Here’s the latest shirt!  This will come out as a limited edition EY shirt.  There will be more limited addition designs coming soon!

So here’s a new shirt for all of you out there that are into the grunge thing.  This one’s a little more crazy than the rest of our designs but we’re trying to reach a wide audience of…everyone.  So leave us a comment and tell us what you think.

With a nod to those three fine fellas from the five boroughs, I posted the following question on a company Facebook-type site:

“I’m wondering what importance we place on writing well, regardless of your position: Do you think about it or just write? Use spellcheck or shoot from the hip? What’s your approach to communication?”

I asked these questions because I do care about what I write – and it’s my job to care about what others write. Receiving two responses … wait, make that three (one more while I’m writing this) within two hours of posting, I was pleasantly surprised to find others who share a similar concern for the written word. One responder brought up the unfortunate trend of instant messaging and text messages contributing to “lackluster writing.” I couldn’t agree more. I mean, I’m the kind of guy who takes the time to punctuate text messages correctly.

The above posting continued: “However, it’s up to us to maintain quality.” And there it was: Quality.

This word hit me for several reasons:

• It’s an adequate word choice for our collective responsibility.
• Like the change of scenery and entering a new industry, one intangible that endeared my then-prospective employer to me was our tagline: “Quality In Everything We Do.” The word quality is of interest to me since ensuring quality in writing is the locus of my work.
• The word – like the sentence that contains it – applies to so much more than writing. But I’ve already addressed that in an earlier post.

I suppose that quality in terms of writing was what drove me to that posting earlier today. Why? I write, edit, and proofread for a living, so I see the good, the bad, and the are-you-missing-keys-on-your-keyboard?!? At times, I’m encouraged by the quality of that which I edit and the text messages I read; other times, I read to my chagrin; still other times, I become nauseas.

Perhaps, after retiring, I could open up Derek Hambrick’s Institute for People Who Can’t Write Good or maybe sponsor a chain of Grammar, Spelling, & Syntax Shelters for Editors.

Until then, I seek to elevate writing’s quality. And I’m glad that others still care about it, too.

So I RE-designed the original “Dream” shirt and this is how it turned out.  We like it a lot better than the original.  Let us know what you think of this new design!

It’s not a total surprise when you think about it. When you’re dealing with the biggest ponzie scheme in history involving billions of dollars and thousands of lives affected is it that inconceivable to think that Madoff wasn’t doing this on his own? In order to pull off what he did he would have had to have amassed a team of conspirators and collaborators to do the grunt work. So these IT guys just arrested who could no longer remain tight lipped about their involvement may just be part of a large group of folks who have still not come forward or been implicated in this massive crime that Madoff perpetrated.

For all we know, we could be hearing about arrests and convictions for folks in the Madoff scandal for the next two years. We may never know how deep this goes. In scandals like these often times we’re dealing with so many layers of involvement it’s like trying to dig a hole in the sand. For example, Reuters announced earlier of suits by investors against E&Y for their alleged involvement in Madoff feeder funds. Unfortunately at least one of the fund managers committed suicide and let us all hope that E&Y at least made restitution if at all appropriate with his fund and his family. Very sad, I wonder when large firms like Ernst & Young win new auditing and tax clients, after giving themselves high-fives, starting their billing machine, then starting their cross-selling machine to get additional tax and other revenue out of that client, if they ever take even 5 minutes to think about the lives that could be hurt or destroyed if they should short the assignment of good CPAs or allow adequate confirmation/reporting time to chase down all reasonable loose ends.

In my direct experience with E&Y, my opinion was an obvious no (my Downs Syndrome child’s trust fund vanished almost overnight where E&Y had been the auditors of its primary investment for years) — I hope for Thierry’s family above it was a yes or that E&Y at least took care of his family. Dark days.

It looks like the folks on Capitol Hill are trying to help protect American citizens against what has happened in the last couple of years in the financial industry with a new agency that will reportedly act as a safeguard against some of the allegedly disreputable actions reportedly made by folks like AIG, Lehman Brothers and Ernst & Young.

The idea is that a Financial Consumer Protection Agency will be created with, as the legislation proposes, “broad regulatory powers to ensure individual purchasers of financial products are adequately protected.” Sounds like a good idea right? Well yes and no. Some people think it might make a difference in preventing future financial misdeeds while there are others who believe that all this does is add another layer of bureaucracy to an already muddled system. Not surprisingly the folks who this agency will be protecting you against are the ones who most ardently oppose this legislation getting through. The notion that there will be a financial protection agency at a federal level is not something that sits well with the financial conglomerates that up until now have had a fairly unobstructed path in taking advantage of the American consumer. On the flip side some may say that the government isn’t blameless in all this mess and having them regulate something they’ve failed to do so far doesn’t seem like the best plan. Think about it — while this, let’s call it the FCPA, could protect individual consumers on some level, how will it prevent things like the alleged negligence that E&Y was accused and convicted of by a jury this past summer involving a bank that collapsed. Would such legislation have prevented the alleged negligence and many other mishaps they have been accused of (numerous stories cited at www.EYSucks.com)?

