Big Thank You!

I have to say thank you to everyone who made this once in a lifetime trip possible. 

 

Laura Cisneros

Nick and camel

Pictures of camels

So cute.....

More on the sand dunes

Felt like we were on a rollercoaster.

Perfect final day Safari

So exciting!

Fantastic Trip

I had a great time with the MBAE 14 Group and MBAE Alumni in UAE. All the visits to the various companies and scenic locations were amazing. However, what made this trip wonderful was the great group of people that I had the pleasure of meeting. Thank you all for a fantastic trip … Dushan

 

Diane in Abu Dhabi: 10/19/12

We're down to the home stretch in Abu Dhabi. Some of us are leaving in just a few hours and others within the next day. It's been quite an adventure, topped off with dune bashing, belly dancing and a barbeque in the desert. This trip has provided unique, first hand insight to how this part of the world works, lives and plays. Truly a once in a lifetime trip.

Diane

Watching the Sunset on our Safari Desert Adventure

Our SUVs Racing Through Desert On Safari Adventure

Ray and Nosa on Dirt Bikes at Safari in Desert

Belly Dancer at Desert Safari

Time To Say Good Bye!

10/19/2012 - Well this is it, our last hoorah in Abu Dhabi went out with a bang. The desert safari and jeep ride through the desert was unbelievable!!! We were picked up by Toyota Landcruiser SUVs from our hotel and driven out to the desert to experience a thrilling and heart stopping ride up, down and sideways spinning across the desert. We stopped to take photos of the desert at sunset and final destination was a tented camp site in the middle of the desert where even more enjoyment and adventure awaited us. We all rode camels, Ray and Nosa rode motorbikes through the sand dunes and Annah and Ray went snowboarding down sand hills. Then, we feasted on Arabic bar-b-que and enjoyed belly dancing entertainment. Nosa, Ray and Nick were called out separately to dance with the belly dancer. You have to be there to see that. Those photos will probably get posted on FaceBook or Utube.

We had the best time, but all good things must come to an end. Dr. Rarrick gave us our assignment for this international study abroad course, so back to reality. However, we are headed to London for a couple days more of exploration before heading home back to the states.
So long DuBai and Abu Dhabi......our studies abroad and cultural experiences will be remembered for a life time.

Sydney, Annah, Geneva, Nosa and Ray

Sent from my iPad

Day Four - Abu Dhabi

10/18/2012 - Today we attended two presentations, ADGAS and the U.S. Embassy. ADGAS produces oil, natural gas and sulphur. These products are produced offshore on an island just off the coast of Abu Dhabi called Das Island. ADGAS has its own training institution, The Petroleum Institute which it utilizes to train men for the production and distribution of its products. ADGAS is a privately owned company who's shareholders include BP Oil amongst four other companies. ADGAS main client is a Tokyo Electrical Power Company (TEPCO). We enjoyed a very lavish lunch at the conclusion of the presentation with beautiful scenery of the coastline.

Next we visited the U.S. Embassy and had a presentation on what the embassy does to assist American companies conduct business in the Middle East. The presentation was very informative and provided us with ideas on business ventures for our class project.

Well, tonight is our last night of our stay in the middle east for Annah, Ray, Geneva and Sydney. We've learned a lot and had an extraordinary time. We will be leaving tonight for London to enjoy a couple more days of this trip, but before we leave the Middle East we will attend a safari and get the chance to ride a camel....stay tuned to see how that goes. So long for now.

Geneva, Annah, Ray and Sydney, MBAE14

Sent from my iPad

Lunch With a View

Not only did our hosts from ADGAS provide us with an interesting overview of their company, but they also invited us to join them for an amazing lunch...and the view wasn't so bad either!

Helicopter ride in Dubai

Airplane view, Landing in Dubai

Thursday - Chuck

We attended two very interesting presentations today, one at ADGAS (UAE energy) and one at the American Embassy. Learned a lot about natural gas the role it plays in the economy of the UAE. The commercial affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy was quite informative in discussing the role of the Embassy in promoting American business interests in the country and giving the group accurate and useful information about the country and the region. In addition he discussed possible BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WHICH THE STUDENTS COULD CONSIDER AS THEY THINK ABOUT THEIR CLASS PROJECT. Due to security issues no cameras could be brought into the Embassy for picture taking L. The photo is of the board room at ADGAS and the speaker after the presentation.

