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Free exporting event promises to help Yorkshire businesses save thousands

4X Currency Corporation, the world’s first online currency exchange company, is holding a breakfast briefing, in association with UK Trade & Investment and Leeds Chamber of Commerce on Thursday July 3^rd at the Radisson hotel in Leeds to help Yorkshire companies save money when importing and exporting.

The free one hour event will feature a number of specialist speakers from a range of organisations covering topics including identifying foreign opportunities, eliminating risks, demystifying international payments, foreign VAT recovery, international Leeds, dispute resolution on overseas trades and how to benefit from exchange rates.

4X Currency’s managing director, Helen Scott who will be speaking at the event comments: “We decided to hold this event as the credit crunch is really starting to bite and all local businesses could do with a helping hand and some useful advice on how to save money in this current climate. We are delighted to be working alongside UK Trade & Investment and Leeds Chamber of Commerce and I am sure our attendees will come away with some really useful tips which will help grow their foreign trade.”

Attendees of the event will also get the opportunity to network with other managing and finance directors during the course of the morning.

The event takes place on Thursday July 3^rd at the Radisson Hotel, Leeds 7.30 - 9.00am

The speakers will be discussing the following:

· Recognise opportunities as the credit crunch bites (Colin Russell, UK Trade & Investment)

· Benefiting from the effect of the exchange rates on the pound  - (Colin Smith, former head of foreign exchange Commerzbank)

· Dispute resolution on overseas trades (Gerard Khoshnaw, Head of Commercial Dispute Resolution, The Law Society’s Cross Border and International Reference Group, Nabarro)

· Look for an opportunity in foreign VAT recovery (Martyn Redman, Chairman, Eurocash Corporation)

· Reduce the costs dramatically from your foreign currency transactions (Helen Scott, managing director, 4X Currency Corporation)

· International Leeds (Steve Haynes, International Trade Advisor Leeds Chamber of Commerce)

For a free invitation, please contact Chris Norton on 0113 394 7960 or via e-mail chrisn@wolfstarconsultancy.com

ENDS

Notes to editor:

• 4X is able to offer competitive rates because it has developed the first unique online foreign exchange system (4X Dealer™) which provides the end user with live dealing rates, and the ability to complete the currency purchase themselves. It’s free and easy to use and it allows the user to instantly make currency purchases without the need for long, complicated and costly phone calls to banks or other provider
• 4X won the Business of Tomorrow award at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards 2007 (BAHBAS)
• 4X operates in a unique and price transparent way, providing exchange rates that customers can actually obtain at that particular time, rather than rates that are merely indications based on the bank’s interbank rate
• 4X is a registered overseas money provider with HM Revenue and Customs
• 4X Dealer™ can process 2,000 trades per second and transfers can be made to any worldwide bank
• 4X Dealer™ has been designed especially with the business market in mind to enable companies to receive live, up-to-the-minute, market rates so that they select the most favourable ones available before making a transfer.

Contact: Beth Kay / Chris Norton

+44 (0)113 394 7960 / +44 (0)7932 864 901

Skype bethanykay

bethk@wolfstarconsultancy.com

Technorati Tags: marketing,4X,news

Trafford chooses Fronter for its move into a digital era

Trafford Local Authority (LA), one of the highest performing local authorities in the country, has signed a contract with Virtual Learning Environment (vle) provider Fronter, allowing pupils across the region to benefit from the new online tool.

The Virtual Learning Environment will be available to all schools in Trafford allowing pupils and teachers to share and host learning opportunities and resources needed to help pupils learn and develop in education.

The new vle is part of Trafford LA’s education strategy to push the boundaries of learning through the use of digital classrooms that can be accessed by not only pupils and teachers, but by parents too. Parents will be allowed secure access to view their child’s attendance and performance and school events over the internet, allowing greater interaction with their child’s education.

The initial contract will run for two years and will see the vle implemented into 86 sites, including 68 primary, 12 secondary and four schools by September 2008. All Trafford’s teachers and teaching assistants will be members of the LA wide portal, allowing for collaboration between all schools.

