Expert IT And AV Services

IT training room.

A small company located in Hunt Valley, it's been in business since 1981, when it developed as a Computerland franchise. But it has grown and now carries the name of SYSTEM SOURCE. This company is best known for improving the IT operations of other companies, thus its involvement in training and giving public classes, some of them free of cost.

But since they are also involved in audiovisual presentations, system source provides the resources and equipment for all types of presentations, including those held in classrooms and at conferences. While they have expertise in AV and IT equipment, which gives them the ability to help companies acquire and set up AV and IT systems, they also help to maintain these systems, including the provision of helpdesk services.



For instance, when Nimble Storage came out with its all-flash storage capabilities, System Source was one of the partners, who had expertise to realize the benefits. Scott Rippey, solutions architect, knew that this innovation was key in being able to serve enterprise customers. He noted that there were two reasons.

According to Mr. Rippey, "The first is purely politics given all the hype around all-flash storage. Companies like Pure Storage and others come to customers with all-flash offerings, and Nimble Storage needs a response."

Then there are the real benefits of this storage solution. Mr. Rippey commented, "Nimble's approach, and I agree with it, is that data centers don't need flash for every application. Nimble's ability to pin an application on flash is great because it still allows disk to be used for other applications." Another great addition to the Nimble system is the fact that it can also encrypt data, while at rest. And, said Mr. Rippey, "it meets the needs of our customers from small businesses to enterprise."

Maury Weinstein, System Source owner.

Of course, one measure of any company's effectiveness is the report of a customer. Matthew March, Vice President of Douron, Inc., stated, regarding System Source's services and consulting, "System Source provided a solution with quick turn IT support that has never let us down. We have had only positive responses from our employees which is not easy in the IT world. Our productivity and ability to fix issues quickly has dramatically improved! We could not have asked for a better service and business partner."

AV equipment installed at Tessco Technologies by System Source.

Thank for information from this page on System Source: https://www.syssrc.com/html/company_info/CompanyInfo.shtml; this article from CRN: http://www.crn.com/news/storage/300077653/nimble-storage-targets-enterprise-with-ability-to-pin-apps-in-all-flash-storage.htm; this page from System Source: https://www.syssrc.com/html/services_consulting/index.shtml; and the above link.

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Repairing Lives One Sewing Machine At A Time

Two of the styles available at Elegantees.

Based in New York, is a fashion company that makes a difference. Katie Martinez, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology founded ELAGANTEES and then became partners with a nonprofit, based in NY, that works with victims of sex trafficking.

Once these women are rescued and no longer engaged in the sex industry, they need some sort of skill in order to be able to make a living. Elagantees provides the women with sewing machines, teaches them how to make the company's elegant tee shirts, so they now have a skilled trade. Then the women are employed as independent contractors by the company and are paid at twice the rate of other similar sewing jobs. The women can then work near their homes, where they feel more comfortable, and earn a living wage, able to afford more than just the basics.



Katie stated, "Women rescued from sex trafficking sometimes end up relying on the help of kind people so they can survive. We want to give them an opportunity and consistency so they can let go of their survival mode, and just enjoy and heal completely from their past." Getting past survival mode also has the benefit of reducing the stress and pressure that the women were under while being unwilling participants in the sex trade.

Elangantees' work with women and children in Nepal led to the creation of Kingdom Hope Garments. Demand for Elangantees clothing is now more than the minimum required for the sewing center's operations. With the addition of new styles, it can take longer for the center to finish a garment, as well. Various social ambassadors are spreading the word about the garments and the styles available, and Elegantees has now become available in Mexico.

The inside of Kingdom Hope Garments.

Four team members run operations in NY, all with a passion to free the women enslaved in the sex trade. The company itself has journeyed through six years of operation, the first five of which saw no profits. Only ten months ago, there was a fuel crisis in Nepal, which affected operations at the sewing center. Then, all of a sudden, India lifted the fuel blockade, which had limited the available fuel supplies. At the same time, demand for Elegantees' garment also rose. Suddenly, the existing garment center was too small. With assistance, the sewing center grew by triple its original size. More women could be hired, and a total of 25 women now have work. Is it too much to ask that the center expands to double what it is now, to employ 50 women? Only the crystal ball knows, but hope abounds for the future this year.

