The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities and investment management services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

Goldman Sachs' activities are divided into three segments:

Investment Banking
We provide a broad range of investment banking services to a diverse group of corporations, financial institutions, investment funds, governments and individuals.

Trading and Principal Investments
We facilitate client transactions with a diverse group of corporations, financial institutions, investment funds, governments and individuals and take proprietary positions through market making in, trading of and investing in fixed income and equity products, currencies, commodities and derivatives on these products. In addition, we engage in market-making and specialist activities on equities and options exchanges, and we clear client transactions on major stock, options and futures exchanges worldwide. In connection with our merchant banking and other investing activities, we make principal investments directlyand through funds that we raise and manage.

Asset Management and Securities Services
We provide investment advisory and financial planning services and offer investment products (primarily through separately managed accounts and commingled vehicles, such as mutual funds and private investment funds) across all major asset classes to a diverse group of institutions and individuals worldwide and provide prime brokerage services, financing services and securities lending services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds and foundations, and to high-net-worth individuals worldwide.

“Diversity is at the very core of our ability to serve our clients well and to maximize return for our shareholders. Diversity supports and strengthens the firm’s culture, and it reinforces our reputation as the employer of choice in our industry and beyond.”

Lloyd C. Blankfein
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Exclusive Resorts was founded in 2002 with one mission: to create far more rewarding vacations for Club members.

We accomplish this goal by combining the best things about staying in vacation homes with the best things about staying in luxury resorts—while eliminating the disadvantages of both.

We set the standard for the destination club category and under the leadership of our management team and Board of Directors, we've grown to be the world's largest and best luxury destination club. Our management team has decades of experience in the real estate, travel, leisure and hospitality sectors with companies known for service, excellence and success. It is our people's commitment to quality that has made Exclusive Resorts the preeminent destination club.


A DESTINATION CLUB is a whole new concept in vacationing—combining the privacy and spaciousness of vacation homes with the services and amenities of luxury resorts. Members can:
* Enjoy the ultimate in vacation variety and value. Choose from a worldwide portfolio of residences, many with access to luxury resorts, that individuals could never amass themselves.

* Relax in grand residences perfectly appointed for your comfort without being tied down to a single vacation home (and its expenses and headaches).

* Expect the utmost in service and amenities, including round-the-clock concierge service and privileged access to private golf courses, spas, beach clubs and more.

Exclusive Resorts pioneered this innovative approach to luxury vacation travel and we continue to be the leading luxury destination club.

Société Générale is a child of the industrial revolution, founded in 1864 to meet the increased funding needs of France's steelmakers and railroad companies. Designed as a vehicle for modernizing the French economy, its birth comes at a time of economic turbulence.

Societe Generale stands by its clients every day to help them bring their personal and professional projects to fruition, to facilitate financing and investment, and to take up the challenges that reinforce the economy.All of Societe Generale's clients and customers, whether they are individuals, professionals, businesses or institutional investors, in or outside France, want to have an extensive range of services at their fingertips. Societe Generale is committed to offering them these services, when and where they need them. Thanks to networks in France and in the 82 countries where Societe Generale is located, the firm is able to enhance synergies among our businesses in order to provide the best possible service.

“Deloitte” is the brand under which 165,000 dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services to selected clients. These firms are members of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (“DTT”), a Swiss Verein. Each member firm provides services in a particular geographic area and is subject to the laws and professional regulations of the particular country or countries in which it operates.

Deloitte LLP has earned praise from many organizations for fostering a supportive culture. We have been especially acknowledged for our dedication to women's advancement, diversity and inclusion, professional development and workplace flexibility.

For the 10th time since 1998, Deloitte has been named to FORTUNE magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," jumping to No. 61 in the rankings this year.

Deloitte is No. 2 among those launching their careers, according to the latest BusinessWeek "Best Places to Launch a Career" rankings. The magazine attributed the firm's placement to high-level recruiting, top-drawer training programs and attention to employee benefits.

Deloitte marks its 15th consecutive year on Working Mother's “100 Best Companies”list in 2008. Deloitte named a2008 Best Company for Multicultural Women by Working Mother for sixth consecutive year. Sharon Allen, chairman of the board, Deloitte LLP, was named to the 2008 Forbes magazine " World's Most Powerful Women" list. Kennedy Information ranks Deloitte Consulting as second-largest HR consultancy for 4 th year.

Castello Banfi is a family-owned vineyard estate and winery in the Brunello region of Tuscany.

Together with its sister estates in Piedmont, Vigne Regali and Principessa Gavi, it has become recognized the world over for its dedication to excellence and sparking a renaissance in the art of Italian winemaking.

