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How to Use Dry Shampoo: Best Dry Shampoos To Try
What do you think about the magic item that is dry shampoo? I'm a massive fan, and I want to get you in on the obsession as well. I'll give you all the dry shampoo secrets: how to use dry shampoo to stretch out how often you have to wash your hair, as well as a few other dry shampoo hacks you may not have thought about before. I've also read all of the reviews to bring you a comprehensive list of all of the best dry shampoos on the market!
I discovered by accident (or, rather, through sheer laziness) that the longer I go in between hair washings, the better my hair will look once I do wash it. If I can handle going three days without washing, my hair ends up looking fuller, bouncier, softer, and definitely healthier.
Unfortunately, by the 3rd day it starts looking greasy and flat, so I break down and wash it, and miss out on the wonderful health benefits of not over washing. Nowadays, thanks to dry shampoo, I don't have to wash on the third day anymore, and my hair is looking healthier than ever.
What Is Dry Shampoo, Exactly?
Dry shampoo is a powdery substance that can be applied either as a spray, or as a powder, to absorb excess oils from the hair and scalp, leaving the hair looking cleaner, more voluminous, and a little more textured. Most dry shampoo formulas include butane, propane, alcohol, or aluminum. More natural formulas feature ingredients like rice or corn starch, and kaolin clay.
How to Apply Dry Shampoo: The Classic Method
This is the classic method of using spray dry shampoo, for when your hair is starting to look greasy, but you don't want to hop in the shower quite yet. Start with dry, unwashed hair.
Step 1: Hold the nozzle about 6 inches away from the face. Any closer, and you risk using too much product. Any further away, and you won't be applying enough.
Step 2: Start spraying along the part of your hair, front to back. Remember, you are spraying the roots, never the ends of the hair.
Step 3: Spray along the hairline, shielding your eyes from the spray.
Step 4: For more excessive oiliness, part your hair into sections, and spray along the roots.
Step 5: Allow the product to sit in your hair for a minute or two, at least. Some people wait as long as 10 minutes to allow all the oil to be fully absorbed.
Step 6: Here, there are some disagreements. Some experts recommend massaging the dry shampoo into the ends of the hair using the fingers, while others state that touching the hair with the hands at all will add oil to the hair and totally defeat the purpose of the whole exercise. Those latter experts recommend brushing the dry shampoo from the roots to the ends with a brush.
My personal preference is somewhere in the middle: I like to first brush my hair from roots to ends, and then with my fingers to fluff the whole thing up a bit and in the process get rid of excess dry shampoo.
Step 7: If you feel like your hair is still looking a little greasy, you can add a bit more dry shampoo where it seems necessary.
Step 8: The oils are now gone! Style your hair as you wish.
Bonus Dry Shampoo Hacks
• Dry shampoo is an excellent texturizer, so you can use it when you want to add a piecey yet volumized look to your hair.
• If you've applied too much dry shampoo, and your roots are looking too powdery, taking a blow dryer to your hair should get rid of the excess product.
• If you've seriously over applied dry shampoo, and no amount of brushing or blow drying is getting rid of the excess, using just a touch of your favorite hair oil or serum where you have over applied should do the trick.
• You can also use dry shampoo to thicken up your hair, especially if it's refusing to hold a curl or if your bobby pins keep slipping out.
• For all you gorgeous banged ladies, spray just a bit of dry shampoo under the bangs, to give them a bit more volume, and prevent them from getting matted down on hot and sweaty days.
• It is possible to overdo it with dry shampoo, and over-mattifying your scalp. Try not to apply dry shampoo every day.
• Experiment with when you use the dry shampoo. Some experts recommend applying the dry shampoo as a preventative measure, to freshly washed and dried hair, both to extend the efficacy of the wash, and to volumize and texturize the hair.
• If you haven't gone with the balayage trend, and your roots are starting to show in an unflattering way, an appropriately colored dry shampoo can double as a temporary hair color to conceal all kinds of laziness.
• If you prefer going the natural route, you can use simple corn or rice starch as a dry shampoo. If your hair is on the darker side, you can add cocoa powder to avoid a powdery look. Just be careful, some people find the starch breaks them out.
• A few other DIY ingredients include kaolin clay, arrowroot powder, talcum powder, and rice flower. Experiment with different recipes, to make the ultimate customized dry shampoo!
The Very Best Dry Shampoos You Ought To Try!
1. Batiste Dry Shampoo
This product is the classic, with thousands of glowing reviews, a trusted formula, and affordable price. This is one of the best dry shampoos, because it is guaranteed to soak up oils and give your hair extra volume, without taking a toll on your wallet.
Batiste offers 9 different dry shampoos, each one with its own fragrance, so you are sure to find one that will please you. It's available at Ulta for $7.99.
2. Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk Natural Tint
While the original Klorane Dry Shampoo is definitely a winner, their Natural Tint version stands out as one of the best dry shampoos for those with dark hair. You get the clean, voluminous hair, and never have to worry about powdery looking roots.
It's available at Sephora.
3. KMS California Hairplay Makeover Spray
This dry shampoo has a cult following, and for a good reason! It works beautifully, the fragrance is barely detectable, and its ingredients are extremely gentle (no butane in sight!). Additionally, it seems to work well for all hair colors! It's available at Ulta for $6.99.
4. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Dry Shampoo
This dry shampoo spray boasts a few additional benefits, including an ability to eliminate odors, absorb sweat, and overall strengthen the hair. It's great for all hair types and colors, so you really can't go wrong. It's available at Ulta.
5. Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-Aging Dry Shampoo
For anyone who wants to stay away from sprays, this powder based dry shampoo is an excellent choice. The formula is gentler and more natural than your average spray product, and the results are speedy.
We are not so sure about the anti-age claims, but we are sure it works great. A pointed applicator makes sure you can apply this product to targeted areas without any mess. This dry shampoo is best for those with lighter hair, and it's available at Sephora.
6. Drybar 'Detox' Dry Shampoo
This is one of the best dry shampoos to try, when all the others just don't seem to work! It eliminates all of the grease, and works with all hair colors. A light sandalwood and jasmine fragrance is sure to please discerning noses, as well. It's available at Nordstrom for $13.00.
7. Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Two Day Extender
Redken's claim to fame with this dry shampoo is its long-lasting effect. Unlike most of these sprays that should be applied in the morning (and may even need a midday refresher), this dry shampoo can be sprayed unto the hair the night before, and is guaranteed to last for 48 hours. It also has some heat protecting properties, to make it a double-action product. It's available at Ulta.
8. Rahua Voluminous Dry Shampoo
You'll be hard pressed to find a cleaner dry shampoo formula than this one. Formulated with clay, tapioca starch, anise, and vanilla, this powder dry shampoo will gently soothe and mattify the scalp. Only drawbacks to this gorgeous natural formula? The powder applicator can be a little messy if you aren't careful. It's available at Sephora.
9. Osis+ Dust It
Another option for the dry shampoo powder lovers! In addition to mattifying, this must-have item also volumizes the hair like no other product. If you need easy to achieve height and texture, look no further. It's available at Ulta.
10. Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo
This is another classic spray formula, with thousands upon thousands of dedicated fans. Perhaps it is a touch of silica that makes this incredible dry shampoo do the impossible: get rid of the grease, while imparting the most delicate natural shine. It's available at Ulta.
What's your favorite dry shampoo? Do you have any special tips and tricks of your own for it? Comment and let us know!
Photos courtesy of @emmahoareau, @gablopes, Instagram
Don't miss: Using Coconut Milk for Hair Care: Benefits & Recipes


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Here she is!
We started with the ears, using wicker and fabric tape ...
Then the magical interns Fallon Wrede, Ligaia Meyer and Henry Joyce made a head!
and a neck...
Performance interns Adensunset Levy, Zev Spanner, and Camille Cooper and the amazing Amanda Gould played with the bat
We built a tail, using seran wrap, a heat gun, and acid free paper and cloth mache
We started in on the head

subset: commoncrawl


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SignaRoad® Heavy-Duty Portable Roadway System
Introducing SignaRoad® – Signature Systems Group's groundbreaking new matting product designed to create a medium-duty temporary roadway or pedestrian accessway quickly and easily.
This high-quality 100% virgin HDPE composite matting is strong enough to withstand heavy-haul loads and versatile enough to be used in a myriad of diverse applications. From temporary roadways for remote utility repair projects to pedestrian accessways for concerts and music festivals, SignaRoad is ready to provide superior temporary access and ground protection with its advanced design features and easy-to-use connection system.


