TDS NEWS Digital
Thornhill
Digital Storytelling (TDS)
Monday, June 18, 2012 -
Week 26
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Digital Storytelling As Documentary Process
Creating Programming For Digital Media
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For Digital Storytelling Weekly Updates: http://digitalstorytellingseminar.blogspot.com/
The News
Partners
We are taking a little time to look at our work, our
structure and also our business personality.
Where are we headed? What do we
think of the last 4 years of growth?
What comes next?
This re-evaluation
and possible re-casting is very beneficial when we talk to new partner
candidates. Our willingness to discuss
and enact change is a very popular part of our vibe.
Concept
We are fascinated by
storytelling, stories and storytellers. Stories
from individuals are important. Producers
work hard to build stories for television and film.
And in the corporate
community, “Branded Content” is all the rage.
The latest example is the bold project that telecommunication
giant AT&T has launched; presenting a feature film, “Daybreak” which was
announced recently. Check www.Daybreak2012.com for
corporate, product and partner identification.
We’re also looking
in to the role that communities give to their communal stories and storytelling. Can we help there too?
Product
Development
TDS is built on the concepts of Kai Zen (continuous
improvement) and collaboration.
1.
Research continues everyday.
As we make this primary product
better, we are really following a game plan that will keep us on the right
track for years.
So many facets of the
communications industry are finding new value in the basic skills of
storytelling.
Next will be the distribution companies
and the device manufacturers.
2.
Thornhill Digital Storytelling Documentary Proposal
Seminars
Our Thornhill Digital Storytelling
Documentary Proposal seminars are getting sufficient attention. Production values will now get the big
push. Screens are being considered.
Facilities and hospitality must be
next. Our environment makes a huge difference when presenting the Thornhill
Digital Storytelling Documentary Proposal Seminars.
We started with, and will continue to do rentals, with a serious variety
of types in our wake. Our first was a Photography
Center, then a music studio, then on to KCET Television, and a technology
center before settling in at NextSpace,
a Co-Working Space. Our next event is schedule
for a rented bank conference room.
And with equal flourish, but no rental fee, we have appeared at a film
festival, used great and small libraries, cultural centers and galleries. We have our eyes set on 2 museums – and even
a tea house.
Our calendar
We are coming to the end of the
first quarter of the calendar year. This
seems to be a good time to check in.
Scheduling is still documented with a traditional calendar. Oh, how we want to automate! When we set our own time, juggling the day
and time is pretty simple. Dealing with
times when we are invited, or holidays, special occasions – even the London Olympics
– can be delicate.
The Week
The weekly TDS NEWS Digital
The Month
In May we had a breakfast meeting
for administrative planning. We need a
lot of help!
June is perfect. For the month, our dedication is to a
top-to-bottom layout for Thornhill Digital Storytelling. If you have questions,
or want to make a suggestion, let me know.
June 2012 is dedicated to making our machinery easily available to
interested businesses.
We intend to build a schedule with
a seminar happening every month in Seattle.
We had a brief facilities review at the Rainier Valley Cultural
Center. The Center has a great events
room that could work well for a monthly gathering.
There is also a favorite restaurant
with a big back room. That could be the
place. We used it in the past – for 2
years.
This new “hot” property will then
voyage to Baltimore for a July 12 seminar and land in Los Angeles for an
exciting day of sharing in the first week in August.
TDS NEWS each month. A new editor – a new art director!
The Quarter
We are in conversation with
interesting locations in New Jersey and DC/Baltimore to schedule a quarterly
seminar in one of these East Coast sites.
Annual
The New Video Marketplace
Think Maui In January. We are willing to consider other locations,
but this would be ideal.
A three-day experience with
exhibits, screenings, speakers, panels and parties. This means a new level of planning and
scheduling. We’re projecting 2013.
Forever
Our main work: Continuing TDS
research, grow the aforementioned Seminars, publish TDS NEWS and distribute the
TDS NEWS Digital via the Internet each week.
Of course this is all for our own
benefit, but also for potential crew members, partners and sponsors. It is time to put our best foot forward and
climb to the next plateau.
We started as a documentary
workplan, in the frenzied world of The Digital Television Report (DTR) National
Tour. We simply wanted to answer those
piercing questions posed by potential sponsors and producers for our
documentary film, “DTR Journey, Food & Beverage Stories” about our “digital
strategy.”
The answers were gathered together
as “50 Steps To Documentary Success” and the Thornhill Digital Storytelling
concept was born! Since then, we have
relied on Kai Zen: Continuous Improvement to build and grow.
3.
Publishing
Our print venture is going very well.
