Managed View ? Object Storage In The Public Cloud

How are cloud technologies such as object storage transforming business?

Enterprise IT and service providers are transforming how they do business by leveraging cloud architectures to deliver infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Cloud architectures are ideally suited to the unique storage demands of unstructured data, which is forecasted to grow at 80%. This growth is driven by the increasing size and amount of digital images, video, audio, and a combination of these media as seen on sites such as Amazon and others.? Consumers routinely use the richness of these differing media streams to get information and use the written word for only a small fraction of their information intake. However, until recently, business users have been limited to perusing documents alone.? Now, technology has finally caught up with how we digest data; in particular, object storage is the fundamental transformative technology underlying cloud architectures and enabling the business transition to IaaS.

The modern world is fast paced and instant gratification the norm. Increasingly, cloud technologies like object storage fulfill the gaps left by block-based and file-based storage. These technologies deliver cost savings and drive new revenue streams.

Information On-Demand

If you?re over 40 years of age, you probably recall a time when you had to wait to watch a television show. If you missed a broadcast, you might get to view the missed show as a summer rerun.

Fast-forward to today and it is an on-demand world. DVRs and DVD/Blu-ray players have transformed TV viewing, enabling you to watch what you want, when you want. Streaming is the next phase as TV programs bypass hard media devices such as DVR players, and go straight from the Internet to your viewing medium of choice via online sites like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and the television networks themselves.

Interestingly, the online sites do something different than the networks that both produce and also stream the programs. The online sites augment their offerings with predictive analysis engines that enable them to ?push? additional programming to you. This is done by applying intelligence to viewing patterns to suggest new titles, rather than just relying on the ?pull? of users deciding on their own to view certain programs.

Keeping It in Context

Object storage systems support per-object metadata or data about data. Meta data gives context to stored data in relation to other data and establishes business value for the objects. This approach is not as easily implemented in block-based and file-based storage systems due to their hierarchical rather than associative data structures.

For example, TV viewership numbers on their own have limited meaning but have considerable value when associated with a specific customer. In the TV-on-demand scenario above, individual views mean less than what the multiple data points of many viewed titles say about the customer. By analyzing the categorization stored in the meta data of the TV shows a customer has watched, it is possible to determine which types of shows that particular customer prefers. With this knowledge, the video service provider can automatically push new suggested titles to the viewer to grow consumption.

The Internet and Scale-Out Object Architectures

What?s changed to make this possible?

The rise of the Internet and scale-out object architectures has changed how information gets consumed. These changes include:

• Object IDs: Object storage introduced unique IDs or URLs for each stored aggregate of data, including online documents, images, videos, and more. These unique IDs plus the meta data associated with each object means data can be stored anywhere for retrieval via standard Web-based protocols. The name of each object is universal and unchanging, without any dependence on an individual storage system or naming hierarchy.
• Open APIs /HTTP protocols: APIs based on SOAP/REST design models and HTTP protocols made seamless, global access possible. Mobile devices, tablets, and wireless networking opened up even more options for receiving the abundant amounts of information available.
• Lower cost x86-based technology: The new API design models and HTTP also made the use of commodity (x86-based) processors, memory, and networking possible. This change enabled management to move from the devices to software to ease administration and lower the overall total cost of ownership.
• Abundant bandwidth: The Internet spurred a massive build-out of connectivity and networking infrastructure, making massive aggregate bandwidth available.
• Active-active configurations: These technologies also enabled active-active configurations where the aggregate bandwidth supports multiple access points; a key requirement in cloud scale deployments where there is always a node or disk down.???

Object Storage Transforming Online Commerce

How can object storage be applied to industries?

Object storage use cases can be found in many industries, including healthcare, finance, and other online commerce, in addition to television programming. Some other use cases include:

• Healthcare: ?Medical records and images on their own have limited meaning but have considerable value when associated with a specific patient, medical condition, or demographic.
• Financial Services: Bank balances, mortgages, and credit ratings alone provide information about a customer, but combined enable targeting home owners and others for new financial services products like home equity and auto loans.
• Online Shopping: Understanding buying habits can lead to the provider offering additional services like, for example, music recommendations for the audiophile; Amazon emails me with new music selections about once a week based on my buying history with them.

