text:
- 18.104.22.168 CSO Program Letter
- 22.214.171.124 Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) - Methodology
- 188.8.131.52 Model for Practitioners
- 184.108.40.206 Tax Professional Education Program Overview
- 188.8.131.52 SL Field Local Payroll and Practitioner Liaison Meetings
- 22.214.171.124 Continuing Education (CPE) Credit
Manual Transmittal
June 24, 2013
(1) This transmits a complete revision to IRM 11.53 5, Stakeholder Liaison (SL) Activities.
Material Changes
(1) Editorial changes made throughout to improve the grammar, clarity and flow of the various instructions. Redundancies have been reduced or eliminated, except where needed for emphasis.
(2) Organization and employee titles updated throughout the IRM.
(3) Organized IRM (Table of Contents) by practitioner and non-practitioner (industry/business) topics.
(4) Web sites updated throughout.
(5) Detailed procedures for the Issue Management Resolution System (IMRS) were removed from previous IRM Section 126.96.36.199 and referenced in IRM 11.53.4, GAO/TIGTA/Legislative Implementation.
(6) National and Local Webinar was added as a new IRM Section 126.96.36.199.2.
(7) The SB/SE Payroll and Practitioner Forum was renamed to The SB/SE National Practitioner Forum in IRM Section 22.214.171.124.
(8) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credit for Enrolled Agents - Guidance for Stakeholder Liaison was renamed to Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credit in IRM Section 18.104.22.168.2.
(9) Presentation Content for Continuing Education Credit (CE) was added as a new IRM Section 22.214.171.124.
(10) Federal tax law updates was added as a new IRM Section 18.104.22.168.2.
(11) Federal tax law/federal tax law-related subjects was added as a new IRM Section 22.214.171.124.3.
(12) Ethics Program was added as a new IRM Section 188.8.131.52.4.
(13) Working with a state partner was added as a new IRM Section 18.104.22.168.5.
(14) Program numbers was added as a new IRM Section 126.96.36.199.6.
(15) Multiple program numbers for an event was added as a new IRM Section 126.96.36.199.7.
(16) Program approval process was added as a new IRM Section 126.96.36.199.8.
(17) Certificate and registration sheets was added as a new IRM Section 188.8.131.52.9.
(18) Record Keeping requirements was added as a new IRM Section 220.127.116.11.10.
(19) Survey form required was added as a new IRM Section 126.96.36.199.11.
(20) Special guidance for granting CE for webinar participation (CE Credit) was added as a new IRM Section 220.127.116.11.12.
(21) Reporting program completions was added as a new IRM Section 188.8.131.52.13.
(22) CE credits for Leveraged Small Business Workshop providers (CE Credit) was added as a new IRM Section 188.8.131.52.14.
(23) Program Approval Process was updated in IRM Section 22.214.171.124.8 with additional information on securing program numbers.
(24) Tax Practitioner Institute (TPI) background information was updated in IRM Section 126.96.36.199 to include scheduling information held in over 30 States (during the months of Oct - Dec).
(25) Detailed procedures for Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Guidelines was removed from IRM Section 22.214.171.124.9 and referenced in IRM 25.16.1, Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Guidelines.
(26) The CSO HQ - Industry Liaison and Disaster Assistance was renamed to CSO Headquarters Operation Support and Disaster Assistance in IRM Section 126.96.36.199.9.
(27) Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Special Programs was renamed to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Outreach in IRM Section 188.8.131.52. The BSA/Special Programs group assigned to CSO HQ was disbanded on 12/21/11.
(28) Roles and Responsibilities of Chief, BSA/Special Programs was removed (previously IRM Section 220.127.116.11.1).
(29) Key Interdependencies of Chief, BSA/Special Programs was removed in (previously IRM Section 126.96.36.199.2).
(30) IRM Section BSA/Special Programs for CLD's Stakeholder Liaisons was removed (previously IRM Section 22.214.171.124.2.1).
(31) SL Field Attendance and Reporting Responsibilities was updated to add the RegFair Hearings or Roundtable event to the CSO Calendar of Event in IRM Section 11.5188.8.131.52.
(32) Taxpayer Advisory Panel (TAP) was added in Section 184.108.40.206.9
Effect on Other DocumentsNone
AudienceEmployees in Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE), Communications, Stakeholder, and Outreach (CSO), Stakeholder Liaison Headquarters (CSO HQ), Stakeholder Liaison Field (SL Field) and all others who perform or report work in support of Stakeholder Liaison programs.
Effective Date(06-24-2013)
Related Resources
The CSO Intranet Web site is found at the following: http://mysbse.web.irs.gov/AboutSBSE/CLD/default.aspx.
SLF Sharepoint Site Bulletin Board: https://organization.ds.irsnet.gov/sites/dcse/sbse/cl/SLField/SitePages/Home.aspx
Phyllis Grimes
Acting Director, Communications and Stakeholder Outreach
Communications and Stakeholder Outreach - Stakeholder Liaison Activities
The mission of CSO is to develop and deliver integrated strategic communications and educational products to SB/SE employees, taxpayers, and key SB/SE partners (TE/GE) in tax administration. These include federal, state, and local governmental agencies, practitioners, and industry groups. CSO is responsible for programs and activities in support of both the SB/SE and the IRS Strategic Plans, and also coordinates IRS's National Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Program.
The three components of the CSO organization are Communications, CSO Headquarters Operations and Stakeholder Liaison Field. Each provide crucial support to SB/SE, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Small Business and Self-Employed community:
Communications: Provides expert communication support and advice to design, develop, and implement communication plans and strategies. Communications delivers SB/SE's messages to internal and external audiences through professionally developed strategies, writing, editing and developing video productions. Web Communications serves as web master for MySB/SE and content publisher for IRS.gov. A variety of communication tools help internal customers accomplish their duties and provide external customers and partners with information to help them comply with their tax responsibilities. See IRM 11.53.2, SB/SE Communications.
CSO Headquarters: CSO Headquarters is comprised of three groups: Stakeholder Liaison Headquarters, Audit, Liaison and IMRS and Headquarters Operations Support and Disaster Assistance.
Stakeholder Liaison Headquarters (CSO HQ) mission is to build and maintain Practitioner, Payroll and Industry partnerships both internally and externally that positively impacts taxpayer service, burden reduction and tax compliance.
The Audit, Liaison, and IMRS Group or (ALI) handles three distinct programs. The GAO/TIGTA Audit liaison program is responsible for managing SB/SE inventory of GAO/TIGTA audits and is the primary SB/SE point of contact for these audits. Legislative Implementation maintains the legislative program for SB/SE which consists of three processes: legislative implementation, legislative proposals, and request for guidance. The Issue Management Resolution System provides a streamlined and structured process that facilitates stakeholder issue identification, resolution or response, and feedback (See IRM 11.53.4, GAO/TIGTA/Legislative Implementation).
Headquarters Operations Support and Disaster Assistance serves as the operation link among all SB/SE CSO components. CSO Headquarters Operations Support and Disaster Assistance established and maintains strategic plans, policies and standard procedures for CSO and monitors resource utilization. CSO Headquarters Operations Support and Disaster Assistance also oversees IRS's involvement in disaster assistance and emergency relief activities. (See IRM 25.16.1, Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Guidelines)
Stakeholder Liaison – Field (SL Field): Focuses on local engagement of the payroll and practitioner community and small business/industry organizations. SL Field provides information about IRS policies, practices, and procedures to ensure compliance with the tax laws. SL Field activities align with the IRS goals to "improve taxpayer service, enhance enforcement of tax law and modernize the IRS through its people, processes and technology…" .
For more information on the CSO Program Letter, go to the CSO homepage on the Intranet at the following Web site: http://mysbse.web.irs.gov/AboutSBSE/CLD/default.aspx
CSO HQ and Field offices have overall responsibility for providing education and outreach to the SB/SE taxpayer community concerning their responsibilities for filing, reporting, and paying federal taxes. SL will achieve this mission through liaison activities with major stakeholder groups having members and clients within this community. SL will engage the stakeholder groups to increase tax compliance through educational and other outreach activities.
SL will deliver key messages and products developed in collaboration with CSO Communications. The "outreach" may be a campaign to increase awareness or to secure the support of the stakeholder group, other times it is merely information sharing. SL will work with CSO ensuring all actions and initiatives support the commitments outlined in the IRS's Strategic Goals and the CSO Business Plan.
There are two distinct stakeholder categories: Practitioners and Non-Practitioners, referred to as industry/business stakeholders. Both these stakeholder groups play a significant role in promoting tax compliance. The approach used with these stakeholders is similar, but the outreach activities aimed at each group may differ.
This document outlines the methodology for determining the relationships critical to success. It includes information on how to:
Develop or nurture the relationships.
Balance and meet the needs of both parties.
Manage the relationships.