It is time-intensive, but a pattern is emerging.
TDS NEWS
TDS NEWS has proven itself as a
beneficial publication. The print
version serves as our program for each seminar, being updated for every single
date. One of the sections, Branded
Content / Entertainment has grown so fast, that the issue now floats between 32
and 36 pages. Hurray for continued
research. Do you remember when it was
only 2 pages and carried a brief introduction and the “50 Steps To Documentary
Success?”
TDS NEWS Digital
The safe start for our digital
entry is the TDS blog. Every Monday,
up-to-date, sometimes with repeat information.
Before the print version swells to
become magazine-like, a big question has been bandied about. Should we synchronize the editorial from the
print with the digital version? What
about multi-platform design?
4.
Digital Media Devices
No matter what we do in the middle,
we are aiming to put this whole digital approach on a tablet.
Research for the right tablet continues. And by the way, the great mystery release
from Microsoft earlier today - It’s A Tablet!
The Microsoft Surface
www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx
Microsoft unveils
Surface tablet to rival iPad
CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/18/technology/microsoft-windows-tablet/
Microsoft reveals its own
Windows 8 tablet: meet the new Surface for Windows RT
Engadget
www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/microsoft-tablet-announced/
We have a survey letter circulating begging for suggestions of which
tablet to use for our digital publishing.
Thus far the returns are evenly split between apple and Samsung.
What will be delivered in the tablet form?
A Product – TDS NEWS
TDS NEWS Digital
Master Planning
The master proposal for our Production & Learning Studio, including
research, maps, architectural plans, timelines and financial projections will
be available on a tablet.
The Master Calendar
Computerized calendars and production schedules drive the entire
process – from initial meetings to seminar production, to program development
and distribution.
By announcing that the tablet will
be the centerpiece for each of these documents, we suggest that a platform, a
brand and possibly a tablet model will become a strong part of project
development. So far, products or capability
from Apple, HP, Samsung and Sony have been considered. The Nook and Kindle Fire are waiting in the
wings. After the announcement of the Microsoft
Surface, this is also possible.
Technology
In many cases, the enabling
software or core technology is the same with competing brands or models of
digital devices. This will be considered
when looking for ways to collaborate, share in the workload and exchange
pertinent data. If Android, Apple and
Microsoft are the leaders, we can start there.
5.
Studio / Home
We want our space to be a learning environment. This could be a berth on a traditional education
campus, tied to a large training facility or closely involved with other
seminar folks. We can contribute to the
resident curriculum, and work in tandem to creat new options.
Digital Metropolis
There will be a cluster of
buildings – planned for owner or tenants with a mutual interest in digital
development.
6.
Continuity
Alignment can only continue with
hard work. Building, testing, review
dates and rebuilding is the model.
Seattle has been selected for the testing of our new planning, research
and design.
Once we find the appropriate venue,
we will initiate a series of local presentations designed to make the whole
system even better. There is certainly
sufficient talent in Western Washington, but we will not stop there.
Key to the success of this test
will be the participation of local support.
The involved industries, the creative community and sponsors will be
called upon to help make the plan work.
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Our growth will include new applications
- The 50 Steps process will
help the DTR Journey, Food & Beverage Stories documentary workplan
- A slimmed down version is
part of the production schematic form The Digital Television Report, a
theatrical documentary film. The
essence of the 50 Steps will be used for planning the overall production
and to develop the script
Thanks.
Andrew W. Thornhill
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Thornhill
Digital Storytelling
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In Association
With United Community Access Media and
Instant Karma
Entertainment, LLC. - www.ikellc.com
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Presents
A
Documentary Funding Proposal Seminar
Thursday,
July 12, 2012 – Noon to 4:00 PM
The PNC Bank Meeting Room - Charles Village Branch
12 East 25th
Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Advance
Registration Is Required
$10.00 Per Person
$25.00 Per Business For Up
To Three Representatives
There Is No Charge For
United Community Access Media Principals
To Register Go
To: http://thornhilldigitalstorytellingseminars22.eventbrite.com
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Documentary
Funding Proposals
What’s
Your Story?
The focus of this leading-edge workshop is showing how to link the
many necessary parts – from inception, through creative, technology and
production, to traditional or digital distribution and real world business
development. These are the elements that
will make your funding proposal rise above all the rest.
The agenda for
this brand of storytelling covers more than 50 items. Each is offered in a way that shows how to be
a winner in the specific category, yet still blend them all into a meld that
guarantees continuity and continuous improvement.
Are you expected to integrate digital assets into your documentary
funding proposal? If you, your
organization, office or company are planning a film, television show, radio
special, Internet presentation or a interactive photo essay, the answer is yes!
