Morrison, Colorado (PRWEB) June 04, 2012

Steve Weisberg, former John Denver band member, is doing his part to keep the legendary name of John Denver uniquely personal with his John Denver Off the Record event on June 7th at the Marriott West. Steve was hand selected in 1973 by John Denver to play lead guitar, dobro, pedal steel and to write songs for John. Steve is a key contributor on 7 of Johns 9 multi-platinum albums, from the era John described as his biggest years. The John Denver Off the Record get-together is an exclusive, casual event for 12 lucky contestants to hear amazing music and fabulous stories; from spiritual to hysterical, and always genuine from the days when Steve toured with and hung out with John Denver. At just $100 per person, all 12 participants will be able to interact in this small, personal setting for a one-of-a-kind experience that takes place in Steves hotel room just hours before the 3rd Annual John Denver Tribute concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre!

The John Denver Off the Record event lets Steve recount the era when John Denver called Steve to be part of the band. Steve reveals very interesting insights from touring/performing with John Denver, what it was like when the band was first taking off, and many interesting behind-the-scene stories from being in the studio, on stage, on TV, and on the road with John Denver. Steve sings and plays, but its not a concert- its interactive. He will answer all fan questions, tell stories from the past, and of course, play guitar. From this event, Steve will head directly to the afternoon sound check at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in preparation for the 3rd Annual John Denver Tribute concert that evening.

John Denver became one of the worlds best-known performers and Colorados favorite transplant. His career spanned over 3 decades and 30 albums. As one of the top recording artists in sales history, John Denver sold more than 60 million albums worldwide which included 14 Gold, 8 Platinum and 7 Multi-platinum album awards. John first performed in Red Rocks Amphitheatre in June 1972. The upcoming 3rd Annual John Denver Tribute concert on June 7th celebrates the 40th anniversary of his first performance at the Red Rocks venue. The tribute stars Jim Curry and former John Denver band members including Steve Weisberg. It also features special guest Lee Holdridge.

Steve Weisberg is one of the last people that can recount the days of John Denvers peak years. Steve was with John during the best moments, during liftoff, and through the pinnacle. Be part of the experience today with Steves John Denver Off the Record concert on June 7th. All interested parties should contact Steve Weisberg through his contact form on his website at http://www.johndenverofftherecord.com. 12 fans will be selected for this small, interactive, and up-close-and-personal event. For more information, contact Steve today!

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“John Denver Off the Record” Show Will Play for a Small, Up Close and Personal Group on June 7th Before Red Rocks ...

UNIVERSAL CITY, California Emma Stone became the first-ever MTV Trailblazer at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night (June 3).

"The Amazing Spider-Man" actress was on hand to accept for special Golden Popcorn, which celebrates her diverse rsum of films, including "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and "The Help." But before Stone even hit the stage, a few of her castmates Steve Carell, Anna Farris, Jim Carrey, Octavia Spencer, Mila Kunis and Jason Sudeikis recalled some of her best moments and joked about some of her worst qualities in a pre-taped video message.

While the clip had viewers laughing, Stone couldn't hold back the tears as she accepted her prize.

"Thank you, I'm a crier," she said. "So, I looked up the actual definition of trailblazer, and it means someone who blazes a trail to be followed by others. And that's an honor to hear you're being associated with a concept like that.

"But the only thing I can hope that an award inspires is originality," she added, "because the trailblazers I've looked up to and been inspired by are people like Gilda Radner and Bill Murray and John Candy and Charlie Chaplin and the Beatles and J.D. Salinger. Lorne Michaels, who reminds me the importance of comedy, and Cameron Crowe, whose work consistently reminds me of why I want to be an actor."

After thanking her icons, Stone offered some inspiration to others.