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- Australian Coins
- Australian Banknotes
- Pre Decimal Banknotes
- Paper Banknotes
- Polymer Banknotes
- NPA Banknote Folders
- Special Serial Numbers
- Michael Leunig
- Australian Collectibles
- Australia Post Philatelics
- Australian Antique Maps
- Cheques
- Past Opportunities
- World
2010 FIFA World Cup - Group D - Gold Coloured Metal Pin
FIFA World Cup 2010 - Australia - Group D - Metal Pin in Gold Coloured
On offer here is a gold background pin for Group D in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In near new condition.
The 4 teams in the group are Australia, Germany, Ghana and Serbia.
The first game to be played in this group was Australia vs Germany on June 13th 2010.
Here is your chance to get this very limited Group Badge.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations. This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa beat Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. This decision left the Oceania Football Confederation as the only confederation yet to host the FIFA World Cup. Italy are the defending champions. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town. The Australia national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos". The team is controlled by Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and also an invitee member of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since 2006. Australia is a four-time Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) champion and has been represented at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. 14th is Australia's highest ever FIFA World Ranking since the rankings were introduced in 1992. Australia topped their group in the 2010 World Cup qualification and became one of the first nations to qualify for the finals tournament without losing a match and only conceding one goal. In the 2006 World Cup Group F included the World Champions Brazil, Croatia, Japan, and Australia. Playing in their first World Cup for 32 years, the Socceroos came from behind to defeat Japan 3–1, and, despite losing 0–2 to Brazil, a 2–2 draw with Croatia was enough to give the Australians a place in the Round of 16 in a remarkable game where two players were sent-off for second bookings and one for a third booking by English referee Graham Poll. Australia became the first ever Oceanian team to reach the knockout stages. The Brazilians won all three contests to qualify first in the group, although their 1-0 win against Croatia was underwhelming, a goal late in the first-half by Kaká securing the win. Croatia and Japan went out of the tournament without a single win.
*All biographical details taken from Wikipedia for educational purposes only.
Metal lapel pin with gold coloured background.


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I had such a wonderful time shooting Jordan & Jason Dement's Wedding on the 29th of June at the beautiful Willow Lake Venue in Hockinson Washington. It was such a joy to work with Jordan and Jason and be a part of capturing this special day.
Cheers to J&J Dement!


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Ok, so I was so focused on ordering bookbinding supplies that I forgot--*drum roll*--PAPER.
But at least I was able to practice stitching today, which is so relaxing and fun.
I bought an economical bookbinding thread off of Amazon, but I don't think I'll get it again. I started with the simple stitch and noticed afterward that it looks twisted up. I worked on avoiding that issue in the other two templates.
So I'll be back. But for now, here are my practice stitches:
So I finally finished my journal!
I painted a watercolor doodle to use for the cover and used the tortoise stitch.
For the back cover, I used a piece of card stock that sort of matched.
I wish the holes came out neater. I'm not sure why they look so rough. Need some practice with the drill, I guess!
I scribbled some color on bristol to use for the inside covers.
I hope to make a gazillion more of these and get much better at it!
I think this class was perfect with easy-to-follow instructions. I am thankful for the 15-second rewind and pause buttons!
Thank you so much for sharing your skills, Olga! I'm looking forward to your future classes.


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I went out to search for a way to add this badge to this Blogger blog. However, I didn't find an easy way to do it without modifying the template, which looked kind of complicated for what it should be a simple task.
So, I got down to it, and created a Google Gadget for this task, which you can find on my idl-gadget-for-blogger repo at GitHub. Now, you can use this badge in Blogger in a few easy steps!
If you want to do add this badge to your Blogger blog, just follow these steps:
- Go to Blogger and select your blog.
- Go to Layout
- Click on "Add a Gadget"
- On the window that appears, click on "Add your own"
- On the URL field, enter `http://mparramont.github.io/idl-gadget-for-blogger/idl.xml` (without the `s)
And you're done! Just go back to your blog and the badge should appear now.
As the IDL says, "Make sure the internet never loses. Ever." :D


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History of the contstruction
Watch the video "The History of Construction"
The joint Poland–Ukraine bid for 2012 European Football Championship hosting was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Irish city of Cardiff on 17 April 2007.
In the bid for Euro 2012 hosting the following cities were determined: Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, and two reserve ones - Kharkiv and Odessa.
On May 13, 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland, the UEFA finally approved Lviv as a host citiy for Euro 2012.
A major benefit for the development of Arena Lviv is the fact that it is situated in the southern part of the city on the border of two most densely populated districts and near the ring road and the international highway M-06 Kyiv-Chop.
The distance between the city center or train station and the stadium is 9 km, from the airport - 8 km. Getting from these key points to the stadium by public transport takes 30-40 minutes, by car - twice as fast.
On November 15, 2008 to the building ground there were delivered machines, mounted 10 tower cranes, done earthwork operations for arrangement of foundation of the Stadium.
On January 20, 2009 the representatives of local authorities laid the capsule into the first foundation of the stadium, thus giving the start of the grand construction process.
The works on foundation lasted from January to August 2009. More than 2 million cubic meters of concrete and 401 ton of carcass were used.
In May the construction works of bearing columns for sitting rows started. On the northern, southern and eastern sides there were installed the columns in 49 rows – 4 columns in each. The height of the tallest column – 10.5 m, and of the shortest – 5.5 m.
In August the installation of the columns on all sides of the stadium was finished, apart from the Western one, where the administrative premises are situated. 8 columns in each of 17 rows were built.
The works continued till October 2009.
In November 2009 the first cross-bar was constructed, the beam on which sitting rows of tribunes are placed.
Throughout November – March 2010 8 more beams were installed on the Northern side of the stadium.
In April 2010 the construction of first-level cross-bars continued. And already in June all 68 beams for sitting rows were installed and covering between the first and the second levels was finished.
In June the construction of columns on the second level started, and till the end of the month all 64 out of 110 columns were build, and in July these works were finished.
On June 23, 2010 the first concrete construction of the stands – "bond" - was mounted.
During July and June the works on cross-bars mounting were performed on the second level as well as mounting of "bonds" was performed.
At the beginning of September all "bonds" were mounted on the first level and 34 out of 45 cross-bars installed.
During July – September the carcass of the administrative building ground and first floors was constructed.
In September the construction of 14 pavilions on the first level started: 7 fast-food outlets and 7 sanitary and utility rooms.
In November the construction of 19 outlets started on the promenade.
In October the construction of all second layer cross-bars was finished as well as all "bonds" were mounted on the first tier.
In November –December the builders conducted the mounting of the second tier stands and staircases.
In November-December the mounting of the second level tribunes and stairwells was carried out.
At the end of September at the stadium construction site the works on roof metal frames welding started.
At the beginning of November the mounting of the first roof frame on the Southern stadium side started.
Till the end of November the mounting of frame metal constructions on Southern side was finished, in February the metal constrictions on the Eastern side were done, and in April – on the Northern. In total 39 frames were mounted.
In March the construction of the stadium was reported as of 50 %. In particular, there were constructed:
- framing of the fourth floor of administrative building
- the construction of outer walls of the 4th and 5th floors and core works on the first and second floors were in process;
- roof steel construction are ready for 50 %;
- the outlets on the fist floor were constructed, internal plastering works started;
- construction of all 19 outlets on the second tier were performed;
- "bonds" on the level 2 were mounted for 75%;
- staircases leading from level 1 to the promenade were finished for 90%.
In spring there were conducted the final works on mounting of concrete structures of the stadium bowl.
In particular:
- all "bonds" were mounted;
- construction of the last – fifth floor of administrative building was completed.
The commence of construction of the ramp and main entrance stairwell and also media centre on the fourth floor.
Besides, in the administrative building were continuing the works on engineer systems installation and also finishing and facade works.
On May 17 the earthworks were started on the football field, and in early June - installation of drainage system, works on crushed stone basement construction and watering systems installation. It was decided to lay turf grass.
100 days prior to finishing of construction the general preparedness of the stadium was 75%.
Inauguration of Arena Lviv held October 29, 2011. On this day for citizens and guests of Lviv more than 2,000 artists prepared a spectacular show program, and the ceremony evening was finished with performance of American singer Anastacia and huge fireworks display. The holiday collected full stadium: about 35,000 people.


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My Account is locked due to Abuse action. I contacted the support and no reply from them. What to do ?
How to get my account back from the abuse thing. I am a newbie to digitalocean and don't know what happened.
Can i delete the locked account ? Means can i use the domain for another DO account ?


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Holy h*ll, more potholders?
I may need an intervention soon.
But I keep thinking up new color combos,
and wanting to experiment with different weights of yarn
and vary the number of petals,
then maybe see what a different outline color looks like . . .
Can you say addicted?
Don't remember the last time I made this many of the same(ish) thing.
But it's fun, and it keeps me off the streets.
And maybe, just maybe, one of these will be for me.


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We discovered today that we have 7 kittens (not 6)!! One must have been hiding!! Seven little babies to care for.
|The fluff in the nest is from Ruby.
|Before she gives birth, the mum pulls her fur out to create a warm and cosy nest.
|A perfect paw!
|So warm and cosy.
|How many babies can you count?
We put Ruby in a pen to have some exercise - she loved tearing up the newspaper!