The purpose of this model is to create a consistent methodology for approaching major stakeholder groups. While outreach to practitioner and industry/business stakeholders encompasses similar activities, there are differences between the approach and level of activities with these groups. Practitioners universally seek interaction and information from the IRS and view SL activities as an important aspect of partnering. Industry/business stakeholders' expectations may be based on previous interactions with the IRS and more specifically with SL.
In building and maintaining any relationship, it is critical to ensure each party understands the purpose of the relationship, and carefully balances and meets the needs of both parties. This involves researching and getting to know your stakeholders, understanding what is important to them, listening to their concerns (listening is essential in developing and maintaining a healthy liaison relationship), and identifying areas of mutual interest. SL, as the lead for relationship management with SB/SE taxpayers, must also ensure its stakeholders understand the needs and concerns of internal IRS stakeholders and include this in relationship responsibilities.
Delivering pertinent information can take very few resources if coordinated through leveraged activities. It is important to maintain relationships so these channels will be available to deliver key messages developed in accordance with SB/SE strategic compliance objectives and the CSO Program Letter. It is also important to begin establishing new relationships in line with key messages planned for future delivery.
SL program goals will flow from the IRS Strategic Goals and the CSO Business Plan. SRM program goals will be coordinated with action plans developed and shared by the Compliance functions. These goals range from broadly disseminating information to improving compliance through specific key messages directed toward influencing taxpayer behavior.
Action plans are accomplished through outreach campaigns with a target audience, a defined set of steps to accomplish a goal and, when possible, measuring the impact on the target audience's behavior. These campaigns are developed in collaboration with CSO Communications. SL works with CSO staff to ensure all actions support the IRS's Strategic Goals and the CSO Business Plan and CSO Program Letter.
Most campaigns are delivered through established stakeholders. The outreach campaigns targeted to industry/business stakeholders are also coordinated with the practitioner community to concentrate communication and maximize interplay between the two stakeholder groups.
The SB/SE IMRS has been implemented to ensure that SB/SE is proactive in responding to stakeholder concerns. The purpose of the IMRS application is to allow employees to track significant local and national/international issues identified by stakeholders. The system provides managers and CSO HQ with trend information to determine when national, international, and high-level significant local issues are widespread. It is used to elevate stakeholder issues so CSO HQ can work with the functions to attempt to resolve them.
Issue resolution is closely monitored to ensure timely resolution of stakeholder issues. The status of issues or resolution of the issue will be shared with stakeholders through planned outreach activities that are coordinated with CSO Communications. Where appropriate, SL Field will deliver these messages to their stakeholders.
Additional information on IMRS is found at the following Web site:http://sbse.web.irs.gov/CL2/sl/IMRS/index_login.asp and in IRM 11.53.4 , GAO/TIGTA/Legislative Implementation.
Overview: The SB/SE Outreach Initiative Database (OID) , provides a consolidated summary of SB/SE initiatives. The OID contains reference material, key messages, and communication products approved for use in external outreach. Stakeholder Liaisons should direct recommendations for appropriate outreach/communication products to the IMRS Working Group. See IRM 18.104.22.168.10.2 IMRS Roles and Responsibilities.
This OID database is managed by SB/SE CSO Communications and is primarily used by SB/SE SL. Other employees may also rely on its contents to ensure consistent messaging on SB/SE and selected IRS program topics.
General Use and Information: This online database provides users with several selection methods to reach the information and product links as needed. Supplemental pages on MySB/SE have been established to provide further guidance on outreach updates, priorties, and product use at OID Database.
Materials on the OID are generally provided for the use of IRS employees conducting outreach. Some materials are for internal reference and not for external distribution. For detailed product guidance on when handouts are permissible, see the intranet at Product Guidance.
Materials on the OID are approved for use by business owners. SLs have limited flexibility to adapt approved presentations to meet specific needs and to develop handouts, when necessary, using approved material. SL Chiefs (headquarters) and Area Managers (field) are responsible for monitoring the adaptation and use of products posted on the OID.
As appropriate, supplemental instructions may also be provided directly to outreach employees with regard to timing, audience, reporting requirements, etc. for the materials created.
How the process works: SB/SE CSO Communications Analysts work with SB/SE and other IRS program owners to determine outreach initiative needs. SL employees may also surface outreach requests by using the IMRS process. IRM 220.127.116.11.3 for guidance on using the IMRS process.
Communications adds the topics to the database by:
Providing a brief description of the initiative, including the key messages and strategic goal supported.
Identifying outreach delivery time-frames and audiences.
Uploading communication products and/or links to content on IRS.gov.
As the initiative evolves, the assigned communicator is responsible for updating the database information.
Key messages and educational information will be delivered through outreach campaigns. CSO Communications will develop these campaigns in collaboration with SL and appropriate subject matter experts. This collaborative effort will ensure complete and consistent messages. Campaign packages will include a suite of communication products that may include key messages, PowerPoint presentations, articles, etc. for use with recommended stakeholder audiences.
Emphasis will be on nationwide rollout of key campaigns during a specified time frame. This will provide unified program activity across SL to maximize and leverage the impact of the messages. The depth of implementation of a campaign will be dependent upon the resources within the geographic area and may be adjusted accordingly.
CSO Communications will develop all messages and related products addressing outreach strategies. Communication products to support the outreach will be posted to the OID at the following Web site:http://sbse.web.irs.gov/cl2/sl/outreach_initiatives/default.asp. This will ensure proper consistency and coordination with all key internal functions, both inside and outside SB/SE. SL Headquarters will engage SL Field in the campaign development to ensure its validity prior to nationwide implementation.
In some instances, SL will identify an area to pilot the campaign and determine the effectiveness prior to national implementation. Messages are also tested with national stakeholder organizations. Collaboration with Learning and Education takes place to develop training and ensure employees have the tools required to roll out each campaign in a consistent and timely manner. One key to a successful national approach to outreach is to evaluate the program for best practices and lessons learned. This will be done through operational reviews and visitations to local offices for on-site discussions. Appropriate means for information gathering will be used to ensure accountability in delivering key messages and accomplishing strategic objectives. CSO, will monitor and measure the extent to which these initiatives support the IRS Strategic Goals and CSO Business Plan.
Background: The CSO Calendar of Events is an on-line application that tracks all scheduled CSO events, both virtual and face to face, nationwide and holds external stakeholder information.
The CSO Calendar of Events system provides:
CSO employees with the ability to view nationwide outreach and education events scheduled by CSO employees.
Users the ability to network with peers about upcoming events to identify best practices and ensure consistency.
CSO employees with the ability to maintain external stakeholder information.
Users with the ability to link each event to any stakeholder(s) involved with the event.
Reports that can be used for tracking events and sharing information on future liaison activities with appropriate officials.
All CSO employees will be able to enter events or edit/delete events, which they entered, view scheduled events and search for events based on specified criteria. Managerial approval is needed for entering events.
Stakeholder Liaison Field Project Manager and CSO HQ will provide policy and guidelines for the events calendar application. The CSO Calendar of Events system and user guide are available on the Stakeholder Liaison web page CSO Events Calendar.
The SB/SE speakers guidance provides SL employees with a process for handling requests for speakers. Public appearances by IRS employees differ greatly in both size and scope. Typically, speaking requests could range from making a presentation, by virtual delivery or face to face, at a local practitioner meeting to a request for the IRS Commissioner to speak at a major tax practitioner convention.
Invitations to speak, participate in tax forums and seminars, or participate in meetings are an excellent opportunity to inform the public about the IRS, its mission, programs, and operations. It is necessary to focus efforts to ensure key messages are delivered to stakeholders. The IRS strategic plan and SB/SE business plan are used to drive the decisions to provide speakers.
The SB/SE speaker guidelines do not apply to routine interaction and contacts that IRS employees have with practitioners and other stakeholder groups. These guidelines are available for field and headquarters employees on the Stakeholder Liaison's Guidance and Policy web page and SLF Bulletin Board SharePoint Site.
SRM is an integral tool in influencing the compliance behavior of SB/SE taxpayers. SL plays a key role in promoting voluntary compliance through outreach and educational activities. SRM provides a vehicle to deliver key messages and tax information. In general, the role in SRM is to:
Provide tax practitioners and industry/business stakeholders with information about the policies, practices, and procedures the IRS uses to ensure compliance with the tax laws both by voluntary means and through enforcement programs.
Ensure IRS policies, practices, and procedures are explained in a complete and consistent manner to leaders of practitioner and stakeholder organizations at all levels (nationally and locally) with the expectation that the information is shared with the organization's members.
Participate in educational programs, such as tax institutes, seminars, symposiums, etc., for practitioners and industry/business stakeholders providing updates to IRS policies, practices, procedures, and law changes as appropriate.
To arrange opportunities for exchange of information, ideas and points of view between representatives of practitioner and industry/business organizations and the appropriate IRS representatives. The IRS representatives should be identified based on the discussion topics.
Use the IMRS to recognize and elevate issues concerning IRS policies, practices, and procedures identified by practitioner and industry/business organizations that require explanation, evaluation, or changes within the IRS. The outcome should be communicated to those groups that raised the issue as well as all other practitioner and non-practitioner groups that may have an interest. (Refer to IRM 11.53.4, GAO/TIGTA/Legislative Implementation.).
The role of SL Field offices is to:
Be the local contact point for tax practitioner and industry/business organizations on all non-case related matters. This means making sure the practitioner and industry/business organizations have a clear understanding of whom to contact (campus as well as field contacts).
Maintain regular and continuing contact with the practitioners and industry/business stakeholders who are leaders in the small business community, keeping open lines of communication, identifying issues and concerns, and planning for Practitioner Liaison Meetings (PLM) and Small Business (SB) Forums.
Initiate or actively participate in, and lead as appropriate the Stakeholder Relationship Management Local Councils (SRMLC).
Maintain a constant awareness of developments, which may be of interest to the practitioner and the industry/business community.
Raise issues to IRS functions that are of concern to practitioners and industry/business stakeholders. IMRS will be used based on established guidelines.
Consult with the practitioner and industry/business organizations to agree on the frequency, location, format, and method of preparation for PLMs and SB Forums.
Consult with the practitioner and industry/business organizations on how they distribute information directly to their members. Determine information they would like to receive and make every effort to provide only what they request.
Consult with practitioner organizations and others who sponsor practitioner education events. Join planning committees to ensure the appropriate role for the IRS in these events.
Facilitate the interaction between IRS, practitioners, and industry/business organizations for PLMs and SB Forums. This means working with representatives from practitioner and industry/business organizations to develop an agenda that meets the needs of all parties, to coordinate within the IRS to secure the most appropriate presenter for the topics, and to ensure IRS representatives have the necessary background on issues and concerns to make an effective presentation. (The IMRS can be analyzed to determine common issues, which could be valuable background for IRS representatives to ensure their stakeholders concerns are properly addressed and that the speakers are not surprised with issues). Speaker Guidelines should be followed in obtaining the appropriate speaker. SL Field and SL Headquarters will regularly share information gathered from their respective meetings to facilitate the effectiveness of future meetings.
Ensure that summaries of the PLMs are prepared (by IRS or the stakeholder group), ensure follow-up items are identified and entered into IMRS and that timely feedback via status reports is made available to the practitioner and industry/business groups. Share summaries and issue status reports with the SRMLC and other attendees. Ensure all summaries are posted to SharePoint.
Provide reports to CSO HQ on practitioner, industry/business liaison, and education activities along with copies of summaries of meetings and issues needing HQ attention so that HQ may assess the stability of the local practitioner SRM.
Identify expectations and an assessment process to mutually evaluate the relationship. Use this feedback to continue to perfect the relationship in regard to communication, issues raised, and responsiveness to the needs of all parties.
The role of CSO HQ office is to:
Participate in national liaison activities with practitioner and industry/business organizations and provide feedback to the field offices on the topics discussed and issues raised.
Coordinate with other HQ offices, particularly the Office of National Public Liaison, to represent the interests of the field practitioner and non-practitioner SRM programs. Provide notes that capture issues and discussions that arise during meetings and make them available to the field.
Develop strategic outreach plans with a component for the practitioner and industry/business community that are specific to their needs, not a mere version of a general message. Key messages for these outreach activities will be developed in collaboration with CSO Communications.
Review input from field practitioner and industry/business liaison activities (liaison meeting summaries, area notes, elevated issues) for common themes and problems. When appropriate, surface issues through IMRS and collaborate with CSO Communications to develop practitioner information/education materials to address these issues. Ensure issues that cannot be worked through CSO HQ efforts are input into IMRS for appropriate action.
The role of other SB/SE components is to:
Clearly describe to all levels of management the importance of practitioner and industry/business SRM to effective tax administration and emphasize that the participation of the appropriate level of management in practitioner meetings is important and is expected. Set the expectation that the appropriate level of management is expected to participate in local SRM Councils.
Collaborate with CSO Communications and SL to secure the necessary background on issues and concerns of the practitioner and industry/business groups. Seek input and assistance from CSO Communications and allot sufficient time to prepare to make an effective presentation.
Review practitioner and industry/business groups' elevated issues with the attention they deserve, providing timely responses and status reports.
Maximize the use of technology to provide consistent and appropriate information for practitioners and industry/business groups and to provide the opportunity for senior officials to explain policy decisions.
Small Business events are defined as events at which IRS products or services are demonstrated to a particular industry or audience with large venues via exhibitor space (booths).
It is important to ensure that by attending any event, the best possible venues to deliver key messages are used while meeting the needs of the stakeholders. The justification for attending any event must be linked to the CSO Program Letter, SB/SE Outreach Initiative Database, and the SB/SE Strategic Plan. The Policy for Attending Stakeholder Events is located on the Stakeholder Liaison web site. This site contains specific information on the selection, criteria, and approval process.
The practitioner community plays an important role in any efforts to influence the compliance behavior of SB/SE taxpayers since the majority of these taxpayers rely on tax professionals to prepare their tax returns. The tax professional plays a key role in promoting voluntary compliance. Therefore, it is critical that the Stakeholder Liaisons understand the value of their role, understand their organizations, their communication methods, and their needs. It is paramount to build an ongoing relationship, provide a continuing forum for the tax professional to bring issues of concern to the IRS, provide a forum for other internal stakeholders to share issues and concerns, and, perhaps most importantly, listen to and respond to those concerns and issues.
In general, the role of practitioner SRM includes liaison activities, educational outreach, and internal stakeholders' involvement. It requires the use of leveraged resources by involving critical stakeholders in tax compliance activities. Many of the details specific to the practitioner liaison role are listed above. Educational outreach includes tax practitioner institutes, symposiums and other outreach delivery methods such as IRS.GOV and webinars. The mechanics of how to get that impressive task list accomplished are detailed in the Practitioner SRM Toolkit.
The Practitioner Directory application was developed to provide users in the field with access to commonly used numbers and web sites for their area to distribute to practitioners. This application allows users to print Local Practitioner Directories by state. Each directory provides a list of important local IRS phone numbers. The directory will print normally on 3 pages, size 8.5 x 11, with a cover page and the list of local phone numbers. After printing the directory, make as many photocopies as needed for the event. To use this system, SL Field employees can access from the SL web page on the Intranet or use the IRS Directory for Practitioner link: http://sbse.web.irs.gov/CL2/sl/PracDir/default.aspx.
The National Webinar process enables the IRS to communicate with the tax professional community and professional associations. The program is designed to provide presentations on key topics across the country. Stakeholder issues identified through IMRS and other means are used as the basis for selecting topics that have national impact and CSO HQ secures presenters who are subject matter experts (SMEs) on the topic. CSO Communications assists the SMEs in preparing and delivering the presentations and securing approvals for all materials associated with the phone forums. Presentations occur throughout the business day enabling stakeholders to participate as their schedules permit. Presenters use an approved script and materials to convey information on a specific topic. Questions are addressed at the conclusion of the presentation as facilitated by the telephone provider. Monthly topics can be found on the CSO Events Calendar
The Local Webinar, now referred to as a Web Conferencing, process provides the SL area with the opportunity to address issues and stay connected to local partners. Presenters use approved script and materials from the OID. Stakeholder Liaison will be using virtual technology to deliver the Web Conferencing.
Nationwide Tax Forums: Are an opportunity to advance IRS policies and programs and include seminars on compliance initiatives and IRS services. Tax professionals who attend these forums are eligible to receive Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit.
CSO has the lead for all SB/SE support for the Nationwide Tax Forums.
Mission: CSO HQ's mission is to provide national payroll and practitioner organizations information about IRS policies, practices, and procedures to ensure compliance with the tax laws, both by voluntary means and through enforcement programs. Roles and Responsibilities:CSO HQ works closely with national payroll and practitioner organizations to improve the delivery of service to small business taxpayers. The Chief, Stakeholder Liaison Headquarters is responsible for:
Developing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between IRS and national payroll and practitioner organizations.
Partnering with Communications to coordinate and provide servicewide messages for tax professionals for Stakeholder Liaison Field (SLF) personnel to use at their local liaison meetings. Key messages are on IRS.gov in the News and Events section: http://www.irs.gov/News- &- Events.
Promoting communication vehicles such as E-News for Small Businesses and Tax Professionals and Stakeholder Headliners to national payroll and practitioner organizations and SL Field personnel.
Serving as the SB/SE point of contact for both the national payroll and practitioner organizations.
Influencing, formulating and evaluating SB/SE policies, procedures, and programs affecting national payroll and practitioner organizations.
