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The Portofino Hotel in southern California is a romantic resort in Redondo Beach, California. The hotel offers several private whirlpool tub rooms and views of the quiet marina on the Pacific Ocean. The hotel also offers spa and wedding packages for guests. The luxury suites offer wireless Internet access, plush white terry bathrobes, in-room mini bars, refrigerators and private balconies with ocean or marina views. Guests can enjoy area attractions like shopping, dining, theaters, scenic walking, fishing, kayaking and biking.
The Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica Hotel is located in Santa Monica and offers honeymoon suites with a spa tub on a private terrace with an ocean view. Some of the room features include in-room safes, individual climate control, maid services, high-speed Internet access, and free newspapers on weekdays. Guests can enjoy nearby attractions and activities like shopping on Rodeo Drive, swimming in the outdoor heated pool, or relaxing on Venice Beach.
Founded in 1922, Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration (SHA) was the first collegiate program in hospitality management. Today it is regarded as the world leader in its field.
The school's highly talented and motivated students learn from 60 full-time faculty members—all experts in their chosen disciplines, and all dedicated to teaching, research, and service. Learning takes place in state-of-the-art classrooms, in the on-campus Statler hotel, and in varied industry settings around the world. The result: a supremely accomplished alumni group—corporate executives and entrepreneurs who advance the industry and share their wisdom and experience with our students and faculty.
The search for a British woman who fell overboard from a Southampton-based cruise ship in the Mediterranean has been called off after rescuers recovered a body.
The passenger was reported missing on the Aurora as it sailed from the Portuguese city of Oporto to Barcelona on Friday, P&O Cruises said.
The ship's crew were alerted and ordered an immediate search for the woman, who has not yet been named.
Authorities and P&O Cruises' care team are now providing assistance for the woman's family, the cruise operator said.
It is understood that passengers were informed of the discovery of the body through an announcement from the ship's captain, Ian Hutley.
The Aurora left Southampton for a 14-night western Mediterranean cruise on Wednesday. P&O Cruises confirmed that all passengers on board were British.
Pat Rodgers, who is on board the Aurora with her husband, Joseph, said the woman was believed to be in her 70s and on holiday with her daughter.
Mrs Rodgers, 70, from Sheffield, said the water had been 'very choppy' and fellow passengers were 'sad and subdued'.
She said that planes an helicopters circled overhead to assist lifeboats in the search.
Mrs Rodgers said last night: "The captain made an announcement over the loudspeaker at 8.10am this morning (Saturday) and asked everyone to help keep a lookout.
"We heard that the woman is 72 and was on holiday with her daughter but we don't know how she fell in."
With the Olympics not far off, Britain needs to raise its standards of service.
Three hundred thousand foreign visitors are expected in London for the Olympics and Paralympics. Most of them have never been to Britain before. Their impression of our nation will be set by those of us they meet, on the Tube, at the Games and, most of all, in the hotels, restaurants and airports they visit.
The UK currently ranks an embarrassing 34th for customer service, according to the World Economic Forum, just behind Lithuania. If we’re going to secure gold, we need to get into training now.
The trouble is that when it comes to giving customer service, we kid ourselves. Eighty per cent of employees say they give superior service yet only 8pc of their customers agree. Even when presented with the facts about customer dissatisfaction, employees are twice as likely to blame the rest of their organisation as to take responsibility themselves.
This creates a significant challenge for company bosses. If your people believe they’re doing a great job already, what do you do without extinguishing their mojo?
The frequent but wrong answer is to rely on systems, processes or pay. BA beats Virgin Atlantic on all three but still comes way behind in customers’ rankings.
The right answer lies in getting front-line employees to pay attention. In a European-wide study of 3,000 bank customers, when the front-line member was attentive, 85pc of customers bought more products. When their experience was neutral or negative, more than 70pc reduced their financial commitment.
When it comes to getting people to give customers the attention they expect, there are five great things that leaders can do which have a disproportionate impact.
First, show you’re committed. History has it that when Bob Ayling was CEO at BA he was about to communicate his strategy around “the 3 Cs”. The only problem was that none of them stood for customer. When people believe their bosses really are committed to the customer, they will lean in.
Secondly, talk with and about customers a lot. When John Varley ran Barclays retail bank he sent every regional director a pack of M&S tokens to give to people in branches who were giving great service. One director wrote back: “Dear Mr Varley, I fear there has been some mistake. I haven’t been to a branch for eight and a half years.” There had been a mistake and he’d just made it.
When every conversation, from executive meeting to water cooler chat, is peppered with fresh stories about real customers, you know you’re heading in the right direction.
Third: being nice is infectious. When people on the front line are berated because they haven’t hit this month’s target or ignored by senior colleagues who believe they’re too important, this rubs off on how they treat their customer. Employees who feel great about work and supported by colleagues are more likely to smile, listen and be patient with customers.
The final great influence is managers. When they’re reporting on sales figures or serving customers themselves, they aren’t helping. When they’re observing and guiding the people who talk directly to customers they are.
The legacy of London 2012 will be decided far less by the quality of the Olympic Village or the glory of the opening ceremony and far more by how hundreds of thousands of us treat our million or so guests. We need to pay attention.
Octavius Black is CEO of Mind Gym (www.themindgym.com). 'Paying Attention: how to turn your customers from deluded to delighted’ is published on March 21. For a free copy, email Rebecca Wallace marketing.uk@themindgym.com.
You've been working too hard lately. Take a load off this weekend by scoring some major guilt-free deals (books, anyone?) and engaging in a little pampering (moms, we're looking at you). Plus, we've got the scoop on the hottest upcoming Bay Area fashion events. You deserve it!
If you're a devotee of Buy Curious, you might have noticed my small love affair with the Sartorialist. His sublime photos of the fashion elite and everyday trend-setters on the streets of Paris, New York, and Stockholm, have us drooling and inspired (almost) daily. Buy Curious has tried this repeatedly; alas, you inevitably see that rare non-frumpy East Bay'r while you're zipping by in your car or in a moment without your camera. Thankfully, one local person, named Mai, has taken up this worthy endeavor with zeal. Her photo blog, Fashionist, captures local flavor in all its forms, including Mission hipsters, 50s rockabilly types, bohemians, and suits on Market Street. While her focus tends to be in SF, she's got some recent shots from her trip to the Alameda Antiques Fair. Nice! Check it out.
Ah ... music to our ears.
In case you hadn't heard, Cody's Books on Fourth Street is moving to Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley. To prepare for its move later this month, the independent bookseller is having a storewide 40 percent off sale. Don't miss it!
The downtown Oakland boutique is having a 40 percent off sale on books, bodycare, and other goods. If you stop by today, they're open till 10 p.m.
If you're fond of Kimora Lee Simmons' line, you won't want to miss this sale.
When: March 6-March 8, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Afterglow, owned by Amy Cools of AC Clothing and Bags, is celebrating the launch of its new design studio in Chinatown. Cools is neighbors with lingerie designer Jennifer Lynne or Porcelynne, who'll also be hosting an open house at the same time. Check out AC Clothing's new 2008 designs, peruse her sale rack, nosh on snacks, sip wine, and view some art. Cools says this will be part of a new ongoing Second Saturdays Fashion Night in Oakland. Hooray!
When: March 8, 6-10 p.m.
Where: Afterglow, 261 10th St # 202, Oakland "Meet, Groove, and Shop"
That's the slogan of an event this Saturday at Alameda's Crosstown Coffeehouse, according to the Alameda Sun. The free event invites moms and their babies to get free makeovers, shop for cute and affordable locally designed products (jewelry, T-shirts, cosmetics, etc.), and try a "sling and squat" exercise (with live music) with your little one.
