoon.
Tanner Hodgson got the nod in goal for the home team while Michael Flintoff took up his position between the pipes at the other end of the floor. It was the visitors getting on the scoreboard first, Jason Delgrasso getting in close to score at 4:57. The Rocks replied with a pair, Jordan Cunningham scoring unassisted at 7:38 and Jake Cullen following up about a minute later to give the home team a 2-1 lead. Victoria got into some penalty trouble with two concurrent minor penalties but they managed to do a masterful job of killing the penalties. That came at the hands of team captain Max Fredrickson and Wyatt Oickle who, despite being physically lifted off the floor managed to retain control of the ball. The 'Bellies got things tied up at 14:15, courtesy of a low shot by Hunter Onstine. The Shamrocks owned the rest of the period, scoring 3 unanswered goals. Fredrickson picked up a shorthanded marker at 16:14 picking up a lead pass from Devan Smith. Cullen then picked up his second goal of the contest on the power play at 17:40, finding the back of the net from right in front. Dane Sorensen wrapped up the scoring at 19:26, showing some patience to get the goaltender down and putting the ball in over top. That sent the Rocks to the dressing room with a 5-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Victoria increased the lead just 31 seconds into the middle frame, Max Cullen finding the back of the net just as the 30-second buzzer sounded. The visitors got into a bit of a run, scoring 3 straight goals in a span of 2 minutes, before the Shamrocks would be heard from again. Jaylor Tudela scored at 12:24, a shot that Hodgson got a piece of but couldn't quite corral. A power play goal off the stick of Jeremy Wilson followed at 13:23 and at 14:25 Adam Dickson brought the visitors within a goal. After a Victoria time-out, the Shamrocks came back with a pair of goals to finish the period. Nate Wade went end-to-end to beat Flintoff at 15:39 and a shorthanded marker, the third of the game for Jake Cullen, restored the 3-goal lead for the home team after 40 minutes of play.
The Salmonbellies kept chipping away, scoring the first two goals of the final period. The first came just 18 seconds in off the stick of Dickson, a bullet from just outside the dotted line. Jake Latin followed that up at 2:32 on the power play. Jake Cullen picked up his fourth at 10:34 to once again put the Rocks up by a pair. Tyrell Hamer-Jackson, however, picked up the next 2 goals for the visitors to tie the game up at 9-9. Fredrickson got his second for the Shamrocks at 12:42 but the lead was short-lived as Hamer-Jackson picked up his hat-trick marker at 14:18. Despite chances at both ends, the third period ended with the teams deadlocked at 10 and we were into overtime.
The Shamrocks applied all kinds of pressure early in the extra period but were unable to get the ball behind Flintoff which eventually led to a break down the floor and a goal by New West's Marco Ballarin at the 2:51 mark to give the visitors the victory.
Jake Cullen led the Shamrocks with 4 goals and 1 assist, Max Fredrickson picked up a pair of goals and 1 helper with singles coming from Dane Sorensen, Jordan Cunningham, Nate Wade and Max Cullen.
The Intermediates do not return to Bear Mountain Arena for 2 weeks when they will host the expansion Richmond Roadrunners. Game time May 19 will be 5:00 pm – please note that time change.


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Simple makeovers for the worst offenders...the KSTP treatment!
There is NO excuse for ugly furniture. With warmer weather just around the corner, it is time to start looking at your furniture with a critical eye and making a list of pieces that CAN be changed with just a little bit of work!
We all have it...those "cheapo" pieces of furniture that are, at the very least, offensive! Maybe they were given to you, maybe you bought them at a "discount" store...maybe you bought it at the thrift store to fill space in a room.
Pressed board construction, laminate tops, dated finishes, pieces you put together with a little allen wrench thingy that came with the worthless little "screws" that promptly strip out and leave the piece wobbly and worthless!
It's ugly and cheap, but seriously who has the money to buy "real wood" furniture when you are struggling from pay check to pay check and having to buy shoes for a kid whose feet seem to grow a size every month.
I get it...I've been there. Fortunately I have learned to shop resale and auctions for "quality" pieces...and even if they need a little TLC, I have the tools, knowledge and time. But not everyone has that...or the money to buy and refinish high quality pieces.
That is why I advocate the KSTP treatment. Let me explain....
First, before you even get to the KSTP treatment, ALWAYS give the piece a good cleaning. On the nastiest, I use ammonia water but some can just be wiped down with a little water and mild detergent. Whatever you need to do to get the gunk off the piece! If it is "stuck" on just scrape it off with a razor! No matter if you scratch the finish...you are going to paint it!
Second, make any and all repairs that need to be made...and if you don't know how to repair it properly, google it!
Okay, now the KSTP treatment....
K- Kilz (my favorite primer but any QUALITY PRIMER will do! That is why this is the KSTP treatment and not the PSTP treatment!)
For smaller pieces I use a spray can only because it is easy and gives me a nice smooth finish. On larger pieces I use a brush and 4" foam roller! TIP! Always shake the can longer than the directions recommend. Kilz will spray on with a "grainy texture" if you don't shake the can well! No biggy since you are going to sand anyway, but just makes it a little easier! Also, pay attention to the temperature recommendations...it matters!
Many paints SAY they are a "primer and paint in one." Sorry, I am old school....I ALWAYS prime and I personally recommend it. If you want a superior finish that will hold up to use and abuse, prime!
S-Sand. A 220 grit paper will usually smooth out the piece after it is primed. I wrap a piece around a sanding sponge block!
If you have "ornate" legs or detailing, use 000-0000 steel wool.
USE YOUR HANDS, not your eyes. Feel the piece.
Trust me, if it isn't smooth, it WILL show after you paint it! Sand it until it is smooth to the touch! If you cleaned the piece well, scraped off all the gunk, this step really should only take a few minutes.
T- Tack cloth. A MUST after you sand but before you paint (or apply any finish). Blow or brush off as much as you can, then use a tack cloth!
You can purchase it at your favorite home improvement store...usually in packages of 2 and relatively inexpensive (around $2)! You can wipe a piece down all day with a clean cloth, but you WILL leave "stuff" on the piece if you don't tack cloth it. Tack cloth will remove EVERYTHING. If you still feel "stuff," hit it with the sand paper again and then tack cloth again!
P-Paint. This is where people usually freak out. My favorite for wood or laminate furniture is oil-based but it can be a tricky paint to work with for a novice and difficult to clean up. Fortunately latex paints have come a long way and are much more durable these days! QUALITY spray paint is probably your best bet for smaller pieces. I say quality because you can buy spray paint a tad cheaper at discount stores, but I am not a huge fan of cheap paint for ANY project! I usually buy Valspar or Rust-oleum from Lowe's.
On smaller pieces of furniture the difference will only be a few dollars but will be worth it in the long run.
Each of the brands come in LOTS of great colors...just find the color you love! I have found very little difference between the two brands...the Valspar tends to dry a tad quicker....but both are quality paints! ALWAYS shake the cans well and follow the directions on the can!!!
I have followed every tip in the book to get rid of the occasional "striping" on large, flat surfaces...like dresser tops or table tops. It doesn't seem to matter how I spray, what the temperature is or how hard the wind is blowing...sometimes I get stripes.
My solution has been to purchase the little "sample pots" of paint custom mixed to match the spray paint I am using and roll it on the large flat surfaces with a 4" foam roller!
Penetrol and Floetrol are a MUST any time you roll or brush on paint...oil or latex!
Use it. It will eliminate the brush and roller marks and give you a MUCH smoother finish!
These are just a VERY few projects using the KSTP treatment (I have done hundreds!)....world of difference for a little bit of work! I am working on a piece right now that is in the S stage...primed and sanded but now I need to figure out what color I want to paint it...soon!
Even light fixtures and paddle fans can be spray painted!!! On metal pieces and furniture hardware, I use metal primer primarily for the "rust retardant" factor!
One last important TIP when using ANY technique to paint anything....ALWAYS give the piece time to cure before you put it to work!
I was always skeptical of those "two day" makeovers they did on tv where they would paint something and then "stage" the pieces with all kinds of stuff within hours of putting a final coat on. (Kind of like getting your nails painted at the salon...even though you dry them for 10 minutes, you are still going to ding them if you dig in your purse for your keys! Unless you get gel polish...awesome stuff!) Trust me, that is the fasted way to ruin a finish! Don't do it...be patient and give the paint time to harden (cure) before you set a lamp on it or try to hang the fixture (trust me...I have had to repaint many pieces because of impatience!)
One dated, nasty, cheapo piece of furniture can ruin an entire room. Toss it or paint it! YOU CAN DO IT!
*I have not been compensated for pimping these products! These are the products I use and work for me!!!*


