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IT director Karriem Shakoor noticed a trend among high-performing athletes: They all had personal performance coaches. It made him wonder: Should he get a coach to up his professional game?
His own boss supported the idea, and his research showed that many CEOs hire executive coaches. So Shakoor, who has worked in IT since 1991, hired a coach to help him take his leadership skills to the next level.
"I felt that in order for me to really assess my strengths and weaknesses, I had to engage with a coach who could step back to observe me, provide feedback and then help me tweak my performance," says Shakoor, who, as senior director of IT shared services at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, has eight direct reports and manages just over 300 full-time employees.
Shakoor started working with coach John Baldoni in 2009. They had scheduled face-to-face meetings and talked on the phone to discuss additional topics as they arose. A coach, says Shakoor, is different from a mentor or a boss. "What he really is, is a person who has an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses and how they translate into my style as a leader," he explains.
The initial goal was for Shakoor to improve his executive presence and executive style, and a six-month assessment, based on feedback from company executives, showed he had indeed improved in those areas. Nonetheless, Shakoor continues to meet with Baldoni for an hour every month or two as he works toward his ultimate goal of one day becoming a CIO.
Shakoor can't point to any one work situation where coaching helped him score rather than strike out; rather, it's his overall ability to assess and successfully navigate various management challenges that has improved. "As an executive in a very fast-paced, demanding field, I view myself as an athlete, and having a coach who keeps me well tuned as a corporate athlete has been a great benefit," he says.
Could a coach do the same for you?
Typically, IT professionals haven't taken advantage of such services at the same pace as senior managers in other fields, say coaches, CIOs and other corporate leaders. But that's changing as tech executives -- and their companies -- begin recognizing that IT can gain as much from coaching as others in the C suite. In fact, coaching may be even more beneficial to IT leaders, particularly those who rise through the ranks on the strength of their technical expertise rather than their management experience.
The good news: As IT demand for coaching services has risen, there's been an increase in the number of coaches with experience in either IT management or coaching IT leaders, says Suzanne Fairlie, founder and president of national executive staffing firm ProSearch in Ambler, Pa., who frequently recommends coaching to CIOs.
Who Gets Coached, and When
Like their counterparts in other business units, IT professionals sign on with executive coaches under a variety of circumstances. Some get coaches as part of executive compensation packages that come standard to all leaders at certain levels of the company. Others are assigned coaches individually -- either because they're rising stars who are being groomed for promotion or, on the flip side, because they're struggling managers who need help in specific areas of performance. And some people decide on their own to work with a coach as a way of investing in their careers.
Prices vary, but multiple sources say the cost of coaching services ranges from $200 to $500 per hour. Though employers usually cover the cost of the service, some professionals do pay coaches out of their own pockets for various reasons. Some might work for companies that are having financial difficulties and just can't afford such expenses. Others might want their coaching arrangement to remain private, or they may not have reached a level where the company is willing to pay for them to get coaching.
At what point in an IT leader's career does it make sense to engage a coach? Baldoni, president of Baldoni Consulting in Ann Arbor, Mich., and author of several leadership books, says there is no set rule. However, in general, "most companies hire executive coaches for more senior leaders -- director, VP and above," he says. "That said, anyone can benefit from coaching, and some companies do provide it to emerging leaders."
Effective, Focused Leadership
IT executive Caren Shiozaki has worked with two coaches over the course of her career.
She first had a coach when she was CIO at a Dallas-based Fortune 1000 media company that paid for coaches for all of its executives. For 18 months, she and her coach talked once a month for an hour or two, usually by phone but sometimes in person. Shiozaki also called her coach to work through particular scenarios as they cropped up.
The meetings were unstructured, she says, allowing her to talk about whatever challenges she faced at the time. Typical topics included how best to build relationships throughout the organization and how to rally support from other business leaders for changes she wanted to implement.
"There were some initiatives directed from the top that I was responsible for implementing. These had major implications for a number of stakeholders, who understandably reacted very emotionally," Shiozaki recalls. "Being able to better take into account their perspectives helped me develop better approaches to change management. The coach helped me improve my emotional IQ."
5 Simple Truths About Executive Coaching
1. It's a perk, not a punishment. "At one time coaching was seen as remedial," says executive coach John Baldoni. "But more and more it's a badge of honor, because as more CEOs talk about being coached, it's seen as a perk. It's also couched as a developmental tool, so even when there's an issue, it doesn't mean [someone] is a poor performer. It's just others see that they can be a better performer if they address the issue."
2. It all hinges on the client-coach relationship. Executive coaches say you have to have some chemistry to make the relationship work. You have to trust your coach and have confidence in his or her experiences and expertise in order to feel comfortable speaking openly about issues. "It's like a doctor or an architect -- try the relationship on for size. You have to click with that person," adds Suzanne Fairlie, founder and president of executive staffing firm ProSearch.
3. It's not a magic cure-all. Clients should identify areas where they want to improve, but they should also understand the limits of coaching, says Larry Bonfante, CIO of the U.S. Tennis Association, an executive coach with his practice CIO Bench Coach, and author of Lessons in IT Transformation: Technology Expert to Business Leader. "I've had people who want me to wave my magic wand or sprinkle fairy dust over them, but it doesn't work that way," Bonfante says. He says it's more about bringing a C performance up to a B, or a B up to an A.
4. It's a business arrangement. Alan Guibord, founder and chairman of The Advisory Council in Salem, N.H., says coaches generally use contracts to specify pricing, objectives and the frequency of meetings. They also generally offer details of how they approach coaching, explaining how they assess their clients and measure success. Guibord and others say it's important for coaches and clients to agree on such terms up front.
5. It requires a personal willingness to change. "The only way that coaching can be successful is [if] the person being coached [is] open-minded, humble and willing to accept advice," says Guibord. "That's a hard part for everybody."
Shiozaki worked with a coach a second time after she became CIO at Thornburg Mortgage in Santa Fe, N.M., in 2007 (the company is now known as TMST). She hired -- and paid for -- the coach to help her keep herself and her team focused as the company dealt with the fallout from the 2008 economic collapse.
"It's challenging coming in as CIO into any situation, but when you add onto it the looming possibility of bankruptcy and the financial turmoil, it compounds the challenges," she says. Shiozaki says she looked for a coach who could help her stay grounded and be "the strong leader the company needed."
Shiozaki connected with her second coach once or twice a month in person or by phone for 18 months. That coach had a more structured approach than her first one, giving her particular tasks to accomplish by specific deadlines and holding her accountable for meeting those goals. For example, she and her coach devised a plan to help a direct report who was having a difficult relationship with a colleague.
Different Coaches, Different Styles
Shiozaki's experience with different coaching styles is the rule rather than the exception. Coaches, clients and others familiar with the process say coaching arrangements vary based on the executive's needs, company policy, the coach's own style and other factors.
Baldoni says he works with a model that goes from assessment to action plan to evaluation. As part of the assessment, he asks clients about their current performance and what they want to change. He uses assessment tools and tests to evaluate leadership styles and personality traits. As privacy and access permit, he also conducts interviews with "stakeholders," who might include peers, supervisors and direct reports.
Baldoni says he and his clients then choose one or two areas to work on -- most often communication skills, the ability to influence, leadership presence and delegation skills.
The process involves a lot of talking and listening, but he also assigns homework -- which could be as straightforward as reading an article or as amorphous as working on behavioral changes. He might, for example, have a client who's trying to improve his communication skills work on letting others have a chance to voice their opinions.
Like most other executive coaches, Baldoni limits his engagements to a specific period of time, often six or 12 months, at which point he confers with clients to evaluate how their performance has improved. "Coaching is a guided form of self-discovery. You get out of it what you put into it," he says. "It's about helping yourself become more effective as an executive and as a leader."
Soft Skills, Hard Results
Mary Jo Greil, president of The Carson Greil Group, a coaching firm in Memphis, acknowledges that some of the goals established in executive coaching might seem esoteric, but she says improvements are quite tangible.
Greil, whose coaching arrangements typically involve phone or face-to-face connections for one hour every two weeks, says she begins with a statement of work and then has her clients evaluate how they're doing against their articulated outcomes.
When Vickie Smith first started working with Greil eight years ago, her goal was to bring her IT organization to the forefront of her company, Helena Chemical in Collierville, Tenn. She hoped that IT would be recognized as an essential department that was very much a champion for the business.
"Before, [IT] was seen as just a support department; it was seen as being in the back, and I wanted to make sure I was giving the company the best that I had," says Smith, who was director of IT at the time but wanted the company to elevate the position to CIO.
Smith and Greil developed a plan to accomplish that goal, with Smith focusing on gaining trust for her technological vision both within the department and throughout the company. They created agendas for their meetings, and Greil had assignments for Smith to tackle -- such as reading a particular book.
Smith says she believes the coaching has had a clear return on investment for her and her department.
