Paris – A Love Affair for a Lifetime

Among the millions of visitors that come to Paris, the longing is to come back. The city gives everyone so many reasons to stay, to fall in love with, or to simply soak in.

Its charms had captured the hearts of so many people – those in the arts, literature, history, and including the celebrities and the regular folks. The exodus into the city does not seem to have an end yet.

The heart of the city

The city’s 20 arrondissements (regions) have their own highlights for visitors to marvel. The most representative of the city, with its mix of everything Parisian is found most notably in the 7th arrondissement.
Here, you can enjoy the famous Paris cafés and bistros, high-end fashion shops, cobblestone streets, famous markets, the evening lights, the marvelous food, and the River Seine. This does not even include yet the world-famous landmarks.

The Grand Dame

Of course, you have to put in first in your list the Eiffel Tower, the 125-year-old icon that defines the skyline of Paris. The Grande Dame en Fer (Grand Iron Lady), its nickname, is one structure that never disappoints. (There’s a magical light show every night for about 5 minutes featuring the tower’s 5 billion lights.)
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There’s a formal Jules Verne Restaurant under Michelin-starred chef Alan Ducasse at the 2nd floor. It is somewhat pricey, takes a couple of months to have a reservation, but the food are definitely worth the wait and the cost.

Champs du Mars / Ecole Militaire & Hotel des Invalides

Just to feel the whole area, one can go to the nearby Champs de Mars, a garden park for picnics, maybe biking and to simply walk around. Adjacent to the gardens is Ecole Militaire, attended by Napoleon himself before.

Also nearby is the big Hôtel des Invalides, its golden dome visible in all of Paris. The hotel has several museums inside, including the Musee de l’Armee. (It has one of the world’s biggest collections of arms and war paraphernalia.)

Musée d’Orsay / Musee Rodin

The Musée d’Orsay has some of the world-famous impressionist paintings (and more) inside the museum. It houses priceless sculptures and other art objects under one massive glass roof.

The Rodin Museum, on the other hand, has a large collection of sculptural works (and photos) of Auguste Rodin. This was his former house converted to a museum. The biggest attraction, of course, is his world famous “The Thinker” in the garden.

Food lovers delight

If you haven’t eaten at any Parisian restaurant or café, you haven’t been to Paris after all. The French love for food is legendary. At rue St. Dominique alone, there’s a parade of cafés and restaurants catering to everyone’s taste of French cuisine.

More places for food and drinks are scattered around, and these include those at Place de l’Exposition, rue Varenne, rue de l’Universite and rue Exposition.

Shopping

The district is a shopper’s delight along Ave. Montaigne and rue Faubourg. Check out the designer shops at Boulevard St. Germaine.

The biggest shopping adventure is at the huge Le Bon Marche’, the oldest and most stylish Paris store; whatever your reasons in coming to Paris, give in. The city will be with you for a long time.

The Cayman Islands – Almost Paradise

People have different ideas on what paradise is. For those who love the sun and the sea, the Cayman Islands perfectly fit. With its beaches, its dazzling coral reefs and its exotic marine world, the islands would never leave a visitor empty-handed of things to enjoy.

Known for the beauty of its beaches and the many beautiful dive and snorkel sites, the islands actually have more to offer on top of those. The visitor is advised to simply bring in his sense of adventure and fun.

Getting there

This British territory has 3 islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman) and is located 150 miles south of Cuba. Visitors can come in through any of the airports in each of the islands.

For citizens of UK, the US and most of the Commonwealth nations, there is no need for a visa in coming over. (Of course, you have to have your valid passport and your return ticket.) At the capital, Georgetown, located in Grand Cayman, there is a popular port for cruise ships, if you’re coming in from the sea.

Diving / snorkeling

With the sea all around them, all three Cayman Islands have their own fantastic diving and snorkeling sites. These are on top of the many other tourist attractions that made the Cayman Islands one of the world’s best vacation sites.

One of the more thrilling experiences you can have is snorkeling around and get the chance to see all the stunning creatures living under the blue waters. There are shallow reefs all around the three islands where you can look at the sea creatures in their natural habitats.

Of course, if you have your diving gear, you can go down into the depths and be hypnotized by the undersea vistas. Marvel at a different universe that exists in your planet seemingly for your viewing pleasure.

For those who don’t dive nor snorkel, you can still see the wonders of the sea by way of boat tours. In the safety of your glass-bottomed boats, marvel at the real oceanarium and see everything in all their colors.

Kayaking / windsurfing / parasailing

Riding your way into the waters in a kayak is one perfect way in soaking in the place at a slower pace. With it, learn the island’s natural history while going around in its mangrove forests and the wildlife in it, including its canals and coves. At night, you may catch the fantastic bio-luminescence phenomena of some water creatures swimming by.

One of the most popular sports, windsurfing in the islands is another perfect way to enjoy the water, the sea, and the sea wind blowing. (Windsurfers are blown back into the shores instead of into the waters.)

