Are You Proud To Be A Fundraiser?
We recently asked Ian McQuillin, manager of fundraising think tank Rogare at Plymouth Uni, about his talk 'Are you Proud to be a Fundraiser', which sparked some debate at the Institute of Fundraising's First Thursday last month.
He said "Anyone going to the Institute of Fundraising National Convention this year is going to be told they should be 'proud' to be a fundraiser. Fundraisers ensure charities have enough money to carry out their missions and visions and change the world for the better. How could anyone not be proud of that?
"And yet the these calls to action to be 'proud' – and the flipside, to stop apologising – is an indication that something is not quite right in the profession of fundraising. Fundraising comes under continuous scrutiny and sometimes open warfare from the media, public, parliamentarians, and those of our charity colleagues who don't 'get' fundraising and view it as a 'necessary evil'.
"Exhortations to be 'proud' to be a fundraiser are really shorthand for saying "be more confident in your profession". Because if we have complete professional self-confidence then we will be able to mount robust defences of fundraising when it comes under attack.
"The trouble is, that we are not sure what we do. To an outsider, fundraising is very obviously about raising money. Many fundraisers however, maintain that fundraising is 'not just about raising money'; it's really about doing good work or connecting donors with the cause. And to do this successfully, it's more important to be 'passionate' about the cause than passionate about the actual process of raising money.
"But this confuses means and ends, the what and the why. 'What' we do is raise money; 'why' we do it is to change the world. When fundraising comes under attack, it is almost always over what we do, not why we do it. So the defence has to be based on the 'what', not the 'why'.
"If you are neither proud of nor passionate about the 'what', then any defence is fatally weakened and almost certain to fail.
"I think we need to unite these two views of fundraising ('not-just-about-money' school and the more literal interpretation). I've written about how to do that with a new manifesto for fundraising.
"It's likely that street fundraising will help to inform this healing process. Flow Caritas' current research to map the transition from street fundraising to working in charity fundraising departments has shown that street fundraisers are regularly getting charity fundraising jobs.
"Street fundraising is the essence of fundraising – two minutes to enthuse a potential donor so much that they'll sign up to a monthly gift. To be good at that, you have to be passionate about the cause you're 'selling' and the actual process of 'selling' it.
"This research – which will be published in full in July – shows that fundraisers who began their careers on the street are 'passionate' about being fundraisers. On a scale from 1 to 7, passion for the job scores 5.67 compared to 6.30 for passion for the cause.
"There's no benchmark to compare this with the passion felt by other fundraisers. But I find it pretty encouraging. If we can all become this passionate about the business of raising money, pride in that business can't be far behind.


With comics as an industry so obsessed with the high concept, there's something refreshingly low-key about Gerry Duggan and David O'Sullivan's Analog, even if there are times it comes uncomfortably close to biting another comic's well-regarded style. But don't let the low volume of this book's premise fool you — this is some of Gerry Duggan's best writing on display here in this hard-boiled story, with sharp dialogue and snappy characters paired up with some gorgeously understated work from artist David O'Sullivan and colorist Jordie Bellaire.
But as Duggan primes his readers with lots of sly one-liners from his scrappy lead, he winds up giving us a twist that becomes Analog's double-edged sword — namely, this isn't a story from the 1940s, but set just a few years in the future, in a world of social media, self-driving cars, and the Great Doxxing. It's this last bit that some readers won't be able to help but trip over, as this world of Duggan's feels like a lo-fi version of the over-the-top craziness of Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's The Private Eye — now everyone's secrets are out in the open, leading to pedophiles being branded on the streets to exhibitionists live-streaming their sexual escapades in the back of a car. But Duggan manages to add in the grittiness of today's world into the mix, particularly when he ties Analog into today's geopolitical problems, particularly the effects of social media on the voting process and democracy itself.
Yet before things veer off too much from the grounded reality Duggan has established, things swerve back into more traditional noir tropes, particularly as Jack finds himself suckered into a lethal conspiracy that could take down him and those he cares closest about. It's these sorts of moments that artist David O'Sullivan really shines, bringing some hard angles to his characters but never shying away from making them seem engaging and charming. There's a little bit of Phil Hester and Paul Dini to his linework here, even touches of Michael Avon Oeming in a bending page of a jam-packed highway. Like Duggan's high concepts, O'Sullivan isn't a particularly flashy artist, but he is a confident and smooth storyteller, giving depth and weight thanks to Jordie Bellaire's colorwork.
With so many comics being so preoccupied with quick returns thanks to a buzzy high concept, there's something subversive — perhaps even rebellious — about Gerry Duggan pushing a comic through that arguably is most memorable thanks to its storytelling technique. And that's probably to Analog's benefit, as leaning too much heavier on this book's high concept could lead to readers justifiably crying foul at the premise's proximity to The Private Eye. But as it stands, Analog is a supremely solid read, one whose top-shelf execution will leave you wishing for Issue #2 to hit the stands.
Go Go Power Rangers gets a solid arc finale but "Shattered Grid" gets a poor prelude in the eighth installment of the prequel spin-off. Despite the trade dress on the cover, this issue doesn't have much to do with the upcoming mega-crossover. But never fear, Ranger fans, for GGPR #8 does still deliver rousing Power Ranger action and plenty of soapy, but engaging teen dramatics. Written by Ryan Parrott and given a slick manga inspired energy by artists Dan Mora and Raul Angulo, this latest issue brings the title's current arc to a close with a character focused and action packed finale issue. Though it is disappointing to not get more substantial clues about the upcoming "Shattered Grid", Go Go Power Rangers #8 still delivers plenty of classic Power Ranger thrills and affecting character work.
What's Homecoming without a monster fight? Such is the Power Rangers dilemma as the shapeshifting Putty that has been sowing seeds of dissent throughout the team finally unleashes it full might and crashes the party. Writer Ryan Parrott has made great use of a pretty novel and well-worn concept, allowing the Putty to get a full-fledged arc as it's wormed its way through the team on a quest for self-awareness. Now it is lashing out, trading barbs with the Rangers and fighting through a ruined Homecoming dance, which is given a gracefully dynamic look thanks to the pencils and colors of Dan Mora and Raul Angulo.
But while this issue has plenty of action, opening with an epic Goldar centered cold open and culminating in a classic Zord versus kaiju battle, GGPR #8's real strength lies in its characters. Mora's take on the team, who are still in early days of being Rangers, really pops and feels genuine amid all the kung-fu and giant robots. That, to me, is one of the most important part of a Power Rangers comic, and Mora gets that in spades. I mean, monster fights are cool and everything, but seeing the team finally start to gel and get to grow from the headstrong kids they were in the debut issue are where the real sparks fly.
But while this issue manages some serious clout as a character piece, Go Go Power Rangers #8 isn't just a talk-fest. Armed with the lithe pencils of Dan Mora and the rich colors of Raul Angulo, this newest issue delivers some great visuals along with its strong foundation of character work. We open on a far off, war torn planet, under siege by the forces of Rita Repulsa, led by the ruthless Goldar. Rather than splicing together multiple sets of disparate footage like the TV show, the Power Rangers comics have made great use of the high production values offered by the medium, and Mora and Angulo really lean into that in this opening. These pages, anchored by the snarling Goldar and the cutting profile of Rita Pepulsa, give the issue an instant jolt of energy and tonal setting of the bar; a tone that hits somewhere between Kamen Rider and John Carter.
From there the pair get focused on the Rangers and their pitched battle with the self-aware Putty. As it morphs from form to form, which includes the Rangers themselves and a multi-headed Lovecraftian horror, Mora and Angulo keep the action focused, splintering the pages into cracked windows of action that never has less than two characters on panel at a time. This might sound a little crowded, but Mora keeps the blocking nicely contained, making the chaos of the battle feel easy to take in. Raul Angulo's colors also add a real vibrancy to the action. While the scenes themselves are darkened, thanks to the moonlit Homecoming setting, Angulo adds little bits of tokusatsu flair like the neon purple energy trail from Zack's battleaxe and arcing flashes of lightning emanating from the Megazord's broadsword.
Despite some frustration that the "Shattered Grid prelude" is relegated to a paltry page-and-a-half cliffhanger, there is still plenty of fun to be had during Go Go Power Rangers #8. Supported by strong character arcs and big action, Dan Mora, Ryan Parrott, and Raul Angulo deliver a strong finale outing for the Rangers and send this spin-off title into the crossover on a real high point. Though time will tell if "Shattered Grid" will be a boon or or bust for the title, but for now, Go Go Power Rangers stands as a worthy representative for the Power Rangers franchise.