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Choosing the Right Measure of Progress
What is Progress? Defining progress will help you to better understand the difference between being busy and productive. Unfortunately, I often see very intelligent and productive people falling into the trap of doing busywork instead of making progress. In order to effectively combat this problem, it helps to define progress much in the same way we define a vision: envision the end state. Attempt to describe in detail the properties and aspects of the ideal end state for your current task or project. For example, if I was trying to build an office chair, I may describe the end state as follows: "I can sit comfortably in the chair for several hours," "The chair is elevated from the floor," or "I can rotate the seat of the chair easily." Each of these properties can be easily measured, whether objectively or not, and represent true progress toward completing my goal. Tasks do not represent progress. Continuing with my example from earlier, there may be many things that I need to do in order to build a great office chair. Perhaps I need to buy materials such as wood, steel, and fabric. Maybe I need to sketch designs, cut out upholstery, and assemble arm rests. All of these things represent actions that I can and probably should do in order to reach my end goal of having a lovely new office chair, but none of these things represent true progress. Tasks act as hypotheses to be tested, not the results of an experiment. For each task you decide to act on, you make an implicit statement: "If I complete this task, then I will be closer to achieving my goal." Experience probably tells you that even the most successful and accomplished people regularly learn otherwise. At the end of each completed task, and often before, we learn about new tasks that must be completed. For example, before you can buy wood you need to find a store that sells the wood. Perhaps the store is closed and you now need to find another store or different wood, let's say you chose to change to a different kind of wood. Now, the store that sells the new wood is open, but when you get there, they have run out and recommend another store. You don't have enough gas to get to the other store, so you start off toward the gas station. We now have a situation where in order to make progress on my chair, I must go to the gas station. If I measure productivity by the tasks completed I may find that I am immensely productive, checking off task after task after task. However, without any measurable and tangible progress being made on the chair itself, I am failing to achieve my goal. How you measure progress directly impacts whether you feel most productive doing busywork or accomplishing your goals. Measure Real Progress The real challenge with choosing a measure of progress is recognizing incremental steps toward a goal that represent true progress and not the busywork of tasks that may or may not contribute to the goal. This can sometimes be more art than science, but focusing on realized benefits as a measure of progress will almost always deliver results. Since user stories are the primary measure of progress on most Agile projects, it is important that they represent realizable benefits as opposed to tasks. Using our existing example to tie everything together here, the following benefits would be great measures of progress on our office chair. The chair has a designated seat. The seat is elevated from the floor. The elevated seat can hold...Read More
Agile Jenga
After several years… Working across a variety of industries trying to adopt Agile development practices, I can confidently say that Agile Jenga is the single most popularly played game among Agile adopters. If you are part of a large organization that is adopting Agile after years of doing things the traditional way, then you already know the rules. Here are the rules for those who are unfamiliar with the game… Much like the party game Jenga… We need to start by creating a structure or model of our desired software development process as a set of building blocks. In order to achieve this first step, most organizations will pick a popular existing structure like "Scrum" or "SAFe." These structures are already set up for us so that we do not have to go through the tedious process of learning how to build such a structure, which is typically seen by most large organizations as a waste of time. Now, as the name of the game suggests, the goal is to create a new structure based on the original that stands much taller and more statuesque to reflect the uniqueness and complexity of our company by moving pieces around. We carefully remove the building blocks from the foundation of the existing structure and defer them for later adoption by placing them at the top of the "todo" list. As the game progresses… It will start to become more and more difficult to continue deferring foundational blocks without everything crashing down around us, so we need to get some structural experts to help keep the structure steady. We refer to these "experts" as Agile coaches, and they have years of experience helping organizations play Agile Jenga. However, we need to be careful when choosing an Agile coach, because there are many coaches out there that want to revert all our hard work by taking the pieces off the top and putting them back into the foundation! We refer to those unproductive coaches as "Agile zealots," and usually can keep them out of our organization by interviewing coaches to make sure they understand the rules of the game beforehand. Sometimes, despite our best efforts and expert support… The structure may become unsteady and people may start to become nervous that everything is going to collapse. There are many different ways we can address this, and just like any game, trends in the ways to address it have emerged and shifted over time. Five or more years ago, when Agile was a young concept, the most common way to address the unsteady structure was to knock it over on purpose and play a different game out of frustration. As organizations matured in their Agile Jenga playing, new trends emerged, like leaving some of the important foundational pieces alone, and deferring other pieces that were less load-bearing in the structure. Good Agile coaches could help us to better understand which pieces were more load-bearing, and which ones could easily be deferred, which allowed us to get much taller and more complex structures without full collapse. We hired good coaches earlier so that we didn't make weak structures prematurely. However, even with this more advanced technique, we still eventually discovered that the structures would become unstable. Let's skip forward to the trends of today's savvy Agile Jenga players. We now have access to many case studies from large companies that have built monumental and impressive structures that have, to date, entirely avoided collapse. We look at these in awe of the marvel of engineering that created them and hope that one day our organization can also...Read More


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AFTER 37 years of autocratic rule, Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe's President on Tuesday the 21st November. Mugabe chose to succumb to the military and avoid the humiliation of impeachment despite refusing to step down under pressure initially. During the period of uncertainty, many students in the country staged boycotts during their exams to protest against the leadership crisis and dismal employment prospects. Our writer Joy Molio, investigates what this means for Zimbabwe and people studying there.
Those weeks ago saw a nation rejoice, people were delighted and happy when former president Robert Mugabe announced his resignation. Never, ever did this nation see or perhaps believe that one day a ruler who had power for nearly 40 years would come to an end.
I watched as many were cheering, dancing, it was everywhere on the news. I watched a man being interviewed on one of our local television news channels and as the interview carried on, in just a few seconds he was in tears, crying tears of joy and the words 'I can't believe I am alive to see this day'. This made me want to cry because for me that's what it means to be revolutionary and fight for what you want, and once you have travelled the path and reached the end of the journey you rejoice, you cry and you are so grateful for life at that moment.
This is how many Zimbabweans felt, for them, it means an end to senseless rule, it means an end to poverty and the hope that greatness has arrived.
Being from South Africa, there are many immigrants in the country, many of them being from Zimbabwe.They come here for jobs, for food and for potentially a better way of life. They happen to just be about everywhere and it is easy to construct a conversation with them. Be it in restaurants serving you, at the gym helping you out or most importantly for African women, people doing their hair.
For Students to protest before former president Robert Mugabe resigned, was a radical and fundamental move. History has shown that students have the voice and dynamism to change how a country is run, their voices meant 'the voice of the future'. Students were tired of working towards degrees that will never be recognised anywhere in the world, and most importantly in their home country, students were exasperated because they were studying for their degrees, in hope of obtaining a job later on in life, but with a bleak economy that could never be possible.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, amongst young people. In fact, I was once at a restaurant with a friend of mine, and the waiter who served us was such a friendly man. My friend and I decided to have a conversation with him, and from this conversation the only thing I remember is that he said he has a PHD from the University of Zimbabwe, we were obviously shocked, (I mean what would a PHD student be doing working as a waiter?). He explained how terrible the situation in Zimbabwe is and how there is barely enough food to even feed people.
This one story is many stories of what many young graduates are facing in Zimbabwe. This kind of protest reminds me of the kind of radical transformation students played in South Africa in 1976 against the apartheid rule. This protest also reminds me what role students played in America regarding segregation amongst African Americans.
One can say that the Zimbabwean students' revolt played a significant factor that led Robert Mugabe to finally resign. This means great change for the country and an optimistic future for students.


