Cool Example Business Plan images

Some cool example business plan images:

Charleston, Meeting Street

Image by hdes.copeland
Charleston, SC. Market Hall as seen in this 1865 photograph which is from the Library of Congress archives. One half of a stereoscopic view.

Market Hall located at the head of the public market was constructed in 1841, generally of what was then the new Greek Revival style. It was an important public building for the neighborhood and a statement of civic support for the future when it was built just after a devastating fire in 1838. The same fire had destroyed much of the Ansonborough and central business district to the north and west, taking with it the newly constructed Charleston Hotel. That too was immediately rebuilt according to the original plans.

Greek revival was the theme for many of the new buildings, though strictly speaking, the Market Hall followed a more Roman example since it was built on a raised basement. True classical Greek temples were not typically raised but constructed on grade. The Romans borrowed much of the Greek style, but introduced the ideas of raising them still higher and employing arches in the process.

Charleston's Market Hall was used as a meeting place for civic committees and commissions, including the city government's Public Market Commission. In some smaller market towns, the Market Hall could also double as a court room for state judges who road circuit to preside over cases to be heard locally. The Market Hall in Cheraw for the Chesterfield District, now County, was such an example. Later permanent courthouses served as more permanent homes for the local courts.

In Charleston, this Market Hall was never needed to house judicial proceedings, but it did serve as a recruiting station for enlisting volunteers for at least one war. For most of its nearly 170 year history, the lower level has continued as a functioning part of the city's longest serving open air public market. The upper level or enclosed hall has housed the collections of the United Daughters of the Confederacy as a museum containing many unique relics of the Southern Secession movement, the Confederacy and the Civil War that followed.

The street paving is cobblestones laid with the heavy flat ends up which provided a remarkably smooth surface. This understanding of the stone mason's technique was forgotten as the cobblestone streets were replaced with brick and later asphalt. The crosswalks for pedestrians were flat sheets of thick Welch slate. A similar misunderstanding has resulted when modern street designers working in historic districts such as this one replace asphalt crosswalks with brick or cobblestones. Slate, now called blue stone, is produced in sheets too thin to withstand heavy traffic.

With a misplaced temptation to make everything look old and historic, modern paving materials are being replaced with what are erroneously thought to be more accurate traditional materials. The errors come when the materials are poorly designed and selected for the wrong reasons, mostly appearances only. Maintenance problems are compounded when the materials are poorly installed by contractors who, for the most part, lack the experience, skill and training that stone masons had with the original installations. Sometimes modern materials may be a better choice, particularly when the health and safety of pedestrians are to be considered.

Now pedestrians in the historic city often trip over poorly laid or shifting stones designed more for appearances than function. It would be far more logical to pave sidewalks and crosswalks in asphalt and restore streets to cobblestones. At least the vehicles would have to slow down and the pedestrians would know where to walk without having to watch for obstacles under every step.

The three to four story building seen on the right in this photo was damaged and torn down after the earthquake of 1886. It has been the site of a surface parking lot for more than 5 decades. Current zoning codes designed to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood, with some irony, would very likely prevent a building as tall as this one from being constructed on the site. Market Hall, as prominent a landmark as it was and remains, was historically dwarfed by most of the buildings that surrounded it. Only the market sheds, seen to the rear of Market Hall, were lower in height.

Knowing the details and how they made a city work more efficiently is a key element to understanding both historic preservation and modern urban planning.

Charleston, SC. Photo taken by Union military photographer sometime after city's official surrender in 1865

Photo and text posted: 17 November 2010
Revised: 28 November 2010
Copyright references: Library of Congress, LOC; image is believed to be in public domain

Barbara Pill - Brevard County Deputy Sheriff (March 2012) ...item 4.. THE MOODY BLUES -- Seventh Sojourn -- 1972 (For My Lady - 09:55 timeline) ...

Image by marsmet471
Pill, 52, died Tuesday in a blur of events that left her colleagues and the community in shock. Pill was shot multiple times after pulling over a vehicle occupied by suspects in the robbery of items from a local motel. The shooting during the stop in Melbourne was captured by a dashboard-mounted camera in Pill’s police car.
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........***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ........
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... message header for item 3.

He (Brandon Bradley, 22) is scheduled to appear in court July 11 for a hearing to discuss issues involving his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Randy Moore. Bradley sent two letters to judge Reinman early this month asking for a new attorney, writing that he felt Moore was too busy and showed “lack of effort.” He also claimed jail staff were trying to poison him and nurses weren't caring for him.
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.....item 1) ... FLORIDA TODAY ... www.floridatoday.com ... After the grief, police learn from tragedies
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img code photo ... Sheriff Jack Parker

cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&...

Sheriff Jack Parker described Deputy Barbara Ann Pill as one of the finest in his department. FLORIDA TODAY file
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Written by
Dave Berman
FLORIDA TODAY

FILED UNDER
News
Local News

Review of shooting will be difficult but needed, officers say
4:25 PM, Mar. 10, 2012

www.floridatoday.com/article/20120311/NEWS01/303110014/Af...|topnews|img|Home


The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is grieving the loss of one of its own this week.

But soon, the agency’s leaders will have to take on another difficult task: Reviewing the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the shooting death of a deputy to see if there are lessons to learn that can keep other law enforcement officers safer in the future.

The shooting death of Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Barbara Ann Pill could provide valuable insight that will help in the training of police officers, both in Brevard County and elsewhere, law enforcement experts say. That’s the case in every line-of-duty death.

Pill, 52, died Tuesday in a blur of events that left her colleagues and the community in shock. Pill was shot multiple times after pulling over a vehicle occupied by suspects in the robbery of items from a local motel. The shooting during the stop in Melbourne was captured by a dashboard-mounted camera in Pill’s police car.
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-----What the arrest warrant says happened Tuesday

According to the allegations in an arrest warrant in the case, Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Barbara Ann Pill at about 11 a.m. Tuesday “initiated a traffic stop on a suspect white SUV vehicle driven by Brandon Lee Bradley with passenger Andria Michelle Kerchner in the area of John Rodes Boulevard and Elena Way, Melbourne.”

“Deputy Pill ordered the driver out of the vehicle. Bradley refused to exit the vehicle. At one point, the vehicle proceeded to slowly drive away. Deputy Pill then approached the vehicle on foot. Deputy Pill continued to order Bradley out of the vehicle.”

“At this point, Deputy Pill was standing in the area of the open driver’s door of the vehicle. While verbally attempting to have Bradley exit the vehicle, Bradley shot Deputy Pill numerous times at point-blank range, killing Deputy Pill.”

“At this point, the driver’s door closes. Bradley and Kerchner drove away, leaving Deputy Pill fatally wounded on the roadside. Deputy Pill’s in-car video camera captured the above-listed events.”

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The video likely will be reviewed frame-by-frame, and the audio recordings of police radio transmissions from the case will be reviewed second-by-second to glean everything that can be learned by the sequence of events.

What’s more, the county’s justice and law enforcement community will take a look at circumstances under which the alleged shooter faked his identity to trick his way out of jail on an arrest last fall. Arrested on unrelated, outstanding warrants, he gave his brother’s driver’s license when arrested, was booked at the jail, posted bond and was out for five days before police realized that he was not his brother. He wasn’t caught again until after Tuesday’s deputy shooting.

So far, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has acknowledged that all circumstances related to the case are under investigation, but it has not yet commented beyond the details of the events Tuesday and it’s declined to comment about the suspect’s earlier jail release.

Any time there’s an officer lost, Melbourne Police Chief Steve Mimbs said, “it’s important to have an after-action review” to answer the question of “what can we do to help our people be better equipped to handle an encounter like this.”

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Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com.
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Mimbs, whose department was instrumental in the pursuit and subsequent arrest of the suspects in Pill’s shooting, emphasized that this is true of such incidents in general, and he was not making any judgment on what happened in this case.

In some cases, videos of this type are used by police academies in the training of future officers and by law enforcement agencies in their continuing training. The videos also could lead to an examination of whether a police agency’s tactics and policies are appropriate, or should be modified. With the increased use of dashboard cameras and other equipment, after-action reviews can be more detailed than ones in years past, which were based on written reports and witness recollections.

Mimbs said reviewing video and photo coverage by the news media also can be useful.

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” Mimbs said.

Mimbs said he has had preliminary discussions with his senior leaders about the case, and likely will have additional departmental reviews as more details become available.