The results are tangible, she says, adding that "all the relationships you have within the organization -- whether it's with your peers, your superiors, your subordinates -- you can tell when you've gotten results and you're providing better service and they recognize IT as a top organization."
Another clear result: Smith became the company's first CIO in December 2009.
"I can't say coaching actually did it. Certainly hard work and results [earned it] for me," she says. "But I do know that coaching helped me and gave me some additional skills and information where I felt more comfortable going and proving the role that I wanted."
Pratt is a Computerworld contributing writer in Waltham, Mass. You can contact her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Read more about management in Computerworld's Management Topic Center.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.


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subset: commoncrawl


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The NBA and NFL are apples and oranges in the fantasy sense. In football you have mini one-week seasons, each with a different story that has a beginning, middle, and an end. Fantasy basketball, on the other hand, mimics the ebb-and-flow of the action on the court. One night can yield enough breakout stars to count on multiple hands, while on other nights the clouds slowly form – waiting to pour opportunity onto the proactive owner. Wednesday night was the latter, and now that the table is set let's get to feasting.
Dwyane Wade played through his possible case of plantar fasciitis in a fun little game against the Clippers in the nightcap, and after the game talk of PF was all but dismissed. He scored 17 points with seven boards, three steals, and two blocks, capping his night with a feat of athleticism to give the Heat extra life late on a loose ball. He leaped over and around DeAndre Jordan to knock the ball into Jordan while he was standing out-of-bounds, retaining possession for the Heat in a ill-fated attempt to bail his buddy out. We could talk about LeBron's game-deciding missed freebies at this point, but I'll leave it to the shock bloggers and the ESPN 1st! sup> and 10 crew to grab the low-hanging fruit.
More interesting is how Norris Cole has put a jolt in Super-Nintendo Chalmers, who scored 18 points with four 3-pointers, four rebounds, and five assists last night. LeBron chews Chalmers out about five times per night, and one has to think that's how Cole has become a favorite of the Heat's – he's the anti-Chalmers. But Chalmers, while inconsistent, has responded and won the position battle as of late. He should be owned in most leagues while he's putting up usable lines like this.
Chris Paul took matters into his own hands last night, and almost won the game in regulation on a sick crossover that he couldn't convert on, but led the Clippers to a win in overtime anyway. He hit 11-of-21 shots for a season-high 27 points with six rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, and most importantly we haven't seen or heard anything about his knee. I've mentioned in various spaces around here that my concern for his knee is mostly for next year and most certainly the year after that, but I'd tend to see no evil and hear no evil for now. Jordan, aside from being part of Wade's highlight, was a monster with six blocks, eight points, and 11 rebounds, showing why he cannot be dropped.
Al Horford left last night's game with a left shoulder strain and looked to be in a good amount of pain at the time. Look no further than Chuck Hayes' 3-4 week timeline to get a sense of where this could head. This, of course, will lead to more looks for the rest of the crew, especially since it's possible that the Hawks will be without one or more of Marvin Williams (ankle), Tracy McGrady (back), and Horford for Thursday's game and beyond. Look for Jeff Teague (five points, two boards, three assists, two steals, one bl! ock, 2-of-10 FGs) to bounce back after getting manhandled by Roy Hibbert and Co. in an ugly loss.
Ty Lawson (foot) did not play on Wednesday against the Nets. I'd crack a joke about the mascot taking nights off against the lowly Nets, but he clearly didn't. Andre Miller complained about not being the starter, which is interesting but not important, and filled in nicely with 12 points and 12 assists in the win. Nothing has or will change here barring injury to Lawson, as Miller will continue to provide low-end value and is a decent trade deadline candidate already. Nene played through his heel injury yet again, and the nine points, nine rebounds, two steals, and three blocks in 30 minutes should create a sense of cautious indifference for ow! ners. He's playing like a guy dealing with a heel injury. Arron Afflalo finally showed some signs of life, too, hitting four 3-pointers for 19 points and giving owners a reason to hold on. I tend to think he'll slowly get it together after being a late arrival to workouts due to his contract.
Andrea Bargnani lost four games to a left calf injury last year, and he hurt it again on Wednesday night with an MRI on the way on Thursday. He doesn't know how he hurt it and the injury doesn't appear on the outside to be overly serious, but in this lockout-inspired season anything is possible. Bargnani has exceeded expectations this season, so it's hard not to root for him to get back on the court. If he misses time, look for Ed Davis to try to get back into the swing of things. He had just six points and six boards in 14 minutes last night, so he's only a risky, speculative add in 12-team leagues pending Bargnani's prognosis. Amir Johnson gets a bit more security ! if Bargs misses time, but his issue isn't minutes, it's foul trouble.
More than likely, though, guys like DeMar DeRozan and Leandro Barbosa will pick up the scoring slack. DeRozan slowed down this week and wasn't spectacular on Wednesday, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with no threes and three rebounds. He's still a guy I'm buying and not selling simply due to his newfound 3-point shooting touch. Barbosa scored a season-high 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting with two 3-pointers in 24 minutes, and is a desperation add in 12-team leagues that will be bumped up to a short-term add if Bargnani misses time. Linas Kleiza also returned to action after knee surgery ended his year last season, scoring 10 points with three rebounds and an assist. If ! Kleiza plays well it could be the final straw for James Johnson and his owners, so pay attention if you're in that camp.
Jameer Nelson finally showed up with 16 points, four rebounds, five assists, a steal, and two threes, showing why you can't just dump this guy. He's starting with a full boat of minutes, and you simply can't find this type of upside on the wire. Deciding to deploy him is another story until he shows consistency, however.
Derrick Rose apparently doesn't have turf toe, but instead some form of flexion sprain and is being called day-to-day. Nobody is overly worried, but we'll be watching. John Lucas started in his place with C.J. Watson (elbow) still out and did his best Rose impression with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-28 shooting with eight rebounds, eight assists, a steal, and a three. If Rose continues to miss time owners almost have to use him in a spot-start if they're in need after that performance. Of course, Lucas will have no value beyond that.
Joakim Noah left briefly due to a strained left thumb, but the real story is that he is losing minutes to Omer Asik and Taj Gibson. Noah finished with four points, four boards, and a block in 18 minutes. It's just a guess, but even if his body is betraying him I think there's something going on between the ears here, too. Noah is an excitable, moody, and difficult guy at times, and stories of him clashing with Tom Thibodeau are likely on the way. Asik had a nice night with eight points, 14 boards, and five blocks, and took advantage of a hapless Wizards squad. It's fair to say he won't be this productive when Stella gets her groove back.
Or after, as Wednesday's action would show. Kawhi Leonard was a hot pickup last night, after scoring 11 points with eight rebounds and two blocks over 38 minutes in his second straight start at shooting guard. Guessing what Gregg Popovich is going to do is exactly that – a guess – but the lack of shooting range amongst the starters I discussed yesterday appears to have taken a backseat to the fact that the Spurs have a handful of big opposing shooting guards to deal with. Last night it was Kevin Martin, and on Friday it will be a combination of Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum, and then on Sunday it will be Jared Dudley.
Gary Neal (seven points, 3-of-10 FGs, one rebound, two assists, no threes, 21 minutes) has been forced into the backup point guard role and personally I'm kicking myself for not seeing the personnel matchups yesterday. Dropping Neal for Leonard makes a ton of sense, but the bottom line is that owners simply need to be on their toes here. As for Neal, I will be hanging onto him for at least another game to see if he can break out. The minutes are there with Manu Ginobili (hand) out and he can be an elite source of threes if he pans out. Keep in mind that conditioning could also be an issue for him, having just returned from an appendectomy and rushed into action within the last week.
Tony Parker has also quietly taken over scoring duties as we thought he would, albeit a few games late. He scored 28 points with five boards, eight assists, and a steal last night, and had 22 points with eight assists on Tuesday. If you bought low it looks like the move will pay off. On the other hand, DeJuan Blair has gone back into inconsistent mode, playing just 16 minutes last night with nine points and three rebounds. Some things never change. Tim Duncan passed Larry Legend on the all-time scoring list last night, and finished with 17 points, 11 boards, five assists, three steals, and two blocks. If you can find an owner that's not paying attention, that's one helluva brochure.!
Deron Williams suffered a Grade-1 ankle sprain last night, and instead of leaving the game traditionally he decided to let an official have it. He may play angry all year long with the way the Nets are grasping at straws on and off the court. Williams finished with 16 points, 13 assists, and three treys, and the injury doesn't sound serious.
What a difference a week makes as DeMarcus Cousins continued to lay it on thick after Keith Smart's hiring, scoring 21 points with a career-high 19 rebounds, a steal, and a block in Wednesday's road win over the Raptors. In the four games since Smart was hired, Cousins has averaged 18.3 points, 13.5 boards, 0.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 52 percent from the field (73% FTs). In an 8-cat league, that's good for late first round value on a per-game basis over that span, though in 9-cat leagues that drops to early fifth round value due to his 4.5 turnovers per game over the same time-frame.