Providing guidance and support to SL Field activities with respect to payroll and practitioner issues.
Key Interdependencies of Chief, Stakeholder Liaison HQ: The Chief Stakeholder Liaison HQ proactively interacts at the national level with LB&I, TE/GE, and W&I counterparts. The Chief also interacts with Counsel, National Public Liaison (NPL) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), CSO personnel and external partners to deliver a consistent educational/outreach message, provide educational/outreach materials to national organizations as well as identify their issues and trends.
Stakeholder Liaison HQ provides the external community and partners with current tax law and other information to assist them in performing their duties and responsibilities.
Tax Practitioner Institutes (TPI): Are conducted in cooperation with educational institutions or with other organizations that utilize a Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation, or University of Illinois textbook. These events are often sponsored by major state universities, colleges, and in some states community colleges. If an outreach program does not involve an educational institution or a TPI text, it generally is not considered a TPI.
Background: These institutes have been ongoing for almost 60 years in some parts of the country. They began as schools to teach farmers and preparers how to handle tax issues surrounding the preparation of farm tax returns. Over the years, the institutes have evolved into forums that deal with a large variety of income tax issues of interest to the entire tax practitioner community. Scheduled during the months of Oct-Jan.
Guidelines: To ensure CSO participation is related to IRS goals and objectives, presentations given by SLs are limited to key messages. Each year, a presentation will be developed and posted to the Outreach Initiative Database to provide additional information and presentation materials. To promote consistency, the presenting SL should not add or deviate from the materials provided. Because of the increased use of technology, some TPIs may be virtually delivered and/or leveraged.
Topics: CSO HQ will partner with CSO Communications, SLF, the IMRS Program Manager and the textbook editors in identifying those topics to be included in the IRS Chapter found within each of the two textbooks. The IRS provides the editors with approved information on the selected topics, but the textbooks are written and owned by the educational institute developing the materials.
Additional Support: SLs may identify the need for support from other functions through input from their school sponsor or practitioner group. If a topic or message is identified and the best source of information is from another function, cross functional support is encouraged and supported by Operating Divisions or SL. Travel costs are incurred by the supporting function, not SL.
The SB/SE National Practitioner Forums (NPF) are bi-monthly meetings with tax professionals representing many national payroll and practitioner organizations. These forums provide a platform for a two-way exchange of information which often leads to improvements in tax administration. The forum also provides an opportunity for SB/SE executives to share key IRS messages and other business operating unit SMEs to address and work through important SB/SE issues and pre-development initiatives. The NPF is an open forum with tax practitioners that allows parties to exchange ideas, gather information about emerging stakeholder issues, manage relationships, and maintain a dialogue with stakeholder groups. Through this forum, CSO HQ is able to communicate strategic priorities, reduce taxpayer burden, and increase compliance.
Below is a breakdown of how our forums are conducted:
SB/SE meetings are generally scheduled on the third Thursday in February, April, June, August and October. (NPL conducts the Forums on the alternate months.)
These meetings are conducted at the main IRS building in Washington DC.
CSO HQ is responsible for scheduling and coordinating the meetings' agendas.
Meetings are by invitation only and are attended in person or by conference call.
CSO HQ prepares all meetings' highlights, which are distributed internally and externally.
The Reporting Agent Forum (RAF) is held on a quarterly basis and is co-sponsored by SB/SE CSO HQ, Counsel, W&I, CAS, and Return Preparer Office ( National Account Manager - Payroll Industry). These quarterly working sessions are conducted with representatives from the payroll community. The working group sessions address Compliance, Accounts Management, Customer Service and Taxpayer Burden Reduction issues. These regularly scheduled sessions are normally scheduled for one or two days, depending on the topics for discussion and the availability of Executives and appropriate Subject Matter Experts (SME's). Below is a breakdown of how these Reporting Agent (RA) Forums are conducted:
Quarterly sessions are scheduled in the following months - February, May, August and November.
Meetings are generally scheduled on the third Tuesday of the designated month.
These sessions are generally at New Carrollton Federal Building-HQ (May, August and November) or Ogden Campus (February).
CSO HQ is responsible for scheduling and coordinating these sessions.
CSO HQ has primary responsibility for maintaining and updating the RAF Task List. The RAF group collectively determines additional action items.
Topics are solicited from many internal and external sources. CSO HQ takes the lead in scheduling with the assistance of RPO.
CSO HQ and related field operations have established and maintain its relationships with the tax professional community, including unaffiliated tax preparer. To accomplish this, CSO HQ has developed an expanding Practitioner communications strategy to communicate IRS key messages and resolve issues and concerns with many of the tax professionals who are not associated with traditional tax professional organizations (which constitute the great majority of tax professionals).
This effort allows IRS to reach a broader audience of tax professionals and ensure consistent information is delivered to both affiliated and unaffiliated practitioners. Relationships exist with retail preparation firms and software developers to strengthen and further define the communication channels. With these relationships, IRS is able to distribute a broad range of information and key messages as well as identify conventions, national and regional meetings, training seminars, and other key venues to provide focused key messages. CSO HQ is currently working with Software Developers, Universities, and Retail Preparers, and intends to add additional software firms and other retail preparers to this strategy in the future.
Purpose: Offer a SL Field local forum where tax professionals and IRS can raise tax related issues/concerns that can be resolved through joint efforts. This includes dealing with the professional responsibilities of both practitioners and IRS. The meeting is a joint effort involving both internal and external stakeholders. Since concerns will vary because of different perspectives, it is important to include issues from all participants.
The Practitioner Liaison Meeting Guidelines are located on the Stakeholder Liaison web site.
The Guidelines contain specific procedural information on how to hold a Practitioner Liaison Meeting.
Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure (PGLD) and Communications & Stakeholder Outreach (CSO) recognize the benefits of maximizing resources when partnering with practitioner, industry and governmental stakeholders across the country. GL/SL leaders developed specific partnering activities to be implemented based on the IRS Strategic Plan and our respective Program Letters.
GL/SL Partnering Priorties:
Leveraging stakeholders in the delivery of messages concerning tax law provisions and IRS initiatives. Examples include, but are not limited to: identify theft, fraud, return preparer and new legislation.
Collaborating on disaster and catastrophic events.
Participating in each other's training and group meetings.
Leveraging state and local agency technology to distribute compliance key messages.
Address/support attendance at events sponsored by SL, GL or other internal/external stakeholders including Congressional visits, Regional FTA and Annual FTA events, Small Business Forums, Tax Forums, Practitioner Liaison Forums, etc.
Explore how GL and SL can assist each other with alternatives to face-to-face meetings.
Review all PowerPoints on GL and SL programs in the Outreach Initiative Database (OID) to ensure they include an emphasis on technology-driven outreach events.
Address any impact on practitioners and the public from Public Advisory Boards such as the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC), Internal revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC), and Taxpayer Advisory Panel (TAP).
Identify the nexus between OID and the new PGLD Communications Office.
SLF Sharepoint site has information on PTIN-related guidance and externally provided CE credits. OID view 459 - Contains information on SLF Internally provided CE Credit
This document provides an overview of the process for Stakeholder Liaison Field to issue Continuing Education Credits as an IRS-approved CE provider. It does not address the requirements for external organizations that issue CE credits. Other tax professionals, such as CPAs and attorneys, may receive credit if the education meets their organization's or state's continuing education requirements - it is their responsibility to follow up with those organizations. Visit IRS.gov and search Keywords "Continuing education for tax professionals" .
The content of the presentation must cover one of the subject areas listed below.
Tax law programs must cover federal tax law topics typically reported on Form 1040 returns, as well as other returns, and cover basic to advanced topics. This category does not include: business skills, negotiation, communication programs, or programs such as learning to use software products. In general, this would include material regarding Examination, Collection, and Appeals but not subjects that are more procedural in nature such as electronic filing and e-Services.
An ethics or professional conduct program must be designed for the tax professional which principally cover ethical issues or professional conduct issues that arise in a tax practice, including return preparation. For example, programs that address provisions of Treasury Circular 230 will qualify. A program description of an ethics program must include the following: succinct topics for discussion, how the program will be presented (panel, lecture, etc.), and how practical application of the subject matter will be tested in a real world situation (hypothetical examples, panel discussions, fact patterns). Currently for Stakeholder Liaison, this material must be covered by the staff of the Office of Professional Responsibility; a webinar has been created for this purpose and has been granted a program number for both the webinar and for SL Field usage.
In order to grant CE credits for a program involving state information at least 80% of the program material must consist of a comparison between federal and state tax laws. For example, if a program analyzes why extended bonus depreciation can be taken as a deduction on a federal tax return but not on a state return, this program would qualify for continuing education credit. Although 80% of the program must include comparisons between federal and state tax laws, the other 20% could strictly be a discussion on state tax law/updates.