Jack Rinchich, president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, said, just like important lessons were learned from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks about how to improve national security and thwart future plots, lessons are bound to be learned by looking at all that transpired in a shooting of a police officer.

“There is danger at every traffic stop,” Rinchich said.

Rinchich got a sudden reminder of that in his second week on the job as a police officer in the Charleston (W.Va.) Police Department in 1972, when he pulled over a car. He mistakenly was carrying his portable radio in the hand he would use to draw his gun, and the motorist he stopped drew a gun on him. The suspect stumbled and accidentally dropped the weapon. Rinchich said he still keeps the bullets from the suspect’s gun in his briefcase as a reminder.

But “even if you do everything right from a tactical perspective, police officers die,” Rinchich said. “You can plan all you want to, but you never know where danger is lurking.”

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com.
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(Page 3 of 3)

When people are pulled over by police, Rinchich said, “some people panic, and some are just downright vicious and mean.”

Chris Cosgriff, executive director of the Officer Down Memorial Page that honors officers killed in the line of duty, said videos of police calls that turn violent can be a valuable law enforcement training tool. He said one of the most notorious dashcam videos, used at police training academies throughout the country, involved the 1998 fatal shooting in Georgia of a 22-year-old deputy, Kyle Dinkheller, during a traffic stop.

Cosgriff sees the use of such videos in police training as honoring the officer who died.

“The reality is law enforcement is a dangerous profession, and people at all levels of experience can be killed in the line of duty,” Cosgriff said.

Barry Shepherd, executive director of the American Police Hall of Fame & Museum in Titusville, which includes a memorial to fallen law enforcement personnel, said police work is unpredictable.

“They can go by the book, and do everything tactically correct, and officers still will be killed,” Shepherd said. Conversely, “you can do everything wrong, and not be killed. You just can’t prevent officers from being killed, unfortunately. No matter how well you do your job, when it comes to pulling someone over, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com.
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.....item 2).... Welcome to Brevard County's New Web Portal ... www.brevardcounty.us/ ...

Visit each of the above tabs labeled Residents, Business, and Visitors to view categories with links to services of interest to those groups. The e-Government tab will provide links to on-line services and the Contact tab will give you a more traditional list of departments and offices. Additionally, use the Search feature at the top right of the page and the ‘How do I find…’ link to help locate specific information.

www.brevardcounty.us/
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img code photo ... Barbara Pill

www.brevardcounty.us/images/default-album/barbara-pill-fa...

Brevard County Mourns Fallen Deputy Barbara Pill

"The Brevard County family has suffered a tragic loss today. Our prayers go out for the family, for Sheriff Parker, and all the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office. Our deputies put their lives on the line for our community every day and as a result we are one of the safest communities to live in. But what a price to pay for that safety – we are just heartbroken."
- County Manager Howard Tipton

March 6, 2012
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Brevard County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff J.R. “Jack” Parker
700 Park Ave. Titusville, Florida 32780
www.BrevardSheriff.com
News Release

Date: March 6, 2012Released By: Cmdr. Doug WallerNR # 12-12

BREVARD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE DEPUTY BARBARA PILL

The Brevard County Sheriff’s mourns the loss of Deputy Barbara Pill, who died in the line of duty today, March 6, 2012.

At 10:53 a.m., the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office received an emergency call for service at the Econo Lodge located at 4455 West New Haven, Melbourne. The call related to a theft of property from the business. Suspect and vehicle descriptions were provided as the vehicle fled from the scene.

Deputies immediately responded to the scene, at which time Deputy Barbara Pill observed the suspect vehicle. Deputy Pill conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle at the intersection of Elena Way and John Rodes Boulevard, Melbourne. The vehicle driver was later identified as 22-year-old Brandon L. Bradley. As Deputy Pill requested for him to exit the vehicle, he opened fire on Deputy Pill, using a weapon he had concealed. Deputy Pill was struck multiple times and was transported in critical condition to the Holmes Regional Medical Center, where she later died in trauma surgery.

The suspect vehicle fled the shooting scene and was later stopped as it collided with a sign and crashed into a ditch at the intersection of Turtlemound Road and Parkway Drive, Melbourne. The driver, Bradley, and the passenger, 19-year-old Andria Michelle Kerchner, were removed from the vehicle.

Deputy Pill proudly served in law enforcement for the past 30 years. She was previously employed with the Miami Dade County Police Department and began her career with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in 1997. Deputy Pill was highly decorated, being previously presented the Merit Award (twice), Commendable Service Award and multiple Letters of Appreciation for outstanding actions. Deputy Pill is survived by a loving family, three of which are in law enforcement and continue protect the citizens of Brevard.

Brandon Bradley was charged with First Degree Premeditated Murder, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, and Failure to Appear Warrants for the Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Sale of Cocaine, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Resisting Arrest and Violation of Probation Warrants for Robbery, Possession of Cocaine, Burglary and Grand Theft. Kerchner was charged with Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, First Degree Felony Murder and a Warrant for the Sale of a Controlled Substance. Both Bradley and Kerchner were transported to the Brevard County Jail under a No-Bond Status.


Sheriff Jack Parker stated, “Our heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect us and make our communities a better place, Deputy Pill is a sterling example of one of these heroes. Deputy Pill was beloved by all who knew her. She dedicated her entire life to helping others, working more than 30 years in law enforcement. Barbara will be forever remembered as a Deputy Sheriff who gave everything she had to make Brevard a safer place. She was a blessing to our agency and to all who had the honor of knowing her.”

Attached to the news release is a photograph of Deputy Barbara Pill.

For any additional information related to this investigation please contact Lt. Tod Goodyear through the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at 321-633-7162. For additional information concerning the career of Deputy Barbara Pill, Please contact Cmdr. Steve Salvo at 321-264-5212.

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.....item 3).... Florida Today ... www.floridatoday.com ... Status update in case of accused Brevard deputy killers moved to July

11:29 AM, Jun 20, 2012
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img code photo ... Brandon Bradley, 22, and Andria Kerchner, 20, ...

cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&...

Attorneys appeared on behalf of their clients, Brandon Bradley, 22, and Andria Kerchner, 20, who are each accused of murder in the March 6 fatal shooting of Deputy Barbara Pill. The accused, who are being held in jails outside Brevard County because of potential conflicts, did not appear in court. / Arrest mugshots

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Written by
Stacey Barchenger
FLORIDA TODAY

FILED UNDER
Crime

www.floridatoday.com/article/20120620/CRIME/120620005/Sta...|topnews|text|Home

Docket soundings in the cases against two people accused of fatally shooting a Brevard County Sheriff’s deputy were continued this morning and scheduled for July.

Attorneys appeared on behalf of their clients, Brandon Bradley, 22, and Andria Kerchner, 20, who are each accused of murder in the March 6 fatal shooting of Deputy Barbara Pill. The accused, who are being held in jails outside Brevard County because of potential conflicts, did not appear in court.

Michael Bross, Kerchner's attorney, indicated during the brief docket sounding he would seek to have his client moved from protective custody while she's held at Orange County jail.

"It is bizarre that she's in one room by herself in protective custody," Bross said, adding that his client was not afraid for her safety in the facility. “We think this is abuse.”
Judge Morgan Reinman said she would not address the issue, directing Bross to take it up with the jail or sheriff's office.

Bradley, who also uses the surname Brantley, has six pending cases including three violation of probation matters, the first-degree premeditated murder case and two others charging him with weapons offenses. He is being held at Seminole County jail.

He is scheduled to appear in court July 11 for a hearing to discuss issues involving his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Randy Moore. Bradley sent two letters to judge Reinman early this month asking for a new attorney, writing that he felt Moore was too busy and showed “lack of effort.” He also claimed jail staff were trying to poison him and nurses weren't caring for him.

A docket sounding, which is a sort of status update on ongoing cases, has been reset for both Bradley and Kerchner on July 25.