"Those people are my creative trailblazers, but I'm not following any of their paths, and what's incredible about them is they help make me want to be more myself because they're all originals," she said. "And I hope that you'll find your trailblazers. And, trust me, I do not need to be one of them. I probably shouldn't be one of them," she laughed. "But that you'll continue to harness your own originality and what makes you unique 'cause I know that when you're a teenager sometimes when you're an adult what sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it's not. And a lot of the time, it's what makes you great. So I kind of sound like I live in a van down by the river right now.

"But I am deeply touched and grateful for this," she said in closing.

This is Stone's second MTV Movie Award. She previously won for Best Comedic Performance for her turn in "Easy A" at the 2011 telecast.

Jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, gut-busting moments galore. See what just happened at the 21st annual MTV Movie Awards!

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MTV Trailblazer Emma Stone Pays Tribute To Personal Heroes

Tony Abbott still says the carbon pricing scheme will hurt from day one, but will be more like a "python squeeze". Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Daily Telegraph

TONY Abbott has changed his attack on carbon pricing from warning of instant doom on July 1 to forecasting a long, slow strangulation of industry.

But he has given no sign he wants to change his personal performance despite opinion polls showing many voters are unimpressed by him.

"It's going to be a python squeeze rather than a cobra strike," the Opposition Leader said of carbon pricing on the Gold Coast.

"But it is going to hurt from day one. And as time goes by it's just going to get worse and worse and worse."

Mr Abbott made the change in attack after previously suggesting that steel and mining towns would be closed by the carbon pricing scheme - which penalises major pollution emitters - when it begins in 26 days.

That was always unlikely to happen and the Opposition could have been embarrassed when its claims of immediate job losses did not come true.

But Mr Abbott did not let up on the force of his attacks.

"What we are faced with at the moment is the most incompetent government in our history trying to administer the most complex tax in our history," he said.

"Is it any wonder Australians are worried?"

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Abbott says carbon tax more 'python than cobra'

Published on: 4th Jun 2012

Vodafone Group's CEO, Vittorio Colao will see his total pay this year more than double to around 14 million (US$21.5 million), thanks to long-term performance based bonuses.

According to the annual financial statement published by the company, the value of long-term share options have almost tripled in value from 3.75 million to just under 11 million.

In addition, he received a 1.1 million salary which was a 10% rise on the previous year, and received a further 899,000 in benefits and other payments. A cash bonus however fell to 1 million from 1.3 million a year ago.

The bonus comes as the company's market capitalisation has risen by 15 billion since Mr Colao took over as CEO in July 2008, and the company has paid out 19.2 billion in dividend payments, boosted by a one-off payment from Verizon Wireless and disposals.

However, the company announced a 4 billion write-down in its latest financial results due to weak performance in Europe.

Mr Colao's $21.5 million compensation package compares with the $23.1 million offered to Lowell McAdam, his counterpart at Verizon Communications, and the US$22 million offered to AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson.

Tags: [vodafone] [vittorio colao] [UK]

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Vodafone Group CEO Sees Personal Earnings Double to $21.5 Million

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Mark Bouris business plan essentials.

WE'VE heard a lot about Europe's debt, China's growth and the US's unemployment. It supposedly creates a poor picture of the global economy and the prospects for business owners.

So I was heartened this week to see such a good turnout to a business seminar I held in Parramatta.

It's interesting when you speak to a room filled with business owners or prospective business owners, because even with the best-planned presentation, it's the questions that come from the audience that really tell me what's happening in the economy. It also tells me about consumer and business confidence and how good people feel about what's happening out there on Main Street.

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From the questions asked this past week, I can gauge that there is still quite a bit of hesitation. People are still confused with what's happening and are struggling to come to terms with how the global financial turbulence will affect their businesses in the future.

While I can't answer everyone's concerns specifically, I can offer a few thoughts for business owners who are looking for some resolve.

The first one sounds simple, but so many businesses go bust because they don't make it a priority. It's to have a plan. Lots of people who talk to me about business have an idea but what they really need is a plan. A plan can change and it can be improved as you move forward but without it you really don't have a sense of where you're trying to go.

What should a plan have in it?