Dana Incorporated recently was recognized by PACCAR as a 2018 Supplier Performance Management Achiever in North America.
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Valentine's Day is upon us, and it's that time of year where you work your brain hard trying to find a great gift for your significant other. Getting your wife a gift is in fact much harder than it seems. Whether it's your first year being married or your 10th, it's not an easy choice to make when deciding on what gift to get the woman you love. It's never really about the cost; you could go and spend a fortune and still come up with a poor gift. It's about how thoughtful the gift is and how much effort you put into it. Chances are your wife –– like many women out there –– doesn't really care how much you spent on the gift, but rather the effort you put into it.
Yet, it's not that simple as saying "get a unique gift." A few years and a dozen or two gifts later, you start running out of ideas and you dread the day when you have to go out and pick a gift. You're in luck; these are some unique gift ideas to get your wife this Valentine's Day.
While not groundbreaking, a spa gift certificate is probably something your wife needs. Whether she has a job or is a stay at home mother, chances are she's doing plenty of work and could use some time off to relax and have some time for herself. You could even make it a weekly or monthly subscription kind of thing. What could be better than pampering your wife regularly and treating her to some much needed beauty day at the spa? You can rest assured she'd appreciate such a gesture.
Picture this: you're married for some time now, and the spark naturally faded a little bit. You can get her a scrapbook chronicling all your history and every photograph you together over the years, from your first date to the wedding and birth of first child, and so on. A romantic scrapbook is an excellent idea, and while simple, it shows effort and care which your wife would appreciate. Plus, you'll probably have some fun yourself going down memory lane and remembering the time of your life with your significant other.
Ever seen the movie "the Illusionist"? There was this very cool locket depicted in the film that has an oval shape, and when turned changes into a heart shaped locket with a small picture inside. You can actually buy that online! If your wife happens to be a cinephile, chances are she knows the film and would fall in love with such a gift. You can put a picture of you two in the locket and give it to your wife. This is going the extra mile really; you need to get creative and send a unique gift when flowers won't do.
On the same note of the missus being a cinephile, it's always a great gift to get someone who loves movies that much a memorabilia from one of their favorite films. It can be a magical wand from a Harry Potter film or the one ring from the Lord of the Rings. You'd be surprised how many movie memorabilia are being sold out there, and they're usually of great quality.
Just think how excited your wife would be if you walked in on her with plane tickets to the Bahamas or Bali! There's nothing like taking some time off to enjoy your love and rekindle the spark. And leave the kids with your parents!
It helps to pay attention to what your wife usually says. She might've casually mentioned she enjoys books but doesn't have much time to read. Maybe an Audible subscription then? Or she's having a hard time with the dishes. Then you need to go get out a dishwasher. Maybe her mobile is getting old and you've seen her struggle with it. Whatever it is, go get her what she needs!
Though we like buying new stuff for the most part, sometimes going vintage is the answer. If your wife happens to be a wine connoisseur, go and buy the oldest and most expensive bottle you can afford. She'd love that and save it for a special occasion. Maybe she's a Beatles fan; then scour thrift shops and antique stores and find her an authentic, old Beatles record or something. Custom gifts are the best kind of gifts really.
While jewelry isn't the most unique of gifts, you can make it to be so. Instead of getting an ordinary watch, get her a brand she loves and have it inscribed on the back. Or maybe a new wedding ring after all those years of marriage!
Whatever it is you decide to get, just make sure you put in the effort and time to gift. A lot of the gifts do go wrong, because they weren't well thought of and not enough time and consideration was given to the gifts. You can easily avoid that by making this Valentine's gift important and a priority. If the gift wasn't a success then, then you'll know you did your best, which is all you can do at the end of the day really.


Comments: My wife Nancy said, "Hallelujah" would make a beautiful Tag. "Hallelujah" has familiar melody and lyrics, very simple parts, and is fun to sing.
3. Thoroughly learn the individual parts on your own and when teaching this Tag, start with the lead part first, the beautiful melody, until it is learned. Then teach the Bass part next with the Lead part softly singing along with the Bass part. After the Bass part has been learned, teach the Bari part with the Lead and Bass softly singing with the Bari part. Then teach the Tenor part with the Lead, Bass, and Bari softly singing along with the Tenor part. This teaching/learning process allows the parts to rehearse their part and remember it while other parts are being taught.
4. Know the sound of each individual chord in the Tag being taught; knowing when a chord is incorrect can be helpful in identifying appropriate part corrections. Learn the sound of each chord by playing the chords on a piano or listening MP3 recording of the Tag.
5. Let the singers know that this Tag "Hallelujah" has a "6/8 feel", which evokes the styles of both waltz and gospel music.
Lock/tune the unisons, perfect 4ths, 5ths, octaves, and add expression to ring the chords and enjoy this beautiful Tag.
6. Start the Tag singing session with a shorter easy Tag before teaching "Hallelujah" or when inviting another singer to sing this Tag with unknown singing abilities. Result: Instant chords sung with a successful and fulfilling outcome for all singers and listeners.


