http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090605/SPORTCOLUMNISTS/706049943/1062/SPORT

We agree – basketball needs a World Cup and we’re pursuing with our contacts in the UAE.  If anyone has any interest in getting involved, please let us know.

The Embark team is very proud of our friend and collaborator in Panama, new Daddy Jose Garcia.  Congrats to Isa and Jose!

We want to congratulate Andy Shaw on his new appointment as executive director of the Better Government Association.  Andy replaces Jay Stewart, who went to work for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this year.

The BGA is a nonpartisan government watchdog organization established 86 years ago by citizens concerned about the growing influence of Al Capone’s mob in Chicago.  Its mission is to expose and combat waste, corruption and inefficiency in government through investigations, litigation and public policy studies.

We think Andy is a perfect fit for this association and we wish him the best of luck in his new position!

As part of Dominican University’s Center for Global Peace through Commerce: Social Enterprise Series, Jim Slama, founder and president of FamilyFarmed.org will speak on “Social Entrepreneurship in the Food Industry: Lessons from America and Brazil” with special guests Marcos Croce and Silvia Barretto.  The 50 minute presentation and following Q&A session will discuss how jobs and commerce can transform lives, how the speakers came to the decision to make the world a better place and how students can follow in their footsteps.

Kathleen Houlihan, Director of the Center for Global Peace through Commerce hopes this forum encourages important discussions regarding business and the opportunity to better the world.   She hopes that members of the Oak Park and Dominican University community, students from the Corporate Social responsibility graduate level and notable “green” persons of interest will learn more about global social issues and how businesses can provide solutions.

For more information please contact Kathleen Houlihan directly at (708) 524-5982 or khoulihan@dom.edu.

We have just developed a very unique event featuring Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, and the political newspaper of record in DC and political information powerhouse, Politico!  We will release more details soon – stay tuned!

I’m headed back to Dubai next week (May 5) for meetings surrounding our Technology Transfer Today (T3) event. We have lined up a fantastic Steering Committee, representing some of the best universities, venture capital groups and technology think tanks in the world. Our goal is to help develop a technology transfer department in the Middle East and to connect university patent holders with VC’s.

Welcome to Embark’s blog.  Our team is just back from an amazing two weeks in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (UAE), Doha (Qatar) and Bahrain (Bahrain).  We led 120 executives and their spouses on a combination cultural, business and social trip.  It was quite the experience and really interesting to manage all the cultural challenges, agendas and client preferences.  We ended up with fantastic results and were able to build upon some long standing relationships and hopefully made some new friends.  Check out the photos from our trip here.  Personally, I learned a lot about the Middle East culture and enjoyed the challenge of managing our team and clients.  Have you ever worked in the Middle East?  This project has been one of the most educational experiences of my career due to the language and cultural nuances that we had to quickly learn.  If you are planning a trip there, let us know.  We can help point you in the right direction.