A great night at the old ball park

The IdeaStar team together with new client, Insuranti Inc, took in the pleasures of a loge at Jacobs Field (courtesy of BFCA) for an Indians-Red Sox slugfest.


The "Jake" looks great and our location was superb!


Our guests of honor, Danny Jones (Exec. V.P. Insuranti) and his wife, Sandy, came in from Pittsboro, N.C. to enjoy the game.


Mary Fisher, IdeaStar Communications Manager, and son, James, have a perch inside the loge.


Susanne Svette, IdeaStar General Manager, and husband, Mark. Where's the baby? Take a look at the picture at the bottom to see who was watching Gracie (two years old) and Alethea (4 months).


From left to right, Steve Lamb, Brent Williams and Ben Schemmel, all of IdeaStar.


Christine Kovar and husband, Bill. Christine is an Insuranti sales agent in the Cleveland area.


The food was awesome as Scott Largent (Web developer) and Wayne Largent (IdeaStar CTO) enjoy a few bites at the game.


Pat Giachitti, Insuranti VP Sales, and Danny Jones.


Danny gets help for his mug shot from IdeaStar president, Jim Fisher.

Laurel Bailey Baldwin had her hands full while Mark and Susanne were at the game. Looks like little Alethea wanted to play with her Auntie.

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Another Handsome IdeaStar Fellow. Who is it This Time?

By Andi Hoppes, Ideastar marketing assistant

This handsome fellow had stars in his future......IdeaStars! Looking quite dapper for school picture day back in grade school, he had no idea he was wearing a fashion trend that several IdeaStar employees would sport in the future. The sweater vest is a staple in the wardrobe of some IdeaStar employees today ;)

This young man used to live out West and enjoyed hunting for rubies on Ruby Mountain. He would also keep himself entertained by building and jumping ramps on his bike. Grinning from ear to ear, he seems pretty excited for school picture day. Who could it be?

Enter your guess in the comments section below.

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

Bug-eyed Over Bugatti Veyron: Sticker Price $1.2 Million

IdeaStar Creative Director Brent Williams recently spent a week with his wife Chanda shopping on Chicago's renowned Michigan Avenue. He spent a lot of time looking, but unfortunately not buying, this Bugatti Veyron.


What's so special about the car, other than its great looks? Brent, IdeaStar's resident automobile expert, explained the Bugatti Veyron costs $1.2 million, there are only 70 of them, and it makes 1001 horsepower with its quad-turbo, W16 engine. It is currently the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 253.2 mph. It costs roughly $5 million to build each car, so they are losing about $3.8 million on each one they sell. So basically it was just a wild marketing ploy by Volkswagon (they own Bugatti) to hype the brand so they can sell much less expensive rip-off versions made with VW parts restyled to look like the Veyron.

Here's a write-up from Wikipedia:

"The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is currently the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive street-legal full production car in the world, with a proven top speed of 407.5 km/h (253 mph), though several faster or more expensive vehicles have been produced on a limited basis. It reached full production in September 2005. The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS in its Molsheim (Alsace, France) factory and is sold under the legendary Italian/French Bugatti marque. It is named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm."

Sorry Brent. Maybe next year IdeaStar will buy a Bugatti Veyron as a company car for you.... Maybe.

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

Boa Constrictors, REAL Birds Nest Soup, Tall Buildings, and Much, Much More

Steve Harrison, son Jeremy, and a friendly boa constrictor

IdeaStar Web Developer Steve Harrison recently traveled with his family to one of the far corners of the earth, Malaysia. It was a memorable trip, full of intriguing food, exotic sites, and interesting experiences. Here’s a few pictures and comments from Steve about the trip.

Where did you go?

We went to Malaysia. While we were there we visited the capital, Kuala Lumpur; Saramban; the historical port town, Malacca, and the island of Langkawi.

With whom did you go?
I traveled with my wife, Meili; my son, Jeremy; and my in-laws.

Petronas Towers, twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, stand 1,483 ft high.

Why did you go?