text:
Sign Ups > Masquerade Signup > Programming and Events >
Hey I am a professional author/artist/editor/publisher. How could I get involved with Arisia?
Great question! Arisia has a number of opportunities for professionals in these fields. First of all Arisia organizes signings for published authors. Additionally authors can sign up to do readings of their own work, if their writing is suited to it. In both of these cases, there is no charge for participation. However, while Arisia does its best to accommodate as many people as possible, Arisia staff does reserve the right to decline reading and signing requests.
For further information on these topics, contact program@arisia.org Also there are many areas for which we love to have experts speak in our programming. If you are interested in being a program participant, please see our program participation page. Please note, however, Arisia is a non-profit convention and can not offer any general participants a per-diem, hotel accommodations or other forms of reimbursement other than Green Room access and registration.
Finally there is the Artist/Author Alley where artists and authors can "rent" a table to promote their own work at the convention. These slots tend to be longer than signings and there has historically been a small fee attached. You can contact alley@arisia.org for more information and to sign up for notification once this area starts accepting applications for this year.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
To be more specific, understand why the client wants to build a chatbot and what the customer wants their chatbot to do. Finding answers to this query will guide the designer to create conversations aimed at meeting end goals. When the designer knows why the chatbot is being built, they are better placed to design the conversation with the chatbot.
A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation through voice commands or text chats or both. Chatbot, short for chatterbot, is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature that can be embedded and used through any major messaging applications. There are a number of synonyms for chatbot, including "talkbot," "bot," "IM bot," "interactive agent" or "artificial conversation entity."
The chatbot must rely on spoken or written communications to discover what the shopper or user wants and is limited to the messaging platform's capabilities when it comes to responding to the shopper or user. This requires a much better understanding of natural language and intent. It also means that developers must write connections to several different platforms, again like Messenger or Slack, if the chatbot is to have the same potential reach as a website.
Multinational Naive Bayes is the classic algorithm for text classification and NLP. For an instance, let's assume a set of sentences are given which are belonging to a particular class. With new input sentence, each word is counted for its occurrence and is accounted for its commonality and each class is assigned a score. The highest scored class is the most likely to be associated with the input sentence.
Kunze recognises that chatbots are the vogue subject right now, saying: "We are in a hype cycle, and rising tides from entrants like Microsoft and Facebook have raised all ships. Pandorabots typically adds up to 2,000 developers monthly. In the past few weeks, we've seen a 275 percent spike in sign-ups, and an influx of interest from big, big brands."
This was a strategy eBay deployed for holiday gift-giving in 2018. The company recognized that purchasing gifts for friends and family isn't necessarily a simple task. For many of their customers, selecting gifts had become a stressful and arduous process, especially when they didn't have a particular item in mind. In response to this feeling, eBay partnered with Facebook Messenger to introduce ShopBot.
Some brands already seem to be getting the balance right. A bot needs to capture a user's attention quickly and display a healthy curiosity about their new acquaintance, but too much curiosity can easily push them into creepy territory and turn people off. They have to display more than a basic knowledge of human conversational patterns, but they can't claim to be an actual human -- again, let's keep things from getting too creepy here.
Designing for conversational interfaces represents a big shift in the way we are used to thinking about interaction. Chatbots have less signifiers and affordances than websites and apps – which means words have to work harder to deliver clarity, cohesion and utility for the user. It is a change of paradigm that requires designers to re-wire their brain, their deliverables and their design process to create successful bot experiences.
Two trends — the exploding popularity of mobile messaging apps and advances in artificial intelligence — are coinciding to enable a new generation of tools that enable brands to communicate with customers in powerful new ways at reduced cost. Retailers and technology firms are experimenting with chatbots, powered by a combination of machine learning, natural language processing, and live operators, to provide customer service, sales support, and other commerce-related functions.
Its a chat-bot — For simplicity reasons in this article, it is assumed that the user will type in text and the bot would respond back with an appropriate message in the form of text (So, we will not be concerned with the aspects like ASR, speech recognition, speech to text, text to speech etc., Below architecture can anyways be enhanced with these components, as required).
AllAgriculture (24) AI & ML (142) AR, VR, & MR (65) Asset Tracking (53) Blockchain (21) Building Automation (38) Connectivity (148) Bluetooth (12) Cellular (38) LPWAN (38) Data & Analytics (131) Devices & Sensors (174) Digital Transformation (189) Edge & Cloud Computing (54) Energy & Utilities (42) Finance & Insurance (10) Industrial IoT (101) IoT Platforms (81) Medical & Healthcare (47) Retail (28) Security (139) Smart City (88) Smart Home (91) Transport & Supply Chain (59) UI & UX (39) Voice Interaction (33)
Facebook has jumped fully on the conversational commerce bandwagon and is betting big that it can turn its popular Messenger app into a business messaging powerhouse. The company first integrated peer-to-peer payments into Messenger in 2015, and then launched a full chatbot API so businesses can create interactions for customers to occur within the Facebook Messenger app. You can order flowers from 1–800-Flowers, browse the latest fashion and make purchases from Spring, and order an Uber, all from within a Messenger chat.
Indeed, this is one of the key benefits of chatbots – providing a 24/7/365 presence that can give prospects and customers access to information no matter when they need it. This, in turn, can result in cost-savings for companies that deploy chatbots, as they cut down on the labour-hours that would be required for staff to manage a direct messaging service every hour of the week.
Bots are also used to buy up good seats for concerts, particularly by ticket brokers who resell the tickets.[12] Bots are employed against entertainment event-ticketing sites. The bots are used by ticket brokers to unfairly obtain the best seats for themselves while depriving the general public of also having a chance to obtain the good seats. The bot runs through the purchase process and obtains better seats by pulling as many seats back as it can.
Forrester Launches New Survey On AI Adoption There's no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) is top of mind for executives. AI adoption started in earnest in 2016, and Forrester anticipates AI investments to continue to increase. Leaders are quickly waking up to AI's disruptive characteristics and the need to embrace this emerging technology to remain […]
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More and more companies embrace chatbots to increase engagement with their audiences in the last few years. Especially for some industries including banking, insurance, and retail chatbots started to function as efficient interactive tools to increase customer satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. A study by Humley found out 43% of digital banking users are turning to chatbots – the increasing trend shows that banking customers consider the chatbot as an alternative channel to get instant information and solve their issues.
As in the prior method, each class is given with some number of example sentences. Once again each sentence is broken down by word (stemmed) and each word becomes an input for the neural network. The synaptic weights are then calculated by iterating through the training data thousands of times, each time adjusting the weights slightly to greater accuracy. By recalculating back across multiple layers ("back-propagation") the weights of all synapses are calibrated while the results are compared to the training data output. These weights are like a 'strength' measure, in a neuron the synaptic weight is what causes something to be more memorable than not. You remember a thing more because you've seen it more times: each time the 'weight' increases slightly.
2017 was the year that AI and chatbots took off in business, not just in developed nations, but across the whole world. Sage have reported that this global trend is boosting international collaboration between startups across all continents, such as the European Commission-backed Startup Europe Comes to Africa (SEC2A) which was held in November 2017.
As retrieved from Forbes, Salesforce's chief scientist, Richard Socher talked in a conference about his revelations of NLP and machine translation: "I can't speak for all chatbot deployments in the world – there are some that aren't done very well…but in our case we've heard very positive feedback because when a bot correctly answers questions or fills your requirements it does it very, very fast.
The components of this infrastructure need to be networked and monitored by a dedicated Electrical Power Monitoring System (EPMS) to help avoid downtime or understand what … Continue Reading...
Efforts by servers hosting websites to counteract bots vary. Servers may choose to outline rules on the behaviour of internet bots by implementing a robots.txt file: this file is simply text stating the rules governing a bot's behaviour on that server. Any bot that does not follow these rules when interacting with (or 'spidering') any server should, in theory, be denied access to, or removed from, the affected website. If the only rule implementation by a server is a posted text file with no associated program/software/app, then adhering to those rules is entirely voluntary – in reality there is no way to enforce those rules, or even to ensure that a bot's creator or implementer acknowledges, or even reads, the robots.txt file contents. Some bots are "good" – e.g. search engine spiders – while others can be used to launch malicious and harsh attacks, most notably, in political campaigns.[2]
Message generator component consists of several user defined templates (templates are nothing but sentences with some placeholders, as appropriate) that map to the action names. So depending on the action predicted by the dialogue manager, the respective template message is invoked. If the template requires some placeholder values to be filled up, those values are also passed by the dialogue manager to the generator. Then the appropriate message is displayed to the user and the bot goes into a wait mode listening for the user input.
Previous generations of chatbots were present on company websites, e.g. Ask Jenn from Alaska Airlines which debuted in 2008[20] or Expedia's virtual customer service agent which launched in 2011.[20] [21] The newer generation of chatbots includes IBM Watson-powered "Rocky", introduced in February 2017 by the New York City-based e-commerce company Rare Carat to provide information to prospective diamond buyers.[22] [23]
I argued that it is super hard to scale a one-trick TODA into a general assistant that helps the user getting things done across multiple tasks. An intelligence assistant is arguably expected to hold an informal chit-chat with the user. It is this area where we are staring into perhaps the biggest challenge of AI. Observe how Samantha introduces herself to Joaquin Phoenix's Ted in the clip below:
Morph.ai is an AI-powered chatbot. It works across messengers, websites, Android apps, and iOS apps. Morph.ai lets you automate up to 70 percent of your customer support. It can also integrate with your existing CRM and support tools. Plus, it can learn new queries and responses over time. You can add cards, carousels, and quick replies to enrich your conversations. It looks like this
An AI-powered chatbot is a smarter version of a chatbot (a machine that has the ability to communicate with humans via text or audio). It uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to get a better understanding of the intent of humans it interacts with. Also, its purpose is to provide a natural, as near human-level communication as possible.
The educators or class organizers can opt for chatbots to simplify daily routine tasks. Chatbots may serve as a helping hand to the teacher in dealing with the daily queries by allowing bots to answer the questions of students on a daily basis, or perhaps even check their homework. Eventually, they offer teachers more time to work with their students on a one-by-one basis.
Chatbots and virtual assistants (VAs) may be built on artificial intelligence and create customer experiences through digital personas, but the success you realize from them will depend in large part on your ability to account for the real and human aspects of their deployment, intra-organizational impact, and customer orientation. Start by treating your bots and […]
It's not all doom and gloom for chatbots. Chatbots are a stopgap until virtual assistants are able to tackle all of our questions and concerns, regardless of the site or platform. Virtual assistants will eventually connect to everything in your digital life, from websites to IoT-enabled devices. Rather than going through different websites and speaking to various different chatbots, the virtual assistant will be the platform for finding the answers you need. If these assistants are doing such a good job, why would you even bother to use a branded chatbot? Realistically this won't take place for sometime, due to the fragmentation of the marketplace.
However, since Magic simply connects you with human operators who carry our your requests, the service does not leverage AI to automate its processes, and thus the service is expensive and thus may lack mainstream potential. The company recently launched a premium service called Magic+ which gets you higher level service for $100 per hour, indicating that it sees its market among business executives and other wealthy customers.
Ursprünglich rein textbasiert, haben sich Chatbots durch immer stärker werdende Spracherkennung und Sprachsynthese weiterentwickelt und bieten neben reinen Textdialogen auch vollständig gesprochene Dialoge oder einen Mix aus beidem an. Zusätzlich können auch weitere Medien genutzt werden, beispielsweise Bilder und Videos. Gerade mit der starken Nutzung von mobilen Endgeräten (Smartphones, Wearables) wird diese Möglichkeit der Nutzung von Chatbots weiter zunehmen (Stand: Nov. 2016).[10] Mit fortschreitender Verbesserung sind Chatbots dabei nicht nur auf wenige eingegrenzte Themenbereiche (Wettervorhersage, Nachrichten usw.) begrenzt, sondern ermöglichen erweiterte Dialoge und Dienstleistungen für den Nutzer. Diese entwickeln sich so zu Intelligenten Persönlichen Assistenten.
Most chatbots try to mimic human interactions, which can frustrate users when a misunderstanding arises. Watson Assistant is more. It knows when to search for an answer from a knowledge base, when to ask for clarity, and when to direct you to a human. Watson Assistant can run on any cloud – allowing businesses to bring AI to their data and apps wherever they are.
As the above chart (source) illustrates, email click-rate has been steadily declining. Whilst open rates seem to be increasing - largely driven by mobile - the actual engagement from email is nosediving. Not only that, but it's becoming more and more difficult to even reach someone's email inbox; Google's move to separate out promotional emails into their 'promotions' tab and increasing problems of email deliverability have been top reasons behind this.
Speaking ahead of the Gartner Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summit in Sydney, Magnus Revang, research director at Gartner, said the broad appeal of chatbots stems from the efficiency and ease of interaction they create for employees, customers or other users. The potential benefits are significant for enterprises and shouldn't be ignored.
With the AI future closer to becoming a reality, companies need to begin preparing to join that reality—or risk getting left behind. Bots are a small, manageable first step toward becoming an intelligent enterprise that can make better decisions more quickly, operate more efficiently, and create the experiences that keep customers and employees engaged.
This reference architecture describes how to build an enterprise-grade conversational bot (chatbot) using the Azure Bot Framework. Each bot is different, but there are some common patterns, workflows, and technologies to be aware of. Especially for a bot to serve enterprise workloads, there are many design considerations beyond just the core functionality. This article covers the most essential design aspects, and introduces the tools needed to build a robust, secure, and actively learning bot.
"I've seen a lot of hyperbole around bots as the new apps, but I don't know if I believe that," said Prashant Sridharan, Twitter's global director of developer relations. "I don't think we're going to see this mass exodus of people stopping building apps and going to build bots. I think they're going to build bots in addition to the app that they have or the service they provide."
1-800-Flowers' 2017 first quarter results showed total revenues had increased 6.3 percent to $165.8 million, with the Company's Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets business as a significant contributor. CEO Chris McCann stated, "…our Fannie May business recorded positive same store sales as well as solid eCommerce growth, reflecting the success of the initiatives we have implemented to enhance its performance." While McCann doesn't go into specifics, we assume that initiatives include the implementation of GWYN, which also seems to be supported by CB Insights' finding: 70% of customers ordering through the chat bot were new 1-800-Flowers customers as of June 2016.
At this year's I/O, Google announced its own Facebook Messenger competitor called Allo. Apart from some neat features around privacy and self-expression, the really interesting part of Allo is @google, the app's AI digital assistant. Google's assistant is interesting because the company has about a decades-long head start in machine learning applied to search, so its likely that Allo's chatbot will be very useful. In fact, you could see Allo becoming the primary interface for interacting with Google search over time. This interaction model would more closely resemble Larry Page's long-term vision for search, which goes far beyond the clumsy search query + results page model of today:
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve (it's predicted that AI could double economic growth rates by 2035), conversational bots are becoming a powerful tool for businesses worldwide. By 2020, it's predicted that 85% of customers' relationship with businesses will be handled without engaging a human at all. Businesses are even abandoning their mobile apps to adopt conversational bots.
One of the key advantages of Roof Ai is that it allows real-estate agents to respond to user queries immediately, regardless of whether a customer service rep or sales agent is available to help. This can have a dramatic impact on conversion rates. It also eliminates potential leads slipping through an agent's fingers due to missing a Facebook message or failing to respond quickly enough.
However, as irresistible as this story was to news outlets, Facebook's engineers didn't pull the plug on the experiment out of fear the bots were somehow secretly colluding to usurp their meatbag overlords and usher in a new age of machine dominance. They ended the experiment due to the fact that, once the bots had deviated far enough from acceptable English language parameters, the data gleaned by the conversational aspects of the test was of limited value.
A chatbot works in a couple of ways: set guidelines and machine learning. A chatbot that functions with a set of guidelines in place is limited in its conversation. It can only respond to a set number of requests and vocabulary, and is only as intelligent as its programming code. An example of a limited bot is an automated banking bot that asks the caller some questions to understand what the caller wants done. The bot would make a command like "Please tell me what I can do for you by saying account balances, account transfer, or bill payment." If the customer responds with "credit card balance," the bot would not understand the request and would proceed to either repeat the command or transfer the caller to a human assistant.


