Hailing from New Jersey, Nicholas Bredimus studied the spheres of hospitality, airlines, and software and forever changed these trades. This renaissance man has worked in a number of areas, from the designer home design sector through an advancement of air safety and software programs to save time and resources. His heritage reveals everything you might want to know about the source of his talents and how much he has done. Coming together from many nationalities, his family can be traced to the time of ancient Rome, with the maternal side primarily German and Scottish. The paternal line, however, has its roots in Luxembourg and England, from where his forebears eventually came to America toward the end of the 19th century.
After arriving in the United States of America, the line still worked hard to rise in the world. Nicholas, along with his sisters and brothers, was born to a father employed as a mechanical design engineer and a mother who worked as a practicing nurse. He would make his home in Texas for a while as well as in Reston, VA, Scottsdale, AZ and Kansas City, MO. Once his education had been completed, Nicholas Bredimus found himself engaged in several high powered jobs with many of the most popular and strongest airline companies. Among these was included the vp position for Trans World Airlines (TWA), Hughes Airwest, and even Republic Airlines. A dedicated software designer, his creative work with airline software is arguably his best regarded contribution to the industry. His outstanding innovations in the field of airplane maintenance management programs, now put to use throughout the airline sector though originally produced for one specific firm, ultimately resulted in what is still his best known program. He turned his attention next to recording and taking reservations. For both hotels and air travel he pioneered software to offload most of the work required before this approach. He also designed QuikTix, an automated ticketing network.
Nicholas Bredimus has taken on several roles entirely outside of software development, it should be mentioned. With his own company, overseeing IT for American Express, and as the first president of an American Airlines division his performance speaks for itself.
Having stepped back from the businesses that first gave him success, his capabilities are, regardless, still very much in use. He’s at work now at the forefront of building design - blending the requirements of comfort with honest concern for our environment.
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was set up by Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts in 1976 with some support from the First Chicago Corporation. Pushing beyond, in a drive to make their acquisitions greener, KKR have launched an exceptional venture which has entirely transformed the method by which business concerns and environmental agencies carry on their day-to-day business. Environmentally aware business processes became more generally accepted last year when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. Critical green issues like air pollution and extravagant water consumption are an all-important part of their corporate mission statement.
To accomplish this, they deploy a method known as eco-efficiency which makes use of concepts such as recycling programs, reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals, and fuel economy. Although the project was a huge success, no-one realized how incredible the consequences truly were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the program and global public affairs, studied the first year’s profits.
Only at that point did Ken find out that the program was not only protecting the environment, but in addition it was saving companies a significant sum of money, making the program almost an immediate success. Up to now, KKR and Ken Mehlman have well-nigh every associated business participating in eco-efficiency. Still, when you consider that the group has a 2009 business portfolio worth 86,000,000,000 dollars, you may be sure this wasn’t an easy feat. The initial Green Portfolio project now includes new enterprises. The Climate Corps Program administrated by the EDF is an example of this, it advances cost-effective, earth friendly practices to MBA interns. KKR and Ken Mehlman have taken the time to formulate metrics that have the ability to evaluate and administer resources. This type of information is important as any type of business may easily evaluate their day-to-day activities and identify precisely how any issues may be resolved while at the same time allowing them to discover their environmental impact.
Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are innovators when it comes ecologically friendly business techniques. Their developments have set a benchmark for businesses in any sector and established that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.
Are you familiar with Trilegiant? When you look at its field, the oversight of subscription programs, they’re among the best known in America. The firm and Mr Nathaniel Lipman, its President, work with a great many service names including major retail, dental, travel, entertainment, and similar businesses to benefit the consumer’s retail experience.
Trilegiant and Nathaniel Lipman are scarcely unknown to the field. Emerging from Norwalk, Connecticut, Trilegiant began trading more than thirty five years ago and has grown until it boasts initiatives in a full six states, eight major sites, and roughly 3000 well trained staff members. At this moment, they offer assistance to upwards of twenty-five million customers spread across North America.
The renown of Mr Lipman’s company comes from risk free packages, enabling clients to save money and obtain excellent quality products and services. Projects like Buyers Advantage, to take one example, give subscribers cheap long term warranties, return guarantee protection, and repair cost protection to ensure assets are safe and secure. There are other programs on offer including HealthSaver — which offers inexpensive quality healthcare — just to take a single example.