CE credit is only given for full contact hours, or multiples thereof. A contact hour that is more than 50 minutes but less than 100 minutes will receive one credit.
Example: An event which includes four hours of actual presentation time (breaks and introductions not included), of which the first contact hour covers federal tax law updates, the second contact hour is an Exam speaker on FATCA, a third contact hour is an Appeals speaker on the Fast Track Mediation program, and the final contact hours is an update on e-Services and e-File. This event would count for three CE credits hours, one of which is in the category of Federal Tax Law Updates, and two count towards Federal Tax Law Related Subject for RTRPs. The one hour of e-Services and e-file would not be eligible for credit
Program numbers will be obtained for a number of presentations as well as some "bundle" qualifying presentations on the Outreach Initiatives Database (View 459). These "prequalified" presentations will merge existing presentations into combinations equaling at least one contact hour and will be designated as to the category - updates or federal tax. If these presentations are used without alteration or combination with other materials, the program number as provided on the OID may be used by Stakeholder Liaison.
However, any alteration or combination of a previously approved OID presentation with other presentations would require a new approval from RPO using Form 8498, Continuing Education Provider Application and Request for Provider Number. As an IRS CE provider, only highlighted portions of Form 8498 need to be completed by Stakeholder Liaison and routed through the CE point of contact for the area to RPO. (See IRS.gov).
Program descriptions should clearly state the topics covered in the presentation. The program materials need not be submitted. Examples of program descriptions are available on IRS.gov. Additionally, the key topics may be obtained from the Outline View in the PowerPoint and can be used with the addition of some descriptive language.
Program description example pertinent to Communications & Stakeholder Outreach:
This program will cover the Collection Fresh Start Initiative (OID View 417), including the increased thresholds for Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing, Notice of Federal Tax Lien Withdrawals, and incentives to sign up for Direct Debit Installment Agreements. It also covers increased access to installment agreements for small businesses and the streamlined Offer in Compromise Program. The second topic area to be covered relates to the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (OID View 442). The VCSP presentation describes the advantages of the program and the eligibility requirements to participate in the program. (Program description drawn from the Outline View of the PPTs.)
Note: if you are using material from other speakers, whether IRS or external speakers, their presentation information must be included in a Form 8498 request, as described above.
In a situation where SL is partnering with a practitioner organization, generally, that organization would be the responsible party for the CE recordation, assuming they are authorized CE providers and are the host of the event. SL is the responsible party when the organization is not authorized or if it is an Communications & Stakeholder Outreach -sponsored event.
The determination of who is the host of an event depends on who is responsible for record-keeping, issuing the certificate of completion, and uploading the individual PTIN information (or if SLF, ensuring it is forwarded to RPO). You may find that your partner organization requests a program number from you even though they will handle the other CE requirements; they must instead request their own number.
In order to ensure that EA's are obtaining continuing education in the two required categories, separate program numbers must be obtained for an event that includes presentations on more than one of the two topic areas - federal tax-related material, and/or ethics. You may offer attendees one certificate of completion, but it must have the categories broken out with the name of the program, hours given, and program number. You may advertise one program for marketing purposes, but should let potential attendees know exactly how may hours of credit they will receive per category.
If the determination is made that the material used does not have an existing program number (i.e. it is not one of the previously approved "presentation" sent to RPO for approval on Form 8498 and subsequently posted to the Outreach Initiatives Database), program approval should be requested using Form 8498. This should be done as soon as possible, though new programs generally will be approved and a program under number issued within 24 hours.
If you intend to use the same presentation materials at a number of events, using the same presentation method (i.e. face to face, webinar, teleconference, etc.), you need to only make the approval request once; the program number would be the same for each of the different locations. For example, if you intend to present the same material at five different venues as a part of your fall outreach tour, you should use the same program number on your certificates, but indicate the different dates and locations.
If the same presentation is made using different methods (i.e. face to face vs. virtual, etc) you will have to get programs numbers for each of the different methods even if the presentation topics are the same.
The Stakeholder Liaison area point of contact (or designee) should sign the certificates of completion; an electronic signature may be used. Procedures for using an electronic signature, signing the certificates, and mail merge are posted on the OID View 459. The certificate must include the following information.
Full name of participant.
Program name and IRS-issued program numbers.
Number of credits per program.
Date completed.
CE provider name.
CE provider address.
Signature of the area designee and date (provider name and address must be listed on the certificate exactly as it appears in the IRS Continuing Education Provider System). You may include the IRS Approved CE Provider logo on your certificates.
Registration sheets must include the first and last name of the participant, their PTIN signature and the time signed in and out of the event, including signing in and out for lunch periods.
Special additional guidance for webinars are discussed later in this document.
The responsibility for keeping accurrate documentation is crucial to Stakeholder Liaison to continue being an approved CE provider. The required documentation must be kept at the area level (area office) in a manner that is readily accessible should a request for information be made by the RPO, a state licensing board, or the practitioner participant. This may be done electronically and/or in a paper filing system.
Records must be maintained for a period of four years following completion of the program by the CE provider to verify a participant's attendance and completion of the program.
Program records must include the following documentation:
A copy of the presentation as well as any handout material provided.
The registration sheet from the event showing the list of participants as well as their PTIN numbers and their signatures in and out of the event.
An example of the certificate provided to the participants.
A copy of the Form 8498 if the program was a new program requiring approvals. You may also want to maintain the emailed program number from RPO.
Copies of the surveys completed by program participants (see below).


text: Panthers Schedule Released: Cats Open On Road; Penguins at Home Luke Dixon July 20, 2013 Eastern Conference, Florida Panthers, News 4 Comments This afternoon the National Hockey League released the entire regular season schedule for the 2013-2014 season. The Panthers learned they will be starting the year on the road when they open at the rebranded Dallas Stars on October 3, the first day of the regular season. They will have three more games away from the BB&T Center before returning home Friday, October 11 to take on Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Eastern Conference runner-up Pittsburgh Penguins. The opening four-game road trip will be the first of three of those season-high trips for the Cats. In addition to the schedule, Florida's new division as part of conference realignment got a new name in the Atlantic Division. In addition to the Panthers, the Atlantic includes: the Lightning and Red Wings, as well as the former Northeast Division members Boston, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Montreal. 5 Teams to be sure to catch at the BB&T Center Chicago Blackhawks–October 22 The defending Stanley Cup make their only trip to South Florida in the first month of the season. The Cats will be on their first multi-game home stand and take on their third playoff team in a row following the eastern conference champion Boston Bruins and the western conference's eighth seed Minnesota Wild. Besides being Stanley Cup champions, the Blackhawks have a young veteran core in Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa who will present great match-ups with the likes of the Panthers Jonathan Huberdeau, Drew Shore and possibly Aleksander Barkov. Let's not forget Brain Campbell, Tomas Kopecky were traded south after the Blackhawks unloaded their Stanley Cup core for the second straight off season in 2011 after winning the Cup in 2010, and they'll be facing their former club for the first time in over a year. Detroit Red Wings–December 10, 28, February 6 The Red Wings are one of two teams to make the jump from the western to eastern conference and it just so happens they're a member of the new Atlantic Division along with the Panthers. Detroit's never really rebuilding but reloading. Niclas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom have sailed off into the sunset leaving Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and the newly acquired Swede Daniel Alfredsson as the elder Swedish statesman on the squad. Not to mention Pavel Datsyuk is very entertaining, even against your own team. Pittsburgh Penguins– October 11 (Panthers Home Opener), November 30 Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury – the star power is what makes the Penguins fun to watch whether you root for or against the Black & Gold. Fleury will be looking to regain his all-star form before his shaky playoff performance left him riding the pine pony in favor of backup Tomas Vokoun. The Pittsburgh powerplay is one of the best in the game and has been for the past few years. Vancouver Canucks–March 16 Vancouver's lone trip to the BB&T Center comes later in the regular season. It should be interesting for Cats fans to see Roberto Luongo back in Sunrise starting full-time between the pipes for the Canucks after his co-starter Cory Schneider was dealt to the Devils during the first round of April's entry draft. Depending on where the Canucks and Panthers are in the standings at this point, this could be a great game featuring not only another return of 'Lu' to Sunrise, but one between playoff contenders and maybe even a possible Cup preview. Crazier things have happened. Colorado Avalanche–January 24 The lone match-up at BB&T center with the Avalanche will feature two of the league's up and coming superstars in Huberdeau and Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog. Add Barkov and last month's No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Nathan MacKinnon and you have star-studded talent berserk. If both squads are making playoff pushes and rebounding from the worst and second-worst league records, which is very possible, that would make the match-up that much sweeter. Photo credit: USA Today Sports 4 Responses Anonymous July 20th, 2013 Thanks for one's marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed reading it, you are a great author.I will ensure that I bookmark your blog and may come back later on. I want to encourage continue your great writing, have a nice morning! pinfile-C:\temp\link sets\romeiitotalwar\tier1\links.txt% July 22nd, 2013 This is the right site for everyone who wants to understand this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want to…HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject which has been written about for ages. Excellent stuff, just great! watch dogs ps3 July 22nd, 2013 I know this site provides quality dependent articles or reviews and extra information, is there any other website which provides such data in quality? vacaciones terres ebre August 16th, 2013 Fantastico post. Gracias por aportarlo…Espero màs… Saludos

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2013)
|Sinitta Renay Malone
19 October 1963
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
|London, England, UK
|Singer, television personality, dancer, actress
|Years active
|The X Factor UK (mentor)
Grease Is The Word
|Andy Willner (m. 2002–10)
|Miquel Brown
|Amii Stewart (aunt)
|Musical career
|Years active
Sinitta (born Sinitta Renay Malone in Seattle, Washington, United States) is an American-born singer who has lived in the United Kingdom for most of her life. She is best known for her hit records in the 1980s including "So Macho", "Toy Boy", "Cross My Broken Heart" and "Right Back Where We Started From". Altogether Sinitta has 14 international hit singles and 3 albums. She has also acted in a number of West End shows and has been a mentor on The X Factor and appeared as a contestant on the eleventh series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and the first series of Channel 4's The Jump, which sees contestants train and then compete in winter Olympic sports.
