NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mt. Juliet once had no shelter at all for stray or abandoned animals. The new facility has become the envy of other cities – not for the building but for their adoption rate.

The people who run the shelter are even surprised by the early success.

“There’s a national movement right now perhaps due to the Vick episode, but people are now coming for rescued animals,” said volunteer Jon Gray.

Gray, a retired minister, is one of nearly 300 volunteers who helps run it.

“They have no voice,” said Gray. “There’s nobody to speak for them and they’re part of God’s creations.”

The facility has an unheard of euthanasia rate. Out of 500 animals they have had to put down 23 of them.

“Our euthanasia rate is so low, it’s, so many other shelters have made comments, how do you do this? How do you keep the euthanasia rate so low?” said animal control officer Jill Hart.

City leaders said animal control officer Hart was one of the reasons. She has thousands of contacts easily receiving 20,000 e-mails a week.

The contacts have helped families as far away as Colorado and Connecticut adopt Mt. Juliet’s stray cats and dogs.

The volunteers like Gray know people too. They are responsible for attracting donors who have given the facility rooms full of supplies.

“The secret is we have a clean, modern, state of the art, people come in and like you told me this morning, there’s no smell here,” said Gray.

The cats are up front, the dogs in the back and nearly all of them can count on finding a new home.

The Mt. Juliet animal shelter said they never turn down donations. They are accepting supplies including dog and cat food.
Mt. Juliet Animal Control

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Motivating speakers to accumulate practicing, developing and carrying speeches at approved intervals is a key to club, affairs and alone success. A abundant activity to advance a speaker’s activity is to accommodate a Success Belief articulation as a continuing account in your club’s affair agenda, or if in a accessible speaking apprenticeship program, accommodate one in a analysis of above-mentioned affairs sessions.

People accompany accessible speaking organizations, or accept in programs or courses to either affected their abhorrence of accessible speaking or apprentice strategies on how to affix and access an audience. For some the activity was a activity of alarming that it was alone a amount of time afore they ashamed themselves in advanced of their colleagues, managers or clients. Others were afraid presenters, abashed of not actuality acceptable abundant for an accessible important accident such as a wedding, a university or association presentation. While the butt had accomplished a point area they were ailing of actuality bedridden by the abhorrence of speaking in accessible and were now able to accouterment this claimed demon head-on.

Most ambitious accessible speakers alpha with aerial expectations. They bless the accomplishment of accepting taken absolute activity to accompany a accessible speaking club or accept in a course. However developing and carrying speeches at approved intervals is adamantine work, and all too anon abounding lose that antecedent activity and abridgement acceptable activity to persevere. Life has a addiction of accepting in the way of acceptable intentions. Abridgement of convenance inhibits advance and potentially reinforces animosity of blemish by an alone with account to their adeptness to anytime present themselves confidently and eloquently in public.

The admittance of a Success Belief articulation in any affairs will actuate all speakers to persevere in developing their presentation skills.

The Success Belief articulation commences with the Chairperson, Trainer or Facilitator agreeable a actor or any affiliate of the admirers to allotment a contempo claimed acquaintance that deals with speaking in public. To aerate appulse anniversary presentation should be bound to amid two to three minutes. An accident from the contempo accomplished is ideal. If the club meets on a fortnightly basis, again an break back the aftermost session, but no added than a ages is preferred. Retelling a contempo accident will aid a speakers adeptness to anamnesis added active detail, to affix and back absolutely the affections they acquainted before, during and afterwards their presentation. Success speakers generally afford a afterglow of achievement, anniversary word, byword and description has a action that has a absolute appulse on the admirers and enhances the acquaintance for everyone.

Encourage Success News speakers to specify the capacity of their presentation as follows:

– What was the bearings (provide a context) e.g. the altogether affair of a friend

– Area did it action e.g. assassin hall

– How did they appear to be there (if relevant) e.g. best friend

– Who was there e.g. about 50 arrive guests or a academy anteroom of 2000 delegates

– Why it was challenging, for archetype in the accomplished they could never brainstorm themselves accomplishing this

– Ask them to call what happened

– Let them to explain why actuality a affiliate of a accessible speaking alignment or accommodating in this speaking affairs fabricated a aberration in this instance, and

– Encourage them to accurate their affections and faculty of accomplishment at their success.

The Chairman should accomplish a point of congratulating anniversary Success News speaker, and re-emphasize how the affairs or advance can do the aforementioned for any affiliate of the audience.

Success News presentations serve two purposes. Firstly, for speakers the cogent their claimed news in a Success Articulation reinforces their all-embracing absolute acquaintance of accessible speaking. They accept the befalling to bless their accomplishment with an admirers that appreciates and understands the adventuresomeness bare to affected the different challenges of actuality a presenter. Secondly, the admirers will see Success Articulation speakers back their news with excitement, a faculty of accomplishment and a bashful afterglow of pride. A Success speakers absolute activity and activity is catching — affirmed to affect others of the allowances in advancement drive in developing and carrying speeches on a approved basis.

Marianne Williamson said “And as we let our own ablaze shine, we aback accord added bodies permission to do the same. As we are absolved from our own fear, our attendance automatically liberates others.”

By giving opportunity, permission and advance to any presenter, irrespective of whether they are novice, accomplished or able to allotment their belief of accessible speaking success, so too do you accord every being in the admirers the allowance to be aggressive and motivated to do the same.

Several friends have asked me about Tonka’s name. Tonka is our “prison dog” (now out on parole), the little character we adopted last spring from the Colorado Correctional Industries K-9 Companion program.

Tonka was a stray found on the eastern plains of Colorado near Lamar, where he was given over to a local rescue organization. I wrote to the woman who fostered him to ask how they decided on his name. Of course we have all heard of Tonka toys and trucks, but I also read that Tonka is a Sioux word meaning “great” or “big.”