Giving back to the entire populace is a desire of Nathaniel Lipman and his workers. As an example, during 2005 forty members of staff worked together and earned in excess of thirty thousand dollars in donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. And believe it or not, it took them only 5 days to achieve!
They also aim to be of service via research. As you’re aware, each year public companies in association with the government of the United States put together a remarkable profusion of statistical data. Trilegiant studies this research with diligence to isolate issues and then considers ways of improving them. As an example, the number of car accidents in the U.S.A. in any given year is several million.
How do you cut down your chances of becoming included in these unpleasant numbers? Two years ago, the discount company Autovantage commenced distributing yearly road rage surveys. To help you stay safe, the useful tips contained within are calculated to increase your awareness.
And there you have it; Trilegiant, a wonderful exemplar of a company which takes into account how crucial the health of its community truly is. Their full range of initiatives improve the purchasing experience for subscribers, and their hard work for important goals and the efforts to educate the population on vital subjects means Trilegiant gives back to the world in which it is based. To sum up, they are an ideal community-minded business.
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was established in the mid seventies and back then their focus was in highly leveraged transactions. But they have established an exceptional enterprise that concentrates not simply on how lucrative an enterprise is, but also on the environmental impact of the companies they control. Green business procedures became more generally adopted a year ago when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. These companies intended to tackle some critical green issues, for example toxic emissions, hazardous waste, egregious consumption of water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Eco-efficiency (the phrase was first advertised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) is the routine used to achieve these objectives, employing ecologically sustainable techniques such as reducing the intensity of materials, improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance and increasing the durability of products. Even though the program was an enormous success, no-one realized how fantastic the effects really were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the project and global public affairs, reviewed the first year’s profits.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Ken saw that this program not only increased environmental responsibility, but also increased the the net profit from all their business organizations as well. These days, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have well-nigh all of their companies engaged in the project. Nevertheless, when you consider that the group has a current business portfolio estimated at eighty-six billion dollars, you may be certain this was not a simple accomplishment. The original project has grown far beyond its original remit and these days includes new opportunities. To illustrate, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co joined the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program a venture that instructs interns taking an MBA how to introduce cost effective, ecologically friendly techniques.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to develop a variety of analytical tools and other related products which administer resources. Products such as these let employees to measure their progress and discover any practices that may need improvement. Today’s business world has been transformed by the efforts of these people. These innovations have made going green less problematic for businesses in every industry and demonstrated that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.
Here in brief, is the success story of Stephen A. Schwarzman. Recently Steve was ranked fifty three on Forbes’ list of the most wealthy people in the United States, however it is his significant rise to power in the finance world as well as his contributions to the arts which make this story intriguing. This Blackstone Group magnate is a singular role model and further proof that wealth can be gained by working hard and being really dedicated to your career. In the eighties Steve and his business partner Peter Peterson set up their firm providing financial advice to the American investment community. These days the Blackstone Group is a household name engaging in investments as diversified as e.g. Universal Studios Parks and the Hilton Hotels Group.
Steve grew up in surburban Philadelphia. He graduated from Abington Senior High School; his next step was to receive his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1969. Harvard Business School was the very next stop on his pathway to success, here he graduated in 1972. Then Steve joined at Lehman Brothers investment bank, situated in New York. By his thirty-second birthday he was already on the board of directors. Steve Schwarzman donates to a diversity of educational programs as well as consulting as an ancillary professor at the prestigious Yale School of Management. What’s more, he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in New York. In addition, Steve recently gifted to the New York Public Library $100 million to support their recent building program. He also serves them as a trustee. As you’d expect Stephen A. Schwarzman has become part of America’s elite - Times Magazine recently listed Stephen A. Schwarzman as one of the one hundred most influential individuals alive today. His meteoric rise to power in the financial world is certainly spectacular, not to mention the fact that his unceasing support of music and the arts has encouraged the business world generally. It would seem that at the moment, Steve has it all. Stephen A. Schwarzman is undoubtedly a fascinating business person who has made his mark on the USA and the business community worldwide.