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It's definitely cold and flu season. This last bout of colds means that it's time to beef up on those vitamins and regularly clean off the piano keys! Our musical exploration resumes with Japan, a country I hope to visit someday. Some traditional Japanese musical instruments include the taiko drums, the koto (stringed instrument), the shakuhachi (flute) and the shamisen.
This week's clip features the shamisen, which is a long necked banjo-like instrument with three strings. The two musicians display their virtuosity and showmanship in this clip, which reminds me of fight scenes from the PS2 game "Samurai Warriors".
Here's a clip from "Samurai Warriors" that includes the shamisen:
(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.


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Articles in the Misc Category
Misc, Money - Make or Save »
As per an announcement received from IndiaBlogger team, all the Indian Bloggers stand a chance to Win Rs 30,000/- and a chance to fly to Mumbai (and back) on August 15th for the Mumbai IndiBlogger Meet! All you have to do is:
Take a quick pledge to fight heart disease at the Billion Hearts Beating website.
Blog about your pledge and encourage your readers to take a pledge themselves. That's right, you only need to submit one post, not five as in early contests organized by IndiBlogger!
Check out the rules, other …
Misc »
Starting 2100 Hrs IST, Today, .TEL will be available for registration to all on first come first served basis. Sunrise period for .TEL started on 03.December.2008 and landrush period started from 03.February.09. Now, anyone can register this tld through ICANN accredited registrars. General Availability registrations will carry a one-year minimum term and are subjected to the standard registration conditions depicted by the regisrar company. For more on .TEL check out detailed .TEL FAQs.
Anubhooti Internet (registrar and host of this blog), in association with DirectI, will make .TEL available for registration …
Misc »
phpBB Group relesead version 3.0.3 of it's widely used Open Source Forums solution phpBB. This release addresses numerous stability fixes, performance tweaks and general bugs fixed. Apart from some tiny new features, this version also introduces two major new features: template inheritance and a post-based queue. The new version can be downloaded from http://www.phpbb.com/downloads/.
Misc »
Parallels (formerly Sw Soft), launched Plesk 8.4.0, though an official communication from the company is still awaited. Surprisingly, there is no mention of this release either on Parallerls website or forums. Good news for Pleask users is that Plesk 8.4.0 supports DomainKeys, long awaited anti spam solution promoted and used by Yahoo!. A small list of What's New, showing from within the control panel, includes
Misc »
The .ASIA registrations opened up for all from 1200 GMT on 26th March. The .ASIA Landrush was a colossal successand it can only be anticipated the .ASIA count to augment further. dot ASIA is a highly recognisable phrase that is short, easy to remember, versatile but specific and focused on the Asia identity. It captures the essence of the community served and is a sustainable phrase that will not easily become obsolete. "Asia" traverses a broad region yet elicits a clear concept and coherence of the community, providing registrants tremendous …
Misc »
Google, after acquiring Doubleclick, has started offering new ways for publishers to maximize their ad revenue. In continuing efforts to provide publishers of all sizes with tools to improve revenue opportunities and productivity, today announced a new tool with the beta launch of Google Ad Manager. Google Ad Manager is a hosted ad management solution that can help publishers sell, schedule, deliver, and measure all of directly-sold and network-based inventory. It offers an intuitive and simple user experience with Google speed and a tagging process so publishers can spend more …
Misc »
Recently Google introduced its' new offering by the name of Google Sites as part of Google Apps. Google Sites makes creating a team web site as easy as editing a document. Variety of information can be gathered in one place easily including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and gadgets. It can also be shared as easily for viewing or editing with a small group, entire organization, or the world.


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How Music Works: how Ensemble Music is breaking down musical barriers
Rob Farhat, director of Ensemble Music, on the company's ambitions to challenge perceptions of what classical or contemporary music can be
Rob Farhat: "In order to attract a younger, wider audience, you do need to bring the presentation into the 21st century"
If it wasn't for music, Rob Farhat might be living in Iran. His father, Hormoz Farhat, was the head of music at the University of Tehran but was forced to move when the Islamic regime took hold and subsequently banned music. So Rob's parents moved to a safer place – Belfast, during the Troubles in 1979.
Later, his father took up a position as professor of music in Trinity College in Dublin, while his mother, Maria Baghramian is a professor of philosophy at UCD. Rob initially followed in his father's footsteps, training as a classical pianist throughout secondary school with established pianists John O'Conor and Hugh Tinney, followed by a year at the Royal Academy of Music.
Realising his interest in music was broader than the classical, Farhat studied economics at Trinity but it wasn't long before music took hold once again. A role as manager with the Trinity Orchestra allowed him to flex his music and marketing muscles. It was my first taste of the organisational side of music," says Farhat.
When he joined the Trinity Orchestra, they were doing classical arrangements of popular music like Sigur Ros. Farhat organised the Orchestra's first concert abroad to Berlin and organised a filming of a performance of Daft Punk's Discovery which went on to receive 800,000-plus views. The Orchestra were subsequentially booked for festivals such as Forbidden Fruit, Electric Picnic and Metropolis.
A two-year stint as head of marketing for the Web Summit followed where he received some "high-level" marketing experience.
"I didn't know what I was doing at first, yet I learned a lot in two years," says Farhat. "But I missed being involved in music."
Farhat met Rob Kearns, who was then working in production with Riverdance. They saw a gap for in Ireland for early-stage artists whose music doesn't fit into the typical, traditional genre conventions.
Beyond genre
"The way musicians are making music these days and the way people are listening to music has changed, and is increasingly going beyond the idea of genre," explains Farhat.
"The music industry is still slow to catch up on that. It's not that we have all the answers but we thought with the experience we did have, Ensemble was worth starting up."
Ensemble Music was established as a one-stop shop music company, which would manage artists, bookings, marketing, produce events, and help them navigate the music industry's tumultuous ever-changing waters.
Ensemble counts artists such as Sierra Leonean Irish soul singer Loah, the contemporary trad group Ensemble Ériu and contemporary music ensemble Kirkos on their roster.
Early on, they made a name for themselves through their ambitious varied events in unique spaces: Block B in Smithfield, the Freemason's Hall, Belvedere House, the Dublin Food Co-Op and the Chocolate Factory.
"In order to attract a younger, wider audience, you do need to bring the presentation into the 21st century," says Farhat. "It's a way of challenging perceptions of what classical or contemporary music can be."
Blackout series
Farhat mentions the Blackout series of events that took place the Royal Irish Academy of Music, featuring contemporary music from the Kirkos Ensemble and food by Gruel Guerilla, enjoyed in complete darkness.
"It was a multi-sensory experience that took people outside their comfort zones. The classical audience that came are used to sitting down and listening with two halves and an interval. The series brought in an audience who wouldn't normally give classical music a go because they were taken in by the presentation or the food, the theatre or sound design elements."
Label ambitions
Ensemble moved into label services with the release of Mayo composer Conor Walsh's debut EP The Front in 2015. Walsh tragically died of a heart attack in March this year at the age of 36. His passing was a huge loss to Irish music. Farhat describes it as "a devastating event".
"Conor was an amazing musician and human being who was so humble," he says. "I'm still learning how amazing of a human being he was since he died.
"It's very easy to say it's a shame we didn't hear more from him but on the flipside, we're lucky we got some music from him before he did pass away. His EP was our first release and it went reasonably well, but we made mistakes. I was kicking myself of having not done a better job of it."
These days, the roles in Ensemble are more clearly defined. Farhat runs the company and focuses on artist management, Kearns focuses on event production, Tadhg Byrne of the band Meltybrains? and the club promoters Sim Simma looks after the event promotion, while his fellow Meltybrains? band member Brian Dillon looks after the label side.
Future events and plans for Ensemble include programming a stage at the Dublin City Block Party, a large-scale multi-label showcase event, a collaboration with Non Classical, a company doing similar things in London, and if things go well, a music venue, modelled on Café Oto in London, a bar and venue for emerging music with a DIY aesthetic and an eclectic booking policy.
New release
This week, Ensemble will are jointly releasing the second album Imbas from Ensemble Éiru with Raelach Records, a decision that is about attempting to cast the net as wide as possible for the band's music. Ensemble will promote to the contemporary and classical world, while Raelach will focus on the trad world. The band recently spoke to The Irish Times about their ambitions and their approach to music.
"We're in this together, trying to achieve the same goals so it makes more sense to be both our names to it as it's a larger potential audience between us. Ensemble Éiru also work with Improvised Music Company on their live production and they have a big jazz audience so between the three of us, we try and cover as much ground as possible."
"We want to present music in a non-traditional way," states Farhat. "Our idea is to help raise artists to a platform where they can start getting some traction abroad and potentially get signed to a bigger equivalent independent label."
- Ensemble Éiru's Imbas is out Friday, June 24th and is currently streaming on Fractured Air. The band play The Crane Bar, Galway on Thursday, The Sugar Club, Dublin on Friday and Cork Midsummer Festival on Saturday. More info on ensemble.ie.