Gita is employed fulltime at the center; her signature is on the garments she makes. 

Thanks for information from this article on Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/katie-martinez-elegantees; this post on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elegantees/photos/a.132038773491026.19846.128506430510927/1520452341316322/?type=3&theater; and the above link.

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Walk Through Earth's Timeline

The app through earth's timeline.

Take a walk back to the beginning, into deep time, when the earth first formed. Follow along as earth developed, and into bacteria, earth's first living organism. Walk along and more complex organisms develop, plants, trees, animals, mammals, then human. Think about the patterns and processes that had to occur in order to give earth its form and its creatures.

As human beings populated earth, follow along in your walk as your perspective changes. View through your mind and walk having to deal with the crisis of climate change, nature degrading, and social disruption. Shift your own perspective and see earth as more than food pantry for its humans and animals, more as a self-regulating entity of its own, striving to keep its processes in balance, a place where life first emerged. It's a place that with some thinking together could work through its crises, and where humans can have tomorrows where the human spirit has grown.



And that walk, that process is real, could become real. It's a DEEP TIME WALK, an auditory treat, a walk from the beginning, through many eras, up to the present. It's an app timed to a walk of 4.6 kilometers (4.6 km), or almost three miles. As you walk, you contemplate Mother Earth from the beginning to the present. You're on a mindset of pattern discovery and appreciation of the splendidness of earthly home. As Richard Cambridge of the University of Cambridge noted, "Deep time is not purely an abstraction to be calculated, but a phenomenal experience to be encountered in the field."

Download this app onto your smartphone; it's accompanied by visuals, music, and the spoken word. The audio is based on the most recent science, so that the words are not just inspirational, but accurate. Dr. Stephan Harding, a well-known ecologist from Schumaker college does the narration and has based the timing, poetic quality, and length on walks that he has been leading since 2007. The app was created so that more individuals could participate in this walk and develop an appreciation for the rhythms of the earth. John McPhee has stated, "Numbers do not seem to work well with regard to deep time, any number above a couple of thousand years - fifty thousand, fifty million - will with nearly equal effect awe the imagination to the point of paralysis." The act of walking, instead, makes the contemplation more concrete, with numbers taken in steps as earth formed in steps.

Some of the participants in the Schumaker College walk.

So, download the app, take the deep time walk, share your impressions through Facebook with others who have done the same. Realize and appreciate the awesomeness of earth, and, maybe, think of solutions to the quandaries we face, and perhaps, together, solutions will be presented. For, each little step forward in the present can keep this planet functional well into the future.

Just as in film-making, the creation of the app involved utilizing a storyboard, with words and timing blocked out.

Thanks for information from this article on Charter For Compassion: https://www.charterforcompassion.org/deep-time-walk-cic; this discussion on Deep Time Walk: http://www.deeptimewalk.org/; and the above link.

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Finding The Words Of Connection In Therapy

One of the books by Jeff Walker about hip-hop therapy.

Every so often, in psychotherapy, there are times when a therapist and a client have difficulty connecting. It could be a clash of personalities, a lack of understanding, even the manner of expression, but the not connecting affects the course of therapeutic work. Race can sometimes enter the equation, when those from the African-American community speak differently from white people, understanding can get lost in the broken connection.

A young counselor and therapist, Jeff Walker, who was working with "at-risk" youth noticed the difficulty that therapists and their young clients were having in finding a common language in which to discuss deeply personal issues. That inability to connect could lead young teens and adults to become trapped within the system which they had unwillingly entered. Mr. Walker, at that point, realized that his connection with hip-hop culture enabled him to make that all-important connection, so he set about making sure that other therapists could utilize his experiences.



Mr. Walker gathered together the same tools that he had used to learn about and utilize hip hop and rap culture to help youth, and formed RHYMECOLOGY as therapy. With this system, urban youth express, create, and discover themselves as a means of healing and of relating to psychotherapists. Mr. Walker explained, "The Rhymecology ethos uses hip-hop lyrics and culture and brings them into the mental health field, providing counselors with an alternate tool to connect with and eventually heal their clients."

At this point, Mr. Walker has published two books about this type of therapeutic process, Rhymecology: Using Hip-Hop To Heal: The Therapist Guide and Rhymecology: The Art Of Hip-Hop Lyrics. There is also the only therapeutic game involving the use of hip-hop, Rhymecology Self-Expression, which promotes self-reflection, critical thinking, and introspection through the use of situation cards. This game has been endorsed by teachers, parents, counselors, and therapists.

