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Filed under: Experience | Tags: customer experience
I'm constantly thinking about the creative brief and how to get it righterer.
I've written about my approach here on the notion of collaboration and the blank page one page brief
To me the planner's role in giving a creative brief to a team is to tell team a the story, set up the protagonist/ the consumer, outline their obstacle and the part you have for them- the hero.
Give your story a beginning a middle and end. Allow the team to collaborate with you as you tell the story.
and shared Jasmine Cheng's delightful exploration here (and whoop! it's had +125,000 views since it got published).
I need to change it up again as I'm doing far less campaigns and far more service design projects. Far. More.
Building the bridge between a brand's promise and it's practice is kinda awesome and shifts the game from defining what you want to say to designing what you want people to do. It's real, it really changes things, it's difficult but not hard. It makes sense to me, and that's my challenge because I need it to make sense to other people.
And a creative brief just doesn't quite cut it. There are many reasons why. The diagnosis and the remedy are still very close bedfellows but you're writing a solution for a stage, with scripts and blocking for the actors. It needs to be rehearsed and built by collaboration. It must have the space to be fueled by improv and deliver a sense of ownership to each and every player. And it must fundamentally delight audiences.
I came across this exploration Birdman: Writing A Screenplay Is Like Writing a Poem
"you need to write.. so that…every moment is so perfectly placed, so carefully visualized and realized on the page that anyone who reads it will immediately know: "Yes, I know this can to work. I know this can work because I saw it and I felt it and I imagined it and I heard it play…in my head as if it were real. I know it work because I've already seen it happen in my mind."
There's some great thinking there about balancing out ego and the need to tell the truth, exploring how to externalize the internal obstacles that you see and creating that safety net (for both the budget and the creatives) where you've really worked as hard as you can to 'fix it on the page'.
I loved this:
we do need to strike that balance between the part of ourselves that wants to say something authentic and the part that needs to succeed. We also need to strike that balance between writing (what's in) our hearts and shaping into a form that other people can understand.
Both our form and our function can work together to accomplish that goal to tell a true story in a true way, in a way that other people can connect to. And in a way that can get people in seats to see the story you're trying to tell.
More than anything this piece is a call to action to write and re-write. The coolest thing about service design projects is that you shift from a six week cycle to at least a six month cycle. You need to think and re think the task, the tools and how the teams collaborate. I'm thinking that is time for a shift from a brief to a script.
Filed under: Great Stuff, passion | Tags: customer experience, marketing
Interesting to compare FastCo's 25 Predictions of what marketing will look like in 2020 to the recent work by the The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Both spoke with marketing visionaries around the world and posed essentially the same question: "The world of marketers today has changed drastically from what it was ten years ago. What will it be like in 2020? And what do marketers need to forge a winning career path over the next five years?"
There is a bunch of great stuff in each report but I'm just looking at 'what counts' vs 'what can be counted'.
FactCo's short and sweet thought:
Metrics are all over the place. We had page views (which was essentially like tracking escalator use at a department store—i.e., how many times people had to do a thing that's basically inconvenient), Facebook Likes (which are now of no lasting utility), video views (now an indicator primarily of paid investment), and click-through rates (which still fail to discern quality of traffic). None of them are good. Even engagement rates and dwell times are slippery. We are still yet to settle on a metric that is fit for purpose; one that is easily repeatable, undeniably valuable, demonstrably linked to ultimate effectiveness. I can't help but feel that when we do, when we're able to say, "Yes it achieved 19, and our benchmark is 12," and we know for sure that means it worked, then we will be in a transformed place. Surely. Surely it's going to happen soon.
Alex Hesz, director of digital, adam&eveDDB FastCo's 25 Predictions of what marketing will look like in 2020
The more indepth EIU:
1. It's all about engagement
Seth Godin believes that marketers who are serious about engaging the customer recognise that the most valuable moments are when the customer is actually in touch with you: using your product, on the phone with you, reading your content. If you are able to address your customers' needs during those moments—rather than put them on hold while telling them how important their call is—you're going to get engagement.
