Archive for March, 2012
'Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life'
Posted: March 22, 2012 at 7:36 pm
High Lavicka and Karol Kisel with the A-League grand final trophy. Photo: Getty Images
Vitezslav Lavicka is ready for an emotional farewell, writes Michael Cockerill.
Vitezslav Lavicka will say his goodbyes away from the spotlight, and before most of the crowd have settled into their seats for Sydney FC's final, and decisive, game of the season. It will take place perhaps 45 minutes before kick-off, when the players are just getting ready to warm-up and only the most devoted fans are inside Allianz Stadium. Lavicka will do a lap of the stadium, walking around the perimeter fence, chatting to those who are interested, perhaps posing for a photograph or signing an autograph. It is, what he describes as, his ''old-fashioned habit''. To engage the supporters, whether it be with former clubs such as Slovan Liberec or Sparta Prague, or, over the last three seasons, with Sydney FC.
Many coaches would not dream of putting themselves so close to the firing line. Football stadiums are, almost by definition, a refuge for malcontents. Fans are usually passionate, opinionated, and often quite vicious. But Lavicka - a polite, respectful, and patient man - generally manages to disarm them. True enough, one ''supporter'' midway through the low point of this season, charged down to the fence to yell abuse and throw his membership card at the Sky Blues coach. Lavicka barely flinched. Now, as he gets ready for his final appearance in the Allianz Stadium dugout, he has only kind words to say about the supporters. ''The Sydney FC fans, they are great, really great,'' he says. ''For me, it will be emotional when I do my walk around the stadium on Sunday. Usually it is just to say hello, and maybe speak a couple of words. But this time, it will be goodbye. It was the same at Slovan, and Sparta. I always leave part of my heart at the clubs where I work. And for me, Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life.''
Anything less than a win in the final match of the regular season against Newcastle Jets and the Sky Blues will miss out on the finals for the second year in a row. After the euphoria of winning the championship in 2010, his first season at the club, Lavicka is in danger of departing with, at best, mixed reviews. Barring a miraculous charge through the finals series, it may be he finishes his time at Moore Park in the red. Whatever the case, the former Czech international will be remembered with kindness, even fondness. There's been no burning of bridges, no trail of destruction in his wake. Lavicka is a nice guy, some might argue too nice for the cesspit of professional sport. But he's won a championship in both his homeland (Slovan Liberec) and in Australia. That's a record to be proud of. Not that he's in the business of self-promotion.
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Low Vitezslav Lavicka shortly after Sydney FC's 4-0 home defeat to Melbourne Heart in December. Photo: Anthony Johnson
Talk to Lavicka about his time with Sydney FC, and he has a habit of deflecting the credit. He talks about the ''great people'' behind the club, and the ''co-operation'' he has enjoyed with members of his coaching staff such as Tony Popovic, Steve Corica and Ian Crook. ''I am a democratic coach, and I like to co-operate with my coaches very closely,'' he says. Most European coaches would never acknowledge they have learnt from the Australian game. Not Lavicka. He readily concedes he is a better coach than when he arrived.
''This was my first overseas experience and many, many people in the Czech Republic ask me to make a comparison,'' he says. ''I always say it is a different style to Europe, there are many different styles in the A-League, and the quality is going up all the time. You see a team like Brisbane Roar, and you can see how the game here is growing up. It is a young league, and of course there are things to improve, but people here should be proud of the A-League. I know I am.''
Despite the roller-coaster ride which has followed the championship season, there has never been a moment when Lavicka has regretted his decision to come to Sydney. It's been hard since his family returned to Prague last year, and that is a factor in the parting of ways. But for Sydney FC's longest-serving coach, the overwhelming impression has been a positive one. Both personally and professionally. In his office, there is a DVD collection of every game. All 88 of them. He can't take them all back to Prague, but one tape will definitely be in his luggage. The grand final win over the Victory in Melbourne. ''This is one of the best moments of my career, it is staying in my mind, in my heart, forever.''