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1."We just get richer and richer."
The past 35 years have been a period of extraordinary wealth creation by billionaires, according to a new "2015 Billionaire Report" by UBS/PwC. Some 917 self-made billionaires have created fortunes over that period. "Only the 'Gilded Age' at the beginning of the 20th Century bears any comparison," it states. "Then fortunes were created from industrial innovation, in sectors such as steel, cars and electricity. Now they are being made from the consumer industry, technology and financial innovation in the U.S. and Europe, as well as consumer products, globalization, industrialization and infrastructure booms in Asia and other emerging markets."
The 2016 Forbes Billionaires List names 1,810 billionaires, down from 1,826 last year, with an aggregate net worth of $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. (Other studies have shown, however, that in 2016, the wealth of the world's billionaires has reached a record high.) The average net worth of each U.S. billionaire, according to Forbes: $3.6 billion, down $300 million from last year. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -0.72%, is again the richest on the list for the third year in a row and Facebook's FB, -0.52% Mark Zuckerberg had the best year of all billionaires, adding $11.2 billion to his fortune and moving up to No. 6 from 16.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country's net worth has actually fallen since the Great Recession — and has yet to recover. The net worth of American families — that is, the difference between the values of their assets, including homes and investments, and liabilities — fell to $81,400 in 2013, down slightly from $82,300 in 2010, but a long way off the $135,700 in 2007, according to a report released last January by the nonprofit think tank Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. That means that, even though the Great Recession is officially over, Americans are still around 40% poorer than they were in 2007, the year before the global financial crisis. The median net worth of white households was $141,900 in 2013, down 26% since 2007. It declined by 42% to $13,700 over the same period for Hispanic households and fell by 43% to $11,000 for African-American households.
Why are billionaires on the rise? "Daily record highs in the financial markets have caused surging net worth for the richest 1%," says Mark Martiak, a wealth strategist at Premier Financial Advisors in New York. Commercial and residential real estate values have also been rebounding, he says. "Combined with low inflation and low interest rates for borrowing, this big picture presents a favorable backdrop for the wealthy, in spite of higher taxes, stubbornly high unemployment, the potential Fed tapering and wrangling in Washington," Martiak says.
The Filthy-Rich 50: Meet the richest person in each U.S. state


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Ido Hotna Hutabarat - Chief Executive Officer
Before appointed as Chief Executive Officer of PT Arutmin Indonesia, Ido Hotna Hutabarat has served as GM Mineral Resources, Contracts, and Project (MRCP) since May 2010. He starts his careee with Arutmin in varies position within Marketing Division, with his lates position on this division as Marketing Manager, Before joining Arutmin, He worked with PT Timas as Investor Relation and as Business Planning Manager with PT Cemex Indonesia. He holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering at the Department of Metallurgy ITB in 1990 and earned a Master's degree majoring in Science Management from the Arthur D. Little School of Management - USA in 1997.
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Monday, January 14, 2013
Caron & Repetti: Occupy the Tax Code: Using the Estate Tax to Reduce Inequality
Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati) & James R. Repetti (Boston College), Occupy the Tax Code: Using the Estate Tax to Reduce Inequality, 40 Pepp. L. Rev. ___ (2013):
Inequality has been increasing in the United States. We should care about this increase because inequality contributes to a variety of adverse social consequences that persist across generations. There is also substantial empirical evidence that inequality has a long-term negative impact on economic growth.
For many decades, federal tax policy has played an important role in reducing inequality, although the impact of federal taxes on inequality has waxed and waned depending on the focus of elected officials. We argue that the estate tax is a particularly apt vehicle to reduce inequality because inheritances are a major source of wealth among the rich, and studies suggest that inherited wealth has a more deleterious impact on economic growth than inequality caused by self-made wealth. Although there are loopholes in the estate tax, it is still effective in moderating the amount of wealth that is passed within a family from generation to generation.
The major criticism about the estate tax—that it discourages savings—is inaccurate. Standard tax theory cannot predict the impact of the estate tax on savings and the empirical evidence is mixed. Moreover, the estate tax has a less harmful impact on savings than the income tax for two reasons. First, the event that triggers estate tax liability—death—is ignored by taxpayers during the period of life in which they are likely to be most productive. Second, the expected value of the estate tax's effective rate is quite low during the period of life in which most taxpayers create wealth.
Can anyone answer one simple fundamental question of fairness. Money subject to any estate tax has already been taxed once when it was earned. What gives the government the right to tax that same income again? Gift and estate taxes have always struck me as inherently confiscatory and without any validity (and no, I am not rich myself).
Posted by: Todd | Jan 14, 2013 5:37:05 AM
I think one response might be the feature of our system wherein you get a stepped up basis in your assets upon death even though death is not a realization/recognition event. Thus, to the extent someone is holding highly appreciated financial assets it's possible that there's been no tax paid on the built-in gain.
That being said, the estate tax appears to be misdirected. As I understand it, it taxes the entire value of the estate, notwithstaning a particular individual may not have extensive built-in gain.
Fundamentally, reducing inequity seems like an inappriopriate goal for the estate tax with weak policy grounds supporting it, notwithstanding unconvincing claims that economic growth is influenced by inequity.
A better reform, I think, would be taxing the built-in gain as as a cost of the stepped up basis on death (w/ maybe a phase in or exclusion for small estates). With that change, I say get rid of the estate tax. Other reforms would be to look into all the structures that folks have to avoid the gift tax (GRATs, etc.) All the money that people spend structuring seems like an unproductive use of money to me.
Maybe if someone gave me $10 million I'd feel differently. I'd be up for it, if someone would like to do the experiment.
Posted by: Henry | Jan 14, 2013 7:19:49 AM
There is no double tax. The gift and inheritances are not taxed to the recipient. In a perfect world, we would not have an estate tax, but instead simply include gifts and bequests in the taxable income of the recipient. In effect, the estate tax is an imperfect substitute for the the tax that should be paid by the recipient.
Posted by: Jim | Jan 14, 2013 8:02:31 AM
Bullshit: Capital gains and transactions that are tax-deferred have not been taxed.
Bullshit: So what? There is no principle of taxation that says that "money" can only be taxed once. In fact, it is the norm that taxation occurs upon a recognition event, and death has been a recognition event for centuries.
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 14, 2013 8:40:17 AM
(1) I've never found anything in our federal constitution suggesting that addressing income inequality is one of its purposes or within its enumerated powers. (2) Estate tax receipts, like all tax receipts, are redistributed largely without any consideration of income inequality. In fact, Congress re-distributes a big chunk of tax receipts to those who provide campaign contributions and other favors to members. Favoring the estate tax because it reduces inequality is a cover for ordinary government corruption.
And no, I'm not rich either. I'm just tired of dealing with a complex tax system that increasingly lines pockets instead of providing services.
Posted by: Ron | Jan 14, 2013 8:47:46 AM
It remains to be seen whether a higher estate tax rate leads to higher estate tax collection. As a personal matter, I am rich and I can assure you that I will pay minimal estate tax because I'm painfully aware that the compound effect of 40% income tax and 40% estate tax is effectively 64%. The estate tax has induced me to: (1) invest more conservatively (why risk an 100% after-tax for a 36% after-tax gain?) ; (2) gift to the next generation via loans and trusts ; and (3) actively plan for my lifetime spending needs (when interest rates are higher, I'll probably consider insurance products and annuities to help achieve these goals). Maybe these are good things, but I don't see them as unambiguous. I do believe that the state would collect more from me personally (and probably Warren Buffet, too) if the estate tax were on the order of 15% so that I didn't plan for it. I suspect that the state would collect more if the step-up in basis on death were eliminated (also, people would have less disincentive to collect capital gains in life -- and again Warren Buffet would pay more). Another tact might be to have inheritance be a taxable event, instead of death (I'd have to think about how that would influence my actions). Perhaps, the estate tax isn't about collecting money from me or Warren Buffet; maybe, it's designed to make us feel good about fighting the "evils of wealth".
It saddens me that statements like "because inequality contributes to a variety of adverse social consequences that persist across generations" are accepted uncritically as fact. I agree that poverty and its persistence across generations is an adverse social condition and leads to adverse social consequences. I disagree with the implicit assumption about wealth that there is a fixed amount of wealth bestowed by nature and that the wealthy are denying the poor access to their fair share. And if you're trying to protect my kids from the negative effects that wealth may have on them, I'd ask you to raise your own kids and stay away from mine!
Posted by: Andy G | Jan 14, 2013 8:53:05 AM
Built-in appreciation of assets held at death has not been taxed. While cash held at death may have been previously taxed, there is nothing surprising about double taxation -- it occurs all the time. If I use after-tax income to pay someone to mow my lawn, the income is taxed again to the service provider.
However, whether the tax code should be used as a vehicle for social engineering rather than as simply a method of raising revenue is another matter. One of the reasons the Code is so complex is that politicians have used it not just for raising revenue, but to achieve other goals. Tax incentives skew normal market forces and serve only to reward those with the best lobbyists.
Posted by: guy helvering | Jan 14, 2013 9:44:29 AM
Anonymous stated, "[Expletive deleted]..., Capital gains and transactions that are tax-deferred have not been taxed."
What's your point, Anonymous? Congress has chosen to give tax breaks to those types of income. You apparently want a tax break for gifts and inheritances. Someone else would rather give more of a tax break to gains and investment income. Shouldn't all income be taxed the same? If it were. there would be lower rates for all of us!
Posted by: Jim | Jan 14, 2013 10:46:08 AM
Well said Andy G. The problem is with the mindset embodied by our current President, who when asked if he was in favor of raising the capital gains tax even though it would likely produce less revenue responded "It's about fairness." Why should anyone care how much their neighbor has - your concern should be with your ability to provide for yourself and your family.
As to my original question, which admittedly was largely rhetorical, gifts and inheritances are inherently different from other taxable events. Other forms of income and taxable events result from mutually beneficial actions between two people (sales, exchange of labor for capital, an investment, a loan, etc). Gifts and inheritances are one way transactions; money is being transferred from party to the other (the goodwill or psychic benefit to the donor should not count as value).
After the initial taxable event when that money was earned, what use has it been put to to justify taxing it again? The net accession to wealth (good old Glenshaw Glass) by the donee is equally matched by the loss to the donor, and there is no other economic impact - so why tax it? To my meager libertarian brain, it looks like nothing more than an old fashioned confiscatory wealth tax.
Posted by: Todd | Jan 14, 2013 11:56:22 AM
Every municipality in the US taxes wealth in the form of real property every year at rates something like 1-2% annually. Why? To raise money for public purposes, of course. So why should not the federal government tax wealth every 35-40 years for the same or similar purposes? (You might argue it's unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court long ago decided otherwise.) The argument that the "money" has been taxed once already is [expletive deleted] for the reasons already given: it's done all the times (what else are sales taxes?), the Waltons and the Zuckerbergs have never paid income tax on their stupendous capital gains, and death is a reasonable time to catch up with them. And there's no theorectical objection to taxing donative transactions (as we do now) as accessions to the wealth of the recipient. Yes, in theory we could tax all appreciation at death in lieu of an estate tax, and some countries do, but there are big practical problems that just recently were extensively debated in light of EGTTRA (who knows the basis after 40 years?) Prof. Batchelder at NYU has studied the idea extensively, for those who are truly interested.
Posted by: Mitchell S. Fishman | Jan 15, 2013 9:59:43 AM
I'm confused by your argument because it seems to be based on your assumption that payments for psychic benefits or goodwill don't count as consumption.
You state:
"Gifts and inheritances are one way transactions; money is being transferred from party to the other (the goodwill or psychic benefit to the donor should not count as value). After the initial taxable event when that money was earned, what use has it been put to to justify taxing it again? The net accession to wealth (good old Glenshaw Glass) by the donee is equally matched by the loss to the donor, and there is no other economic impact - so why tax it?"
Why should we dismiss goodwill or psychic benefit as irrelevant? When I pay to watch a movie, the only benefits I receive are psychic in nature. We fully tax those transactions--I have a nondeductible personal expenditure and the movie theater has income. The Chicago economist, Becker, spilled a lot of ink discussing the benefits that donors derive from making gifts. The psychic benefits I obtain from making gifts to my spoiled grandchildren are every bit as real as the benefits I obtained from watching "The Hobbit" over the weekend. That should be difference between (1)the psychic income I derive from paying for my grandchild's car and the accession to wealth she experiences from receiving free transportation and (2) the psychic income I obtain from making some other nondeductible personal expenditure that results in an accession to wealth for the recipient.
Posted by: Jim | Jan 15, 2013 12:47:49 PM