Donna from the rescue group said she wished it was something neat like a Sioux word. She said they name hundreds of dogs and she just picked a name. Sometimes the names are chosen for an attribute or character of a dog but in Tonka’s case, apparently that name just came to mind.

She also said that sometimes names get chosen because it has to sound different than the names of other foster dogs in the home at the time. That way when you call them, they know who is being called. She said she usually has a litter, several adult fosters, plus her own dogs at any given time. Bless her!

Anyway, I’m sticking with Tonka’s name being a Sioux word. Tonka’s vet has already started calling him “Tatonka” because she likes the Sioux reference. We found this online:

The Buffalo (Tatonka) holds deep meaning for the Sioux and generally represents Mother Earth and all she provides and offers. There are legends concerning the White Buffalo as well.

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Seller Testimonial

“When we viewed a property Mike was selling we were impressed with his manner and his prompt follow up that evening (which we were surprised to find didn’t happen with any other agents whose places we viewed). Mike than showed us a couple of places and we started receiving his regular emails regarding upcoming opportunities. At that point our place was listed (unsuccessfully) with another agency – but when we went back on the market a few months later we had no hesitation in choosing Mike as he stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Mike’s great use of his email database ensured that we hit the ground running – with multiple viewings and an openhome on the first day we went on the market (which was a Tuesday). It was also very collaborative approach with Mike ensuring that we were comfortable with everything he was doing on our behalf. He always kept us up to date with developments and we were impressed that every lead was followed up on and detailed to us with prompt feedback after every viewing.

We had more people viewing our place in the first week with Mike than we’d had with 6 months on the market with another agency! We had numerous offers and were lucky enough to be in a multiple offer situation twice. Mike put the sold sign up a month after listing – but it nearly happened in the first week.

We’d have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Mike and will sing his praises to anyone we meet who wants to buy or sell a house”.

Adrian and Brigid McKenzie

New marketing has an emphasis on events and projects – epic, legendary, unique and fun.

The right event does not need expensive advertising on TV, radio or print. Catch people’s imagination and they will viral market your event for you – for free! And dont think people don’t have time – for the right event, they have all the time in the world.

A non-profit, one afternoon version of the ‘Amazing Race’ was held in Johannesburg recently. In its fouth year it attracted over 2000 people – and contestants went all out to get into the true spirit of the event.

Contestants dressed up and many decorated their cars as well. Following the clues, competition was fierce to get to the winning line first and of course the after party was legendary!

Click on the thumbnails below to walk through the gallery.

As we approach one of the biggest holidays of the year, a day that we set aside to give thanks, I am reflecting on everything I am thankful for. How many times during the day do I not appreciate my healthy family, the roof over my head, my refrigerator full of food and the job that I am so blessed to have. It is convicting as I read stories and see faces of people who do not have any of those things. So as we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, hopefully we can not only reflect on the things that we have in our lives but also lift a prayer for those around the world that not only do not have food, water and clothing, but do not yet know Jesus as their Savior and have the hope that Jesus gives. I wanted to share a quick story about a young girl in Uganda who has chosen to be thankful for everything that she has been given in her life even though some may think she has little to be thankful for, she would disagree.

Faith has been sponsored by FH for four years now, she started sponsorship while in the sixth grade. Without the support of her sponsor and FH, she would not have been able to attend Secondary School. Because Faith is the last born, her parents are very old and no longer live in Kitany with her. They were unable to support her academically.

However, with FH support, all of her school fees as well as purchasing uniforms, books, pens, and pencils are paid for. Through her sponsorship, she has received counseling from the CDP staff, encouraging her in her studies as well as fostering within her a deep relationship with God.

She is very involved in her church, singing in Church Choir every Sunday.

FH has helped Faith to think about and plan for her future. After Secondary School, she hopes to attend university in Kampala where she will study to become a nurse. After completing her university education, she hopes to return to Kapchorwa District, bringing her valuable knowledge back to aid her community.

Faith is very thankful for the support she has received and will not let the money, time, and love of her sponsor and the FH staff be laid to waste, she’s forever grateful for the good work God has used FH to do.

She asks for prayer; that she would be able to study hard and finish secocndary school strong.

Maria is a recent MSN-Education graduate who turned her practicum experience with a local college into a wonderful career opportunity.  By establishing a solid relationship with her practicum preceptor and identifying the immediate needs of the college’s newly established nursing program, Maria saw the opportunity for a win-win situation and took advantage of it.

Maria’s preceptor for her practicum project was the Associate Dean of the School of Nursing at the college.  Through her conversations with the Dean, Maria realized that the curriculum had not yet been developed for the new community health nursing course to be offered to the senior nursing students of the college’s first graduating class.  Having spent the last 20 years of her professional career in home care, Maria offered to develop a syllabus and lesson plans for the course.  Maria’s initiative was well received, and the Dean agreed to mentor Maria throughout the process. 

Maria’s challenge was to develop a community health course that integrated current evidence-based practice guidelines and research, student-centered and adult learning principles, interdisciplinary collaboration, and embraced diversity to successfully educate students to meet society’s changing needs in community and public health.  Maria successfully created a 15-week, evidence-based, interactive, multimedia community health course to enable students to serve as active members of a multidisciplinary team and deliver quality-driven health care services. 

Maria’s project received positive feedback from her preceptor, as well as other faculty members at the college who confirmed that the goals of the practicum project were successfully achieved.. As a result of Maria’s taking the initiative to address the college’s specific curriculum needs, the Associate Dean offered the vacant faculty position as the community health nurse educator to Maria.  Maria jumped on this terrific opportunity to implement her own practicum project while gaining experience in her new career path as a nurse faculty member in academia.