You’ll most likely have come across Mr. Naveen Jain as the co-founder & CEO of Intelius, Inc. the predictive intelligence company. Well beyond having made the Forbes 400 Richest in America list in 2000, this maverick entrepreneur has been given a range of notable awards including the WSA Industry Achievement Award, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. But it definitely does not finish there. Because Naveen Jain and his family are every bit as passionate about philanthropy and will endeavor to help needy people whenever they are able to. The young of today are indisputably our best aspiration or the future. They are moreover a central motivation for this entrepreneur and he uses every occasion available to support them. This is the main reason why he is always meticulously leveraging every opening available to him to offer help whenever it seems possible. Hence, Naveen Jain, his relations and the employees at Intelius, Inc. apply their time to a variety of charities for example TreeHouse, United Way, and the University of Washington. Of course they will assign significant material assistance, but most importantly, they dedicate a lot of time and attention to those children who require it the most. Moreover, Mr. Jain helps the Children’s Hospital, dedicated to advancing children’s health too. Because Jain is a former student of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it is hardly astonishing that education also constitutes a crucial pivot point in his benevolent activities. This also encompasses movements and voluntary organizations that can range from neighborhood programs to the global. Thus Intelius and its CEO are helping aid agencies and charities like the University Preparatory Academy, the Children’s Hospital and Hopelink.
Providing for the planet’s famished is yet another great responsibility for Naveen Jain and his family and it is of no interest at all to him whether it is a kid in Houston or Bangkok, or an old destitute woman in Colombia or Somalia in need of support. While Naveen is highly cognizant that the objective of feeding every starving mouth in the world can appear to be an insurmountable task, he is also aware that the unachievable can really be accomplished if each person exerts themselves towards a unified end. If this CEO obtains his objectives, the final curtain will certainly come down on famine and poverty everywhere in the future. As an observer one might be pardoned for assuming that being the man in fully responsible for a successful market leading company in addition to being a dedicated spouse and father would afford him no spare leeway for altruism and aiding his fellow men. Regardless Naveen makes certain that each and every one of his philanthropic projects is given as much assistance as he can conceivably muster. This untiringly visionary businessman is positively much more than merely a business trailblazer. He is actually an exceptional individual and a true community benefactor.
There is a decidedly positive vogue currently developing, no matter that most people may not have heard of it. Most truly outstanding business leaders are constructive community members and this gentleman is certainly no exception, on the contrary. You have most likely seen Mr. Naveen Jain’s name as being the CEO & co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the acclaimed information commerce company. As well as having his position on the Forbes 400 Richest in America list 2000, this enterprising business leader has been bestowed several prestigious awards including the WSA Industry Achievement Award, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Nonetheless it certainly does not finish off at that point. For Mr. Jain and his family are every bit as impassioned about philanthropy and will seek to help out wherever possible. Our young generation are definitely humanity’s most precious resource. They are moreover a main inspiration for this entrepreneur and he leverages every opportunity available to support them. This obviously, is why he is so meticulously exploiting every possibility he can to lend a helping hand whenever it is even remotely possible. Therefore, Naveen Jain, his relatives and his workers at Intelius devote their time and efforts to philanthropical entities such as the Vedic Cultural Center, the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, and the Rotary Club. Of course they offer ample material assistance but most importantly they pledge premium time and attention to those youth who require it the most. What’s more, he supports the Children’s Hospital striving to elevate child health. Seeing that Jain is a former student of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it is not at all surprising that education is also a critical focus in his charitable activities. This incorporates deserving causes and deserving causes local, state, and nationwide. Therefore, Intelius and its CEO are actively backing charitable institutions and organizations such as the Indian American Education Foundation, the Overlake Service League and United Way. Feeding the world’s starving represents an equally important litmus test to Naveen Jain and his folks and to him, it makes not one speck of difference. While Naveen is highly conscious that the goal of feeding every starving mouth in the world can appear to be an overwhelming task, he also recognizes that the unattainable can indubitably become attainable if the whole world works together. If this CEO really gets his way, there will be a definite conclusion to poverty and starvation everywhere some day. You may imagine that functioning as the man in full control of a highly flourishing company and a dedicated husband and father would leave little or no scope for volunteering and support. Regardless Naveen sees to it that every one of his beneficent endeavors is given all the assistance he can possibly marshal. This indefatigably energetic businessman is undoubtedly way more than merely any ordinary business trailblazer. He is, beyond that, an exceptional personality and a real community hero.
Please allow me to start off and say that I am very happy to run PHP software on my computer. Specifically, the bulletin boards developed by PHPBB2 [an open source program] works head and shoulders above the EZBoard system I gave up on several months earlier. Still, it has its own special challenges that only a regular user or administrator can appreciate. If you are considering starting your own message board community please read on for some homespun advice on how to make PHPBB2 work best for you.