 

Sydney's photo of the mosque

The mosque was so beautiful both inside and out and the architectural design was so amazingly detailed.

Sydney sharing The call to prayer

I hope you are able to access this video where I recorded some of the call to prayer during our visit to the mosque.

Grand Mosque Photos

Grand Mosque Photos

Grand Mosque Photos

JAFZA Board Room Presentation

Water Taxis in DuBai

DuBai Museum

Old DuBai Scenery

DuBai Museum

DAY THREE - LEAVING DUBAI

10/17/2012 - Today was our last day in DuBai and we are now heading to Abu Dhabi, but before we left we took a guided walking tour of Old DuBai. We visited the DuBai Museum located just across the street from our hotel. The museum has some of the original underground tunnels made by early 15th century settlers of DuBai. We next walked over to take water taxis across the river to get to the other side of town in DuBai to shop in street markets which sold spices, seasonings and a variety of wholesale products. We walked through the Gold Souk, where we learned about Muslim tradition, which required a man looking to marry to provide his bride-to-be family with a minimum of 1kilo of gold, plus $50,000 for the bride for a clothing allowance.

We attended a business presentation at JAFZA, which is one of the world's largest and fastest growing free zones. JAFZA is striving to be the leading logistics business hub in the Middle East by offering one stop shop services to its clients by providing services such as: office space, warehousing, long term leasing, business centers, built to suit options and assistance with employees. JAFZA also offers 100% foreign ownership of company's products or services, no customs fees and no corporate taxation. JAFZA has a number of free zones with over 6400 companies as its clients. The JAFZA presentation was held in a very posh executive level board room and everyone was so impressed. We were even served tea in elegant arabic dining during our meeting. The presentation meeting was very insightful about supply chain management matters.

Our last stop before arriving in Abu Dhabi, was to the Grand Mosque. This mosque is something grand indeed. The all white marble/pearl architect accented in gold trimmings was an exquisite sight to see and visit. Before entering the mosque, women are required to be covered from their head to their bottom, no skin exposed on the arms and legs. The mosque is very grand and holds at least 41,000 people at once.

See pictures above regarding some of the places and things experienced on Day Three in DuBai.

Geneva, Annah, Sydney and Ray - MBAE14

Sent from my iPad

Leaving Dubai - Chuck

Saying Goodbye to Dubai and Hello to Abu Dhabi

Left Dubai today after a tour of the old city, including a short boat ride. Said goodbye to our hotel and its impressive doorman and headed to the offices of the Jafza Free Zone. One of the best and most interesting presentations of the trip so far. An important aspect of the success of Dubai is its role as a transportation hub in the Middle East. Stopped to visit the largest mosque in the UAE – the Sheikh Zayed Mosque which is a breathtaking structure.

 

 

 

 

Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi - Dushan Nikolovski

 

Opulent … .the only word to describe the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Unbelievable sight that can accommodate over 40,000 people. The hunt for the purist, whitest marble went from country to country and didn’t stop until a perfect pure white marble was found which was equally durable and sufficient to withstand the extreme climatic conditions such as high temperatures, humidity and sandstorms of the UAE. The pure white marble used mainly for the exterior, was found in Macedonia.

 

Chuck Blog

Last Day in Dubai – Chuck Rarick

Our short time here has shown us many interesting things, both from a business as well as a cultural point of view. The cultural contrast is most pronounced, but doing business in the Middle East has its own unique characteristics, from differences in financing to days of the week in which people work to differences in power and status. We have seen some of the challenges and some of the opportunities relative to conducting business here.

 

Today we finish up with a cultural tour, and then off to Abu Dhabi for another business visit. This visit deals with one of the three Ts of opportunity here, transportation/trade (the other two are technology and tourism). I think the group is running on less sleep than normal, and at least in my case, the long call for prayers very, very early in the morning gives me an early start to the day J

 

Looking forward to the second city on our trip!