Written by Nicolle Skalski, Career Services Advisor

If you have a success story to share, please email us at:  careerservices@waldenu.edu

Everyone loves acceptable success stories. There’s article about success and acknowledged men (and women), that makes them so absorbing and ambrosial to others. They are a antecedent of connected afflatus to bodies about them, and they angle for the backbone of the animal spirit, and its celebration over difficulties.

Let’s attending at some appropriately alarming success belief that are abiding to leave as activity afflicted and inspired.

Bill Gates

There is actually no one in this apple who hasn’t heard of Bill Gates and the Microsoft Corporation. Who amid us has not been affected by his allowance to the association in the anatomy of thecomputer application we use on our computers? He is absolutely one of the greatest business leaders the apple has anytime known.

An acclaimed beatnik during his apprentice life, apparently fabricated fun of for his acute absorption in Math and Science, Bill Gates, with his adamantine assignment and dedication, adapted himself from an article of badinage to a attribute of ability and wealth.

A man of action, Bill Gates is accepted to be a accident taker, and today, holds the incomparable position of the richest being in the world. He is additionally the co-founder of the accommodating alignment – the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which agitated out altruistic assignment in the acreage of illiteracy, and poverty.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the architect of the Apple Computer, who went on to begin the NeXT Computer afterwards he larboard Apple in 1985. However, as fate would accept it, he came aback to the aggregation he founded in 1996, giving it a fresh administration with the barrage of articles like iPod MP3 player, the iTunes Music Store, and iTunes agenda music software.

In accession to this, he is additionally the Former Chairman and CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which was afresh brought by Walt Disney Studios. Today, Jobs is the better alone actor at Walt Disney Studios.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a business baton in the breadth of absolute estate. There’s hardly anyone who’s impervious to the acknowledgment of his name. In discharge of claimed debts to the tune of $900 actor and business debts amounting to $3.5 billion in the mid 1990s, Donald Trump bounced aback and accustomed himself already afresh as a name to be reckoned with. His absoluteness TV appearance “The Apprentice” became an burning hit and his chat “You’re fired” became a rage.

Pentingnya ilmu pengetahuan serta minimnya kesadaran untuk mengenyam pendidikan bagi sebagian orang mungkin masih dianggap remeh. Padahal dengan pendidikan yang baik akan dihasilkan pula generasi-generasi penerus yang berkualitas. Dewasa ini ilmu pengetahuan tidak hanya bisa didapat dari jalur pendidikan formal saja karena dengan jaman yang semakin maju dan berkembang, teknologi membuat sebuah pengetahuan menjadi mudah dicari dan didapat.

Ada sebuah ungkapan bijak yang mengatakan bahwa buku adalah jendela dunia. Pandangan bahwa tidak ada satu buku pun yang tidak memberikan manfaat adalah benar. Karena buku merupakan sumber ilmu pengetahuan. Dari buku pula kita belajar, mengenal dan memperkenalkan hal-hal baru bagi kita serta anak-anak kita.

Adalah Mudjiyo, bapak tiga anak yang mungkin terinspirasi dari pemahaman tersebut sehingga berani terjun, bergelut dan menyelami bisnis tersebut. Mulai dengan usaha penerbitan, percetakan dan malah belakangan ia sudah melirik usaha dibidang pendidikan taman kanak-kanak. Sosok pria berpenampilan sederhana ini sepintas tampak biasa saja, tak ada yang luar biasa. Namun jika kita melihat kebelakang atas usaha, perjuangan dan keinginan besarnya untuk maju dan menjadi seseorang yang sukses patutlah kita berikan acungan jempol.

Bagaimana tidak, sejak duduk di kelas lima tingkat sekolah dasar (waktu itu Sekolah Rakyat), ia sudah kehilangan figur seorang ayah. Keadaan tersebut membuatnya tak patah arang, meski ia harus bekerja ekstra keras untuk bisa membiayai sekolahnya dengan keringatnya sendiri. Keinginan kerasnya untuk terus melanjutkan sekolah tak pernah redup. Sewaktu duduk di sekolah tingkat atas (SMA) ia pernah berjualan obat di daerah Glodok, sepanjang jalan Gajah Mada, Jakarta. Mulai sore sampai dengan malam hari ia berjualan obat. Melihat kemauan untuk mengenyam bangku pendidikan tingkat SMA dan kerja kerasnya, sang pemilik toko obat tersebut kemudian memberinya kesempatan dengan menyekolahkannya sampai ia tamat SMA.

“Saya selalu memiliki cita-cita untuk memperbaiki nasib saya,” ujar Mudjiyo. Cita-cita tersebut rupanya memotivasi dirinya untuk selalu menghargai setiap kesempatan yang diberikan kepadanya. “Apa yang saya dapatkan sekarang melalui proses yang cukup panjang, semua pengalaman serta teori yang saya dapatkan, saya ramu dan kembangkan. Sehingga bagi saya tak ada ilmu yang mubazir,” ungkap pria yang ramah dan senang guyon ini menambahkan.

Mengaku mengenal dunia penerbitan dan percetakan saat ia bekerja disebuah penerbitan besar di daerah Pramuka, Jakarta. Kala itu Mudjiyo bekerja sebagai tenaga marketing. Selama 18 tahun ia selami dan pahami dunia tersebut. Berbekal pengalaman dan jam terbang yang telah ia kantongi, Mudjiyo secara perlahan memulai untuk merintis usaha dibidang penerbitan ini dengan mengusung nama CV. Arya Duta.

