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Recent Tragedy Inspires Cameraman to Fund Heroic Story Through Kickstarter

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New York, NY (PRWEB) April 19, 2013

The TV pilot, titled “Westside Skate”, tells the gripping story of a 30+ plus member group of young boys in trouble and the “guardian angel”, heroic couple devoting their lives to saving them. Their hook? Skateboarding. The goal of the couple is to keep the boys off the streets, and away from the influences of the many violent, drug-fueled street gangs in the high-crime section of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many of the boys come from broken homes or environments where drugs and alcohol are a constant. This ragtag group of boys who call themselves “The Westside Boyz” is held together and mentored by Gabe and Christine Espinosa, the hero couple who work tirelessly to keep the boys occupied with skateboarding.

Mr. Meyer feels that the public is completely exhausted with the tidal wave of bad news lately and that it is a perfect time to tell this uplifting story of a couple that is completely selfless and giving. “There’s only so much bad news you take”, Mr. Meyer says, “and I’ve got a wonderful, touching story to tell.” Held back only by a lack of funds, Mr. Meyer now turns to Kickstarter.com to get the project off the ground.

John Meyer was first introduced to the story of this self-sacrificing couple nearly five years ago while working for another reality-based TV show. “As soon as I met Gabe and Christine, I knew they were special”, Mr. Meyer says, “I’ve never met two people so giving and so compassionate in my entire life.” Now, more than ever, Mr. Meyer is determined to tell this heartwarming story that, in his words, “deserves to be told”. Westside Skate has a classic theme. It’s a story of good versus evil. A hero couple conquering tragedy. The “hard-knocks” lives that the boys lead at home is softened by the abundant compassion they experience with Gabe and Christine.

Since money has been his only stumbling block, Mr. Meyer has turned to Kickstarter.com, an online “crowd-sourced” funding platform. Crowd-sourced funding is when a large number of people, referred to as “backers”, each pledge a relatively small amount of money towards a project in exchange for specific “rewards”. The rewards, in this case, might simply be a digital download or DVD copy of the eventual TV pilot episode of “Westside Skate”. However, Mr. Meyer has also tried to get very creative by offering a large variety of rewards from t-shirts, hats and DVD’s with the show’s logo to one-on-one personal experiences whereby a “backer” can meet the heroes Gabe and Christine as well as the Westside Boyz and can even be profiled as part of the show.

Mr. Meyer has found the Kickstarter process quite humbling. Kickstarter project creators are encouraged to post a video explaining their project and appealing directly to viewers as to why they should pledge money. “It’s definitely humbling looking right into the camera and asking for money.” Mr. Meyer says, “I’ve never really been comfortable being on camera……Just comfortable holding one!”

John Meyer has well over 20 years of experience as a cameraman and Director of Photography for some of the most popular shows on television. He has been instrumental in helping produce CBS’s “Undercover Boss”, ABC’s “Wifeswap”, TLC’s “Four Houses” and “Mindfreak” with Illusionist Criss Angel for A&E. Mr. Meyer and his company, MeyerMix Productions, is currently seeking to develop several new TV shows, including Westside Skate. He now seeks to utilize his unique talents, experience and contacts to bring this amazing story to life. More information can be found at http://www.westsideskate.tv or by viewing the Westside Skate project profile at the Kickstarter.com website.







BP Oil Spill – Crowd Sourcing to Find the Solution – Weeding Through the Suggestions

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Interestingly enough, there is something BP can do with all these suggestions, and it would be good to get out ahead of the negativity in the media and their trashing of BP’s Brand Name. Let’s face it there are nearly 50,000 wells in the Gulf of Mexico and it supplies almost 30% of our US oil – we can’t just turn it off.

Here is my suggestion to the challenge British Petroleum has when it comes to what to do with 1,000s and 1,000s of suggestion tips which have been coming in non-stop to its tip hotline. What BP needs to do is to borrow some help from the online community and use “Crowd Sourcing” techniques, those like DARPA recently used when it “Challenged” everyone to find the “Red Balloons” 10-of them which were scattered around the country. MIT found all ten, in an extremely short time.