What's the Difference Between GSM and CDMA Cell Phones?
Stands for SIM : A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module (SIM) is an integrated circuit chip that is intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers). It is also possible to store contacts on many SIM cards. SIM cards are always used on GSM phones; for CDMA phones, they are only needed for newer LTE-capable handsets. SIM cards can also be used in satellite phones.
A SIM card contains its unique serial number (ICCID), international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number, security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to, and two passwords: a personal identification number (PIN) for ordinary use, and a personal unblocking code (PUK) for PIN unlocking.
CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. CDMA does not specifically refer to one kind of technology or one network, but for a system of networks that have evolved over time. Each successive version of this network has sought to provide better, faster network access with a larger amount of coverage.
One of the notable things about CDMA technology is that it is the primary type of technology used for cell phones and smartphones in the United States. Cell phone providers that use CDMA technology include Verizon,Sprint, and US Cellular.
This means that for the most part, in the United States CMDA networks have seen more growth, and are likely to provide a much better user experience in terms of the amount of coverage a cell phone is able to receive within the United States. In addition, data might be more accessible, and users may be less likely to experience issues such as dropped calls, depending on the cell phone and the network provider they are using. One of the downsides is that using a CDMA network makes it much more difficult to switch out phones between networks.
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication, and unless you live in the United States or Russia, this is probably the technology your phone network uses, given it's the standard system for most of the world. GSM networks use TDMA, which stands for Time Division Multiple Access. TDMA works by assigning time slots to multiple conversation streams, alternating them in sequence and switching between each conversation at very short intervals. During that interval, the phones can transmit their information. In order for the network to know which users are connected to the network, each phone uses a subscriber identification module card, or SIM card.
SIM cards are one of the key features of a GSM network. They house your service subscription, network identification, and address book information. The identification is used to assign time slots to the phone conversation, and moreover, it tells the network what services you have access to, while storing your address book and relative contact information. Said cards can even to pass the information between phones, if a carrier allows it.
Dictated by the user's SIM card.
Dictated by the user's device.
GSM and CDMA both serve as shorthand for different mobile phone technologies. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications; it's the world's most prolific mobile standard (a standard being a set of rules and suggestions about how a mobile network should work). CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access—in the context of cellphones and mobile networks, people tend to use it interchangeably to refer to two different mobile standards: CDMAOne or CDMA 2000.
What's the core difference? It all has to do with the way your data is converted into the radio waves that your cellphone broadcasts and receives. To keep from lulling you to sleep with the deep dive, I'll just scratch the surface and say that GSM divides the frequency bands into multiple channels so that more than one user can place a call through a tower at the same time; CDMA networks layer digitized calls over one another, and unpack them on the back end with sequence codes.
CDMA was a late response to GSM, and in 1995 this more complex and modern channel access promised better security, fewer dropped calls, and more efficient infrastructure. But that was 1995, when car phones were still regularly spotted on city streets.
America is unique in that it's home to more CDMA users than GSM users, with the two largest CDMA carriers accounting for over 43% of the market. The two largest GSM carriers barely break 37%; worldwide, CDMA accounts for around 13% of phones, with GSM and its successor, UMTS making up of the remainder.
Of course, none of this tells us anything at all about what it means to use networks on either standard. Standards being basically a set of guidelines that participating companies abide by, most of the differences between CDMA and GSM are small details that you'll never have to concern yourself with: frequency bands, audio codecs, the physical specifications of the network infrastructure, the way a user is linked to a phone, and so on.