Rhymecology as performance art.

Let's end with a poem by Jeff Walker:

"times change
I know its hard to follow your passion
the DREAM path seems to go over mountains and canyons
while walking barefoot, pulling a wagon
of baggage and scars all while slaying these dragons
its called mid life strife
we dream of big bright lights
reality is we live in a place that fits quite tight
kids might fight so our dreams lay dormant
personal passion out the window, just want our teams to stay scoring
seems like the scenes way boring...
Life maybe less crazy and festive
but its all in our perspective
family helps you live in more balanced ways
things sure have changed haven't they
now we gotta lay back and just be
times are changing...but are we?"

A thoughtful young man with a talent for connecting with youth who are in the system; a hopeful way for those same youth to find a future that is both challenging and utilizes their talents. An understanding connection helps it to happen.

One of the Rhymecology workshops.

Thanks for information from this article on Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/jeff-walker-rhymecology-guide-and-game/; this poem on Rhymecology: http://www.rhymecology.com/word/times-change; and the above link.

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A Business That Thinks Beyond Its Offices

At the Centers of Influence Awards, Jessica DeMunda (left), Marketing Director, and Mike Stankus, Senior Manager, accept an award for Herzbach & Company.

Located in Owings Mills, MD, HERTZBACH & COMPANY P.A. is a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) and consulting firm that strives to give the best level of expertise and advice to its clients and helps to guide them to business success. This accounting company has been in business for more than 65 years.

Besides serving a variety of businesses, Hertzbach also has its eye on serving its employees. Part of that service is in helping employees to maintain a balance between work and family life. In that regard, this company has provided a variety of work options that help meets its goals while serving its workers.



The company's latest moves will be applied in this upcoming tax season. Hertzbach will be changing its work rules to allow enough work flexibility to eliminate all or most of its in-office Saturday work hours during the tax rush. This change is in line with the company philosophy that its employees are its most important assets, while also maintaining that all-important sense of being part of a successful and supportive work team.

For the Christmas holiday season, the Volunteer Committee decided to collect clothing for GIVING BACK LINDA'S LEGACY (GBLL), a nonprofit located in Anne Arundel County that collects and distributes clothing for use by individuals without permanent homes. Partner Nancy Buckley spearheaded the clothing collection efforts. GBLL annually receives about 20 truckloads of clothing from businesses and other participants, which it distributes to homeless shelters.

Nikkia Fitch, whose expertise is Affordable Housing and Nonprofit Industries.

But that's not all that Hertzbach did in its Christmas generosity. Through the efforts of the Volunteer Committee, employees collected 30 toolboxes, which were painted with inspirational messages, for ANGELS OF ADDICTION. Because a number of those without permanent homes seek shelter in abandoned buildings, the toolboxes contain supplies that help their users maintain safety in their food supplies and keep out insects. In other words, thirty individuals will be able to experience just a small amount of additional comfort through these donations.

It's nice to know that a company that engages in helping businesses do business also thinks enough of their community members to help them out in times of need. It shows that business is not just about "doing business".

Clothing and toolboxes for neighbors in need.

Thanks for information from this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Hertzbach/about/?ref=page_internal; this blog post on Herzbach & Company: http://www.hertzbach.com/hertzbach-eliminates-mandatory-saturday-hours-during-tax-season/; this blog post on Hertzbach & Company: http://www.hertzbach.com/hertzbach-collects-clothes-and-supplies-for-giving-back-lindas-legacy/; and the above links.

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Independence Skills For Survivors Of Domestic Violence

A billboard helps to raise community awareness.

Domestic violence continues to plague our society, and with a offical due to enter the White House, who is reported to have battered one of his wives, there is no more appropriate time to consider how a woman in that situation can disengage from that kind of dangerous relationship. Located in Detroit, MI, SISTERS ACQUIRING FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT (SAFE) helps women overcome financial issues that keep them in these toxic relationships.



Offered free of charge to victims of domestic violence, SAFE provides training sessions at public libraries and hospitals, along with domestic violence shelters, in the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be able to begin to function independently, while also helping the women maintain personal safety. Classes come in one-hour modules and cover such topics as Job Skills, Resume Creation, Interviewing Skills, Entrepreneurship, Customer Service, Personal Finances, Networking, Basic Employment Law 101.

