Paragon Relocation Korea Hosts Open House

Drum and dance performers entertain guests at Paragon Relocation Korea's open house event.

On December 10th, Paragon Relocation Korea officially opened its doors for business with an impressive Open House celebration that left a lasting impression on those attending. The event was held at the Somerset Palace in downtown Seoul, South Korea and was attended by over 60 people, including Paragon Global Resources’ Senior Vice President Craig Selders, who made the trip from the U.S., and Paragon Relocation Resources’ Director of Global Relocation Services Angela Pirrie, who attended from Paragon’s Hong Kong offices. Other attendees consisted of representatives from the U.S. Embassy, AIG, Wacker Chemical and Starbuck’s.

The celebration began with Jay Yoon, Paragon Relocation Korea’s Senior Manager, welcoming all the various attendees and then introducing a video message featuring Paragon’s President and CEO, Joseph Morabito. Morabito welcomed Paragon Relocation Korea into the Paragon family of companies.

Jay Yoon (4th from left), Craig Selders (center), Bright Yoon (4th from right), Angela Pirrie (3rd from right) and other Paragon Relocation Korea staff at the recent open house.

Bright Yoon, General Manager of Paragon Relocation Korea, and Craig Selders then gave brief speeches that were followed by the highlight of the night, a rousing Korean drum and dance performance.

"Jay and Bright and their staff certainly impressed me and all those who attended the event," said Selders. "The event was a wonderful opportunity to position Paragon Relocation Korea in a positive light as you could see Paragon logos and banners the moment you walked into the room, and was attended by clients, prospects and friends alike, which made it a great networking event as well."

"What we (Paragon Relocation Korea) achieved was remarkable that we could reach as many people at this busy time of the year and we’ve heard many of the attendees talk positively about the event," said Jay Yoon. "The event also allowed Paragon Relocation Korea a chance to reach out to clients and prospects and reintroduce ourselves and Paragon to our market."

People in the Netherlands have been watching the financial crisis unfold with awe. Focus has often been on the U.S. but the Netherlands has not been immune. Fortis Bank has been bought by the government and other banks have posted massive losses. Many private Dutch savers and local councils had money in the Icelandic internet bank Icesave and would have lost it all had the Dutch government not stepped in.

The housing market itself in the Netherlands is more stable than in the United Kingdom or the U.S. and there are not (yet) major issues, although there is a small decrease in prices.

There are indications that activity in 2009 may decrease, as some clients have indicated they expect a slowdown in projects and reductions in hiring. The main Dutch share index, the AEX, is also an indicator of future trends and has halved in value over the last few months.

Current conditions are a concern, of course, but order-levels remain reasonable. The team at Paragon Relocation Holland is extremely well-positioned to deal with change. With a flexible staffing structure and fixed costs under control, Paragon Relocation Holland's recent move has been to incorporate a virtual office system which allows for its employees to work some days from home. Another new feature is the use of Voice Over IP, which gives the ability to video-conference and lend more of a personal connection to clients.

In the past three months Paragon’s London team has noticed that continuing house price declines along with tight mortgage lending conditions has turned would be buyers and sellers into the rental market. This has opened up opportunities for our clients to have a larger selection of quality and more affordable accommodations.

The standards of properties available to let are constantly improving because of the competitive nature of the market. Landlords have adapted by becoming more receptive to negotiations on the terms of the lease and prices of tenancy agreements.

In November, RICS (the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) highlighted a trend that rental properties put on the market far exceeded demand by tenants. Since October 2007, there has been a 56% increase in properties in the lettings market. There has been a clear shift from being a seller’s market to a renter’s market, which has improved quality of housing stock and started to impact rental costs as supply exceeds demands.

Paragon continues to work with our clients to source the best available properties on the market and actively negotiate on asked rental prices to generate cost savings to our clients. For those clients that are actively moving staff into and out of the United Kingdom, this represents an ideal opportunity to secure expatriate housing in the UK housing market without breaking the bank.

The words “breast cancer,” are two words that have touched us all in one way or another. Whether it is a family member or friend, neighbor or co-worker, we all know someone whose life has been changed by these two words. Breast cancer is diagnosed in 1 out of 8 women. Every 3 minutes, a woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer; and every 13 minutes, a woman will succumb to the disease. It is not just the individual who is affected. Everyone who touches that person’s life is affected as well. We share the experience of this disease. Many women are lucky to have the support of friends and family who make the fight their own.

Through the 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer: Benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, family and friends take to the streets on an inspiring three day adventure to not only raise awareness and funds towards defeating breast cancer, but to let the world know, “Not my mother, not my wife, not my friend. I will not lose them to breast cancer.”

Kim Crispin and her sons at the 3 Day Walk for the Cure

Such was the feeling of Kim Crispin, wife of Stephen Crispin, Paragon’s Director, Global Business Alliance based in Dallas, Texas. Kim took to the streets of Dallas for the 3 Day Walk from 7-9 November, 2008. Initially approached by a friend to participate, Kim saw this as a great opportunity to raise money to help find a cure. Over a 24 week period, she trained and raised $2,200 through donations from friends and family, from Paragon, and even strangers.

