EMP-63
Kevin O'Shaughnessey and his wife Christina announce the arrival of a healthy daughter named Briana on May 31. They are having fun watching her grow and seeing more of the smiles and inquisitiveness that come with that. She's currently charming their socks off, and she's sleeping through the night, so they're very excited about that. Cristina's taking a break — could be a long one — from her public health work. Kevin is continuing to do management consulting work independently and is working for an oil and gas firm 10 minutes from his house, which is hard to beat for a new dad. They feel very blessed.
| |
 |
| |
Pradeep Nair EMP-63 and his family in Canada |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Rodney Mayers EMP-63 and his family in Australia |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Kevin O’Shaughnessey EMP-63, his wife Christina and their new baby |
| |
|
Jon Pryor reports that after three years at McKinsey & Company, and a couple of hundred thousand airline miles, 500-plus nights in hotels, decks with precision layout, he has completed his "business residency" and is back in medicine — sort of. Jon is the CEO of Medical College Physicians and senior associate dean for clinical affairs at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He writes: "This is such a fun job. Great people, great challenges and a few things going on with healthcare reform." Jon is responsible for 700 physicians and about 400 billing/contracting people. He and his family are keeping their house in Minnesota but bought a house in Milwaukee, Wis. He looks forward to getting together in Chicago when EMP-63 has the next gathering there. Ken Sandifer reports he is leaving Milwaukee immediately. Congratulations Jon!
Chris Brogan started a new role as vice president of strategy and analysis for Hyatt Hotels. He leads the effort to create a data-driven customer-focused culture at Hyatt. It is with great joy that he will be moving to Evanston, two blocks from the NU stadium. He says: "Building Probe Strategic Solutions has been great fun, and provided great opportunities to learn and work with gaming companies throughout the U.S. But at this time, the Hyatt gig is the right move and one that I am very excited to make." Chris also wanted to take this opportunity to say he STILL will not confirm they pump oxygen into the floors of the casinos.
Ann-Marie Peluso accepted a position as controller at software company CORPTAX, Inc., headquartered in Deerfield, Ill. in July. CORPTAX, Inc. is a leading provider of corporate tax software and services and is a subsidiary of MLM Information Services LLC, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, a $21 billion private equity firm.
My big fat Greek dinner! Paul Del Gallo, Greer O'Brien, Maureen Floeter, Clem Johnson, Kevin McShane, Michael McClain, Jason Childers, Ann-Marie Peluso (and fiancé Flavio) and Kim Jude got together for eats, drinks, pictures and merriment in Chicago at the Athena restaurant. A great deal of time was spent debating whether Athena was the goddess of love or war. The group agreed she was both, which is of course wrong, but helped the conversation move along. The Greek god of thunder though really opened up to the cosmic improbability of Greer and Kim Jude both making an event, although at least usually Greer says she can't make it whereas Kim books and then, well, books.
Ronald Razmi visited Chicago in August and had dinner at Santorini restaurant (in Greektown), with Kim Jude, Carolyn D'Amato EMP-64 and Ann-Marie Peluso. This is one of the many quality returns for Ronnie, who has enjoyed each visit to Chicago and savored the opportunity to go out for Greek food without Paul Del Gallo.
Rosemary McGillicuty had made the big leap into the media industry. Rosemary's analysis is that the classified ad and general newspaper business is being underserved in major metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston. She observed the closure of so many major papers in these areas that she has opened The McGillicuty Morning News to serve these four markets. She located the necessary printers and equipment on Craigslist and is sure this is a business proposition that has success written all over it.
Anand Subramanian and Clem Johnson caught up for a round of golf at Harborside on the South Side of Chicago. Both were thoroughly confused at the end of the round as to what to do; since they were not skipping class, they didn't need to call in for the notes. They shot a great round if you don't count putts, mulligans, do-overs, distractions and occasions where Clem yelled "Neunan" while Anand putted.
David Seematter and his wife Hillary came through Chicago with their daughter Ava. They went to a dolphin show at the Shedd Aquarium and had brunch in the city the next morning. During the show, David perfected his famous "Hey watch me jump out there and catch the fish that guy is holding in his hand" move. Charges were not filed after an apology and return of the towel.
Yan Chang is still with Discover, in charge of portfolio risk management. His actual next comment was: "I don't have any updates. I did make a trip to China this summer but didn't take pictures." We at the update would like to point out a couple of things. First, flying across the Pacific Ocean and visiting China is an update. Second, if you fly across the ocean and visit China, you should take a picture. Great to hear from Yan, though!
Mikenzie Stephens-Sari and Paul Del Gallo met up in Charlotte, N.C., for drinks and appetizers and a chat.
Kinesh Doshi is traveling a lot more than he did earlier this year, which is definitely a good thing. He spent a few months studying the healthcare business and developed a few solution offerings around it, so he has developed a few clients around that. This summer, he became president of a local nonprofit school that teaches Indian history, culture and language to second-generation Indian children. He made a whirlwind one-week trip to India in May to celebrate his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. This update provides sheer proof that slowing down, pausing or catching his breath is absolutely out of the question for Kinesh.
Clem Johnson presented his strategic career management workshop to the Miami EMP program on Sept. 10. Great group, fun session, all in English, and most comments about his fitness to provide Latin American career guidance were held back. Afterwards, Clem met Alfonso Cantalapiedra for dinner and wine. They discussed finite math, the lessons learned from the Argentinean currency crisis, the geopolitical impact of stagflation and string theory. Oh wait, that was someone else. But they did have dinner and wine.
Ellen Siebenborn-Forsyth was recognized among Progressive Grocer's top 100 women. Ellen's selection for this honor identifies her as a "rising star" at General Mills, where she continues to shine. The list consists of 100 females who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and who wield substantial influence in their companies and the industry at large. Claims that she learned everything necessary during the capstone course at Kellogg are considered exaggeration in the best light. Congratulations Ellen!
The Kellogg update wants to know: Where was Kevin O'Shaughnessey? We didn't know that Brian Tilley and Roger Gregory could vacation without him. Kevin let his infant daughter (or work) keep him from vacationing with Brian and Roger in Steamboat. Without Kevin, Brian and Roger (and Roger's family) gathered in Steamboat Springs, Colo., for their annual summer outing. In addition to hanging out with the family, grilling out and drinking some great wine (nightly), whitewater rafting and fly fishing were on this year's agenda. Even though Roger's wife had a near-death experience that did not bode well for future rafting trips, Brian and Roger managed to raft the famous Cross Canyon twice in one day — "The Double Cross." Fly fishing was a bit more subdued than rafting, but an excellent experience nonetheless. Brian and Roger both caught record-size trout on the outing, but as luck would have it, no one had a camera, scales or tape measure to record the "Giants of the Yampa River" that they caught. We at the update believe only about half of this, and they didn't even claim to catch fish.
Eishin Takahashi took his family picture in Costa Rica this summer. He was in serious trouble because he had not taken his family on a vacation during the past three years. It was a great trip, and the country was absolutely beautiful. They did a jungle tour and found a scarlet macaw, and the kids fed white-faced monkeys. They saw crocodiles, iguanas and strange-colored lizards. The trip reminded Eishin of how important nature is. He hopes he can contribute a bit to the preservation of the environment through our companies' technologies. As usual, he has been traveling around the world. Not really seeing anything but just for meetings. Over the past few months, he went to Mexico, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Costa Rica, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. There might have been more countries but to be honest, he cannot really keep track of where he has been anymore. It seems he will soon have to fly to India and South Africa. This update is likely to be followed soon by the idea that Eishen has become an airline pilot.
Rodney Mayers and family visited Sydney in August. The Mayers boys are back to school and the post-summer grind. Pictures of Rodney fighting sharks, crocodiles, lost in the Blue Ridge Mountains, singing at the Sydney Opera House, and imitating bad Australian accents were all discarded by the update crew.
Ken Sandifer and Erin Turley came through Chicago. Clem and Catherine Johnson met them for dinner at a great restaurant in the Gold Coast called Pane Caldo. Ken chose phenomenal white burgundy and they drank (surprisingly) just enough. This was not the first, last, or middle time that Ken drove the wine cart through a meal with Clem. A good time was had by all.
Kevin McShane says the recession may have actually helped them at Entera, as they are a new entrant into the marketing automation category. The market seems interested in an on-demand, software-as-a-service application for multi-channel database marketing. So far, so good, as they say. Kevin's wife Kate and Kevin were able to take two weeks off and go to the beach in New Buffalo, Mich., this summer. The kids, Jack (8), Nora (6), Peter (4) and Kevin (2), had a terrific time at the lake and are back in school. Kevin has expressed surprise that the Chicago Cubbies made yet another predictable exit. Kevin has vowed to do his best to keep Jason Childers off the ledge as the Notre Dame football season unfolds this year.
Wiener Mondesir turned 40 this September. James Park celebrated over a burger and beer with Wiener to toast his final days in his 30s. James mentioned it was odd that this is the third year they have celebrated Wiener turning 40. James also refused to mention which year they will be having this celebration for him.
Pradep Nair and family visited Alberta, Canada, in August. They spent a day on stunningly beautiful Lake Louise, nestled in the Canadian Rockies. Pradep expressed great surprise that the Canadian Rockies were actually a series of mountains and not a brand of beer.
James Park says Roger Gregory was in San Francisco so Wiener, Roger, Roger's wife, and James got together at a barbershop called MR. for drinks. (MR is a barbershop that has a bar in it and they pour you a cold Stella for cuts.) Abdo Abdo moved to San Francisco so he's now swapped clubbing buddies from Ronnie Razmi in NYC to James in San Francisco. Ronnie has sent word he got the better part of the deal.
Polo Quintano and his wife Alejandra are moving to Spain. Polo is taking on a new role and will be head of the group managing a EUR15bn mortgage products portfolio for Barclays Spain. Chile, England, Spain, the U.S. — Polo is running out of continents in which to practice banking. Peter Granat sends word that he is not even sure Polo was ever in England and wants to see some proof besides photos of a U2 concert.
Seiji Shinozaki and Brian Beeler had dinner in Evanston in August. Not together or anything, but on Aug. 7, Seiji ate in Evanston and on Aug. 20, Brian did. Ok, we made up that part.
Paul Del Gallo and James Park spent three days in Chicago. Within blocks of each other. Constantly planning to get together, but never actually seeing each other. Paul was to blame. |
