PlayTime Inc. Team Building & Leadership News

FW: Frontier Airlines Files for Bankruptcy

Wow, Aloha, ATA and now Frontier, I'm glad I'm not in the airline business...

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From: Meetings West Magazine [mailto:subscriptions@meetingsmedia.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 1:21 PM To: bigkid@playtimeinc.com Subject: Frontier Airlines Files for Bankruptcy

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Frontier Airlines Files for Bankruptcy
Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy April 11, but said it plans to continue scheduled service.

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ATA Airlines Shuts Down

TIA Names New Chair

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US Airways to Connect Tucson and Charlotte

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FW: seattletimes.com: WaMu shareholders show anger, CEO Killinger asks for patience

Wow, interesting reaction to a large company here in the Puget Northwest region...

-- John Chen CEO & The Big Kid Technology Based Team Building Adventures www.geoteaming.com (206) 856-8491

2007 #4 Fastest Growing Minority-Owned Company Creating Award Winning Life-Changing Adventures since 1997, our 10 Year Anniversary!

-----Original Message----- From: john@geoteaming.com [mailto:john@geoteaming.com]
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 3:47 PM To: john@geoteaming.com Subject: seattletimes.com: WaMu shareholders show anger, CEO Killinger asks for patience

This message was sent to you by john@geoteaming.com, as a service of The Seattle Times (http://www.seattletimes.com).

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WaMu shareholders show anger, CEO Killinger asks for patience Full story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004351750_wamu16.h tml

By Drew DeSilver Seattle Times business reporter

Visibly shaken by an outpouring of investor anger, Washington Mutual Chief Executive Kerry Killinger pleaded with shareholders and employees who packed Benaroya Hall on Tuesday to give his management team a chance to turn things around.

"I understand it. It hurts," Killinger said. "No constituency is happy. I'm not happy. This thing has hurt."

But even before WaMu announced another massive loss and warned there may be as much as $19 billion in more bad loans on its books, some investors were in no mood for patience.

"You're the owners, not them -- they're employees," Alan Henry, a retired broadcast executive from St. Petersburg, Fla., told his fellow shareholders. "Take the damn company back!"

Seattle-based WaMu, until recently one of the nation's top home lenders, has been rocked by the collapse of the national housing boom and the credit-market turmoil that followed.

On Tuesday, the company reported a first-quarter loss of $1.14 billion, on top of the $1.9 billion lost in the final quarter of 2007.

To save money, the company is cutting thousands of jobs and has sliced its quarterly dividend to just 1 cent a share. It also raised more than $7 billion in new capital by, effectively, selling half of itself at a discounted price to a group of institutional investors.

"I know it's tough," Killinger said at the meeting. "Nobody likes a penny dividend. Nobody likes the stock price where it is. Nobody likes to raise capital now. I'd never do any of that, except we have to."

But WaMu, he continued, "has the capital, the passion, the commitment to ... get through this. We're going to have terrific days ahead of us. I just want people to calm down, have a little faith."

For many shareholders, however, their faith had clearly run out. Killinger was jeered several times -- almost unheard-of in the staid, by-the-book world of corporate meetings -- and several investors demanded that he, other executives and directors quit to take responsibility for the thrift's troubles.

Henry accused Killinger of opting for the investment led by private-equity firm TPG, rather than a reported buyout offer from JPMorgan Chase, simply to preserve his job.

Then, addressing Killinger directly, Henry said: "What you've got to do is what some real men do -- real men. When you face a situation like this, you stand down. I ask you, out of good judgment, to stand down."

A man who identified himself as a WaMu employee and shareholder laid the blame for the company's troubles squarely on Stephen Rotella, president and chief operating officer since 2005.

The man, whose name could not be made out clearly, said that under Rotella's leadership, WaMu loan consultants were paid more for writing subprime mortgages and so-called "option ARMs" with ultra-low teaser rates than for writing safer, fixed-rate loans.

Those loans, along with home-equity loans, now are going sour at a faster clip than the rest of WaMu's loan portfolio.

"This man [Rotella] has driven the company to the edge of bankruptcy and he should be fired, and his bonuses should be taken back from him," the man said, his voice quavering with emotion.

The sometimes raucous crowd, which filled the 2,500-seat auditorium almost to capacity, was split between supporters and opponents of WaMu's management. Though the critics were frequently applauded, so were people like Amber Gravett, who rose to defend Killinger and his team.

