Darlene Ziebell EMP-46 and Jose Martinez EMP-46 attended a benefit for Conservation International, whose mission it is to conserve natural diversity. Actor Harrison Ford and Queen Norr were guest speakers. Shown are Darlene Ziebell with Kamala and Jose Martinez and Rosanna Marquez and husband Jonathan Medow.

EMP-46

As reported in the last issue of Kellogg World, Jose Martinez is finding maximum value and career fulfillment at his new position. Since we have so little news about Jose, Alan or myself, we are pleased that other members have stepped up to contribute news to this update. You may notice that we have adopted a new strategic communications style. Our goal is to reinforce the language and concepts that we learned at Kellogg. We are positioning ourselves as the leading quality-driven, customer-focused communications update. In order to sustain market leadership, we will be doing market research this fall using special metrics designed to evaluate our targeted messaging and value proposition. We are utilizing a pull methodology for the survey, so if you have comments, you need to call us.

The happiest news we have to share is the arrival of the newest member of Larry Bilello's family. Joseph Peter joined the group Aug. 21. Larry relates that mom and baby are doing well. It would appear that his business plan has expanded beyond a family hockey or baseball team to their very own Olympic games.

We received the following cryptic email from Margie Deasy regarding her present job description and organizational responsibilities: "New baby! Crying baby ... must run!" Obviously, Margie continues to be a go-to person and key problem-solver in her organization.

As reported in our last update, John Slater continues his work as a world-class change leader, as he strives to satisfy a basic human need for ice cream. He reports that he is selling a lot of it these days. That sums up 80 hours of his week. John is a hero to many of us, but admits that the hormone cocktail brewing in his household makes it tough being a hero 24/7 to the women in his life. He has certainly embraced the diversity concept both in flavor choices and personnel practices.

Nizar Jiwani has survived the disruptive force of a move to the suburbs. He and Salima are well, yet they miss the city a lot and still drive there on many weekends. Zaahir will be 4 in November and is going to Montessori school. He is a rather active boy and it is hard to keep up with him. Keyaan is 13 months old and starting to move around more. He still has some baby fat, so it's still fun to play with him and squeeze him. Pretty soon he will start walking and talking too. You can reach Nizar at: 1119 Oakhill Drive, Aurora, IL 60504, or by phone at 630.898.5773.

Greg Calloway has maintained the title of "fastest man in EMP-46." He ran in his third Chicago Marathon in support of the Spectrum Scholarship Fund for the American Library Association. He relates that there are no plans for new acquisitions (children) in his family and that the leadership team remains in place.

Don Dilucchio shared this update with Jose and me during a recent dinner in Oak Brook. We held the meeting in the same building as Mike Thompson's new office, but like our old group meetings, Mike was on the road and couldn't join us. Don says: "Progeny Marketing Innovations, where I was responsible for sales and development, was merged into another company. The merger allowed me to evaluate my current and future career opportunities. I decided to pursue a career based on interest, rather than necessity. As a result, I have recently become a managing director with The Christman Group, a fast-growing mid-market investment banking firm that helps middle-market companies develop succession plans and exit their companies on their terms.

"The Christman Group specializes in working with owners of privately held companies with revenues of between $5 million and $100 million. Our approach is unique in that we develop comprehensive, integrated exit plans for our clients that address all of the personal, legal, financial and tax issues in exiting a privately held company. This approach is the only sure way to achieve the client's objectives and maximize the value of the client's company at the time of sale. My role will be to develop client relationships and help The Christman Group enter new markets by recruiting the right individuals. I will also be in charge of building affinity relationships with key strategic partners. I am very excited about this new career path and the future of The Christman Group. If you or anyone you know is interested in our unique middle-market investment-banking services, please give me a call. Also, if you know anyone who would like to pursue a similar career change, I would be happy to speak with them. You can find out more information about The Christman Group by visiting our Web site at www.christmangroup.com."

(The preceding update from Don required no editorial changes to ensure an alignment of style or message with that of our agreed-upon group-communication strategy.)