When: Saturday, March 8, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
20 percent off your entire purchase with this email Or 25 percent off if you use your BR card.
Enjoy 20 percent off purchases of $100 or more at this online retailer.
Clear your calendars and RSVP for these upcoming can't-miss local fashion events.
181 Third St., San Francisco, noon-6 p.m.
4/13 - Thread Spring Show The Galleria, SF Design Center, 300 Townsend, noon-6 p.m.
Hayes Valley Park 11-6 p.m.
Further cementing its place as the East Bay hub for fashion, the developer of Walnut Creek's Broadway Plaza recently announced it has successfully wooed Neiman Marcus to its ranks, reports the Contra Costa Times. After years of trying, the developer was apparently able to convince the store that there's still demand for high-end retail despite the slumped housing market, fear of recession, and some high-end boutiques seeing thinning crowds. Neiman Marcus plans to open its store in 2011.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day will be participating in an upcoming ad campaign, along with other celebrities (please say no Avril!), marking Converse's 100th anniversary and the launch of its Century footwear collection. The new line will feature original designs and "reinterpreted classics." They're also partnering with the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, whose goal is to fight AIDs and other diseases.
The #MeToo comebacks are coming. And they’re revolving, once again, around the desires of those who needed to negotiate the returns in the first place.
Famous man, straw man: It is an intoxicating combination. It is also a misleading one. Of course #MeToo comebacks are possible in the middle ground; of course notions of restorative justice—which are nuanced, and holistically empathetic, and focus their energies on victims as well as perpetrators—should be part of the calculus when it comes to conversations about forgiveness and responsibility and the long arc of a professional and moral career. What’s less tenable, though, is the widespread notion that the comebacks should be treated as all-or-nothing, black-or-white events. What’s less palatable is the insistent lack of nuance that tends to characterize discussions about comebacks, be it C.K.’s or Ansari’s or Lauer’s or Charlie Rose’s or Mario Batali’s or Garrison Keillor’s. Make his return entirely on his own terms—in a surprise set at the Comedy Cellar, in a series of shows in Milwaukee—or be banished; come back in precisely the way he wants, or be canceled. Those, it is so often assumed, are the options.
Desire, once again—male desire, enabled desire, empowered desire—triumphs. The world’s physics return to their regressive inertias. The desire of the dudes, once again, becomes the force around which everything else, and everyone else, must spin: It will not be challenged. It cannot be refused. It is its own question, its own reply, and its own blunt truth.
His comeback, though, offers another manifestation of power differentials—more proof of the myriad ways male desire still shapes and moves the world. Rebecca Corry, one of the women who discussed the behavior of Louis C.K. before he finally admitted to the truth of her claims, has received mockery, death threats, and other assorted tokens of hatred from members of the public who, despite the events of the previous year, still insist on bowing before the hulking altar of male genius. The man who inflicted his own wants on Corry, on the other hand, is staging his comeback to comedy at his own leisure, at his own pace, on his own easy terms. On Sunday evening, Louis C.K. strode onstage at the Comedy Cellar, hoping for—trusting in—the applause of a grateful audience. It is profoundly revealing that, in this desire, once again, Louis C.K. was justified. He received, the Times reports, an enthusiastic ovation.
ATLANTA – A famed black restaurateur from Atlanta is joining Georgia's crowded race for U.S. Senate.
Herman Cain (search), who once ran the Nebraska-based Godfather's Pizza chain, wants Zell Miller's Senate seat. But he has never run for office before, and he must beat two sitting congressmen and another black businessman to get the Republican nomination in 2004.
"He's a very qualified, winnable candidate," said Alex St. James, director of the African American Republican Leadership Council (search) in Washington.
The race is the first statewide election in post-Reconstruction Georgia to pit two black Republicans against each other. Cain will face fellow Atlanta businessman Al Bartell (search), who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor last year.
Cain, 57, had a hardscrabble childhood in Atlanta, but worked his way throughMorehouse College (search). He worked for Burger King and The Pillsbury Co. before taking the helm of a struggling pizza chain in 1986.
