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Asian Chamber Receives Beacon Award for "Diversity Champion Organization" 2010

Posted 09/02/2010

Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida Receives Beacon Award for “Diversity Champion Organization” 2010

 



ORLANDO, Fla. – On September 1, 2010, the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida (AACC) was honored with the “Diversity Champion Organization” Award for 2010 from the Orlando chapter of the National Association of Woman Business Owners (NAWBO).  The award was presented by Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty and City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and accepted on behalf of the Chamber by President Glenn Leong and Vice President for Media Relations/Governmental Affairs, Kathy Llamas.

 

The Fifth Annual Beacon Awards, held at the Disney Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Florida, recognizes organizations and individuals for celebrating the diversity of Greater Orlando's workforce by promoting inclusion in areas of race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical and mental ability, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and family status. Nominations are accepted from counties throughout Central Florida, including Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia.

 

Finalists for the award included the University of Florida and the Central Florida Disability Chamber from a nominations list of over 50 organizations and individuals.

 

"On the eve of our Chamber’s 25th anniversary, we are so humbled and proud to receive this award.  This serves as recognition of our Chamber’s efforts of consciously reaching out to, and including, individuals and groups from all areas of Greater Orlando," said Glenn Leong, President of the AACC.  "Diversity means inclusion, and we recognize the incredible creativity, energy and benefits which flow from this business model.”

 

The Beacon Awards were created in 2006 to spotlight community leaders whose beacons guide the way in diversity and inclusion. Founders include the Orlando Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Walt Disney World Resort, the YaYa Network, and Orlando Business Journal's Diversity Works initiative.

 

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Asian Americans Who Have Made a Difference - King of Waves

Posted 05/07/2010

Kahanamoku

King of the Waves

Duke Kahanamoku came to be known as the father of international surfing, but the Hawaiian native made his first splash as a swimmer at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Born in Honolulu in 1890, Kahanamoku struck gold by setting a world record in the 100-meter free-style and earned a silver medal in the 200-meter relay. He won two more golds at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, a silver at the 1924 Paris Olympics, and a bronze at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Kahanamoku's swimming and surfing talents caught the attention of Hollywood, and over the course of nine years, he appeared in nearly 30 movies. Kahanamoku went on to serve as sheriff for the City and County of Honolulu for 26 years. When the legendary swimmer and surfer died at the age of 77, he was remembered for his athletic talent and sportsmanship.

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Tech. Tip 7: Thank You Notes

Posted 12/29/2009

This “Tech.Tip” column is normally devoted to technological tricks and tips.  But now that the gift-giving season is over, we thought we would go “Old School” and suggest something positively retro: Take out your pen and stationery, and handwrite your Thank You notes.


“Why can’t I just email or call and say ‘Thanks’?”, you ask.  Well, you could.  Any Thank You is better than none.  However, if you want to bump it up a bit, a handwritten Thank You note shows more effort, thought and care and is appreciated far more by the recipient.


Some general guidelines:


1. Your handwriting must be legible.  In this age of texting and typing, many of us find our penmanship skills may have degraded.  You can compensate for this by: (1) write a bit slower (fast writing often results in chicken scratch); (2) relax your grip on your pen (your writing will flow more smoothly); (3) revert to basic print letters if your cursive writing is poor; (4) tilt your stationery at a slight angle - - it will make your print letters look more italicized; and (5) practice your pensmanship online, such as at www.handwritingsuccess.com or www.handwritingthatworks.com


2. Use decent quality stationery or purchase some Thank You cards from any drugstore or retail shop.  Photocopier paper or, worse yet, using your kids’ lined composition notebook paper, does not make a good impression.


3. Relax when you write and use good lighting.  Don’t strangle the pen or hunch over your desk, especially if you have a lot of Thank You’s to send out.  Your fingers, hand, neck, shoulders and eyes will appreciate it when you use good posture and lighting.


4. Specifically mention the gift and why you appreciate it (even if you don’t) or how you will be able to use it later on or why it is unique.


5. Keep the note short.  Four to five sentences is sufficient.  For close family and friends, there is, of course, no limit.


6. Send it out timely:  The rule of thumb is to send a Thank You note within two or three weeks of the gift.  (Exceptions: For a job interview, send out within 24 hours.  For a wedding followed by a long honeymoon, send out upon your return.)  However, a late Thank You is always better than none at all.


7. Out of stamps?  Go to www.stamps.com or http://www.usps.com/onlinepostage/welcome.htm and print your postage or shipping labels from your computer.  No more trips to the Post Office. Now start writing!