Parasailing is another sport action perfect for the more adventurous. It’s like sailing, only at a higher altitude.

Other adventures  

For adventures of another kind, the islands rank among the world’s top destinations in terms of glorious food, the night life and the shopping. It is one of the favorite places of the world’s rich and famous.

The Cayman Islands may be a little stiff on the pocket, but the adventures and the fun and everything in between are all once-in-a-lifetime experiences and are priceless.

Biddick – Winning with Business Ethics

For many, business ethics is the behavior that a business enterprise must adhere to every day while dealing with the world at large. For each type of a particular business, the ethics could be varied and diverse. They need to be applied not just to the business community and the world, but more of a one-on-one interaction with a single customer.

Some businesses earned their bad reputation just by being in business. To most people, the bottom line is that businesses exist only in making money and nothing else. The capitalism is executed in its purest form, the type that Marx and Engels despised. Of course, there is nothing wrong in making money; it is in the manner of creating it that bothers many.

School stuff

Scott Biddick and his college batch mates must have known these since school. it is only now that the momentum of incorporating business ethics in all business deals have gained enough traction.

However, there are still snags in many places. Many global businesses have been fined, reprimanded, sued by (and had lost to) authorities in so many countries, the least of which are the advocates of the new business ethics.

The unfortunate part is that many of these are known global brands with billions of dollars in combined worldwide income. All are guilty of breaking ethical laws worldwide that some pundits feel money is still the deciding factor.

Imbalance

If one company breaks the laws and not adhere to the current business ethics, they usually are being fined. Many of them have trespassed all kinds of anti-trust ethics, environmental laws, child labor practices, etc.

The biggest problem, of course, is that the amount of the fines demanded from them are a pittance compared to how much they will make in the future, and have made in the past. Profits to the tune of billions have kept these companies from the grasp of the short arm of the law.

Business ethics can be applied on many things, from cutting down trees for making paper, exploiting kids in nefarious labor practices, even all the way to soft drink manufacturers who kept on filling cancer-inducers into their products in the name of color and other practical considerations of attracting customers’ attention.

Uphill struggle

For the young business vanguards working in the industry, business ethics boil down to what is right/wrong in the workplace and what is being done about them. This is still related to the effects of the company’s merchandise and what had the stockholders of the manufacturing company been doing with the situation.

At the moment, attention to business ethics is at the crossroads in these times of fundamental changes. These days, companies are scrutinized, questioned, laid bare in public and put under spotlight for undermining the old values.

At present, there is no clear and proper moral compass with which to lead and guide persons of authority (those in power) through the complicated network of following what is right or what is wrong. With Scott Biddick and his young colleagues’ right in their workplace in business and finance, there just might be some positive changes made.

Scott Biddick – Integrity and Business Ethics

For a young professional like Scott Biddick, putting together such values as integrity in the context of business ethics as practiced today is a long shot. There is always the ever-present danger of being misunderstood that, in turn, can breed apathy, some envy perhaps, and worse, create some enemies.
When viewed from the insides of his circle with his business associates, there is hope that his often-misunderstood position can change the old and dated opinion that business is only for profit and nothing else. Scott discovered that there is more to that old adage than what is vaguely understood.

The new norm

Where before there was only one bottom line in a business enterprise, today’s companies have recognized the need in committing to business ethics. Moreover, the success of a company is now measured through the triple bottom line in business: People, Planet, Profit.

In the triple bottom line, “People” represents everyone involved in the business (manufacturing, especially) including their customers. Planet refers whether the planet is directly harmed (gas emission, release of other pollutants in the air, soil and water). Profit is listed last because it is the lifeline of the company – no profit, no company.

What Scott Biddick had learned from the California State University (BS Admin.) carried him through in his early career in Investor Relations, Public Relations and in consulting companies. With his experience, he was able to shore up and use what he had learned into his dealings with his clients, his superiors, and his colleagues.

Insights and commitments

With business ethics as the new guidelines, companies now report on their financial, social and environmental performance. The report acknowledges the basic fact that companies must make a profit to sustain and survive, but it must also follow ethical and sustainable business conducts not to harm people and the planet.
From the standpoint of a company warrior out in the fields to make his conquests, Scott’s main weapon is integrity. With it, clients are dealt with honest assessments of business conditions instead of showing only the huge profit margins and keeping out the fact that the merchandise, for instance, were manufactured in some Asian sweat shops using child labor.

Omission and commission

One other example is keeping out from the shareholders’ knowledge the fact that the manufacturing process is blatantly using massive carbon dioxide-emitting factories in small far-off countries. From Scott’s perspective as someone who deals directly with company investors at large, revelation of honest facts (and not covering them up) is needed to be in line with the new business bottom line.
The new emphasis on business ethics did away the questionable financial reporting and spotlighting on the inflated compensation of company executives. All these were thrown out including the worthless public assurances through press releases that greatly eroded consumer and investor confidence.