2. Get your own house in order.
An asset is an investment that generates value in the form of return on investment (ROI). Engaged customers fit the definition of an asset, but marketers often complain that their CFOs resist the idea of engagement as an asset worth investing in.
In fact, these marketers are wrong: the problem is one of data, logic and presentation. Many marketers don't fully understand what drives engagement—and therefore they can't present it in a compelling way to the CFO. "If you can quantify engagement, any CFO in the world will pay attention," says Jim Stengel. And not just pay attention, but jump in and ask, "How can I help?" Too many marketers don't understand what makes their company preferred over others.
3. Harden the soft.
Of all the factors that drive engagement, the most important may be a culture of customer centricity. Culture is often mistakenly considered to be a soft concept. It is a big concept, but it is not a soft one: it can be broken down into a very specific set of values and activities that are mirrored in incentives, salaries and promotions. Customer engagement needs to play a central role in the organisation's culture. Otherwise the business will not be sustainable.
4. Passion trumps everything
John Hagel argues that passion is the single element most critical to success in marketing. Passion enables executives to put themselves in the customer's shoes and advocate for the customer inside the organisation. It is not always a comfortable role. It requires confidence and courage. But in the end, passion determines whether or not a marketer is successful.
"If you have a passionate commitment to make an impact on the customer by being more and more helpful to them, you will either develop the skills yourself or you will find ways to connect to the skills wherever they reside," says Hagel. "It may be in other functions within the organisation. It may be in third parties. If you have the passion, you will find a way."
This same team (The Economist Intelligence Unit) has written a cracking report about the urgent need to restructure marketing to better support business. There's thirty pages of goodness- but I'm really just focussing on two of their identified trends that need urgent change and support:
A broader view of customer experience: positive customer experience across all touchpoints is increasingly seen as a company's most valuable asset. And, more than any other function, marketing is responsible for managing it across the customer life cycle and across channels, from initial awareness through loyalty and advocacy.The customer experience is increasingly seen as a key to competitive advantage in every industry. Slightly more than one-third of marketers polled say they are responsible for managing the customer experience today. However, over the next three to five years, 75% of marketers say they will be responsible for the end-to-end experience over the customer's lifetimeMetrics for revenue and engagement: Effectiveness trumps efficiency, especially in a time of rapid change. Metrics will become broader and more comprehensive, focusing on top-line revenue and overall engagement more than efficiency and brand awareness.
It feels like the mapping marketing landscape of the next 25 years or even the next 5 can be nothing more than trying to see a mythical realm. Even Sir Isaac Newton attributed his success to standing upon the shoulders of giants. I'd like to think that if we can help marketers move from counting beans to planting magic ones that the future may just be fantastical indeed.
Filed under: Digital Strategy
A brilliant presentation from Scott Galloway on Amazon/Apple/Facebook & Google (The Four Horsemen) and who will win and who will lose in the digital business economy. It's a rapid fire, 90 slide, 15 minute presentation that you MUST watch.
You will laugh and learn:
- Sales training for Facebook or Google…"I have more relationships than god and I'm on a mobile phone"
- Google Glass is not a wearable it's is a prophylactic
- Brands are built at purchase…
- Why Apple will become the first trillion dollar brand
- Self-expressive benefit: (about his watch) this is not a timepiece, I have not wound it in five years, it's vain my attempt to express Italian masculinity and signal that if you mate with me I am more likely to take care of your offspring than someone wearing a Swatch watch…
Filed under: The Rules
William of Ockham was an English monk, philosopher, theologian, who provided the scientific method with its key principle 700 years ago. 'What can be done with fewer assumptions is done in vain with more,' he said. That is, in explaining any phenomenon, we should use no more explanatory concepts than are absolutely necessary. Simplicity should never be despised.
Filed under: Experience
Have been lucky enough to be at the Spikes Festival of Creativity in Singapore. I've been involved in the forum sessions about creative talent and I presented on this:
Does your business value creative thinking? Of course it does, and you are almost certainly one of the 91% that believes it impacts directly on your company's success. But are you one of only 26% of employees who strongly believe their working culture encourages creative thought? And where does this leave the future success of our businesses?