To create a digital documentary using a competitive, multiplatform
model, your timeline could be 3 years.
Also, expect that your expenses might creep to $2 Million or more.
As we each grow
beyond web sites and social media, Digital Storytelling is turning into a
hotbed for collaborative development and ever-expanding production crews. Team members learn from one another and your
end product gains from the combined intellect, energy and projections. This means greater expenses.
If your associates can’t relate to
Digital Storytelling as a genre, try Multimedia, Transmedia, Webisodes, Branded
Content or even Branded Entertainment.
We offer these and many subcategories in the Thornhill Digital
Storytelling Seminar.
·
TDS NEWS, our detailed event program, is available only at
the seminar and includes:
·
The Thornhill Digital Storytelling “50 Steps To Documentary
Success” checklist and
up-to-date
industry examples and news links.
·
The publication lists “Everyday Resources” a slate of
industry stalwarts providing no-cost,
e-mailed, daily
information reports on individuals, companies and trends in digital media.
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Coming to your town…
In order to have an event occur, we truly rely on the
support of our Event Partners in each city.
The local team must be dedicated, great communicators and willing to
help with every level of prep, promotion and review. In our next meeting, with the files, we will
look very closely at our track record and list those things we believe are
important to make every trip and presentation giantly successful.
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Ask About The
Maui Video Marketplace
Our marketplace concept brings
together all parts needed to build a film, or a production studio or a
collaborative cluster of film-related businesses to grow the region.
We start with a seminar series,
printed programs and access to information supporting the global transition
from analog to digital product distribution.
From Internet applications to digital television to digital channels,
your career in the industry will be given a major boost by participating in the
Thornhill Digital Storytelling seminar.
The Maui Video Marketplace will
grow from an idea to a location for training, serving clients and developing
proprietary and contract media products.
The choices will include live events, classes, print media, audio and
radio, video and television, digital and Internet, plus film industry
connections.
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Administration Update
We had a casual planning meeting
on Friday, May 11, 2012 at Café Racer, Seattle, Washington. That was productive in that most of the time
was spent reviewing current files and making sure that we had a beginning
timeline for all of 2012.
Thornhill Digital Storytelling has
survived two upgrades and amazing shifts in the documentary, non-fiction,
journalism and advertising worlds over the last three years.
This time, for our upgrade, we
opened the doors to input from friends, associates and communications
professionals to get a broad range of thought, ideas and needs. However, we are still in the process, so
let’s not declare victory yet.
So now we can call on planners, potential administrative
assistants and project managers. We need
these good folks to make our aggressive program complete. Administrative services interested in
partnering for development of businesses, events, publications and
documentation might want to get their information to me.
Duties as basic as maintaining the project calendar and as
difficult as database management will be offered to professional services.
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Bravado
Is It time to think about a national profile? so far, we are in different locations across
the map for the business and for events and meetings. Would establishing a a bigger footprint in
our ambitious planning work for us? Your
thoughts?
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Design Thinking
Our digital storytelling initiative is now a part of The
Thornhill Design Laboratory. As such,
the planning, development and operation has the resources and skills of a unit
dedicated to business and communications design. Form and function are a part of everything we
think about.
And we are not alone…
Forbes Magazine says “Welcome To The Era of Design.”
www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2012/05/03/welcome-to-the-era-of-design/
And to back that up, the first Los Angeles Design Festival
runs from June 14 to June 30, 2012.
www.ladesignfestival.org/category/events/
In checking where we are now, we could take the proverbial 2
steps back and look at the last two Thornhill Digital Storytelling Documentary
Proposal Seminars.
In Seattle, TDS presented on April 12, 2012 in Columbia
City, a distinct neighborhood in Seattle.
This validated the real need for a redesign of the seminar / publication
combination.
On April 27, a completely updated seminar was presented in
the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh, in association with Homewood Nation, a
compelling, neighborhood-based, multi-platform marvel operated by Elwin Green,
formerly a journalist with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
This the best time for a tune-up. With our sparkling new look and feel, we will
offer ourselves to a sophisticated audience in July in Baltimore and the
toughest audience of them all, Los Angeles in August.
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The
Thornhill Design Laboratory
Now the mission can move on.
Strategy and management is the province of The Thornhill Design
Laboratory.
So many facets of the communications industry are finding
new value in the basic skills of storytelling.
We find that the products from TDS are used to stimulate awareness
through our resource lists, to add practical training to existing programs and
to help build proposals for film, television and radio documentaries.
The process in our 50 steps now gets appreciative comments
from events producers, photo essayists, corporate communications professionals
and certainly production crews working on branded entertainment films.