This strategy makes sense for DARPA as it could someday be used for military purposes, such as it could be used to look at satellite photos of Iran to find anomalies, nuclear facilities. It also has potential space applications with NASA – finding locations on Mars that might have ice or water, potential landing sites, maybe even surveying galaxies to find similar exo-planets to Earth, which might contain life, etc.

What I am saying is that British Petroleum should post ALL of the suggestions online, put it out there, as it shows transparency and it is a good PR move too. Something Congress is afraid to do with the bills it passes. This will allow independent teams to work through those lists of suggestions and citizens to “rate” the ideas. Then teams can whittle all the ideas down, find duplicates, and see if the “wisdom of the crowd” prevails and finds consensus on various types of solutions.

Let’s help BP find the best ideas and when this is completed give out prizes to the winners.

The ideas that win, go ahead and give 5-scholarships to MIT, or a top engineering school. Perhaps, give $ 100,000 seed money for any innovative project that the team with the best idea, might like to do. Why not turn an unfortunate situation into a positive one. Rather than playing all the doom and gloom in the media with screaming environmentalists, or any mean-spirited person the media can drum up for a sound bite, we can make some progress on potential future solutions in case the present solutions don’t work out.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes oil is very important in America. http://www.oilchangeguys.com.

Patch of Land to Speak on Raising Capital for Real Estate Through Crowdfunding at Chicago Midwest Crowdfunding Conference

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Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 15, 2013

Brian Fritton, Co-Founder and COO of Los Angeles-based Patch of Land will discuss the mechanics of utilizing crowdfunding to raise capital for real estate investment projects. Topics will include criteria for a good property investment through crowdfunding, the best way to get your project funded quickly, and how to avoid regulatory compliance issues.

“I am excited to be speaking about the new opportunities available in real estate investment,” says Fritton. “The recent crowdfunding regulations provide unprecedented access to one of the most historically powerful asset classes.”

The event, called the “Midwest CrowdFunding Conference” will give insights into the world of crowdfunding for seasoned professionals and new entrepreneurs alike. Speakers include venture capital managers, securities professionals, marketing gurus and some of the most well known thought leaders in the crowdfunding industry. Held in Chicago, the conference takes place on Friday, November 15th, 2013. Fees range from $ 35 for the morning sessions to $ 140 for a full VIP event pass.

Register online at: http://www.midwestcrowdfunding.com/.

About Patch of Land

Founded in early 2013, Patch of Land is a pioneer in the emerging crowdfunding industry. Focused on identifying highly lucrative real estate investments, Patch of Land provides access to these opportunities through their online portal. Investors can choose individual properties to fund and diversify their funds across many different asset classes and risk profiles.

About Brian Fritton

Brian Fritton is a seasoned eCommerce expert who, as Patch of Land‘s VP of Platform & Operations, oversees the development of their in-house real estate crowdfunding platform and assures each Investor has a great experience through the full lifecycle of their involvement in each project. Brian brings together the two worlds of technology and real estate to create a secure, engaging, lucrative place for Investors interested in pre-screened opportunities. Unique to Patch of Land, Brian helps administer an internal fund which selectively pre-funds capital requested by partnered real estate operators, creating a better way for them to obtain capital and ensuring a conservative yet diverse portfolio for investors.







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Patrick Dempsey Joins The Peloton Project as Executive Producer; Actor to Executive Produce Documentary that Chronicles Cancer Journeys Through 2,500-Mile Bike Ride

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Lewiston, Maine (PRWEB) March 22, 2012

Actor Patrick Dempsey has signed on as Executive Producer of The Peloton Project, a documentary film that will follow the lives of nearly 40 cyclists as they prepare to take on this years Cancervive Peloton Project. The Cancervive Peloton Project, aimed at

ambassadorship of cancer survivors and awareness of their issues, is a 10-day bike ride that features a group of nearly 40 cyclists in pelotons of six, cycling relay style 24 hours a day. On October 2nd, the Peloton team will embark on a 2,500-mile journey from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Lewiston, Maine, where they will participate in the Dempsey Challenge, an annual

fundraising event for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing.

Woven throughout the teams journey across North America will be stories of cancer survivors, caregivers, and a young woman who has just been diagnosed. The Peloton Project Film will look closely at the people behind the cancer diagnoses to see what life is like for them before and after cancer and how they find strength to face the challenge ahead. The film will demonstrate the similarities in the journey of the cyclists and the journey of a cancer patient, all demonstrating a commitment to move forwardsometimes charging, sometimes crawling, but finding the strength to advance on the journey.

