Our network is strategically located to ensure robust, reliable partnerships and services. Building this trust and reliability is a commitment we don’t take lightly.

EMIT,  Fervor,  Thompson Dunn,  Buisness4Folks, Strike Your Path

Brussels (BE), Kansas City (US), London (GB), Timisoara (RO)

We also have a new partnership with Kwik events in Leiden (NL)

And of course, our Network has a Network.

Whatever you may need, do make contact and we shall do our best to support you.

The post Where our Network is physically based appeared first on EMIT.

When people look at the prices that are quoted by the self-employed or small businesses, often we hear customers feel the service is expensive. Every country in which a business operates will have rules guidelines and laws that they have to follow.

Below we provide a summary of the main costs incurred in Belgium.

• Business registration – you must have a registered entity to operate
• Banking – every bank will charge for use of their services
• Accounting – the use of accountants and such services is needed in this complex system
• Facilities – most people will need a place to operate
• Utilities – buildings need energy and running water
• Insurance – health, business, office, vehicles
• Transport – ability to be mobile, meet clients, deliver/collect materials
• Salaries – for staff and associated social taxes
• Fiscal – associated costs or contributions for pensions and mandatory social services
• Taxes – business tax based on revenue v profit
• Technology – very little gets done these days without computers, phones, software, licenses and IT support
• Expenses – materials, stationery, gifts and other required overheads
• Legal – there may be times when a lawyer is required
• Charity – we provide pro-bono & donations supporting a few charities and NGOs
• Unexpected – the things that come up when you least expect it!

As you can see from the above list there is an awful lot that is mandatory. The next time you see a quote from any company, you now have an idea of the things they need to cover from that one invoice.

Our advice if you are looking to get started, no matter where you are in the world – get qualified advice.

The post What are the main costs associated with running a small business appeared first on EMIT.

There are creative elements of everyday life, and of course, free spirits that love to throw structure and discipline out the window. Interestingly, creative people paint from their soul and often follow a process or method perfected by others. And free spirits are glad that some structure exists so that grocery shops are stocked, and medical assistance is there when needed. Some order is required to ensure that individuals can be protected by inevitable change. Imagine if you will, the chaos that would ensue if society needed to address something like the coronavirus, if there were no order?

We enjoy a world very much where we can move freely from town to town or country to country. Order may look a little different in each country managing the COVID-19 problem. The basics are there, but a diverse world and mix of cultures will manifest a diverse set of social behaviours. It is at times like these that we most recognize our interconnections and their importance. Cross-cultural interactions require the understanding of some, often unwritten rules so that we learn and share the sensitivities of interacting with others.

In conclusion, life benefits from a tremendous amount of creativity. Yet, so much of what humans create would not work without some level of order.

Chalks Corriette is a living systems analyst and creative project office lead.

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We use our network of exceptional service providers to deliver for our clients. Organizations come to EMIT when they need a project office skill set who can pull together a range of unrelated services.  Rather than find several companies that must be managed, our clients prefer to have one contact and one invoice. This is where we come in or specifically where I can help. My ADHD brain, mentoring experience and leadership psychometric profile are ideally suited to herding cats. And anybody who has worked in a project office will know that keeping many things on track can test the best of us. 

EMIT can add value to you, your team and your company. 

If you need a little help, contact us. 

Chalks Corriette 

Managing Director

EMIT sprl/bvba 

(Extraordinary Moments in Time)

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Believe me when I say I have sat through many presentations from PR, Branding and marketing companies. But I have never experienced anything like this. The organizations approach, The methodology they used to get to the bottom of who you are, the tools to identify your key advocates and most of all the way they presented their ideas was amazing.  Many of our board members were not happy with the content of the presentation. They were unable to see that the outcome was driven by the information provided by the not-for-profit in the first place, and completely missed the brilliance of what was going on in front of our eyes. 

I always remember the presentation from Mike. And we made contact some years later to establish a representation in Europe. There are many marketing, Branding and of course PR companies in Europe. I have just not come across one as unique as Fervor.