One of the key advantages of the Fronter platform is that the vle can be used from any computer with internet access, in school or off-site. This allows pupils to access the same information at home and in the classroom. Pupils will be able to communicate with friends and teachers, access virtual learning resources, including audio and visual material and discuss topics with other pupils outside of school hours.

Bill Gayler, Fronter’s UK managing director, commented: “We are very excited about working with Trafford to implement the Fronter learning platform to schools in the region. We feel that the vle will be of great benefit to both students and teachers and will allow parents to play a greater role in their children’s education.”

Margaret Woodhouse, director of education and early years service for Trafford comments: “Fronter was chosen for Trafford after an in-depth analysis of learning platform providers. After looking at our school’s needs and the tools provided by Fronter for education, it was clear that the vle was the right choice for our teachers and young people.”

Fronter operates within its core values of openness, simplicity and pedagogic focus which are applied not only to the vle but the entire work ethos of the company.

Roger Larsen, international managing director at Fronter said: “Because Fronter is an open company, it develops its learning platform in partnership with its users. We work closely with schools and LA’s like Trafford to ensure the implementation of the platform is correct. This allows the system to be used easily and it can then be embedded into everyday school life.”

---ENDS--- 

For more information please contact, Sebastian Mysko on 0113 3947960 or email sebm@wolfstarconsultancy.com Skype: sebastianmysko

Notes to Editors

Roger Larsen is Fronter’s founder and international managing director· Fronter was founded in Norway in 1998 and is now used by more than four million users in nine European countries· Fronter is used by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) for their talk2learn platform and work with a large number of UK schools, colleges and local authorities.

· Fronter is a 3^rd time winner of the European Seal of E-Excellence in Gold

· Becta is the Government's lead agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, covering the United Kingdom. In March 2007, Becta was given an enhanced remit by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to lead the co-ordination, development and delivery of the government's strategy to harness the power of technology to help improve education, skills and children's services.

Multimedia

Linda Bilsborrow, primary advisory ICT teacher at Trafford Learning Authority.

Jim Gilmour, e-learning consultant for Trafford LA.

Margaret Billington at Trafford Learning Authority following the signing of a contract with Fronter UK.

Managing director of Fronter UK Bill Gayler at the Trafford Learning Authority contract signing.

Interview with Chris Pratt, corporate director for children and young people services in Trafford at the Fronter contract signing

Images

Bill Gayler and Chris Pratt at the Trafford LA and Fronter contract signing

Margaret Billington, Bill Gayler and Chris Pratt sign the Trafford LA contract

Representatives from Fronter and Trafford LA at the contract signing

Technorati Tags: Fronter, News

Award winning British director to showcase his skills at the world famous Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival

London’s award winning director, Michael Walling is heading stateside to act as guest director for this summer’s presentation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the 36^th annual Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival.

This theatrical event, which attracts more than 35,000 people every year, celebrates the work of the literature great and includes two live performances of Shakespeare’s classic plays and a contemporary musical performance in the most scenic venue in the world - against the spectacular backdrop of scenic Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Mountains.

Brits looking for somewhere cheaper to holiday in 2008 are being encouraged to take advantage of the weak dollar on the warm, sandy beaches of Sand Harbor State Park, to experience the 36th annual Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, July 10 – Aug 17, 2008.

This season, the Festival will be showcasing Shakespeare’s tale of “Richard III” alongside “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”  A new romantic musical titled “CAMBIO,” based on Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” also takes centre stage on Monday nights. 

Michael Walling is currently the artistic director of Border Crossings in London and has directed numerous productions across four continents, winning awards for Two Gentlemen of Verona in the US and Paul & Virginie in Mauritius. He also directed the English National Opera's acclaimed productions of Wagner's Ring at the Coliseum and Barbican theatres. “For a play set in an enchanted forest, there really could be no greater gift to a director than the sublime setting of Lake Tahoe”, says Walling.

Alongside the theatricals, guests will be able to enjoy dinner at the venue on the beach at Shakespeare’s Kitchen, experiencing a blend of traditional and gourmet American cooking with a fresh, organic, Californian twist. Shakespeare’s Vineyard also offers visitors the chance to sample Californian wines along with a full bar.