Contact Barchenger at 321-242-3669, sbarchenger@floridatoday.com or follow at Twitter.com/sbarchenger.
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.....item 4).... youtube video ... THE MOODY BLUES -- Seventh Sojourn -- 1972 ... 39:47 minutes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycYzVWiPDEs&feature=related

Uploaded by 8VIRELENDA8 on Jul 6, 2011

THE MOODY BLUES -- Seventh Sojourn -- 1972

01. Lost In A Lost Word --- 00:01 minutes

02. New Horizons --- 04:43 minutes

03. For My Lady --- 09:55 minutes

04. Isn't Life Strange --- 13:55 minutes

05. You And Me --- 20:05 minutes

06. The Land Of Make-Believe --- 24:26 minutes

07. When You're A Free Man --- 29:20 minutes

08. I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band) --- 35:40 minutes

Justin Hayward - guitars, vocals
John Lodge - bass, vocals
Mike Pinder - chamberlin, vocals
Ray Thomas - harmonica, flute, tambourine, vocals
Graeme Edge - drums, percussion, vocals

Category:
People & Blogs

License:
Standard YouTube License
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Nice Business Plan Example photos

A few nice business plan example images I found:

Youth Perspective at London Summit on Family Planning

Image by Gates Foundation
Melinda Gates and the UK's Prime Minister David Cameron speak with Kokou Senamé, an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Youth Delegate from Togo, earlier today at the London Summit on Family Planning. Kokou spoke about the need to educate people from a young age on family planning. He said that many people think that family planning is only about people who have already have children and don't want more, not about young people who have their whole lives ahead of them. Kokou said that it's time to bring the issue to young people and spoke of his participation at the summit as an opportunity to use his personal example on how we can do this.


Kokou Senamé (Togo) has been an IPPF MA Togo volunteer since 2004. He currently supports the region in Nairobi and is studying for a Masters in Business Administration. Kokou would like to see more commitment to young people’s access to reproductive health services, not only from a public health perspectives, but as a matter of human rights pertaining to the young people.

www.londonfamilyplanningsummit.co.uk

Nice Example Business Plan photos

Check out these example business plan images:

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: South hangar panorama, including stunt planes hanging over the Concorde, among others

Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Monocoupe 110 Special:

Air show pilot and aerobatic champion W. W. "Woody" Edmondson thrilled audiences with his Monocoupe 110 Special throughout the 1940s. Edmondson, who named the airplane Little Butch for its bulldog-like appearance, placed second to "Bevo" Howard and his Bücker Jungmeister in the 1946 and '47 American Aerobatic Championships, but he won the first International Aerobatic Championship in 1948.

The Monocoupe 110 Special was a clipped-wing version of the 110, part of a line that began with Don Luscombe's Mono 22 and continued with the 70, 90, and 110 models. The sport coupes of the 1930s, these fast and maneuverable aircraft were ideal for racers Phoebe Omlie and Johnny Livingston. Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Virginia, restored Little Butch prior to its donation to the Smithsonian.

Gift of John J. McCulloch

Manufacturer:
Monocoupe Airplane Co.

Date:
1941

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 6.9 m (23 ft.)
Length: 6.2 m (20 ft. 4 in.)
Height: 2.1 m (6 ft. 11 in.)
Weight, empty: 449 kg (991 lbs.)
Weight, gross: 730 kg (1,611 lbs.)
Top speed: 313 km/h (195 mph)
Engine: Warner 185, 200 hp

Materials:
Fuselage: steel tube with fabric cover Physical Description:High-wing, 2-seat, 1940's monoplane. Warner Super Scarab 185, 200hp engine. Red with white trim. Clipped wings

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Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Concorde, Fox Alpha, Air France:

The first supersonic airliner to enter service, the Concorde flew thousands of passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound for over 25 years. Designed and built by Aérospatiale of France and the British Aviation Corporation, the graceful Concorde was a stunning technological achievement that could not overcome serious economic problems.

In 1976 Air France and British Airways jointly inaugurated Concorde service to destinations around the globe. Carrying up to 100 passengers in great comfort, the Concorde catered to first class passengers for whom speed was critical. It could cross the Atlantic in fewer than four hours - half the time of a conventional jet airliner. However its high operating costs resulted in very high fares that limited the number of passengers who could afford to fly it. These problems and a shrinking market eventually forced the reduction of service until all Concordes were retired in 2003.

In 1989, Air France signed a letter of agreement to donate a Concorde to the National Air and Space Museum upon the aircraft's retirement. On June 12, 2003, Air France honored that agreement, donating Concorde F-BVFA to the Museum upon the completion of its last flight. This aircraft was the first Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., and New York and had flown 17,824 hours.

Gift of Air France.

Manufacturer:
Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale
British Aircraft Corporation

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 25.56 m (83 ft 10 in)
Length: 61.66 m (202 ft 3 in)
Height: 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
Weight, empty: 79,265 kg (174,750 lb)
Weight, gross: 181,435 kg (400,000 lb)
Top speed: 2,179 km/h (1350 mph)
Engine: Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 602, 17,259 kg (38,050 lb) thrust each
Manufacturer: Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale, Paris, France, and British Aircraft Corporation, London, United Kingdom

Physical Description:
Aircaft Serial Number: 205. Including four (4) engines, bearing respectively the serial number: CBE066, CBE062, CBE086 and CBE085.
Also included, aircraft plaque: "AIR FRANCE Lorsque viendra le jour d'exposer Concorde dans un musee, la Smithsonian Institution a dores et deja choisi, pour le Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace de Washington, un appariel portant le couleurs d'Air France."

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Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing 367-80 Jet Transport:

On July 15, 1954, a graceful, swept-winged aircraft, bedecked in brown and yellow paint and powered by four revolutionary new engines first took to the sky above Seattle. Built by the Boeing Aircraft Company, the 367-80, better known as the Dash 80, would come to revolutionize commercial air transportation when its developed version entered service as the famous Boeing 707, America's first jet airliner.

In the early 1950s, Boeing had begun to study the possibility of creating a jet-powered military transport and tanker to complement the new generation of Boeing jet bombers entering service with the U.S. Air Force. When the Air Force showed no interest, Boeing invested million of its own capital to build a prototype jet transport in a daring gamble that the airlines and the Air Force would buy it once the aircraft had flown and proven itself. As Boeing had done with the B-17, it risked the company on one roll of the dice and won.

Boeing engineers had initially based the jet transport on studies of improved designs of the Model 367, better known to the public as the C-97 piston-engined transport and aerial tanker. By the time Boeing progressed to the 80th iteration, the design bore no resemblance to the C-97 but, for security reasons, Boeing decided to let the jet project be known as the 367-80.

Work proceeded quickly after the formal start of the project on May 20, 1952. The 367-80 mated a large cabin based on the dimensions of the C-97 with the 35-degree swept-wing design based on the wings of the B-47 and B-52 but considerably stiffer and incorporating a pronounced dihedral. The wings were mounted low on the fuselage and incorporated high-speed and low-speed ailerons as well as a sophisticated flap and spoiler system. Four Pratt & Whitney JT3 turbojet engines, each producing 10,000 pounds of thrust, were mounted on struts beneath the wings.

Upon the Dash 80's first flight on July 15, 1954, (the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Boeing Company) Boeing clearly had a winner. Flying 100 miles per hour faster than the de Havilland Comet and significantly larger, the new Boeing had a maximum range of more than 3,500 miles. As hoped, the Air Force bought 29 examples of the design as a tanker/transport after they convinced Boeing to widen the design by 12 inches. Satisfied, the Air Force designated it the KC-135A. A total of 732 KC-135s were built.

Quickly Boeing turned its attention to selling the airline industry on this new jet transport. Clearly the industry was impressed with the capabilities of the prototype 707 but never more so than at the Gold Cup hydroplane races held on Lake Washington in Seattle, in August 1955. During the festivities surrounding this event, Boeing had gathered many airline representatives to enjoy the competition and witness a fly past of the new Dash 80. To the audience's intense delight and Boeing's profound shock, test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston barrel-rolled the Dash 80 over the lake in full view of thousands of astonished spectators. Johnston vividly displayed the superior strength and performance of this new jet, readily convincing the airline industry to buy this new airliner.

In searching for a market, Boeing found a ready customer in Pan American Airway's president Juan Trippe. Trippe had been spending much of his time searching for a suitable jet airliner to enable his pioneering company to maintain its leadership in international air travel. Working with Boeing, Trippe overcame Boeing's resistance to widening the Dash-80 design, now known as the 707, to seat six passengers in each seat row rather than five. Trippe did so by placing an order with Boeing for 20 707s but also ordering 25 of Douglas's competing DC-8, which had yet to fly but could accommodate six-abreast seating. At Pan Am's insistence, the 707 was made four inches wider than the Dash 80 so that it could carry 160 passengers six-abreast. The wider fuselage developed for the 707 became the standard design for all of Boeing's subsequent narrow-body airliners.