“I am very excited to be part of something that is so near to my heart: cancer support and cycling, said Dempsey. The Peloton Project will share a very important story with the world.”

Dempsey joins Director Ramsey Tripp, Owner of Trade-mark R Productions in Lewiston, Maine, and Producer, Laura Davis, Partner at Rinck Advertising in Auburn, Maine, as the team leading the charge for the film. Davis is a four-time cancer survivor and won the 2011 Amgen Breakaway from Cancer Survivor award for her involvement in community outreach and for demonstrating a passion for helping others with cancer.

For more information about the Peloton Project, and to get involved and contribute, please visit the following link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trademarkr/the-peloton-project-film. To schedule an interview with the films Director and/or Producer, please contact Ramsey Tripp by phone at 207-756-4515 or email to rt@trademarkr.tv or contact Laura Davis by phone at 207-755-9470 or email to laura@rinckadvertising.com.

About The Peloton Project Film

The Cancervive Peloton Project is an annual 9-day bike excursion from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which features a group of 30 riders in pelotons of six, cycling relay style 24 hours a day. The event is aimed at ambassadorship of cancer survivors and awareness of their issues. In 2012, the riders are leaving from Wellspring Calgary and will cycle to Lewiston, Maine to participate in The Dempsey Challenge weekend October 13-14, 2012. The Peloton Project Film is a documentary that will follow the lives of the participating cyclists. Woven throughout the teams journey across North America will be stories of cancer survivors, caregivers, and a young woman who has just been diagnosed. The Peloton Project Film will look closely at the people behind the cancer diagnoses to see what life is like for them before and after cancer and how they find strength to face the challenge ahead. For more information, please visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trademarkr/the-peloton-project-film.

About The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing

Founded in March, 2008, The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing strives to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities impacted by cancer by providing free support, education, integrative medicine, outreach and prevention. The Dempsey Center is an integral part of Central Maine Medical Center’s Comprehensive Cancer Center as well as affiliated clinics in Rumford, Bridgton and Brunswick, Maine. Philanthropic sources and The Dempsey Challenge fundraising event allow the Dempsey Center to provide vital cancer support services at no charge. For more information, please visit http://www.dempseycenter.org.

About The Dempsey Challenge

The Dempsey Challenge presented by Amgen is an annual run, walk and cycling fundraising event in Lewiston, Maine, which benefits The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. The two-day experience integrates the passion and support of those impacted by cancer with the hospitality of the community. The Dempsey Challenge provides a rewarding experience and unprecedented value to participants and partners. For more information, please visit http://www.dempseychallenge.org.

About The Cancervive Foundation of Alberta

The Cancervive Foundation of Alberta (Cancervive) is a non-profit organization established to raise awareness and support for Canadian Cancer Survivors and their families. Completely volunteer based, one hundred percent of all donated funds are directed to their benefactor and partner – the Wellspring network of cancer support centers. For more information, please visit http://www.cancervive.ca.

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Executive Leadership Training – Productivity Through Effective Delegation

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by wallyg

Article by Amy Groot

Executive Leadership Training – Productivity Through Effective Delegation – Business – Training

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Executive Leadership Training is in dire need of some fundamental approaches to increasing productivity . Most executive development today is high level and focuses on technical specialties or strategic planning, communications, marketing, etc. What is missing in most cases are fundamental skills and techniques to manage people more effectively. Delivering better project and assignment execution is the Core Competency most needed and often over-looked.

The essential executive skills for faster project execution and increased employee productivity are a result of “Soft Skills” such as delegation. Planning an important project or assignment, delegating the actions effectively and tracking progress to create “Velocity of Execution” for managing people to execute projects and assignments is the key. “Delegation” is the least emphasized and the most important of the soft-skills. Executives and successful managers are assumed to have proficiency in these soft-skills. Most have never received core skill development and have picked things up along the line. This leaves many with gaps in skill and technique that could add to their effectiveness if filled. But in reality this just doesn’t happen. A successful company should not leave soft-skill development to chance.Consider these questions; Where do you get this important leadership training and manager development? What are the key skills and techniques for effective delegation of work? How do you learn to avoid the pitfalls and obstacles to effective delegation? Why are these questions so important? It’s simple. Today’s business and industry organizations place a high value on Executives who can get results through effective time management of important projects and assignments.