Object Storage Opening Up New Services for Public Clouds

Adding object storage to service-provider public clouds provides an attractive alternative for organizations looking to leverage object storage and data analytics to create new revenue streams.

Time to market for the services provider can be quick too. For example, $100 billion ($USD) telecommunications services provider giant AT&T decided to leverage its extensive communications networking backbone to deliver IaaS to its enterprise customer base. The challenge was to bring object storage to market without incurring the development costs associated with introducing new technologies. The solution was to deploy EMC Atmos cloud storage platform to store, manage, and protect globally distributed, unstructured content at scale in multiple data centers. Out-of-the-box Atmos enabled AT&T to set policies for different service levels and integrate an object-storage services catalog including a self-service user portal, reporting, and metering with AT&T billing systems. The result was a new business model with self-service object storage for enterprises in 90 days.

Object storage offers much to the public cloud, and also enables new possibilities for organizations looking to implement private cloud models. Future posts will address object storage in the enterprise including what to consider when deciding whether or not to outsource object storage or to keep it in-house.

Source: http://managedview.emc.com/2012/10/object-storage-in-the-public-cloud/

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Impact of Romney, Obama tax ideas tough to figure

Boy Scout Nicholas Reade, 17, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, stands during the trooping of the colors before Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speak at a campaign event in Lancaster, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Boy Scout Nicholas Reade, 17, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, stands during the trooping of the colors before Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speak at a campaign event in Lancaster, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Good luck figuring out whether Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would cut or raise your taxes if he's elected president. President Barack Obama promises tax reform, too, but precious little detail.

Unlike Romney, Obama wants to make sure any tax reform produces a big new chunk of revenue to address the deficit. Yet it's difficult to do that and not hit the middle class. It's Romney's far more ambitious tax plan, however, that has become front and center in the presidential campaign.

Romney promises a 20 percent cut in tax rates, but he won't say which deductions he'll kill to pay for it. He promises a wholesale rewrite of the tax code that would cut income tax rates across the board, taking the top rate from 35 percent to 28 percent.

Romney's plan offers the dessert of sweeping tax cuts but not the vegetables of how he would pay for it. He and running mate Paul Ryan ? his House GOP budget plan promises an even lower top tax rate of 25 percent ? say they'll curb tax breaks and rely on fresh revenue from economic growth to recoup the cost.

Obama would instead raise that top rate to 39.6 percent, making clear he's still wedded to the idea that individuals with incomes above $200,000 and couples earning above $250,000 should pay more. It's never gotten anywhere on Capitol Hill, even when Democrats had sweeping House and Senate majorities in Obama's first two years in office.

Romney says he will eliminate taxes on inherited wealth and abolish taxes on capital gains and investment income for couples making less than $200,000 a year. He also would do away with the alternative minimum tax.

All of this, the Republican vows, will not reduce the share of taxes paid by wealthier people ? nor raise taxes on the middle class or poor.

"I'm not going to raise taxes on anyone," he promised in his first debate with Obama.

Critics of Romney's plan say it simply doesn't add up. They say the estimated cost of the cuts ? the $5 trillion over a decade figure tossed about on the campaign trail and in Obama's television ads ? can't be recouped without slashing deductions and other tax breaks that chiefly benefit the middle- and upper middle-class.

Such popular ? and entrenched ? tax breaks include the deductions for home mortgage interest, charitable giving, and state and local taxes and the exclusion for employer-paid health insurance.

"You can't do all those things," said Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank. "The rich get such savings from the rate cuts that there just aren't enough tax breaks that benefit them that taking them away would recoup the full lost revenue from the rate cuts."

Such critics were given a boost on Friday when the nonpartisan tax analyst for Congress released a study that says eliminating all itemized deductions would pay for just a 4 percent cut in tax rates ? far below Romney's 20 percent target.

Republicans pointed out that the Joint Committee on Taxation analysis was simply a sketchy outline of tax reform concepts and that there are very big differences between the panel's assumptions and the Romney plan. For starters, the congressional study started from a narrower set of tax breaks from which to finance the rate cuts.