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The American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) will be offering a day-long training on the "Fundamentals of Liquid Filtration" Monday, Oct.15, 2012, at the Embassy Suites Hotel Airport in Philadelphia, Pa.
The AFS says the "Fundamentals of Liquid Filtration" short course is for those who work in the filtration industry such as filter distributors, customer service representatives, sales professionals, and engineers who want a strong basic understanding of the principles of liquid filtration and liquid separation.
The course will give an overview of solid liquid separation with discussions on depth filtration, cross-flow filtration, membrane filters, and solid liquid separation without a filter medium.
Examples of applications to be discussed include chemical processing, wastewater treatment, and beverage production.
Properties such as particle size, particle density, particle charge, and particle shape will be covered in the course. Particle size analyzers and particle counters will also be discussed.
In addition, liquid properties will be discussed, such as pH, volatility, corrosiveness, and chemical composition.
Liquid filtration media, pretreatment, straining equipment, cake filtration equipment, depth filtration equipment, membrane filtration equipment, gravity settling equipment, centrifugal setting equipment and testing will all be included in the course as well.
This course is an eight-hour program that will start at 8 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. with a break for lunch. Attendees will receive a CEU certificate good for .8 credits.
The instructors for the course have a combined experience of more than 100 years in the industry.
For more information about the course and to register click here.


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TSNP Presents: A Day With Polina
Polina's entire life comes gushing out of her eyes when she talks to you, and it fills the room and the world around you. That's Polina's world, and it operates at a different speed. It's a world of Go and Yes and Now, with not a lot of room for Later and Maybe and Stop. We spent 5 or 6 hours together where she was playing song after song and when i was exhausted and headed home, she stayed out to play a gig at the Path Café. I had barely told her about my website, i mentioned that i run a something and was wondering if she might like to- And i was cut off. "Yes. Send me an email. Let's do it."
So we did it. It's hard to film somebody when you just want to dance. I was constantly stopping myself from bopping up and down while she was playing. Dig her tunes, cause i sure do. Dig her vibe, dig her voice, dig her chops, she plays with heavy strings on a Martin and doesn't take breaks because she's got a destination in her head and she's gonna play until she gets there.
More HER @
More THIS @


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Date: 7/1/1990
Game: Regular Season Game vs. New York Yankees
During the 80th Anniversary of the first game at the old ball park, New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins throws a no-hitter against the White Sox... and loses. In the eighth inning Hawkins walked in a run with the bases loaded. Down 1-0, a lazy fly ball to right was dropped by rookie Yankee outfielder Jim Leyritz, clearing the bases. Chicago would go on to win the game 4-0 despite never actually, you know, getting a single base hit.
15. No Hit Wonder
Date: 7/1/1990


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Available in several colors, this particular model is known for its amazing finer details. Once installed, you can be sure that your ceiling will be a hot topic among visitors! They are easy to install and are perfect for concealing old or damaged ceilings. Whether you choose the drop in or glue up installation method, there is no need for any previous experience or the help of a contractor. For the glue up method, you will need adhesive, a foam roller, and a sharp tool for cutting the tiles as needed.
These tiles are part of our Signature range, and they are water, termite, and stain resistant. They also have a Class A Fire Rating from Intertek Testing Services (in the USA) for your peace of mind.
When placing your order, we recommend ordering an extra 10% for regular ceilings or 15% – 20% for ceilings. This will ensure that all of your tiles come from the same batch and there are no differences in color or design. Ordering extra tiles also allow for offcuts and waste and ensure that your whole ceiling will be properly covered. If you need help calculating the number of tiles you will need, our team will gladly help.
It's also important to plan the edges of your ceiling. You can apply crown moldings, similar looking filler tiles, or you can leave the raw edges as they are.
Check out our short video that we've created to show you what results you get when you remove ceiling tiles:


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Pétalos at the Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin
(October 21, 2016) -- A studio led by CACP Lecturer Robert Mezquiti recently completed an installation at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESB-MACC) in Austin, Texas. The commissioned piece's function is to serve as an award wall in which members of the Mexican-American Community are honored. The work is a permanent addition to the ESB-MACC, designed by the late architect Theodoro Gonzalez de Leon.
Official description of the installation:
Pétalos is a series of petals, each representing an equal part of our cultural fabric. Each individual petal honors a member of our community who has contributed significantly through service or art and holds a place for those who will continue to shape our culture in the future. Pétalos embodies the potential of infinity, which is only possible through the collection of continuous equal parts.


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Product Description
Harley Lavender Hard Wax ensures a comfortable client. A great looking, high performing wax made specially for the most demanding professionals!
2.4lbs, 20 per case
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Where Can it be used?
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North Hill Coulee should be natural refuge for all to enjoy
Every generation or so, concerned Calgarians have rallied and stuck up for urban nature.
Tenacious visionaries brought us Confederation Park in 1967, Fish Creek Park in 1975, and Nose Hill Park in 1980. In each case, Calgary City Council was asked for bold action, and they accomplished what must have been incredibly daunting. Now these natural spaces are some of Calgarians' most cherished places.
The Friends of Confederation Creek (FOCC) are very encouraged by city administration and the Confederation Park Stormwater Drainage Study's findings which were released March 8, 2019. http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/Current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/Highland-Park.aspx
This study looks at the natural and man-made watershed of what used to be known as the North Hill Coulee. This coulee was formed by the retreat of Ice Age glaciers and there has been water flowing in it around the southern foot of Nose Hill since that time.
The coulee is part of the largest water catchment in Calgary. The catchment is 2,700 hectares, encompassing communities from present day Shaganappi Trail northwest to Edmonton Trail northeast on the south side of Nose Hill; and, from Brentwood and Varsity communities to Highland Park and Thorncliffe Greenview communities.
Confederation Creek runs in the North Hill Coulee. You can see its amended natural form, even where it was diverted underground by development throughout the flood plain east of Shaganappi Trail along the south side of Northmount Drive in city-owned lands, and you can follow it through Canmore Park, Confederation Golf Course and Park, Queen's Park Cemetery, and down to Nose Creek's valley. It is best known in its eponymous Park. Confederation Park is where most Calgarians meet the creek in Calgary's most popular park, which was declared a municipal historic resource in 2017. But, most of Confederation Creek is invisible to Calgarians, as it has been vaulted underground for most of its course.
Because of the ever-increasing amount of water from its huge catchment, the green spaces and intersections across the coulee flood regularly following rainfall. There's at least 40 groundwater/stormwater outfalls into Confederation Creek from surrounding communities developed from the 1950s to '80s. After a short storm, the coulee fills with water, and the usually placid creek becomes a fast-moving, dangerous waterway.
The precedents and means council can use to accomplish something remarkable and rewarding are known. Council bought properties within the confines of Confederation Park to achieve the vision the citizen committee brought to create a public legacy. Council worked with the province to expropriate land for Fish Creek Park and came up with inventive ways to work with developers, who owned large parts of Nose Hill, to establish Canada's largest urban natural reserve.
The ways are there to be taken; now we need City Council to go forward to redeem our public amenity.
It's time to complete the public ownership of the North Hill Coulee for all Calgarians, who should be able to enjoy it from Nose Creek to Brentwood. Returning the entirety of the coulee to public domain also recognizes the natural corridor for nature and wildlife. Acknowledging the creek is the first step, and city administration has done that. Now, council needs to acquire the necessary lands and potentially daylight the creek in the Highland Valley. This would respect and redeem the creek's natural system and give Calgary a means to improve water quality in Nose Creek, the Bow, and to our neighbours downstream.
City administration through this independent, third-party reviewed drainage study has advised council that the coulee is serving its most important natural function: to move water through these northwest communities. Impeding the flow is now understood to be a public safety risk and threatens the means by which to regulate and ameliorate the water that passes through the coulee. The report advises council to buy the private land in what was the former Highland Park Golf Course. The FOCC strongly supports administration's recommendations. You can find out more about FOCC's advocacy of this urban watershed at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1883286095276419/ to follow our progress, and public events. Will you join us?
Come to our Regional Drainage Study Information Update with the City Water Department on March 28, 7:30 pm at Cambrian Heights Community Association, 600 Northmount Dr. N.W. For more information contact: firstname.lastname@example.com