While we all know it's important, one of the fundamental challenges organisations have is in developing a culture of innovation and inspiration. Jack Morton conducted research among employees across the globe which suggests the lack of understanding and consequent support for creative thinking could be hampering effective creative output and the ability of business to attract and retain talent.
This Forum discusses to what degree business across the globe is actively encouraging a culture and environment conducive to creative thinking and consider the success stories of those organisations that hold the nurturing and promotion of creative thinking close to their hearts.
I think that the case for change for our industry and for Enterprise is quite well-known. We know why we need to change (disruption) and we know we need to change (creativity and innovation be that digital, integration or whatever) the challenge is away going to be how.
In Andrew Ho's session he spoke about a better marriage of strategy and creative and how the tools, perspective and approaches of each discipline works better in combination rather than pass (or parse) the parcel, and a question 'will we ever run out of insight?' really stimulated some reflection on the experience of presenting and facilitating my own session.
The questions around how we deliver great ideas, how we can innovate our process, how we can support people through this journey are tough to answer.
And here's the journey to my refection. Jack's creativity research puts forward 6 recommendations to help build more creative cultures: collaboration, play, freedom to fail, space to think, ego support and idea collection. The best kind of cultures have all of these aspects and I wanted to create an experience of what those six principles in action might look like. I love the haikugami tool
- as of freedom to fail I show a haiku written about my own work culture and attempt to demonstrate how to fold a paper plane- giving permission to people to make their version as imperfect and human as they like
- I tell them a story of collaboration, how I've sought out their participation by putting a sheet under each of their seats. I tell them about the goal- let's make a hundred co-created wishes for creative culture fly. I want their thoughts and expression, but I want us to share and build on our thoughts
- I ask for playfulness a thought articulated in only 5 or 7 syllables, and line by line I ask them to stand up and let their thoughts fly across the room, and to jump and catch someone else s thought as it flies past
- ego support is about making the rewards of creativity real, fun and transparent, hopefully a room full of heads down and the energy of sharing reflects this notion
- the conference and the session itself is place to think, a context that is designed to open up different parts of the brain
- and I collect ideas and celebrate participation at the end. The photo above is just some of what I was given back from the audience
What did I learn? What thing did I see, what human truth did I observe, from delivering this experience to room full of punters wanting creativity, believing in creativity and eve working in creative fields?
It's really award and uncomfortable to move from a passive state to one of participation.
It's hard to know what's the right thing to say when you're asked to express your feelings.
And that's the point- creativity feels chaotic and a bit weird if you're not used to it. It's the reason why there's such a gap between the desire for these kinds of cultures and them grit it takes to deliver them. But the results! I have a hundred poems: inspiring, playful and brave that tell the story of what can happen in a room when you start to do things differently.
Peak insight? I think I've only just started to learn about the power and potential of human creativity.
Filed under: Digital Strategy, Experience, Zeitgeist
Have been part of the Sydney Social Media week advisory board ( top geezers) on crafting how we can explore our theme of The Future of Now: Always On Always Connected.
For me creativity, and the future are inextricably linked. We just won't make it unless we fully harness the limitless resource of our creative potential.
"As deep knowledge becomes a common asset, creativity will be the differentiating factor. Creativity is not a 'nice-to-have' attribute anymore, it's a prerequisite for performance, development and growth—supporting us in our ability to innovate and drive change faster and better." –Ben de Vries, Head of Brand Management, Ericsson
But we also won't make unless we share, we collaborate and we inspire each other with our different perspectives. I believe that social technology and behaviors may well be one of the engines that will provide the forward momentum to allow creativity to really be embraced.
The team I'm part of have been doing some global research on this (on Slideshare here) talking more than 7,000 people in 11 markets and we found that creative thought was defined as: solutions to problems that are unexpected in any field of work, not just within traditionally creative fields such as writing, design or the performing arts.
Some of the key outtakes of the research (Collaboration, Play, Freedom to fail, Ego support, Space to think, and Idea Collection) are helping me build my approach to the panel sessions I'm involved in, and these are the notions I'm looking at:
- How can we achieve more through collaboration and co-creation?
- How can we facilitate meaningful conversations, practices for devoting time to creative thinking and mindful contemplation?
- How can we balance and preserve humanness — meaning the ability to listen, empathize, engage, focus and be present in the moment — despite the constant disruption that technology enables?
Would love to know if you find the research useful. Am looking forward to my own Eureka moment. All anecdotes welcome!
Filed under: Digital Strategy, Experience, Get Friendly, Great Stuff, passion, Zeitgeist
It's Festival time in Sydney. While I'm super excited about taking my inner child by the hand and having a bit of a frolic on Sacrilege, the true sized inflatable bouncy castle Stonehenge in Hyde Park's Festival Village, I was interested to read this in The Australian
FESTIVAL organizers measure success in terms of ticket sales and economic impact, but a new cultural metric may be tweets and pictures on social media. Last year, an enormous yellow duck was a hit of the Sydney Festival, where 1.7 million people could not have missed seeing it at Darling Harbour. Some 14,000 images were posted on Instagram using festival hashtags.
Mmmm. 'Cultural Metric'. Good notion. Loads of tension in it:
- What is culture?
- How might culture be measured?
- How do we value it?
The NSW Government is investing more than $5 million to ensure the success of the 2014 Festival,
"Last year the Sydney Festival attracted more than 500,000 people with more than 120,000 tickets sold to paid events, including more than 33,000 people who attended events in Western Sydney. In 2012, it injected almost $57 million into our economy"
From that perspective an arts investment looks like a pretty good return to the taxpayers hereabouts. I wonder how they'd value those tweets.
Early last year MoMA curator of Architecture and Design Paola Antonelli led a discussion about Culture and Metrics, (which I've entirely re cut below):
- why bother?
- the reality is that cultures come and go over time. If we don't know what's valuable about a particular culture, we run the risk of losing it forever.
- not all art is concerned with culture, and not all culture is arts-based
- it's the best way to create a future that human beings want to inhabit.
- MoMA has been one of the most important cathedrals of the imagination in my life since childhood, and envisioning it as a driver of R&D across society at large is extremely exciting.
- measurement
- Kate Levin, the Commissioner of The Department of Cultural Affairs for New York City: measuring culture, is mostly about objectives and outcomes. She used The Gates as an example of a valuable, measurable project funded by the Department for Cultural Affairs. Four million visitors to this 16-day installation created $254 million in revenue for NYC.
- Measuring culture will require us to think of new ways to measure and share the story of a project's insights and impact.
- culture and value
- "For me, The Gates was never about whether the saffron curtains and plastic frames were art. Some people argued that it was a hideous monstrosity while others loved it. Instead, I just felt lucky to be part of the flow of conversation and people as we passed together through The Gates on a beautiful blue and gold day. I felt lucky to be a New Yorker. And that's the point of culture. It gives us a sense of place while at the same time evoking a deeply personal experience of the universal. "
- "For me, The Gates was never about whether the saffron curtains and plastic frames were art. Some people argued that it was a hideous monstrosity while others loved it. Instead, I just felt lucky to be part of the flow of conversation and people as we passed together through The Gates on a beautiful blue and gold day. I felt lucky to be a New Yorker. And that's the point of culture. It gives us a sense of place while at the same time evoking a deeply personal experience of the universal. "
As Rita observed, and who was at the MoMA talk, it brings to life one of Andy Warhol's statements:
- "Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art."
Creating a deeply personal experience of an enterprise, creating a real and vibrant culture, feels like a bit of an art, and has the same kind of challenge:
Answer: With great difficulty.
Then again…. people are the only metric that really counts.
It's hard. Really hard. Most companies can't do it. The ones that can, make a fortune. Life is unfair.


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BYU basketball: Cougars give up 15-point lead to lose at home, 99-87
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The BYU Cougars surrendered a 15-point lead to lose to the San Francisco Dons, 99-87, in the Marriott Center on Saturday night.