More and more we appreciate the flexibility of our
proprietary Thornhill Digital Storytelling process as a tool and the respect
given by media management. You might
enjoy this Washington Post interview with Larry Kramer, the new publisher for
USA Today.
Go to www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/at-usa-today-larry-kramer-jumps-back-into-fray-of-digital-journalism/2012/05/15/gIQAiHFNSU_story.html
Digital storytelling has certainly influenced ad agencies,
producers of every stripe and the mainstays of entertainment in Hollywood. Next will be the distribution companies and
the device manufacturers.
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We need a new calendar to fit the current statement. The new schedule will start with Annual and
Quarterly review programs. We want a
monthly event in Seattle and to continue with the weekly blog.
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2012
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January Maui
Annual
Publication - Portfolio
February Quarterly
March
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April Pittsburgh
May Quarterly
Design Review
June 7 Rainier
Presentation Possibilities
Testing
in Seattle
June A
possible next event in Los Angeles?
People are talking...
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July 12 Baltimore
Upgraded
Seminar & DTR NEWS
In
Association With United Community Access Media and Instant Karma Entertainment, LLC. -
www.ikellc.com/
Postponed
From Friday, June 8, 2012
A
Casual Reception Will Follow
July New
Jersey Is Being Evaluated
August Los
Angeles Seminar
August 5 Quarterly
Bernard
Hoyes
September
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October 12 Maui
Business Festival
November Quarterly
Design Review
December
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More dates will be added in the next two weeks. Look for Eastern Washington and Phoenix.
Financial Planning
Event Registration $50
per person for a seminar outside of Seattle
Sponsors $100
per seminar, with many benefits, including a page in TDS News
TDS NEWS $10
per unit, includes postage
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Crew Additions
Busy says it all. I think we’re ready to search for partners
to help. Administration still includes
scheduling, calendaring, database management and preparing all documents.
And while the searchlight is on, help with financial
planning, diligent producers, capable designers, and nimble local promoters are
needed as well.
Communications
The management of Thornhill Digital Storytelling has a
responsibility to keep all parties aware of options, challenges and general
progress. If we don’t take steps to
explain our work and how we go about it, there can’t be a real decision on your
part of how we can work together and to win.
Regular email
This simple efficient tool is currently in use. As the standard in our work, it is easy to
ignore in our rush to improve communications.
This time it will get attention.
Development &
Filing Meetings
We need to keep the
more important updates in the industry in front of our crew, partners and
associates. Working in a roundtable
model, keeps the agenda humming and gives each discipline an opportunity to
pitch in. Working in a multi-platform scenario has many challenges in the
narrative, design and remodeling for digital production and distribution.
TDS NEWS
Our newsletter, plus TDS NEWS Digital, is an extension for
the producer, entrepreneur, filmmaker, technology, business and creative
communities. It is our ongoing
presumption that by creating awareness of the expansive digital media marketplace
that we also open the eyes and ears of creative and capable communications,
finance, trade, education, arts, entertainment, retail, design and corporate leaders.
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Business Development Notes:
Seminar production values will be upgraded to keep up with
the higher registration fees
TDS NEWS at the seminar
TDS NEWS Digital deserves a crew
A subscriber model will be adopted
New Partners
Our co-working arrangement in Culver City is also considered
a vital part of our business development strategy. It places us in the midst of the motion
picture community as we learn and
grow.
Search for our first sponsors
We will investigate the incubator pool to see if there is a
relationship to pursue.
Services
Now that we have opened the door on products and services,
pricing is next.
To test the waters and to have a real audience for our work,
we have offered the Seminar and TDS News combination at minimal cost and in
some cases for free.
Before we end that practice, we are looking into additional
revenues through the subscription option as well as advertising and
sponsorship.
Partners assist in offsetting ordinary charges and sponsors
pay for the alignment with our products.
As you might recall, we met to discuss the possible addition
of subscriber and/or membership services to our offer sheet. Currently our only products are seminars, TDS
NEWS and TDS NEWS Digital.
The more conservative players suggest that we simply work
this limited inventory and make it more attractive. The swifter folks want more growth in the
product line. Interestingly, they both
feel that we should think about operating weekly.
This could be for meetings to start – and then seminars and
publications.
A balance could be achieved by raising the rate of
registration to $50, once we complete all dates on the schedule.
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Distribution
We help others make their product. We could spend additional energy providing
detailed information on digital distribution.
Beyond the obvious options via the Internet, there is the expansive
world of Digital Channels. Perhaps this
premise warrants our attention – finally!