“Apa yang saya lakukan untuk membangun usaha ini mungkin sedikit berbeda dengan kebanyakan orang. Karena pada umumnya sebuah penerbitan berawal dari usaha percetakan,” tutur Mudjiyo. Ya, memang sebagian besar perusahaan penerbitan memulai usahanya dari percetakan. Berbeda dengan Mudjiyo, pengusaha yang satu ini membangun usahanya dari perusahaan penerbitan baru kemudian merambah ke usaha percetakan. “Awalnya saya hanya mempunyai ijin sebagai penerbit saja, tapi seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, usaha yang saya tekuni ini berkembang hingga saya bisa membeli mesin cetak sendiri,” jelas Mudjiyo.

Kematangan pengalaman sebagai marketing membuatnya mengerti apa dan siapa saja pangsa pasar bagi produk yang dihasilkannya. Selain itu ia juga mengetahui berapa banyak kebutuhan atas sebuah produk. “Banyak orang yang bingung kepada siapa mereka akan menjual produknya, berapa jumlah produk yang dibutuhkan, dan lain-lain. Tapi saya tahu, saya tahu produk apa saja yang dibutuhkan, berapa jumlahnya”, ungkap Mudjiyo menjelaskan.

Ketika ditanya tanggapannya tentang program pemerintah yang memangkas monopoli pengadaan buku SD hingga SMA, dengan membeli hak cipta sekitar 250 judul buku. Mudjiyo mengungkapkan bahwa, “Kebijakan tersebut memang dilakukan oleh Pemerintah guna menekan biaya pendidikan di Indonesia, akan tetapi dari sisi kami sebagai pengusaha penerbitan atau percetakan, dampak dari kebijakan tersebut cukup besar. Dan kebijakan tersebut berpengaruh terhadap penjualan ritel kami.” Langkah yang dilakukan oleh Arya Duta adalah dengan mengalihkan penjualan buku-buku materi yang dijual secara ritel dengan lebih menggiatkan dan  mengoptimalkan penjualan buku-buku soal seperti LKS (Lembar Kerja Siswa) serta ikut menggandakan BSE (Buku Sekolah Elektronik) untuk tingkat SD dan SMP. Bahkan sepanjang bulan November 2008 sampai awal Januari 2009 CV. Arya Duta sempat kewalahan mencetaknya karena Pemerintah saat ini menekankan pembelian BOS buku 2008 dengan menggunakan BSE / naskah yang sudah dibeli dari Pusbuk.”

Tapi Mudjiyo tetap yakin bahwa CV. Arya Duta beserta sekitar 373 orang karyawannya dapat menyikapi dan mengantisipasinya dengan baik. “Alhamdulillah, sampai saat ini kami tidak melakukan PHK terhadap satu orang karyawan pun,” ujar Mudjiyo bangga. Dengan alokasi karyawan yang tepat dan bekerjasama dengan penerbit lain untuk mendistribusikan produk-produknya, menurutnya sebagai salah satu cara untuk menyikapi kondisi belakangan ini.

Rupanya rantai bisnis Mudjiyo tak berhenti sampai di situ saja, belakangan, tepatnya sejak dua tahun yang lalu ia mulai melirik dunia pendidikan. Ia pun mendirikan dua buah taman kanak-kanak bernama TK. Karya Insani dan TK. Bina Insani. Biaya pendidikan murah dan tenaga pengajar yang berkualitas menjadikan kedua taman kanak-kanak ini memiliki reputasi baik, sehingga keduanya juga merupakan taman kanak-kanak favorit meski baru seumur jagung.

Di tengah kesibukannya mengelola CV. Arya Duta, Mudjiyo juga masih menyempatkan diri untuk berolahraga dan bercocok tanam di kebun miliknya. Baginya ini adalah obat stres yang paling mujarab untuk menghilangkan kepenatan ditengah aktivitas seharian. Meskipun sudah lebih dari 50% kegiatan operasional perusahaan yang ia pimpin telah ditangani oleh kedua putrinya, tapi berbagai keputusan penting masih ia pegang.

Note:

Dari perjalanan saya selama ini, baru kali ini saya bertemu dengan seseorang yang seperti beliau. Sifat serta sikap low profile-nya selalu menyertai kemanapun ia pergi.

Ukiek Arief Yudono (For BCA Prioritas Magazine-2009)

Bergulirnya hawa reformasi di negeri ini membawa kebangkitan bagi industri penerbangan Indonesia. Tepatnya sejak dibukanya pintu kebijakan pada industri penerbangan yang memberikan kemudahan bagi maskapai penerbangan baru untuk meramaikan belantika penerbangan di Tanah Air. Munculnya maskapai-maskapai baru ini menjadi pesaing bagi maskapai yang telah lama memenuhi birunya langit di Nusantara.

Indonesia sebagai negara dengan jumlah penduduk terbesar ke tiga di dunia, yaitu mencapai lebih dari 238 juta jiwa serta kondisi geografis Indonesia sebagai negara kepulauan, pastilah dibutuhkan sarana transportasi yang dapat melayani hingga ke beberapa daerah di wilayah Nusantara ini. Terlebih lagi bagi masyarakat moderen yang sangat menghargai waktu.

Adalah Yudiawan Tansari, “pilot” yang berada di belakang bendera dan nama Batavia Air sebagai salah satu maskapai penerbangan terbesar ke-3 di Indonesia. Melihat kebijakan yang digulirkan oleh Pemerintah membuatnya memberanikan diri untuk terjun lebih serius menggarap bisnis penerbangan di Indonesia. Nama Yudiawan Tansari memang bukan nama baru di bisnis tersebut. Di sekitar tahun 70-an, bapak tiga anak ini sudah mengawali bisnisnya sebagai pengusaha Tour & Travel di kawasan Mangga Besar, Jakarta.