This is a really small sample size, but owners have an interesting question now. Do you sell the mercurial big man? Or do you hold with the belief that he'll only get better and has a coach in Smart that he doesn't hate. Let's take a gander at what's behind Door No. 3 and look at the numbers. Last year he shot 43 percent, this year he's shooting 43 percent, and that 52 percent mark that's buoying his aforementioned valuations – that's probably going to trend toward 43 percent, too. Again, we're only talking about four games here, but if you can sell DeMarcus now at the peak of owners' wonder you're probably doing a good job. The field goal percentage, turnovers, and potential for God knows what else is lurking if you're brave enough to take what's in the box.
Tyreke Evans scored a season-high 29 points with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and while he hit all 14 of his free throws, Evans hit just 7-of-22 shots from the field. I took the liberty of watching all of those shot attempts, and though I'm not exactly breaking news in saying this – he's an awful point guard. When he's open he doesn't shoot, instead taking a dribble or faking into a much tougher shot. As for passing, good luck with that. He has lost the ability to turn the corner, and now resorts to an equilibrium-destroying spin move on every other drive. If Evans played almost anywhere else, there would be no discussion about him being 'the man' or starting at point guard. Only the Kings, whose rookie year 20-5-5 marketing campaign and lack of a true No. 1 guy could create this circumstance.&n! bsp; Owners may see the glitzy lights of his recent scoring binge, but realize the cause of the Kings' cold needs to move off the ball, perhaps all the way over to small forward. With 4-of-8 games scoring 26-plus points, Evans has moved up to sixth and eighth round value in 8- and 9-cat leagues, respectively. If you can find an owner that thinks the new coach and superficial box scores are a signal his value is moving toward his late-early round ADP – make the move.
Of course, when a true PG starts running the show in Sac, things start to click. That's what happened when the last selection of this year's draft, Isaiah Thomas, started taking over the second half of Wednesday's game. He finished with a career-high 20 points with three rebounds, six assists, a steal, and three treys in just 25 minutes off the bench. I asked Sam Amick of SI.com and formerly a beat writer for the Kings about Thomas early in the summer and he said it was too early to see if he could play at the NBA level. I was with him on that. Since then we've watched as Thomas has impressed in nearly every bit of game action he has seen. The Kings are going to have a hard time shifting around minutes for this year's Mr. Irrelevant, but if J! immer Fredette can't win over the locker room and assume ball-handling duties, Thomas is the only other guy on the roster that can get the Kings into an offense. There's value in that reality somewhere, but it's going to take time to fester in the minds of Keith Smart and Kings management. In the meantime, Marcus Thornton (thigh) is day-to-day and there's simply too much clutter to add Thomas until you're in the 16-20 team range. Just don't be surprised if we're talking about him down the road.
Kobe Bryant backed up his 48-point effort from Tuesday with another 40 points on Wednesday, and also added eight rebounds, four assists, a steal, a block, and a three. He looks Kobe-er than ever, dominating the ball and attacking defenses ferociously, all the while knowing that one hit could send his wrist to a very bad place. I've been leading the sell-high charge around here, and admittedly losing the battle with each big night. To pile on this currently failed position of mine, an interesting report emerged in the wee hours last night indicating that Kobe says his wrist is healing.
I don't know how much I believe him with wrist doctors everywhere suggesting he's off his rocker for not getting surgery, but admittedly nobody other than Kobe and his own doctors know how bad the situation is in the first place. He could be playing it up or playing it down, and beat writer Kevin Ding's report illustrates Kobe's unwillingness to consider the idea that he's hurt or limited. As an analyst I have to give credibility to the report, and tell you guys to lay back on the sell-high front. Perhaps dipping only a round or a round-and-a-half under his current late-first round value in 8-cat leagues makes sense. He is playing like he doesn't care about late-season rest and his explosiveness is there. If there is anybody that can run the engine hard at 200,000 miles it's Kobe. I just wonder how much of his conversation with Ding is denial, and if the danger is best avoided through some good ! ol' fashion risk management.
Serge Ibaka is not just being railroaded by Scott Brooks, he's being railroaded by the local media it seems, who reported last night that he had been beat defensively on four straight possessions. This, of course, is the purported rationale for not feeding him minutes. I'm sure it's hard to see the action in real-time and at court level, versus watching the tape on Synergy like I have been doing with critical situations like the Ibaka one. Looking back at all of his defensive possessions, I could have nitpicked a few things here and there, but he did nothing to warrant less than a 'C' grade and often times he performed as well as anybody could have in the league.
Nevertheless, owners have right to be frustrated with Ibaka in general, though he's still providing seventh round value in 9-cat leagues and ninth round value in 8-cat leagues. One can't just drop a player with that 'floor,' in particular when his best days are clearly ahead of him. As I've written a bunch, Brooks is trying to get Ibaka to buy into the Brooks Way, which is a nebulous mix of quote-unquote "earning it."
On the other side of Brooks' scale of justice is Nick Collison, who is the on-court example of how he wants guys to play and the one stealing Ibaka's minutes (along with below-average Nazr Mohammed and overrated Kendrick Perkins). Collison is a fine player and adds a pick-and-roll element to the offensive game-plan, but Brooks is insane for not developing a player in Ibaka that averaged nearly FIVE blocks per game against Denver in last year's playoffs. The physical specimen with a feathery 18-foot jumper has elite-level upside at his position, and could be a difference-maker defending the bigs of Los Angeles and Dallas in the playoffs. He needs to be on the floor learning the finer poi! nts of the game, but it's anybody's guess when that will happen in full. My guess is that it comes toward the latter part of the season, with slow gains throughout the year. But if Brooks decides he wants to go to war with Collison, he'll do it at his own peril – and the basketball media will give him a pass. After all, how could a guy they voted Coach of the Year be a bad coach?
Josh Howard has been gaining buzz all year long and looks like the guy that we remember from Dallas, and of course his ever-present injury risk is going to be his Scarlet Letter all year long. His knee tendinitis flared up "a little" last night and the quad injury surely is still lurking. But when he's on the floor he's dynamite, unlike last year when the explosion simply wasn't there. Howard scored 18 points with two threes, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 34 minutes against the Lakers last night. More importantly, he brings to the table the ability to beat his man one-on-one, and most people around the league think he'll pick up a starting job at either SG or SF as long as he's healthy. The hope is that he replaces Raja Bell, whi! ch would in theory help free up Gordon Hayward's less-explosive game and be a win-win for owners. Adding Howard is a fine move in my opinion, as long as you know you'll have to pitch him back to the wire the next time he gets hurt.
Chandler Parsons (eight points, six boards, four assists, three steals, and a block) also didn't jump out in the box score, though that's certainly a line that helped owners, but he is still the talk of Rockets beat writers. His tip-in dunk was quickly flung around the Internet and reporters are eager to tell us all about how smart Parsons is, in particular late when he was trusted to inbound the ball with the game on the line. With Chase Budinger (zero points, 13 minutes) face-planting and Parsons playing the part, he should be owned in all 12-team leagues.
Samuel Dalembert didn't jump out on the stat sheet last night, scoring six points with five rebounds and three blocks in just 22 minutes. The thing that did jump out was beat writer Jonathan Feigen saying he was "dominating" down low. That's the type of talk that can keep owners patient, even though it goes without saying that he should be playing a full load at some point. The move here is to 'hold,' for now, and I'd even get behind a conservative buy low offer.
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VALHALLA, N.Y. -- For cadets at the United States Military Academy, fighting pediatric illness and supporting Maria Fareri Children's Hospital was as simple as doing the two-step.
In the inaugural six-hour Dance Marathon held last month, West Point cadets raised $20,217 for Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, which is a member of Westchester Medical Center Health Network. Thanks to the partnership, cadets from across the country connected with local children and helped those battling illnesses.
"The cadets at West Point were thrilled to join the growing list of students supporting the advanced care provided to seriously ill and injured children at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital,'' said Meredith Buono Dagrossa, manager of marketing and community relations at the hospital. "Dance Marathon is more than a fundraiser. It is an incredibly moving, high-energy event where students, the community, families and children who benefited from lifesaving and life-changing care come together to support the hospital.''
Dance Marathon is a Children's Miracle Network Hospitals program and is held at dozens of universities and colleges across North America. During Dance Marathon events, students bond with former children's hospital patients through games, structured activities, fundraising efforts and hours of dancing.
West Point cadets are the first service academy students to host a Dance Marathon and join the ranks of students at Iona College, Mount Saint Mary College, Pace University and the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz who have participated in the events.
100 percent of donated funds through the event support the care of children undergoing open-heart surgery, brain surgery, trauma and burn care, cancer treatments and other advanced services at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital.


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Neelie Kroes
Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda
Electronics for Europe
IMEC Technology Forum
Brussels, 24 May 2012
New information and communications technology is changing our world. In an age that sorely needs economic growth, innovation in electronics offers us an ongoing boost.