On Memorial Day 2005 I had a rude awakening. Although a national holiday here in the U.S. I was taking advantage of that day to catch up on some much needed behind the scenes work. You see, when you work for yourself a holiday just isn’t the same thing. It ends up being a day where your phone isn’t likely to ring all that much, thereby making it a better opportunity to catch up on all the little niggling details of operating a business, like paying bills and bookkeeping. Okay, I digress.
What happened on that special day was the total overthrow of the EZBoard message board system. Hackers, so EZBoard claimed, infiltrated their entire system and brought down the house. Literally overnight thousands of boards were affected and compromised. Now for the rub: forum managers, myself included, had no power to back up their sites. Thus, what was lost was likely lost for good or would take many weeks to restore from pasted together backups. We depended on EZBoard for our back ups and when their system failed we all suffered.
So then the decision was made for me. I downloaded PHPBB2 software a few days later and immediately went to work.
As open source programs go the PHPBB2 software was free and the instructions were quite good. Fortunately for me the two sites that I planned to set up, the Aviation Employment Board and the Corporate Flight Attendant Community, already had separate web pages hosted with a company that could support a database. This particular MySQL database would essentially power the site and house important stuff including all the member information.
Fortunately those who have been working on building, maintaining, and promoting PHPBB have a copious amount of detailed information accessible right online and available for viewing and/or downloading. Personally, the biggest help to me were the excellently made Flash videos that helped walk me through the installation process. Without them in place, I doubt I would have figured it all out. Truly, in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words each!
In addition to the software itself, PHPBB2 also offers a separate file to help speed the process conversion process from EZBoard to PHPBB2. This EZBoard converter takes messages from the old board and transfers them to the new board. Unfortunately, it was only partially successful which could have been due to the hacked nature of the EZBoard site. Still, what I was able to move over was helpful, but it did not include member files as that bit of necessary information was under EZBoard’s lock and key.
By the time I downloaded everything, followed all the instructions, converted what I could from EZBoard, laid out the new site, and made some additional design changes, approximately eight hours had flown past. At the end of that time a useful and functioning board was in place. The next day I contacted all my current EZBoard members and told them about the switch and put notices on the old site about the change. Most of my members were very understanding as they realized that the switch had to be made.
Without exception PHPBB2 has been a big improvement. Still, it could use some refining and, happily, many of those refinements are routinely accomplished within regular updates of the software or via preselected “mods” that a forum manager can select.
Without belaboring the point here are some things that I have observed about PHPBB2 that are helpful to know about before going with the software:
Limited Support There is a lot of information right online to read and there are forums moderated by volunteers. At the same time the moderators are stretched very thin and sometimes their responses border on the irritated. Of course, that could have something to do with all the N00B questions, many of which are answered somewhere on the site. My recommendation is that you spend plenty of time reading before posting a question. Study the forum for similar questions asked and answers given.
Difficult Updates Get on the forum managers mailing list to ensure that you receive notification of each update as they are made. Some updates are simple while others are more difficult. If you make any modifications to your site then only a “patch” update is necessary while everyone else will select “changed files only.” If you select “changed files only” and you have some mods installed, you risk losing all of your mods. Let’s just say that already has happened to me once!
AOL Quirks Some members have difficulty signing up, especially AOL account holders. It seems to be that the confirmation code doesn’t always show up when members register [you don’t need to have it enabled, but it does put a halt to rogue registrants] and sometimes AOL users get booted when logged on. A little thing called “sessions” monitors everyone’s visits by examining their I.P. address for a match. Of course, AOL scrambles I.P. addresses mid-session, a reason for much of the booting. The fix involved from a PHPBB2 standpoint is not recommended as it puts you at risk for security breaches. Quite frankly, I have urged some members to leave AOL especially if they can’t work around it on their end.
Back Ups The administration panel is simple to use, but back ups don’t always work. Errors messages prevail; therefore backing up through your web host is another option. Speaking of the administration panel, you can select whether members can email each other [not a good thing to have enabled], how long their signature can be, enable automatic pruning of posts, and lots more. Indeed, the features offered by PHPBB2 far exceed the limitations that are inherent with EZBoard.