Celah dan peluang tersebut yang kemudian digunakan oleh Yudiawan Tansari, seorang pengusaha biro perjalanan untuk melebarkan sayap bisnisnya. Bertahun-tahun ia pelajari dan tekuni bidang usaha penerbangan ini. Dengan berbekal pengalaman dan keinginan yang kuat, ia mulai terjun langsung ke dunia penerbangan Indonesia dengan penerbangan charter. Saat itu ia menyewa beberapa pesawat kecil jenis Fokker untuk melayani penerbangan cargo maupun penumpang dengan rute Jakarta – Pontianak dan Pontianak – Bangka yang memang pada waktu itu belum digarap secara serius dan maksimal oleh maskapai-maskapai lain yang telah eksis di Indonesia.

Perjalanan bisnis penerbangan charter yang ia tekuni selama sekitar 28 tahun ini membuahkan hasil, setelah dilonggarkannya kebijakan tentang ijin dan perijinan pembuatan maskapai penerbangan baru di Indonesia. Maka diawal tahun 2002, tepatnya pada 5 Januari 2002, ia menancapkan bendera Batavia Air melalui PT. Metro Batavia yang menandakan bahwa maskapai itu telah secara resmi beroperasi. Sampai saat ini Batavia Air telah melayani 34 rute penerbangan domestik diberbagai kota di Indonesia dan 2 rute penerbangan internasional. Untuk penerbangan Internasional, Batavia Air melayani rute ke Guangzhou (China) dan Kuching (Malaysia). Jadi total Batavia Air telah memiliki 36 buah rute penerbangan  domestik dan internasional. “Sampai dengan saat ini, Batavia Air telah menguasai 17,5% pangsa pasar untuk penerbangan domestik”, ungkap Yudiawan Tansari.

Dengan tingkat keamanan dan kenyamanan serta pelayanan yang baik, pantaslah jika saat ini Batavia Air menduduki peringkat ke tiga untuk maskapai penerbangan dalam negeri versi Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA). Merupakan usia yang relatif belia bagi sebuah maskapai penerbangan untuk bisa bersaing dan mendapat tempat di hati masyarakat sebagai pengguna jasa. Apalagi dalam usia tersebut, Batavia Air telah memiliki 33 unit pesawat dengan berbagai jenis.

Dipilihnya slogan Trust Us to Fly, menurut Yudiawan karena kalimat tersebut memiliki arti kata untuk meyakinkan konsumen sebagai pengguna jasa agar mempercayakan Batavia Air dan para profesionalnya yang selalu memberikan pelayanan terbaik tanpa mengesampingkan arti penting keamanan dan kenyamanan bagi para pengguna jasa.

“Sebuah maskapai penerbangan akan memiliki reputasi yang baik jika maskapai tersebut memiliki record 0% accident (catatan tingkat kecelakaan) atau mendekati angka nol”, ujar Yudiawan menjelaskan. Di jaman seperti sekarang ini sangatlah penting bagi sebuah perusahaan, terutama perusahaan jasa untuk selalu meningkatkan service kepada konsumen agar tingkat kepuasan konsumen maupun para pengguna jasa dapat dijaga dengan baik. “Bagi kami kepercayaan yang diberikan oleh konsumen merupakan suatu hal yang sangat penting dan tidak bisa ditawar. Tentunya Batavia Air juga senantiasa meningkatkan kualitas SDM sehingga safety sebagai salah satu faktor penting dalam dunia penerbangan dapat mendukung tingkat kepercayaan konsumen terhadap jasa yang kami berikan”, paparnya.

Untuk mendukung misi dan visi Batavia Air dalam memberikan service serta pelayanan yang terbaik dan memuaskan tentunya SDM harus menjadi perhatian penting. Oleh karena itu Batavia Air mendirikan Batavia Training Center maupun Aero Flyer yang melatih dan mencetak para calon awak pesawat maupun calon pilot untuk menjadi seorang professional di dunia penerbangan. “Kami memberikan beasiswa kepada anak bangsa yang memiliki minat dan kemampuan untuk menjadi pilot. Fasilitas serta sarana yang lengkap juga kami sediakan untuk menunjang terciptanya para professional yang handal”, ujarnya menuturkan.

Ketika ditanya strategi apa yang diterapkan oleh Batavia Air bagi para kompetitornya sehingga bisa berada di jajaran maskapai penerbangan terbaik di Indonesia meski baru memasuki usia 8 tahun, Yudiawan mengatakan bahwa, “Semua kompetitor tak ada yang berat, asal kita mau berusaha dan bekerja keras. Kami tidak mempunyai strategi khusus, kami hanya selalu berusaha untuk memberikan yang terbaik kepada konsumen seperti: harga yang terjangkau, keamanan dan kenyamanan penerbangan, serta ketepatan waktu keberangkatan dan kedatangan”. Untuk lebih meningkatkan efisiensi biaya operasional penerbangan, Batavia Air dalam waktu dekat ini akan melakukan peremajaan armada dengan membeli beberapa pesawat yang notabene memiliki fuel consumption lebih rendah.

Di saat musim liburan tiba, seperti liburan akhir tahun pada bulan Desember 2008 silam, terjadi peningkatan jumlah pengguna jasa Batavia Air melonjak hingga lebih dari 15% dibanding hari-hari libur sebelumnya. Kemajuan dan kecanggihan teknologi yang merupakan salah satu default yang diberikan oleh perbankan masa kini diakui Yudiawan sangat membantu Batavia Air dalam melakukan penjualan tiket. Utamanya penjualan tiket melalui sistem online ticketing.

Dengan dibantu oleh ketiga putra putrinya, yang masing-masing menduduki beberapa posisi penting di PT. Metro Batavia serta dukungan dari para profesional yang ada di dalamnya, Yudiawan tetap yakin dan optimis bahwa ancaman krisis finansial global yang telah melanda dibeberapa negara tidak akan memberi dampak serius bagi industri penerbangan dalam negeri.

Malah dalam waktu dekat Batavia Air juga berencana untuk melakukan ekspansi rute penerbangan ke beberapa negara termasuk Timur Tengah. Diantaranya adalah membuka jalur penerbangan Jakarta – Singapura, Singapura – Surabaya dan rute Jakarta – Jeddah. Menurut rencana, rute-rute tersebut akan beroperasi pada tahun 2009 ini. Terlebih, Batavia Air sudah mengantongi ijin dari Depertemen Perhubungan Republik Indonesia untuk melakukan penerbangan ke rute-rute tersebut. ”Rencananya penerbangan Batavia Air dengan rute Jakarta – Jeddah akan dilaksanakan dengan frekuensi tiga kali penerbangan dalam seminggu”, imbuh Yudiawan sambil menutup pembicaraan.

Ukiek Arief Yudono (For BCA Prioritas Magazine-2009)

This week great announcement revolves around Allianz’s $1M saving going Open-Source. The theaustralian.com.au article not only mention huge cost reductions by moving to Linux, but Alllianz’s substential savings are also coming from their move from IBM’s Websphere Application Server to JBoss Enterprise Application Platform.

Encouraged by the economic conditions and the growing mindshare around middleware Opensource, we see this trend accelerating accross the world and especially in Asia/Pacific, Japan.

There is 2 ways to start a migration to JBoss middleware.

1. Outsource – Contact our experts and services team, they offer migration assessment and pilot services
2. DIY – JBoss is contributing back the tools and methodology to assist you when migrating.

Resources: Migration Guide(PDF), JBoss Migration assistance project

If you want to read about success stories in your region or your industry, please check Red Hat Success Stories here.

Success Stories

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I wanted to share another quail success story with you from the Sweet Springs Focus Area!  Hopefully Neal will have better luck deer hunting this week, but he sure sounds  excited about his quail numbers!

From Neal Bray…

 ”Just thought I’d drop you a note. Sitting in my deer stand opening morning, starting to get light, when quail start whistling all around me. Undoubtedly something had busted them earlier and they decided to regroup right underneath my stand. Groups of four and five start marching in from different directions. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched quail from a deer stand. After they had gotten together and moved off to the south, a second covey flushed from the east and landed in a burn pile 20 yards from me. Both coveys probably had about a dozen birds each and they might have all been together at one time. Then on the way back to the house, I made the circle and flushed another covey of about a dozen birds. All of these birds were in locations that I haven’t seen quail in for a long time. So the CP-33 is working. Opening weekend of deer season sucked, but its exciting to see quail starting to come back. First time ever that our group that hunts out here has gotten skunked opening weekend of deer season.”

If you have a local habitat success story, please send it to me so we can share with others!

It’s Friday and time for the the top 3 job search tips I’ve found from the scores of blog posts I see and pass along. Also, I will be looking for your votes on which is your favorite. Feel free to forward this link to your friends in transition.

1. My first choice is related to a recent one I wrote on Know What You Want. Here Nance Rosen takes the next step (and the hard work) to putting into words what it is we want. Here’s an excerpt:

If You Can Say It, You Can Live It

* By: Nance Rosen on November 17th, 2009 at 5:15 am
* In Networking, People, Personal Branding, Success Strategies | 3 Comments

If you can’t tell people what you do, then you won’t be doing it much longer. If you can’t articulate what you want to do, then you won’t ever be doing it. But, if you can – well, I found out you are one in about 150 people who can complete this sentence:

I am: ______________________ .
On Sunday I spoke to an audience at an event sponsored by the LA Urban Beauty Connection, supporting two philanthropies and drawing a cool, professional crowd that came out to hear experts present on the latest trends in fashion, technology and business. My topic was The Real Secret to Success in Careers and Business, How to Stay Up in a Down Economy. Of course, I was there to talk about personal branding.
Personal branding foundational work.

Typically, I stand on a stage and talk at people (it’s more exciting than that, but basically I’m the show until Q&A or the workshop portion of my personal branding presentations). But, this forum was much more “theater in the round.” I was given the opportunity to do interactive, live coaching for people who had considered but never really hunkered down to do the foundational work of personal branding.

So, I opened with my signature line: “Everyday you have the opportunity to say the one thing that will change your life. I guarantee by the time we’re done today, you’ll know what to say, and where and when to say it.”

Five statement in the personal branding process

What a great way to spend a Sunday, I thought. It was like magnifying the coaching that I do with one person, but having all these people learn from process. I started as planned, by picking one person, but when she seemed a little lost, I move to another. I wound up challenging five people in the audience to complete these 5 statements that are requisite for the personal branding process:

1. I am:
2. I excel at:
3. I do this via these methods/approaches/tactics:
4. Here’s an example:
5. Here’s what I’d like to do more of:

Obviously, I want the answers you’d give in a business setting, or at least an environment that would make an impression on people attending an event like the one we were at. This is a networking opportunity. This is when you’re going to meet strangers; people whom you suspect are candidates for developing valuable relationships. If you do nothing else: you’ve got to have a crisp, clear and compelling way of communicating what you do, how you do it, and what you’d like to do more of (or what you like to do that is a departure from what you’ve got going on now).
Read here for the rest of the article.

2. Next Up – From WSJ’s Laid Off and Looking Blog, an interesting alternative to the search titled:
Postponing the Full-Time Search for a Contract Assignment

By Geoff Hibner

Geoff Hibner lost his job in 2007 after working as the CFO of Banta Corp. The entire executive team was let go when the company was sold. Previously, he was an independent consultant as well as a senior vice president and CFO at The Timberland Co. Mr. Hibner earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1977. He lives with his wife in Neenah, Wis. and has two adult children.

