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AND THE WINNER IS…
The Chicago Wedding Giveaway contest is finally over. I received just over 125 submissions so thank you to everyone who entered. After looking at many submissions, and hearing some great stories, I’m pleased to announce the winning couple is Andrew and Cindy from Chicago. Andrew does charity work for Ladder Up. Here’s some information on Andrew and Cindy’s charity…
Since 1994, over 16,000 Ladder Up volunteers have returned $183 million to 100,000 hardworking families, helping them climb above the poverty line. Through our programs, TAP (Tax Assistance Program) and LIFT (Life-Improving Financial Tools), we provide free, real world financial solutions that maximize earnings and savings. Whether it’s getting them the tax refunds they deserve, securing the financial aid that makes higher education a reality, or putting them in touch with reputable banks so they can save on unnecessary fees, we equip our clients with the financial tools they need. Our clients work hard for their money. With our help, their money works harder for them, and that allows the first steps to be taken up and out of poverty.
THE KNOT ANNOUNCES THE BEST CHICAGO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS
I received some exciting news a couple weeks ago. I was officially named as one of Chicago’s top wedding photographers according to the Knot. What makes this extra special is the Knot talks to Chicago brides as part of their voting process, so some of my former clients voted for me! Here’s a link the page on the Knot where you can find me listed. I’m also listed next to my buddy Kenny Kim.
Kenny – we’ll have to buy each other a bottle of Crystal next time we meet up!
RECAP OF TRIP TO WHISTLER, CANADA
So it’s been a while since our trip to Whistler… but finally… here’s the recap of our entire trip. We flew into Vancouver on Thursday, and then took a three hour bus trip to Whistler Mountain. It was raining most of the time, and very foggy, so we didn’t get a chance to see that much. Once we got closer to Whistler, the rain had turned to snow, and it was coming down pretty hard.
We checked into the Château Fairmont Hotel, which was a very nice hotel located at the bottom of Blackcomb Mountain, which is right next to Whistler Mountain. We rented all of our ski equipment through the hotel, so everything was very easy. The next morning we got up early and had a full day of skiing. Keep in mind I hadn’t been skiing for about 15 years, and Carolyn hadn’t skied in about 18 years. Carolyn went ahead and took a class for the day, and I was a little more adventurous and decided to go my own round. Here are some pictures from our second day of skiing.
Overall we were really happy with the skiing. The first day we got there, they got about 25-30 inches of snow. From what everyone told us, they really needed the snow. And with the Olympics just a couple weeks away, they were starting to get concerned.
One of the afternoons, Carolyn and I went dogsledding, which was an unbelievable experience! The whole trip took us about 2 1/2 hours. Most of the time was setting up and getting the dogs situated. I actually got to mush for about two or three minutes, which was an interesting experience. It’s definitely a lot easier then I thought. It’s kind of like riding on the back of a golf cart, except you’re yelling at the dogs the whole time to make sure they run in a straight line. Here are a couple pictures and a video of us in the dogsled.
dogsledding in whistler from steve goldhaber on Vimeo.
The other really cool thing we did was going ziplining. Whistler is known for some of the best ziplining in the country. We went on about five different lines, all of which were over a creek which made it extra fun. It’s actually a lot easier than it sounds. You basically just get hooked into the line, and hang on for the ride. It’s so easy, Carolyn and I did the last line upside down. Here are some pictures from the zip line along with one or two videos.
upside down ziplining in whistler from steve goldhaber on Vimeo.
ziplining in whistler from steve goldhaber on Vimeo.
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walking in whistler mountain from steve goldhaber on Vimeo.
All in all we were really impressed with with the entire trip. Whistler was a great place, and everyone was very friendly. I never felt like we were even in a different country. In fact most of the people in Whistler are from Australia. Go figure. We would definitely go back to Whistler and Vancouver again!
THE NEW APPLE TABLET… WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE LIKE?