And in the engineering world, communications engineers are
advancing the notion of a World Standard to facilitate greater ease to have our
digital stories zipped around the world.
See The Future of Broadcast Television (FoBTV) at
Or
try this article from Harry A. Jessell, editor of TVNewsCheck.
www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2012/03/30/58452/the-future-of-broadcast-tv-is-next-month?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=The+Future+Of+Broadcast+TV+Is+Next+Month&utm_campaign=Jessell%3a+The+Future+Of+Broadcast+TV+Is+Next+Month
Spaces
Our address at NextSpace serves as the official mailing
address and an attractive place for hosting meetings and conducting training
for our new crew members.
Three venues are first in line as we consider a broad
variety for our monthly event space for the Seattle-based seminars. They are LUCID Jazz Lounge, The Rainer Valley
Cultural Center in Columbia City and The Northwest
Film Forum.
With great luck we will strengthen our facilities planning
with a crew to start on Proposals and eventually a presentation.
In the meantime, I am always searching for space to host
meetings, conduct training for our new friends and to establish an office. We can build a template for seeking support
for documentary filmmakers and refine the protocol from our simple list to full
automation.
Recently, to further this quest, I have attended meetings
with writers, toured possible meeting spaces and delved deeply into the new
co-working model
Digital Facilities…
Are facilities important enough to
create a true digital hub? The presentation
would be fantastic with internet connections, cable connections, a satellite
dish, large monitors, comfortable seating and hospitality. How expensive are these digital facilities
and who would build or outfit them? This
will certainly take additional research.
Production and Learning Studio
The TDS seminars have survived
interesting venues. There has been a
photography center meeting room, a music studio, library meeting rooms,
classrooms, a beautiful visual art gallery, a bar, a car dealership showroom
and a technology center.
Would such an environment result
in actual contracts? Could it start with
a training schedule? What design and
environment questions do we start with?
Digital
Metropolis
A much more efficient process
would be to start with a design for a cluster of buildings – planned for owner
or tenants with a mutual interest in digital development. Is there a plank in the local economic
development platform to address such issues?
An exciting option like this takes
about three years to evolve. Please
don’t think that immediate answers are required, but paying attention would be
a good idea.
Partner recruiting will not be easy. We continue to grow in sophistication – and
each year is better than the last. Our
upgrades are reasonable and we love our work.
It will happen
Thornhill Digital Storytelling
(TDS) is maturing very nicely in so many ways.
Of course the piece that keeps making new friends for the package – and
keeps the veterans coming back – is our concept of Kai Zen; Continuous
Improvement. This is most visible in
product development.
You
Can Participate
- Let me know
that you are interested in this or similar projects
- Refer this
information to everyone you know who needs to be enlightened
- Attend
(Usually $20 each), or sponsor ($100 each) a seminar
- Attend, or
sponsor, one or more of the social events
Sponsors
Today’s competitive environment demands that corporations
and their representatives take a serious look at what might be the perfect
combination to build a strong position for the enterprise and their product.
If you are interested in becoming
a sponsor, send your e-mail indicating what part of our package has your
attention. You can pledge with an e-mail
or a phone call to (206) 265-2279.
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For Digital Storytelling Weekly Updates: http://digitalstorytellingseminar.blogspot.com/
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The Thornhill
Design Laboratory
Business,
Communications Design
(1) Thornhill Design Lab Workshop
Design Review / Kai Zen
What is design? Aesthetics for inspiration, product
development, financial planning and real-world
case studies are included -
create using function and form. Design
efficient operations structures,
work processes, digital
networks, multi-platform media programming and manufacturing to
proceed aggressively in the
digital-led economy. You will better
understand and
appreciate the talents of
designers, storytellers, planners and artists.
(2) Thornhill Digital Storytelling (TDS)
TDS Digital Storytelling
Proposal Seminars – Series & Special Events
TDS NEWS - Subscribers /
Subscription Management
TDS NEWS Digital -
http://digitalstorytellingseminar.blogspot.com/
Digital Media Devices
(3) The Fashion Media Project
Research, Radio, Television
The Fashion Bloggers
Connection
(4) Client Services
Case Studies / Digital
Strategy / Extensions
(5 Development
Editorial, Design
Continuity, Administration, Database Management
Financial Planning,
Integrated Marketing Planning, Partners, Sponsor Presentations
(6) Production & Learning Studio
Schedule, Research, Internet
Presence
Facilities / Environment,
Library / Archives
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June 2012
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Andrew W.
Thornhill
www.thornhillportfolio.com - thornhillnews@hotmail.com
Copyright © 1971
- 2012, Andrew W. Thornhill, All Rights Reserved