"I have seen Kerry fiercely protect the independence of Washington Mutual from gobbler-up banks like Chase," said Gravett, who said she is an employee and shareholder. "I'm probably going to get booed for this, but I think, Kerry and Steve, you're doing a wonderful job."

Several labor-backed groups and shareholder advisory firms had called on shareholders to reject some of the 13 board candidates up for election. One of those targeted, Finance Committee Chairwoman Mary Pugh, resigned before Tuesday morning's board meeting, Killinger said.

He also announced, at the start of the meeting, another concession to shareholder criticism.

WaMu's 2008 executive bonus plan has been roundly denounced for minimizing the impact of soured real-estate loans and foreclosure expenses. Many observers saw that as an attempt to shield executive bonuses from the impact of the mortgage meltdown.

Killinger said the plan will be revised to include "specific credit-related targets for which we will be held accountable."

Based on preliminary vote totals, Killinger said all of the directors (except Pugh) had retained their seats.

A nonbinding shareholder proposal -- opposed by management -- to separate the positions of chairman and chief executive also appeared to be passing narrowly. Killinger holds both posts.

The meeting somewhat overshadowed WaMu's quarterly financial results, which the company had pre-announced last week.

As expected, WaMu lost $1.40 a share, versus a profit of 86 cents a share a year earlier. Nonperforming assets -- delinquent loans and foreclosures -- rose to $9.2 billion, or 2.87 percent of total assets -- nearly triple that of a year ago.

In a conference call with analysts and investors, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Casey said that depending on how quickly the housing market stabilizes, WaMu's "best guess" is $12 billion to $19 billion of loans on WaMu's books will go bad and have to be written off over the next three to four years.

That means that, in addition to the $4.7 billion WaMu has banked for future loan losses, the company will have to set aside $8 billion to $15 billion more. Those loan-loss provisions should peak this year, then decline in 2009, Casey said.

The report showed other worrisome trends. Net interest income at WaMu's retail-banking unit, on which the company is pinning much of its hopes for recovery, slipped a bit as the economy weakened.

Credit-card losses grew to 9.32 percent of WaMu's overall card portfolio, from 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter. Rotella said the credit-card losses should average 9.5 to 10.5 percent the rest of this year.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com

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FW: This just might inspire you.

Inspiring...

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From: TED [mailto:TED@mail6.subscribermail.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 10:15 PM To: bigkid@playtimeinc.com Subject: This just might inspire you.

Here's an inspiring way to start the week.

Take a look at these films. They are each just one minute long. They feature a choir in one country singing another country's national anthem: a simple idea that packs surprising emotional power.

France sings for USA

Kenya sings for India

Japan sings for Turkey

They were shot by film directors looking to support the landmark TED project Pangea Day (which I hope you have calendared for Saturday, May 10).

The event is looking amazing, and I will be writing with some breaking news later in the week. Meanwhile, check out the trailer . And do feel free to forward this note.

- Chris Anderson, TED Curator

P.S. There are more of these anthems on the way.

Unsubscribe or update your email address. Email Marketing

TED | 55 Vandam Street | 16th floor | New York, NY 10013

Working for the Dalai Lama today

I and Jo Fjellman are facilitating for the Dalai Lama, working on prioritizing and enacting an action plan of compassion.

It's been moving and inspiring, I hope it inspires you to do an act of compassion today!

-- John Chen CEO & The Big Kid (206) 856-8491 www.geoteaming.com

Dalai Lama at Qwest field

wow!

-- John Chen CEO & The Big Kid (206) 856-8491 www.geoteaming.com

Death cab rocks the dalai lama

-- John Chen CEO & The Big Kid (206) 856-8491 www.geoteaming.com

chillin with the dalai lama

-- John Chen CEO & The Big Kid (206) 856-8491 www.geoteaming.com

LEADERSHIP OPP FOR ASIAN and PACFIC ISLANDERs - March 22 Application Extension - ACLF CLP

-----Original Message----- From: ACLF Northwest [mailto:aclfnw@aclfnorthwest.org]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 12:46 PM To: API Community Leadership Foundation Subject: March 22 Application Extension - ACLF CLP

*Please distribute widely. Apologies for cross-postings.

ACLF is extending their CLP application deadline to Saturday, March 22. Please forward to your networks and encourage your contacts to apply. We can be reached at 206.625.3850 or aclfnw@aclfnorthwest.org for more information.

Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cherry Cayabyab Interim Executive Director Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation

Office: 409 Maynard Ave S, Suite 201A Seattle, WA 98104 Mailing: PO Box 14461 Seattle, WA 98114 206-625-3850 phone & fax || www.aclfnorthwest.org

Promoting social, economic and political justice by training and supporting a strong, sustainable community of civically engaged leaders that reflects the diversity of local Asians & Pacific Islanders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

APPLY NOW : ACLF's 2008 Community Leaders Program

Are you someone who has invested in long-term community service in the local Asian and Pacific Islander community, and is looking to develop her/his skills further? Someone who would like to invest in yourself to become a leader, but currently do not think of yourself in that way? Someone who would welcome the opportunity to learn about the history of our community from many of the people who made that history? ACLF is looking for emerging leaders in the Asian and Pacific Islander community to apply to our 2008 Community Leaders Program.

ACLF seeks to recruit people who represent the diversity of our community in terms of ethnic group, nationality/immigration status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, age, geographic location, and more. We also seek a mix of experience levels. Please forward this message on to help us recruit yet another wonderful class!

Here's what a few alumni have to say about the program:

Jeff Liang, Class of 2006, reflects positively on his experience: "The CLP program provided the foundation I needed to become a source of strength for my community. The lessons I learned and access to dedicated and influential people helped me create a network that I can use to help peers and community partners reach their goals. The CLP program makes leadership concrete."

Kendee Yamaguchi, Class of 2005, reports that "Within two months of graduating from the program, I returned ACLF?s investment in me to the community. I was able to apply the skills that I learned from the workshops to create informational packets, press releases, and solicitation letters for a local non-profit. Without ACLF?s training, I would not have been able to give back to the community in such an effective and meaningful manner.
From my experience, my commitment to the API community has grown even stronger. Not only am I more well-connected with the community, I have an amazing support network on a professional and personal level."

About the Community Leaders Program There are innumerable emerging leaders amongst us of all ages, cultures and walks of life. ACLF focuses on cultivating emerging Asian Pacific Islander leaders to strengthen our vital and complex community. We do not define "emerging" by age. Our class participants are chosen on a basis of their demonstrated commitment to community issues, desire to learn, and readiness to contribute to the group. They come from the private, nonprofit, and public sectors. Our participants are a mix of first-generation immigrants and second-generation APIs and beyond.

ACLF provides training and support to help these individuals grow as effective leaders, be it as staff, board members, or volunteers in all three sectors. Our three-pronged approach fosters the development of individual leadership, community strength, and inter-community unity to promote issues critical to Asian Pacific Islanders:

Semi-monthly Workshops Participants develop skills for effective, values-based community leadership, such as public speaking and multicultural collaboration. Community leaders volunteer their time to teach these sessions. Participants build knowledge of API community issues through interaction with facilitators and with staff at each community organization that hosts a workshop session.

Networking and Mentoring Opportunities ACLF creates opportunities for participants to receive mentoring to help build the participants' networks in the API community. Participants also develop and follow-through on community leadership goals with their mentors. The opening, mid-year, and wrap-up retreats foster relationships among the participants, building a strong network that serves them in their future community work.

Community Project Each CLP class completes a project in service of a grassroots organization. In doing so they put into practice their leadership skills and values of community service and social justice. They also deepen their knowledge of a current issue in the API community. This is a significant component of the program that involves times outside of the semi-monthly workshops.

Program Objectives *To foster ethical, compassionate and self-reflective API leaders who promote greater social, economic, and political justice. *To build strong interpersonal relationships that promote communication, support, and accountability to each other and to the API community. *To strengthen inter-group collaboration through knowledge and understanding of diverse perspectives within the API community. *To cultivate leaders who value and practice coalition-building across all communities in order to benefit the community at large. *To build connections between the CLP class and the greater API community.

The Community Leaders Program requires a significant commitment of time, including attendance at the Opening Retreat on May 16 - 18 (May 16 is a half-day), workshops twice a month, a mid-year retreat, a wrap-up retreat, and the Graduation Dinner in early November. In addition, participants meet outside of these sessions to work on their community service project and to develop a relationship with their mentors. ACLF expects applicants, if accepted, to commit to full participation in these components, in order to ensure a quality experience for both the participant and the entire group.

Applications are due Saturday, March 22. More information at http://www.aclfnorthwest.org/clp.htm or contact Cherry Cayabyab at cherry@aclfnorthwest.org / 206-625-3850. Application form attached.
Download 2008_clp_application_32208.pdf

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