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'Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life'
Kick off Health and Fitness – Video
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Kick off Health and Fitness - Video
Dr. Dirk Burkhardt speaks about new Clinic at Mitchell’s Health and Fitness – Video
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Dr. Dirk Burkhardt speaks about new Clinic at Mitchell's Health and Fitness - Video
Health and wellness in Tweed
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Health and wellness in Tweed
Retiring Sens. Snowe, Bingaman: Political Center Is Disappearing – Video
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Retiring Sens. Snowe, Bingaman: Political Center Is Disappearing - Video
Fernando Gonzalez Retirement Tribute Video – Video
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Fernando Gonzalez Retirement Tribute Video - Video
ReadyForZero Helps Americans Pay Down $12.5 Million in Personal Debt in its First Year
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SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ReadyForZero (www.readyforzero.com), the leading online platform for controlling and reducing personal debt, today announced that it has helped Americans to pay down more than $12.5 million in personal debt in just over one year of operation. The free service creates a customized plan using personalized financial data that helps Americans better stay in control and accelerate their repayment. Regular users repay debts twice as fast using ReadyForZero. This increases the likelihood that they will repay their debts, thereby preventing difficult financial situations like bankruptcies and defaults.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110202/SF40934LOGO)
As a testament to its efficacy, ReadyForZero has experienced an average organic growth of 13 percent each month, and now has nearly $200 million of its user's debt under management.
"ReadyForZero is incredibly proud to have helped our users reach this $12.5 million milestone in just over a year. This milestone proves that both our technology and our methodology work, as thousands of ReadyForZero users can attest," said Rod Ebrahimi, CEO of ReadyForZero. "We're expanding our mandate beyond helping people pay down their debts by offering financial products that provide real savings through trusted partners that are uniquely tailored to people's situations. Given recent regulatory and economic changes, we believe this is how banks and their customers will need to work together in the future."
To this end, ReadyForZero has introduced a sophisticated and 'intelligent' savings platform where ReadyForZero users can receive financial offers that are tailored to their specific financial situations directly from financial institutions, and decide whether or not to accept the terms with minimal effort.
Whereas most financial offers use a single filter like a credit score to estimate whether users might qualify for an offer, and then recommend products that generate the largest referral bonus for their companies, the ReadyForZero savings platform analyzes actual performance criteria such as payment history, cash flow, debt-to-income ratio, behavioral data and other financial triggers and delivers only those financial products that would have a positive impact for an individual's situation. ReadyForZero pre-qualifies each user for each offer, and empowers users to decide which ones to pursue. This prevents the unnecessary sharing of sensitive financial data or personal information with banks or other third-parties, no data is exchanged.
The ReadyForZero savings platform API (application programming interface) allows financial institutions to easily integrate with ReadyForZero to set up triggers for each offer and track its performance. In the first week of testing, ReadyForZero's savings platform delivered more than $330,000 in targeted offers with an average potential savings of $770 per person, and consolidated over $100,000 in high interest debt.
Ebrahimi continues, "When we find a way to save our users money, we present the offer directly to them so that they can decide what to do - without sharing any personal data. If the offer makes sense, given their specific situation, they can accept it and connect with that financial provider. Until then, the provider doesn't know a thing about you or your account with ReadyForZero. We're confident that this new savings platform will open up more ways for us to use our technology to help people improve their financial lives and reach their goals."
About ReadyForZero
ReadyForZero is a free, online program that helps the more than 100 million Americans with debt and challenging financial situations better control their debts and credit reputations. Launched in February 2011, ReadyForZero users are paying off debt twice as fast as people not using the program. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information visit http://www.readyforzero.com. Visit our blog http://blog.readyforzero.com/ to check out real product success stories.