 

 

Chuck Blog

Last Day in Dubai – Chuck Rarick

Our short time here has shown us many interesting things, both from a business as well as a cultural point of view. The cultural contrast is most pronounced, but doing business in the Middle East has its own unique characteristics, from differences in financing to days of the week in which people work to differences in power and status. We have seen some of the challenges and some of the opportunities relative to conducting business here.

 

Today we finish up with a cultural tour, and then off to Abu Dhabi for another business visit. This visit deals with one of the three Ts of opportunity here, transportation/trade (the other two are technology and tourism). I think the group is running on less sleep than normal, and at least in my case, the long call for prayers very, very early in the morning gives me an early start to the day J

 

Looking forward to the second city on our trip!

 

Photo - Lecture at Internet City

 

Nakheel Company

Atlantis Hotel in Dubai

Atlantis Hotel in Dubai

Burj Khalifa

Geneva Kennedy Day Three in DuBai

10/16/2012 - Today we ventured out on a chartered bus and headed out for two destination spots for business presentations of companies: Dubai Internet City and Nakheel.

Dubai Internet City is one of the largest information and communications technology business parks in the middle east and north africa region. Dubai Internet City holds land issued to them by the government, which they have deemed as Free Trade Zone areas. These Free Trade Zone Areas are setup like parks, where foreign businesses in the same practice areas setup shop. Dubai Internet City acts as a one- stop-shop for the foreign business to get the business started. The foreign business owner retains 100% ownership of their company and has the assistance of Dubai City Internet to help launch the business in all phases except labor.

This meeting took place at a trade and technology show being held in Dubai called Gitex. After the presentation with Dubai Internet City we got an opportunity to walk around to see the latest technology gadgets being introduced from all parts of the world....From Nigeria to Russia.

Next we visited Nakheel, which is Dubai's real estate developer. Dubai was looking to expand is coastal line for tourism and luxury residential development. However, the Dubai beach front coast was all used up, so land was created to expand the beach front coast line from out in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. Nakheel headed beach front expansion projects called The Palm and The World. The Palm is an expansion of beach front out in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, created in the formation of a Palm Tree. This residential and tourist community is the home of private individuals, foreigners and nationals, as well as the site of a number of hotel expansions, including the infamous Atlantis Resort. Property in the Palm initially sold around $1.2 million and was sold out in 72 hours of its initial launch of the real estate by Nakheel. Currently, property sells around $8million. The World beach front expansion is the creation of 255 separate islands, which form the shape of the world. This property is totally for investors only who are interested in tourism type properties, such as hotels and resorts.

Our last stop on today was indeed a show stopper. We visited the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa is absolutely amazing, located at the Dubai Mall, which has hundreds of stores and restaurants. This mall is a shoppers dream as Just about every American store and restaurant is located at this mall. They even have a Garrett's Popcorn and Potbelly's, plus every designer named retailer from Gucci to Chanel. There is a boardwalk along the mall entry where a musical water show is featured about every half hour. This water show is exactly what the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas does.

See photos taken from today.

Sydney, Annah, Geneva and Ray, MBAE14


Sent from my IPAD

Diane in Dubai: 10/16/12

Another day has come and gone in Dubai. I think it's safe to say that today we are all tired. Today has been a busy day. We journeyed to Dubai's Internet City and to the headquarters of real estate developer, Nakheel. It was on the latter visit that we realized how excess is the norm in Dubai (where a small home on Palm Island is several thousand feet in size with a minimum of four bedrooms and sells for millions of dollars). The topper of the day was a visit to the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building). It was awesome to walk outside on the observation deck and take in the sights.

Another busy day on tap for tomorrow as we spend a few more hours in Dubai and then depart for Abu Dhabi.

Good night from Dubai.

Diane

Day Two Reflection - Kim Nikolovski

Day two started out with a wonderful presentation by two gentlemen with BDO. They gave us a snapshot of the demographics and culture of Dubai before detailing the reasons why Dubai is a great place to do business. One of the most interesting facts was the 83% of the population in Dubai are foreigners, with only 17% being nationals. Citizenship is not granted the same in Dubai as it is in the United States. For example, you cannot get citizenship in Dubai simply by working there; if and ex-pat has a build born in Dubai, the child is not granted citizenship, but rather gains the citizenship of the parents; and citizenship is granted on a case by case basis if you marry a national. Some of the more appealing reasons given for starting a business in Dubai include no corporate tax, no personal tax, no VAT, no export duty no annual tax filing, and free trade zones.