In the nineteen forties, technology magazines breathlessly imagined a future where computers might weigh a "mere" one and a half tons. And nowadays, the devices in our pockets are equivalent to NASA's entire processing power in the 1960s.
Those changes are thanks to advances in chip technology. For some 60 years, changes in electronics — disruptive, challenging, exponential — have confounded all our attempts at prediction. Making even the boldest claims about the future quickly seem unambitious, or quaint.
Countless ideas have soon gone from being unimaginably futuristic – to commonplace – to old-fashioned. That pace of change is thanks to a huge global research effort – and to an agile industry able to use its results.
And, in Europe, research and technology institutes have also long been a backbone for progress, helping businesses and entrepreneurs access design and manufacturing, and helping train our workforce.
That change hasn't just been about fancy gadgets: it's been about growth and jobs. Today, the European micro and nanoelectronics sector is worth nearly 40 billion dollars, some 12% of the global total. Over the past decade, indeed, micro and nanoelectronics and their natural downstream sectors created more than 700,000 additional jobs in Europe.
And meanwhile, much more importantly, this is a key enabling technology: it provides tools, and drives productivity for almost every other economic sector. All together, semiconductors provide the knowledge and technology that generate some 10 percent of global GDP. In sectors from manufacturing to healthcare; from cars to cures.
And investment in micro- and nano-electronics has paid off. In Dresden, targeted public subsidies and grants for regional development were paid back nearly five times over in taxes and revenues.
First, let's remember the challenges we face here in Europe.
At a time of economic gloom, we need to focus on tomorrow's sources of growth. To enable an economic boost that keeps us competitive on the world stage. At a time of potential mass unemployment, we need to find smart, skilled jobs for the young, to avoid a lost generation. And at a time of austerity, we must find solutions that keep our public services - like healthcare - efficient and sustainable.
Second, let's remember the potential opportunities and applications lying ahead for electronics.
We have the Internet of Things which could connect up every device from your car to your fridge to your spectacles. Bringing more tools to link up real and virtual – with more chips everywhere.
We have an increasing need to pay attention to energy resources and climate change. And find solutions that are more and more efficient, and more and more green.
And finally, we have an ageing population — meaning a growing market for new health applications. From telecare solutions to help the elderly live longer with independence and dignity. To "pills" that, once swallowed, can electronically identify, monitor, and treat medical conditions.
Maybe you think that's science fiction: but remember that "amazing" one and a half ton computer.
Alongside these trends, many think we could see a fundamental change in the global chip market. Currently it's dominated by players outside of Europe – particularly in Asia, where companies benefit from a helpful environment and generous public support. But some find the market is due for a consolidation – with a smaller number of key global players inventing and producing. In particular at the cutting edge of technology where next-generation fabrication plants globally might be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Given this context for the industry. Given these new opportunities. And given the economic position of Europe, with no Member State big enough to compete along the whole industrial value chain: the question has to be, don't we want one of those global players to be European? Shouldn't we consolidate and cooperate on our own terms – rather than wait for it to be forced on us? Isn't the time right to pool our excellence in R&D, much more than we do today? Shouldn't we be looking for an "Airbus of Chips"?
We have strengths to build on in Europe. Belgium itself is famous for what it can do with chips – and not just the kind you have with mayonnaise! Looking beyond Leuven, across the continent we have many vibrant and creative clusters, covering the full electronics value chain. We have world-class academic and research institutions. We have a highly-skilled workforce looking for highly-skilled jobs. And we have a range of markets that will demand new electronic innovations – from that booming healthcare market, to the automotive and broadcasting sectors.
And yet – we are still far from being a European powerhouse. We have a fragmented landscape, with national policies championing national interests.
Within the sector, different business models can impede cooperation.
And our education systems still aren't producing enough engineers with the right skills to excel in this area. Even in the current crisis when many are looking for jobs.
Should we try to change that? For me it's definitely worth looking into. It's true that Europe needs innovation in the electronics sector – but then, the sector also needs Europe, needs our scientific and research expertise, and needs our huge markets.
If we are really going to succeed and throw our weight on the world stage, we need even more to work together, and act together at European level.
Imagine if we built a whole electronics ecosystem right here. Building on the leading technology institutes, and our world-class equipment and materials industry. Connecting the electronics industry with the markets that demand their innovations — public and private, research and industry, small and large business.
And connecting with those who can train and supply skilled labour.
We have the building blocks at our disposal. We have successful models for more cooperation, like the joint technology initiatives for joining up public R&D funding. We have EU funding: nearly 1.8 billion euros proposed through Horizon 2020 for the micro and nanoelectronics and the adjacent photonics key-enabling technology. We have other sources like the EIB or structural funds. And we can also support politically through the right competition and State aid rules.
But the Commission can't bring this about on its own. We can take the lead and start the talks – but we need others to commit, too.
Commit financially: and commit to doing things differently. So I need to know, how far are Member States, the research community, and industry prepared to work towards this goal? Are we prepared to set strategic alliances, build value chains in Europe, set R&D priorities and invest further downstream? How daring are we prepared to be, to do things better, together?
Back in 1959, the physicist Richard Feynman pointed out there was plenty of room at the bottom. Even after a half-century of miniaturisation, that's still true: there's still plenty of opportunity for business to discover the potential of ever smaller and ever faster chips.
Let's discover it together.
Side Bar


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Eric Bellinger - Love & Lust (Grammy Nominated Singer/Songwriter - Chris Brown, Neyo, Jennifer Hudson, Keri Hilson, etc.) [Unsigned Hype]
Eric Bellinger's take on Adam & Eve in the video for
his new single Love & Lust off his new mixtape Born
2 Sing Vol 2. Eric has written for Chris Brown
(Champion, Oh My Love, Say It With Me), Neyo and
Jennifer Hudson (Think Like A Man), Keri Hilson (In
The Air), Greyson Chance (Waiiting Outside The
Lines), Jacob Lattimore (Nothing On Me), and many
To hear more or to download his mixtape go to IamEricB2.com
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Royal Family Golf Fundraiser Helps Send Foster Kids To Summer Camp
One of the things I love about Sioux Falls is the large number of opportunities for people to make a real difference in the lives of friends and neighbors. No matter what kind of activity appeals to you there is probably going to be a fundraising event built around it. Walking, biking, running, motorcycle riding, all come to mind, not to mention golfing.
Whether you're a duffer or an expert, or even an expert duffer, The Royal Family Charity Golf Fundraiser on Tuesday, June 3rd at Willow Run Golf Course is going to be a fun event for you to participate in. You will have the chance to win prizes, savor a delicious lunch and the best part; help to raise funds to send foster children to summer camp!
Royal Family KIDS is the nation's leading network of camps, clubs and mentors for children of abuse, neglect and abandonment. They've been doing great work for children since 1985 and this is your chance to join the effort. Foster kids get to bond with their mentors and other kids over shared experiences, plus revel in everything fun about summer camp!
This 18 hole, 4-person scramble has an 8:30 start time and costs $100 per golfer, which includes all green fees and lunch of course! For more info on golfing in the event or becoming an event sponsor call Scott or Kim Erkonen at 605-261-9148, or click here.


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David WetherallProfessor
djw @ uw . edu
206.616.4367 (messages not checked)
Administrator: Melody Kadenko
melody @ cs . washington . edu
David Wetherall is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He ran Intel's former Seattle research lab on ubiquitous computing from 2006 to 2009, and is an author of Computer Networks, 5th edition.
New! Computer Networks MOOC on Coursera
New! Video lectures for Computer Networks 5/E
Wetherall's research is broadly focused on the Internet and network systems, including wireless and mobile computing, and privacy and security. He mixes blue-sky projects with industrial collaborations, and is known for pioneering research on programmable networks, de-duplication, Internet mapping, and denial-of-service. (Try this paper for a fun, early look at the Web!)
Wetherall has a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT, and a B.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Western Australia. He is a Fellow of the ACM; received a Sloan Fellowship, NSF CAREER award, SIGCOMM Test-of-Time award, and Bennett Prize; chaired SIGCOMM, NSDI, and MobiSys; and founded HotNets.
For research and education activities, see the menu bar above, or for the gory details see this CV (pdf).


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Farid Najafi needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 139 designs submitted by 55 freelance designers.
Apollon Management - http://apollonmgmt.com
We are a janitorial service and building maintenance company. We service commercial and residential buildings, financial institutions, military, federal and city government, small businesses, major hotel chains, and large corporations.
• Janitorial Cleaning Services
• Window Washing Services
• Detail Cleaning Services
• Pressure Washing Services
• Move-Out Cleaning Services
Construction Clean Services
Shredding Services
Commercial Properties
Retail Stores
Building Management
Apollon requires a fresh new logo that stands out from the rest of the competition. They want something out of the box with modern colors that best reflects their services.
We do not want anything cartoony with brooms or brushes. We want a professional logo that will turn into a brand.