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Wed January 16, 2013
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MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall on Ryman earnings; tariffs waived for Fletcher rivals
New Zealand stocks fell, paced by Ryman Healthcare after its annual earnings, and Fletcher Building after the government waved tariffs on imported building products. Mainfreight led the NZX 50 Index lower, while Xero, a2 Milk and Meridian Energy benefited from inclusion in global indexes.
The NZX 50 fell 18.399 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5194.960. Within the index, 18 stocks fell, 22 rose and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $140 million.
Ryman fell 2 percent to $8.70 after the retirement village operator said annual underlying profit, which excludes non-cash items such as deferred taxation and unrealised gains on investment properties, rose 18 percent to $118.2 million, marking its 12th consecutive year of profit growth.
"The result is in line with market expectations, it is not materially above like they have been in the past," said Sam Trethewey, an investment analyst at Milford Asset Management, which owns Ryman shares. "Ryman has a track record of growing its underlying profit at 19 to 20 percent a year and some people were expecting another big upgrade from them. It's not a bad result, it's just not what they have done in the past."
Fletcher dropped 1.2 percent to $9.21 after the government said it is temporarily removing tariffs and duties on imported building products to cut the cost of an average home build by an estimated $3,500. Fletcher is New Zealand's largest company with a near monopoly on construction supplies and building products.
"There is generally a tone in that sort of aspect of the budget that government wants to try and get the cost of building down," said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. "On the face of it, this is just a very small, sort of fringe issue for Fletcher Building but if it points to a desire to take further steps then it might be something that is spooking a few people.
Steel & Tube Holdings, which also produces construction supplies, slid 2.3 percent to $3.01.
Transport company Mainfreight fell 5.4 percent to $13.05, after it was dropped from the MSCI Small Cap Index after the global benchmark was reweighted for the quarter.
"What you're seeing is people selling because they have to follow a benchmark, so they have to sell by a certain date, regardless of what the company's outlook is, so it is one of those technical anomalies," Lister said.
Conversely, Xero, the cloud-based accounting software firm rose 2.9 percent to $32.78, after it was added to the MSCI Global Standards Index. A2 Milk led the day's gainers, advancing 3.9 percent to 81 cents and Meridian Energy rose 1.7 percent to $1.21 on their inclusion in the small cap index.
Trade Me Group, the online auction site, dropped 5.4 percent to $13.05.
Telecom rose 0.7 percent to $2.71. Air New Zealand slid 2.3 percent to $2.15. Auckland International Airport declined 2.9 percent to $4.015.
Goodman Property Trust advanced 0.5 percent to $1.04, after reporting a 72 percent gain in annual net profit and a move to restructure its governance yesterday.
DNZ Property Fund climbed 0.3 percent to $1.60. Kiwi Income Property Trust gained 0.4 percent to $1.16. Precinct Properties New Zealand rose 0.9 percent to $1.07.
Dual-listed Goodman Fielder, the Australian food company, was unchanged at 73 cents before being halted for a takeover proposal. The maker of Vogels bread rejected a A$1.27 billion takeover offer from the Wilmar International, the world's biggest palm oil processor, and First Pacific Co last month.


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LeBron James: Quieting His Critics by Holding Them AccountableOctober 1, 2010
Now that's how you quiet an angry mob!
It didn't take a championship. It didn't take a highlight reel of brilliant plays. Hell, it didn't even take a victory in a preseason game.
LeBron James has quieted his critics.
Now, I don't know that any of them have had a change of heart and are now on his side, but they're certainly going to be a lot less vocal.
During an interview on CNN Wednesday night, Soledad O'Brien asked both LeBron James and his now-famous (infamous?) adviser Maverick Carter if they believe that race has played a role in avalanche of negativity that James has faced in the aftermath of his "decision" to join the Heat, which he announced in an prime time, hour-long abomination on ESPN.
When faced with the question, LeBron answered, more accurately than our country would like to admit, "I think so at times. It's always, you know, a race factor."
Now, I must admit, when I first saw a headline reading "LeBron blames race for backlash to ESPN's The Decision," my reaction was a visceral "Oh puh-lease! Now he's playing the race card? Gimme a break!"
Then I thought about it a bit. I read a transcript of the interview. The whole matter is addressed in three sentences: the question from O'Brien, and one sentence each from James and Carter. I then read a well-written article on the matter, and subsequently engaged in (electronic) conversation with the author. At one point, I responded to the author with a rather lengthy comment (upon which this article is based) in which I talked out what I think took place.
First let's get some things out of the way. Do I think LeBron and Maverick Carter answered the question honestly? Yes, I do.
Do I think he played the race card? Honestly, I don't. The guy didn't say anything that was particularly inflammatory, although he may have stated a truth that a healthy chunk of this country is not comfortable with.
Do I think race played a role in some people's negative reaction to LeBron's decision? Like I said, probably a lot more than this country is eager to admit.
The question was posed to LeBron, asking for his opinion, which he gave. I get that. Thing is, there's nothing wrong with either asking the question or the response that followed. With even a tiny bit of time and perspective after the interview, one thing becomes abundantly clear—this was not a spontaneous, off-the-cuff conversation in which LeBron ran his mouth unnecessarily. This smacks of a blatant PR ploy.
And potentially a PR coup.
I may be way off, but please allow me to take a leap here. Very seldom are these "primetime sitdowns" on major networks overly spontaneous. Thus, I find it very difficult, if not impossible, to believe that LeBron James and his camp did not have some idea as to the possible lines of questioning that O'Brien might pursue in the interview.
So, with that said, I see LeBron's response to questions of race not a way of addressing the negativity that he's faced since July, but as a way of muting it.
In fairness to Team LeBron, in the same interview they acknowledged that "The Decision" was poorly handled (glad their team of analysts only need 10 weeks to get to the bottom of that!). In doing so, and by bringing the issue of race into this story in any capacity whatsoever, Team LeBron has removed all the upside to LeBron-bashing for certain mainstream media members.
Going forward, any time Skip Bayless or any other white talking head smacks LeBron around, they will not do so without their own risk of backlash. They will now be accountable for their own words.
Are they hating on LeBron because they think he's a loser and a douche? Or are they part of that segment of White America that hates to see a young black man with any real power?
From a PR perspective, as bad as a decision as "The Decision" was, this was every bit as inspired. Nothing short of brilliant.


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Crime - Sacto 911
Nevada City woman sentenced to prison for marijuana cultivation
A Nevada City woman has been sentenced to five years and five months in federal prison for marijuana cultivation and structuring financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements.
Patricia Jane Albright, 64, pleaded guilty to the charges July 21. She was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley, according to a U.S. attorney's office news release.
Albright's son and co-conspirator, Jordan Wirtz, 29, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime for possessing a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition in his residence at the grow site, authorities said. Judge Nunley sentenced Wirtz to five years in prison in February.
According to court documents, between 2008 and September 2010, Albright and several others manufactured marijuana on two properties she owned near Nevada City and Georgetown. Marijuana from Albright's operation was regularly shipped out of state under fake names and addresses. At the time of Albright's arrest on Sept. 28, 2010, investigators found marijuana plants, cash, processed marijuana and two firearms.
When Albright purchased the property near Georgetown in 2008 for growing marijuana, she structured 21 cash transactions at six different financial institutions over three days so she could avoid federal reporting requirements related to cash deposits, authorities said.
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A number of the defendants were armed at the time of their arrests and several had prior felony convictions for narcotics offenses, authorities said. One defendant was arrested in a marijuana grow with a firearm while on pre-trial release from an earlier arrest. He was facing charges for manufacturing marijuana in Southern California in 2009, authorities said. They reported that documents and items found at a number of the search locations show hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial transactions, and the interstate shipment of cash and narcotics.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration; the California Department of Justice; the Grass Valley Police Department; and the Nevada County, Placer County and El Dorado County sheriff's offices.
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Official On-Demand Webcast - FEBRUARY 5, 2019
WHERE: APELLA - Alexandria Center - NEW YORK CITY
It is with great pleasure we welcome you to the 25th annual shipping conference in New York City, hosted by the Hellenic American and Norwegian American Chambers of Commerce.
Each year we focus on a specific theme of importance to the global maritime industry, with panels and speakers discussing and debating cutting-edge issues in our rapidly changing sector. Attendees praise the conference's value as a candid, timely and relevant appraisal of the latest trends and developments in commercial shipping.
THIS ANNIVERSARY YEAR THE CONFERENCE TOPIC IS Embracing Change: Turning Shipping's Hopes and Dreams into Reality
We are confident that this year's program will allow for lively discussions of important and challenging issues facing the maritime industry in turbulent and fast-changing times.
Series Sponsor
Clay Maitland, Chairman
Official Distillery of Maritime TV
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NY Goat Yoga 3-Day All Inclusive Overnight Glamping Retreat (for Two)
June 9-11th, 2017
For couples, friends, siblings, parent and child, co-workers - basically anyone who likes the country, the outdoors, s'mores, yoga, connecting with new friends and baby goats!
- FRIDAY: Arrive at our 125 acre farm by 4pm, check into your luxury glamping tent (max 2 per tent, kind bed), experience Goat Yoga at sunset and then enjoy a catered dinner in our stunning barn with your fellow yogis.
- SATURDAY: Enjoy a lite breakfast and then a morning Goat Yoga session. Spend the afternoon exploring the local area or exploring our property. Hike, play volleyball, relax in a hammock. Catered lunch will be served or you can take a lunch bag with you.
- SATURDAY EVENING: Sit for another wonderful catered communal dinner, this time in our milking barn, another amazing barn space. After dinner, we will gather for a candlelit nighttime hip-hop yoga session - you will LOVE this!! Then end the night with s'mores and a bonfire.
- SUNDAY: Breakfast in the barn and check-out. You will depart relaxed, recharged with amazing memories and new friends.
- 2 night accommodation in one luxury glamping tent for two people: Tents are private rooms with one king bed, 2 person maximum.
- Community bathhouse with private showers and restrooms, lobby area with double fireplaces.
- All linens and towels.
- Catered meals.
- All yoga sessions: Goat yoga on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Hip-hop yoga by candlelight Saturday night.
- Access to all photos taken by Gilbertsville Farmhouse during the retreat.
- Access to grounds, hammock park, volleyball net, pond and many photo ops.
- $600.00 per glamping tent with one (1) king bed. Price includes retreat, activities and meals for TWO (2) PEOPLE (So, basically it's $300 per person.)
- Do not miss this incredible weekend! Find out more and book your spot through our EventBrite link.


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I found this month's book: Enjoyable yet disturbing
Here is what some of our readers have to say:
My new favorite
Real page turner……..yes it was!
Superb character development
Family secrets disturbing
How would you describe this month's book…..in three words?
Faith by Jennifer Haigh – Reviews, Discussion … – Goodreads


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37 WEST 39th street, new york, nY 10018
Tired of declining product quality and the growing trend in outsourced manufacturing, we left our day jobs to pursue the American dream- Ball and Buck's mission: team up with the best American Craftsmen to build a brand that offers the finest quality Made in USA products. We're proud to offer our Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee to ensure generations of enjoyment. We know you'll love our products as much as you do supporting American jobs. Products can be purchased through its downtown Boston flagship store or online through ballandbuck.com. Founded in 2008, in Boston, Mass.


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Columns & Blogs
Opinion: Tower Bridge Battalion sings loudest praises for Republic FC
Dave Trauernicht soaked in the Republic FC match on a rainy Friday night with his wife, a couple of his daughters, three nieces and about a thousand of his best friends. They danced and swore and cheered some more.
The pitch was slick but the play was fast, all taken in from the new high rise of bleachers above the north end of Bonney Field, where the Tower Bridge Battalion had gathered in communal ecstasy.
"We're all neighbors here," Trauernicht said, looking around at his Battalion brothers and sisters while standing on his seat as the entire bleacher section rocked and rolled with the rhythm of the bouncing masses. "We drink together. We cuss together. We chant, we yell, we yell at the other team. We yell at the refs when we feel they make bad calls. We dance together. We sing together. We do it all together, and it's all for the Republic."
His team lost to the Orange County Blues FC 2-1, but the outcome wasn't that big a deal for Trauernicht, 42, a field engineer for Pacific Gas and Electric. The Auburn resident grew up on soccer and loves the way it has exploded as a fan favorite in Sacramento. He was one of the first to join the Battalion when the group formed to support Republic FC and established a fan culture the likes of which Sacramento had never seen.
Fans in every sport love their teams and their schools. But there's something about soccer, something about Republic FC's following – something about the Battalion – that makes their thing different and unique from, say, the passion basketball fans have for the Kings.
With the Battalion, the feeling is as much about their city. It's explicit in their songs, this "Glory, Glory, Sacramento," stuff, the declaration, "This is our home, Sacramento." They sing for their region and themselves and their feeling for each other.
"There is something different about it," Trauernicht said in the 18th minute of Friday's match, when his wife, Arizona, returned from the concession stands to slip a 22-ounce can of Heineken into his right hand. "You're part of a bigger community. I've met at least 100 new friends – at least. All the time my Facebook is going up, my Twitter has gone up."
Team president Warren Smith has said it before. The support groups, the community connection – it's all written into the cultural DNA of the game that sprang from the pubs of fortress Europe. In Sacramento, it's the Battalion that Smith says keeps his club true to the sport.
"They mean a lot to us," Smith said beneath the VIP tent on the other end of the field from the Battalion, just as the Blues' Didier Crittenand poked the tiebreaker into Republic FC's net while Smith's back was turned. "We work together on how we can stay true and make sure we are building a team that is true to the sport. It's just a great group. It means a lot.
"Obviously," Smith said, "it represents a thousand tickets."
Many of the people who hold them have shared quaffs with Smith. During exchanges in public houses around town, the Battalion legions are no more shy with the fellow in charge than they are with a linesman who raises the offside flag a little too quickly against the local boys.
"They tell us when we screw up," Smith said, "or that our prices are too high."
At the same time, they thank and praise him for the team's accomplishments. It is a true relationship between him and them.
If Friday night's defeat pained the Battalion, the group got over it soon enough in the after-party at the Zebra Club, where the red neon sign over the door at the corner of 19th and P informs dedicated drinking enthusiasts, "Open 6 a.m."
Paul Wong established residence on a Zebra bar stool at the more reasonable hour of 10 p.m., hustling over after the game. Others filtered in at a trickle at first, but it wasn't long until the place was jammed with fellow fans decked out in the finery of Republic FC. Wong, 28, a construction worker, didn't know or like the team or soccer until last year. Now he makes trips to Seattle, thanks to the influence of the Tower Bridge Battalion.
"When Sacramento Republic first started, I had a friend say, 'Man, come to soccer,'" Wong said. "I said, 'Man, I don't like soccer.' He's like, 'Man, just come. You're going to love it.' First game with the Battalion, I was like, 'Man, what have I been missing? This is crazy.' Ever since then, I've become a season-ticket holder."
Wong roots for the Kings, too. He joined the Crown Downtown movement that formed to help keep the basketball team in town when outsiders wanted to move it. He says the basketball experience doesn't come close to the euphoria his group shares in the bleachers above Bonney.
"We party two hours before every match and after every match, too," Wong said. "The community comes together here."
Trauernicht, the PG&E guy from Auburn, said he has friends and coworkers asking him all the time about this soccer thing, this Battalion thing. He tells them the deal – it's 90 minutes a match, on your feet.
"They're like, 'Are there places where you can sit?'
"There are," he answers, "but I choose to stand and sing."
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141. Follow him on Twitter @andyfurillo.


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Pre-Pregnancy Weight Goal Achieved!
On the 14th of September 2009 I weighed 255.5 lbs or 115.9 kgs. That day I set myself a goal of losing 20.5 lbs. Upon starting to write this, I realised that my actual pre-pregnancy weight was 238 lbs*, but considering how sleep deprived I was last September, I forgive myself for my lack of maths skills. (255.5 minus 20.5 for an even total of 235.0 is so much easier than 255.5 minus 238. LOL)
On the 31st August this year, I weighed 232.1 lbs or 105.27 kgs. I didn't count that weigh in because I was in the midst of the meltdown about my teeth and cpap--update on that in another post--and losing 5 lbs in one week due to my stress-induced lack of appetite meant I'd most likely regain that weight anyway.
The following week's weigh day we had to rush off that morning on errands, so I didn't weigh myself.
On the 14th September (nicely symbolic I thought) my weight was 234.4 lbs or 106.3 kgs.
This morning I weighed in at 232.4 lbs or 105.41 kgs, and thus now consider myself having reached my pre-pregnancy goal weight. Now, if my maths skills are a little better this morning, I believe that comes to a total weight loss of 23.1 lbs or 10.49 kgs in just over 12 months. Nice, slow and steady. Just how I would like to lose my excess weight.
*Ironically, going by the 238 lbs, I've been under goal since 24th August when I weighed in at 237.4 lbs or 107.68 kgs. More exciting in one way that I've been under longer, but less exciting because I was so thrilled about achieving, and maintaining, under 235lbs, which I THOUGHT was my pre-preg goal weight.


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Missing Amy Fitzpatrick's stepdad has spoken of his fears for her anguished mum after she accidentally overdosed on pills.
Distraught Audrey admitted to taking a dozen anti-panic tablets last month after Dubliner Dave Mahon was sentenced to four months in jail for dangerous drink-driving.
Worried Dave, 41, said he got her doctor to stop prescribing her the super-strong Xanax pills after discovering what she had done.
He is currently on bail after launching an appeal against his conviction.
Last night he said of Audrey: "I am very worried for her.
"She's not been herself for a long time now.
"She's suffered so much over the last few years with Amy disappearing and her mum Maura dying.
"My drink-driving arrest was another kick in the teeth for her. I went to her doctor's behind her back because I was so concerned about her and I wanted him to know the truth.
"She's only supposed to take one Xanax tablet a day but she took 12 in one go and then fell into a deep sleep which the doctor says she was lucky to come out of."
Mr Mahon was stopped near his home in Santry, Dublin, on January 1, the fifth anniversary of Amy's disappearance on Spain's Costa del Sol, after being seen driving dangerously by an off-duty garda.
Judge Ann Watkin described his driving as "horrendous" on March 12 at Dublin District Court as she imposed the jail term and a five-year ban.
Audrey, 44, said she took the pills after her partner was released on bail less than 24 hours later to appeal his jail sentence – and then refused to see a doctor as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
She insisted: "It wasn't a suicide attempt.
"All I wanted to do was to sleep because I felt so tired.
"I was out of it for around three days. My doctor says it was a miracle I came out unscathed.
"He's banned me from taking Xanax which I used to combat panic attacks. I'm now only on anti-depressants."
"We've accepted Amy's dead but the pain of not knowing exactly what happened to her and where she is now obviously gets me down.
"My mum's death last year and my dad's battle with Alzheimer's has also worn me down.
"Dave's conviction has just knocked me sideways again.
"I don't know what I'll do if he goes to prison..
"The thought of being without him for so long is really panicking me."
Heartbroken Audrey returned penniless to Dublin last year with her partner after spending €500,000 on a tireless campaign to find Amy.
The couple hosted a party on February 7 – the date of Amy's 21st – to which her relatives and friends were invited.
Audrey is due to fly out to Spain next week with Amy's stepdad to see friends.