For now this Agency exists only on paper and has to jump through some substantially high hoops before it could possibly become a reality. The question is, will an agency like this be like a fox guarding a henhouse or will it really be the kind of safeguard we need to prevent the financial catastrophe that we are just now making our way out of.

Antti Pesonen esitti (FL 10.11.) tavalliseen tapaansa populistisia näkemyksiä Suomesta ja sen kuvitellusta epädemokraattisuudesta. Pesosen keskeisin teesi lienee väite, jonka mukaan suomalaiset valtapuolueet harjoittavat lumedemokratiaa sillä ne eivät orjallisesti noudata kansalaiskyselyiden tuloksia.

Mutta onko Itsenäisyyspuolueen puheenjohtaja Pesosella todellisuudessa paljoakaan varaa kuittailla siitä, etteivät pääpuolueet noudata joka asiassa gallupien tuloksia? Pesosen mukaan valtapuolueet eivät edusta kansaa, mutta edustaako Pesosen omakaan puolue sitä?

Pesosen Itsenäisyyspuolue on ilmoittanut tavoitteekseen mm. erota EU:sta ja eurosta luopumisen. Ihmettelen miten tämä on mahdollista, sillä kansan enemmistö pitää Suomen EU-jäsenyyttä hyvänä asiana ja vain viidennes arvioi sen negatiiviseksi. Nousu on ollut jatkuvaa sitten vuoden 2006. On myös otettava huomioon, että Suomi liittyi EU:hun kansan äänestettyä selvästi jäsenyyden puolesta.

Samaten usko siihen, että Suomi on hyötynyt EU-jäsenyydestä on kasvussa. Noin 60% arvioi EU:n hyödyttäneen Suomea, kun vain 33% katsoo asian olevan toisin. Keväästä 2008 lähtien tyytyväisten määrä on lisääntynyt yhdeksän prosenttiyksikköä ja epäilevien määrä laskenut kahdeksan prosenttiyksikköä.

Huomioitavaa on myös, että toisin kuin Pesonen väittää, 59% suomalaisista katsoo EU:n suojaavan unionin kansalaisia globalisaation haitallisilta vaikutuksilta. Noin 73% suomalaisista uskoo, että EU:n avulla Suomi hyötyy globalisaation positiivisista vaikutuksista enemmän kuin ilman unionia.

Sama mantra pätee myös euroon. Vaikka itseään kansan mieheksi tituleeraava Pesonen vaatii euroa poistettavaksi ja markan palauttamista maan valuutaksi, 80% kansasta on toista mieltä. Miten tämä on mahdollista?

Eikö kansan mies luota kansaan kuin niissä kysymyksissä, joissa kansa sattuu olemaan samaa mieltä kuin Pesonen itse? Sellainenhan olisi vallan tekopyhää, eikö?

Zachris Haaparinne
Filosofian ylioppilas

Julkaistu Forssan Lehdessä 16.11.2009

A shirt that demonstrates one of our strong beliefs.  Music is what brings the world together.  Through music all can be achieved.

Ey Sevgili

Ey sevgili,

Sevgimsin… Sevdamsın…

Kader ağlarını nasıl ördü bilemem,

Ama bil ki yalnız seni sevecek bu gönül…

Sanma eski aşklar gibi olacak yazdığım gazeller…

Türkülerimde çağlayacaksın…

Kıyamet-i mahşerde damgalanmışsın alnıma…

Yarım kalacak tüm şiirler gibi gidişlerin,

Ama sana yakınşan, seni şiire yakıştıran olsun üstat,

Ve sen olacaksın, sen o rubailerdeki hattat.

Sanadır tüm sitemim,

Ki bu sitem aşktır,

Bir derd-i küttab.

Ey sevgili,

Yarımsın… Yarımım…

Yıl değil aysın… Ayım…

Parçayız ve bütüne açız…

Korkma tüm mevsimler kadar güzel adın,

Olacaksın elbet düşlediğin kadın.

Günbegün birleşerek,

Yazacağım tüm günlere adını…

Haykıracağım tüm aşklara adımı…

Gönlünü vermezsin bilirim,

Ve her neyse düşlediğin,

Beni de koy içine,

Ben de var olayım seninle.

Ey sevgili,

Kimsin… Kimim…

Varken kaybolan ben miyim?

Yoktan var eden sen mi?