Geoff HibnerIt’s been a number of weeks since I last posted to this blog. I’ve been really busy. Not busy making contacts, that could lead to my next full-time job; instead, I’ve been really busy working as a consultant.

In several of my earlier postings I mentioned making a contact while interviewing for a certain CFO position. Although that introduction was too late for me to be considered for the CFO position, it did lead to the CEO of that company deciding he wanted to meet me to discuss other possibilities. To make a long and complicated story shorter, a series of discussions led to a full-time corporate strategy and financing consulting assignment that began in late August.

The assignment is extremely interesting. I work with solid and dedicated people, and the compensation is good. But, I’m away from home from Monday morning until Friday night, working 55 to 60 hours a week (I’m paid by the week, not the hour), and have little time for activities which might lead to another full-time position.

I’m certainly not complaining. I made the decision to take on this assignment knowing that it would affect my job search activities. I didn’t expect to work quite so many hours per week, but it can’t be helped when there are deadlines to be met.

This assignment could stretch out for several more months, or it could end within the next few weeks. There could be other projects when this one is completed. Even if the opportunity exists to remain in a consulting role for months to come, I’ll really need to decide soon if continuing as I have been is in my longer-term best interests. Some readers will say that to have a full-time position, even as a consultant, in these tough economic times is to be in a great position and that I should continue to devote all my energy to creating value for the company so that there will be follow-on projects. Other readers will observe that consulting positions are often the first to go if a company decides it must cut expenses; even if the position has been created to address a very specific, time-sensitive issue (as mine was), and they’ll insist that I need to somehow find the time to continue my job search. Both will be valid comments and I’ll need to decide sometime soon which way to lean.

Readers, are you postponing your full-time search to keep up with a less-stable contract position? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

3. My last choice today is from Meg Giuseppi and reports on some things you probably already knew but now have statistics on the generation born between 1946 and 1960…

Boomer Career Trends: The Graying of America’s Work Force

By Meg Guiseppi | November 20, 2009

We’ve all been hearing lately that boomers are staying in the workforce longer because their retirement accounts took such a hit recently, and that we can expect the trend to continue well after the economy recovers.

According to one government estimate, 93% of the growth in the U.S. labor force from 2006 to 2016 will be among 55 and older workers.

But you may be surprised to know that the majority of those over 55 stay at work beyond retirement age because they want to stay active into their later years, not because they need the money.

According to a September 2009 nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project:

“A majority (54%) of workers ages 65 and older say the main reason they work is that they want to. Just 17% say the main reason is that they need the paycheck. An additional 27% say they’re motivated by a mix of desire and need.”

The reasons older workers gave included:

* “to feel useful”
* “to give myself something to do”
* “to be with other people”

Conversely, younger adults are staying out of the workforce longer.

Of Americans aged 16 to 24, 57% are in the labor force today, compared to 66% in 2000.

Two factors impacting the youngest working group:

* Instead of diving into full time jobs, they’re getting a college education under their belts to get ahead, and
* Discouraged by dwindling opportunities in this economy, they’re dropping out of the job market entirely.

The Pew report is based on analysis of long-term trends in survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research’s own survey of a representative national sample of 1,815 people ages 16 and older conducted from July 20 to Aug. 2, 2009.

Other key findings:

* Security trumps salary.
* Despite tough times, job satisfaction remains high.
* Older workers are the happiest workers.
* Retirement is not always voluntary.
* Even so, retirement gets high marks.
* The public is skeptical about full-time working moms.
* Most working moms would rather have a part-time job.

You can grab the full report here: Recession Turns a Graying Office Grayer.

JP McDermott is a financial services and insurance advisor in Walnut Creek, CA. He is also a career and financial coach, has been volunteering his time and experience to various non-profit, service and civic organizations, most recently helping those in transition. His philosophy is to help others be more successful and to enjoy the benefits of meeting new people.

JP lives in Danville with his wife Candy.

Check out his LinkedIn profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/jpmcdermott

Patrick
Ross School of Business
(University of Michigan), 2006

“I was extremely satisfied with the caliber of listings and the result of my search process. Despite the difficult economic climate, I am happy to say that I landed my current job in Venture Capital after applying to a small number of elite firms.

Doostang provided a direct avenue to countless opportunities that could only otherwise have been reached through personal contacts or middleman headhunters.

The monthly fee is a small price to pay for access to premier jobs and the investment yielded one of my best ROIs to date, making the choice a no-brainer. If you truly value your time and want to make a career leap rather than a step, I highly recommend Doostang!“

- Congratulations, Patrick!

If you’re interested in sharing your Doostang success story, contact Kat at katerina@doostang.com

Want to be the next Doostang Success story? Start applying to those jobs and see where that takes you!

Here’s a small sample of the exceptional jobs you’ll find on Doostang:

Winter Investment Banking Intern – National Investment Bank, Boston, MA
Strategic Marketing Manager – Unique Lifestyle & Marketing Company, New York, NY
Research Fellow – Nonprofit Public Policy Organization, Washington, DC
Consulting Analyst – Premier Economics Consulting Firm, Los Angeles, CA
Private Equity Partner – Niche Private Equity Firm, Philadelphia, PA

More jobs we think you’ll like…

Happy Job Searching!

The Doostang Team

A Fish Story……..for all of you

A  guy who lives at Lake Conroe

(50  miles north of Houston ) saw a ball bouncing

around  kind of strange in the lake and went to

investigate.

It  turned out to be a flathead catfish

that had

apparently  tried to swallow a basketball which

became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to
dive, but unable to, because the ball would
always bring him back up to the surface.
The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out,
but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut
the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry
catfish.

