EMP-56
Hello Class of EMP-56! Already the weather is chilling and our summer turns to fall. How is the time flying by so quickly? No doubt the busier we are, the faster it seems to pass by and the more challenging it is to keep in touch. If you are a member of LinkedIn or Facebook, please come and find our EMP-56 group. You'll find me on both networks and it's a great way to keep up with all of our classmates' happenings. Here's our class news:
Scott Corley reports that Wideload Games has been acquired by Disney. Wideload will remain in Chicago, retain its identity as Wideload Games, and continue to make video games for the Nintendo Wii, XBox 360, and Playstation 3 game consoles for publication by Disney Interactive Studios. Scott, who has been a director at Wideload Games since 2006, is looking forward to the huge opportunities ahead for Wideload Games as a part of Disney.
Cheryl King is a leader in Arizona real estate trends with the Eco Living Group and was recently highlighted in Residential Executive Magazine. Profiled in the article "King of Turning Toxic Assets Green," her passion for creating sustainable value in every home and working with ASU to establish green standards is garnering praise. Cheryl is a certified ECO-Broker and earlier this year, she spoke on innovations in energy efficient features at the Franciscan Renewal Center. In this tough economy, it is clear that hard work and smarts will continue to be successful. Way to go, Cheryl!
Dan Masterson and his company Guardian Angel Enterprises are in the news. The Guardian Angel product is available for licensing and was highlighted in a segment on ABC7's Kid Safety 2.0 in Chicago. After winning recognition at the MIT Enterprise Forum in 2008 and the 2007 Chicago Innovation Award, the innovative child-safety products are continuing on the path of market success.
Curtis Smith and his lovely wife are very excited to announce the latest addition to their family. Sophie Middleton Smith was born on July 9. Congratulations Curtis, Sonja and big brother Colby.
Kendra Fuson is packing up and moving to Des Moines, Iowa. After doing the long-distance commute between Connecticut and the great Midwest for her role as senior vice president and chief financial officer for private client services and executive benefits at Marsh & McLennan, she is ready to settle into the next chapter of life. Iowa's state flower is the wild rose and now she lives there. We're all counting on an invite to the housewarming party, Kendra!
Anju Ahuja has been busy with travels and supporting the Wine, Women and Shoes event at the River East Art Center in Chicago. Benefiting UNICEF, this fundraiser is a great example of putting our skills toward philanthropic works. Thanks for keeping EMP-56 balanced between pure business ventures and bringing good to the world, Anju!
Steve Prokup is the vice president for product development at Palm, managing teams focused on new products for the company's smart phone offering.
Jim Ahlborn joined Shure Incorporated in July as the vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Congratulations Jim!
Tom Brya is the senior vice president of business development at Cerenis Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company based in the Chicago area. He also continues his role on the board with the start-up firm Vasculox.
Ken Seymens is providing strategic consulting and M&A activities for clients in the healthcare industry as a principal at Healthcare & Technology Investment Advisory group. He is also a partner with Vesalius Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies focused on medical information innovations.
Dave Pidduck's career with Baxter Healthcare is continuing to grow and has taken him to new places on the planet. Now living in Zurich, Dave is the vice president of marketing for Europe.
Mark Zimmerman has taken a new role as the senior director of global operations strategy at The Hershey Company in Pennsylvania.
Vicky Free has been a busy woman with her work at Turner Broadcasting as the vice president of Consumer 360 Marketing in Atlanta, as well as travels to Santorini, Greece, Neverland Ranch, Martha's Vineyard and the Essence 2009 concert in New Orleans.
Margie Allen took a new position with Liberty Mutual based in Portland, Ore., and celebrated her next opportunity with a send-off from Vicky Free and Suzette Webb in Chicago.
John Meier has been happily enjoying travel and family adventures this year. Spending time in the Canadian outback in August, he was fishing among the loons, eagles, and moose and canoeing through the lakes near Ontario. Earlier this year, the Meiers spent spring break skiing in Taos and attended a family reunion at Lake Lucern in Wisconsin for the Fourth of July. Sounds like a good life and lots of fun, John!
Matthew DeRosiers has also been spending time in our country's great outdoors, mountain biking, hiking, and fishing in Alaska (twice) and Washington State's Puget Sound, Dabob Bay and South Widbey State Park.
Dave Sulfridge climbed aboard a J120 Jay Hawker for the Chicago to Mackinac race and the Super MAC in July. The Super MAC, which is the longest freshwater race in the world and two races in one, ran from Chicago to Mackinac (333 miles) and Chicago to Port Huron, Mich. (about 500 miles). Dave has also continued to train for his other big race adventure — the world's marathon series. His most recent stop was Berlin in September.
The summer offered some welcome downtime for me (Deb Robbins) to enjoy family days — backyard sports, amusement parks and ball games. And, although the travel schedule has kicked into high gear now, I am trying to carve out calendar time to explore the world with Drew, most recently to Michigan wine country and London, England.
As we can see, our EMP-56 class continues to be busy, to make news, and to enjoy family and friends. It is always challenging to strike the balance. Hopefully we all found time to read the profile of Christy Wistar in the last issue of Kellogg World. (You are an inspiration, Christy.).
Please keep in touch. Join our EMP-56 group on LinkedIn, and/or connect with me personally on Facebook — and look for more news on our EMP-56 world impact in the next KW edition. Be well and enjoy life! |