Primarily, we went for a reunion with Meili's family. It was a chance to meet much of her family back home. For me, it was also my first time in Asia.

How long were you gone?

We were away for a month. It's not often we'll be able to travel that far, so we wanted to make it memorable.

What was your favorite part of the trip?

The food was easily my favorite part of the trip. Every meal was distinct and an adventure. But aside from that, my favorite part was all the traveling and exploring. So many aspects of life over there are different from what I expected; I enjoyed observing and soaking it all in.

Golden Statue outside Batu Caves

What was your best food memory?

It's very difficult to pick one dish as a favorite, especially when we enjoyed five meals a day. If it wasn't for all the walking, I'd have gained 20 pounds! All the food, fish, noodles were very tasty and fresh. I particularly like the fish balls and satay. I enjoyed all the curries, and pulled tea. There was also a Japanese restaurant that served the most savory sashime. My mouth is watering thinking about it. We got to enjoy an abundance of local fruits: dragon fruits, rambutan, lychee, durian, and mango.

What was your worst food memory?

On my last day there, I was treated to some bird's nest soup - a delicacy made from bird saliva. It was actually pretty sweet tasting, and I was fine drinking it until I was about three quarters into it. Then the imagery of the ingredients got to me and made me a bit weasy. So I gave the rest to my five-year-old son - he gobbled it up, gladly.

What is Malaysia like?

It's lush, green, and humid. Everyone wears t-shirts, shorts and sandals. It's fascinating to observe the mixing of three distinct cultures, Chinese, Indian, and Malay. It's an Islamic nation, so they're fairly conservative. As I mentioned before, diversity and freshness of food is really important there. On one hand you have a very modern capital with the world's tallest twin towers, the Petronas Towers. There were at least a dozen skyscrapers being constructed in Kuala Lumpur during my visit. On the other hand you can travel east and visit traditional Kampung houses - houses on stilts, that are still being used today. There a mix of progression and tradition.

What was your most memorable experience?

It's very difficult to isolate the most memorable experience. In the end, it was spending time with family that will stick with me the most.


Any advice for somebody planning to visit?

Keep an open mind and be prepared to eat. If you're looking for a vacation away from it all, stay at the Andaman Hotel on Langkowi. The service is impeccable, and it's pretty close to paradise.

Anything else you would like to add?

Truthfully, it's going to take me years to sort through all the photos and memories. One month isn't nearly enough to soak it all in.

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

Wedding Bells Keep Ringing

IdeaStar has added another employee to the marriage club. Brian Darby got married on June 29, the third IdeaStar employee to tie the knot this year. His fellow employees celebrated the occasion with a pizza party. Brian was told a VERY angry client was on the phone in the conference room and he had to come sit in on the call. He walked in to a company 'SURPRISE!' and Greg Kopp (left) and Maung Htun (center) laughing about the prank they pulled on Brian (right).

Brian promised to bake cupcakes for us with his new muffin pan, and we're sure the six-foot beach towels were put to good use during the honey moon (someplace warm and sunny, we hear, with lots of sand and beaches). Congratulations Brian!

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

Hey, I am supposed to be on vacation! Jimmy meets Danny in Glacier National Park.

Mary and I just returned from a vacation trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. The plan was to get away from it all and see the great Rocky Mountains.

And for most of the time that's just what happened. That was until I got a call from Insuranti Executive VP Danny Jones. He and his wife, Sandy, are devoted R.V. travelers and have a monstrous vehicle that they use for travel several months out of the year. And, as it so happened, they would be arriving at Glacier Park in a few days.

A dinner was in order and we met at the famous Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Montana, halfway between where we were staying in West Glacier and where they were staying in East Glacier. The Inn was located deep in the woods but next to a rail line which carried Amtrak travelers to stops at the Inn and other places throughout Glacier. Instead of cabins, guests stay in refurbished caboose cars.

We had a great dinner, watched some trains and then Danny and I pretended we were Indians and had a pow-wow in the tee-pee.

Copyright 2007 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved