TechProse Communications Specialist has a Baby Boy!

Max Palmer Billington

Nicolle Henneuse has worked as a TechProse communications specialist since 2007. She has contributed to our clients' success and is also a valuable business partner who has recommended highly skilled professionals to the TechProse team.

On May 28, 2008, she and husband Pete Billington had a baby boy, Max Palmer Billington. Max weighed 5 lbs., 14 oz. at birth and has been packing on the pounds ever since. At the end of June, he was up to 8.5 lbs., according to Mom.

Welcome Baby Max!

TechProse Consultant Sings with Choral Group

Julie Blade, a long time TechProse consultant, sings with several choral groups, including the San Francisco City Chorus, which performed "A Night at the Opera," a collection of opera favorites on June 7 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Julie had a solo part as one of the Bridesmaids in the Bridesmaids' Chorus from "Die Freischütz" by Carl Maria Von Weber.

Also, Julie will be traveling with Cantare Con Vivo, an East Bay chorus, on a choral tour in Europe from June 17-30. The chorus will be performing in Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and villages and towns in between. The chorus will be performing a broad repertoire in most venues. They will also perform two major works - "Sacred Service" by Ernest Bloch and "Psalm 13" by Alexander Zemlinsky - along with a full orchestra and a European cantor. This performance will be held at a large concert hall for the Bratislava Cultural Festival. The proceeds from the concert will go toward cancer research.

TechProse Project Manager completes 2008 AIDS/LifeCycle

From June 1-7, 2008, TechProse project manager Iain Kelly and his wife Cathy participated in the AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. This is the third time Iain and Cathy have made the trek.

"It is not an easy task and but it seems so insignificant compared to the pain and suffering caused by AIDS around the world," Iain says. "Cath and I want to know that in our lifetimes we can cure AIDS and never lose another human being to this awful disease."

For more information or to donate, check out Iain’s webpage at: http://www.aidslifecycle.org/1191

TechProse Project Manager has a Baby Girl!

Baby Lucy

Heather Sirk worked as a Project Manger for TechProse since 2006. She managed a team at Cisco, and has recently moved on to a challenging new management project that includes being a mom.

Heather and her husband Kevict had a baby girl, Lucy. Born Saturday March 22, 2008 at 7:12 PM. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 15 oz., is 20.5 inches long

True to form, Heather had the baby on her exact due date.

Now that’s project management!

TechProse Consultant is also an Actress

Photo by Lee Basham

TechProse consultant, Bobbi Fagone, stars as the vain and villainous actress, Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina, in The Notebook of Trigorin, March 13 to April 6, 2008 at the Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City. The play is Tennessee Williams' adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Sea Gull.

Bobbi is enjoying her stint as a villain after years of playing the good girl. "She's just so evil, "Bobbi says of the character she channels in the play. "You wouldn't want her as a friend, but she's really fun to watch."

It doesn't hurt that Irina also boasts the best wardrobe of any of the characters in the play. Her flamboyant character flaunts authent, period chiffon and satin 1890s gowns, topped with feathered and flowered hats that seem to defy gravity.

Photo by Lee Basham

Theater is Bobbi's "serious hobby" and she enjoys participating in several Bay Area productions each year. Last summer she also wrote, produced and played the title role in THUNDERBABE in a month-long engagement at Theatre on San Pedro Square in San Jose. Well received and attended, the San Jose Mercury News applauded the comedy, action-adventure stage play as "a spunky little show about finding your inner super girl."

The Notebook of Trigorin is Bobbi's second Tennessee Williams' play. She previously played the tortured nymphomaniac, Blanche, in A Streetcar Named Desire at Coastal Repertory Theatre in Half Moon Bay. It is Williams' treatment of Irina, as the grandiose, utterly self-centered diva, that Bobbi says makes the character so much fun to play. "Checkhov's Irina was not as out there," she says. "Williams really fleshes her out (in his adaptation). He does a great job with his female characters. They are always very interesting and have so much depth."

TechProse Client Travels to Kenya, Fulfills Life's Dream

Last summer, Karen Spicer, executive assistant to Cisco's Brian Jeffries, traveled to Kenya, where she spent two weeks volunteering with the Africa Development Consortium (AFRIDEC).

Each day, Karen walked from where she stayed with a host family to an orphanage called Motherly Care, a facility for children 16 years and younger. Motherly Care is a community-based organization that works with orphans who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, children from poor families in the neighborhood, and children who have been molested or sexually abused.

"My main focus was the orphaned children, "Karen says. "I was there to be a mentor, and taught English, math, and sign language. I was also there to be a mother - to listen and provide a sense of security and much-needed love. I also wanted to create some fun. We played lots of jump-rope, hop scotch, and soccer."

Karen's trip to Africa taught her about the world - and herself.

"In the end, I learned I had this hidden bond with my country that I would not have come to realize had I not made this trip, "Karen says. "Secondly, we are so privileged to have been born in such a rich country with opportunities presented to us daily. The children in East Africa are born into poverty, yet have the same goals and dreams as we do!"