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ReadyForZero Helps Americans Pay Down $12.5 Million in Personal Debt in its First Year
Tagetik Launches New Corporate Identity: 'Performance With Passion'
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LUCCA, Italy, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
New tag-line, website, video, and awareness campaign for the most specialized, innovative, leading-edge vendor in the Performance Management market
Tagetik, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for Performance Management, Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance and Business Intelligence, today announced its new corporate identity 'Performance with Passion' and in conjunction unveiled a completely revamped website (http://www.tagetik.com), a 'performance with passion' themed video,and an extensive awareness campaign. The focal point of the company's restyled image and messaging is customers' and partners' signatures as validation that Tagetik's dedication, innovation and unrivaled passion is a proven recipe for success.
"It all stems from our passion for doing things well," says Manuel Vellutini, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Tagetik(http://www.tagetik.com/about/company/management/manuel-vellutini). "In a supermarket-like sector full of standardized products, homogenized, complex solutions, and weak personal relationships, Tagetik acts as a 'global boutique' (or say: a specialized craftsman) focused on only one thing, performance management software, and doing it well. Our specialization and 'one-to-one' service enable us to satisfy specific needs through an ever-changing, simplifying, performance management product. This specialization and passion is something we firmly believe are key differentiators in the market, which is why we selected 'Performance with Passion' as the new foundation of our corporate identity."
"Our philosophy is that mutual success is merely the first point of commitment, because a signed agreement with Tagetik goes far beyond the contract," he continues. "The signature represents a unique bond and dedication to success that we have forged with our customers and partners. Many customers such as Panalpina, Grontmij, Bobrick, OCLC, M+W Group, Peuterey, Unieco, Bolton and partners like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Alper & Schetter have contributed their signatures and are sharing their success stories to help us communicate the value 'Performance with Passion' brings to the performance management market."
Dave Kasabian, Corporate Vice President, Product Marketing at Tagetik (http://www.tagetik.com/about/company/management/dave-kasabian), adds: "Customers and partners choose us because of the quality of our software solution, our ability to quickly understand and address their needs, and the dedication of the company to their success. Our decision to exclusively focus on Finance processes and finding innovative ways to address the specific challenges of the Office of the CFO in a single unified product has created a strong passion in our customer base for what we do and how we do it. 'Performance with Passion' and the signature campaign give us the opportunity to share the passion and success of our customers and partners with the performance management software marketplace. In our opinion there is no better way to communicate this than through the words and signatures of our customers and partners."
Related content: 'Tagetik re-asserts its passion for Performance Management' by Gary Simon, FSN.
To learn more, browse: http://www.tagetik.com
About Tagetik
Tagetik is 100% dedicated to simplifying and streamlining business processes for the Office of Finance to accelerate informed decisions that achieve strategic goals. Our award-winning Tagetik 4.0 Performance Management software is the ideal solution for global companies that seek a clearly superior level of financial expertise in a single unified solution for planning, forecasting, consolidation, close, reporting, profitability management, disclosure, governance, risk, compliance, and analysis.
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Tagetik Launches New Corporate Identity: 'Performance With Passion'
GAIN Fitness Launches the Ultimate Digital Personal Trainer
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire -03/22/12)- GAIN Fitness today introduced GAIN 3.0, a major evolution of its digital personal trainer app for iPhone. GAIN 3.0 expands on the app's unique ability to personalize workouts by adding "GAIN Plan" -- a custom, 4-week workout plan; as well as the "Expansion Packs Store" -- a platform for multiple training styles and specialized equipment upgrades.
GAIN Fitness is free in the Apple iTunes App Store, and Expansion Packs are available as in-app purchases for $1-5 apiece.
While other fitness apps simply track workout details or offer "canned" routines, GAIN truly acts like a "digital personal trainer" by creating workouts customized in real time to each user's experience level, schedule, goals and equipment available. GAIN Plan extends this concept from single workouts to entire training plans. The new app also integrates audio coaching, high-definition exercise images and trainer cues into the guided workout experience.
"There's a clear market shift taking place as fitness companies move from a dated 'tracking' approach to a more helpful 'workout guidance' system," says Founder & CEO Nick Gammell. "GAIN has always been a quant-based company at heart, and is better positioned to lead this market than any other platform. GAIN is miles ahead of the competition due to its data-driven infrastructure, customization algorithms and open platform approach."
