Graduation Ceremony Pictures

The Virginia Tech Graduation ceremonies were done with the victims of the tragic campus shooting in mind. President Steger handed us our papers and a tribute to the lives lost was given by Congressman Jim Moran.

Photo's from the AOL visit in Ireland

A photograph of part of the cohort just prior to the start of our meeting with the AOL V.P. in Ireland

After a nice corporate visit at AOL the cohort was able to pose for a group photograph on their staircase.

Barcelona - Winery, Dinner and Flamenco Dancing

An older shot, but on the left side of this page is a video of the Cordobes (Las Rambles / La Rambla) Flamenco dancers that entertained us after dinner.

A few Dublin photos

The photo of the throne is from the Dublin Castle. The last reigning official to sit in it was King George V (early 1900's), but according to the guide the only other people to sit in it since have been Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Margaret Thatcher, though when separated from the tour I could have taken a seat. There aren't many photo's from the corporate visits since camera's generally weren't allowed.

For more Irish cultural photographs click here
For a Whitcomb background in Ireland - click here

Detailed trip summary

April 19, Thursday - Dublin Met Mr. Phillip Duffy, very knowledgeable and friendly. He was our personal driver and tour guide and I was able to talk with him to gather many of his personal insights into the cultural changes in Ireland. After arriving at our hotel and allowing for some time to get unpacked we took a ten minute walk to an excellent restaurant called - Fire. In fact, it was so chic that later the next week many star struck fans of English Soap Opera's were outside to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors with hopes of an autograph. Unfortunately, since our bodies were still 5 hours behind Dubliners most of us stayed out at the Dublin pubs a little too late and paid the price the next morning. April 20, Friday- Dublin 9:30 a.m. Irish Computer Society 11:30-12:30 Group lunch - School House Hotel 1:15 p.m. Arrival at U.S. Embassy for visit 1:30 p.m. U.S. Embassy 4:00-6:30 p.m. Guinness Storehouse Tour April 21, Saturday - Dublin 9:30 a.m. Depart hotel for full day tour to Wicklow 12:00-1:00 p.m. Group lunch ~ Glendalough Hotel 5:30 p.m. Return to hotel April 22, Sunday - Dublin Full day and evening on your own April 23, Monday - Dublin AOL Technologies Today we met with a V.P. from AOL and learned that AOL Dublin operates as a cost center focusing on delivering development services to the U.S. (75%) and international development (25%). This particular V.P. is very technology focused, but has reporting staff also in Virginia. We were informed that Dublin management doesn't really telecommute, but the technical staff does extensively. This is really important in Dublin because affordable living is really at least 1.5 hours away. AOL chose Ireland because of the well educated work force and, of course, low corporate tax rate of 10%, changing to 12.5% after 10 years. AOL Dublin currently only has less than 200 employees. AOL wrote a check to Virgina Tech's memorial fund, but didn't want to make public the offering. Nevertheless, we were impressed. Group lunch ~ Joel’s Restaurant Microsoft Microsoft's facilities were very hip and it seemed like a fun place to work despite the very cramped room where we met the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) General Manager. It was made clear to us that since the antitrust concerns Microsoft focuses more on values based employees and has changed from an aggressive stance to a values perspective. We were told that Microsoft is basically comprised of 7 P&L segments:

-Windows Client -Software Development -MSN -Information Worker (MS Office) -MS Dynamics - Great Plains (SMB SAP type of software) -Home Entertainment -Mobility

The EMEA manager we met advised he is over contract, billing, shipping, volume licensing and licensing within EMEA. Oddly enough shortly after the question of MSFT's position on providing child care service an employee's toddler crashed into the glass door from the adjacent cafeteria. Luckilly the little guy wasn't really hurt.

Microsoft was also kind in offering condolences to VT and told us the fable of "The Children of Lir". They then provided us a symbolic and Children of Lair statue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Lir April 24, Tuesday ~ Dublin Intel - One of the most interesting visits we met with Engineering managers and Directors. We toured the chip manufacturing facility and discussed everything from chip manufacturing, cost containment and quality control to the company strategy of focusing on delivering a platform rather than just a chip. Group lunch ~ Nancy Hands Pub The Walking Tour Dinner at Merry Ploughboys followed by show April 25, Wednesday ~ Dublin 8:30 a.m. Enterprise Ireland Then we headed back to the hotel to pack for the trip to Barcelona on the same day. Wednesday April, 25 - Barcelona: Accommodations: Advance Hotel April 26, Thursday Depart hotel for city tour or site visit April, 27, Friday Barcelona Stock Exchange Torres Winery for group lunch and tour Farwell Dinner and Flamenco Show (jackets required) Dinner at Tablao Cordobes Restaurant April 28, Saturday Breakfast at hotel Transfer to the airport for group flight

Irish Independent World News

"It was a difficult decision to come in light of those tragedies because they occurred so close to the departure, but on every visit people have shown tremendous respect and condolences to us." - Dr. Charles Jacobina, Executive Director of the EMBA program. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=27&si=1818070&issue_id=15546 Our time in Ireland has included visits with senior executives from business including Intel, AOL and Microsoft, but also Irish ventures and the U.S. Embassy. While in Barcelona we've been fortunate to also enjoy their culture: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/dublin-christ-church-cathedral.htm In the next couple of days we'll be leaving for Barcelona to visit their Financial and Stock Exchanges.

Ut Prosim - the university's motto

The words Ut Prosim can be translated, "that I may serve". Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and relatives of all who lost loved ones today in Blacksburg. http://www.givingto.vt.edu/giving-to-vt/?q=ut-prosim-society