As you may have heard, Apple is going to release a new product on January 19th. It’s rumored to be something in between a netbook and a kindle. There’s been a ton of rumors and hype on what exactly it is. Apple actually does a great job at building this type of PR. My own theory is they intentionally leak information, and this creates about half of the buzz in the marketplace. The other half comes from loyal Apple customers who can’t wait to find out more about the new product. And some of them do a really good job of digging for details. For example, some people look for patent filings, while others discover new product codes that have been entered into retail partners systems (i.e. when AT&T was selling the iphone people found unused product codes in their system).
Here’s my guess on what the new product will have…
- 10″ and/or 13″ screen size that will look like a giant iphone
- 1 TB of storage
- 3G compatibility
- Camera and video capabilities that can be used for video conferencing (Skye partnership maybe?)
- Complete integration with itunes
- Free version of iWork loaded on tablet to compete with Office
- Seamless integration with iphone and any other mac computer
- Book content from all the big publishers (more content than Kindle currently has)
- HD downloadable movies
- A keyboard that “magically” pops up out of the flat Tablet surface (this will overcome the concern that people have over not liking to text on a flat screen surface like the iphone)
- New content from newspapers which are subscription based (will this save some of the traditional publisher business models?)
- Price point = $599 for a small one and $799 for a large one
These are all guesses of course. I don’t have any inside information, I’ve just read a lot of articles over the past month. So, if all or some of the above information is true, this begs the following question… will the new tablet be a success? Put simply, my answer is yes. Here’s why -
- The price point is lower than most other netbooks (mostly from commissions Apple will make of the content deals)
- Why would you buy a Kindle if you could get something that has a lot more functionality?
- Apple has a successful history of launching new products
- It will have some industry firsts that I haven’t outlined above
- It will be the sexy new product that people will want to have
So what do you think? Will it be a success? Do you think the above features are a good guess? Leave a comment and let me know…
- My friend and I were recently discussing about the ubiquitousness of technology in our daily lives. Reading this post makes me think back to that debate we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as the price of memory falls, the possibility of transferring our brains onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's a fantasy that I daydream about almost every day.(Submitted on ZKwa for R4i Nintendo DS.)
- I just found the website who discuss about Several home business ideas If you want to know more here it is home based business reviews www.home-businessreviews.com
LOOKING AT MY BLOG ON YOUR IPHONE
I recently added a Wordpress widget to my blog which allows anyone with an iphone to read my blog in an “iphone friendly” kind of way. So if you have an iphone, give it a shot and let me know what you think.
HERE’S THE PLAN FOR WHISTLER…
In my last post, I menetioned that we’re going to Whistler. Here’s the itenerary for the trip so far. As usual… pretty action packed.
Thursday 1/14/10
Arrive in Whistler in afternoon
Dinner at Crepe Montagne
Friday 1/15/10
Ski School – Carolyn
Skiing – Steve
Dinner at Nagomi
Saturday 1/16/10
8:30 -1:30 – Skiing
2:30 – 5:30 Dogsledding
Dinner at someplace in town
Sunday 1/17/10
Skiing in the morning
Ziplining Tour
Dinner with Whistler Dining Tour
Monday 1/18/10
Back to Chicago
TAKING A TRIP TO WHISTLER, CANADA
In just over a week, Carolyn and I are taking a quick trip up to Whistler, Canada. Both of us have never been, so it should be an exciting trip. We ended up booking the air fair and hotel through United so we got a good package deal. The hotel we’re staying at is called The Fairmont. What’s nice about this hotel is that it’s actually on the side of the mountain, so you can ski in and ski out each day. I think it’s been about 13 years since I’ve actually been skiing. The last ski trip I took was out to Breckenridge Colorado with some college friends. In addition to skiing, we’re going to be doing some zip lining which I’ve never had the chance to do before. From what I’m told, Whistler has some of the best ziplining in the country so it should be pretty fun. If I can, I’ll try to capture some video from my iPhone so you can see what it’s like.
In order to prepare for the trip, I spent some time at Moosejaw getting some gear. Some of the things I bought were gloves, a new pair of ski pants, a full head cover, and a bunch of hand and toe warmers. I’ve never used the hand and toe warmers before so we’ll see how that goes. Let me know if anyone has been out to Whistler before. If so, what recommendations for good restaurants or places to visit do yo have? We’re only going for about four days, so we don’t have a ton of time, but we’ll squeeze in what we can.