Early career[edit]
Sinitta trained at the Legat Russian Ballet School, and at LAMDA.
Sinitta began in show business by appearing in the musical The Wiz[citation needed] and the movie Shock Treatment released on Halloween 1981, and her West End credits include Cats, Little Shop of Horrors, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Hair, Masquerade and Mutiny! On 24 December 1982, Sinitta appeared on the TV programme The Tube as a dancer with Imagination.[1]
In 1985, she captained one of the teams on an ITV children's game show called The Wall Game, a programme teaching children how to act.[2]
Music career[edit]
Sinitta began recording in 1983, releasing her first single, "Break Me Into Little Pieces" with dance troupe Hot Gossip. That same year, she also appeared in the video of "Rock the Boat" sung by Forrest. She continued to release singles throughout 1984 and 1985, and also participated in 1984's A Song for Europe, the UK competition to find an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, with "Imagination".[3]
In June 2014, Sinitta made a musical comeback when she released her new single 'So Many Men, So Little Time' with Energise Records. (See Recent Career for more).
Success with Simon Cowell[edit]
Sinitta was both Simon Cowell's and Fanfare Records's first signing.[4] She made "So Macho" with record producer and songwriter, George Hargreaves and managed to persuade Cowell and his boss, Iain Burton, to release the record as a double A-side with "Cruisin'". The single was released in early 1986, but stalled around the lower reaches of the Top 50 singles chart.[5]
Stock Aitken Waterman influence[edit]
Around this time, Cowell was keen for Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) to write and produce for Sinitta. "Feels Like The First Time", Sinitta's subsequent single following "So Macho", had charted low (number 45 in the UK in October 1986) and spent only five weeks on the chart, whereas, in contrast, "So Macho" had been on the UK chart for 30 weeks in 1986, where it had peaked at Number 2.[5] Initially, Waterman declined to work with Sinitta, claiming that SAW were too busy.[4] SAW did work with Sinitta later however, and her first single with the Hit Factory was "Toy Boy".
At this time Sinitta had started to date one of the backing dancers in Mutiny on The Bounty, Sam Connery. She played the love interest, Maimiti the island princess, to David Essex (as Fletcher Christian, who is 16 years older than her. The papers labelled her "David's Darling" and called Cowell her Svengali, now they were writing, "Sinitta has a Toy Boy!".[citation needed] Pete Waterman loved the phrase and the song was written in ten minutes for the older singer. "Toy Boy"[6] was a hit, reaching Number 4 in the UK in July 1987, staying on the charts for 14 weeks.[7]
Sinitta went on to have a further five hit singles with Pete Waterman Ltd including "G.T.O." (Number 15, December 1987), "Cross My Broken Heart" (Number 6 - March 1988), "I Don't Believe In Miracles" (Number 22 - September 1988), "Right Back Where We Started From" (Number 4 - June 1989) and "Love on a Mountain Top" (Number 20 - October 1989).[8]
Sinitta performed at London's O2 Arena in December 2012 at the Hit Factory Live concert, to celebrate 25 years of Stock Aitken Waterman. She performed with her troupe of male dancers.
Music Career decline[edit]
Following the release of her début album Sinitta! in 1987, Sinitta moved away from working directly with Stock Aitken Waterman, although she continued to record at PWL under the direction of mixmasters Pete Hammond, Phil Harding and Ian Curnow.[9] Her second album Wicked, released in 1989, contained only one SAW track - "I Don't Believe In Miracles" - the others being produced by the aforementioned Hammond, Harding & Curnow in addition to Nigel Wright and German producer Ralf Rene Maue.
As the 1990s opened, PWL music proved less popular, and her singles failed to chart high in the Top 20 of the UK chart: "Lay Me Down Easy" (Number 88 – December 1989), "Hitchin' a Ride" (Number 24 – April 1990), "Love and Affection" (Number 62 – September 1990), "Shame Shame Shame" (Number 28 – July 1992) and "The Supreme EP" (Number 49 – April 1993). However, these songs were big hits in Japan, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and India, and she even had a Number 1 American dance hit. "The Supreme EP" was the last chart single by Sinitta in the UK.
Sinitta's only studio album release during this period, Naughty Naughty (1995), was a collection of pop covers and received a limited release in Asia. She appeared on the cast recording album for What a Feeling, a live recording taken from the Apollo Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh in May 1997. She replaced Irene Cara to tour with Sonia (also a former SAW artist) and Luke Goss (former Bros) in the rock and pop musicals concert, What a Feeling[10] in 1997.
Film and television[edit]
In 1981, Sinitta starred in the film Shock Treatment. Sinitta acted in the 1986 film Foreign Body and she also played the lead role in The Friends by Rosa Guy. In May 2005, Sinitta performed on Hit Me Baby One More Time on ITV. In 2006, Sinitta competed on Sky1's Cirque de Celebrité and appeared on The X Factor, as part of Simon Cowell and then Louis Walsh's mentoring team. In 2006, Sinitta appeared briefly on an episode of Songs of Praise with her mother Miquel Brown.[10]
She hosted her own chat show on MTV.[citation needed] In spring 2007, she teamed, as a judge, with David Ian, David Gest and choreographer Brian Friedman on ITV's musical talent search series, Grease Is The Word.
Sinitta has also had a cameo appearance on daytime soap, Neighbours, appeared as a panellist on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on Phill Jupitus's team and was parodied on the comedy show, Star Stories. In March 2008, she appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap, swapping spouses with ex-Coronation Street actor Bruce Jones.[11] On 10 April 2008, it was announced that Sinitta had joined the panellists on ITV daytime show, Loose Women.
Sinitta appeared as a contestant on ITV's 2010 series of Dancing on Ice, partnered by series regular professional Andre Lipanov.[12]
In November 2011, she appeared as a contestant on the eleventh series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!.[13] She joined the show on day three along with Pat Sharp, the DJ. Sinitta was the second contestant to be voted out of the jungle by the public, receiving just 2.38% of the votes cast.
In November 2013, Sinitta appeared in a remake of the 1980s song, "Take On Me", as a Children in Need special tribute alongside Harry Hill, the Hairy Bikers and many more.
The X Factor[edit]
Sinitta appeared as Cowell's righthand woman at the judges' houses stage of The X Factor and she helped to choose and assist to mentor artists such as Leona Lewis, Olly Murs and One Direction.