Executive mastery of specific soft-skills such as communicating delegation assignments and “Visual Delegation” can have very important impact on effectiveness. Here is a list of just some of these skills and techniques;

1. Visual Delegation skills. 2. Simple, quick and effective assignment tracking 3. The What-When & How procedure.There are a number of related and unique soft-skills that are capable of very significant productivity gains. These skills and techniques and tools for effective delegation are covered in the Management By Delegation program. The lesson for companies and executive development is this; if your Company has a desire to improve the skill and performance of executives managing important projects and assignments through a team of people, need to take responsibility for providing the leadership training needed. Your executives and key managers can’t reach their full potential using the same skills they have today…it just won’t happen.

About the Author

FranklinCovey is a global leader in effectiveness training, productivity tools, leadership, productivity, time management , leadership training , executive leadership training , strategy execution, and assessment services for organizations and individuals. FranklinCovey helps companies achieve greatness by unleashing the power of their work forces to focus and execute on top business priorities. Clients include multinationals, mid-sized and small, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. Organizations and individuals access FranklinCovey products and services through corporate training and consulting, licensed client facilitators, one-on-one coaching, public workshops and http://www.franklincovey.com.au/

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Amy Groot


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Project Execution through Successful Leadership: How to Lead Like a Fighter Pilot

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Article by James D. Murphy

Practicing successful leadership seems fairly simple – one acquires the positional authority to lead, and does so by influencing or guiding others. But too often, “leaders” assume that just because they’ve achieved total project execution under their guidance that they deserve the title. To be sure, leadership is a concept measured by benchmarked success and achievements, but it is also a long-term manifestation of your actions and influence upon others. While innate values and personal characteristics lend themselves heavily toward the development of a leader, these traits do not primarily form the core of a true leader.

In military aviation, fighter pilots work within a high-risk environment where there is zero tolerance for error in project execution, or better said mission accomplishment. The occupational health and safety of the pilots in the cockpit and ground crew rely upon a commitment to excellence and full communication throughout all levels of an operation. It is through successful leadership that the field of military aviation experiences one of the lowest error rates in any high-risk operation. Leadership throughout all levels not only communicates with and trains team members through a planning and debriefing process, but they also follow through with precision during project execution, and then work to identify improvements or root causes of error during a debriefing. When you are engaged throughout an operation, inspire others to improve upon their own actions, and exhibit behaviors that others deem valuable and seek to emulate, you are acting in a manner that defines true leadership.

Leadership is a Function of Your Behavior

Leadership by example is the most effective component of becoming a true leader. While the principles of business management are successful for directing a team toward a projected goal, ‘direction’ is not entirely the end-goal of true leadership initiatives. Successful leadership is about inspiration, and providing others with the ideas and tools necessary for crafting one’s own path to success – not merely prescribing a list of steps to follow and check off for one-off project execution. When considering the differences between leadership and management, it is important to note that successful leadership is evidenced by the provision of a transparent framework based upon good communication and full collaboration. In this way, each member of a team stays on the same page throughout an initiative and all participants reach a common goal.

A process of planning and debriefing is an essential action exhibited by leaders. When a leader fully communicates a plan of action and methods to execute this action to his or her team members, the group is prepared for success in a project. Execution through planning only covers the foreseeable obstacles, however, and leaders must additionally address contingencies. Essentially, successful leadership is not about micromanaging and assigning tasks for estimated results – it is about equipping a team with the focus and support necessary to flawlessly execute a task.

Indicators of Successful Leadership

Leadership is something developed over many years, through direct experience with a team and success in guiding individuals through a full-term mission, problem, or project execution. Again, indicators of successful leadership begin by examining one’s own personal actions. Are you exhibiting behaviors that others deem valuable and want to emulate? Strong teams are built upon trust, and leadership is dependent upon displaying forthrightness and is maintained with actions and words.