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Guam charges for unsuccessful calls of greater then 60secs @ 0. Your local unlimited plan for GPRS/Blackberry is not valid overseas.Denmark charges for unsuccessfull call attempts @ 0. T-Mobile USA . b. Caller Line Identification Number (CLI) is not guaranteed w hile roaming.23 Danish Krone. c. VAT and any other tax charged by foreign netw ork w ould be additional. Please note that dow nload speeds can vary depending on netw ork conditions. PDP context is an association betw een the Visited and Home GPRS netw ork and is used for validation of the GPRS subscriber. f.Telenor. Changes in price / call rates due to currency fluctuations shall be non-negotiable and Airtel shall not be liable to adjust or w aive off the amount.35 Danish Krone. Please refer to the GPRS charges for international roaming.Rural Cellular-USA charge for unansw ered mobile originated calls of greater than 30 seconds at applicable rates. w hich are nonetheless billable. e. AT&T.in/…/postpaidInternationalRoaming… 2/2 . airtel. Rogers Canada and AT&T Maritime services charge for incoming SMS. Calls made to any country other than India / Maritime / Satellite / Ship Cruise or Immarsat w hen on international roaming w ould be charged as per tariffs applicable on the roaming netw ork All GPRS (Airtel live/ Mobile Office / Blackberry/ MMS) usage is charged based on Volume of data sent or received. All Rights Reserved.65 USD.Ring time associated w ith the creation of a call is a part of chargeable event. TDC-Denmark charges for unsuccessful call attempts @ 0. Traveling to Japan and Korea? Click here for information on handsets To know m ore Click here © Airtel India 2010. Charging Scenario may differ for some of the International partners- a.10/17/2010 Airtel Date Footnotes : The tariffs show n are exclusive 15% surcharge. This appears in the bill as charges against 0 Kb usages. Customers w ith 3G capable handsets w ill be able to connect to the 3G netw orks of select operators and w ill get 3G speeds. For GPRS: Additional PDP charges may apply w ith some operators. d. Tariffs are indicative and subject to change w ithout prior notice. All 3G phones including 3G Blackberry & 3G data card w ork in Japan & Korea.Pulse.


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Q: Alternative to subclassing LocalValidatorFactoryBean in Spring In our code we have implemented a subclass to org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.LocalValidatorFactoryBean, overriding validate(Object target, Errors errors) with our own implementation where we run validations, do some extra processing and register error messages.
Upgrading from 3.0 to 3.1, it seems that this method is no longer called. A colleague debugged the spring code and found that it seems that the method with the signature validate(Object target, Errors errors, Object... validationHints) is called instead, and the old validate() is simply skipped. Changing to use the method with validationHints made things work again.
This fix feels kind of weird and prone to future confusion. Is there another way to process validations that is more future-proof?

A: In our project we took a slightly different approach. We are also using Spring 3.1 and we have both beans annotated with validations and custom validations. Our approach may or may not apply to your scenario, because I'm not sure of the method you originally used, prior to the move to Spring 3.1, but here goes.
When we need custom validations, instead of extending LocalValidatorFactoryBean we implement the org.springframework.validation.Validator class. So this implementation executes its own custom code and invokes Spring's default validation, which is exposed via a bean which is autowired into our custom validator. Here is the validator code:
@Component("myValidator")
public class MyValidator implements Validator {

@Autowired
private Validator springValidator;

@Override
public boolean supports(Class<?> clazz) {
    return MyObject.class.isAssignableFrom(clazz);
}

@Override
public void validate(Object object, Errors errors) {
    MyObject myObject = (MyObject) object;

    // invoke spring default validator so validation annotations are processed
    springValidator.validate(myObject, errors);

    // custom validation
    ....