There are alternative forums to PHPBB2 and one popular one is another PHP program called vBulletin. vBulletin utilizes excellent forum software that takes off where PHPBB2 leaves off. Many of the modifications that are not part of PHPBB2 are standard with vBulletin, therefore removing some of the behind the scenes tasks that a webmaster must do with PHPBB2 in order to customize his site.
So, why not go with vBulletin? For many it is simply the cost. With vBulletin, you can lease a license for $85 for one year or buy a license for $160. Access to updates after the first year costs another $30 per year while custom support can run from $30 for one month up to $300 for one year. Thus, if you have a small forum that makes little or no money, and you need extra special assistance, than vBulletin can be a big expense to carry. Other paid forums have similar expenses, but there are some free ones out there. For the record, EZBoard isn’t free, although the start up cost is very low. However, your renewal fee is calculated on the amount of bandwidth used in the most recent thirty day period and for some forum managers that amount could easily be several hundreds to well over one thousand dollars!
So then, why go with PHPBB2? Well, language packs to name a big reason. Besides English forums, an additional 59 languages are supported by this open source code! From Afrikaans to Vietnamese, Arabic to Russian, and from French to German, PHPBB2 is available in many native languages. For people of very limited means this has become an excellent way to communicate for no capital outlay. One gets the sense that PHPBB2 is very proud of this fact and I must admit that I am too!
As I write this I am in the midst of updating my two sites to the latest release. Because it is near the Christmas season I am also looking at several themed templates for my flight attendant site and have selected a “Merry Christmas” board replete with drifting down snowflakes. This template, which looks so professionally done, is free as well.
I plan on sticking with PHPBB2, quirks and all, by continuing to support our growing community of forum managers worldwide. Each of us, in our own way, has helped to shape this all important piece of open source software. It certainly isn’t perfect, but it definitely has been a lot of fun and has helped me to increase my knowledge as well as to appreciate the whole open source movement.
Copyright 2005 — Matt Keegan invites you to visit his two open source message boards, the Aviation Employment Board and the Corporate Flight Attendant Community for first hand examples of forums built utilizing PHPBB2.
First of all I would like to start this article by saying no matter what job you are in now, no matter what product you are selling, you will NEVER NEVER get the just reward that you are were entitled too when you made all those sales for your boss. Fact of Life. Your job is to make your boss wealthy, period.
When you reach your target, your target will go up, will your salary?, will your commissions? In an ideal world yes, but we don’t live in an ideal world, we live in a world ruled by our peers where the little guy is always at the bottom of the food chain. You get stuck in a rut, traveling salesman selling what you can and as you feel your livelihood depends on it. As time goes by, you start to stop asking for that raise, stop asking for your deserving commissions. You start thinking to yourself, there’s got to be something better than this. There is!
Its not perfect but starting up your own network marketing home based business can lead you to financial freedom, something that your boss will never be able to do. I mentioned it’s not perfect due to the time it takes to build a full time income. Basically by joining an affiliate program, you become an independent agent for this company. If you sell any of their products, they will pay you a commission.
Over time, the people you bring into the company, will become your downline and will work with you in achieving financial freedom. Basically you also will earn a commission when your downline makes a sale. This type of business is so much better than a conventional sales job as there usually is no capping on your earning potential. There always is with your job maybe never in theory but always in practice. Also you work for yourself, you pay your own taxes, and you can be anywhere in the world with this type of business as all business can be done online.
The only downside that I can see is what I mentioned earlier that it takes time to build residual income. Also, theoretically, you are still solely depending on the marketing company for your income. Basically if the marketing company sells lots of products year by year, you should do very well, but if the marketing company has poor products, you might have to wait a little longer than you originally thought for that residual income to kick in.
Also at times marketing companies change their compensation plans. Compensation plans are basically commission structures (how the marketing company pays you your commissions).These in my opinion should stay the same as this is what brought the affiliate into the company in the first place. It’s a good idea to find out how many time the comp plan was changed before signing up for a company. These are things to look for when choosing your marketing company.
All in all the positives in every respect outweigh the negatives in relation to network marketing. If you’re sick of selling for your boss but are a born seller, pick a network marketing company, with products you would like to sell and go for it today!
Author Jack Foley works from home in Ireland
For more articles and information about Jack’s home business, visit Jack’s website:
http://www.residual-income-home-based-business.com/
Copyright © Jack Foley
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