However, wiping out every tax deduction ? including those for mortgage interest, for state and local taxes and for charitable giving, but leaving breaks for health insurance and retirement savings or the personal exemption alone ? would raise $2.5 trillion over a decade, just about half of the cost of Romney's plan.

Romney's plan to swap a $5 trillion slice of revenue over a decade from rate cuts while gleaning an equally big slice of revenue by curbing deductions and other tax breaks faces enormous, perhaps insurmountable challenges. The estimate comes from the Tax Policy Center, a think tank that's a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.

The nonpartisan think tank recently rattled the debate with a study that estimated that Romney's plan would require slashing middle-class tax breaks so deeply that a family making between $75,000 and $100,000 could have to pay an average $2,000 more.

The Romney campaign disputes the math and the methodology and insists it's possible to do. Romney himself has tossed out hints that he might cap taxpayer deductions at, say, $17,000, $25,000 or $50,000. A campaign aide said he's considering curbing personal exemptions and the tax exclusion of employer-paid health insurance, particularly for those with higher incomes.

But without specifics it's impossible to analyze who would pay more and who would pay less. For families with children, a big mortgage, and who live in high tax states, for instance, might face a tax increase, while people who've paid off their houses and live in low tax states would see a tax cut.

Obama's core promise on taxes is what it's always been: Renew the tax cuts passed during George W. Bush's tenure, except for individuals whose income exceeds $200,000 and for married couples exceeds $250,000. That would raise the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, back where it was during the Clinton era.

Obama also recommends limiting itemized deductions for such higher earners, phasing out their personal exemptions and increasing their rate on capital gains from 15 to 20 percent.

But Obama has never fought hard for the official tax plan that's in his budget, though he vows to hold the line and increase taxes on the wealthy if re-elected.

Instead, Obama hints he could support comprehensive tax reform like he did in negotiations with GOP House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio last summer. The Democratic platform says he's "committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and simpler" and also guarantees that "no millionaire pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle class-families do."

It's commonly believed in Washington that the only way Republicans could ever vote for higher revenues ? no easy assumption ? is as part of a tax reform plan that lowers all rates, sharply curbs tax breaks and skims some of the revenue to defray the deficit.

Some Democrats, like Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, say it's impossible to do all three without hitting the middle class.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-12-Campaign-Taxes/id-0e593d35f6c24a1c8841211d35061fbe

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Cards score 4 in 9th, beat Nats 9-7, reach NLCS

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese throws out Washington Nationals' Michael Morse in the sixth inning of Game 5 of the National League division baseball series on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese throws out Washington Nationals' Michael Morse in the sixth inning of Game 5 of the National League division baseball series on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jason Motte throws to the Washington Nationals in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the National League division baseball series on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper, right, reacts after crossing home plate on a solo home run, next to St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina in the third inning of Game 5 of the National League division baseball series on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman, center, high-fives teammates Adam LaRoche, left, Michael Morse and Bryce Harper after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning of Game 5 of the National League division baseball series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. Harper scored on the homer. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Nationals Park is reflected in the sunglasses of Washington Nationals' Jayson Werth before Game 5 of the team's National League division baseball series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Doesn't matter how bad things look for the St. Louis Cardinals. Trailing by a bunch, down to their last strike, they simply stay calm and do what it takes to win.

Erasing an early six-run hole in Game 5 slowly but surely, the defending World Series champion Cardinals got a tying two-out, two-run single from Daniel Descalso and a go-ahead two-run single from Pete Kozma in the ninth inning and came all the way back to beat the Washington Nationals 9-7 Friday night and win their NL division series.

It was the largest comeback ever in a winner-take-all postseason game, according to STATS LLC. No other club in this sort of ultimate pressure situation had come back from more than four down.

First-year manager Mike Matheny and the wild-card Cardinals, the last team to clinch a playoff spot this year, will open the NL championship series at San Francisco on Sunday.

Down 7-5 with two outs in the ninth against Nationals closer Drew Storen, the Cardinals twice were a strike away from losing. But Storen walked both of those batters, Yadier Molina and David Freese, setting the stage for the unheralded Descalso and Kozma ? Nationals manager Davey Johnson even called the rookie "Cosmos" before Game 4 ? to come through.

When Cardinals closer Jason Motte got Ryan Zimmerman to pop out to second base a half-hour past midnight, the Cardinals streamed from the visiting dugout for a rather muted celebration, all in all.

This was nothing new to them.

Over the past two years, St. Louis is 6-0 when facing elimination, including victories in Games 6 and 7 of the 2011 World Series against Texas.

Down to their last strike in the Fall Classic a year ago, trailing by the exact same 7-5 score, the Cardinals rallied in Game 6 and then took the championship in what turned out to be the final year with the club for slugging first baseman Albert Pujols and then-manager Tony La Russa. Now Matheny, who got the Cardinals into the playoffs as the second NL wild-card team on the next-to-last day of the regular season, has them back in the NLCS.

And to think: Washington, which won the NL East and led the majors with 98 wins, got off to as good a start as possible Friday.

Seven pitches, three runs. Just like that, Jayson Werth's double, Bryce Harper's triple and Zimmerman's homer got the hosts jump-started in their first Game 5.

That opening outburst, plus a big third inning highlighted by the 19-year-old Harper's homer, made it 6-0.

St. Louis was not about to go gently into the night, though. The Cardinals chipped away, chipped away. One run off 21-game winner Gio Gonzalez in the fourth, a pair in the fifth, another in the seventh off Edwin Jackson ? the Game 3 starter and loser, and an all-around surprising choice for midgame relief.

Suddenly, it was 6-4. Descalso's homer made it 6-5 in the eighth. And a four-run ninth completed the reversal.

In Game 6 of last year's World Series, the Cardinals twice were one strike from losing, before Freese's two-run triple in the ninth, then Lance Berkman's tying RBI single in the 10th. Freese's homer won it in the 11th, and St. Louis went on to a 6-2 victory in Game 7.

Here they were, doing it again.

All in front of a Nationals Park-record crowd of 45,966 witnessing the first postseason series in the nation's capital in 79 years. So seemingly close to a significant triumph, the Nationals ? and their fans ? left disappointed.

The Nationals went down without All-Star ace Stephen Strasburg. The team said he'd thrown enough this year and didn't put him on the playoff roster.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-13-NLDS-Cardinals-Nationals/id-10e7e90b11f8496391ac3df6f71098dc

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Call to put asbestos 'beyond the pale' | CMSE

A leading member of the European Parliament, who is calling for a worldwide ban on asbestos, has told HSR that ?asbestos should be put beyond the pale globally?.

Stephen Hughes, who has been a Labour Party member of the Parliament for North-East England since 1982 and is a long time campaigner for high health and safety standards, later amplified his remark when he told the Parliament?s Employment and Social Affairs Committee that ?we still have a major issue with asbestos?.

There are still millions of tonnes of asbestos in buildings. School children are, he said. being exposed to risk. And every year between 20,000 and 30,000 new asbestos-related disease cases are diagnosed. He expressed particular concern about exposing maintenance workers to asbestos. Many of the younger workers had, he said, no idea of what asbestos looked like and may be unaware when they are exposed to danger.

Addressing the committee, the recently appointed director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Dr Christa Sedlatschek, who is an occupational physician by profession, said it is ?never possible to guarantee safe exposure to asbestos?. Exposure to asbestos can, she said, cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and cardiac vascular diseases.

Telling the committee that Russia and China are still ?using asbestos without limitation?, Dr Sedlatschek added her voice to the call for a global ban. She also told the committee that ?young employees have never seen asbestos before, so it is very hard for them to identify it?. She warned that risk assessments are not being carried out frequently enough and often are not following the correct methods.

REF: Health and Safety Review

Source: http://www.cmse.ie/blog/call-to-put-asbestos-%E2%80%98beyond-the-pale%E2%80%99/

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Learn How to Quickly Evaluate the Worthiness of Scientific Reports [Science]

Bananas make you gain weight faster! Mice who were given Advil burn twice as many calories! If you're wondering whether news sites and social media are just messing with you, anyone can head to the scientific paper at the heart of a headline and evaluate them on four criteria.