And we have the following bean declared in our spring xml files:
<bean id="springValidator"
    class="org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.LocalValidatorFactoryBean"/>

With the above implementation, the classes that need to invoke validations will do so by invoking validator.validate(Object object, Errors errors). The again, this is why I'm not sure the approach taken in our project applies to yours, since I'm not sure you were using the same validate(Object, Errors) method.
Anyway, hope it helps.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
An introduction to prevention through design
By establishing systems to identify and implement measures to control risks, the engineer can ensure that a design is both appropriate and proportionate to the requirements, demands and controls that are and will be placed upon it.
The process of good design provides a structure that serves a purpose whilst protecting those associated with it throughout its lifecycle. Optimum design is more than structural adequacy.
Introduction – What is good design?
All structural engineers aspire to be good designers. Good design is much more than preparing calculations to size members strong enough to carry their assumed loading. Good design is not something achieved by repetition or routine but is something that creates a structure that:
Is robust against a range of hazards that might be applicable
Is functional
Is safe and practicable to build
Minimises in service degradations
Permits degradation to be observed, safely assessed and managed
All designs involve a choice of solutions and some solutions are better than others. There are competing aspects in designs, so the optimal solution may be different depending on the values and criteria of clients and users.
Designer – A good designer has to be more than just competent
Competence can be described as the combination of training, skills, experience and knowledge that a person has and their ability to apply them to perform a task safely (HSE). Other factors, such as attitude and physical ability, can also affect someone's competence.
Good designers must continually develop:
Be specific about their training: plan and execute
Necessary technical and practical
Planning and organisational
Appreciating the importance of site visits. For a design to be practical for construction and maintenance the designer must understand site issues
Good theoretical technical knowledge applicable to their discipline
An understanding and appreciation of the impact of costs and programme upon a project, eg Structural engineer technical articles on the Institution of Structural Engineers' website
Lessons learned – more is learned from failures than successes, much can be learned from the experience of others, eg Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures (CROSS)
An attention to detail in applying technical competence
Recognise limitations
A good design process has more to it than purely numerical literacy and coming up with a single solution. There are numerous factors that have to be taken into account to ensure that a design is both appropriate and proportionate to the requirements, demands and controls that are and will be placed upon it.
No construction project is risk free. Risk can be managed, minimised, shared, transferred or accepted. It cannot be ignored
(Sir Michael Latham noted in Latham Report, 1994)
Risk is best managed in design in a proactive manner by those who have the direct ability to manage the risk. This is much better than being reactive, waiting until the hazards present themselves, as by then it can often be too late to address these effectively and efficiently. Even when it is not too late, the likelihood is that the impact upon programme, specification and cost will be significantly increased, as will be the pressure upon the design team.
There are three risk management components to be considered:
Principles of prevention
Risk identification and mitigation
Communication of hazards and risk
1 What are the principles of prevention?
These provide a system to identify and implement measures to control risks. It is worth considering what this is and how it will work.
HSE Principles of Prevention guidance
These principles are a requirement of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and apply to all industries, including construction. They are repeated in the HSE Guidance on CDM, L153. They provide a hierarchical framework to identify and implement measures to control risks on a construction project and can be used by designers to identify better design choices from a health and safety perspective.
The general principles of prevention are to:
Avoid risks
Evaluate the risks which cannot be avoided
Combat the risks at source
Adapt the work to the individual, especially regarding the design of workplaces, the choice of work equipment and the choice of working and production methods, with a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work, work at a predetermined work rate and to reducing their effect on health
Adapt to technical progress
Replace the dangerous with the non-dangerous or the less dangerous
Develop a coherent overall prevention policy which covers technology, organisation of work, working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors relating to the working environment
Give collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures and
Give appropriate instructions to employees
(L153 - Appendix 1 The general principles of prevention)
Why? – It's only by having an understanding of potential hazards before they present themselves and put someone in harm's way, that something can be done to protect those who build, use and maintain structures.
What is a hazard? - A hazard is defined as something with the potential to cause harm, such as construction dusts, repeatedly handling heavy items, chemicals eg cement, some paints, working from a ladder, plant and tools etc.
What is a risk? - A risk is the likelihood of potential hazards leading to harm. This tends to be based on a judgement rather than a numerical value. The extent of any risk depends upon the likelihood of the hazard occurring, the potential severity of the resulting harm and the number of people who may be affected by the hazard.
An action or omission can protect from or allow hazards to manifest as risks. Risk management is about achieving the correct balance. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Balancing Risk
Figure 2: Five steps to managing risk
An iterative process: all design follows the loop shown in Figure 2.
Identify hazards - these might not be obvious or immediate as belonging to the task or work activity. It is really important to think about the project in the broader context, particularly consider the project in its geographical location and the wider site. Risks associated with an activity eg falls into excavation, may be identified, however quite often those associated with the wider context of a site, eg near a major roadway, main distribution energy routes etc, that cross the site may be missed. Consider the surroundings and physical environment, eg utilities, overhead lines, gas pipelines, drainage, or infrastructure such as railways or highways. Consider also the hazards associated with the detail of the execution of the design, temporary instability, work at height, use of chemicals like cement/grout, welding, material weights.
Assess the risks - prioritise the risk management effort that has to be applied to the risks that have been identified and the stage in the design process that these are going to be addressed. Decide which risks are best left to the detailed designers to manage eg rebar cage instability can be addressed by the rebar detailer but do not leave them guessing, identify the risk in the information provided.
Control the risks - identify sensible and reasonably practicable design choices to reduce risks associated with building the design
Not expected to anticipate unforeseeable risk
Determine whether a risk can be designed out?
Does that bring other risks?
Is the revised proposal now considered to be the safest reasonably practicable design ie is the risk ALARP - as low as reasonably practicable?
Provide practical information that protects people from harm or injury
Record findings - provide a record of what has been considered and the outcome, the steps taken and what is left to be taken care of, ie the residual risk. Make sure that the people who need this information receive it (in the UK provide information about significant residual risks to the Principal Designer).
Review controls - carry out reviews periodically and as conditions and circumstances change through the project or asset life.
Whilst looking at specific hazards there are also those that have a wider impact, these may relate to utilities, infrastructure and contamination whether these are on the site or in the vicinity of the site. Consider also asset degradation and ensure that there is a record of reviews required captured in the project information (in the UK, the Health and Safety File).
How to go about it
Figure 3: Hierachy of hazard control measures
E – Eliminate Design out hazards or incorporate risk control measures
R – Reduce If not reasonably practical to eliminate the hazard, look to minimise the risk
I – Inform If significant risks remain, provide information on these risks
C – Control Either through engineering or administration introduce physical or procedural controls
Generally, best addressed at source and with early intervention. Some may require to be addressed only the once whilst others require revisiting throughout the life of the project or structure.
Design risk management – implements the process and procedures to eliminate, reduce the hazards and pass on the information of residual risks. This provides a record of these, the steps taken, and finally what's left to be taken care of. The Institution of Structural Engineers is planning to publish a guidance document which will provide information pertinent to this process.
2 Risk identification and mitigation
What is the risk?
Hazards can occur in all phases throughout the life of the project and structure. These hazards create risks that have to be identified and managed by implementing measures to avoid or control them.
Figure 4: Asset life cycle phases
Designers are in a position to significantly reduce the risks and lifetime costs during the design and construction phases and the subsequent phases of operation and end of life. The duration and costs of the design and construction phases are considerably less than those of the operation phase, early decisions can influence the whole life costs and ease of operation.
All through the different phases of a project or asset life cycle the risks will require further reviews to re-evaluate and reassess. Some existing risks may have been addressed and closed, others may require a change in controls and measures, new risks may arise as conditions and circumstances change.
Figure 5: Project risk management phases
Project workshop
To ensure that the risks are fully identified, shared, and understood, the best approach is to carry out a project workshop following a thorough schedule. The intention is to ensure that nothing is over-looked, and all hazards are identified, and the risks recognised. All hazards can be recorded, those that are within the remit of the design team or those that may belong to others. Some may be so remote that they do not have any perceptible impact upon design, activities or operation, however if these are recorded it assists in ensuring a thorough review.
A record of risks, detailing control measures implemented assists in any future reviews, whether considering existing or new risks. This record ensures a consistent and transparent approach is adopted to the management of the risks.
Design risk management – hazard elimination and management record
The design risk record or hazard elimination and management record provide details of all the possible design hazards that could impact upon the project and those associated with it throughout the life of the project or the structure. Risks are identified, potential impact determined, mitigation and control measures are applied, further information provided where appropriate, to provide an adjusted potential impact. Details of these and any significant residual risk are recorded for further review and use. This record could look like Figure 6.
Figure 6: Hazard elimination and management record
As well as considering the execution and maintenance risk as design choices are being made, regular design reviews are undertaken in collaboration with other designers throughout the preconstruction (design) phase. Clear notes of significant risks are included on drawings/CAD designs/BIM. General or generic statements must be avoided.
Significant risks
Not necessarily those that involve the greatest risks, but those (including health risks) that are not likely to be obvious, are unusual, or likely to be difficult to manage effectively.
These reviews continue throughout the construction phase and into the operation and use phase as design is being carried out, including trade contractor design.
The Structural Engineer provides Technical Guidance Notes and other series (inlcuidng Managing Health & Safety Risks) which relate to specific hazards..
All the relevant information has to be shared and a record maintained. The record provides details of what has been considered, the outcome and what information has been shared and with whom.
3 Communication of hazards and risks
What to communicate
Location and nature of hazards, who is at risk
Design choices adopted to reduce the risk
For each of the above it is important that the risks are prioritised. The specifics must be clear, including ownership, as well as details of any underlying conditions and assumptions that are being relied upon.
Periodic review and update of hazard elimination and management record
Improving health and safety outcomes in construction making the case for Building Information Modelling (BIM)
Design team, including contractor appointed designers and temporary works designers
Contractors (main contractor, contractors/subcontractors and workers)
Figure 7: Information flow
A good design may be seen as a linear process if viewed simplistically. It is however a more complex and iterative process. This means going through the processes more than once to arrive at the optimal design solution to manage the risks and to satisfy the particular requirements that circumstances or conditions demand. The more experienced the designer, and the earlier and the better input from the Principal Designer, the fewer iterations will be required.
Hazards are best addressed at source and with early intervention. An understanding of the potential hazards and risks that can present themselves during a project will assist in arriving at a safe and healthy design, for all those associated with the project or asset life cycle.
Clear lines of communication with the information being relevant, current, readily available and accessible through all phases of the project will keep all parties well informed.
The CDM objective of "right information, right people, right time" cannot be overstated.
References/ further reading
Constructing the Team, Latham Report, Sir Michael Latham, published in July 1994
Managing health and safety in construction, Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Guidance on Regulations, L153, HSE
Risk assessment: A brief guide to controlling risks in the workplace, INDG 163(Rev4), HSE
Improving Health and Safety Outcomes in Construction: Making the Case for Building Information Modelling (BIM) HSE
Managing risk and risk assessment at work: Steps needed to manage risk, HSE
The Structural Engineer, Technical Guidance Notes and other series
Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures (CROSS)
Chris Farrell and Julia Allison
Safety, Health and Wellbeing Panel
Guidance Safety Construction management Risk IStructE London HQ Safety, Health & Wellbeing Panel
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This one-day, online course helps you improve the quality of your written reports and reduce the time you spend writing. It covers how to adapt your writing style for different documents and audiences. You will also learn some grammar best practice to help you write clearly and concisely.
Client appointments and terms of engagement: a legal toolkit
This advanced one-day, in-person course enables engineers of middle and senior levels to understand the complex commercial contracts, analyse issues and possible legal implications, and confidently formulate new negotiating strategy.
Date ‐ 6 July 2023
Project management for engineers
This two-day, online course addresses the challenges of managing projects in an engineering context. It includes practical project management tools and techniques that can be applied to all projects, whether they be large or small.
Seismic design of structures
This two-day, online course introduces seismic design of civil engineering structures. It builds on the basics of structural dynamics and engineering seismology. The course focusses on seismic loading and design codes, conceptual seismic design principles and analysis for seismic loading, and design and detailing of structural members.
Designing for the future, now – e-conference
Join industry leaders and explore the factors driving change in structural engineering: society and technology; process and materials; regulatory and legislative. This e-conference will help you keep your business creative, profitable, and sustainable in a rapidly changing world.
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Moving into engineering management
This two-day in-person course gives first time managers a toolbox of techniques to use for managing engineers and other technical staff.
Building Safety Act conference
The Building Safety Act puts in new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products. This event will provide an overview of what it means for practising structural engineers.
Location ‐ IStructE HQ and online
Business and strategic planning
This highly practical, half-day, online workshop teaches the skills SME practice owners and directors need in order to plan the medium and long term growth of their SMEs.
Date ‐ 7 March 2023


