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.

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!

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!

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 -

1. The price point is lower than most other netbooks (mostly from commissions Apple will make of the content deals)
2. Why would you buy a Kindle if you could get something that has a lot more functionality?
3. Apple has a successful history of launching new products
4. It will have some industry firsts that I haven’t outlined above
5. 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…

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