Within two years, Godfather's Pizza was out of debt, and he bought the Omaha, Neb.-based pizza chain from Pillsbury for $50 million.
Cain's resume includes a short time as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City (search), Mo., and as co-chairman of Steve Forbes' 2000 presidential bid. He's also a motivational speaker and author of three leadership books.
Cain was traveling Wednesday and unavailable for comment. He filed as a candidate last week.
Despite his personal fortune, the businessman is new to Georgia politics and faces a struggle to win the nomination.
Also in the bidding are U.S. Reps. Johnny Isakson (search) and Mac Collins (search), both seasoned state politicians from Atlanta's Republican-leaning suburbs. But Georgia Republican Chairman Alec Poitevint said the two black candidates have a decent shot.
"It's wide open," Poitevint said. "We have been proactive for a long period of time to let people know our party is open."
Cain could get a boost from Georgia's open primaries, where people may vote in a party's primary without joining it. That means blacks who traditionally vote Democratic could vote for Cain in the GOP primary.
"We could see a lot of participation here," St. James said. "But he's not running as an African-American. He's running as a Georgian. This is not about a black man running for the U.S. Senate."
Bartell praised Cain even though he's running against him and said they could draw record numbers of blacks to the state GOP.
"African-Americans need a seat at all tables," he said. "We're black, we're Republicans and they're listening to us. That's something people pick up on."
Actor and director Ben Affleck was caught counting cards at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas Monday night and was banned from playing blackjack a source told TMZ..
Affleck, 41, and wife Jennifer Garner were in Sin City for a romantic getaway before Affleck starts filming “Batman” in Los Angeles and Detroit.
The source said Affleck was barred from playing shortly after 10 p.m. “due to moving his money with the count.” He was allegedly using “perfect basic,” which is a common term for introductory card counting.
Casino management ordered a car to take Affleck and Garner back to their hotel.
Card counting is not allowed by casinos because it gives a player a statistical edge over what cards are left to be dealt. If a player can keep track of the cards that have been seen, the player can establish a “count” to raise their bet if it is a “plus” count or lower the bet if it is a “minus” count.
Counting cards is not illegal, but since casinos are private property they can ask anyone to leave. Casinos who realize someone is counting cards share that information with other casinos.
Affleck was not banned from playing other games at the Hard Rock, just blackjack.
Affleck is no stranger to high stakes gambling. In 2001 he won $800,000 playing blackjack at the Hard Rock in Vegas, giving $150,000 in tips to dealers and waitresses in the high rollers’ Peacock lounge.
He also is a very good poker player, having won the 2004 California state poker championship at the Commerce Casino, beating 89 others, most seasoned professionals.
Affleck has won two Academy awards, directing the 2012 movie “Argo” which won best picture, and best writing, screenplay for the 1997 movie “Good Will Hunting” starring in the film with childhood friend Matt Damon.
Harry Kane was ruled out for around two months because of ligament damage in his left ankle, dealing a huge blow to Tottenham's chances of winning a first piece of silverware under Mauricio Pochettino.
The England captain was not expected to return to training until early March, Spurs said, after getting injured in the last seconds of the 1-0 loss to Manchester United. That rules Kane out of at least seven Premier League matches and probably both legs of his team's Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Kane also is sure to miss the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Chelsea, as well as the February 24 final should Spurs advance. Tottenham have a 1-0 lead from the first leg, courtesy of a penalty from Kane.
Tottenham's other main source of goals in recent months has been Son Heung Min, but the South Korea forward has just left the club to join up with his national team at the Asian Cup. Son isn't expected back until early February, so he will miss at least five games in all competitions.
Tottenham are third in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Liverpool. They are also through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, where they face Crystal Palace on January 27.
In the absence of Kane and Son, Pochettino could turn to either Fernando Llorente, usually a late substitute in matches, or attacking midfielder Dele Alli as the main striker.