text:
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HomeNewsPresident's Report – February 2022
President's Report – February 2022
Hello and Happy February! I have waited 37 years for a February such as this! Join us on 2/22/22 at the Chamber Office for the ULTIMATE TACO TUESDAY and NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY!! We will have tacos and margaritas from 12:22 pm – 2:22 pm! Please sign up as spots will run out!
Our 3rd Scavenger Hunt will be on Saturday, March 19 at 3 p.m.!!! Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place winners! $50 gets you an after party at Catering to You! You'll get a full dinner, beer, soda, water, coffee and dessert! REGISTER ONLINE HERE! Sponsorships available, call the office at 314-831-3500
Come dressed as your favorite movie or TV character at our 2022 Music Trivia on April 30th! Don't forget to get a table before it's too late, sponsorships are still available! Attendees that bring a pack of diapers or formula for the Crisis Nursery will be entered in a drawing. $200 for regular table of eight OR $300 VIP table of eight!
With 2022 being an election year, make sure to sign up for February's luncheon on February 16th with our speaker, James McHugh with the St. Louis County Election Board. Luncheon will be at Catering To You at 11 a.m. Please register!
Be sure to "like" "subscribe" "share" and interact with all of our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter!
Lastly, if you are not involved in a committee, we would love for you to get involved! We are always looking for our chamber members to participate in making our events more creative and strengthening our chamber. Please call the chamber office and we would love to share with you the different opportunities for you to get involved.
I leave you with this thought by President George Washington, "Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind, than on the externals in the world."
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Hunter Yurachek Named Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at UH
Hunter Yurachek, who was honored as the 2014 Under Armour Football Championship Athletic Director of the Year, has been named vice president for intercollegiate athletics and athletic director at the University of Houston.
Celebrated broadcaster Jim Nantz, a UH alum, will formally introduce Yurachek at a news conference at 11 a.m., Thursday, at the TDECU Stadium Club.
Yurachek has experience at three Power 5 conference universities. He joined UH as the associate vice president and chief operating officer for intercollegiate athletics in February 2014. He was the only internal candidate for the job, which became vacant when Mack Rhoades accepted the same position at the University of Missouri.
"Hunter Yurachek is the best leader and administrator for where we are, and where we are going," UH President Renu Khator said in announcing the appointment. "He brings both a fresh perspective and a keen understanding of our strengths and opportunities.
"Hunter shares my belief that a Tier One athletics program should prepare our student-athletes to be champions for life by helping them experience success academically, athletically and in the community. I am thrilled our athletics program will be guided by his vision and leadership."
More than 50 applicants applied for the position, which attracted strong interest from top senior athletic directors and sitting athletic directors across the country, said Tilman Fertitta, chairman of the UH System Board of Regents.
"Mack Rhoades hired a great second number two leader when he brought Hunter to UH," Fertitta said. "He's the perfect person for this job."
UH hired the Atlanta-based search firm College Sports Solutions (CSI) to conduct an extensive national search to assist the University in identifying the best pool of candidates. Yurachek was selected after UH interviewed eight applicants.
"I want to thank President Khator, Chairman Fertitta and the entire Board of Regents for this tremendous opportunity," Yurachek said. "It is an honor to accept this position, and it will be a privilege to serve the student-athletes, coaches and entire the University of Houston community in this role.
"This is an exciting time to be at the University of Houston, and I embrace the challenge of leading our athletics program to the next level. My wife, Jennifer, myself and our family are excited about the chance to deepen our roots and friendships in the Houston area and to call this great community home for many more years."
In his associate VP role at UH, Yurachek provided day-to-day support in the oversight of an NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports program comprising 17 varsity sports programs, 425 student-athletes, 175 employees and a $40 million operational budget.
Khator named Yurachek chair for a campus-wide steering committee established to oversee the grand opening events for the $120 million TDECU Stadium. He assisted Rhoades and Cougar Pride staff in the cultivation, solicitation and securing of a 10-year, $15,000,000-naming rights agreement for TDECU Stadium, with the per year value currently ranking in the top 10 nationally for collegiate venue naming rights agreements.
Yurachek assisted in the national search and hiring of football and men and women's basketball head coaches, while overseeing the development and implementation of a $500,000 remodeling project to the men and women's basketball locker rooms.
He served as liaison with an architectural design firm on the plans for the $25-million Houston Basketball Development facility. He also directed the development and implementation of a $500,000 facility enhancement to the Athletics/Alumni Center. This included the addition of Cougar Cafe, a student-athlete nutrition center – a plan developed and implemented in concert with senior woman administrator DeJuena Chizer and director of nutrition Glenda Blaskey.
Yurachek came to Houston after serving four years as director of athletics at Coastal Carolina University, where he oversaw a department featuring 18 men's and women's NCAA Division I sport programs. A testament of his vision, Yurachek was named the 2014 Under Armour FCS Athletic Director of the Year in May of 2014.
Under Yurachek's leadership, the Chanticleers won a total of 29 Big South Championships (both regular season and tournament championships), made 30 NCAA appearances and finished a program-best 79th in the 2012-13 Learfield Director's Cup.
During Yurachek's time of leadership, Coastal hosted an NCAA Baseball Regional; a NCAA Baseball Super Regional; NCAA Division I Football championship contests in 2010 and '13; and NCAA Men's Soccer Championship matches in 2011, '12 and '13, as well as winning a competitive bid to host the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Men's and Women's Big South Basketball Championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015, sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, since Yurachek's hiring in January 2010, Coastal Carolina student-athletes earned:
• 363 All-Big South honors
• 31 All-Big South Player of the Year honors along with 13 Big South Freshman of the Year honors
• 28 All-America honors
• 11 Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in their respective sports
• 5 Academic All-America honors
• 4 national postgraduate scholarships
• 3 Big South Conference Christenberry Awards for Academic Excellence
The Coastal Carolina department operated within a balanced budget during Yurachek's tenure, thanks to his zero-budget initiative and the unprecedented revenues generated since his arrival with his restructuring of the external relations department. In his first year, the department revenue was at $560,000, including $316,000 in ticket sales and sponsorships at $250,000. After the 2012-13 year, revenue came in at $1.4 million, thanks to $549,000 in ticket sales and $600,000 in sponsorships.
Prior to his appointment at Coastal Carolina University, Yurachek was executive senior associate athletics director at the University of Akron. He led and managed the Zips' external relations unit, which included marketing and promotions, media relations, ticket operations, development (Z-Fund), video operations and merchandising. In addition, he was the sport administrator for men's basketball, men's golf and women's golf and worked closely with the football program.
Yurachek has also held various athletics administration leadership positions at the University of Virginia, Western Carolina University, Vanderbilt University and Wake Forest University.
He earned his bachelor's degree in business management at Guilford College in 1990, where he was a four-year letter winner in basketball. He earned his master's degree in sports administration from the University of Richmond in 1994.
A native of Richmond, Va., Yurachek and his wife have three sons: Ryan, Jake and Brooks.
Categories: Athletics