- Don't get your old fella caught in your zip line. I've been to Whistler... Good fun.
- Have a great time in Whistler sporting all your layers, I'll be wearing my tennis clothes. Can't wait to hear all about it.
- Clay - any good recommendations for food or places to see?
CHICAGO WEDDING GIVEAWAY
In case you didn’t hear already… I recently launched a wedding contest for charity. I’m basically giving away a wedding package for a lucky couple who has volunteered in 2009 or will pledge to do so in 2010. I’ve also teamed up with Chicago Avenue Salon and Ali Phillips from Engaging Events by Ali. They’ve been very generous and have donated some great things. Here are the details of the contest.
Enter to win a free Chicago wedding. The winner will receive:
- 9 hours of photography by Steve Goldhaber Photography ($4,000 value)
- 5 hours of wedding planning by Engaging Events by Ali ($500 value)
- Chicago Avenue Salon wedding credit ($750 value)
The only requirement is that you need to have have done some type of charity work in 2009 or pledge to do so in 2010. The contest will run from now until January 15th, 2010. Only one entry per person, but friends and family may enter on your behalf, so spread the word fast!
If you know someone who is recently engaged, make sure to send them this link so they can enter the contest. The winners will be announced towards the end of January.
- Having a great time in Whistler sporting all your layers, I'll choose my tennis clothes. Can't wait to hear all about it.
360 DAYS
360 days. That’s what I saw when I turned my Ninentdo Wii on today to work out. It was telling me the last time I had turned on my Wii was 360 days ago. I immediately had one of those moments where you realize.. wow has it really has been that long. I didn’t feel horrible about it, because a couple weeks ago I committed myself to running another Chicago Marathon. This will be my 4th marathon I’ve done, but I’ve taken about a 5 year break from running marathons, so it will be a little harder to get back in shape for this one. Marathons are a great motivation for me to get back into shape because I usually start working out only for a couple weeks, then I start to feel better again, which leads me to not workout as frequent.
So this is where I need your help…you’ve got to ask me about how my training is coming along when I start to train (official training starts in March at the Shamrock Shuffle). So all I ask that you post a comments, shoot me an email, or write on my Facebook wall and ask me how my training is going.
If you’re thinking about running a marathon, I HIGHLY recommend it. Before I ran my first marathon, I hadn’t run more than about 3 miles. And I was defintely not a runner and never liked running, but once I was running towards a specific goal, I really started to enjoy running. If you’re in Chicago, I would recommend joining CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association). It’s a great group of people who run a program built for the first time marathon runner. If you’re not in Chicago, make sure to check out Hal Higdon’s website or books. He’s a great author, and person, and can get you to the finish line of your first marathon.
- Awesome, Steve!! I'll be asking you how that's going! I'm toying with the idea of training for the 5K in September....but no formal commitment yet, haha! Best of luck- I know you'll rock it. Can't wait to see you and Carolyn!
- Hey Steve. I think it is awesome that you are getting ready to run another marathon. It's great that you are opening it up to have pople motivate you. Rock it out dude!
- Thanks Otto! Hope all is well with you.
- Thanks Jen! I hope all is going well with the move to Chicago. Let me know if you need anything.
- Just had my annual physical and my doctor cleared my for the marathon. Am I starting to get old enough to need permission from my doctor to do things like this? WTF?
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CHARITY MUSTACHE CALENDAR
Earlier this year the folks at Digitas did a charity calendar for the Off the Streets Club, which is a Chicago charity aimed at helping kids stay safe after school. So the nature of the calendar involved growing a mustache for about a month. After that, each person had their own photoshoot which involved coming up with a unique idea. The whole shoot took about two weeks since most of the shots involved different locations. This project was a great experience for me. I got to develop a lot of original concepts and bring them to life in a funny and unique way. Every shoot was different, but the one thing that held everything together was the idea that “Man moustaches sure can be pretty damn funny”. All of the proceeds of the calendar will be donated to the Off the Streets Club. Leave a comment if you’re interesting in buying a calendar. There is no set price, it’s just whatever you’re comfortable donating to a really good cause.
by goldhaber
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