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Orlando Named 2010 Top North American Golf Destination by International Golf Association

Posted 12/07/2009

Orlando Makes Me Smile


ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando has been voted "North American Golf Destination of the Year 2010" by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO), it was announced last night in Malaga, Spain at the annual international awards ceremony for the golf tourism industry.  The event was widely covered by print, online and broadcast media including CNN International, ESPN Star Sports Asia and the Golf Channel.

IAGTO Chief Executive Officer Peter Walton said, "This is outstanding recognition for an aspect of the Orlando experience that is outside of its world-renowned theme parks.  This award acknowledges not only the quality of the golf offerings in Orlando but the service provided to golfers and tour operators worldwide.  With this award, our members recognize that Orlando has achieved a winning combination for golfers worldwide."

"Orlando is well-known for its theme park thrills off the course – it's very exciting to see that we are now becoming known for our thrills on the course," said Gary C. Sain, president and CEO of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.  "With 177 golf courses providing every type and level of golf experience, we like to say that Orlando is golf's ultimate theme park.  We are honored to have this prestigious award from IAGTO and the acknowledgement from its members for the efforts we have put in to developing our vast golf offerings from our award-winning golf courses, to our top golf instructors and the acclaimed professional events we host every year. " 

The selection for winning destinations is made through votes cast by over 300 golf tour operators from 50 countries who consider customer satisfaction; quality of golf courses and accommodation; value for money; support from suppliers, tourist boards and airlines; professional conduct of suppliers; and accessibility to tee times.  North American finalist destinations nominated for the award included Hawaii, Miami, Fla. and Palm Beach Fla. 

About Orlando Golf
With 177 golf courses, 23 golf academies, host to more professional tour competitions than any other city and home to the Golf Channel, top-rated professional players and course architects, Orlando is one of the few places in the world that can confidently meet the needs of any type of travelling golf group.  Golfers of all levels, interests and budgets will find a fitting golf experience in Orlando.  For more information on Orlando golf courses, visit golforlando.com.  For more information about vacation experiences in Orlando, to order a complimentary vacation planning kit or to purchase discount attraction tickets, visitors can log on to Orlando's official Web site at VisitOrlando.com.   

About IAGTO
IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators) is the global trade organization for the golf tourism industry. Established in 1997, IAGTO's membership comprises 1330 accredited golf tour operators, golf resorts, hotels, golf courses, receptive operators, airlines, tourist boards, approved media and business partners in 77 countries including, at its core, 330 specialist golf tour operators in 50 countries. It is estimated that IAGTO's operators control over 80% of golf holiday packages sold worldwide outside of Asia and turnover more than €1 billion per year.  IAGTO is headquartered in London, England.

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Tech. Tip 6: WolframAlpha: Searching for Answers Beyond GOOGLE

Posted 11/27/2009

Want to see what the early stages of "Artificial Intelligence" might look like?  Welcome to WolframAlpha, a next-generation search engine, which was launched in May, 2009.  Here's what it looks like:



WolframAlpha is the creation of British physicist and software genius Stephen Wolfram, and it is more than another search engine.  As brilliant as Google is for quickly scouring the Internet for possible links to your question, WolframAlpha goes beyond that.  It presents answers in the form of text, charts, graphs, and maps.  It runs several algorithms to try and figure out what you're really asking, analyzes your question by looking at context and even your geographic location, and crunches numbers using Mathematica (software that Wolfram created 20 years ago).

Whether your question involves finance, sports, statistics, the weather, or anything else you can throw at it, WolframAlpha will produce several thoughtful "answers" or suggestions to your question. Think of Google as the librarian who points you to a stack of books to go look for your answer, and think of WolframAlpha as the nerdy assistant who actually pulls the books, spits out graphs and charts, and suggests other "answers" to related questions you weren't even thinking about.

As the name "Alpha" implies, Wolfram states this is just the beginning of his attempt in a decades-long project to create a system to compute all human knowledge.

WolframAlpha certainly is not perfect and needs some tweaking.  If you were to enter the query "Asian American population of Orlando, Florida", for example,  it will show you "related" results such as the city population of Orlando plus other cities (Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, Sanford, etc.)  But this isn't what we were looking for.

WolframAlpha's strength lies in computational analysis, so it is more helpful when you enter numbers or more specific names and places.  And it can be somewhat entertaining.  For example, enter your date of birth, city of birth, and "sky chart", and you get a fascinating look (to some) of how the stars were aligned when you were born.  Want to know how nutritious "2 slices of pepperoni pizza" are?  Curious about the Orlando weather forecast?  Need to know how many calories is expended by a 40 year old female 5'6" and 160 pounds walking for 30 minutes?  Want to see where the International Space Station will be, overhead, on Christmas Day, 2009, at 7:31 a.m.?

This is an important first step toward artificial intelligence.  We can't wait to see what WolframBeta will look like!

To see a video of how WolframAlpha works, click here: WolframAlphaVideo.

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