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Remember the map on the way to success

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

At the IASA Annual Conference, Insurity, Inc., a provider of core insurance processing software and services, today announced that they have replatformed Policy Decisions Personal to the .NET platform. With the replatforming of the personal lines policy application, Insurity now offers a common platform for all P&C lines of business commercial, personal, and specialty lines.

As a result, clients are able to leverage Insuritys configuration capabilities and common components across all product lines, resulting in a simplified operating environment for improved efficiencies and reduced costs. Insurity is currently implementing the new .NET version of Policy Decisions for an existing personal lines customer.

Additional benefits with personal lines now on .NET include:

Jeffrey Glazer, Insurity CEO, said, With all of our solutions now supported on a common .NET platform, our clients are better able to take full advantage of all we have to offer and leverage capabilities across all Insurity core processing systems. The replatforming of Policy Decisions Personal was a priority for us and a direct response to client and industry feedback. We will continue to enhance our product suite and the underlying technology, but we will always take the time to do our due diligence and invest the time and effort to get it right. Its this approach that has made us successful and allows us to boast a 100% success rate and a 25 year history of helping insurers modernize core processes.

About Insurity

Headquartered in Hartford, CT, Insurity, Inc. provides policy administration, claims, billing, and analytics software to more than 100 insurance companies. A market leader in deploying policy administration software and full service solutions to the property & casualty insurance market, Insuritys solutions process billions of dollars of premium each month and address the needs of all carriers large and small, national or regional, commercial, personal, or specialty lines writers, as well as MGAs.

For more information about Insurity, call 860-616-7721 or visit http://www.insurity.com.

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Insurity Announces Replatforming of Policy Decisions Personal to the .NET Platform

Much more is expected of the men and women competing at the Visa Championships this week at Chaifetz Arena than their counterparts who competed here in the same event a dozen years ago. The best of the best here and at the Olympic Trials later this month are expected not only to represent the U.S in London but to bring home the mother lode of medals.

The U.S. gymnasts are the only ones to bring home team medals in both men's and women's gymnastics from the past two Olympiads. But they want more than a three-peat. Once an also-ran, the U.S. women have become the dominant force in the sport over the last decade. The men are an ascending program expected to bring home multiple medals.

"The magic of what's emerged through our program is that we've cultivated a team environment," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "The team has gone from being a collection of individuals to a true team effort."

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. women's team had its moments, starting with Mary Lou Retton's gold in the all-around in 1984 and peaking with the 1996 team, whose gold medal performance in the team competition and three individual medals earned them the name The Magnificent Seven. Many of the U.S. medalists in that span trained full-time with Bela and Martha Karolyi, uprooting their lives and families to train at the Karolyis' facility near Houston. The rest of the top U.S. gymnasts, though, felt they were at a disadvantage in national team selection.

Then in 1999, the U.S. finished sixth at the world championships.

"That was like the stock market plummeting more than 1,000 points," Penny said. "There was no coaching figure who had accountability. There was no one person who was keeping the bar raised. We had to fix it."

Karolyi seemed the likely figure, and the beginnings of a national team program were launched in the leadup to the Sydney Olympics. The results the following year at the Olympics in Sydney showed little improvement, though. The team earned a bronze but was shut out of individual medals. Romania, China and Russia divvied up the bulk of them.

"All the top nations have permanent training centers, which we felt represented a huge advantage," Martha said. "But we knew it was not possible to take a 6-year-old away from their parents here."

Despite the dominance at the time of Karolyi's athletes, the plethora of other gyms scattered throughout the country meant there was no centralized system. So, USA Gymnastics, with the help of the Karolyis, reached a compromise, a semi-centralized system in which the top athletes and their coaches gathered periodically, typically four days a month, at the Karolyis' facility.

Bela initially was named team coordinator but after nearly two decades of stepping on the toes of many a gym director and coach, he was viewed as a polarizing, rather than unifying, force. Thus, USA Gymnastics chose Martha to replace him as team coordinator.