The Dons outscored BYU by 60-39 in the second half, seemingly making every shot they took.
The loss will hurt BYU's tournament chances, after they lost on the road to San Diego on Thursday. This makes it only the fourth time that Dave Rose has suffered consecutive losses as BYU head coach.
BYU's shooting let them down, scoring 42 percent from the field and just 32 percent from beyond the arc. Brock Zylstra scored 18 points for the Cougars, but Tyler Haws and Brandon Davies have had better games for BYU. The latter only had three points in the second half.
Junior guard De'End Parker had 23 points off the bench for the Dons, playing a huge part in the comeback that gave USF the eventual victory.
This loss puts BYU at 18-8 for the season.
- Jazz knock off Thunder in emotional game with...
- BYU defense has 'a long ways to go'
- Former Jazz big man Enes Kanter goes off,...
- Utah State set to hire assistant Tim Duryea...
- Brad Rock: The unforgettable Hot Rod Hundley
- Photo gallery: BYU rugby blanks Utah State in...
- 5 things you may have missed at BYU...
- Dick Harmon: Nomadic hoops coach Tony Ingle...
- A not-so-Sweet 16 for the Runnin' Utes... 120
- Former Jazz big man Enes Kanter goes... 38
- Brad Rock: Utes shouldn't feel bad, in... 34
- Can Utes turn Sweet 16 dance into date... 28
- Utes went down swinging in Sweet 16... 24
- Photo gallery and video replay: BYU... 23
- BYU defense has 'a long ways to... 23
- Home games on the Sabbath: RSL... 22

subset: commoncrawl


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Online shopping fix: Antipodean Love + WIN a mum & baby box!
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Kip and Co's four-hour online sale TONIGHT
We don't want to break the internet but... Kip and Co are having a four-hour online sale tonight with discounts of 50% off everything INCLUDING sale! The poor loves had some technical issues with ... [Read More]
The winner of January 2015 7 Vignettes with Kip and Co
The winner, as chosen by the lovely ladies at Kip and Co, Kate, Alex and Hayley, is Jessie Brakenridge, a graphic designer from Adelaide. Congratulations @jessiebrakenridge, you win a $500 Kip and Co ... [Read More]
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Oh, what a week! So many of you took part in the last 7 Vignettes of the year sponsored by Domayne. A huge congratulations to our winner @mintandfizz, we loved your festive images! Domayne ... [Read More]
Win woven leather cushions from the new ELSON collection
A second bed linen collection from new brand ELSON is coming towards the end of this month, but in the meantime, these fab woven leather cushions have been released today. And the even better news is ... [Read More]
I'm off to Dubai and one of you could come too!
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Help! Psilostemon not blooming
Michele_zone6(Z6Ontario)July 23, 2004
Can anyone suggest why my wonderful, reliable geranium psilostemon, about 7 years old, failed to bloom this year? Lots of big leaves, but not a single blossom, after years of stellar performance. It was a hard winter, but...And there is some fireblight on the leaves, but that hasn't stopped my other hardy geraniums from blooming.


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Recent Work
Recent Work
The Box Borealis
Fear Not
Ghost Dance
I'm Still Here
Fear Not, presents the captivating work of innovative, potent and dynamic neo-soul singer PaviElle French, and represents her much anticipated return to performing after a five year hiatus. In the past, PaviElle has taken the stage professionally as a vocalist, singer songwriter and spoken word artist, working with Khalil Queen, Everyday People, and as an […]
Moon and Pollution is the new electronic pop duo combining singer Molly Dean's haunting, operatic vocals with producer Graham O'Brien's (No Bird Sing) hard-hitting beats and rich, melodic textures. M&P debuted at the Bayfront Festival where Slug of Atmosphere asked them to play after hearing an unreleased track. Shortly thereafter, their song Alter Eagle was […]


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Floor Plans and Pricing
1 Bedroom
|One Bedroom
|$525 - $575
|1 Bathroom
|750 Sq. Ft.