In the afternoon we enjoyed a detailed presentation by Mr. Sohail Zubairi of the Dar Al Sharia. He spoke about the world's only religion-based financial system - Islamic Finance. Some of the core beliefs of Islamic Finance include divine guidance, prohibition of riba (interest), prohibition of uncertainty, prohibition of injustice and deceit, prohibition of dealing in forbidden items, consideration of outcome, and return is subject to risk. Although very different from traditional financial systems, Mr. Zubairi explained why Islamic Finance works well for Dubai and others who have adopted such practices.

We finished of our evening on the water at Board Walk. Along with the well-flavored wine, we enjoyed Oriental Flavored Hammour and Arabic Mezzeh Platter (pictured above). It was a culturally enjoyable way to begin our time in the UAE!

Photo of skyline from hotel room in DuBai

Geneva Kennedy Day Two

10/15/12 - Today we had two presentations, Mohamed Afzal Koya and Priyesh Kapadia of BDO, an Accounting and Professional Services firm; and Sohail Zubairi of Dar Al Sharia, DuBai Islamic Banks.

The representatives of the BDO provided our group with information about the history of the UAE and about doing business in the UAE. We learned some interesting facts about the UAE business model, which in short has two tracks for interested businesses looking to start up here. There is the mainland track which are your traditional LLC and joint venture type businesses. The UAE requires businesses forming under this track to have a 51% partnership with a UAE national. The alternative business track is to establish a business in one of the Free Trade Zones area in UAE. Under this track a business is free to have 100% ownership as a foreigner without having to partner with any UAE national. There are pros and cons for both business models. The pros for the mainland model is that depending on the type of business forming, a new business can be formed in about 10 days. However, one of the cons is that on paper, you would have minority ownership in your own business. After further discussions with the representatives, we learned that this could be a real problem if a dispute arose between the business partners. The UAE ranks lowest in handling contract disputes in their court system. Since these types of business ventures are relatively new, the court systems here are still deriving ways to enforce contract disputes. In sum, business investors have a great opportunities to conduct business here in DuBai. However, that same opportunity lends itself to some high stakes risks, so weigh out the risks before jumping all in!!

The representative from the Dar Al Sharia gave us some detailed insights about Islamic Finance, which is based on religious teachings. In sum, unlike our traditional commercial banks in the US which lends out money and gets repayment of the loans through interest rates, Islamic Bank is not a lender, but a trader of the funds deposited by a depositor. No interest rates or fees are charged to depositors. The Islamic Banker goes out to invest the depositor's funds and receives what I took to be a commission on a percentage of the profits from the depositor's investment. However, if the investment is not profitable and through no fault or unethical dealings of the Islamic Banker, then the depositor shares the sole loss. Islamic Banking is a common practice here in the UAE and the banking system is doing well, but does not sound like something most of my MBAE peers and I would sign up for.

This evening we went out for a night on the town here in DuBai. We had dinner at the Board Walk, which is a beautiful floating restaurant on a pier. The restaurant is in the shape of a boat and we dined on Arabic cuisine looking out at the beautiful night skyline of DuBai and watching lighted up boats sail by. The atmosphere was awesome and reminded me of dinner cruises we have on Navy Pier in Chicago. We took tons of photos on camera phones, which will get posted later. We capped the night off at an English Pub in the hotel.....but no details to come on that little excursion, as you know what we all say...WHAT HAPPENS IN DUBAI STAYS IN DUBAI!!

Here's a photo overlooking the DuBai skyline from our hotel room. Enjoying my time here so far with my sister, Denise and Friends...until next time. Peace!!

Geneva, MBAE14
Sent from my iPad

The Cost of Investing Your Conscience (by /pmg)

I admire anyone who has the strength to follow through on his or her convictions, especially when it's clear that doing so comes with an opportunity cost. (This is to say nothing of far more dire or dramatic costs outside the scope of this post.)

Today, we learned a lot about Islamic finance, the only finance method that is based upon a religion. Among its chief features is a prohibition on interest or usury. (The Qu'ran uses the same word for both, riba, therefore making no distinction.) Obviously, all activities must remain Shariah compliant or, in other words, conform to the precepts of Islam set forth in the Qu'ran. Investments, obviously, must be similarly constrained.