Although the British de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-104 entered service earlier, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 were bigger, faster, had greater range, and were more profitable to fly. In October 1958 Pan American ushered the jet age into the United States when it opened international service with the Boeing 707 in October 1958. National Airlines inaugurated domestic jet service two months later using a 707-120 borrowed from Pan Am. American Airlines flew the first domestic 707 jet service with its own aircraft in January 1959. American set a new speed mark when it opened the first regularly-scheduled transcontinental jet service in 1959. Subsequent nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco took only 5 hours - 3 hours less than by the piston-engine DC-7. The one-way fare, including a surcharge for jet service, was 5.50, or 1 round trip. The flight was almost 40 percent faster and almost 25 percent cheaper than flying by piston-engine airliners. The consequent surge of traffic demand was substantial.

The 707 was originally designed for transcontinental or one-stop transatlantic range. But modified with extra fuel tanks and more efficient turbofan engines, the 707-300 Intercontinental series aircraft could fly nonstop across the Atlantic with full payload under any conditions. Boeing built 855 707s, of which 725 were bought by airlines worldwide.

Having launched the Boeing Company into the commercial jet age, the Dash 80 soldiered on as a highly successful experimental aircraft. Until its retirement in 1972, the Dash 80 tested numerous advanced systems, many of which were incorporated into later generations of jet transports. At one point, the Dash 80 carried three different engine types in its four nacelles. Serving as a test bed for the new 727, the Dash 80 was briefly equipped with a fifth engine mounted on the rear fuselage. Engineers also modified the wing in planform and contour to study the effects of different airfoil shapes. Numerous flap configurations were also fitted including a highly sophisticated system of "blown" flaps which redirected engine exhaust over the flaps to increase lift at low speeds. Fin height and horizontal stabilizer width was later increased and at one point, a special multiple wheel low pressure landing gear was fitted to test the feasibility of operating future heavy military transports from unprepared landing fields.

After a long and distinguished career, the Boeing 367-80 was finally retired and donated to the Smithsonian in 1972. At present, the aircraft is installated at the National Air and Space Museum's new facility at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Gift of the Boeing Company

Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.

Date:
1954

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Height 19' 2": Length 73' 10": Wing Span 129' 8": Weight 33,279 lbs.

Physical Description:
Prototype Boeing 707; yellow and brown.

A Civic Heart

Image by Alan Stanton
13 April 2013. Since Autumn 2012 this notice has been on the railings near Holy Trinity Church, Tottenham Green. It was part of the consultation with residents and businesses about changes being made to Tottenham Green and adjacent spaces.

§ Click to download Haringey's Tottenham Green consultation leaflet. (Or scroll down this page for screenshots of it.)
§ More information about the plans from Haringey's website.
§ 9 July 2012 Tottenham Green community engagement presentation and report (PDF format 9MB).

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Why am I not yet cheering?

Over the years I've taken dozens of photos in and around Tottenham Green. The two parts of the Green - on the west and eastern side of the High Road - are emerald 'gems' in the middle of Tottenham. Around it are some attractive buildings. It's an area we should cherish and can be proud of.

So why aren't I cheering when a colourful signboard announces: "Regenerating the High Road; Creating a 'civic heart' at Tottenham Green"?

For one thing, the sign is full of fluffy upbeat phrases which could mean anything and nothing. The works on Tottenham Green will: ”act as a catalyst for change in the immediate area”. They will: “create a much better focus to the area”. Those current buzzwords sustainable and legacy are sprinkled over this fluff and guff.

We’re told: “the surrounding institutions [will be] more visible from the Green”. Has anyone really had a problem spotting them?

After the changes, “the Green will become an area that supports and promotes performance, events, commerce and a café culture”.

This is one of the most worrying aims. Because the largest, western part of Tottenham Green is an open space with grass and trees. Sometimes it is beautiful. The Green is not a performance space; nor an open-air gallery. Nor is it a market; nor a shop; nor a café.

In fact some of the buildings nearby are supposed to be carrying out these functions. And if they are not currently doing these successfully then someone with control over public money needs to ask some hard questions about the millions poured into them.

Haringey's lack of care and maintenance

Another set of hard questions need putting to Haringey Council. Because in recent years the Green has been poorly maintained. Which is a more immediate practical reason for my scepticism about the current regeneration plans.

Too often in recent years, problems on and near the Green have been either ignored or overlooked. Which means that however well-designed and elegant the new landscaping, lighting, play space and paths, the glitz will vanish unless we also see significant improvement in monitoring, reporting and maintenance.

Here are some examples.

In summer 2009, it seems Haringey staff hadn't noticed people sleeping rough on the western side of Tottenham Green. Some of them appeared to use the electricity substation building as a latrine. This usage wasn't hidden away. Unless you think that turds and toilet paper on a public green are politely discreet.

In March 2011, Cllr Bernice Vanier and I had to report dumped litter and rubbish, commercial wastebins and traffic barriers routinely left on the Green for many weeks.

Until I sent in a councillor's report it seems that nothing was done about some redundant signs outside the former Town Hall. Nor to repair broken street lights nearby.

More recently, umpteen meetings with important "partners" about Tottenham Green, leading to reports and grand plans, didn't result in even temporary replanting of grass areas trampled to mud patches.

What the meetings with 'important' people did appear to agree was that large sums of public money from the Mayor of London will be spent on creating a "Civic Heart" - whatever that means. The figure given is £1.2 million. (This compares with the previous makeover of Tottenham Green a few years earlier. That cost around £100k and involved new paving and new English Heritage approved lights. Although the new scheme also includes work on the eastern side of the High Road; and installing a play area. It will also pour even more public money to subsidise the endlessly loss-making Bernie Grant Arts Centre.

I haven't yet mentioned the aim to make Tottenham Green into a Cultural Quarter with a café culture - and other nonsense on stilts fashionable concepts for mopping-up wisely investing scarce public money. Though anyone serious about establishing pavement tables in a part of Tottenham might be curious to talk to the Latin American traders at Wards Corner.

______________________________________

"Since the introduction of the Licensing Act there has been growing concern that the original vision of a vibrant “café culture” has failed to materialise. Rebalancing the Licensing Act. para 1.02. Home Office Consultation 28 July 2010.
§ "Why, if virtually every local authority in the land says they want to adopt a ‘café culture’ approach to their high streets, do they make it so difficult for café operators to trade that way?" Caffe Culture website.
§ "The rise of café culture across the UK has been exceptional in recent years. Café Culture Magazine.
§ King's Lynn Tuesday Market Place gets ‘café culture’ look. Lynn News 23 April 2013
§ Café culture comes to London Guy Stagg, Daily Telegraph 24 Jan 2012.
§ “A city sidewalk by itself is nothing. It is an abstraction. It means something only in conjunction with the buildings and other uses that border it, or border other sidewalks very near it. The same might be said of streets, in the sense that they serve other purposes besides carrying wheeled traffic in their middles. Streets and their sidewalks, the main public places of a city, are its most vital organs.” - Jane Jacobs. Death and Life of Great American Cities. Chapter 2 The uses of sidewalks: safety.
§ Zane Selvans blog posted 19 October 2012. Making Boulder into one of Jan Gehl's Cities for People.

-§- Link not working? Please let me know either by adding a comment below or by email alan.stanton[at]virgin.net.

Nice Example Business Plan photos

Check out these example business plan images:

DSC_0387.JPG

Image by Chris Devers
On April 30, 2012, after many years of planning & delays, construction finally started on the Assembly Square development project in Somerville, MA.

Quoting from Wikipedia | Assembly Square:

[ [ [

Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for 66.5 acres (269,000 m2) along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts presently named "Assembly Row". The site is two miles (3 km) from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway.

Currently under redevelopment by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Assembly Row will combine retail, residential and commercial office space. The first phase of the project, completed in early 2006, was the Assembly Square Marketplace containing the retail stores Christmas Tree Shoppes, A.C. Moore, Sports Authority, Staples, TJMaxx, Kmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The next phase of development, beginning with a new Assembly Square Drive began construction in late 2010. The first major development parcel was expected to be a new IKEA store but this has been put on hold by IKEA Corporation.

[1] Subsequent phases will include the development of a new main street providing premium retail and residential space, state-of-the-art office and research and development space, a new MBTA Orange Line mass transit station (projected opening, 2013) and the renewal of the waterfront along the Mystic River with parks and other green space.