No preference on colors or fonts. Think out of the Box and get creative.
We want a logo along with Appollon Management on the side, bottom or overlay.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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International Friendly: France v Jamaica
Didier Deschamps must weigh up his options ahead of France's showdown with Jamaica, after Franck Ribery was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup.
France's preparations for the marquee tournament were rocked by the news that the Bayern Munich winger will play no part in Brazil due to a back injury.
The 31-year-old had shown signs of improvements and it was hoped he could feature in Sunday's encounter with Winfried Schafer's men at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
However, he suffered a setback during sprint tests on Friday and an MRI scan ruled him out of contention.
In a further blow, Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier has also been forced to miss the tournamwnt in Brazil with a groin injury sustained in training on Thursday.
Montepellier's Remy Cabella and Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin have been called up in their place, and the duo will hope for a chance to stake their claim against Jamaica.
For France coach Deschamps, the double blow is untimely as he bids to eradicate the memories of France's last two major tournaments.
France suffered the humiliation of finishing bottom of Group A with just a solitary point at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while the 2012 Euros ended in quarter-final heartbreak to eventual winners Spain.
Both tournaments were marred by reports of discontent in the French camp, but New York Bulls striker Thierry Henry believes Deschamps will maintain squad harmony.
Henry was part of the France team captained by Deschamps that won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, and the former Arsenal man believes he has the perfect temperament.
"He can keep everyone happy," the former Arsenal man told The London Evening Standard. "I don't know what it is with Didier. He was the first captain to lift the World Cup for France, he was the first captain for Marseille to win the Champions League for a French team.
"I don't know what it is with him but it is not luck anymore. He is working well and hard, he has all the tools to make the team happy and perform."
A run of just one defeat in their past 10 matches certainly suggests France are improving, and the current team have one last chance to stake a spot in the starting XI against a Jamaica side who are 64 places below them in the FIFA world rankings.
But Schafer's men have proved stern opposition in recently friendly encounters, and put in spirited displays in the 2-1 and 1-0 losses to Serbia and Switzerland respectively, before drawing 2-2 with Egypt in their latest outing.
With Caribbean Cup and Copa America campaigns on the horizon, Jamaica - who have only once qualified for the World Cup in 1998 - will no doubt relish the opportunity to test themselves against seemingly superior competition.


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Young Adult Services
Branches of the St. Charles City-County Library District shall have an area devoted to Young Adults (YA) – teens approximately between the ages of 13 and 18. This area is designed to provide a bridge between the Children's area and the Adult area. Materials in this area will include, but not limited to popular and award-winning books, audios, magazines and graphic novels. All items in this collection are marked with "YA". The materials in the Young Adult area have more mature content than the material in the Children's area.
Parents and/or legal guardians are responsible for the use of the YA collection by their own minor children.
Through internal and external training the District will develop staff familiar with YA materials to assist teens and parents as they search the YA collection. The Library District will offer programs designed especially for teens to encourage use of library resources. Programs and activities will be designed by staff to be age appropriate, to appeal to teens, and to explore the diverse resources available to them in the library.
Approved 12/11/2006


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The First ReviewFebruary 24, 2005
Digital Web is running a big triple-issue today, with a book review and author interviews.
Yes, I will try to keep these at a minimum since I'm well aware it's tedious to read someone else's excitement about their new pet project… but it's the first review and there are some things to respond to, so hopefully you can afford a little slack just this once.
As well as interviews with both Molly and myself, Digital Web published our first impartial book review, and whoo-hoo, they like it!
Some things that jumped out at me from the review that might stand for a bit of extra author's interpretation:
The book is all about the designs on the CSS Zen Garden — but not just about how different designers faced the Zen Garden challenge. It also uses the designs to take readers on a tour of everything they need to know about using CSS on a Web site. Because the HTML file stays the same, it's easy to really zero in on the CSS and how it's used.
Well, not quite everything you need to know about using CSS. No bones about it, this is an intermediate to advanced book, and we've taken away some of the basic lessons (there is not a single box model illustration to be found, for example) in order to skip to advanced design and integration techniques. It's about using CSS for design, not learning CSS.
I often get contacted for 'CSS design work', from which I begin a lengthy process of explaining that yes, I know CSS syntax, but CSS isn't really the point of it; the design is more important. Perhaps I'm just funny about making the distinction and it doesn't really matter, but I suppose I just suspect the 'CSS = design' mindset leads down the road to expendable, interchangeable templates that don't properly solve design problems for the client in question.
Anyway, getting back on track:
The format was easy to follow, with the information divided up into nice little bits, each so easy to digest that when I reached the end of a section, I had to stop for a moment to realize how much I'd actually covered.
Aha, it worked! The format is something like this: each design gets 6 pages. The intro page is a full screenshot and an introduction blurb, so it's a little content-light. The other 5 pages form the bulk of the actual 'information'.
It's a little deceptive because flipping through each design feels like only the briefest of explanations, until you dig in and actually start reading. Those 5 pages translate to about 6 or 7 full pages in Word, which (in most cases) were condensed down from 7 or 8 in the original draft, sometimes more. So we were forced to optimize our wording, cut the extraneous bits, and condense as much as we could. There's a lot in that small space.
The tips in the margins were excellent. Make sure you take the time to read them.
Shh, secret tip: when you have to cut a bunch of information you don't really want to cut, try moving it to the margins. (Many tips are extensions of the text in the main body.)
I would have liked the number associated with the design on csszengarden.com on each page, down in the footer maybe. It was only listed once at the beginning of the chapter.
Interestingly, in my original interior design draft there was more of a focus on the design number. I don't think I went quite as far as she's suggesting, but it did concentrate on the number more than the final design New Riders put together for us. Incidentally, there were no individual design URLs originally, there was simply a reference to the site at the beginning of the book, and that was it. Luckily I caught that and forced the change through late last year (much to the chagrin of the production team, and I don't blame them, but it had to be done).
Sometimes I felt like a subject was just touched on, but that has more to do with the breadth of topic here (everything design- and CSS-related) than a shortcoming of the book and the authors provide lots of links and resources for more reading.
Valid point, to be sure. It was a tricky balancing act, fitting everything into the format we chose and deciding where it all went. Deciding what to cut was never easy, and there were certainly areas I wish we could have explored a lot more.
Although the topic is broad, there's a lot of detailed info here. I picked up several CSS tidbits that helped me immediately (like how to use relative positioning with absolute positioning).
I think Molly and I wrote about this particular topic at least twice each before edits. There are about 3 explanations left in the end of varying (and complementary) depth, so it looks as if at least one of them will stick.
Seriously, I don't recommend reading it from beginning to end in one sitting.
Neither do I. I'm a big fan of books that are broken into little bite-sized chunks. I absolutely love collections of short stories, for example. So that's what we've tried to do; each design is meant to be a self-contained 'short story', allowing you to read them in any order you wish.
I do recommend reading it at the computer with your Web browser open and pointed to csszengarden.com. I used three tabs while I was reading it. One pointed to the design, one to the CSS for the design and a third to examine different graphics called out in the CSS.
Great way of doing it! Some of the topics are more conducive to viewing the source than others; many will read well without a computer at hand. But inevitably, to really dig in, you'll want to play with the CSS itself.
Thanks Karen, thanks Digital Web.


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Top Gun
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Dangerously Close
Kid Cannabis
In the Blood
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Middle of Nowhere
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The Nurse
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If you have or know a solar project, please submit it to us for consideration as a featured project using Submit an Item. http://www.solaripedia.com/302/submit-an-item.html
The Earth Centre, Doncaster was intended to establish a world centre for sustainable development promoting the best environmental and sustainable practices. It opened in 1999 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, but closed its doors after going bankrupt in 2004 – because it became economically unsustainable. Built on the 400-acre site of a former colliery - the last coal pit in Conisbrough in Yorkshire, England, UK – it reclaimed 300 acres of coal field, bounded by a significant limestone escarpment and the confluence of two rivers. Its entrance canopy, linking two buildings, supports a 1,000 sqm array of photovoltaic cells, which provided around a fifth of the power for the buildings' electrical requirements. Known as Solar Point, it covers a triangular plaza of riven York stone from a nearby quarry. This timber space-frame structure demonstrates an innovative use of a sustainable building material, and its elaborate geometry stands in dynamic contrast with the simplicity of the adjacent building forms. One of the two buildings, the Planet Earth gallery, is partly buried underground, beneath a grass meadow roof and behind a rampart wall of stone and concrete. The other structure, the Entrance Building, is a lightweight timber and glass pavilion. The entrance of the Earth Centre is outside Conisbrough railway station, on the south side of the River Don, and it was designed to promote public transportation as it is only a two-hour trip from London, and admission to the Centre was cheaper with a railway ticket. Unfortunately, the Centre consistently failed to reach its expected visitor numbers. It is now used as an events site, but much of it has fallen into disrepair with overgrown vegetation. You may have seen it on television as the site of a BBC remake of the Survivors TV show in 2009. UPDATE December 2011: The 50-acre site near Doncaster is being transformed into the Kingswood Dearne Valley Centre - a flagship educational centre bringing visitors to the area from throughout the country. The Kingswood Dearne Valley Centre will use wind and solar power, waste water harvesting, biodiversity and recycling. The site was purchased by Kingswood Learning, a provider of nine educational centres in the UK.