You probably wouldn’t have believed this,
if you hadn’t seen the following pictures:

Be kinder than necessary because everyone bites off more than they can chew sometime in life…

Posted: Just One More Pet

As I’ve mentioned in a few of my recent posts, it’s best to weather the storm of the recession with a little bit of optimism. Luckily, I stumbled across this article today about four recession success stories. Together, they prove to not only give us all a little bit of hope, but also a great deal of inspiration.

Let’s look at my two favorite stories:

Sergio Santos: Architect with a small space and a big imagination.

My personal favorite. Santos lost his job and couldn’t afford to pay for his apartment. Rather than renting a bedroom, he instead presented to the landlord the option of renting just his 14 foot long closet for a small fee. With his architectural imagination he turned it into a spacious living and freelance work area, which he claims can host around 10 people inside. His personal Web site shows some images of his project/home. So, what can we take from this? Don’t be afraid to give up a little comfort to ease your financial situation — and don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Santos' Web site has a slideshow of the closet turned home and workspace.

Wendi Ezgur: The traveling family.

Feeling financial stress, Ezgur presented an idea to her husband to put their family’s house up for rent, buy an RV, and live on the road. Her husband could work from his computer and phone, and the three kids could be taught in the RV, learning lessons through sightseeing and national landmarks. To make it actually worthwhile, Ezgur, with her corporate consultant background, created a brand strategy and Web site for familyofftrack.com. After gaining some big name sponsors, Ezgur’s off-the-wall idea turned into a marketing dream, as companies like Geico used Family Off Track to spread their name. The RV endeavor is now a staple part of their lives, as they develop Family Off Track into a bigger and more known brand. Sometimes, it just takes a little creativity, and who knows, maybe your odd idea could turn into a marketing, life-changing sensation.

Along with the two other stories, one of an engineer turned comedian, and the other of a speech pathologist turned farmer, the article also gave some good advice and tips on how to turn your possible misfortune into a possible success story.

And ending with a quote from Ezgur’s Family Off Track home page: “The moment is looks as though all is lost is the precise moment you have nothing to lose.”

www.pardons.org

It is wonderful to receive so many thank you letters expressing gratitude for getting a Canada Pardon and how its given them a new lease on life.

It is a pleasure to help so many people obtain Canada Pardons and US Entry Waivers so that they can move forward in their life with freedom.  Often, we don’t know how good we have it until we lose what we had.  In many cases, people who have been charged with a criminal offence are punished and the emotional, economic and social punishment can weigh heavily for many many years, well after the official punishment (parole, probation) has ended.

Here is a letter from a person we recently helped to remove a number of very old criminal charges including possession of controlled substance, DUI, and theft:

“I come from a dysfunctional family having a father who was an angry person who had a drug and alchohol problem.  I lost my mom at age 15, then four years later, my father died.”

“I took out my frustrations by doing stupid things like stealing, smoking pot and loter on doing heavier drugs.  As I was born with a slight learning disability, the drugs did not exactly help me out.”

“I am now 47, and my criminal record dates back more than 20 years.  I know I was in the wrong and my circumstances of life did not justify my behaviour.  Throughout all of these years, I would always try to hide my criminal past being ashamed of what I did.”

“Today, with my Pardon, I feel like a new man.  I now have the opportunity to apply for a better position at work and I can travel outside of Canada.  I am in a program and I have been off of drugs for a few years now.  I have a steady job with a pension plan, I have my own apartment, I have no debts, I am off drugs and I now have a Pardon.”

“This is the beginning of my new life. I appreciate this new chance in life.  Thank you Pardons Canada.”

If you have any questions regarding this topic or about Pardons and US Entry Waivers email us at info@pardons.org or call 1-877-929-6011.

Since the arguments in favor of acting now to avert serious problems later are so compelling, why don’t they penetrate the public and policy maker’s consciousness?”  The answer is complex, but is in large part because of seen and unseen perceptual barriers and competing core values that most campaigns and communicators have not yet overcome.

Improving communications on children’s issues and policy change has been a challenge because people value their own children and put their health and welfare first, but believe that it is the responsibility of other families to do the same.  Children are seen as “encased” in families and Americans don’t meddle in private family matters unless things get really, really bad.

Children’s problems are often seen as resulting from bad or undeserving parents who made bad choices.  Parents are blamed for causing their own problems, are deemed untrustworthy and likely to waste what “we give them” — to buy drugs, gamble, etc., rather than use support to care for their kids.

Through our research, comments that describe “the problem” include:

•    Money won’t solve these basic problems, but many child advocacy groups focus their narrative on funding requests.

•    Communicators are down in the policy weeds and fail to engage people on an emotional or values level.

•    Overpromising the results of programs is also a turnoff that makes people suspicious.

Too many of the arguments and stories told about addressing the needs of children contain convenient “escape hatches” that let people off-the-hook:

•    Money will solve it.  But we have none, so we can’t help.

•    Playing up stories emphasizing that some children come from really bad family situations, inadvertently reinforces the idea that we “outsiders” can do little to change things.

•    When we trumpet individual success stories, we reinforce the idea that it’s up to the individual to make it, not society to ensure that they do.  If the campaign seeks systemic reform, it will need systemic stories to support its goals.

•    Messages that “shame and blame” disengaged people for standing on the sideline are easily deflected as being about “someone else.”

•    Making government funding “the answer” is obviously wrong to many.

•    A focus on early childhood education, and cute lovable kids, cuts youth out of the picture.

Right now, people tend to default to thinking in terms of the “family bubble” – parents and grandparents are all kids need; broader systems and structures are not visible to them. What suggestions can you offer to help shift the publics’ perspective from addressing the needs of “my kid” to the broader lesson of community support for “all kids?”