When completed, Assembly Square will have pedestrian-oriented retail, housing, and 1,750,000 square feet (163,000 m2) of office and R&D space. [2]

] ] ]

Quoting from NECN | .6B development breaks ground in Somerville, Mass:

[ [ [

(NECN: Peter Howe, Somerville, Mass.) It's taken more than 20 years to get here, but Monday was ceremonial groundbreaking day for a .6 billion redevelopment of Assembly Square here, widely seen as the biggest example of "transit-oriented development" now underway on the East Coast.

Fifty-four years after the closing of a Ford Motor Company car-assembly plant that gave the area its name, Federal Realty Development Trust and AvalonBay Communities Inc. joined state and city officials to unveil plans for a dramatic transformation of a 67-acre industrial zone into a whole new transit-anchored neighborhood they hope will one day be as big and thriving as Davis Square or Porter Square or Kendall Square or others.

The Massachusetts bay Transportation Authority Orange Line crosses by the eastern end of the project site, and the T and developers are building what will be a new stop opening by mid-2014 between the existing Sullivan Square and Wellington stops. That puts Assembly Square just three subway stops from downtown Boston.

"It's really been about 20 years of discussion in the community,'' Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "This is a city that has its hopes and dreams, and I think Somerville deserves a round of applause for pursuing those hopes and dreams."

Jay Gonzalez, Governor Deval L. Patrick's secretary of administration and finance, said, "This is the poster child of what we should be doing across the commonwealth and what we are trying to do across the commonwealth … Public infrastructure that supports private investment to grow jobs. That's what this project is all about.''

Officials estimate the project has received 0 million in public funds, including million in 2009 federal stimulus act funds that were used to construct a key access road, that have in turn unlocked plans for .5 billion in private investment. Those include two Avalon apartment complexes with 453 apartments, opening between mid- and late 2013, including a new "Ava" complex with smaller apartments aimed at urban hipsters with amenities like gear racks for storing bikes and stadium-seating public common spaces designed to encourage socializing.

The project in future phases could include up to 1,500 more apartments, 2.2 million square feet of office space, a hotel, a cinema complex, and numerous stores and restaurants, and it will also feature a six-acre waterfront park on the Mystic River connecting to miles of bike paths with a new underpass under busy Route 28 at the Mystic. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is evaluating whether to build a flagship Boston store at the site as well.

Gonzalez said extensive studies shared with bond-rating agencies show that the city and state will more than recoup, in new income and sales and corporate tax receipts, what they've invested in the project.

"This is the real deal," Gonzalez said. "We are going to get that new tax revenue, and it is going to pay for itself.''

With videographer John J. Hammann

] ] ]

DSC_0382.JPG

Image by Chris Devers
On April 30, 2012, after many years of planning & delays, construction finally started on the Assembly Square development project in Somerville, MA.

Quoting from Wikipedia | Assembly Square:

[ [ [

Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for 66.5 acres (269,000 m2) along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts presently named "Assembly Row". The site is two miles (3 km) from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway.

Currently under redevelopment by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Assembly Row will combine retail, residential and commercial office space. The first phase of the project, completed in early 2006, was the Assembly Square Marketplace containing the retail stores Christmas Tree Shoppes, A.C. Moore, Sports Authority, Staples, TJMaxx, Kmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The next phase of development, beginning with a new Assembly Square Drive began construction in late 2010. The first major development parcel was expected to be a new IKEA store but this has been put on hold by IKEA Corporation.

[1] Subsequent phases will include the development of a new main street providing premium retail and residential space, state-of-the-art office and research and development space, a new MBTA Orange Line mass transit station (projected opening, 2013) and the renewal of the waterfront along the Mystic River with parks and other green space.

When completed, Assembly Square will have pedestrian-oriented retail, housing, and 1,750,000 square feet (163,000 m2) of office and R&D space. [2]

] ] ]

Quoting from NECN | .6B development breaks ground in Somerville, Mass:

[ [ [

(NECN: Peter Howe, Somerville, Mass.) It's taken more than 20 years to get here, but Monday was ceremonial groundbreaking day for a .6 billion redevelopment of Assembly Square here, widely seen as the biggest example of "transit-oriented development" now underway on the East Coast.

Fifty-four years after the closing of a Ford Motor Company car-assembly plant that gave the area its name, Federal Realty Development Trust and AvalonBay Communities Inc. joined state and city officials to unveil plans for a dramatic transformation of a 67-acre industrial zone into a whole new transit-anchored neighborhood they hope will one day be as big and thriving as Davis Square or Porter Square or Kendall Square or others.

The Massachusetts bay Transportation Authority Orange Line crosses by the eastern end of the project site, and the T and developers are building what will be a new stop opening by mid-2014 between the existing Sullivan Square and Wellington stops. That puts Assembly Square just three subway stops from downtown Boston.

"It's really been about 20 years of discussion in the community,'' Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "This is a city that has its hopes and dreams, and I think Somerville deserves a round of applause for pursuing those hopes and dreams."

Jay Gonzalez, Governor Deval L. Patrick's secretary of administration and finance, said, "This is the poster child of what we should be doing across the commonwealth and what we are trying to do across the commonwealth … Public infrastructure that supports private investment to grow jobs. That's what this project is all about.''

Officials estimate the project has received 0 million in public funds, including million in 2009 federal stimulus act funds that were used to construct a key access road, that have in turn unlocked plans for .5 billion in private investment. Those include two Avalon apartment complexes with 453 apartments, opening between mid- and late 2013, including a new "Ava" complex with smaller apartments aimed at urban hipsters with amenities like gear racks for storing bikes and stadium-seating public common spaces designed to encourage socializing.

The project in future phases could include up to 1,500 more apartments, 2.2 million square feet of office space, a hotel, a cinema complex, and numerous stores and restaurants, and it will also feature a six-acre waterfront park on the Mystic River connecting to miles of bike paths with a new underpass under busy Route 28 at the Mystic. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is evaluating whether to build a flagship Boston store at the site as well.

Gonzalez said extensive studies shared with bond-rating agencies show that the city and state will more than recoup, in new income and sales and corporate tax receipts, what they've invested in the project.

"This is the real deal," Gonzalez said. "We are going to get that new tax revenue, and it is going to pay for itself.''

With videographer John J. Hammann

] ] ]

Cool Example Business Plan images

Some cool example business plan images:

Bertine Block- 136th Street

Image by Emilio Guerra
Bertine Block, 136th Street, Mott Haven, Bronx

The Bertine Block Historic District consists of thirty-one residential buildings lining both sides of East 136th Street between Willis Avenue and Brown Place in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

Within the boundaries of the district are four groups of rowhouses and two groups of tenements. Erected between 1877 and 1899, the buildings reflect the history of real estate development in the southwestern portion of the Bronx. The buildings in the historic district comprise fine examples of neo-Grec, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Renaissance Revival design, illustrating the stylistic trends in residential architecture in New York City in the final three decades of the nineteenth century.

The buildings of the historic district retain their architectural integrity to a high degree and survive today as a reflection of the character of Bronx architecture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the Mott Haven area was beingú developed, and as a physical manifestation of the variety of people, from varied ethnic and national backgrounds, who have lived, and continue to live, in this neighborhood.

Among the earliest new residences was the trio of rowhouses in the neo-Grec style at 408 to 412 East 136th Street of 1877-78, the first buildings erected within the Bertine Block Historic District. Although designed and built as an ensemble. each of these three houses was commissioned by a separate individual, two of whom moved their families into the completed homes; It was rare for a row of houses to be erected for individual owners, rather ~ for a speculative builder. Perhaps developers were still not willing to risk investing money in this neighborhood, with its poor mass transit facilities and its location far to the north of New York City's business, shopping, and social centers. The three houses were designed by the firm of Rogers & Browne whosepartners were the architects John Rogers and Edward H. Browne. Although the firm had its office on Nassau Street in Manhattan, both architects lived in Morrisania. Early in the 1880s,John Rogers would design several additional rowhouses nearby in what is now the Mott Haven Historic District.

The three rowhouses on East 136th Street are identical two-story-and-basement dwellings designed in the neo-Grec style which was at the height of its popularity in the late 1870s. Neo-Grec rowhouses share the rectilinear form, rhythmic bay arrangement, three-dimensional carved window and doorway enframements, and heavy projecting bracketed cornices popular on the Italianate rowhouses of the 1850s and 18605, but the character of their ornamental detail. sets these neo-Grec buildings apart from their predecessors. Rather than the sculptural relief ornament of Italianate rowhouse facades. the detail on neoGrec facades has a stylized, angular form, evident 00: the East 136th Street row at the brackets that support the entrance pediments and at the massive galvanized-iron cornices. Original plans show that each of these houses had the kitchen and dining room in the basement, front and rear parlors on the first story. and three rooms on the second story.

In the 1890s, three rows were erected on East 136th Street between Willis Avenue and Brown Place. These three rows, comprising a total of twenty houses, were built by developer Edward D. Bertine who spent ,500 amassing property on 136th Street in 1891. Little is known about Edward Bertine. Listings in New York City directories indicate that he had been a Manhattan milk dealer in the 1870s and early 1880., branching into groceries by 1883. In 1889-90, Bertine first appears in the directory as a builder. All of the buildings that Bertine is known to have erected are in the Bronx, and, following the completion of his first row on East 136th Street, he moved into a house on the block.

In 1891 Bertine began construction on a row often houses on the south side of East 136thStreet. Designed by architect George Keister, this is one of the finest rows erected in New York City in the late nineteenth century. The row was illustrated in The Great North Side or Borough of the Bronx in 1897 and was given the appellation, "Bertine Block," in the first edition of the A1A Guide to New York only in 1967. The row, at 414 to 432 East 136th Street, is designed in the Queen Anne style. Each house is faced with tawny brick above a rock-faced stone base, and ornamented with trim in brick, stone, stained glass, and slate. A Queen Anne aesthetic is especially evident in the variety of design elements, including those of Romanesque, Gothic, and Flemish origin, combined within the unified row; in the picturesque rooftop silhouette, consisting of flat roofs, mansards, and pedimented, stepped, and scrolled gables; in the dynamic texture created by the flat brickwork contrasting with patterned brick and other materials; in the juxtaposition of a variety of fenestration patterns; and in the use of tall chimneys, a favorite Queen Anne design conceit employed to lend the houses an air of comfortable domesticity.

Responsibility for the creation of this unusual row lies with architect George Keister, one of the most talented architects active in New York City at the end of the nineteenth century, but a man about whom relatively little is known. It In the 1890s Keister designed several exceptional buildings with the same unusual massing and innovative use of form seen on the Bertine row. Surviving examples of these are the First Baptist Church (1891) on Broadway and West79th Street, an eccentric Romanesque Revival work: with asymmetrical towers and large expanses of stained glass, and The Gerard (1893-94) at 123 West 44th Street, an apartment hotel that combines Romanesque Revival and Northern Renaissance features and has a striking silhouette of projecting dormers and gables. Through much of his career, Keister appears to have specialized in the design of theaters.

The ten houses of the so-called "Bertine Block" are each fifteen feet wide and three stories tall with basements that extend slightly below ground level. Six of the houses were built with two-story feat extensions that were ten-and-one-half feet wide and fourteen feet deep. A low stoop (each is extant) leads to each entrance and. at the first story. each house was planned with a front parlor and rear dining room (six houses have small rooms to the rear) and a central' stair hall." This plan, with a sizable stair ball (often with a fireplace) between the front and rear rooms, became popular in the 18805 and is a characteristic feature of Queen Anne style houses. At the second story. each house had two rooms with closets and at the third story were a large front room, a: small central room, and two small rear rooms.

There were two rooms (including a kitchen) and a central stair hall the basement. The original location of the toilets is not known.

With the completion of the ten houses on the south side of the street, Bertine began construction in 1892 of a row of six single-family houses at 415 to 425 East 136th Street. These were not designed by Keister. Rather, Bertine commissioned John Hauser, a local architect with an office at 1441 Third Avenue, to complete the row. Hauser is first listed as Ian architect in city directories in 1892 and was active at least until 1922.14 In the 18908 and the first decade of the twentieth century, Hauser was a prolific designer of rowhouses and apartment buildings, primarily in the Bronx and in northern Manhattan. The row that Hauser designed for Bertine must have been among his earliest works. The six brick-faced houses are articulated with the round arches common to the Romanesque Revival style, and all have molded-brick and stone trim and high stoops lined with wrought-iron railings.

Bertine's third and final row in the historic district comprises the four Renaissance Revival style houses at 434 to 440 East 136th Street, designed in 1895by Adolph Balschun, Jr., an architect whose office was located around the comer on East 135th Street. In 1895, an Adolph Balschun (without the "Jr. ") is listed in the New York: City directory as a carpenter located on East 135th Street; in the following year Balschun is listed as a builder.

- From the 1994 NYCLPC Historic District Designation Report

Controlling IT Costs; Enterprise Architecture (EA) strategy, a shared lexicon, and enforced change

Image by Wonderlane
To control Information Technology (IT) costs we think about and act within the enterprise as a whole, in part because we sell enterprise and mid-level solutions. We apply an Enterprise Architecture (EA) strategy which at the top level is comprised of infrastructure and communication considerations. This is not just about technical infrastructure, defined or designed by IT, because it is highly likely that such individual solutions (one offs) will not align to core business strategies (vertical needs verses horizontal needs spanning the whole company).

It is not really possible to do this, that is consider the entire company's needs, without significant participation by the business for which we use terms such as Solution Delivery or Product Management. Product and program managers from a solution delivery framework gather information, report back to the business, and return to apply the business strategies to align with short, medium, and especially long term business goals.

This business and implementation strategy focus is a change agent, to reduce siloed thinking, and achieve more horizontal capability across units. We reduce multiple applications, which take time to manage and maintain, and where it makes sense, fold them into one. Because we take security and privacy of our customers very seriously, any applications which may be at risk have been identified and are brought up into our standards. The process of combining risk management goals, application and data reduction streams saves money, although the process of so much change at once can be stressful at the unit, project, and personal levels.

We seek to empower self-service among our partners, customers and employees, for access to all kinds of information they need, and internally reduce redundant data stores, for example referring to customers by one identifier if possible. This is especially challenging in our partner relationships with multiple data stores that contain similar information about customers which are identified in completely different ways. This is the reason for serious data modeling and tight or loose coupling where needed – to retrieve and move information back to the partner systems. We leverage Microsoft software, and then buy, build, minimize or reuse existing systems.

In order to be more successful in our efforts to control IT costs we strive to increase flexibility among existing staff and provide rewards for strategic thinking – this strategic thinking aligns along company-wide goals. We need people with the right skills who work in efficient methods, only including the people who need to be included to make decisions or act. In fact we need to change confrontational and passive aggressive behaviors internally to collaborative personality styles – changing the organizations culture is doable but difficult. For more information I recommend reading "The Heart of Change" by Kotter and Cohen.

The technologies we invest in to help control IT costs are our own. We custom write stuff served up on Microsoft servers and plan to use SharePoint as the UI for our new change request tool. We are substantially reducing and eliminating the number of different applications (SQL stored procedures or XML Blobs mostly) we use and maintain on a daily basis. We are moving from C++ to C#/.NET (C Sharp and .Net technologies).

We use Microsoft software as our strategy to control IT costs - it is easy to manage, and has great support. Some team members keep an eye on relevant Open Source software as competitive analysis.

Our company is getting the maximum value from its data center investment because we have not invested to the level we need for our infrastructure. We expect to remediate this lack of investment after deploying skilled, thoughtful product managers with the right combination of education and practical experience to assist in this effort through the next couple of years.

What is our organization doing to maximize the value from its data center investment? In addition to the other things mentioned we outsource development and support to India, Israel, and developing countries, etc. We also are making use of tax advantaged locations for large savings in transactions.

We are adding metrics and measurements by which we evaluate not just personal progress but internal and external customer satisfaction with our IT initiatives on a project by project basis to self-improve.

The practices which enable us to maximize value from our IT investment are varied and multifaceted. To maximize ongoing investment we are adding solution delivery strategies, planning ahead, and aligning IT with company-wide goals. Of course in our space we have some unique issues, and as a public company even more so. One thing that may surprise you is some of our projects we do end to end locally because of how critical success is. We leverage our best, most successful local managers to produce projects and design larger scale solutions if we determine it is the best strategy – so in this way we are flexible – we don't just out source everything.

We are in the process of reducing the number of applications we need to maintain, and where it is appropriate fold one into another so long as the user interface or back ends do not become unmanageable. We are making over our change request platform from top to bottom which we feel will enable quicker turnarounds on change requests – it is both loosely and tightly coupled where it needs to be. For the presentation layer we choose Microsoft SharePoint.

Conversely, what factors are inhibiting our organization from reaping the maximum value from its data center investments? The factors inhibiting the maximum value include a lack of foresight in strategic planning for long term goals –

1. Putting temporary things together to just meet immediate needs.

2. Focusing on small details and not seeing the big picture.

3. Lack of metrics to evaluate progress, process, and client / customer / partner success.

4. Unwillingness of team members to change or promote change even when it is in their and the companies' best interest.

5. Having too many data centers, identifying customers in too many ways.

How important is productivity within the IT function in our efforts to control IT costs and maximize our data center investment? Functionality, capacity, and reliability far outstrip productivity, but that is only because we have already hit very high productivity goals and exceeded them. Here are some of the metrics we examine:

Metrics

Percentage of project budgeted costs
Scope requirements
Total cost of ownership
Traceability
Defects rate (sev1, sev2, sev3 bugs - zero tolerance for sev1)
Completed requirements
Customer satisfaction scores (cust sats)
Schedule slippage
Flexibility of management styles
End-to-end throughput time per client-side user request
System extensibility
Scalability
Maintainability
Defects per thousand lines of code (KLOC or by function)
Support functionality and documentation availability, and completeness prior to launch
Rates of failure
Restoration (emergency)
Availability
Test effectiveness
Business acceptance
System acceptance (signoff)
Average turn around time for service and change requests
Number of security or privacy defects (last two should be zero tolerance in launch candidates)
Number of post freeze change requests
Among the mandatory metrics used are peer review effectiveness of code, and post mortems and overall customer satisfaction. In other words we do not consider just ontime delivery of products, enhancements, or new functionality.

What is our organization doing to improve productivity within its IT function?
Getting the right people – some people grew with us or came to us with deep knowledge from the school of hard knocks – work experience – we seek to capture the most knowledgeable and either increase their education or find those with both practical work experience and advanced degrees. Good thing this is Seattle with its heavily educated population. New programs at the university level such as Informatics and Information Management are producing the people we need – not just MBAs or Master of Comp Sci - because so much of our development work we outsource to India and developing countries, and IT is not traditionally closely aligned with marketing or sales. We do outsource much of the development work as is possible.

The undergrad Informatics and Master of Science in Information Management programs at the University of Washington are housed in Mary Gates' Hall, renovated and named in honor of Bill Gate's late mother, it's headed by Mike Crandall (Dublin Core, Microsoft, Boeing). So you can see this is the direction we are going regionally, because that is where the spend is. Another great information school is at the University of California at Berkeley, housed in one of the oldest and most architecturally beautiful collegiate buildings on the west coast, South Hall. On the physical level all Berkeley had to do is add wireless. Excellent academics such as the seminal thinker Dr Michael Buckland are there at Berkeley, and business leaders such as Mitch Kapor. Industry wide I think iSchools are having an effect, adding a more well rounded, even playful culture to high tech operations.

Improving and opening the culture is important. Having a shared lexicon is one of the benefits of educated people; those with MSIM (master of science in information management), Informatics, technical MBA degrees can comunicate effectively with highly technical people - this can produce enormous savings and long term cost benefits. Increased, clear, enthusiastic communication saves IT costs.

In strategy meetings, for example, we often include Enterprise Architects to assist in stack ranking program and project development, because this helps reduce redundant systems.

Our organization's ability to measure the return on investment (ROI) or success of its IT investments is “Fair but mixed,” we want ROI to be easily measureable and this means evaluating the correct things, asking the right questions in the first place, not following other organizations techniques, although we examine them as examples.

We are adding ways to evaluate our ROI – we do use business analysis methods. There is always an identifiable way to analyze and measure the relationship of what something costs even if it appears intangible such as Brand protection.

Considering the strategic and tactical stuff we are doing, at the core, creativity is what drives our success. Creativity is always a very difficult thing to measure. In fact it could be said that if you try, you are barking up the wrong tree. However creative thinking around practical goals has provided us success. This is where the ideas around flexibility and being very responsive come to play.

We have found very very high ROI around outsourced projects because they must be clearly defined within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) compliance.

Those people who actually think out of the box are oftentimes not recognized by co-workers and management. Change is perceived as negative among full time staff. We seek to show support for both full time employees and consultants, and change this view and enhance their ability to communicate ideas. That is why our management keeps an open door policy. Unfortunately like any other policies the hazard is that individual managers must believe in our policies around openness and creativity; such self-selecting polices are impossible to enforce.

Our organization uses balanced scorecards, Six Sigma and other types of internally derived quantitative value measurement methods to measure the ROI or success of our IT investments.

The continued use of these methods we expect will substantially improve the management and measurement of our IT investments. Some of the metrics are at the discretion of the product or program manager, others are mandatory. In part we have some success- at issue is adopting metrics and measurement as well as Enterprise Architecture and engaging with open arms increased strategic thinking and planning.

Senior management must come together and present a unified strategy for the entire company – which is a top down management style but it must be embraced from the bottom up. This is within a framework of enforced change as we seek to achieve excellence in all of our business units, especially in core infrastructure – those units which either produce money, or cost money. Some of our key investments we know are lost leaders, but other research will more than make up for those. Enforced change in this context means business units receive minimum budget until they comply.

We are still feeling the effects of the changes the Web brings in enterprise directly and for our customers; we continue to learn from the effects of communities and communication via the Web. The opportunities for growth are so enormous that it is all the more important that we curb spending where it is not required and apply it as much as possible to grow in creative arenas which still have huge untapped profit potential. It is not just about money, among hard core technologists – those who really love it – money is secondary in many ways - it’s about the fun stuff technology can bring as well as the benefit to serve humanity that technology brings.

High tech, information technology, and software development have made some strides to maturity but we are still learning new things; it will be a learning industry, discovering and inventing stuff for a long time to come.

p.s.
Enforced Change is a radically different challenge, and promises different ways of looking at human-to-human, individual-to-corporation, corporate-to-corporate, human-to- computer interactions, etc, which I plan to cover in future articles, so stay tuned!

Nice Business Plan Example photos

A few nice business plan example images I found:

DSC_0386.JPG

Image by Chris Devers
On April 30, 2012, after many years of planning & delays, construction finally started on the Assembly Square development project in Somerville, MA.

Quoting from Wikipedia | Assembly Square:

[ [ [

Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for 66.5 acres (269,000 m2) along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts presently named "Assembly Row". The site is two miles (3 km) from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway.

Currently under redevelopment by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Assembly Row will combine retail, residential and commercial office space. The first phase of the project, completed in early 2006, was the Assembly Square Marketplace containing the retail stores Christmas Tree Shoppes, A.C. Moore, Sports Authority, Staples, TJMaxx, Kmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The next phase of development, beginning with a new Assembly Square Drive began construction in late 2010. The first major development parcel was expected to be a new IKEA store but this has been put on hold by IKEA Corporation.

[1] Subsequent phases will include the development of a new main street providing premium retail and residential space, state-of-the-art office and research and development space, a new MBTA Orange Line mass transit station (projected opening, 2013) and the renewal of the waterfront along the Mystic River with parks and other green space.

When completed, Assembly Square will have pedestrian-oriented retail, housing, and 1,750,000 square feet (163,000 m2) of office and R&D space. [2]

] ] ]

Quoting from NECN | .6B development breaks ground in Somerville, Mass:

[ [ [

(NECN: Peter Howe, Somerville, Mass.) It's taken more than 20 years to get here, but Monday was ceremonial groundbreaking day for a .6 billion redevelopment of Assembly Square here, widely seen as the biggest example of "transit-oriented development" now underway on the East Coast.

Fifty-four years after the closing of a Ford Motor Company car-assembly plant that gave the area its name, Federal Realty Development Trust and AvalonBay Communities Inc. joined state and city officials to unveil plans for a dramatic transformation of a 67-acre industrial zone into a whole new transit-anchored neighborhood they hope will one day be as big and thriving as Davis Square or Porter Square or Kendall Square or others.

The Massachusetts bay Transportation Authority Orange Line crosses by the eastern end of the project site, and the T and developers are building what will be a new stop opening by mid-2014 between the existing Sullivan Square and Wellington stops. That puts Assembly Square just three subway stops from downtown Boston.

"It's really been about 20 years of discussion in the community,'' Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "This is a city that has its hopes and dreams, and I think Somerville deserves a round of applause for pursuing those hopes and dreams."

Jay Gonzalez, Governor Deval L. Patrick's secretary of administration and finance, said, "This is the poster child of what we should be doing across the commonwealth and what we are trying to do across the commonwealth … Public infrastructure that supports private investment to grow jobs. That's what this project is all about.''

Officials estimate the project has received 0 million in public funds, including million in 2009 federal stimulus act funds that were used to construct a key access road, that have in turn unlocked plans for .5 billion in private investment. Those include two Avalon apartment complexes with 453 apartments, opening between mid- and late 2013, including a new "Ava" complex with smaller apartments aimed at urban hipsters with amenities like gear racks for storing bikes and stadium-seating public common spaces designed to encourage socializing.

The project in future phases could include up to 1,500 more apartments, 2.2 million square feet of office space, a hotel, a cinema complex, and numerous stores and restaurants, and it will also feature a six-acre waterfront park on the Mystic River connecting to miles of bike paths with a new underpass under busy Route 28 at the Mystic. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is evaluating whether to build a flagship Boston store at the site as well.

Gonzalez said extensive studies shared with bond-rating agencies show that the city and state will more than recoup, in new income and sales and corporate tax receipts, what they've invested in the project.

"This is the real deal," Gonzalez said. "We are going to get that new tax revenue, and it is going to pay for itself.''

With videographer John J. Hammann

] ] ]

DSC_0377.JPG

Image by Chris Devers
On April 30, 2012, after many years of planning & delays, construction finally started on the Assembly Square development project in Somerville, MA.

Quoting from Wikipedia | Assembly Square:

[ [ [

Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for 66.5 acres (269,000 m2) along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts presently named "Assembly Row". The site is two miles (3 km) from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway.

Currently under redevelopment by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Assembly Row will combine retail, residential and commercial office space. The first phase of the project, completed in early 2006, was the Assembly Square Marketplace containing the retail stores Christmas Tree Shoppes, A.C. Moore, Sports Authority, Staples, TJMaxx, Kmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The next phase of development, beginning with a new Assembly Square Drive began construction in late 2010. The first major development parcel was expected to be a new IKEA store but this has been put on hold by IKEA Corporation.

[1] Subsequent phases will include the development of a new main street providing premium retail and residential space, state-of-the-art office and research and development space, a new MBTA Orange Line mass transit station (projected opening, 2013) and the renewal of the waterfront along the Mystic River with parks and other green space.

When completed, Assembly Square will have pedestrian-oriented retail, housing, and 1,750,000 square feet (163,000 m2) of office and R&D space. [2]

] ] ]

Quoting from NECN | .6B development breaks ground in Somerville, Mass:

[ [ [

(NECN: Peter Howe, Somerville, Mass.) It's taken more than 20 years to get here, but Monday was ceremonial groundbreaking day for a .6 billion redevelopment of Assembly Square here, widely seen as the biggest example of "transit-oriented development" now underway on the East Coast.

Fifty-four years after the closing of a Ford Motor Company car-assembly plant that gave the area its name, Federal Realty Development Trust and AvalonBay Communities Inc. joined state and city officials to unveil plans for a dramatic transformation of a 67-acre industrial zone into a whole new transit-anchored neighborhood they hope will one day be as big and thriving as Davis Square or Porter Square or Kendall Square or others.

The Massachusetts bay Transportation Authority Orange Line crosses by the eastern end of the project site, and the T and developers are building what will be a new stop opening by mid-2014 between the existing Sullivan Square and Wellington stops. That puts Assembly Square just three subway stops from downtown Boston.

"It's really been about 20 years of discussion in the community,'' Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "This is a city that has its hopes and dreams, and I think Somerville deserves a round of applause for pursuing those hopes and dreams."

Jay Gonzalez, Governor Deval L. Patrick's secretary of administration and finance, said, "This is the poster child of what we should be doing across the commonwealth and what we are trying to do across the commonwealth … Public infrastructure that supports private investment to grow jobs. That's what this project is all about.''

Officials estimate the project has received 0 million in public funds, including million in 2009 federal stimulus act funds that were used to construct a key access road, that have in turn unlocked plans for .5 billion in private investment. Those include two Avalon apartment complexes with 453 apartments, opening between mid- and late 2013, including a new "Ava" complex with smaller apartments aimed at urban hipsters with amenities like gear racks for storing bikes and stadium-seating public common spaces designed to encourage socializing.

The project in future phases could include up to 1,500 more apartments, 2.2 million square feet of office space, a hotel, a cinema complex, and numerous stores and restaurants, and it will also feature a six-acre waterfront park on the Mystic River connecting to miles of bike paths with a new underpass under busy Route 28 at the Mystic. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is evaluating whether to build a flagship Boston store at the site as well.

Gonzalez said extensive studies shared with bond-rating agencies show that the city and state will more than recoup, in new income and sales and corporate tax receipts, what they've invested in the project.

"This is the real deal," Gonzalez said. "We are going to get that new tax revenue, and it is going to pay for itself.''

With videographer John J. Hammann

] ] ]

DSC_0383.MOV

Image by Chris Devers
On April 30, 2012, after many years of planning & delays, construction finally started on the Assembly Square development project in Somerville, MA.

Quoting from Wikipedia | Assembly Square:

[ [ [

Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for 66.5 acres (269,000 m2) along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts presently named "Assembly Row". The site is two miles (3 km) from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway.

Currently under redevelopment by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Assembly Row will combine retail, residential and commercial office space. The first phase of the project, completed in early 2006, was the Assembly Square Marketplace containing the retail stores Christmas Tree Shoppes, A.C. Moore, Sports Authority, Staples, TJMaxx, Kmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The next phase of development, beginning with a new Assembly Square Drive began construction in late 2010. The first major development parcel was expected to be a new IKEA store but this has been put on hold by IKEA Corporation.

[1] Subsequent phases will include the development of a new main street providing premium retail and residential space, state-of-the-art office and research and development space, a new MBTA Orange Line mass transit station (projected opening, 2013) and the renewal of the waterfront along the Mystic River with parks and other green space.

When completed, Assembly Square will have pedestrian-oriented retail, housing, and 1,750,000 square feet (163,000 m2) of office and R&D space. [2]

] ] ]

Quoting from NECN | .6B development breaks ground in Somerville, Mass:

[ [ [

(NECN: Peter Howe, Somerville, Mass.) It's taken more than 20 years to get here, but Monday was ceremonial groundbreaking day for a .6 billion redevelopment of Assembly Square here, widely seen as the biggest example of "transit-oriented development" now underway on the East Coast.

Fifty-four years after the closing of a Ford Motor Company car-assembly plant that gave the area its name, Federal Realty Development Trust and AvalonBay Communities Inc. joined state and city officials to unveil plans for a dramatic transformation of a 67-acre industrial zone into a whole new transit-anchored neighborhood they hope will one day be as big and thriving as Davis Square or Porter Square or Kendall Square or others.

The Massachusetts bay Transportation Authority Orange Line crosses by the eastern end of the project site, and the T and developers are building what will be a new stop opening by mid-2014 between the existing Sullivan Square and Wellington stops. That puts Assembly Square just three subway stops from downtown Boston.

"It's really been about 20 years of discussion in the community,'' Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "This is a city that has its hopes and dreams, and I think Somerville deserves a round of applause for pursuing those hopes and dreams."

Jay Gonzalez, Governor Deval L. Patrick's secretary of administration and finance, said, "This is the poster child of what we should be doing across the commonwealth and what we are trying to do across the commonwealth … Public infrastructure that supports private investment to grow jobs. That's what this project is all about.''

Officials estimate the project has received 0 million in public funds, including million in 2009 federal stimulus act funds that were used to construct a key access road, that have in turn unlocked plans for .5 billion in private investment. Those include two Avalon apartment complexes with 453 apartments, opening between mid- and late 2013, including a new "Ava" complex with smaller apartments aimed at urban hipsters with amenities like gear racks for storing bikes and stadium-seating public common spaces designed to encourage socializing.

The project in future phases could include up to 1,500 more apartments, 2.2 million square feet of office space, a hotel, a cinema complex, and numerous stores and restaurants, and it will also feature a six-acre waterfront park on the Mystic River connecting to miles of bike paths with a new underpass under busy Route 28 at the Mystic. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is evaluating whether to build a flagship Boston store at the site as well.

Gonzalez said extensive studies shared with bond-rating agencies show that the city and state will more than recoup, in new income and sales and corporate tax receipts, what they've invested in the project.

"This is the real deal," Gonzalez said. "We are going to get that new tax revenue, and it is going to pay for itself.''

With videographer John J. Hammann

] ] ]