Earth Centre in Doncaster
2005 Article
Until the 1850's, the Don Valley was idyllic, little touched by industrialisation.
In 1819 Sir Walter Scott visited Conisbrough Castle and described for posterity that part of the valley which now cradles Earth Centre. "There are few more beautiful or striking scenes in England than are presented by the vicinity of this ancient Saxon fortress. The soft and gentle River Don sweeps through an amphitheatre in which cultivation is richly blended with vegetation."
Within 50 years, the Industrial Revolution destroyed this rural idyll.
Denaby Main coal pit was opened in 1868 followed by Cadeby Colliery in 1893.
For the next 100 years, the mines provided coal for the country and a livelihood for the people of Conisbrough & Denaby Main. But the land and the people were to suffer as a consequence.
Both coal and livelihood were taken away in 1968 and 1986 when the pits closed, and what was left behind was a legacy of despair and high (33 percent) unemployment among the local population of Conisbrough, Denaby and Mexborough.
There were also two huge spoil heaps where fields and an ancient fish farm had been.
In 1990 a change took place when Jonathan Smales decided that the derelict 400 acre site left behind by the pits was ideal for an Earth Centre. Jonathan was working on an idea for a museum for the millennium conceived by John Letts, Life President of the Museum of the Year Award. A suitable site had not been found elsewhere in the country, and so South Yorkshire was chosen.
"Following Earth Centre progress was a roller coaster ride of false starts, wild hopes and dashed plans."
In 1995 the Millennium Commission made an award to Earth Centre, which became one of its Landmark Millennium projects. From 1996 work progressed on the remediation of the land and the design and construction of the many buildings and exhibitions. Phase 1 was only just completed in time for the gala opening, after several changes of layout, design details and false starts.
Phase 1
When Earth Centre opened, it consisted of the Planet Earth Galleries, (1, 2 and 3),Cafe and boardroom, Nature Works Building, Living Machine plus the offices housed in an old portacabin. After Phase 1 had been opened for 1 year, the Earth Centre was closed due to poor visitor numbers, and work began on Phase 2.
The idea was that if not enough people visited in its opening year, spend a lot more money on the development. Thus it was that the Welcome building, housing the shop, and the Conference Centre were built. To cater for residential school visits, a block was built which followed the lines of a Little Chef Travel Lodge. There was also an activity and Outdoor pursuits area.
Phase 2
Thus it was that Earth Centre re-opened in May 2001.
Suzy-Brain England was brought in to turn the venture around and make the visitor attraction viable. More attractions were built as money from grants and other sources became available. A pirate ship was built, a crazy golf course and indoor 'Amazon Adventure' play area.
Education visits continued and more customers were initially attracted to the improved facilities. However, by 2003 it was obvious that the target visitor numbers were not being met, and by 2004, as increasing numbers of staff were leaving, it was evident that the centre was unviable. In September 2004 the attraction closed to the public, and only pre-booked school parties were allowed. By the end of October, the Earth Centre, monument to Sustainability, was un-sustainable and was put in the hands of administrators.
Following article from Building for a Future
PVs plus Timber: The Earth Centre's Solar Canopy
If you happened to be travelling south-west of Doncaster the evening of October 12th last year, and looked up, you might well have seen a sky filled with fireworks. It may not have been, but most probably was, for the launch of the Solar Canopy, the latest of the buildings to be officially unveiled by Doncaster's, and indeed much of the north-east's, celebrated and indeed somewhat controversial sustainability and environment education project, the Earth Centre.
Amidst the beaming faces of proud council officials and other dignitaries, the Canopy took its place centre-stage in the Earth Centre's assortment of buildings. In so doing it brings to a close the long drawn-out journey in the development of the centre's buildings, which have moved from wild blue-sky eco-dreamings, to the more 'down-to-earth' projects which made it through.
The Solar Canopy is the exception. It is the most visually exciting structure on the site, immediately demanding onlookers' attention as soon as it is seen. By contrast, the entrance feels understated. You first pass the Welcome centre, the first of Bill Dunster's two buildings, with its clamplike glulam timber beams, mounted at the edge of the sharp drop to the river Don. From there you cross onto the old concrete mining bridge, where the Earth Centre's complex of mainsite buildings edge into view. To the right is Dunster's conference office, and Feilden Clegg's Gallery earthbuildings. To the left, Feilden Clegg restaurant facilities – and there, spanning the two, like a prehistoric dinosaur bird temporarily resting from its Jurassic flight, the solar canopy.
Once there, you turn round and look west. In front is the Dunster afterthought, the conference centre, with two conning towers bedecked with the practice's by now trade-mark windcowls. Inside, NHS heaters have been reused and painted a sprightly orange, whilst old telegraph poles hold up the central body of the building. Closer to, still on the left, is the gallery, burrowing into the side of the rising limestone hillground. From a certain angle, and in isolation, its limestone face could be mistaken for a vertical wall section of a motorway bridge embankment, but conjoined with the solar canopy it adds to the sense of throughway and 'centres' the concourse. On the canopy's opposite side is the two-tier restaurant, with its light and airy wooden chair and table area. Taken in all together these feel somewhat like a slightly random matching of four disparate building styles, supplemented in the middle distance by Conisborough castle.
Up close, it takes on shades of an elaborate and complicated piece of organic meccano covering the central concourse, or in Southern Europeanese, the Plaza. To the restaurant side of the canopy are five supporting concrete pillars. On the Planet Earth galleries' side, two wooden pillar structures issue out and up from the ground rest, multiplying in number and reaching upwards into a crows' nest gantry of dark-brown larch rods, or members, joined by steel nodes. There is an elegant sculptural quality about the form, using six of these members to cross from side to side. At its peak rests a space frame, angled at a mere 5 degrees, and on that, 250 or so photo-voltaic cells. It feels singularly small when an immediate peer, the recent Hannover Expo mega-canopy is recalled, or the massive scale of Nordic glulam projects, but in its context, the timber structure is undeniably impressive. The pencil-thin larch members supporting the space frame with its load of photovoltaics, showcases a compelling if novel environmental synergy, combining the living quality wood brings with it, and the renewable hopes symbolised by the latest hi-tech generation of cutting edge photovoltaics.
If the solar canopy looks like a prehistoric beast laden with a man-made load from afar, closer to the add-on above ground root-and-branch analogy takes hold, even if Feilden Clegg abbreviated it to an 'abstracted tree' canopy. It is actually trapezoidal in form, a distorted or irregular space frame. It's irregularity adds to its beauty, a regular space frame would have been significantly less interesting, if more economic. The concept's inspiration, according to Neil Thomas of the structural engineers, Brighton-based Atelier One, owes much to an ex-colleague, Jane Wernick, when both were at Buro Happold. Wernick had proposed a timber space frame canopy, which she had distorted, for a project in Atlanta USA. This set Thomas thinking and the canopy, after much testing, was the result.
But this was already after considerable nursing. Peter Clegg, one of the earliest members of the original team who worked on the first Earth Centre masterplan, also played a central part in his practice's involvement in the building, working on the project for what is now near-on a decade. Initially Feilden Clegg envisaged the canopy as the centre piece of a grand entrance to the centre. Stage one of the plans had proposed off-site car parking, with an eco-transit system bringing passengers from the car park to this entrance, with the canopy envisaged as covering for the ticketing facilities, and a gift shop. Its use as a solar energy support system was out of the picture. Not only this, but the space frame skeleton was to have been in glass. Planning proceeded almost to ticket stalls being installed when, in 1997, the Lottery Commission revised the funding conditions. Originally a phased project with £50 million committed for both phases 1 and 2, with the solar canopy always pencilled in for phase 2, suddenly, phase 2 had dropped out of the equation.
At the same time, the centre had registered another project, a two stage Thermie bid for PV usage and monitoring, but was proposing to use these for different buildings. This was part of the original aim, that the centre be wholly self-sufficient energywise. With the Lottery regulations changed, and the buildings now in the planning application queue, a decision was made to reposition the PV bid onto the space frame, so inaugurating the solar canopy concept. Linking the two projects under one roof, as it were, worked well, after certain technical problems were resolved, (for instance the covering of the roof which avoided overshadowing; or electrical systems problems, where a further detailing for housing the wiring in the aluminium space frame skeleton was needed). Thus the space frame became a showcase for PV and the potential uses and affects the specific roof space could have in terms of renewable energy creation.