Recently I took shots of two butterflies. The first butterfly found dead inside a candle glass at a restaurant.
The second butterfly dropped by for a while that morning on a room beside our bedroom. There's a myth here mentioned if a butterfly comes inside your home, it's a sign that an important guest will come soon. In the afternoon, a man came to meet my husband to solve a business problem. Does such myth exist in your place too?
Poor first butterfly but the second one is beautiful. Have a lovely weekend.
Love the butterfly, a cool visitor in your home. I have not heard that myth before. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
That last butterfly is seen in many butterfly zoos in my area.
What would you call this butterfly?
Nice butterfly! A White Admiral, I think.


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Everyone is doing it and has been doing it. Many of the great men and women in the bible did it. Many fathers of the faith did it. It seems everyone did it. But what is fasting all about? Simply, fasting is abstaining from food, drink or other luxuries in order to focus on seeking and petitioning God concerning a particular matter. Unfortunately, most people dread it.
I was 17 years old when I first made cognizant recognition of the dreaded word fasting. At that time I had been saved for some years and I was actively involved and active within the local church. My beloved khulu (grandfather) had suddenly fallen gravely ill with kidney failure. The doctor's prognosis was grim. My mother had sought counsel and was encouraged to "try" fasting. Immediately, the entire family got on the fasting bandwagon. We were desperate to see khulu healed and we were willing to try anything…including skipping meals. Prayer I understood, prayer I could do easily, prayer I had experienced breakthrough with. But fasting? Fasting was a different 'Loch Ness' monster altogether. While I did not fully understand fasting, I was desperate.
Sadly, my grandfather passed away. Thankfully He knew the Lord and His eternity was certain, yet there was a bitter aftertaste in my mouth concerning this "fasting thing." Honestly, I was disappointed with God and did not understand why all my skipped meals had been in vain.
"And when you fast" In Matthew 6 verse 16 and 17 Jesus stated "when you fast…" Therefore, the "when" implies that any disciple of Jesus was and is expected to fast, including you and me. Over the years I came to learn that if properly understood, and within the context of a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ, which is founded on a solid understanding of His love and His grace – fasting can be a powerful weapon and can bring breakthrough.
• Fasting begins with a relationship with God, acknowledging that it is only through Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross that we are made righteous. Before God, any of our 'righteous' acts, including fasting, are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and only through Jesus can we come to the Father (John 14:6).
• Fast AND pray. When fasting, also pray or else it is reduced to 'spiritual dieting.' In Matthew 6 Jesus stated "when you pray" and "when you fast".
• Fasting begins with the understanding that our hope and trust is ultimately in God. It is God who ultimately fights our battles and our hope is in Him, and not our ability to fast. We rest in Him and knowing He is fighting for us (Exodus 14:14) and knowing He is our refuge and our rescuer (Psalm 43:1-2).
• Fasting should be done within the context of a healthy Christian relationship and walk with God and others. In Matthew 6, Jesus addressed many other aspects of living a well-rounded Christian life including giving to those in need, trusting God and storing treasures in heaven. Isaiah 58:6-9, mentions that true fasting is helping those who are oppressed and in need.
• Regularly touch base with your church leaders and family when embarking on a fast. This is important especially if it is for a lengthened period of time. This is heplful for accountability, additional support and guidance.
• Fast as the Holy Spirit leads and as your body can manage.
• It is so much better when we do it together. My most fruitful times of fasting have been when I have done it together with other saints (See Psalm 133 and Matthew 18:20).
Over time, fasting became to me no longer about religiously starving myself, but about practicing a spiritual discipline empowered by the Holy Spirit with God's love and grace as a foundation. As one of our leader's wives said recently, true breakthrough is not when prayers (or fasts) are answered, but it is when we grow in intimacy with God. While we may not get the answer we hope or desire for, we fast and pray in faith and trust that it is God and not our fasting that is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
Sandisiwe is a saint in Joshua Generation Church. Her desire is to support the body of Christ and to see the saints equipped. As a development economist she finds the interplay between economics, politics and social justice intellectually intriguing and is passionate about exploring biblical solutions to poverty.