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Institutional changes lead to U.S. gymanstics success

Young Professionals Network (YPN) is a program of The Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana dedicated to serving young professionals in Southwest Indiana by providing opportunities for professional development, civic and community involvement and networking. YPN is committed to broadening young professionals' scope of influence, developing their personal and professional skills, and engaging them in communities in Southwest Indiana through monthly membership meetings, social events and philanthropic projects.

YPN meets the third Thursday of each month at The Chamber's office in Downtown Evansville. Meetings begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. with a short time for networking, followed by a structured business meeting at 6 p.m. Insightful business leaders are regularly invited to speak to the group about career and professional development, work/life balance, community involvement and networking.

Recent meetings have featured Leadership Evansville Executive Director Lynn Miller-Pease; Harding, Shymanski & Co. President & CEO Trudy Stock; The Women's Hospital CEO Christina Ryan; and Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

Membership in YPN is open to any young professionals employed by Chamber member businesses. There is no cost to join the group. For more information or to inquire about membership, contact Ben Wills at bwills@ccswin.com or 812-425-8147.

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YPN offers learning, networking opportunities

Sunday, June 3, 2012 9:30 PM EDT

By Erica Schmitt Staff Writer

At their commencement ceremony Sunday, Charter Oak State College Class of 2012 graduates celebrated their non-traditional completion of degrees.

The schools online course degree programming is designed for students who at one time began college careers but were interrupted by some life event that made classroom learning impossible.

We live in an age where such quiet quests are not celebrated, said Charter Oak President Ed Klonoski. What we are here to celebrate today is a group of people who made a commitment to their education and stuck to that goal through family emergencies, computer problems, financial setbacks, and bad weather, he continued, before addressing the class, You are heroic because you refused to give up, refused to quit, refused to quietly abandon your dream. Like Odysseus, you may have taken a long time, but today you have made it home.

Of the 424 graduates, 65 percent are from Connecticut, while the rest hail from 39 different states and five countries, including Switzerland, Australia and Norway.

Some locals included Bristol residents Lori Wyrebeck and Krista Kozikowski, New Britain resident Marsha Michaud and Steve Minton, from Plantsville. The average student is age 39 the oldest is 68 and youngest is 19.

We have some military personnel graduates in Afghanistan that are tuned into the webcast of the ceremony right now, the schools Director of Academic Services Linda Larkin commented at Sundays event, held on the CCSU campus where Charter Oaks home base happens to be located.

Every graduate, wherever they happened to take online courses from, had a different story to share at the reception following the ceremony.

One man spoke of being diagnosed with cancer as a young CCSU student, but surviving and completing his degree online with Charter Oak.

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Charter Oak graduates, faculty praise online education

By Jennifer Kotila Staff Writer

DASSEL, COKATO, ADRIAN, MN As a young kid with a speech impediment, Jason Olson took part in activities in which he had to get up in front of people and talk, which made him feel more comfortable.

Those activities led to a passion for speech and one-act play, activities which he has coached at Adrian High School in southwestern Minnesota for 10 years since joining the staff as a social studies teacher.

Olson recently won recognition nationally for his coaching skills, receiving the National Federation of State High School Associations Speech, Debate, and Theatre Educator of the Year Award.

Recipients are nominated by their peers, and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) chooses the winner from Minnesota.

I think what has given me the passion for speech and one-act is the confidence I got as a child from taking part in these activities, Olson said.

He credits the teachers and instructors he had while in high school and college for igniting his passion.

It started at Dassel-Cokato, when I had amazing teachers like Dave and Linda Metcalf in theatre, and Mike Worcester and Mari Pokornowski in speech, Olson said. I still consider them my mentors.

After his passion was ignited, students continued to fan the flames.

[Students] are the ones dealing with six classes a day, homework, jobs, and sometimes other school activities, Olson said. But they still find time to want to be good (at speech and one-act), and that is really half the battle. They are passionate, so, I am.

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DC native recognized nationally for coaching