EMP-64

First, an update from our October 2008 reunion at the Northwestern vs. Michigan State game. A group of 40 or so attended the weekend's gathering. We started out at Bar Louie and then walked the three miles to the game. We had a guilt-free meal (that three-mile walk counts as intense exercise for some of us) at Pete Miller's. Thanks especially to David Summers, Michael Philips, Denise Demaio, Angela Talton and Devinder Singh for bringing their offspring. It was nice to have family participation.

	Travis EMP-64, Irene, Alessandra and Allegra Monke
	Dave Mohr and John Potter, both EMP-64, in February stopping in a Kellogg-friendly establishment (following the dean's dinner). Dave and John only stopped in "the deuce" to ask for directions... and a beer.
	Claudio EMP-64, Leslie, and baby Gabriel Valera

For everyone's benefit, we pulled together some fun facts around the event (yes, for Carolyn, everything is a contest):

Group attendance award: Group K wins, thanks to Denise, Mitch and Brayton, who drove K's attendance to 60 percent. Group D delivers a second-place performance for greatest number of attendees (four).

Longest distance traveled domestically: Matt McPartlin's fly-in from Virginia. Cristina would debate the win, having flown Southwest (aka the bus) but concedes it's all Matt, if we're judging strictly as the crow flies.

Longest distance traveled internationally: Brayton Knotts for traveling in from Brazil and arriving at 5 a.m. on game day. We particularly enjoyed his story of finding a cozy spot "under a table" to nap at the Allen Center.

Group in need of remedial participation/Fun 101: Group J, as the only group that failed to deliver a single member out of seven. Frank, Gerry, Palumbo, Mase, Michelle, Mattes, Sunderland. Cristina had to give Dan M. a pass as he did a lot of outreach with his group. It was much appreciated.

Most ambitious next outing award: Jonatan Laiter, who proposed an all-inclusive get together during Super Bowl weekend in Cancun. We'll see what develops. As of Feb. 22, we're still waiting on news of the trip from Jonatan.

Biggest transformation: Carolyn Amato, anyone who was there knows why she was able to successfully sneak up on John and Brayton, who went looking for her to pick up Brayton's ticket.

Most missed and then tortured about it later: Micah Onixt, who attended the Michigan football game in Ann Arbor the same weekend. The Wolverines lost that day (it was a tough season all around) but the pain, which had diminished, was revived when Cristina asked him about it in an attempt to cobble together class notes.

Leadership by example award: Ann-Marie Peluso, EMP-63, who joined us for all the activities and tried to rally EMP-63. Look for more cross-participation between EMP-64 and EMP-63 in the future.

The class continues to move onward and upward as evidenced below:

Frank Franzese writes: "As far as my real estate practice, although my industry is very slow at this time, I am very busy. My team is very active in an otherwise slow market. Our clients are diverse enough to keep us always engaged in a myriad of different strategies. I see 2009 as an opportunity year, as change is inevitable. With some hard work, we can seize some of those opportunities.

"On the personal front, my family continues to travel; we took trips to the Bahamas and Costa Rica in 2008. Our plans for this year include Italy and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Our kids are in fifth and sixth grades (10 and 12 years old) and are very involved in sports and school. I miss the camaraderie of our class and hope that we plan some type of reunion in the summer. I would imagine this may be difficult time given the economy, but I would hope that all in our class are doing well."

Paul Fitzpatrick makes those of us with only one job/company/venture feel slightly unproductive with the following news. With a drive for commercial entrepreneurialism and a heart for service work, Fitz found a way to merge the two with the launching of WorldWhere (worldwhere.com), a clothing company targeting the hip hop dance community. Inspired by his son Liam (13), a hip hop dancing phenom, WorldWhere offers custom designs created by dancers, for dancers. In addition, WorldWhere is in business to provide charitable and service-oriented resources to youth around the country. WorldWhere focuses on two primary channels for their outreach efforts: the under-resourced and those dealing with physical/health challenges. WorldWhere is working with Mercy Home (mercyhome.org) and Children's Oncology Services Inc. (onestepcamp.org) for their 2009 outreach.

Fitz had taken his second entrepreneurial step with Ephikacy LLC (ephikacy.com), a niche marketing company in the pharmaceutical industry, which is highly successful. Says Fitz: "It's such a blessing to be able to realize a vision and watch it come to life, especially when we're so focused on helping those in need. Kellogg provided me with the tools and confidence to start not one, but two new business ventures."

It has been a (re)productive time for EMP-64. Check out the baby news:

John Potter, wife Stephanie and son William welcomed daughter Caroline to the family on May 22, 2008.

Travis Monke shared that daughter Allegra Lucia Monke was born on Aug. 26, 2008. Allegra joins Allesandro and Irene.

Leslie and Claudio Valera welcomed baby Gabriel Enrique Valera on Nov. 14, 2008. Gabriel was born three weeks early but is in great shape.

Jeff Goto and his wife and son welcomed baby No. 2, Ronan K. Goto, on Jan. 20. Jeff adds that Ronan was born right before the inaugural address and during the playing of the National Anthem. Ladies, before you fire off that angry e-mail, note that there was a TV in the delivery room. This is Northwestern hotel – I mean hospital – after all, and you all know I speak from first-hand experience.

In ongoing education and attempts to stretch the value of that Kellogg experience…

Last year, Angela Talton, Tom Ellis, Devinder Singh and Carolyn Amato enhanced their leadership skills at a professional development workshop held at the McDonald's Conference Center in Oakbrook, Ill. Three out of the four registered for the class assumed there would be fries with that. There were not.

Recent moves:

Russ Walker and wife Anna have moved to Highland Park, buying an old prairie-style house. The year has been full of travel, including trips to Thailand, India, Turkey and the UAE. They look forward to seeing EMP friends.

John Potter reported to Cristina that Sandeep Gupta apparently moved to Dallas, Texas. Below is the e-mail exchange:

Potter: "I found Gupta! He's in Dallas, but not sure what's up. He was a bit cryptic."

Sierra: "No way. I have to get in touch with him, being that I live in the area."

Sierra: "Sandeep, how are you? I hear you moved to Dallas. When did this happen? How long have you been here? Are you still with AT&T?"

Gupta: "Yes."

More to follow as events unfold. For those of us who know Sandeep, this was a lengthy and detailed exchange.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions, and we look forward to more updates.