The Mariani family proprietors credit education, dedication and discipline for the success that has accorded honors including:

* 11 Consecutive Years ~ Italy’s Premier Vineyard Estate at the VinItaly wine fair

* The first winery in the world to be internationally recognized for exceptional environmental, ethical and social responsibility as well as an international leader in customer satisfaction.

* Winery of the Year by both Wine Enthusiast and Wine & Spirits Magazine and Top Ten Wines (Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio all’Oro) by Wine Spectator.

Over the last 13 years, Castello Banfi has participated in low input cultivation by carefully monitoring fertilization and agrochemical treatments, considerably reducing the quantities applied, and focusing on low-persistence ingredients that are gentle to the environment.

Castello Banfi has one of the highest ratios of forest to cultivated land among European wine estates.We plant local species particularly adapted to the environment, constantly cultivate our forests and scrub to clear fire lanes, and maintain small water basins to fight forest fires and provide drinking water for wildlife. Over the past 25 years, Castello Banfi has planted enough cypress trees to shade the 50-mile route between Siena and Florence!

Maintaining Biodiversity: Natural meadows bordered by typical Mediterranean bush provide ample grazing for the rich and varied wild fauna, particularly boar, pheasants and deer. We are raising a small herd of Amiata donkeys, a particular local breed that risked extinction, and also dedicate part of our estate to groves of prune and olives, fields of wheat and forests of truffle-rooted oaks.

Castello Banfi is the first winery in the world to be awarded international recognition for exceptional environmental, ethical and social responsibility (ISO 14001 and SA8000) as well as an international leader in customer satisfaction (ISO 9001:2000). Banfi affirms the idea that not only individuals, but the business itself, must support ethical values as part of the definition of its responsible behavior.

In Italian, issimo means ‘the very best.’A single unique blend of 100% premium Arabica beans, illy Issimo is espresso-based Italian coffee withoutcompromise.

illy issimo is authentic like no other, truly Italian in taste and style.It‘s Milan, Venice and Rome.It’s creativity, fashion, art and design.It’s Italian luxury for you to enjoy everyday.
Savor it while you walk, drive or wait.While you work, rest or unwind.illy issimo is ready to drink any time and any occasion.

If espresso is the essence of Italian coffee, illy is the essence of espresso.It’s a small miracle repeated every day in Italy and all over the world in over 6 million coffee cups.

We’re a top international purveyor of the very best that Italy has to offer. We’re an ethical brand that incorporates sustainability into everything we do. We’re an eclectic brand that speaks the language of art and contemporary literature. We’re a superlative brand that has striven for excellence every day for the past 76 years.

W. R. Tish, known in the wine trade simply as Tish, has been writing and speaking about wine and food for more than a decade. As editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine from 1988 to 1998, he re-worked the publication to position it as a spunkier alternative to other wine magazines. Tish also has written on wine and food for publications including In Style, Details, Private Clubs, Beverage Media, and Williams-Sonoma Taste, as well as a smattering of Web sites.

Through his firm Wine For All, Tish develops custom wine events, ranging from private dinner parties to corporate team-building seminars and focused trade tastings. He has served as a regular wine instructor for The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and as the auctioneer for the annual Hudson Valley Wine Showcase & Auction.

Tish attended Harvard University, where he was a literary editor of The Harvard Lampoon and graduated with a degree in psychology. He also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. He lives in Westchester with his wife and twin sons.

The Fridman Law Group is a full service business law firm, specializing in working with mid-size companies to help them operate smoothly and grow effectively. Our clients are successful businesses from a variety of sectors including technology, publishing, financial services and design. With over ten years of experience representing companies as outside general counsel, we are well equipped to help your business manage legal risk affordably and intelligently.

The Difference: We are skilled in transactional corporate, employment, trademark, copyright, licensing and business immigration law. This wide range of expertise enables us to serve as General Counsel to many types of businesses. We offer accurate estimates and flexible billing arrangements, and are able to provide high-quality legal services at a fraction of big-firm costs. If we come upon an issue outside of our core area of practice, we can usually recommend an expert without any mark-up or retainer. Our network of specialists covers litigation, patent law, trusts and estates, and accounting. Please call or e-mail us with any questions. The initial consultation is free of charge.

Founded by Nichole Wright, Bon Vivant comes from French word Bon, meaning "good" and Vivant is a present participle of Vivre, "to live." A "Bon Vivant" is a person with refined and sociable tastes.

From Nichole: I've collected a series of favorite quotes on life, entertaining and living the good life that reflects personally what I believe in and the company mission:
"The devil is in the details."
"Beauty is not caused - it is."
"Hospitality is one form of worship."
"In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us."