It turns out that the S&P has a number of indices that track Shariah-compliant securities. One is the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index (SPSHG) described as:

The S&P GCC Composite Shariah offers investors a comprehensive Shariah compliant benchmark for the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] region, including Saudi Arabia. The index reflects the float defined by foreign investment limits applicable to GCC residents, which is typically larger than that available to investors based outside the region.

Here's how it stacks up next to the S&P 500:

So, a Shariah-compliant investor who got into the market a year ago gets about half the return of the benchmark index.

Now, the delta gets wider when you consider an index that takes into account the Shariah-compliant opportunities available to non-GCC investors, as offered by the S&P GCC Investable Shariah Index (SPSHGI).

This fund only includes five members of the GCC and excludes Saudi Arabia entirely, given the difficulty outsiders have in terms of investing in that market. 

Continuing with the theme of investing based on one's conscience, let's look at "green" investing as in the case of the Neuberger Berman Socially Responsible Investing fund (NBSRX).

The blue line is the fund, the red is the S&P 500. Ouch.

On the other hand, consider the Vice Investor fund (VICEX), which invests exclusively in pretty much everything haram ("not permissible" under Islam), including companies involved in alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. These are industries that are also somewhat secularly demonized in the U.S. and elsewhere, to say nothing of the stance of many religions.

Year-to-date, you come out just a little bit ahead. 

As you know, I consider freedom and choice to be a first-order variable in terms of life and living. As such, I'm thrilled that there are investment instruments that cater to every worldview, creed, or strategy. That said, it should be noted that faith- or cause-based investing comes with a certain level of sacrifice. 

Getting to Dubai - Nick Crnokrak

Met a few classmates in Chicago's O'Hare airport waiting for the trip to start. I really need to thank United Airlines for the wonderful service I received on this journey. I'm a big fellow and the journey involved two flights to get to Dubai. Since I'm a big guy and I knew that this would be a 15 hour flight, I decided to purchase business class tickets using my points and extra cash so I could fly comfortably in the plane to Dubai. I checked in at the counter and received my seat assignments for the first leg (Chicago to Washington D.C.) My second flight was not "released" from their system yet and the kind woman at the United Airlines ticket counter told me that I would not have a problem when I arrived in Washington D.C. She reassured me that they would have my Business Class ticket at the gate. I boarded the plane and had a wonderful time in Business Class.
I struck up a conversation with the person next to me and found out that he was a lawyer that had a satellite office in the U.A.E. - his home office was located in Portland, Oregon. We struck up a conversation about doing business in Dubai and he was very informative on the challenges a person from the United States would face when dealing with the culture in Dubai. Family is usually always first and meetings are cancelled if a family matter comes up. When doing business in Dubai, I needed to understand that the person whom I would be talking to wants to get to know me before they will do business with me. Also, you will always be considered an outsider. Getting to know the person over the years helps but the culture is blood deep and us "Westerners" will always be seen as outsiders. We had such a good conversation in the plane, he invited myself to be his guest in "The United Club" while we wait for our second plane to be ready in two hours. The United Club is the equivalent of a golf clubhouse within the airport. We continued our conversation and had a great time. The United personnel offered us free drinks, free snacks, computer workstations, the latest news on flat panels, I was in Executive Business heaven. United Airlines has a person behind the counter told us the the plane would board 45 minutes prior to the flight. I had her look up my seat to make sure I was still in business class - she said - "No problem your number 10 on the list." So with a little over an hour to kill, I had a wonderful conversation with Mike (the lawyer). It is now 45 minutes to flight time - we both walked to the gate for the next leg of the journey - a non-stop flight from Washington D.C. to Dubai - totaling 13 hours in the air.
I arrive at the gate and I hear over the loudspeaker "Ladies and Gentlemen your flight has been overbooked - we are looking for people to give up their seats in exchange for a $300 credit and they guaranteed to be on the next flight." SInce I am on a tight itinerary with the MBAe group - I decline. I go up to the gate to get my ticket and the person tells me that I do not have a seat in Business Class and that I have a seat in Economy Plus - they would refund the difference in my ticket. They showed me where my seat was and it looks as though it has plenty of room, but I am stuck in the middle. Ok fine, I can't argue - there's nothing to be done, nor are they willing to work with me, so I walk to the plane disgruntled.
I find my seat - I have a wall in front of me but there looks to be a lot of legroom. I sit down and wait for the people to fill in the seats around me. I was in luck - the people that United assigned to seats surrounding mine were ex-military. Remember how I said I was a big person? I'm 6'1" and a big shouldered person. The people sitting next to me are the same build as myself. I never knew the three of us would bond so well since we wouldn't be able to breathe if our arms were down and we had to keep them crossed in order to get some small sense of comfort, from a seat specified by United, to be put on this plane that would comfortably fit my 8 year old. I asked the stewardess for the complimentary United Airlines pry bar, so that If I needed to get up to use the bathroom I would be able to. She didn't think my comment was funny - but I heard her snicker when she saw the entire row of five - yes, five seats together - packed in like sardines. After 3 hours in the air - the person next to me had his foot fall asleep. He had to get up. I was relieved. I could stretch out on one side. He came back after 30 minutes and tried to fall asleep. An hour after that - I had to go to the bathroom since the stewardesses gave us plenty of liquid to drink. I was surprised and elated to go to the bathroom and have the realization that I have more room in the airplane's bathroom than in my seat. I would end up getting two hours of sleep on that 13 hour flight....
We land, I de-plane and go through customs, then wait with our MBAe group. I board the bus and off to the Hotel. We arrive in 15 minutes and I can't wait to freshen up and go out to dinner. Phil and I go out to recon the area and after about 30 minutes return to the hotel for dinner. We had a very nice Chinese dinner and about halfway through the meal - I start falling asleep. Ok, we finish up and I am ready to get some sleep....then I check in with the family and check e-mail. Everything looks good.... I'm going to bed after being up all day...see you all tomorrow.