Diller feryat etse, gök ağlar toprağına,

Ve yağmur bırakır bardaktan boşalırcasına…

Korkma… Figana düşmüş gözlerim,

Rabbi de görür elbet,

Ki bu dert olsun Rab ile şerbet…

Duandır dilek, duamdır umut…

Ve vaat ediyor rahmet, gökteki bulut.

Ey sevgili,

Anladım… Anladım…

Bitmiş melodiler gibiyim artık,

Sonlanmış üç noktalar…

Karalanmış çöpte olan kağıtlar…

Gülden kurdeleler yapmak gibi bir şey bu,

Hüsrana çağdaş gülden kurdeleler…

Ebede hür koşmaktır sevmek,

Ve ezelden hür doğabilmektir.

Anladım…

                                        Hasan KARAKAYA

                                             25.07.2009

The analysis conducted with the participation of over 200 investors found that Hungary is the second most popular country in the CEE area for setting up research and development centers while the region overall is still highly sought after for installing industrial production capacities.

Hungary’s high appeal lies in the availably of qualified workforce, reliable telecommunications infrastructure and investors are also happy with the state of logistics and transport, E&Y said.

International firms already active in Hungary are still happy with their decision to come to the country and half of them are planning further investments and expansions, the survey stated.

My first day with EY, I fully intended to start this blog. Same holds for the second. And the third. I suppose that’s another good intention of mine turned into a paver on the path south.

Yet, here I am, three weeks into a new role, company, and cube, creating my first entry. 

It’s apparent to me that I’m inculcating myself to my new environ. Willingly. Enthusiastically, even. And it isn’t apparent just inside the office, but outside – right now as I scribe – as well.

Take, for instance, this entry’s spacing. Those who write, edit, or proof understand the importance of details – spacing between sentences being one of them. Before becoming copy editor for the Southeast Sub-Area, I had my style of spacing: two spaces after end punctuation. Mind you, I had my reasons. Namely, I saw it as a manifestation of a communicator’s cardinal rule: remember your audience.

How’s that?

When we read – on screen or on wood-pulp-based medium – our eyes and brain work hard.  Our eyes scan symbols; our brain gives them meaning.  The reader, registering not one but two spaces after a period, has more of a visual break, allowing your brain to register, “Hey, there’s a longer space there than there is between words.  That must mean a new thought is coming.”  And this eases comprehension.  Hopefully, this paragraph’s double-spacing made the sentences easier to digest than the single-spaced paragraphs.

To illustrate the importance of spacing, doyoureyesfindthiseasytoread, or do you prefer this? It’s a matter of making our content easy for our readers.

Alas, the collective EY “we” does not use the double-space. And, insofar as I am an EY employee – more so as an editor – I do not use the double-space. Accordingly, I begin to relax my editorial stance, both inside and outside the firewall.

But long live the serial comma.

Well unless the Gods are moving in a very mysterious fashion tonight, the Abacus deal completes at midnight, and that’s less than an hour away. Then it’s bye-bye Deloitte and Hellooo Thomson Reuters. The team have already moved out of New Street Square and into temporary offices at the old Andersen/Deloitte overflow space in North West Wing of Bush House. Last time we occupied that building there was a biological weapon decontamination scare I recall – hopefully not an omen!

Today I also unexpectedly bumped into Carmel Moore, formerly of the Abacus team and most recently Pfizer. It appears that she has very recently moved back into the Big Firm marketplace, as she was seen in More London Place sporting an EY staff card. Well done to you Carmel; a shrewd move in the current consulting frenzy for iXBRL and SAO advice. She promised me today that the LinkedIn profile will be updated, so I hope to see EY the other end of this link very soon …

To finish off the movers piece, and to prove that it’s not just the Ladies who have been getting in on the act, a big Congratulations to Geoff Perkins on his move from KPMG to PwC. Geoff was the key to Global Mobility at KPMG, and will be difficult to replace. I hope that he finds the right support for his business with his new organisation

It is a PPT training materials named :A Touch for Eyes
How to Use Visual Effects to Support Your Presentation  delivered by a leading consulting firm .

http://www.gazhoo.com/doc/200909121422574023/Powerpoint+Training+materials+%2893pages%29

The objectives of the workshop are to:

- Introduce a Change Enablement Framework
- Understand the current state and future state at XYZ and why we need to look specifically at Change Enablement
- Understand the elements of the organizational transitions and what needs to happen to align them with the future state
- Understand the personal transitions needed to reach the future state

http://www.gazhoo.com/doc/200908021707229441/Change+Enablement+Workshop+Presentation+-+97+pages

This toolkit is to help companies to articulate its corporate strategy, identify market differentiators and critical business processes, develop key performance indicators, and align all these elements together to achieve its strategic objectives.

It also contains a full set of strategic input sheets for a business function (eg, finance) to develop its own functional strategy, KPIs and action plan.

http://www.gazhoo.com/doc/200909042029350415/strategy+articulation+workbook+-+73+slides