She continued to work with Simon Cowell, as a mentor support on The X Factor, and in the 2010 series 7 show she worked with the Groups category, at judges' houses in Marbella.[14]
With Cowell's departure from the UK version, Sinitta assisted Louis Walsh in the 2011 series 8 show with the over 25s category. On The X Factor Sinitta has worked on:
- Series 1 (2004): Over 25s (Steve Brookstein - won the show)
- Series 2 (2005): Groups (Journey South - finished third)
- Series 3 (2006): 16-24s (Leona Lewis - won the show)
- Series 4 (2007): Groups (Same Difference - finished third)
- Series 5 (2008): Boys (Eoghan Quigg - finished third)
- Series 6 (2009): Over 25s (Olly Murs - finished second)
- Series 7 (2010): Groups (One Direction) - finished third)
- Series 8 (2011): Over 25s - assisted Louis Walsh (Kitty Brucknell - finished seventh)
- Series 10 (2013): Boys - assisted Louis Walsh (Nicholas McDonald - finished second)
- Series 11 (2014): Over 25s - assisted Simon Cowell
In 2009, she regularly appeared on The Xtra Factor which is ITV2's spin-off of The X Factor, interviewing contestants' friends and family.[citation needed] She also made appearances on the 2011 The Xtra Factor, in which she visited one of the finalists' home towns.[citation needed]
Personal life[edit]
In April 2002, Sinitta married Andy Willner. In November 2005, she announced that Kerry West was to be a surrogate mother for a baby with her husband. At eight weeks into the surrogacy, however, West suffered a miscarriage. She had been carrying twins.[15] They divorced in 2010.[16]
Recent career[edit]
In early 2008, Sinitta began working with other producers and writers, including her aunt Amii Stewart and Nate & Sangoon on new material for a potential future studio album.[citation needed] Sinitta's first Greatest Hits album was released on 19 October 2009. Taking the title from her 1989 smash hit single; Right Back Where We Started From - The Hits Plus Collection is a comprehensive anthology of Sinitta's recording career from 1986 until the present day. The double CD album was released by Cherry Pop Records in association with Sony Music Entertainment.[citation needed] Sinitta now has her own production company and talent site, Attinis (Sinitta backwards) Productions and record label BritBratPop Music.
Sinitta took part in the Channel 4 series The Jump during January 2013, alongside competitors Sir Steve Redgrave and Amy Childs.[17]
In June 2014, Sinitta released a new single after a 22 year musical hiatus, working with Energise Records. The single, a dance track originally sung by her mother Miquel Brown, is called 'So Many Men So Little Time' and was released on 23 June 2014.[citation needed] On the 28 June 2014, Sinitta performed her song for the first time at Pride in London.[citation needed]
- Studio albums
- 1987: Sinitta!
- 1989: Wicked
- 1995: Naughty Naughty
- ^ "The Tube" Episode 1.8 (1982) at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "The Wall Game". BFI. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
- ^ Hiller, Tony. ""Imagination" at 1984's A Song for Europe". Hyde Park Music.
- ^ a b Cowell, Simon (2004). I Don't Mean To Be Rude But... Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-189828-1.
- ^ a b "Chartstats "So Macho" UK singles chart". Chartstats.com. 18 October 1986. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Sinitta Toy Boy". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
- ^ "Chartstats "Toy Boy" UK singles chart". Chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Chartstats Sinitta UK Singles Chart". Chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Cherry Red Records - Sinitta Wicked (Deluxe Edition) Cherry Pop". Cherryred.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
- ^ a b "Sinitta: Did she ever find her "Toy Boy"?". The Bubble Burst.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Sinitta voted off Dancing on Ice after slip". The Daily Telegraph (London). 11 January 2010.
- ^ "'Suddenly there was somebody else who looked just like me': Sinitta opens up about her secret twin sister". Daily Mail. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ^ "Not again Sinitta! This year she's in thigh-high boots as she helps Simon Cowell pick his X Factor groups". Daily Mail (London).
- ^ Dawar, Anil (8 June 2006). "Miscarriage for Sinitta's surrogate". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ "Sinitta still baffled by divorce | Showbiz | News | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
- ^ "The Jump". Channel 4. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
External links[edit]
|Wikiquote has quotations related to: Sinitta
- Living people
- American dance musicians
- American expatriates in the United Kingdom
- American female singers
- People from Seattle, Washington
- Reality television judges
- The X Factor (TV series) judges
- Dancing on Ice participants
- I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (UK) contestants
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- Black British singers
- The X Factor (UK TV series)
- 20th-century births


text:
Nissan's first U.S.-based manufacturing facility has been building quality vehicles and long-lasting careers in Tennessee for more than three decades. Pictured clockwise from inside the truck are Nissan Smyrna employees with 30 years of service: Kathy Kyle, Shirley Greene, Mark Redfern, Angela Price, Kevin Fongnaly, Mark Pionke, Greg Sells, and Melvin Norwood. (Courtesy: Nissan)
To learn more about a career with Nissan, interested applicants may visit www.Nissan.Jobs
SMYRNA, Tenn. (WVLT/AP) -- Nissan is marking its 30th year in the Volunteer State by adding 900 jobs to its plant in Smyrna, the Japanese automaker announced.
The new workers will be assembling Rogues, marking the first time the company's built the compact SUV on these shores. Hiring is already underway and Rogue production is scheduled to begin this fall.
"Our investment creates hundreds of new jobs and underscores Nissan's longtime commitment to our employees and expanding operations around the country," said Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Bill Krueger.
Thursday's announcement is in addition to 800 jobs added at the Smyrna plant last year, and will bring total employment at the suburban Nashville facility to more than 7,000.
Nissan said its Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant "has grown significantly" in the past 30 years, making cars for the global marketplace. The facility just started building the all-electric, zero-emission Leaf within the past year.
Building the Rogue in the United States for the first time is part of the Japanese automaker's plan to have 85 percent of its domestic sales to be produced in North America.
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it is investing more than a half-million dollars to clean the air around the Second Avenue subway construction site. NY1's Transit reporter Tina Redwine filed this exclusive report on the authority's plans for the improvement.
Clouds of dust will soon not be a problem at 86th Street. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says a state-of-the-art air filtration system will solve the problem they have been at having construction of the Second Avenue subway at 72nd Street.
Currently, dust and debris are housed in enclosures called "muck houses" that are not capturing all the dust on 72nd Street the way they had hoped. This has caused an outcry in the community, so the MTA searched for alternatives.
"Now we employ technology rather than a hermitically enclosed muck house in which we are containing the dust and then we are spraying it within the muck house," said Horodniceanu.
Two filtration units will be installed below ground at Second Avenue and 83rd Street and at 86th Street. A turbine will suck in the dust, mix it with water, then pump it through filters, cleaning the air of 95 percent of the visible dust which residents say is hurting them.
"Congratulations to whoever put the pressure on to make it happen," said a local.
MTA officials insist the new technology is not a public relations move, but an effort to improve conditions for residents. In fact, they are even leading tours on Saturdays for affected area residents.
"You can't imagine the scale of it until you actually see it. It's amazing," said a local.
The MTA says to further improve community relations it's planning on opening a Second Avenue information center in the neighborhood - giving residents a place to drop by and ask questions or make comments as the project moves forward.
The new air filters should be up and running by the end of June.
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As reported earlier in the year, JK Entertainment is going to be the host of the '2013 CNBLUE WORLD TOUR' concert in, and Officially Kmusic was giving the chance for fans to win tickets to the Melbourne concert!
JK Entertainment is a Sydney based event and production company that offers expertise to both corporate and individual clients as a professional entertainment company, as well as representing Concert, Music production, Film Making, Events, Exhibition, Star Management, and Entertainers in the area of personal management. CNBLUE will be performing in Melbourne at Festival Hall on Friday, May 31st, and in Sydney at Big Top, Luna Park on Saturday, June 1st.
The competition to win the tickets ran for 10 days, ending on May 20th. The entrants were asked to like K-Australia's Facebook page, and Like and Share the competition post and register their details. Two winners were chosen to win two tickets each. With each entry, answers to "Why do you deserve these tickets for you and your friend?" were submitted.
Here are the two honorary winners below! Thanks to everyone who participated in the competition!
Winner 1: Bethany Leung (Victoria)
Prize: 2 VIP Tickets to the CNBLUE concert in Melbourne
Bethany is a die-hard fan of CNBLUE who fell in love with the band thanks to their song 'I'm A Loner'. "My world revolves around them," Beth has been a BOICE ever since she both got into K-pop around 3-4 years ago. However, she thought there was no hope for her to go the concert "…until I saw that K-Australia was giving out tickets." Beth loves all the CNBLUE members especially her bias Minhyuk, and because CNBLUE is one of the very few bands in the group-dominate K-Pop world.
Winner 2: YooJin Lee (Victoria)
Prize: 2 Standing tickets to the CNBLUE concert in Melbourne
YooJin is just an average girl who has never had the chance to experience and thrill and excitement of a K-Pop concert. "I love CN to the BLUE and their high quality music. Their music is not like other K-Pop groups… I especially love Yonghwa". She is also madly in love with CNBLUE's Yonghwa and wishes to see him in person. YooJin believes the concert will be extremely helpful to relieve her of the stress and mental pressure of studies, but also restore the bond between her and her best friend.
Didn't get a chance to win, and still unable to attend CNBLUE's concert in Melbourne?
No need to worry! We have planned to keep you officially updated with all the concert details and LIVE!
Article by: Mariam
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Speakeasy uses WiFi to cultivate 'broadband resellers'
In a move to expand the broadband experience to more individuals, broadband service provider Speakeasy has introduced WiFi NetShare, which allows Speakeasy subscribers to extend their broadband connectivity to their neighbors via WiFi.