Fervor is strategy, developed and deployed. Their craft is impact. Fervor offers a multitude of services, all designed to help organizations connect with their Ideal Advocates in authentic and lasting ways.

“We’re proud of how we serve clients here at Fervor. When we talk about partnership, we all take it seriously. We’re advocates for our clients and advocates for each other. It’s what we’re called to do. If you’re game to work with us, this is what we stand for”.

Humble Collaboration 

Fervor is rooted in relationships. Authentically caring about our team and our client partners is how we live that out. We approach working together with the willingness to learn and the freedom to challenge for the good of those we serve.

Determined Grit 

We relentlessly pursue doing whatever is necessary to grow our team and our client partners. Through authentic relationship and a shared mission to serve, we dig in, knock down barriers and help each other thrive.

Ownership Mentality 

Fervor wins on the inside when everyone fulfills their role with excellence. Excellent doesn’t always mean perfect, but it means owning the task before you. When our team wins, our client partners inevitably win as well.

Faithfully Driven 

Fervor was founded on biblical principles that have provided us with solid footing since day one. Everyday, we grow as people and professionals in an environment that promotes creativity, community and connection.

Passionate Purpose 

We’re not in the marketing business, we’re in the people business. Thoughtful, engaging interactions drive us. People will know us as passionate and motivated people leaving our prospective clients to wonder: something is different about Fervor, and I want more of it.

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Chalks Corriette, Brussels, Belgium

With everyone leading such busy lives, offering your precious time to volunteer can seem counterproductive. However, in my experience, the paybacks of volunteering are enormous for me, my family, and the wider community. It is easy to mind your own business. It takes a little more effort to mind the community.

People who volunteer, do so for a wide variety of reasons. Volunteering can support the development of skills an individual did not know they had, can support the cause of a friend or family member, be a response to a local community need, or be done out of a passion for building stronger local communities. The best volunteering comes from the desire to serve others and make a difference. And, it is important to learn about where support is needed and how much time one individual can realistically offer.

Let’s look at supporting young people as an example. With weekly activities taking place at all times, a collaborative approach is important. When everyone can spread the workload, it is much easier to manage a strong community program which engages young people. Some activities may only happen once a year, such as a BBQ or special camp. Other activities will occur monthly or weekly, such as a games evenings or excursions. Do contact your local youth group or Scouting community to see how a small amount of your time can add a huge amount of value.

Fundamentally, volunteering is about giving our time, energy and skills freely to benefit a wider community. There is, of course, a choice to volunteer or not to volunteer. The choice is influenced by your belief system, groups or topics that we are passionate about, local opportunities, and ultimately your desire and enthusiasm to serve.

Every small contribution does add value and does make a difference. It is my belief, that doing nothing is unacceptable in the 21^st century. There are so many needs right on our doorstep. The role of the government in all of this is a complex one and a subject for another blog post.

Yours in volunteering

Chalks Richard Corriette

Director @EMIT and Scout Leader

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We are impacted in a major way by changes in our climate. In recent years, Tropical Storm (TS) Erika (2015) and Hurricane Maria (2017) have devastated our community. My village of Petite Savanne has been without electricity since TS Erika in 2015. GDP per capita is no more than $5,000 following Maria. As money is in short supply, this makes any kind of recovery extra difficult. 

The Diaspora of Dominica wants to do more to contribute to continuous improvements. And wish to do so outside of any local government interference. What is true is that the Government has a major role to play in providing the big infrastructure items for Citizens to thrive. And, citizens wish to be masters of their own destiny for the things that are less interesting to government officials.

We at EMIT will crowdfund and seek funding from as many legitimate sources as possible to enable local civil society groups, the opportunity to lead local projects and community services. Our partners are reputable and our local contacts, such as Pep Bardouille, CEO at Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD), help us to ensure transparency and security in everything that is done. 