Tony Garcia let us know that he has moved again. He accepted a position as president of UGA, a division of the UICI Corp., a $2-billion life and health insurance company based in Dallas. (Another classmate has seen the opportunity for growth and monopsony in the healthcare industry.) The company markets products to the microbusiness owner looking for affordable health insurance and benefits usually limited to large corporations. Tony is extremely excited about the opportunity and thinks it is cool to have full P&L responsibility. We will develop a dashboard metric to monitor the fifth force (government) as we monitor his operation. Although he didn't stay in California long enough to host an EMP function with Darrin Reilly, he is inviting anyone who visits the Dallas area to stop by for a drink. We are putting Jose in charge of the happy hour. Reach Tony at: 500 Grapevine Hwy., Suite 300, Hurst, TX 76054, by phone at 817.255.3889 or by email at tgarcia@ugaais.com.

Speaking of full P&L responsibility, Dennis Bailey now has the position of field vice president, Midwest region for Allstate. He has P&L responsibility for Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. (As I oversee the same states for Medicare, I wonder if there is a business synergy that we can leverage?) His office address and phone numbers are: Allstate Insurance Co., 2150 E. Lake Cook Road, Ste. Rw12, Buffalo Grove, Il 60089; Tel. 847.667.4300. Or reach him by email at: Denis.Bailey@allstate.com.

David Hill wrote to update us on his new email address. You can now reach him at david.hill@assurant.com. It's the same company with a different name. Of course, the issue of rebranding a company crossed our minds, and we asked David to drill down for further details. David relates that this year the European parent company divested itself of the U.S. Fortis companies and became an American company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (Assurant --- good stuff). He adds that his long-term goal is to build up enough equity in his personal assets (wealth) so that he might maximize his personal nonorganizational growth (retire).

Ro Kumar is busy diversifying his résumé and work experience. He is now co-chairman of a new public-private sector partnership called ChicagoFIRST. The company is a coalition of the largest financial institutions in the Chicago area, working in partnership with city, state and federal government agencies to secure the regional financial industry in the event of a crisis. Additional information is available at www.chicagofirst.org. We would love to share more information about his work, but it is classified.

Chris Lolli has joined the ranks of those returning to the Chicago area. He was recently named vice president, national accounts, for American Express' establishment services business. His Chicago-based position includes responsibility for more than 150 key business customers and $10 billion in central region charge. Chris has been nominated to plan the next EMP-46 happy hour. The group is expecting to be surprised and delighted, based on the experience he gained in New York.

John Rutkauskas, who is executive director of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, continues to lead our nonprofit colleagues in leveraging the Kellogg connection. In December the AAPD Foundation-Kellogg School of Management-Ultradent Leadership Institute will convene its first class at the Allen Center. The vision for the project is to give current and future members the necessary skills to shape their philosophical and operational approaches to maximize leadership potential and performance. It is the first institute of its kind among dental and medical organizations. Congratulations to John and his organization.

Elias Sfeir has joined Radio Frequency System (RFS) as director of strategy and marketing and product for Brazil and MercoSur. RFS provides radio frequency systems to the cellular, mines, offshore, broadcast and defense industries. You can reach Elias at elias.sfeir@rfsworld.com or by phone at 55.11.9989.8135.

Darlene Ziebell continues to seek to maximize her value in the community. She continues as chairman of the Eleanor Foundation (EF), a 105-year-old organization with the longstanding mission to foster independence and economic self-sufficiency among working women of modest means throughout Chicago. A central focus is decent, affordable housing. In 2002, EF turned to grant-making as the principal means of advancing its mission. EF makes grants to organizations offering fresh approaches to meeting the core needs of working, female-headed households that earn more than the poverty line, but less than what is considered to be a sustainable wage (generally $10,000 to $30,000 per year). Darlene is also a director on the board of Summit School and member of the Chairman's Council for Conservation International. All of this as Actors Partners continues to grow.

As we approach the fourth anniversary of our graduation, we continue to realize the bonds that we formed during our years at Kellogg are strong. We look forward to continuing to celebrate together as an integral part of the Kellogg family.

—Sue and Alan