WiFi NetShare enables customers to become WiFi "administrators," who can then set up "wireless zones" within an available perimeter (usually 300 to 500 feet), using commercially available WiFi equipment. Administrators can promote the WiFi NetShare service to neighbors within the zones and establish a subscription fee for those who elect to become customers. Then, all subsequent registration and customer billing relationships are managed by Speakeasy.
"Approximately 40 percent of Speakeasy's subscribers already operate home-based WiFi networks and many of them already enjoy sharing their connection through our free WiFi sharing policy," said Arnaud Gautier, Speakeasy's director of product management.
Once a Speakeasy subscriber sets up a free WiFi NetShare administrator account and chooses a subscription amount (ranging from $20 to $100 per month in set increments), the administrator receives 50 percent of the collected NetShare subscription fees from their participating customers as credits to his Speakeasy account.
Speakeasy handles all customer billing and provides customer service for any technical questions. Administrators are responsible for some aspects of customer support, including initial WiFi setup, signup and basic troubleshooting. They are also responsible for the security and integrity of the shared network.


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mjaybx's Comments Activity
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Joined Feb 10, '11 - from 'New York, NY, US'. Posts: 64 (38% Liked) Likes: 46
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Reviews By
Beer Reviews (55)
Restaurant Reviews (0)
Since its the only brewpub in town, its an easy recommendation. Also, pretty close to the zoo and in a neat area of town.
Kid friendly and the food was outstanding. You have to try the cheese dip with hot pretzel app. I could have just eaten that (the wife agrees).
Worth the stop and I'd recommend going. This will be a must stop for me if I'm ever in Knoxville again.
Highly recommended.
They consistantly provide outstanding beer selections, really good food and knowledgable wait staff.
The downtown location has a little more character but the Innsbrook location has more beer. Plus, they have a smoke free bar, which is great. I've also sat out on the patio.
Since they opened in late April, I've been there about a dozen times. I haven't been disappointed once.
With the combination of everything, this is my favorite beer bar in the country. If you're anywhere close, you really should try it out.
Anyone planning on opening an establishment like this one should talk with these folks. This is what a beer bar should be.


text:
|Incentives & Assistance
Revolving Loan Fund: Administered by Pulaski County Economic Development, the Pulaski County Revolving Loan Fund has a balance of more than $100,000 and growing (as current loan repayments and interest build the fund), available to assist existing and start-up businesses to grow when bank financing is either unavailable or insufficient. A five-member ad hoc committee reviews applications and business plans; if the committee approves, it recommends that the County Commissioners make the loan, at which time the Commissioners hear the applicant's case and make a judgment.
Recently funded projects include three expansions of two businesses in the Francesville, and the purchase of All Seasons Home Center and opening of Winamac Lumber Yard, LLC, Pulaski County's only building-materials retailer. Funding is avaiable at three levels: micro-financing, mini-financing, and regular loans of a minimum principal of $10,000.
See the descriptions and guidelines for the program here, and the application here. (Please contact the PCED executive director before submitting an application.)
Tax Abatements:


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Feb. 16, 2013 5:10 p.m.
is an
excellent documentary about the football team at Manassas High School in North
Memphis, Tennessee. But don�t worry � you don�t have to love football to love
this film. You probably don�t even need to like football. This film is really
about overcoming obstacles, working together toward a common goal, and rising
above one�s set of circumstances. The idea is that your dreams are not
necessarily out of reach, although there is plenty of heartbreak and trouble
along the way. As a former NFL player tells the team early on, �
You gotta think
outside your circumstances
This is a team in an underfunded system, a team that has
always lost, once having a season record of 0-10. They play in an area that is
basically poor. The plant that supplied most of the families with jobs closed,
and so a lot of folks moved out. (There are several shots of boarded up houses
during the opening credit sequence.) This film documents one season in which
the team attempts to do what the school had never done before � win a play-off
The film starts with the team�s coach, Bill Courtney,
listing off players who have been shot and are no longer in school; also, another
player was arrested, and this was all within two weeks. And yet he tells them, �
is our season � I don�t care what happens
.� The film takes us through the
entire season, starting with the first day of practice.
Before their second game, there is a talk of a planned
fight after this district game. At the half, Manassas is down, 20-0. The
players are obviously down as well. Bill Courtney tells them optimistically, �
is an unbelievably good opportunity
And the team does manage to come back in the second half. As incredible
as that is, the footage after the game is even more intense. Because of the
worry of a fight, the cops stop the teams from shaking hands. And you realize
just how serious things are. The celebration of the victory juxtaposed with
very real concern of the police for the team�s safety is a seriously engaging
moment in the film. And this film is full of such moments.
The team�s coaches are all volunteers.
The head coach, Bill Courtney, began
volunteering six years before this film was shot. His first year there, the
team won four games, so they were no longer the worst team in the state.
Bill Courtney says, �
You think football
builds character, which it does not. Football reveals character
.� Bill can
relate to these kids because his own father left when he was four years old.
Not only does Courtney coach these kids, but he has to solve problems among
teammates (and in doing so, he misses his own son�s first game).
Besides the coaches, the film focuses on several of the
team�s key players. O.C. is a senior, and plays left tackle. He lives with his
grandmother, and sees football as his way out. When O.C.�s grades slip he moves
into coach Mike Ray�s house, because tutors wouldn�t go to O.C.�s house.
Seriously. These are kids who really care, who are trying to make it, who are
putting in the effort. And these are coaches who go way beyond simply teaching
them how to play the game.
Montrail (AKA �Money�) is also a senior, and plays right
tackle. He is small for the position, but mentally tough. Money�s is one of the
more heartbreaking (and ultimately heartwarming) story lines in this film. He is
injured, and is unable to play for the rest of the season. The footage of him
hearing the news from his doctor is intense. Again, you come to really care for
these guys.
The film also focuses on Chavis, a junior linebacker who
returns to school after serving fifteen months in a youth penitentiary. He gets
into fights with other players, and is suspended from team rather than kicked
One of the elements of this story that I found
fascinating was how they funded the football program. They used to play what
were called pay games, where the team would be bused out to another school, and
as Courtney says,
They�d beat our ass,
they�d give us a check, and send us back on our way. And those five or six
games would raise fifteen to twenty thousand dollars and that�s what would fund
the football program
.� The problem with that, of course, is then when you got
to your district games, your kids were already beat up and defeated. So they
started Manrise, a program to raise money.
directed and edited by Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin.
Bonus Features
This DVD has some good bonus material. There is a
commentary track with directors Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin. There are six
deleted scenes, including stuff with Joaquin, a player who spent most of his teen
years in foster care. It must have been a tough decision to cut this footage
from the film.
The Making Of
(8 � minutes) includes
interviews with Bill Courtney, Dan Lindsay, TJ Martin and Sean Combs. (Combs is
one of the executive producers.) Dan Lindsay talks about how the idea for the
documentary began with a newspaper article about O.C. He and TJ Martin talk
about their experience at the Academy Awards too.
And there is a black and white teaser trailer.
scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 19, 2013.
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Schroon Lake pulled away late to beat Chazy, 55-43, in Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball action Feb. 7.
Leading by five points late in the game, the Wildcats closed with a 21-14 run to secure the victory.
Anthony Vanderwalker scored 15 points, Jesse Shaughnessy 13 and Ian Williams 11 paced Schroon.
Chazy got 13 points from John Tregan.
NCCS 76, Moriah 51
Northeastern Clinton topped Moriah, 76-51, in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball play Feb. 7.
NCCS led from the start and led, 43-26, at the half.
Steven Carder had 18 points for lead the Cougars. Logan Miller added 16 points, Ron Armstrong 12, Tom Bedard 11 and Jamie Davison 10 for the winners.
Moriah got 18 points from Nick Gilbo and 17 from Isaac Aponte.
Moriah 57, NAC 38
Moriah rolled past Northern Adirondack, 57-38, in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball play Feb. 8.
The Vikings streaked to an 18-4 lead and never looked back.
Landon Cross scored 15 points to pace the winners. Tim Breeyear added 14 points and Nick Gilbo 10 for Moriah.
NACgot 12 points apiece from Colby Sayah and Jesse Smith.
Schroon 43, Willsboro 42
Schroon Lake edged Willsboro, 43-42, in Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball action Feb. 9.
The teams traded leads much of the game, but Schroon's 17-12 run to close the game proved to be the difference.
Anthony Vanderwalker scored 14 points and Ian Williams 10 for the 'Cats.
Willsboro got 14 points from Alex Hamel. Clay Sherman and Brandon Bertrand each had 12 for the Warriors.
Johnsburg 52,
Crown Point 46
Johnsburg edged Crown Point, 52-46, to remain undefeated in Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball action Feb. 10.
Johnsburg, the Division III leader, held an advantage the entire game. Crown Point made it interesting with a19-11 run to close the contest.
(Continued on Next Page)
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