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ep. 99 - Lisa Ford: Customer Loyalty Expert
Lisa Ford has over 20 years of experience presenting to businesses, associations and government.As the creator of "How to Give Exceptional Customer Service," the #1 selling training series, Lisa is best known for her work in the areas of customer service. Her other training resources include "Developing a Customer Retention Program" and "Building a Customer Driven Organization: The Manager's Role and Personal Power." She has also customized numerous training programs for clients to use in their ongoing education efforts. Her most popular book is Exceptional Customer Service: Exceed Customer Expectations to Build Loyalty and Boost Profits.
ep. 99 - Lisa Ford: Customer Loyalty Expert
Gail Davis: Today's guest on GDA Podcast is Lisa Ford. Lisa is creator of the best selling video training program, How To Give Exceptional Customer Service. She is also the co-author of the book Exceptional Customer [00:01:00] Service; Exceed Customer Expectations to Build Loyalty and Boost Profits. In her spare time she is a board member of The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee and her client list is very impressive. Vizor, Viacom, Edward Jones, Kaiser Permanente ... whoa. Citco among many others. I've known Lisa for many years and it's my pleasure to invite her to be our guest on today's episode of GDA Podcast. Welcome Lisa.
Kyle Davis: Hey Lisa.
Lisa Ford: [00:01:30] Thank Gail and Kyle. I'm excited to be here.
Kyle Davis: Well, it's a pleasure to have you on. Yep.
Gail Davis: So Lisa, for as long as I can remember your name has been synonymous with customer service but what I don't know is how you became a thought leader in customer service. So, I'd love for you to share with us a little bit of your background or your back story with our listeners on how you got into this specialty.
Lisa Ford: Well, it is a great specialty [00:02:00] because I have stuck with it for a lot of years. What happened is I was hired by a very small consulting firm many, many years ago and their specialty was customer service training. Not necessarily on the speaking side. The training side. One day, two day, training sessions primarily in the utility industry. So, water companies, electric companies, gas companies and we would go in and really just help the entire team [00:02:30] from frontline all the way up the ladder to the leadership on how to be more effective and again years ago people were happy to do one day and two day training sessions. As we know, those don't happen too much anymore.
People want the small snippets but I worked for them for a number of years really embedded in the utility industry. Would even go out with believe it or not line crews, meter readers, sit in and listen on phone calls [00:03:00] so I could really get an idea of what it was like to serve that customer and worked for them and then decided to see if I could go out on my own as an independent, create my own client, build my client list and I just really chose to stay focused on that customer service and customer experience and customer culture. You know, we can add culture in front of, in back of a lot of words. We could put customer in front of a lot. Anything I [00:03:30] do though really has to do with the customer. So, I've really stuck with my roots after all these years.
Gail Davis: So, I am hearing this term, customer experience a lot more. What's the distinction between traditional customer service and customer experience?
Lisa Ford: Look, customer experience I believe is what will cause your customer to talk about you. To create the buzz and enthusiasm [00:04:00] about you and then become a loyal customer. Customer service is more the basics. The foundation and that's got to be there but if we don't have the foundation of customer service I don't think we've even earned the right to move onto customer experience, but the customer experience is what's memorable and that's the goal in today's time.
Kyle Davis: So, to help, you know I have a pretty strong understanding of [00:04:30] customer experience because I used to work for a few tech companies where it's usually important. We actually sold a platform that was a CX platform.
Lisa Ford: Right.
Kyle Davis: So, I have an understanding of this but for those people who kind of have an understanding of customer service being the department that you call into, how do we get past like NPS or net promoter scores and the email surveys or the post call surveys and how do we start delivering really good customer experience or how do we create [00:05:00] these good customer experiences so that they do become loyal beyond the you know hey I'm helping you now?
Lisa Ford: Well, I think the most important thing is you've got to have the right leadership preaching it. You've got to have the right customer champion that just keeps it on the agenda. So, yes we've got to have people there picking up a telephone, figuring out what we need to be doing on our chat box. Whatever it may be but then I've got to truly have that leader [00:05:30] that says, this is what we're going to focus on and keep it on the meeting agenda. Keep it on team meetings because otherwise I think we then start to chase the next shiny object within that corporation.
So, yes, somebody's going to answer the phone but then how does that person not only serve the customer as the customer needs at that moment but then creates an opportunity to deliver an experience, and [00:06:00] that might be simply through a followup with that customer. It might be an offer to do something that's above and beyond. Customer experience may be an app that you put out there in the marketplace that people are just blown away by, that something fun, interesting, creative, but it starts to brand you in that customer experience field. So, those kinds of things have to be in place but I think it all starts with the leadership and [00:06:30] that's where it sometimes then disappears because again they get caught up with what's next and it doesn't always focus on the customer.
Kyle Davis: So once you get, so like my mom and I were having this discussion prior to going to record and we're talking about design and like the importance of design and one of the things that became very clear to me when it was a customer centric company that really thought about customer experience is that they designed what that looks like [00:07:00] from pre-marketing to initial talks to acquisition to nurture to growth to end of life cycle to off boarding. I mean from beginning to end the entire customer service and customer experience was laid out and I know you're talking about it starts at the top but how do you find these leaders, these visionaries that can really help this shifting so it's not your jumping from a new platform but instead holistically addressing the customer experience or customer service [00:07:30] problems and demands that the market needs today?
Lisa Ford: Well, first off Kyle I wished more people were doing exactly what you just listed out, that entire life cycle of designing that customer experience. Most are not. They're behind the eight ball. They're attempting to catch up at this point. Where do you find the people? I think in most cases you simply have to make certain you've got someone on board who realizes the customer truly [00:08:00] is the life blood of your organization. Now that sounds like that should be a no brainer but again we get too focused sometimes on share holders' needs, owners' needs, pricing, cutting prices and we take our eye off of that customer experience.
So, I think we've got to have somebody who as I mentioned earlier is a customer champion and in some situations that customer champion needs to just take a leap of faith that if [00:08:30] we design a customer experience from front to end and employee the right software, buy the right data, marry the right data together then it will pay off on our bottom line in the long run but as you well know and Kyle based on your experience, a lot of people have not put in some of the metrics to say it does pay off on the bottom line and it will make us more profitable. So, sometimes it is simply [00:09:00] a leap of faith to make it happen.
Kyle Davis: Yeah, I think, when I had a lot of conversations you know there's people who get it but I would say to your point of what you said earlier was that there's a lot of people who just think customer service is simply being hyper responsive to emails, picking up the phones, but they don't really think how the whole experience is.
Lisa Ford: Right.
Kyle Davis: You know, something as simple as simplifying your website or simplifying a lead and this is coming from a person who focused more on the sales side, that simplifying a lead form [00:09:30] improves your customer experience because it lowers the amount of touch points. It lowers the amount of stress. It limits the amount of options. It empowers the customer. It makes it easy and it's designed from beginning to end. How do you get people then, my guess is when we're going from this kind of antiquated culture of thinking it's just enough to pick up the phone or respond to an email to really taking a really deep dive into all aspects of someone's business.
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative). Well, you're very familiar with what [00:10:00] some organizations are starting to do and again it surprises me when I find out many have not but it's the old journey mapping and is anybody doing enough of it and once we've done it do we think we've done it? I think we need to revisit that concept on a regular basis because things such as your journey map will show you concretely where things are going wrong. Like, with the website what's slowing you down? What's falling apart? What's getting [00:10:30] lost in the process? It also shows you where the gaps are and those gaps may cause your customer to not proceed to the next step and then we lose that customer because we know and you just inferred it with your comments, Kyle that the more effort the customer has to go to then the greater chance for disloyalty.
Kyle Davis: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Lisa Ford: Any increased effort, any amount of work that [00:11:00] they've got to do to solve their own problem, to get an answer from you, to deal with your website, that will help drive disloyalty. So, again we've got to get folks on board who are willing to do that hard work and see that customer service is more than just picking up the phone and how every piece of that organization and every person and every team is really a part of that entire picture and that really [00:11:30] kind of again goes back to some of the leadership. It goes to the culture that we're speaking of.
Gail Davis: You know you said early on that you've really always focused on customer service and I'm curious, as you you know moved away from your you know, original industry and went broad does it cross all sectors or do you customize customer service and customer experience depending on what industry you're in or are the fundamental [00:12:00] basics universal?
Lisa Ford: The fundamental basics are universal. I wish I could say oh no, no they're not but they really are. So, we've got to have those fundamentals across all those industries. Then, yes, customize accordingly because some of these, some companies, some clients are much more sophisticated in how they're dealing with their clients and how they're clients are coming to them. So, the customization comes in [00:12:30] with how is that customer dealing with this particular client and then what pieces of customer experience, customer service needs to be focused on. I mean, I even do a lot of kind of the internal customer service piece. You know, how do people behind the scenes that really are not customer facing at all, what are they doing to ultimately serve the client even though they don't see themselves as doing just that? [00:13:00] So, you know, everybody is a part of it but only some of the most enlightened organizations truly get it and don't just give lip service to it. They stay, they keep it on the agenda, they stay on track and focus on making that organization truly you, customer centric.
Kyle Davis: So, one of the great benefits I have for working, for working, I worked at Square and when I was working there one of the mandated requirements that we had was to shadow other departments and it was, one of the most mandated [00:13:30] was you have to you know go to the customer service side. Like, no matter what. Or like the call side. I forgot. They had a name. Everything was a pun on a square but so you had to go over there and what it allowed for was like the engineers could hear the problems of, not engineers more the designers could hear the problems of, oh this is taking six clicks or presses of something?
Let's limit it to three or two and then [00:14:00] what it does is it then decreases the amount of pressure that's put upon your customer service department because you're improving the overall journey and you're mapping it correctly but it also creates a more empathetic kind of environment where people really think about you know, what is the next release going to be and how is it going to, and this is more from software but the same is true in other industries.
Lisa Ford: Yeah, that job shadowing really helps people [00:14:30] answer this question, are you thinking like a customer? You know, are you really experiencing what our customer experiences and you're right, that engineer, that software tech, that dispatcher, you know let's go even more basic, that dispatcher, the manager of a retail store, the front desk manager of a hotel desk. I mean, they start to really get it because they're doing that job shadowing and they start to see things [00:15:00] much differently.
You know, the help desk within organizations. People who send out the invoices, the accounting department, HR, you know all those teams need to have that opportunity to sit down, listen in on phone calls and get the clue or you know sit in with somebody who's dealing with the social media, somebody who's just sitting there answering that, somebody who's doing the online chat. You know, we've got to have more hands on it, more eyes on it so that they can improve that process.
Kyle Davis: To [00:15:30] that point and I just want to put an end cap on this is like everybody in the company did it. It wasn't just something that was mandated to middle to lower tier. I mean it went all the way to the top, to the CEO would go and take customer service calls himself. I mean it was like, I think every Tuesday he would do it and it was just hilarious. It was like funny to us but like it helped better you know, better, have a better understanding of the customer's needs and wants and then really to improve the overall product and experience.
Lisa Ford: [00:16:00] Then that just speaks on what we started our conversation with. It's the leadership that really makes this different and you know when the people see the leader doing it guess what, they get on board a heck of a lot faster.
Gail Davis: So, I was wondering if you could identify the number one reason that you feel customer service is not delivered?
Lisa Ford: Oh, gosh. I think it does start with the leadership and I think in many cases they are [00:16:30] not looking at the entire picture as well as some of the stupid stuff. Gosh, doesn't that sound quite intelligent? The stupid stuff that they are asking their people to do and what I mean by that is I just called a company two days ago. This company's been in the news a whole lot lately and the poor individual that answered my phone, [00:17:00] answered my phone call was so scripted that it only added to my frustration and the scripted answer did not answer my question. So, there was no empathy but this is what the poor individual had been asked to do and it's hard then to even get upset but this was all that was being expected of that individual.
So, you know everything from the stupid stuff of scripts [00:17:30] and how we're making it too complicated in our processes and our procedures and then some of the gaps, we just aren't looking at it you know closely enough. Again, I just don't think somebody's giving it enough attention because you know customers, we know more of what customers want today. I mean, they want you to be where they are. They want you to meet them where they are. Whether that's an app, whatever channel it is, they're choosing to interact [00:18:00] with your organization they want to be met there. So, today's customers they're choosing the channel, they want self serve and they want self service that will you know, save them time, answer questions but they also want you to anticipate their needs.
So, I mean you think about it, that's an interesting combination that you've got to figure out how to deal with customer, because I do think they're fickle, they're demanding, [00:18:30] they're not very loyal, they have incredibly high expectations. Everybody's serving in this very crowded marketplace. So, you as a company you know, you've got to figure out your customer's on the move and they'll move pretty quickly away from you if we're not doing what they want and ...
Gail Davis: So, if a listener is recognizing some of those things, like maybe they are expecting their staff to do stupid stuff or you know, they're not really as engaged with the customer as they need to be, [00:19:00] what are some of the first things you do to try to turn that around?