Please do support us

Regards

Richard Chalks Corriette 

To learn more about Dominica, please do visit this website from Discover Dominica>

There is also some great video material on channels like YouTube>

Bloomberg and other news channels provide interesting news items about Dominica>

Since we are about gathering funds to make things happen, you can make a secure donation here>

All of the funds raised are used to deliver benefit to the people and communities of Dominica.

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There has also been quite a shift on the subject areas that are covered during our meetings. The usual things about what to do in Belgium, how lovely it is to live here, and how to get your business started, have been staple topics.  Last year (2018) the subjects changed a little with the introduction of GDPR, the growth in the use of drones, and the rise of robotics software.  

GDPR (general data protection regulation) was a big drive from the EU, to protect the identity and data of European Citizens from being overly farmed by organizations.  The result is that every time you visit a new website or use an online tool to order something, you are asked to agree to cookies and/or privacy policies. I am not sure that people are any more careful about their personal information or that anyone has the time to read the often long statements that are presented for us to accept. But, it does give the perception that we are in charge and that our information is more secure.  

There has also been a rise in Drone usage with many companies looking for ways to offer better services.  Delivering shipments to complex places, capturing photographic information from major building sites to allow analysis, spraying crops and even checking the cells of large solar panel implementations, are all uses of this technology.  

Next comes the friendly robots. People tend to think about these on production lines in a computer or car assembly line.  These days, there are also chat bots dealing with initial conversations on banking websites and answering simple support problems. And a growing area of software robotics are those that deal with mundane and repeatable tasks, such as taking data from spreadsheets and online forms, converting these into registered users by placing the information into an agreed management system, and sending the registered user their login details.  

All of these tools are being used by organizations to meet the demand by consumers to have more things, better, faster and cheaper. Human resources are expensive and if companies are to dramatically improve productivity, maintain or improve quality and keep costs in check, some form of automation is inevitable. A perceived down side is  that jobs will be lost – this is not always the case. Companies are looking for ways to allow their valuable employees, the space to do more interesting things during their working time so they can focus more energy on serving the customer. 

If you want to find out more about life in Belgium or any of the subjects covered in this note, please do join us each Thursday morning or drop me a line.  

Better, fast and cheaper seems to be the trend of the current decade.  I wonder if we can squeeze some values and morals in there? 

The post Better, faster and cheaper please appeared first on EMIT.

We have gained much experience from supporting many communities and projects, locally and around the world. Practically, we have learned from the flagship projects of the UN, World Economic Forum and International Red Cross groups. Many of these cover digital divide, global health, logistics and transportation or disaster networks. Whilst supporting these projects around the world, we were also able to participate in the Davos, Switzerland gathering and their regional settings.

The post Personal and Corporate Citizenship appeared first on EMIT.

Scouting skills for life program is one that we work with as volunteers in Scouting. In business, we have many skills and resources that we can share with young people and adults that support them. Our customers benefit as much from our engagement in Scouting as do our social communities. Here is an outline of the program…..

As Scouts, we believe in preparing young people with skills for life. We bring communities together and contribute to society. Above all, we aim to build better futures.

Each week almost half a million young people enjoy fun, friendship and outdoor adventure. They develop a sense of optimism and strong values as well as the leadership and teamwork skills that are more valuable today than ever before. Our plan for the next five years is simple. We need to build on our recent success and focus on the challenges we face. Our volunteers do not always get the support they need. The public do not always understand what we do and we are not seen as relevant or
open enough.

Despite these challenges, Scouting achieves remarkable things. Our previous plan, Scouting for All, inspired 834 new sections to start in areas of deprivation since 2013. We now help over 462,000 young people aged 6-18 (including 102,000 girls) get the best possible start in life. It inspired our community impact campaign, A Million Hands, helping over 250,000 young people make a positive contribution in their local communities.

Now we want to go further. You asked us to focus on Scouting on the ground and this plan does just that. It supports and empowers Section Leaders to deliver an amazing programme. It’s also a plan to contribute to a better society. But most of all it’s a plan for young people. They deserve the best skills, the best support and the best
possible futures.

Should you be moved to make a donation for the Scouting community, you can do so here> 

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