Please excuse grammatical and spelling errors....
Sent from my iPad

Nick

In Defense of Crass American Culture (/pmg)

Even when exploring a new country in the most superficial and cursory of ways, it's tough to avoid American brands in major metropolitan areas.

You may find yourself asking the following:

• "Did I just travel 13 hours over the Pacific Ocean and most of Europe to eat at... KFC?"
• "Are Starbucks stores (which reflects the proper plural form, never "Starbuxes" or "Starbuces") this prevalent everywhere?"
• "Do people really like this stuff here?"

It's easy to decry any of this as the crass intrusion of American staples into the rest of the world, pushing aside the old and venerable for the new and shiny. 

But, consider the following: The degree to which tastemakers in the U.S. are prone to consider a company, brand, or art form droll, crass, pedestrian, suburban, or even unsophisticated is directly proportional to the degree to which it is an aspirational symbol of freedom and choice nearly everywhere else in the world. (Us world-traveling metal fans know this more than most. Face it: Van Cliburn wasn't the sound of freedom behind the iron curtain; Iron Maiden was.) 

Here in Dubai, the KFC sits just a few minutes' walk from the Dubai Museum and even a minaret where the recorded call to prayer is broadcasted over a loudspeaker. I can see why some may look askance at this--a visual and cultural non-sequitur that inelegantly smashes together the sacred and the profane.

I see this as the free market doing its job: Bringing together cultures and ideas in new, strange, and sometimes bizarre ways. Some of these combinations will survive, others not. It's what happens when "ideas start having sex". 

Creative and cultural promiscuity, then, is a powerful cultural force. 

We have arrived

After more than 12 hours in the air, we have arrived in Dubai. We may be a bit tired, but excited nonetheless. We are looking forward to all the sights, sounds and adventures we will have on this excursion 

Everyone here has been very nice and accommodating.

Will touch base again.

Diane

From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.

Geneva Kennedy Arrival in DuBai

We've arrived in DuBai! We are staying at Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa. Very nice
rooms with Arabic design.

Geneva, MBAE14
Sent from my iPad

Counting down the days....

We are counting down the days until our next international immersion trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi!  We leave on Saturday and arrive on Sunday for a week of learning about culture and business.  We hope that you'll continue to check back in to read more from all of our participants.