“I did spend close to a full day out in front of a local store raising funds where many people were very generous in their donations," Crispin said. "It really inspired me that people would share stories of loved ones who had succumbed to breast cancer and, at the same time, give money to a total stranger. It really helped me to understand the immediate need to find a cure.”

Kim Crispin was one of 3,400 people who participated in the walk in Dallas. Surrounded by survivors, friends and family of those who were currently battling the disease or had succumbed to it, these determined people raised $7.9 million.

There were three women in Kim’s mind as she was preparing for the walk - one of whom is Kathy Fezzuoglio. People who know Kathy portray her as an engaging individual with intelligence, beauty and a heart of gold. Fezzuoglio, who worked for Paragon as Senior Manager of Learning Resources, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and left Paragon in order to aggressively fight the disease. After several surgeries, Kathy continues her battle. She perseveres and meets each new challenge with an upbeat attitude and smile. Kathy was undergoing another round of chemotherapy when she received pictures of Kim completing the 3 Day Walk and was deeply touched by Kim’s contribution in walking to raise funds to find a cure.

When asked if she planned on walking again in 2009, Kim warmly replied “Yes, I am planning on walking in the 2009 3 Day Walk. During my training, my 8 and 10 year old sons asked why I walk so much. My answer to them was simple, "I am walking for your wives, your children, your grandchildren, your aunts and grandmas. We need to find a cure for breast cancer so women do not have to suffer, and the families won’t have to watch their mom, wife, daughter, aunt or grandma suffer.”

To be part of the Cure, please visit www.komen.org and learn more about the 3 Day Walk, Race for the Cure, and Passionately Pink for the Cure.

Paragon is dedicated to creating an attitude of community pride, through awareness enrichment and involvement. Paragon strongly encourages our employees to take an active role in their communities through volunteer work and fund-raising, and matches funds raised through employee volunteerism in order to increase the impact of our employees’ efforts. To learn more about the guidelines of the Paragon Foundation, please e-mail charity@paragongri.com.

Get involved, start a team. Sign-ups for 2009 3-Day Walk have already begun!

Sinterklaas is Coming to Town?

Sinterklaas has been celebrated in different countries in Europe for hundreds of years and is not to be confused with Father Christmas or Santa Claus – the big fat jolly guy who, coincidentally, is also dressed in red with a mighty flowing beard. Instead of a red suit and black boots, he dons a long red cape, wears a white bishop's dress and red mitre (bishop's hat), and holds a crosier, a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. He also carries a large book that tells him which child has been good or naughty in the past year.

The Sinterklaas feast in Europe celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children and sailors. Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey who had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him.

According to some, the name "Santa Claus" is the American version of the Dutch "Sinterklaas." The tradition of St. Nicholas’ Eve came to the United States through the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam when the Dutch colonized what is now New York City in the 17th century.

In the Netherlands the party celebrations start early with Sint arriving on a steamboat all the way from Spain in mid-November. Although Saint Nicholas is originally from Asia Minor, some suggest that certain gifts associated with him, such as oranges and clementines, led to the misconception that he came from Spain.

Children wait for the boat to arrive, singing songs and waving flags. Most are dressed up with face paint, brightly coloured hats with feathers and flags.Once the boat docks, Sint rides through the town to the accompaniment of marching band music on his white horse and with his helpers at his side. In some cultures, the horse is named Amerigo and in others he remains nameless. The helpers throw sweets and candies to the singing and cheering children as Sint is paraded through the streets.

In the weeks between his arrival and the 5th of December, before going to bed, children sing Sinterklaas songs and put their shoes next to the chimney or outside the front door stuffed with a carrot or sugar cubes for Sinterklaas's horse. The next morning, the children rush out to see if they were left any sweets or presents in their shoes. Traditionally, children are given “chocolate letters”- first letters of a child’s first name made out of chocolate. Other goodies include chocolate coins, kruidnoten (a type of shortcrust biscuit or gingerbread-biscuits) figurines of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and coloured marzipan that is shaped to look like various types of fruit or animals.

Saint Nicholas' Eve is the 5th of December and is called Pakjesavond or “Presents’ Evening.” Presents are given to family members, which are wrapped in elaborate and ingenious ways that make it not only about the present inside, but also about the care taken in making the presentation of the present a surprise. Presents are traditionally accompanied by a poem written in rhyming couplets from the Sint to the receiver and generally mention the good things the gift receiver has done during the year. The poems are always read aloud as presents are opened so that everyone may hear the note that was written.

To see wonderful and colorful videos of this event, you can type in “sinterklaas intocht” on YouTube.com or for fun, you can visit www.sintersite.nl which is maintained by Sinterklaas and his helpers throughout the year.

Vrolijke Kerstmis! - Merry Christmas!