Lisa Ford: Well, I think the first thing you do is you're hiring smart to start. Now, some people say well it's too late for that. You know, we didn't hire smart to start, now we have this group of people and at that point what are you doing to train and coach people to get them back on board with you. So, again, we've got to have a strong team, team leader, [00:19:30] vice president of customer experience. Someone that is saying, okay we've got to retrofit people with our thinking around service and experience and culture and in those opportunities, when you're one on one with your team members, in possibly a ten minute huddle, are we telling the right stories?
Are getting people excited again about who we are [00:20:00] and the potential we have to serve the customers and create memorable experiences? So, how do we get them on board is we hire well, we train well but to truly engage those employees in today's time and you all know this, those team members have to feel that there's a purpose that they're walking in the door every single day. So, as that leader, as that manager are you talking purpose? Are you reminding people why we exist? Are you then keeping [00:20:30] that on the agenda and then how do you help people feel connected to that purpose? You've got to go beyond their 17 square feet. That's why I love the job shadowing, Kyle.
Kyle Davis: uh-huh (affirmative). You know, well one of the things that I like about job shadowing too is that you know, I think too often and a lot of more, and I say legacy, legacy companies is that a manager never does the role of the people that they manage or leadership never really does that role and so then they wonder, [00:21:00] if, and I'm of the belief that design and all these things that we've talked about those are hugely important but at the end of the day your customer service is brought to you by the team that you have and if you don't know what their day is like or how they work or what programs and just the fact that there's been no oversight in process and procedure in however long and it's the most redundant and complicated system, they're never going to be able to provide that exceptional customer service if you haven't walked [00:21:30] a day in their shoes, or a week, or a month or really took a deep dive into what it is that they do on a day to day basis.
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative). That's right. Yeah, you don't really get a clue that if your organization, your processes, your procedures are really driving a great customer experience. So, you've got to get there, you've got to get hands on to see what you're putting your people through. I think in many cases we've really tied their hands. We preach it and we say this is what you should be doing but we still will have tied their hands and they're really not able [00:22:00] to do what you're asking of them and so that's why I think it's real important to do much of what we've talked about but also sit down with your team and figure out, how can we get them to feel more connected? How do we give them opportunities to get excited about the brand of customer experience? Give them examples of what customer experience looks like.
I think in some cases we have kept them a bit bound by processes and systems that are not customer [00:22:30] focused and they don't even know what is being asked of them. You can stand in front of them and say gosh let's create these customer' experiences. What does that look like? What are you asking me to do and then if I do do it am I really going to be allowed to do it? That sounds like a little bit outside the boundaries that I've ever you know, thought about. So, you know we've got to really think through that as an organization if we're going to engage our employees and as you all well know if I don't have an engaged [00:23:00] employee I'm certainly not going to ask them or expect them to be able to engage our customer.
Kyle Davis: So, I think you said something that I think was really important and it was, do they have the ability to do something? Do they have the autonomy to be able to act with asking for permission, maybe to ask for forgiveness later?
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Kyle Davis: So, how does one cultivate a culture like that? I mean, some of the best organizations I've worked with it's ask for forgiveness [00:23:30] later. It's never ask for permission first.
Lisa Ford: Right. Well, we've got good examples of it. People like Zappos, Ritz Carlton, you know they are allowing people to go ahead, act but I think how they do it is because at team meetings they are constantly reminding people, this is who we are and they give people examples of what empowerment looks like and I think that's what you've got to do. You've got to help people see, oh if I [00:24:00] do that then it's okay and again if you've hired well and you've trained well then you create a few boundaries and then say now, act, think, behave on behalf of the customer and our organization to do what it takes to serve this customer.
Kyle Davis: I do want to be very clear. I'm not saying carte blanche be able to do whatever you want.
Lisa Ford: Right.
Kyle Davis: Obviously, there has to be specified boundaries.
Lisa Ford: Well, and that's why I said within these boundaries, act, [00:24:30] think, behave, make decisions on behalf of the customer and our company.
Gail Davis: I have a new example for you if you haven't heard it.
Lisa Ford: Okay.
Gail Davis: I was just with Kendra Scott. So, I don't know if she's that popular in Atlanta but everyone you know from Texas, she's from Austin. Everyone knows her jewelry and she was sharing this very simple direction that she gives all of the gals that work in her stores.
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Gail Davis: Treat the customer, do [00:25:00] for the customer what you would do for your sister. So, if your sister walked in here and said this is my favorite pair of earrings and I lost one, would you make her buy a whole new pair or would you help her out and give her the other pair for half price? You know? Just treat them, do for her what you would do for your sister and I was with a bunch of entrepreneurs and they were like, God that's just so simple. In that environment for that particular product, you know?
Lisa Ford: I know. Yeah, that's exactly right. I think what you've to get your team at all levels, all [00:25:30] departments to really own that customer experience and then how you do it is I think you've just got to keep it on the agenda. You talk about it. You have huddles. I mean again you all are very familiar with what Ritz Carlton does with their 15 minute daily meeting. It's their daily lineup and they do it every single day, every department, every person, 15 minutes and in those 15 minutes they talk about corporate goals and issues.
They talk about that hotel's specific issues as well as that department [00:26:00] but it gives them a chance to also tell stories about great experiences and they don't not do it. It's every day. That's how you make this stuff happen. It's got to be so embedded in the culture that then people get it, that I'm going to own that experience. You have housekeepers who see those rooms as my room. You know and Gail to your point you know if your mother was coming [00:26:30] to stay in this room tonight how would you make it look this evening? So, yeah.
Kyle Davis: Yeah, I'm a huge fan of like the stand ups or huddles or you know the 15 minute meetings. The way that they've always been organized in the companies that I've worked for is like a little bit of something called yesterday today. So, this is what I did yesterday. This is what I'm doing today but the focus is always geared towards these like quarterly goals that are broken down then by month that are then broken down by week that every [00:27:00] single bit of the way it's all customer centric and customer focused and if and then there's a third thing. Yesterday, today, and then blockers and so your blockers would be like I have an issue with this and then this is where management comes in and helps you assist whatever the customer's needs are to get, overcome that blocker whether it's an onboarding or in a sales capacity or if it's just through account management, there's some sort of blocker that as a team you can kind of work through to provide that excellent customer experience.
Lisa Ford: [00:27:30] Yeah, excellent and I love that. Great value to your listeners. You know, how you create that kind of meeting, asking those questions? A couple that I always ask is you know, what's now? You know, what do we need to do now and that's basically to improve performance, improve our service. It may be if I had a sales team to meet those quarterly goals and then what's next and then next is the transformation and what am I going to do not only now but [00:28:00] have in my mind how do I truly do something that is memorable and you know, I've got to act as if every customer I'm serving has ten thousand Twitter followers and you know so I've got to serve them in a way that blows them away just in case they did really have ten thousand Twitter followers. Who knows?
Gail Davis: That's a great modern day reference point. I love that.
Lisa Ford: Yeah.
Gail Davis: Treat every customer like they have ten [00:28:30] thousand Twitter followers.
Kyle Davis: Oh, the power of influencers.
Gail Davis: Yeah. That's awesome.
Lisa Ford: Yeah. That's right and again it really kind of helps us think more, you know what's the customer going through with us at that moment and you know, today's customers want to be known. I think we've got to know our customer but really show we know them and that has to do again with leadership decisions on the data that we are marrying from department to department [00:29:00] and again Kyle you've worked with some innovative companies but we still have lots of companies out there that that data is not married from department to department to department. We still have the silos. You know?
Kyle Davis: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Lisa Ford: Sales has their stuff and service has their stuff and engineering and technology you know, and it's not making sense anymore because today's customers except regardless of what channel they have entered in [00:29:30] that you know everything about them.
Kyle Davis: That brings me to a really great point. I mean, every company that I've worked for is really customer centric focused. I had access to every bit of data, even though it wasn't in my purview for the job that I had and so that was, I could see when they paid a bill because you know what, as the sales person I may be the point of contact that is saved in their phone. They don't have the accounting department phone number. So, I have to be able to see oh was it paid on time and that's, I'm not doing my job. I, in the old way of doing this I would [00:30:00] just hit the forward button and forward someone to accounting, but I had access to every bit of information ... go ahead.
Lisa Ford: That's so unusual.
Kyle Davis: It sounds unusual but I think the focus for these companies that I've worked for was really providing outstanding customer service and customer experience and we just had a really robust CRM system and everybody took copious amounts of contemporaneous notes and it was very easy to plug in and share and like, boom. I mean, when was the last time you talked [00:30:30] to this person? The information is there. Nothing is secret, nothing is hidden and a lot of trust was given to us but it was given to us because of the importance of providing a huge network of just stellar, stellar clients and to that point too, one other thing is that we always had, at Square we had something called Hero Merchants and these are merchants, big or small, it might be a doughnut shop to a major you know retailer.
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Kyle Davis: They would come in and they would be very [00:31:00] frank. What do they like and what do they don't like and they would say it right in front of the company and this is in front of Jack Dorsey, you know, [inaudible 00:31:08] and all these other, and they would say here is what we like. Here's what we don't like and some of those vocal people were the small business owners but they had the most to lose and they, they're stuff got implemented the soonest because they said here are our problems and so we focused on fixing and remedying this.
Lisa Ford: That's great and even with customers [00:31:30] that are being, you know, trying to serve themselves because again many of those that's their need today. They want self service but that self service has to be personalized and it has to be really smart, sophisticated, intelligent so that that customer realizes gosh, you know me. So it doesn't even require a real voice but we've got to have all that data you know married, again I just, it's a simple word, so that we get that full view of [00:32:00] that customer and I will tell you, if you do have a chance to really talk to the customer in today's time it's a rarity because in many cases they don't want to really talk to a real person. So if you have a chance to talk to them you'd better be incredibly good because you finally have a chance to take advantage of that contact. So, that's when it's above and beyond and you don't do the stupid stuff like park somebody scripted [00:32:30] in a response.
Kyle Davis: Exactly.
Lisa Ford: You know?
Gail Davis: I'm curious Lisa if there are any variances or variables when it comes to customer service if you have a product versus customer service if you provide a service?
Lisa Ford: I, there's not a lot. I wish I could say oh yes here is exactly what it is but the service in most cases is going to be a little more on the relationship building side. Where [00:33:00] the product, people are going to have more connection with the actual product itself to start. Then we work more on the relationship side. Where if it's just a service I'm providing it's pretty much all a relationship. So that's going to be more conversation, more trying to figure out how often they want to hear from us, you know how much outbound proactive contact do we [00:33:30] initiate versus the product.
That's usually why we're being sought out to start would be a specific product but I will tell you, with both in many cases they're both commodities and given that it's a commodity you all well know, if there's no difference, there's no value, there's no relevance then price becomes the only issue. Whether it's a product or whether it's an accounting service or you know [00:34:00] whether it's an consulting service. So, we've got to make certain we're creating the experience regardless, whether it's a product or a service.
Kyle Davis: Yeah, I mean, I've, we could go, I could do this for hours. This is like ...
Lisa Ford: I know you can Kyle and that's what makes these podcasts so wonderful.
Kyle Davis: I'm not Joe Rogan and my mom doesn't have three hours. So ...
Gail Davis: We can have Lisa back sometimes.
Kyle Davis: Yes we can, but I will say this. When it comes to a low touch kind of acquisition [00:34:30] customer lifestyle you made a brilliant point and I'm not going to give too much away because I have like to charge my consulting fees for this. So, if anybody wants to do that they can come to me but ... or you, but me. So, but anyways when it comes to the importance of how you acquire your data but more importantly how you then take that data to them get in front of the customer. You brought up a brilliant point of what's the frequency with which you contact them, when do you contact them, [00:35:00] and what I find is just hugely brilliant whether it be, let's just use an innocuous one. You brought up like a CPA or an accountant.
Gail Davis: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Kyle Davis: You know, when do you really start reaching out to your clients?
Lisa Ford: Of course.
Kyle Davis: So, you know, how do you use that customer data to find out when do you start getting these people into your door, when do you start your outreach for the nex tax season, etc, etc, and if it's a use based product can you watch their use and see if it's going [00:35:30] down? Maybe it's time that you get in there and say, hey, what's going on? Do you have a problem with it? So you can get that use back up to normal rates.
Lisa Ford: Uh-huh (affirmative). Yeah and then I've got to make certain that contact that I have scheduled in doesn't come across as robotic.
Kyle Davis: Correct.
Lisa Ford: Because I think then it can. It's like, oh, they're just calling me to say we need to go over my financials, let's say it's a financial advisor, because they've got to do that every four months. Well, that doesn't add a lot of value. It doesn't [00:36:00] feel real to me. It's got to be sincere. It's got to be real. It's got to be relevant and then it truly adds value to that experience.
Kyle Davis: Awesome. I think that is a good place for us to wrap. If not we'll going all day. So, with that being said if you would like to book Lisa Ford for your next event you can do so by contacting the excellent customer experience team at GDA Speakers. The number is 214-420-1999. The website's Gdaspeakers.com. For [00:36:30] the transcript, books, other stuff like that of today's podcast and others you can go to Gdapodcast.com. With that being said, thanks Lisa.
Gail Davis: Thank you Lisa.
Lisa Ford: Oh, thank you all. You're so much fun to be with. Thanks.
Kyle Davis: Thanks.


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A fitness center may very well be used by the common person seeking exercises or by skilled athletes, particularly in particular disciplines. In accordance with the article Health Centers- Entire Constructing Information" from the website , this health, leisure, and social facility is geared towards train, sports activities, and different bodily activities." Most health centers try to accommodate many different types of train or sport amenities underneath one roof. Hi emk eemmkk! We are truly sorry to listen to you've got been experiencing issues. We might love to talk with you and gather particular info so we may help you additional. Please give us a name at 1-855-795-0509. We hope to listen to from you soon! Hello Scott Runkel! We admire your valuable feedback. We are really sorry to listen to you've got been experiencing points. We might love to speak with you and collect specific data so we might help you further. Please give us a call at 1-855-795-0509. We hope to listen to from you quickly!
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The Taylor has a less-than-stellar 2.eight score on Amazon, but that is still pretty high amongst other fats-measurement scales, which may be arduous to get the cling of at first. World Health Organisation warns of untreatable strains of sexually transmitted infections. Hello Nikolin Lleshi! We're really sorry to hear you've got been experiencing issues. We would love to speak with you and gather particular info so we may help you further. Please give us a name at 1-855-795-0509. We hope to hear from you soon. Thanks!
Most scales, at the physician's office, health membership, or at home, inform you how much you weigh, and not a lot else. That is high quality – it does not hurt to know the way much you weigh. But it's actually only part of the story. Body fat measurement scales assess the quantity of fats you're carrying by sending a really weak electrical present by means of your physique. Fat conducts electrical energy higher than muscle as a result of it has more water in it. The size quantifies your fats load by measuring the resistance to that faint electrical signal.
After studying she had terminal cancer, there was one heartbreaking thing she had to do. Watch: Ardern choked again tears whereas speaking about her best good friend's brother's suicide. Hi Steve Pickering! Thanks on your priceless suggestions. We might be submitting your evaluate to our growth staff for future reference. Thanks. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled, the WiThings scale syncs your measurements using the free Withings Well being Companion app. With this app you are free to set targets and monitor your own progress. Whereas customers have identified some room for improvement, this method does seem like the wave of the long run.


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January 28, 2017 7:00PM (Doors open @ 6:30PM)
Pastime Club 5557 US Highway 61 67, Imperial, MO 63052
This will be our Clubs largest annual fundraising event. The funds raised by the club each year help
operate the club and pay for operating costs such as club insurance, field usage and maintenance
fees, fees for referees, trainers, and coaches, as well as team fees such as Missouri Scholastic
Lacrosse Association (MSLA) and other costs which may arise. More importantly with successful club
fundraising, we are able to keep fees as low as possible for our players and their families.
This is an adult only event for ages 21 & over. Beer included. BYOS(Bring Your Own Snacks).
Tickets are $20 each or $150 a table. Players must sell one table of 8.
We are offering Trivia Round Sponsorships at $50.00 per round. Sponsors will be taken as first
come / first serve and the club will advertise their information during the evening if desired.
Donations are a huge part of making this fundraiser successful. We kindly request items for use as
door prizes, raffle baskets, individual items, and gift certificates as well as donated items for silent
Purchase a Table of 8 ($150.00)
Purchase Single Ticket ($20.00)
Purchase Round Sponsorship ($50.00)


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Yesterday, I was visited in my showroom by a man of the cloth. Not in a Dan Brown, cassock and collar kind of way, but as a purveyor of quality textiles to the tailoring trade.
Introducing Simon Murgatroyd, who runs the cloth business for Brook Taverner & Co. Ltd
We've been doing business together for 7 years and I felt it was high time I visited them at their HQ in Keighley. Selling fabrics to tailors is only a relatively small part of their business, and contributes about £1million to a turnover of £20m, largely derived from corporate-wear and a retail division.