Catherine Atack, Executive Director for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and ex-pat comments: “Year after year, fans of the event continue to come to enjoy the festival. With the value of the dollar being so low against the pound, and the slide of the Euro, British holiday makers are flocking to the states. The event offers them a chance to take in the marvellous views of Lake Tahoe alongside some great culture from Britain’s own Shakespeare. The Festival has a great atmosphere which, for many visitors, is the major reason for attending as well as the attraction for first-time attendees.” 

Tickets and further information are now available online at www.LakeTahoeShakespeare.com with reduced costs for online purchases. Tickets start at $22 for open seating tiers.

- Ends -

Notes to editor:

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival is a non-profit organisation established for the cultural benefit and enjoyment of all residents and visitors to Lake Tahoe and Reno. Through its in-house artistic direction, the Festival produces three plays each summer, creating original costuming, set design and choreography, and attracting a team of national and international stage talent.  The Festival’s community outreach includes an annual program, InterACT, designed to educate future generations on the importance of the arts, theatre and music.

Michael Walling was an associate director to Peter Sellars on Nixon in China, and to Phyllida Lloyd on The Handmaid's Tale (Canada).

For more information or to request photography, please contact Beth Kay on 0113 3947960 or bethk@wolfstarconsultancy.com

Images

 

Technorati Tags: news

Fronter chosen as Campus Solution for the University of Vienna

The oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest in Central Europe has selected Fronter as its central Learning Management Solution. The Fronter platform is implemented this autumn and replaces Blackboard Vista.

The contract with Blackboard Vista was about to expire and, looking for alternatives, the University of Vienna put the LMS out to tender. Fronter was chosen to replace Blackboard after an extensive tender process and intensive testing. Fronter was selected from a number of competitors for its attractive cost benefit ratio and level of support and flexibility.

“Fronter’s offer in response to our Software and services for the eLearning-infrastructure for the university of Vienna tender, had the most attractive cost benefit ratio” says Peter Rastl, Director of University of Vienna Computer Service. “We are confident that Fronter meets the user needs specified in our requirements in an optimal way. Fronter offers our users a powerful, stable and flexible solution that meets all the needs of a heterogeneous university society”.

"We are very proud to have been selected as a campus wide solution by one of the oldest universities in Europe", says Roger Larsen, Fronter Founder and CEO. "The University of Vienna, with its history, experience and commitment to advanced learning strategies, will be a key strategic partner in the further development of the Fronter platform".

An important factor in the LMS selection process was the possibility to structure the LMS along the lines of the Bologna-Processes. Fronter’s open solution supports modular structures and makes it possible to embed E-Learning and Blended Learning solutions within the LMS. “In the spirit of the Bologna-Processes, Fronter’s platform is student centric”, says Roger Larsen, “it is designed to enhance the learning experience for the individual student and his/her opportunities for collaboration”.

The Austrian University has bought a campus license which covers the whole University, and will host the system on its servers. The agreement includes a 5 year plan for Fronter upgrades as well as support and training. Starting October this year, Fronter will facilitate the change of platform from Blackboard Vista, migrating some 4500 courses from the old platform into the Fronter platform. As of March 2009 Fronter will be available in its full range as the University of Vienna’s eLearning Platform.

About Fronter:

www.fronter.com

About the University of Vienna:

The University of Vienna is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest in Central Europe. At present, about 72,000 students are enrolled at the University of Vienna, in more than 130 courses of which 26 Bachelor and 47 Masterstudies. With close to 8,300 employees, 6,200 of which are scientists and academics, the University of Vienna is also the largest teaching and research institution in Austria.  The University of Vienna has always been strongly orientated towards international research and teaching and therefore continues its efforts to maintain its relationships with other countries. The University has 331 European Partner Universities. Students from approximately 130 countries are taking part in more than 10,000 lectures at the University of Vienna every year.

The University of Vienna is one of the few Universities in Europe that has institutionalized the Bologna-Reform by establishing a dedicated Bologna-department that systematically supports the new structure of the study plans. E-Learning is a central tool for the university to achieve the goals from Bologna.

www.univie.ac.at/

For further information, please contact:

Kirsti Rogne, Communications Manager, Tel.: 481 16 851/e-mail: kirsti.rogne@fronter.com

Technorati Tags: Fronter