These one bedroom units include private patio/balcony, central air, fully equipped kitchen, and laundry facilities in each building. This community is located in a quiet neighborhood and is minutes from Offutt Air Force Base and downtown Omaha.
2 Bedrooms
|Two Bedroom
|$625 - $725
|1 Bathroom
|1000 Sq. Ft.
These two bedroom units include private patio/balcony, central air, fully equipped kitchen, and laundry facilities in each building. This community is located in a quiet neighborhood and is minutes from Offutt Air Force Base and downtown Omaha.
Property Features
- Property Overview
- Special Features
- Community Features
- Apartment Amenities
- Local Schools
- Pet Policy
Timbercrest in Bellevue, NE
Timbercrest Apartments is nestled comfortably in a quiet wooded Bellevue neighborhood setting. Our one and two bedroom apartments feature central air, dishwashers, garbage disposals and blinds. Enjoy the convenience of our on-site laundry facilities and garage availability.
Our refreshing pool is sure to tempt you on those hot summer days. With close proximity to Offutt Air Force Base, Timbercrest's location is fantastic and convenient.
Special Features
- Spacious Floor Plans
- Dishwasher and Garbage Disposal
- Outdoor Swimming Pool
- Private Patio/Balcony
- Garages Available
- Wooded Neighborhood Setting
- Minutes to Downtown Omaha and Event Centers
- On-Site Laundry Facilities
- Central Air
- Great Bellevue Location
- Close to Offutt/Stratcom
- Pet Friendly Community
Community Features
- Apartment
- Courtyard
- Garages
- Laundry Facility
- Market Rate
- Pool
- Short Term Lease
- Standard
- Surface Lot
- View
Additional Information
Apartments in Community: 76
Apartment Amenities
- Air Conditioning
- Cable or Satellite
- Carpet
- Ceiling Fan
- Dishwasher
- Garbage Disposal
- Internet Access
- Microwave
- Patio or Balcony
- Walk In Closets
- Window Covering
Local Schools
- Bellevue East High School
- Bertha Barber Elementary School
- Mission Middle School
We believe school data to be accurate, but do not guarantee that. Please be sure to verify where your children will attend school before making your housing decision.
Pet Policy
Pet friendly with $250 non-refundable pet fee and $25 per month per pet fee.
- Cats Allowed
- Pets Allowed
- Small Dogs Allowed
Contact Timbercrest
Office HoursMonday-Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday by Appt. Only Sunday Closed
Our apartment homes feature private patio/balcony, central air, garages, and laundry facilities. Minutes from Offutt Air Force Base.
From the Kennedy Freeway take the Cornhusker Rd exit. Turn onto Harvell Dr, then continue onto E 16th Ave. Turn left onto Bluffs St and Timbercrest will be on the left.
As you search for your perfect apartment, please keep in mind that rental rates (including specials and discounts) and availability are very fluid in the apartment industry. Based on many factors, the rental rates (including specials and discounts) and availability can actually change not just daily, but hourly, if not even more quickly. While our advertisers do take steps to keep their information current, the rental rates or availability you may find here now at ForRent.com may not be the same as when you contact the communities.
Quick Links For Your Apartment Search
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- 68005
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Re: Success - July 2011 1x90 late removed and I gained....
I've been following your posts. You've done quite well in your credit rebuilding. I applaud you in your efforts.
Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
(793 Views)


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Ovechkin is good, but Oates says he can be better
Ovechkin: 'I think we had luck on our side today'
Admit it -- these comebacks are stretching the limits of the imagination.
Five days after erasing a three-goal deficit in an electrifying 6-5 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Cardiac Caps were at it again Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 4-1 with 16:28 remaining in regulation, the Capitals received third-period goals from Mike Green, Dmitry Orlov and Alex Ovechkin -- the final one with 48 seconds remaining – to pull off a death-defying 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
It marked the third time this season the Capitals have erased a three-goal deficit for a victory.
They also did it in their home-opening 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames.
The common denominator in all three comebacks?
Alex Ovechkin.