The organization also holds Resource Fairs, the last one in October, that provides 100 women with pampering, useful resources, food, and much more. The location is confidential to maintain the women's safety. The location is revealed only at the time that the women register. At this last fair, a drawback was that there were no child care services available.

From the Purple Purse Challenge.

SAFE has recently launched the Allstate Purple Purse Challenge, for the purpose of raising funds for a building to house a dedicated training facility, then to expand its programs, to provide community awareness events, and to provide for the needs of domestic violence survivors. There are specific items that are provided for each donation level. $25 gives one survivor a custom micro-entrepreneurial training manual and a budgeting workbook; $100 gives two survivors one month bus access to Detroit's buses for their travel needs; $1,100 provides one SAFE trainer with a laptop computer, a projector, and wireless internet access, enough for weekly community workshops for 20 survivors.

From the survey campaign.

A survey was being conducted by the Detroit Economic Security Listening Project from November 14 to December 15 (each survey took about ten minutes), especially to add the voices of African, African American, Arab, Asian, and Latina women into the conversation about shaping Detroit's future. The survey was designed to make Detroit better and SAFE was urging those they serve to participate.

Thanks for information from this article on SAFE: http://www.newsafestart.org/about.html; this announcement on SAFE: http://www.newsafestart.org/safes-resource-fair.html; this announcement on SAFE: http://www.newsafestart.org/purple-purse-challlenge.html; and this Constant Contact announcement: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Survey-on-economic-struggles---success-of-Detroit-women.html?soid=1101638673428&aid=Pa-XV1Wm2u0.

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Shakespeare From A Barber's Chair

Mark Williams (right) with Slicers Barber & Styling Lounge owner, Allen Jackson.

In urban neighborhoods, there is one place where kids end up for several hours each week - that's the local barbershop. Barbershops can be hubs of information and socialization, a place to collect neighborhood news, and to renew relationships among friends and neighborhoods. But could it be something more?

Mark Williams had observed the ins and outs of barbershops for a while and realized that many youth spent two to three hours each week hanging out with the barber or beautician. So much time was spent by youth with these individuals that these adults ended up providing mentorship for these youngsters.



That's when Mr. Williams got an idea. He loved the works of William Shakespeare and the world of words to the point of knowing how critical literacy is in the education of youth. Putting all the pieces together and consulting a literature professor, he formed a program in the local barbershops of the Charlotte, NC, area, to expose local youth to the works of Shakespeare.

Realizing how influential Shakespeare's works were in his own childhood and utilizing the multi-generational ambience present in barber and beauty shops, Mr. Williams set out to provide this positive influence for the younger generation in his program, SHAKESPEARE IN A CHAIR. He stated, "Shakespeare has been around for 450 years and many youth have never been exposed to his writings. The program will highlight the influence his words have on today's culture and vocabulary."

Shakespeare in a Chair has become an eight-week literacy program for youth ages eight to young adult. During each eight-week session, one of Shakespeare's works is studied, discussed, and interpreted. Participating barber shops have visual and digital prompts to encourage participation. Youth can proceed at their own pace through the work, and receive ample encouragement and support from the barbers and beauticians. Some of the skills promoted are critical thinking, literacy, oratory, and reading comprehension. Youth are allowed to utilize mobile devices to look up words and phrases, thus increasing their vocabulary.

Other features of the program include: understanding sentence structure, learning about play settings and locations, group visits to Shakespeare productions, open mic nights for guest and academic readings and discussions, partnerships with Shakespeare production companies, partnerships with local colleges and universities, and even more.

Two young girls working their way through Othello.

Mr. Williams, himself, comes from Charlotte, NC, where he is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. He received a Bachelor's degree from Pace University and has been working in sales and marketing for a cable company for more than fifteen years. Charlotte, and the surrounding area, has so much to appreciate about his involvement in their community.

A young boy follows from the text.

Thanks for information from this article on Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/mark-williams-shakespeare-in-a-chair/; this page from Shakespeare in a Chair: http://www.shakespeareinachair.org/about-us/; this page from Shakespeare in a Chair: http://www.shakespeareinachair.org/program1/; and the above link.

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