The new "Expansion Packs Store" lays the groundwork for a broader fitness-coaching platform by integrating multiple styles of exercise and matching them to users' goals and ability levels.
The fitness industry for years has debated over which type of exercise is the "best" overall approach. Bodybuilders argue with boot camp aficionados, who argue with sports performance coaches. Triathletes, CrossFitters, kettlebell enthusiasts and yogis all fight over why they have the "better" system for getting fit. GAIN takes an unbiased, 3rd party approach by looking at the science of exercise and pairing users' specific goals with training styles best suited to each individual.
With Expansion Packs, users get access to new bundles of exercises, instructional media, and training techniques to build the workout that's right for them. GAIN's initial set of Expansion Packs target specific muscle groups with advanced bodypart training, or add the ability to work out using specialized equipment, such as kettlebells.
In the future, Expansion Packs will bring yoga workouts, sport performance training, postural/rehabilitative programs and many other popular training styles. New Expansion Packs will be added frequently on an ongoing basis.
Built on cutting-edge "cloud in your pocket" architecture, GAIN is one of the first apps of any kind to use technology that combines the best of "cloud" computing with the reality that mobile apps must function offline. The database gives users the advantages of website access (at gainfitness.com) and a powerful server cluster backend for analytics, while also carrying a copy of the "cloud" in their pocket for offline access. The app functions in the deepest basement gym and syncs seamlessly to the cloud server whenever an internet connection becomes available.
Despite all this complexity, GAIN's team, anchored by Co-founder Robert Bailey, designer of Google-acquired Picasa, has managed to create a drop-dead simple, best-in-class UI and user experience.
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GAIN Fitness Launches the Ultimate Digital Personal Trainer
SAI Global in Conjunction With the Personal Care Products Council Announces the Official Launch of the Personal Care …
Posted: at 7:35 pm
CLEVELAND, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SAI Global in conjunction with the Personal Care Products Council ('the Council') announces the official launch of the Personal Care Manufacturing Assessment Program (PCMAP).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111109/MM03609LOGO )
Developed in alliance with the Council with extensive input from product manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, PCMAP is the first customized industry-wide assurance program that provides cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers with the tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the various processes that contribute to product quality and to demonstrate their adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Council and industry requirements and other applicable cosmetic product quality standards.
The program includes training, an implementation guidance document, the option for pre-assessments and the option to choose either an 'Assessment' or an 'SAI Global Certified Assessment' depending on the organization's preference and their customer's requirements.
PCMAP is based on the international standard ISO 22716 which provides Guidelines on Good Manufacturing Practices for the Cosmetics industry. The guidelines cover the quality aspects relating to production, control, storage and shipment of cosmetic products, with the objective of meeting defined quality specifications and reducing the risk of adulteration of cosmetic products at all stages.
In addition to the requirements of ISO 22716, the assessment criteria have been enhanced by incorporating quality requirements / specifications based on input from the Council's QA Sub-Committee, industry members and other sources, including FDA, IPEC-PQG, ICH and other GMP Guidelines with the intent of promoting adherence to high standards and allowing a more evidence based assessment.
PCMAP is designed to address the unique needs of different manufacturers / supplier categories based on the potential risk levels, taking into account the types of products / ingredients manufactured and the extent of control exercised at various stages in the supply chain.
The Council has identified six main categories for cosmetic product and ingredient manufacturers and has defined specific assessment criteria for each of these categories. The manufacturing categories include packaging manufacturers, manufacturers of cosmetic ingredients, OTC excipients, OTC active ingredients, and cosmetic and OTC contract manufacturers.
Customized public and onsite PCMAP training has been developed to help individuals understand, implement and audit the program.
The PCMAP Understanding and Implementing Course is an interactive training course that describes the essential components required to implement a quality and safety management system that ensures the proper production, control, storage and shipment of cosmetic products.
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SAI Global in Conjunction With the Personal Care Products Council Announces the Official Launch of the Personal Care ...