The Caps' 28-year-old captain netted two goals in that win over Calgary, four goals in that win over Tampa and sent Sunday's game into overtime with his league-leading 27th goal of the season.
"To be honest, I missed my shot," Ovechkin said. "It's kind of funny, but it was a perfect miss. I'll take it and the team will take it."
[RELATED: Analysis of Washington's comeback shootout win over Philadelphia]
Capitals coach Adam Oates was asked if there is anything more he's learning about Ovechkin, who seems to thrive on the dramatic.
"A guy who's a goal scorer, when you go to the right spot you're going to get them," he said. "There's a unique quality about the guy that he gets that puck that far out and he finds a lane to get it through.
"Obviously, we're very happy about it and I think there's room for his game to grow. I do. He can be a more complete player, even though he's an incredible sniper."
While Ovechkin ensured the Caps would get one point out of Sunday's comeback, Eric Fehr and Nicklas Backstrom made sure they got two.
Fehr's shootout attempt went off the left shoulder of Flyers goalie Steve Mason and rolled over the goal line to give him his fifth shootout goal of the season on five attempt.
Backstrom's goal, which came on a snap shot to the other side of Mason, was his sixth in nine attempts. The Capitals' eight shootout wins are the most in the NHL and the most in franchise history.


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Attorney's for both David Drum, the former CEO of Anglo Bank, and Anglo Bank itself have reached agreement concerning information Drumm must provide about his wealth and his role as CEO before the bank's catastrophic collapse about two years ago.
Drumm took refuge at his US home on Cape Cod as the troubled Irish bank ran into difficulties and now he's fending off angry calls to explain himself from the Irish public.
On Wednesday Drumm and Anglo Bank reached agreement in Boston's Bankruptcy Court, where future hearings could shed light on the details of Drumm's life and holdings in Massachusetts as well as in Ireland, where Anglo Irish is now pursuing his family home as partial payment for what it insists is $12 million in loans that Drumm hasn't paid back.
Meanwhile Drumm, who owns impressive homes in Wellesley and Chatham, in turn claims that Anglo Irish Bank actually owes him $3.6 million in unpaid salary, bonuses and pension contributions.
Drumm said he believed Anglo Irish has refused his offers of compromise to proceed with the spectacle of a public trial. In filings he also claimed that he was being bullied by politicians in Ireland.
Drumm had previously been based in Boston as the head of Anglo Irish's commercial lending unit, where he played a decisive role in amassing the banks multibillion-dollar real estate portfolio in Boston, New York and elsewhere.
Drumm didn't attend the Wednesday court hearing. Currently he is said to be keeping a low profile in Chatham, where he bought an upscale waterfront home for $4.6 million in early 2008.
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This one is showing absolutely superb. The 'Symbiose" is a selection of vines which are grown in amphibolites soils. Sharp steely minerals, up front brightness with nice reach across the palate and a good juicy length.
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
The item you have chosen is not in stock in our retail stores or within our main
2002 Couly-Dutheil "Clos de l'Echo" Chinon
1976 Couly Dutheil "Baronnie Madeleine" Chinon
2004 Le Clos du Château L'Oiselinière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
1989 Couly-Dutheil "Baronnie Madeleine" Chinon
2009 Claude Branger "Monnières Saint Fiacre" Muscadet Sèvre et Maine


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A good night's sleep is necessary if you want to be at your best and keep having those dreams in which you drive a monster truck over a mountain range. Dive into your subconscious with this Groupon.
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Zen Bedrooms
Online retailer Zen Bedrooms curates a small, hand-selected collection of bed frames, mattresses, and bedroom accessories. Focusing on quality rather than quantity, the owners set out to cobble together a kind of online boutique that features a healthy dose of old-fashioned customer service. The shop traffics heavily in memory-foam mattresses, which are designed by sleep scientists to contour to the body like a pool of Silly Putty, providing enhanced cushioning and support across the entire body. Other items, such as feather comforters, memory-foam pillows, and egyptian-cotton bed linens, assuage restlessness so customers can enjoy deeper sleep.
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