Wired Science gives us four things to look at in determining if a scientific report has been woefully overblown or re-purposed by the media. Causation and correlation, the "true size of the effect," and, particularly, statistical power are among them:

Look at two key factors, the n and the p. The n is the number of subjects used in the study. Multifaceted experiments typically have fewer subjects than simple surveys. Genetics studies need a big n. The p value lets you know whether the result is "statistically significant"-it's the probability of something occurring by chance alone. You want to see a p of less than 0.05. (Results can be statistically significant and still only show correlation, or have confounding factors.)

Time and patience are always required in reading and evaluating, but for a quick glance at what you need to know (or not care about), Wired's checklist seems quite apt.

Photo by Nic's events.

Learn to Read a Scientific Report | Wired Science

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/EpQ4Uq3NkFc/learn-how-to-quickly-evaluate-the-worthiness-of-scientific-reports

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Finance minister revelation drops Minister Reilly back in the ...

?Deputy Joe Higgins should note that the site is under the control of NAMA and that, as a consequence, Mr. Murphy does not gain. NAMA gains if there is any gain. NAMA represents the people in trying to get back the moneys that were lost.? Minister for Heath James Reilly in Dail debate on 3rd?October, 2012

One of the remaining dangling threads in the James Reilly/Balbriggan site affair is the NAMA angle. Minister for Health James Reilly stated on at least two occasions ? the RTE radio Pat Kenny show and whilst delivering a statement in the Dail ? that his constituency associate, Seamus Murphy, who owns the controversial site in Balbriggan on which a primary health care centre is to be built, did not stand to benefit from the development of the medical facility. Minister Reilly stated ?Mr Murphy does not gain? from the development, because apparently Mr Murphy has loans which are in NAMA. The Minister also stated in the Dail debate last week ?I have no business connection with Mr. Murphy. I had no discussions with him about the primary care centre and I have absolutely no role in the selection of a site?

Hmmm, now how would Minister Reilly know that Seamus Murphy wouldn?t gain from the development of the site? After all, what is now contemplated is that a company called Rhonellen Limited would buy the site from Seamus Murphy and develop the facility in a public private partnership with the Health Services Executive. So Seamus Murphy will receive the sale price from Rhonellen Limited, a totally unconnected company controlled by AJ Noonan. In order for Seamus Murphy NOT to benefit, the loan outstanding on the site would need to be less than the sale price. Now how would Minister Reilly know that.

And was there any contact between Minister Reilly or his representatives with NAMA. After all, Minister Reilly?s parliamentary assistant Councillor Tom O?Leary told the local newspaper, the Fingal Independent in May 2012 ?The HSE are positively supportive of the plan. I have made representations to the appropriate authorities to move the plan forward. I understand the local doctors and the developer are anxious to submit their planning application as soon as possible? Were there representations to NAMA? Could those representations have constituted ?lobbying? which NAMA would be duty-bound to report to the Gardai?

In the Dail this week, the Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan for clarity on the relations between Minister Reilly and NAMA and also if NAMA might have disclosed the details of loans to Minister Reilly as Minister Reilly says he never discussed the primary care centre with Seamus Murphy. The responses from Minister Noonan show why we need the Freedom of Information legislation to apply to NAMA ? Minister Noonan tells Deputy Doherty to get lost and that NAMA?s operations are confidential though the Minister does helpfully say at least that NAMA would not disclose loan details to a minister. So again, how would Minister Reilly be able to say ? on more than one occasion ? that Seamus Murphy would not benefit from the development of the primary care centre in Balbriggan.

The full parliamentary questions and responses are shown below. There is a feature blogpost on the Balbriggan site here.

Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance in respect of a site at 66, 68 and 70 Dublin street, Balbriggan, North County Dublin if the National Asset Management Agency has been contacted by the Minister for Health or his Department or his representatives or the Health Service Executive, and if there has been such contact on the subject of this site, the date of the contract or contacts; the identity of the person or persons making the contact or contacts and the nature of the contact or contacts..

Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: I am advised by the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) that information relating to its debtors and properties within their control is, within the meaning of Sections 99 and 202 of the NAMA Act 2009, confidential and that it is therefore precluded from discussing such matters.

Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if, pursuant to the anti-lobbying rules set out in Section 221 of the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009, NAMA would be duty-bound to report to An Garda Siochana contact from a Minister or his Department or his representatives, which sought to promote a property subject to a loan from NAMA or contact which sought to influence a decision by NAMA..

Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: Under Section 221 of the National Asset Management Act (NAMA), it is an offence to communicate with NAMA with the intention of influencing the making of a decision in relation to the performance of its functions.? If such an attempt were to be made, the Act imposes an obligation on an officer or Board member of NAMA to report it to a member of the Garda S?och?na.?? I am satisfied that NAMA officers and Board members would fulfill their legal obligations in the event that they were subject to representations which were in breach of Section 221.

Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that details of loans managed by the National Asset Management Agency and its debtors are confidential, and that in relation to any specific NAMA debtor, details of the sums outstanding on loans and the value of collateral and specifically if the sums outstanding on loans are greater than the value of collateral, are not details that are publicly available, or which would be provided by NAMA to a Minister.

.

Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: I am advised by the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) that information relating to its debtors and to properties within their control is, within the meaning of Sections 99 and 202 of the NAMA Act 2009, confidential and that it is therefore precluded from disclosing such information to third parties.

In the case of property under the control of debtors, NAMA is precluded, under Section 202 of the NAMA Act, from disclosing confidential information.? Confidential information is specifically defined to include information relating to debtors.? Furthermore, Section 99 of the Act provides that, on acquisition of a loan, NAMA takes over the obligations of the participating institutions under the loan, one of which is the contractual duty of confidentiality which the debtor enjoyed while still a customer of the participating institution.? Information about debtors or their properties is also protected against disclosure by the Data Protection Act, which NAMA must comply with as data controller.

Source: https://namawinelake.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/finance-minister-revelation-drops-minister-reilly-back-in-the-pressure-cooker/

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A Day in the Life: Corporate Wellness Event-Planning | Dietitian on ...

My job description is a mix of two worlds at Wellness Corporate Solutions; I?m part Wellness Coach, part Program Manager (PM). Going into this split-position meant a lot of learning on-the-job! With my client, the PM world involves? event-planning and health/wellness consulting. My goals may never have seen ?event planner? inserted under my skillset, but voila ? it has arrived!

?

This particular event is one of our biggest of the year ? the annual Wellness Expo ? and was themed for Breast Cancer Awareness (see: pink). We spent about three months planning ? reserving rooms, booking vendors, ordering swag, roping in the facilities team, writing and disseminating communications, tweaking flyers and logos, etc. This is nothing if not a TEAM effort.

How does this play out from the planning side?
Come join us?

Monday: See above! With materials donated from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Larabar and various businesses who were unable to attend so instead contributed coupons/discount cards, we stuffed 600 bags.

Boxes are checked, last-minute changes are being made and we?re gearing up for the Expo eve.

Tuesday: All vendors agreements are in, contact information is being condensed into one-pagers and we?re making sure everything will be set for our stations and volunteers. We run-through the layout as tables are being set up, and work with facilities to get everything in place.

It?s time to clear out the conference-turned-storage room that we reserved for the week so that it?s ready for the Volunteer Breakfast + Vendor Refreshments in the morning!

My life-support-clipboard contains the following: Vendors? contact information + table-number, vendor floor plan, volunteers? assignments and contact information, parking? & loading directions (for those calls that will come in), the day?s agenda and special requests.

Wednesday: Event Day!

The planning team (all four of us) were onsite by 7:30 am, volunteers came in around 8:30 and vendors start arriving at 9:30. From there, it?s non-stop action! We had 60 tables, 55 vendors, food samples (special shout-out: Popchips!), giveaways and raffles, fitness demos, massage, acupuncture, pink manicures, a special screening (see: Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta host!), a blood drive and flu shots.

By the time 3pm rolled around we had probably walked miles around that first floor expo! I like to visit the vendors at least once per hour to check in on how things are going, if they need anything, make sure they took a lunch break, and they know where the bathrooms are, etc.

Before you know it, the day is over and we?re taking pink linens off of tables and boxing up leftover (?!) Georgetown cupcakes.

Before my brain can process that we?re done, my feet are propped up and it?s time to relax.

All in a day?s (week?s, month?s?) work, as a Corporate Wellness Dietitian.

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Source: http://dietitianontherun.com/2012/10/10/a-day-in-the-life-corporate-wellness-event-planning/

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