Amid reports of a clean chit by the Supreme court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged role in the 2002 riots, suspended IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt on Saturday shot off another letter to the Nanavati Commission accusing the state government and the team of “destroying” records related to the riots.
Following up on his earlier reminders, Bhatt wrote yet another letter alleging that crucial records related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots have been “destroyed’”by the Gujarat government and SIT.
“It is my genuine apprehension that relevant records have been deviously suppressed or destroyed by the government of Gujarat, as well as the SIT headed by R K Raghavan," Bhatt said adding that it had been done with the diabolical motive of shielding powerful persons from legal punishment by ensuring that crucial and relevant incriminating evidence is not brought before the courts of law.
Bhatt's allegations come after the SIT, in its final report submitted to the magistrate court, has reportedly given a clean chit to Modi and others.
“The delay on part of the Commission in requisitioning the relevant public records and documents has, inadvertently or otherwise, facilitated the destruction of incriminating evidence against the Modi or other ministers in his council,” Bhatt alleged.
Bhatt suggested that the Commission has the powers to procure any document. “It also empowers the Commission to requisition any public record or copy thereof any court or office. It is reiterated that the documents submitted by me to the SIT as well as others which would be available with the office of the Director General and Inspector General of Police as well as the State Intelligence Bureau would clearly reveal the dubious role and criminal conduct of the then chief minister or other ministers in his council of ministers, Police Officers and other individuals and organisations,’’ said Bhatt.
There’s a scene in last year’s documentary by Lilly Rivlin, Heather Booth: Changing the World, in which Heather and Paul Booth discuss how they met at an anti-war sit-in at the University of Chicago’s administration building in 1966.
“The sit-in lasted several days and nights. We got to know each other very well,” Paul recalled. “By the end of the week I was ready to propose marriage and I did.” Married the following year, they spent a lifetime together as key organizers and activists in every social justice movement of the past half-century.
On Wednesday, Heather was escorted, in handcuffs, out of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., at a protest of Dreamers and Jewish activists in support of DACA and immigrant rights. At the time, she didn't know it was Paul's last day. Paul had died unexpectedly at 7:30 p.m. of complications of leukemia.
In their last conversation, Paul told Heather that he was proud of her involvement in the civil disobedience. It bespeaks their lifetime together as activists.
Paul spent 43 years working for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) before retiring last year. Throughout his lifetime as an organizer and activist, he was a key bridge-builder between the labor movement and other progressive crusades for immigrant rights, civil rights, women’s rights, and peace.
Born in 1943, Paul was raised in Washington, D.C., by Socialist Party members. His mother was a psychiatric social worker. His father was an economist with the Department of Labor and one of the architects of Social Security in the Roosevelt administration.
Impressed with Hayden’s vision of building a student movement to challenge the nation’s political and economic status quo, Paul formed an SDS group at Swarthmore, building it into one of the largest in the country. The chapter’s initial work involved participating in civil rights protests in nearby Philadelphia and Chester. At the SDS meeting at Port Huron, Michigan, in 1962, Paul was instrumental in drafting the Port Huron Statement, the group’s manifesto of youthful idealism and pragmatic activism. At that gathering, SDS elected Hayden as its president and the 19-year-old Booth as its vice president.
“My starting point was a commitment to mass organizing, that’s why I admired [Eugene] Debs,” he told SDS historian Miller, referring to the union organizer and Socialist Party candidate in the early 1900s. “He got votes, organized strikes and went to jail for protesting the First World War. He was both an effective organizer and a principled leader.” (The Booths named their eldest son Eugene. Their other son was named for Daniel de Leon, another Socialist labor activist in early 20th century).
In the summer of 1963, Paul worked with Arthur Waskow at the Peace Research Institute in Washington, D.C., researching the potential for shifting federal spending from military to civilian projects and helping defense workers shift into jobs outside the military-industrial complex.

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