Initially, there was considerable resistance to the idea of using timber for the space frame, let alone a distorted trapezoidal space-frame. Various contractors, including Bovis, argued that it was neither realistic, nor economic, and exerted considerable pressure for a steel frame. Feilden Clegg, with sympathetic nods from the Earth Centre management withstood this, and eventually the timber version was approved, and the sustainability-friendly Taylor Woodrow replaced Bovis. In winning this argument, Feilden Clegg, and Atelier One have proved a point – that the costs of the structure were only marginally above the probable costs of a steel frame. Coming in at £225 000, this is, as Atelier One's Thomas states – cheap. This was for the canopy itself. Small additional work such as the rainwater systems, had not been accounted for in the budget, and pushed the figure slightly upward. Overall the whole structure, PVs and all, amounted to £1.2 million.
Atelier One arrived at the distorted space frame by imagining the frame as an upside-down membrane surface, with a doubly curved surface to prevent buckling. This is a combination of using membrane structure technique with compression shell surfaces. Such mixing and matching is the fruit of the enabling facilitation of computers. Where Gaudi toiled many hours over his membrane structures, the compressed hanging arches, and Frei Otto spent an equal amount of endless days and nights on his Mannheim building and other lightweight structures, these twentieth-century experiments in pure tension surfaces have taken a quantum leap with the coming of computerisation, and their capacity to model, analyse and simulate before the building begins.
For Atelier One, the Solar Canopy was also a smooth piece of computational analysis, although there were problems where wood shrinkage affected the movement of the canopy, which hadn't been anticipated. Wood shrinkage of between one and two mm, dragged the bolting system between the larch membranes and the galvanised steel nodes, which in turn meant movement across the canopy, before it came, safely, to rest. It remains an impressive feat, each of the timber membranes have unique measurements, flying out every whichway and with no repeats, in turn making production processes that much more complicated.
For Feilden Clegg the design process has been seen as fairly straightforward, although repeated testing was required before a part of the building could proceed further. A point in hand is the roundwood use of pins and straps, although during this testing it became clear the most economical system was simple bolt-through – flitch-bolting – application. This achieved stronger tolerance, and was easier to tighten. The actual construction eventually happened in 2000.
Feilden Clegg had already looked at home-grown woodland, specifically pine and sweet-chestnut, with the idea of reducing the transport energy costs.
The carpentry company helped guide Feilden Clegg towards larch, after their initial choice of spruce was rejected, for reasons of durability and longevity.
The structure is comprised of 3.5 tonnes of regular roundwood, or 47.3 cubic metres, in all, 800 timbers of between 125mm to 250mm in diameter needed to make 221 nodes. The wood was grown in Scotland and cut and prepared by Carpenter Oak & Woodland Co. Ltd at their yard at Kirriemuir, near Dundee, before being transported down, home-grown, and as, many a green architect would argue, from a relatively close supply source. If not in genuinely close proximity to the Earth Centre, then say within Bioregion's 35 mile circumference limit. Without roundwood's regularity of form, the raw logs were first sent to a mill in Scotland to be 'regularised', made perfectly round and without taper from end to end, avoiding the lumpier detailing which comes with natural tree poles where one end is much bulkier than the other. The fabrication of each nodal member was done on jigs – because of the very high accuracy needed for the canopy's triangulation to work. A high degree of three dimensional tolerance was required for all the members to measure up together – 20mm over entire structure – and since the wood still has its living individuality; its knots and curves, very accurate drilling was needed. A tolerance of 2 mm over individual connections was aimed at.
To this end, two special 'crazy' machines were built – the jigs - in effect a large eye-beam, to process the poles to be dropped in and worked level on a line, and as each piece of timber was completely individual, allowed the necessary customised carpentry to be carried out, from endcutting to slotting. High-grade specialist German power equipment and portable drills (from Maffel, at a cool£10 000), ensured cutting and drilling to the finely honed accuracy.
The logistics were tricky, since all the pieces needed tracking for the whole structure to work. This achieved, it provided the company, as part of a diverse team, with coming up with innovative solutions, making for a rewarding experience. Carpenter Oak & Woodland have since used this project to put together a specialist team of carpenters for hi-tech projects, matching the carpenters' interests, and in an attempt to avoid dumbing down the craft.
That said, once it came to the assembling, some of the fascination diminished. The nodes were placed into position whilst suspended in mid-air, with the carpenters hanging from ropes in mid-air. For master carpenters, used to working on the fine detailing of timber-frame buildings, this was reportedly mundane and tedious work.
The architects had envisaged the Solar Canopy going up on five trusses. The carpenters came up with a solution which involved three much larger sections resting on a scaffold cradle, which were then lifted by two large cranes. Such rationalising of solutions cut this section of the work schedule by half, to one month, whilst the total erection took six weeks. This intricate piece of work involved two large sections, each covering a third of the groundspace, and each being raised one by one.
The concrete supports went in first, in a sea of scaffolding, although the wooden supports had already been raised. The flanges were cut out of the steel, using a similar quality control system, which Carpenter Oak and Woodland used to track each piece of timber.
It was early on in this part of the construction that the project was forced to a halt as the steel nodes were found to be faulty.
Taylor Woodrow had subcontracted the steel connector nodes, and apparently reputable and certificated steel was ordered from Eastern Europe. Halfway through erecting the Canopy, defects in the steel were noticed. People went back to the paperwork and it was established the certificate was a forgery, bringing on the crushing halt.
Whilst liability was sorted out, half the Canopy stood in limbo in the air, incomplete, whilst the other half remained sitting on the ground.
As to the parallel, but separate, space-frame Canopy, the aluminium photovoltaic framework was developed in conjunction with partners, Belgian PV specialists, Ecofys; BP Solar; and Pilkington Solar International, for the fixing of the PV modules. Research was conducted on the design of the modules, the original scheme was to use ac modules (requiring different installation methods to the normal dc modules), but this proved too complex, needing a large integrated building solution.
The AC modules were by and large dropped, although 22 were retained and adapted to work alongside the conventional DC modules, albeit with different inverters, for control trials. As a result, the end canopy was slightly smaller in design. The aluminium was put in place by specialist photovoltaic installers, Active Cladding Systems, from Romsey, Hants. The near horizontal array of panels, are spaced 4mm apart from each other, displaying the latest stage in the emerging art and technology of Bioclimatics. The roof has a 5 percent pitch leaning towards its south facing aspect. As mentioned, it is part of a European Thermie project trying to figure out the effectiveness of solar panelling at such a slight vertical pitch, and at the latitude of 52 degrees.
The research is seeking answers to the question this pitch proposes, that is, what level of solar energy generation can be derived at this latitude, when usually optimal solar gain is at 45 degrees? It depends of course on the path of the sun, and its given height in the sky, high at midsummer and winter, shallower in spring and autumn. The best solution would be some kind of sun tracking, to maximise solar gain, but this is not feasible.
Overall the effect is to reinforce the tree and forest symbolism.
To the extent that Peter Clegg has written that the spacing of the PV cells will shower a dappled light onto the concourse providing "welcome shading in midsummer…the semi-transparency, combined with the complex geometry of the timber structure, creating an abstract representation of a living forest: processed timber forms the trunks and branches of the "trees" with photovoltaic cells capturing and transforming sunlight as do the leaves of a tree."2
The estimates are that between 70 and 80 000 kilowatts, at a 107kW peak, can be generated from the solar array per year. This will provide 20-30% of electricity for the conference centre, galleries and restaurant. Ecofys are monitoring the solar input, with computers tallying a spectrum of information – including the amounts being generated from the different sorts of array, the few AC modules alongside the main DCs.
The solar canopy is a testbed, first to provide a shelter, and second, as a structure to support photovoltaics. On both of these it demonstrates to a regional and indeed national audience what can be done. Although there are a very few similar Bioclimatic projects – (two flats in Rotterdam at 7 degrees have been equipped with 25-35 roof panels, and some smallish road canopies which cars drive under) – there is no canopy structure in Europe which compares with the Earth Centre's. Even if PVs are becoming part of a standardised range of products on the continent, with their application lagging in Britain, this integration of a range of environmental synergies, lightweight timber and canopy design, and the exploration of PV Bioclimatics, is a first.
Although there are no further projects which have issued from the Earth Centre's template this far, the project appears to have demonstrated that space frames topped with PVs, are a prospective realistic option. There are any number of contexts they might be applied to. Clegg thinks that possibly more orthoganally conventional4 canopy structures could provide the basis for PV installations – especially if PVs become cost-effective – without the PVs needing to be integrated into the building skin. He goes on to envisage their application across a variety of contexts; sports stadia, transport interchanges, malls, and sheltered streets, both against rain, and in hot climates in moderating the sun's heat, and providing a mediated microclimate.
The last example is a technological use so far untried but which, Clegg believes, could bear fruitful results in terms of future urban design.3 The Earth Centre Canopy is unambiguously a showcase, and novel building type, but in pursuing the environmental synergy of PVs plus timber it has stirred the imagination of architects, if not a conservative construction industry.