Advantages

Scott and his forward-looking colleagues must have sensed the advantages in keeping stock with business integrity. It presents an opportunity to excel (and set the standards) while earning the respect of customers and vendors, even from their competitors.

With trust, customer loyalty is assured while earning a solid and priceless word-of-mouth advertising. The potential of increased earnings becomes greater as the company’s reputation gets highlighted again and again. Scott Biddick and company must have known this since college.

Scott Biddick – Blending Integrity and Reputation

Reputation and respect are things that can never be arrogated unto oneself. One must earn it, carry it and work on it all one’s life. The high respect accorded to Scott Biddick by his colleagues and his peers had been his trademark in exercising his profession, even to this day.

This is the same respect that Scott had constantly worked for to achieve in the many years he had been in the finance industry. In turn, this high respect had transformed into a personal reputation accorded to the man.
The main starting point is integrity.

Integrity

Starting from his career-forming days as a Business Admin student at the California State University San Marcos in San Diego, Scott learned buckets of wisdom on how to input integrity into his future dealings.

Later, in his professional days in the financial industry, especially in the capitals market, Scott immersed himself working in such fields as Investor Relations, Public Relations and in representing Consulting firms.

His years gave him his experience and knowledge that are vital to his professional caliber in the industry. However, he managed to instill the all-important business ingredient of integrity in the things he did, just what his professors had taught him.

Advantages

As in all other businesses, but crucial in fields where money is a primary component, integrity is very important. This is especially true if the nature of the business relies on long-term deals or repeat business all throughout.

Integrity is fundamental in transactions that deal with confidential or sensitive customer information. Scott Biddick made sure that this is carried in all his deals, especially so in matters of overseeing the financial and personal monetary affairs of his customers and clients.

Random definitions

From the vantage business point of view, integrity is the single most important trait a business professional can have. Just like what his professors had prescribed, Scott knew it is the right consistency between the values taught to him and the actions that he will do.

The trait gives one the knowledge of choosing between two courses of action in the most reasonable of ways. Choosing to act with integrity, a person can still move on without the sacrifice of power, money or prestige.

Long term benefits

With his years in the financial industry, Scott learned that integrity breeds that priceless trait from the customers: trust. This is shown in their continued patronage of his business and services in the long term.
Customers, as everyone else does, naturally shy away doing business with companies and people who are caught lying, involved in scandals, and have immersed in corruption. With integrity added to one’s deals, Scott found out that you can keep your existing customers and have the potential to attract new ones.

Scott Biddick had also been known to add some personal touch to his business style. He is recognized to view problems and obstacles as seeds for greater future benefit.

With him, issues can be tackled with the potent pair of innovation and positive outlook. All these, of course, are just gravy to his main business trait: integrity.

Scott Biddick – Profile of a Professional Man

For a highly professional man, integrity is always paramount.

Scott Biddick is one such professional.

With the professional integrity he had built and established, he secured the respect of his colleagues, the admiration of his friends, and the love of his family. These are the core principles that he had worked hard to achieve throughout his life, professional and otherwise.

These are also the very values that sustained him since.

The basics

Starting with getting his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing, Scott furnished himself the necessary tools for his later professional success. From the California State University San Marcos, he gathered what the university had offered him and successfully used these later in his career in the highly-competitive financial industry.

Afterwards, Scott amassed a wealth of experience while working in several firms dealing in Investor Relations, Public Relations and in consulting companies. They all provided him some priceless knowledge and understanding of the capital market.

Of course, he didn’t do all these alone.

Network of professionals

With his natural character style, Scott nurtured and gathered a network of some of the best lawyers and accountants, top investment and boutique bank executives, and the best and the brightest industry practitioners to help him achieve his own high professional standards.

With skills learned and utilized from a network of the best professionals in their fields, he was able to give his clients the kind of services that are far superior to the rest.

For one, he learned how to steer himself and his clients successfully across some dangerous financial waters. The most notable quality of these is the built-in professional integrity.

Today, Scott Biddick is highly respected by his peers and associates for his deep commitment to his personal and professional ethics inside and out of his business community.

The services

Like most in his field, Scott brings in the same services that his colleagues bring to their clients as well. However, unlike some in his circle, he sees every problem or obstacle in the way as a pathway to some better outcome.

His outlook usually brings in many innovative ideas that help turn around some difficulties during the business transactions into something positive. His philosophy is that all these adversities are seeds to some equivalent, if not, a greater benefit.

The end result is a satisfying, positive, and usually creative outcome after the synergy of good communications, direct innovations, and good old integrity thrown into the mix. Clients and colleagues have sensed all of these and give back to Scott the trust he deserves.

Philosophy

For Scott, giving the service needed in his professional field is not enough. The man believes that this must include something that is substantial and intangible at the same time. He believes it is something beyond the price of money: integrity.

Integrity plus dedication and an open mind to learn more had brought Scott Biddick his supportive clients and colleagues all helping him to pave his pristine professional track record in the business. The best news for everyone is that the man is still a work in progress.