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2016 has been a tough year for the music industry. We've lost some truly great artists - artists that have moved, influenced and defined music and musical eras. This year, which isn't even half over yet, we've said goodbye to top talents which have included Glenn Frey, Maurice White, David Bowie and now Prince. Most of us have never met these musical icons in person. We may have seen them perform in concert, or on MTV (back when it truly was about music and not what it is today) and of course, over the airwaves, on records, cassettes, CDs and now digitally.
For many of us music becomes a living scrapbook. Music is ever powerful and moving. Whether Bach, Beethoven, Guns'n'Roses, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Prince or Bowie. We've listened to them all. Songs leave an indelible benchmark on our memories. We forever remember who we were with when we heard certain songs. We remember these events as vividly as we remember tragedies.
I have a special place for the music I listened to during my formative years in high school when I was struggling to figure out who I was, and what the world around me was all about. There are songs that will forever link me to high school dances, parties, college, road trips, my wedding and even the birth of my children. There are songs I listened to (endlessly) after heart-crushing breakups, and songs I listened to that new boyfriends had introduced me to. And songs that we first heard on the radio, and on MTV. To me a great song is always a wonderful visit down memory lane. The music of the 1980s in many ways helped to mold the person that I was to become and I think that's why so many of my generation are so nostalgic about the wonderful, varied talent of that era.
David Bowie sends me back to high school with Let's Dance, Heroes and Major Tom. I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel. My mother had the greatest crush on Art Garfunkel, and then they came to Central Park in 1980 - I was just barely a teenager, and some friends and I wandered in to the smell of pot, and the hippies of all ages blanketed on the grass and camped out in trees. There wasn't one patch of grass or pavement that hadn't been covered by a person, blanket or chair. As the sun started to set the music came on and it was the most electric feeling I've ever experienced. You could hear their sweet sounds reverberating through the Upper East Side. A month or so later one of the local radio stations broadcast the concert. I sat, with my blank cassette tapes and my boom box, and recorded the whole thing.
My high school friends and I all drooled over Sting. The Police were a hot commodity and The Synchronicity Tour was about to unfold. We listened to Sting's wise words, lyrics that seemed to be pulled from the pages of classic novels and Greek Mythology. We knew every word, every pause. Every beat. That summer I had a job as a member of the kitchen staff at the small camp in the Adirondack Mountains I had attended for years. The Police were headed to Montreal to perform at the Olympic Stadium. That summer my boyfriend Loren and our Canadian friend Eric had managed to get us tickets. We drove to Canada and stayed at Eric's house and toured the beautiful city of Quebec then headed to the concert that evening. The Police were amazing, mesmerizing, magnetic. I learned in very recent years that the boys had borrowed a car, but neither had a license! I'm not sure I would have gone with them had I known... I think that's why they kept that small piece of information from me! Imagine getting into Canada now without a license?
A year later I was preparing to head overseas to spend my Junior year abroad. I had packed the comforts from home as well as a bunch of music. The boom box had been replaced by the Sony Walkman. I remember finally getting one - a real walkman (as opposed to the Panasonic I had been using) from my father as a gift. I remember that it was barely the size of a cassette case and how crystal clear the music was. He gave me several tapes to listen to as well. Synchronicity and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA and Michael Jackson's Thriller were among them. I listened to Duran Duran endlessly because Loren had told me that I laughed like "Rio." I listened to those tapes nonstop as they served as constant, warm reminders of home as I was trying to settle in and acclimate to my new life overseas. I clung to this familiar music for comfort, and yet new music was beginning to make its way into my world.
We had MTV at home. We watched Blondie, The Flock of Seagulls, REO Speedwagon, The Cars, Phil Collins, David Bowie, The J Geils Band, Culture Club and all those who first broke on to the video scene... "Video killed the Radio Star." I was enamored with Belinda Carlyle of The GoGos. In the UK we had Top of the Pops, a bit less romantic and less sophisticated, it might have been the precursor to the many weekly music shows we now have. Through British radio and Top of the Pops I was to be introduced to all new sounds and lyrics. I was falling in love with Tears for Fears, Annie Lenox, OMD, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, The Thompson Twins, The Style Council and Sade, Adam Ant, Joan Armatrading and WHAM. What a wildly eclectic group of musicians. And while I haven't thought of many of them in years, there are still those I listen to on a regular basis. The soulful voices of Armatrading and Lenox... and when out of the blue a song from the 1980s fills the air waves a smile comes over me. Music has the power to evoke warm memories of fond places.
Even those quintessential breakup songs, with enough time passed, bring smiles to our faces. Because as we look back we don't think of the sadness and the tears, but the happy moments prior. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Phil Collins, The Police, REO Speedwagon, Styx and Air Supply were often listened to in those moments of teen distress...
Then off to college and music would take on a whole new meaning shaped by entirely new experiences and a whole set of friends who would have a tremendous impact and remain with me for the rest of my life. We couldn't get enough Bruce, Prince and Whitney. Steve Winwood, U2, Madonna, Terence Trent Darby, even Milli Vanilli would all play reference into our lives. Each artist, each song, evokes an incredibly indelibly marked point and time in my life.
When I left college to settle into a new and unsettling life in the "real world" I found new music. Hootie and the Blowfish, The Counting Crows, Melissa Ethridge, Nathalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs, Edwin McCain, Sheryl Crow, Jewell, and Nora Jones would bring out my introspective side. It was also during this time I was first introduced to country music. I met and fell in love with Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw. I bonded with Faith Hill and Tricia Yearwood, The Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain. It was during this time I went from young, naive and inexperienced college co-ed to marrying and having my first child. It was perhaps the decade of the greatest growth for me. I transitioned from being an inexperienced 20 year old to a confident and self assured 30 year old. I can recite every lyric from every song ever written by Nathalie Merchant and Garth Brooks. When I think of Hootie and the Blowfish I will forever remember a road trip (plus ferry ride) to Martha's Vineyard when I was not yet in my mid-20s and how Shaun and I sang to Hootie the whole ride up and the entire way back from Woods Hole, Massachusetts. I was so young and yet I didn't know it at the time. Oh to have those carefree days again! A year or two later I would lose a friend to a plane crash one foggy day on that same Island. The morning I learned of her passing James Taylor's Fire and Rain came on the radio. How fitting. The song took on a whole new meaning for me. I will forever think of Mandy when I hear it.
There is music that reminds me of the births of my three children, and songs that played prominently the summer I filed for divorce - moments both happy and sad. And those tunes will forever stop me in my tracks and force me to slow down and reflect. That's what music does. It can raise the little hairs on our backs and it can bring tears. Music is all powerful.
It's always on in my home and in my car. During the day when I am home and working I often have one of the many Music Choice stations on in the background. Or perhaps I'm listening to a special Pandora station. Yacht Radio is a fairly new introduction to me, a favorite of mine as it plays many of those iconic 80s tunes. The soft rock station on Music Choice does too. Through Alexa I have all my Amazon Prime stations streaming... I can listen to Cold Play or Imagine Dragons or Kenny Chesney or The Beatles by simply asking aloud for the station to be changed. Music has been, is and always be intertwined with my own life. I think for this reason alone we feel such a sense of loss each time a great musician passes. Because when they pass, so in a way, does a small part of us.


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Click below to refine your search. Find, for example: a winery (or restaurant, accommodation, tour or whatever you are interested in - under 'what'), wherever you want (under 'where'), open on any day you choose, producing e.g. shiraz, or organic, or with childrens' facilities, a cafe or al fresco dining (under 'with'). Then simply press 'advanced find' - it's easy to find the right experience just for you .
Crittenden Estate is a small family-owned wine estate near Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Crittenden's vineyard, which began life as ... read morePig In The House Organic Wine
Pig in the House Organic Wine is located in Billimari, about 20km from Cowra in the Central Ranges of NSW. The property was originally home to 20 free-range pigs ... read moreLakeside Villas at Crittenden Estate
Lakeside Villas at Crittenden Estate present the ultimate vineyard escape. Stylish villas built over the lake to give you the feeling of floating amongst the vines, ... read moreWobbly Boot Vineyard
Wobbly Boot Vineyard is a boutique vineyard located in the Coal River Valley region of Southern Tasmania »Mudgee's Huntington Estate - Doing it differently since 1969
Huntington Estate is one of Mudgee and NSW's most respected winegrowers »
Eloise Emmett's book Seafood Everyday has just won two national Gourmand World Cookbook Awards: one for Best Fish and Seafood Cookbook and and the other for Best Cookbook by a Woman Chef. Showcasing Tasmanian produce and scenery, the book brings seafood recipes for more economical species of fish along with special occasion dining. It's the must-have book for lovers of seafood, wherever you live »Oysteria from Australia's best chefs
The House of Oysters is filled with interesting, trivial, historical and delicious information on the Pacific oyster - specifically those raised in the cool waters surrounding Tasmania, where they reach oyster perfection.Enjoy a year-round Garlic Feast with Janice Sutton »
The word feast summons images of tables brimming with plates of magnificent food, beautifully presented and full of flavours. It's an apt title for Janice Sutton's beautiful book, Garlic Feast: delicious garlic-inspired recipes for the quintessential garlic lover »The Real Food for Kids Cookbook by Eloise Emmett »
Created and written by talented Tasman Peninsula Chef Eloise Emmett, co-author of The Bream Creek Farmers' Market Cookbook, The Real Food for Kids Cookbook is a unique cookbook designed for parents to share with their children »Out of the ashes: the Bream Creek Farmers Market – The Cook Book »
In addition to the beautiful photographs and mouthwatering recipes, there are two more compelling reasons to buy: the eloquent and moving introduction describing the community strength recovering from devastating bushfires, and that proceeds are reinvested into recovery, via the Bream Creek Farmers' Market and the Dunalley Primary School »
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The unprovable claim of superior member service
Many credit unions hang their reputation and their brand on a claim of superior member service. Not only is this not a significant marketplace differentiator, in my experience, it is not necessarily true.
My experience
I have 100% of my personal and business banking with one of Canada's 10 largest credit unions. On the personal side, I have been with this credit union for over a decade. On the professional side, I moved my business account within the last two years from one of the big five Canadian banks to my credit union. I felt strongly that if Currency was going to work only with credit unions that we should do our business banking with a credit union.
Reality check
Eryn Fraser, our Director of Finance, works two-and-half-days a week. This means that at least once every two weeks, I visit the credit union to do the banking. I have been into the branch more than 50 times in the last two years, yet the front-line staff still don't know my name. Even though they have a seven-figure CRM system, they don't even try to fake-know me.
After I have made a deposit or paid some bills, the conversation typically goes like this:
Tim says, "May I have my balance please?"
Jennifer or Terry says, "Are you a signer?"
Every 20 visits or so, throw me a bone with something like:
"Hey Tim, how's that credit union marketing thing going?"
Would that be so hard?
As I have made it abundantly clear on this blog, I have a personal connection with the credit union movement. Fundamentally, I don't like what huge banks stand for with their focus on driving shareholder profit above all else. However, the personal service that I received from my previous bank was actually superior to the service that I now receive from my credit union. A number of the bank tellers knew me by name and regularly asked me how my business was going and how my wife and kids where doing.
How can your credit union deliver on this superior service promise?
I have written a number of CU Branding 101 posts that describe in detail why your credit union needs to differentiate on more than service, but since so few credit unions are taking my advice, let's talk about this built-in credit union promise of superior service.
If your credit union is going to continue to proclaim that your people are your difference, your credit union needs to prove it. Everyday.
As your credit union grows, great service must be part of your organization's DNA. Great service must be a mandatory job requirement from every staff member. These simple steps would make a big difference to your members:
- Use members' names every chance you get. If your branch is small, your staff are probably already doing this. If your branch is big, use your CRM system to remind staff of the importance of taking a personal interest in members' lives.
- Educate your staff on the history of the credit union movement and the importance of superior member service. Your staff will respond—they want to believe in your organization and what it stands for.
- Respond to member communications pronto. This means e-mail and voicemail need to be returned within the hour.
- Answer your phone! This is simple, but so important.
- Acknowledge your members as they come in the door! You typically have a front desk with a greeter—have this person actually greet your members instead of avoiding eye contact!
Is my experience isolated? Is your credit union's service really superior?
P.S. I know Jennifer and Terry because they wear name tags. Maybe I should get one!