So far there's been considerable interest in the timber space frame, from British, continental, and particularly though surprisingly, the U.S.
The Canopy is turning into a magnetic draw for British students far and near. Historically there are roundwood structures in Germany, which use adhesive strapping systems. This is a lower-tech approach deriving from the farm building tradition. It also updates the radical lightweight structures developed on the continent through the seventies, even if these were mostly gridshells and tents.
The tradition harks back to the ground-breaking work of Frei Otto, and a host of other engineers, mainly German, some of whom helped build Buro Happold into the engineering powerhouse it is, others connected to Otto's Stuttgart Institute of Lightweight Structures. There is also the clear nod to Buckminster Fuller, and other contemporary engineers such as the Bavarian massive structures proponent, Julius Netterer. For Atelier One's Neil Thomas it is a design first, stating he knows of no other structure in Europe like it. Thomas is confident that further structures like the Solar Canopy are inevitable if people are exposed to it, and given the cost, which at £225 000 or £140 a sq metre, "is nothing". Feilden Clegg's Mike Keys is more circumspect, stating that the production and processes pushed a few boundaries, but that it wasn't doing anything which hasn't been done before.
He also wasn't sure whether timber could make the translation into mainstream building practice, given British culture which generally doesn't connect so immediately to the language of wood, in contrast to its more common cultural currency throughout Northern Europe; Germany and the Nordic countries.
And what of the Solar Canopy's value to the Earth Centre's surrounding community?
Situated on the grounds of Deneby Maine colliery, casualty to the mid-eighties mine wars, with Doncaster, a city of 200 000 population, ten minutes train journey up the line. The Earth Centre is explicit as an attempt to introduce new economic options to the immediate area, as well as bring home the environmental message that times have changed, and relying on heavy manufacturing industries is a thing of the past. At its worst during the last twenty years, unemployment reached 25 percent in the immediate area.
Those planning for revitalising the industrial sector of the region saw the opportunity and jumped at the offer of the Earth Centre project. Today, industry has gone pretty much – Doncaster was a railway centre, and a nexus for heavy ship rope manufacture. Only a few miles out though, beyond the parish boundaries of the three ex-mining villages – Deneby Maine, Conisborough, and Mexborough, encircling the Earth Centre's site, remains a rural landscape.
The press officer reminds me that Doncaster too was a market town. Over the hills and ridges lie fields being worked. It may be only wishful thinking, but it would be nice to envision the transferability of some, if not all, of the technological wizardry found at the centre, as the base for new local post-industrial enterprises; a local seeding of the knowledge-base which has for the most part been imported from the south.
This might include the development of Solar Canopy space-frame construction. It could begin with Doncaster station, its dishevelled husk in need of a makeover. With funding apparently streaming into the railway infrastructure, how long before the launch of photo-voltaic space-frames at stations, be it Doncaster or elsewhere? With or without the fireworks.
Earth Centre Project Description (98 kb)
Earth Centre Doncaster Historical Article 2010 (688 kb)
Earth Centre Site Fact Sheet (285 kb)


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Thanks, Eira Tansey for this guest post about THATCamp:
One of the perks of living in New Orleans (besides, of course, all the outlets for laissez les bons temps rouler) is the number of conferences coming through town. This brings many opportunities for attending workshops, sessions, and events from outside of the archivist-niche that I normally wouldn't have the travel funds to access. When the American Historical Association came into town, with a THATCamp during the first day of the conference, I was excited to attend an event that I'd been intrigued by for a long time.
For those who don't know, THATCamp exists somewhere between a workshop, meetup, roundtable and conference. It is often described as an "unconference." THAT stands for "The Humanities and Technology." Going to THATCamp is different than the typical workshop or conference experience, because the schedule is created that day (brief proposals are submitted by participants ahead of time through the specific THATCamp website, e.g. AHA's THATCamp site). To determine the schedule, each proposer gives brief remarks to the assembled group about their proposal. Following all the proposals, a show of hands is taken to determine interest in scheduling proposals.THATCamp is explicitly non-hierarchical – no one is accorded more or less respect or floor-time based on their professional status.
As with any meeting with multiple sessions, inevitably there are slots with overlapping interesting sessions. THATCamp organizers encourage people to move between sessions if one isn't holding their attention, and reminded the proposers not to take such actions personally. Moving between sessions has always been my MO at traditional conferences, but it was a relief to hear it so openly embraced in this setting.
The first slot of the day included a discussion on the recently released Ithaka report. Kate has discussed this report before, and I was curious to see what historians had to say about it, given the response generated within the librarian/archivist communities. The turnout for this session was small, but I'd estimate the makeup of the attendees split in half, between librarians/archivists, and historians. As a result, a lot of the discussion centered around library and archival practices, without as much insight into how historians reacted to the report. One of the initial criticisms that came up was the unrealistic expectation that libraries could manage to have more librarians specializing in particular subfields (p. 43). Besides the obvious issue of funding, are librarians and archivists truly obligated to be experts in every possible subfield?
One of the historians noted her frustration with the lack of a centralized location for finding archival sources. The librarians and archivists in the group asked if she had heard of or used ArchiveGrid, and this was new to her. Of course, ArchiveGrid is a fantastic resource but it is only as good as a) archives that can make finding aids available online and b) archives that contribute those finding aids to ArchiveGrid.
A point I brought up was what the problematic phrase "research archivist" (p. 42), based on recommendation #4 to archives:
Historians deeply value the expertise of the research archivist, and archives should ensure that they are devoting adequate resources to engaging actively as interpreters of the collection and important connectors within their subfield. Archivists can play a patron services role in working with historians, and they should be afforded the time and other resources needed to serve researchers in this role. Archives are uniquely positioned to facilitate connections within the community of researchers who use their materials, and should make efforts to support engagement between researchers.
The inevitable question of "When will we have the all-digital archive" came up. In retrospect I have to believe that this wasn't a serious question, but some of the librarians/archivists in the room pointed out that even if archives were funded at the levels that could even make this conceivable, the massive IP/copyright barriers to "digitizing everything" make it unlikely any time soon.
The proposer of the session raised a point which I think deserves significantly more exploration than we could do justice to in this session: At what point are archivists and librarians collaborators with historians, and at what point are they supporters? In what ways are archivists accorded similar respect and recognition as scholars, and in what ways are they viewed as something akin to helpmates? A few related turns in the discussion included someone asking (paraphrasing) "Where is the incentive for faculty to gain skills that enable them to work more productively with archivists and librarians?" This probably relates back to similar problems within digital humanities (e.g., how can digital humanists use DH projects as evidence for tenure/promotion). Another question was raised regarding whether the Ithaka report would help librarians and archivists get leverage for activities they're already doing. The librarians and archivists present noted that the distinction that "archivists give you the originals, librarians give you secondary sources" was very artificial.
This was an interesting exploratory discussion, but I have to imagine that the historians who showed up were already interested in the relationships between librarians, archivists and historians. What about the historians who don't care about those relationships or linkages? (And by extension, how much should that concern archivists?)
I should note that a staff member from (if I recall correctly) the National Endowment for the Humanities was present at this session – NEH helped fund this particular Ithaka report, however more reports will be forthcoming on the changing research practices of other scholars. (I don't believe the NEH is funding the subsequent reports, but I could be wrong). There was also a session during AHA itself about the report. Unfortunately I was unable to attend that session, but there was a recap and remarks from one of the panel's speakers. The points raised in these recaps probably deserve their own more developed responses (e.g., if archivists are "decreasingly well positioned to facilitate access to archival materials", my own gut reaction is that's due to our funding sources remaining absurdly reduced or stagnant, not because the profession does not want to meet new challenges).
The other sessions I attended during THATCamp including envisioning the teaching spaces of the future, much of which covered the idea that learning is no longer closely aligned with the classroom as setting (clearly, the experience of libraries retooling their spaces as learning commons, workshops, and other active environments has a lot to offer to this discussion), a session on collaborative mapping tools, and a session on programming for historians (in which one of the participants showed off a script he made to identify the box and folder numbers of images he took during archival research).
Attending THATCamp AHA was a great experience – I think it's critically important for the voices of archivists to be present at conferences such as AHA. Likewise, I think THATCamp is insightful for archivists, since so many digital humanities projects incorporate archival materials. THATCamp is a welcoming atmosphere – regardless of your experience level. I encourage all archivists and librarians to attend a THATCamp. Given how widespread it's become, there's probably one coming near you.
**And it probably goes without saying, but the demarcation between "front of house" and "back of house" archivists often and necessarily overlaps. I have a job which ostensibly is that of a primary processing position, but I serve on the reference desk several hours a week, as do all my colleagues. We also have a public services librarian. So, in many archives, often people perform both duties and the line between the two sets of skills can be fuzzy. This points back to previous points Kate has made that historians would benefit from knowing more about the workflows, hierarchies, and institutional structures of archives-land.


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