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Marketing Your Photography Business
Marketing Your Photography Business
So you've set up a photography business but the clients are not coming in. The photography industry is highly competitive and somewhat oversaturated with vendors so your marketing skills need to be top notch if you're to have a chance of standing out and/or attracting the right clientele.
Both Geoff and Ben have been successful in business for over 20 years and can help you with tried and true methods of marketing in general and also marketing ideas specific to the photography industry.


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Chaplain Program
Building a Healthy Spirit
For almost 175 years, the mission of the YMCA has been central and foundational to our work:
To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
The Chaplain Program is just one of the many ways the Y intentionally lives out our mission. Our Chaplains demonstrate the love of Jesus through serving, loving and caring for the staff, members and guests of the YMCA through Faith Office hours, faith-based programming or just a listing ear and an encouraging word.
Our YMCA Chaplains are here to serve you! Please stop by the Faith Office and say hello! No appointment is necessary. If you would like to make an appointment to speak with a YMCA chaplain at a specific time, please connect with our Mission Director Dominic Dinger at email@example.com, or call 320.253.2664-Ext 125.
2018-2019 Chaplain Programs
Wednesday Night Bible Study
September 5, 2018 – May 29, 2019
Conference Room
Join us in the Conference room for a simple and engaging study of the Gospel of Matthew. Children's programming is available for K-5th grade. No registration necessary. This program is open to the community–you do not need to be a member of the YMCA to attend.
Roots Girl's Bible Study
First Wednesdays of the Month (September 2018 – May 2019)
Youth Studio
Roots is a Bible Study for girls in 6th-8th grade. We hope that the girls' relationships with the Lord and with each other will be strengthened; that they will be rooted and established in His love and confident in their identity; that they will see one another as sisters: and be able to lift one another up in prayer and encourage one another in living for the King. This program is open to the community–you do not need to be a member of the YMCA to attend.
Jr. & Sr. High Bible Study
Monthly Meetings (September 2018 – May 2019)
Youth Studio
Students 6th – 12th grade will be meeting once a month for Bible study. In addition to the study, we will also be gathering for a few social events as well as some service opportunities. This program is open to the community–you do not need to be a member of the YMCA to attend.
We'll meet on the following Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30pm in the Youth Studio:
- September 19th, 2018
- October 17th, 2018
- November 14th, 2018
- December 12th, 2018
- January 16th, 2019
- February 13th, 2019
- March 20th, 2019
- April 10th, 2019
- May 15th, 2019
Friday Night Fellowship
2nd & 4th Fridays
Upper Room
Join us as we gather for a time of fellowship on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month in the Upper Room. We'll read a portion of the Bible together, pray, reflect on what we've read, and have a brief discussion about the passage. It's a great opportunity to get to know the word of God and the God of the word! There is no prep work or homework—just bring your bible, a pen, and a notebook. No registration necessary. This study is open to the community–you do not need to be a member of the YMCA to attend.
The Art of Marriage – Marriage Enrichment Seminar
Friday, October 26: 7pm – 9:30pm
Saturday, October 27: 9am – 4:30pm
Cost: $45 per couple
Conference Room
The Art of Marriage weaves together expert teaching, stories, humorous vignettes & more to portray the challenges & the beauty of God's design for marriage. Over 40 contributors provide biblically-centered teaching while couples who have struggled in marriage openly & honestly share their stories.
Registration Deadline: Sunday, October 21
Crown Financial Study
10 Week Class – Begins October 7th
6-8PM – Upper Room @ St. Cloud Area Family YMCA
Cost: $30
Enjoy the freedom, contentment and economic stability that comes from practicing a more disciplined and less consumptive lifestyle. In the Crown Do Well Biblical Financial Study, you'll learn what the Bible teaches about managing your possessions. Each 2 hour session introduces a new principle with a financial exercise to help you apply what you have learned. We'll work our way through issues like getting out of debt, saving and investing, budgeting and much more.
Bible Study for Businessmen
Tuesday Afternoons
Upper Room
The Bible is relevant to your life today! Our weekly Bible study for men will help you understand what God says in His word so we can apply it to our work and relationships.
Women's Discovery Bible Study
Wednesday Evenings
Upper Room
Join our small group Bible study for women. Each week, we'll meet together to read, investigate, and interpret God's Word in order to apply it directly to our lives and to share it with others.
For more information about our Chaplain Program, please connect with our Mission Director Dominic Dinger at firstname.lastname@example.com, or call 320.253.2664-Ext 125.


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Jason Meyer
MS Student
Homepage: http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~jmeyer/
Jason Meyer is an Electrical and Computer Engineering Master's student at Northeastern University advised by Professor Kaushik Chowdhury. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2014. He joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 2014, where he worked on hardware design and firmware development for small satellite sensors and systems for Earth monitoring applications.
He began pursuing his M.S. at Northeastern University in 2017. His research interests include signal processing and hardware acceleration for software-defined radio applications.


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Sibonakaliso Ndaba
Sibonakaliso Ndaba
Joining us in studio is legendary dancer and choreographer Sibonakaliso Ndaba. The Durban born choreographer began her dance career in 1989, dancing at the original Phenduka Dance Theatre in Durban.
Sibonakiliso would later move to Cape Town to be a dancer and choreographer, at the Jazzart Dance Theatre. In 2001 she returned to Durban to help re-establish the Phenduku Dance Theatre as its artistic director, until 2007. During her time as the artistic director, she choreographed a number of productions and became known for her ability to blend African dance with contemporary, so effortlessly. Her choreography skills expand way beyond the boarders of South Africa, she has stretched them as far as the Netherlands and United Kingdom, among many others, creating choreography for productions world wide. Her skills have helped her collect a number of awards over the years such as the Playhouse Company award for Women in the Arts and the Daimler Chrysler award for South African Choreography, amongst others.


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The Art of Hip Hop & Charity
This blog post will be all over the place so bare with me! lol
This morning, I took a stroll down memory lane via Youtube listening to some great 70s, 80s, and 90s music. I had started with one of Hip Hops first female rappers/rap group, Oakland 357 and ended with Roxanne Shante.
Hip Hop is not only a form of music or a form of art, but it is a way of life and has changed the lives of many, directly and indirectly.
I began pulling things up online to see if there was any recent news regarding Roxanne Shante. I already knew about the new and great things Oakland 357 is doing through their interview with my family on the Everyday Living with Rick and Veronica. But I wanted to know about the lovely Roxanne Shante! So I searched and came across an article on Souleouniverse.com
When you have a moment, go and check it out! September and the forthcoming months recognizes some form of cancer. As a survivor, Roxanne Shante is using her hip-hop fame to bring awareness through charitable causes.
"As a survivor you feel blessed with everyday and feel like you must make a difference. I am supposed to show how appreciative I am for life. So when it comes to participating in events I am there. I do more charity work now than I have ever done in my life," says Shante.
Shante's commitment to using her fame in the hip-hop community to address health issues is helping her make peace with an industry that she believes mishandled her career. "I had dreams and aspirations and then went through bad stuff with record companies, lawyers and mangers. But I can see some good in what hip-hop has allowed me to do to get the message out here. I will never love hip-hop the way I once loved it but we can be good friends." [Souleouniverse]
Instead of me reposting what the article said, go check it out!
And SINCE I've mentioned Hip-Hop, go check out my t-shirt design Hip-Hop, The Universal Language.
Oaktown 357
Roxanne Shante