Additionally, setting the example is a key component of one’s leadership skills. Are you yourself successful in production and accomplishment, and do people tend to follow your example of being punctual and precise? Does project execution run flawlessly under your guidance, and does your team trust your decisions? Do you embody the qualities that you would want in a leader? The “Golden Rule” also applies when assuming the role of a leader – always lead others as you would want to be led by someone else. Drawing again upon the introductory thought to this article – many “leaders” think they are deserving of that title simply because they guide people to an end goal. Even if a project was flawlessly executed, it is not only the end result that defines the critical aspects of leadership; it is the thoughts and actions one employs in order to communicate with a team, identify and prepare critical actions, and execute through communication and teamwork.

Overall, leadership is more than just a word or a title. It is more than achieving a goal and calling yourself a “leader”. It is instead the long-term ability to encompass all of these elements: being engaged with your thoughts and actions, performing in a manner that encourages others to emulate your behavior, and inspiring others to improve upon their own actions.

James D. Murphy, the founder and CEO of Afterburner, Inc., has a unique, powerful mix of leadership skills in both the military and business worlds. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, Murphy joined the U.S. Air Force where he learned to fly the F-15. He has logged over 1,200 hours as an instructor pilot in the F-15 and has accumulated over 3,200 hours of flight time in other high-performance jet aircraft and has flown missions to Central America, Asia, Central Europe and the Middle East. As Afterburner’s leadership keynote speaker, Murphy has helped top business leaders transform strategy into action. Realizing that the concepts of the Flawless Execution(SM) model could be applied to business process improvement, he engaged the proven model – “Plan. Brief. Execute. Debrief.” Through his leadership, Afterburner has landed on Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 500 List” twice. Murphy has been regularly featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Newsweek. For more information on Afterburner, Inc., please visit www.afterburner.com.










CSU Fresno Craig School of Business eMBA 215 ETHICAL AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT IN BUSINESS Professor Ida M. Jones Textbook: Managers and the Legal Environment – Strategies for the 21st Century – Authors Bagley and Savage (chapter 21) executive-compensation.pbwiki.com // created at animoto.com

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Motivation through Faith quotes

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by AsGood

Faith quotes are the best source of learning when it comes to life. Such quotes can provide inspiration and direction when things are not going the way as desired. Faith quotes provide a way to uplift the spirits and enter hope. When people are distressed or feeling down they can be cheered and relaxed through reading faith quotes.

Quotes are words of wisdom that are to be shared with other people. Faith quotes can help people to get the motivation they require. It also provides a stance to take the challenges in life bravely and positively. They are specially designed to boost the strength within people. People can get a lot of encouragement through faith quotes. Some of the known faith quotes that can help in achieving the desired level of motivations include the following.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow

This is a famous faith quote by Albert Einstein and is used by many motivational speakers.

The ability to gain hope for things to get better if they are not today is important to keep one’s self going. Faith quotes like these truly provide a notion to start over and wait for other opportunities in life to come if some did not work out.

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to

This is also an example of a motivational faith quote which is also somewhat witty in nature by George Seaton. Faith is something from within and can make the impossible possible. Faith quotes like teach about believing in things that people want to do but are affected by negativity around them.

The idea is to apply persistency in an action to achieve things that are hard to get. Such faith quotes are ideal for encouraging people specially in motivational therapies.

Reason is our soul’s left hand, faith her right

This famous quote is by John Donne. Combining reason with faith gives a more strategic approach to take challenges in life. Faith quotes like these are pointed towards people who are always looking for reasons to do things. There are things in life that are done out of belief in them. Belief with reasons is backbones to success. Such types of faith quotes are inspiring in professional world when people want to make decisions using sound logic. Finding a balance between reason and faith is the way to go.

There are many faith quotes that provide inspiration and encouragement for people who want to learn more out of life. Keeping spirits high in life is important to keep going. Faith quotes are helpful in the sense that they are narrated by wise people who are already influential in their sayings and actions. Words by such people can provide the power to uplift spirits and make decisions.

Meaningful faith quotes can be use every day in life. One can always find a motivational faith quote according to the occasion if a slight push is needed to step ahead in life.

Faith quotes can help people to get the motivation they require. It also provides a stance to take the challenges in life bravely and positively.

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