A GE Adventure.

Ever wanted to see what's going on inside of the GE Global Research Center, or take a trip to the top of a wind turbine?

A new blog, GE Adventure,  has been launched that focuses on a "series of field trips through GE," so you can read about a variety of  adventures.

My favorites include this post about a wind turbine visit- where the bloggers made a parachute out of a plastic bag and dropped it off the 260' high turbine. it even has a video. To check out a photo gallery of GE wind turbines, check out this page.

Or this post, that shows a few antique GE ads, and shows the original text,  “Really, you can’t blame her. Who wouldn’t drag her friends out into the kitchen to show off her new General Electric? There it stands, gleaming white, strong as a safe, incredibly quiet … the envy of all who see it.”

The blog also discusses some of the cool new technologies that folks at the GRC have been working on, including nanotechnology, oled lighting, and more.

The blog is still pretty new, so check back for more first hand information compiled by the bloggers!

Imagination Cubed

Imagination CubedOnline collaboration is fun, but it's sometimes hard to "talk through" an idea over the phone without a way to visually display it.

GE has created an online whiteboard for instantaneous screen-sharing without the need to register or create an account. Also, you don't have to wait for your friends to register either, as you can just email them to join your session.

The tool allows you to add text, change the background, add shapes, lines and stamps - it's wonderful in it's simplicity.

And when you're finished creating your online artwork (or a diagram for class), all is not lost- you can print, save, or send.

As lifehacker mentioned in their post, this site would be awesome if you have a tablet PC- as you have that whole pen functionality.

IMLPs Go Bowling for a Good Cause

This past weekend, IMLPs, GE employees, friends, and family teamed up with Junior Achievement of Connecticut for an afternoon of bowling to benefit young adults in need.  Junior Achievement is a favorite charitable organization of IMLPs in Connecticut because of its level involvement within the community and its proven impact.  JA as we’ve come to know it, works hard to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy through a hands-on program that teaches workforce readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.  Like the IMLP program in GE, JA trains people hard, teaching them important life skills and imbuing them with life-long knowledge, pushing them to become the leaders of tomorrow. 

So, in the spirit of giving back, the GE volunteers bowled the afternoon away while raising money for the JA cause.  As an added bonus to hitting the lanes for such a worthy cause, IMLPs from all over Connecticut and from across GE Capital and GE Corporate met up, many for the first time since their last bootcamp experiences, allowing us all to catch up, share experiences, and reminisce.  Somehow, despite the fact that we all were pretty pathetic at bowling, it really ended up being a great time.  It’s always a good feeling to give back to the community and in the IMLP program it’s easier than ever to help out… especially when you get to have such a great time in the process.

Community Service: IMLP Bootcamp Style

Located in Brewster, New York, Green Chimneys is a nationally renowned, non-profit organization, which prides itself on creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. A leader in animal-assisted therapy, Green Chimneys provides sanctuary to both troubled children and harmed animals. Using farm, animal, plant, and wildlife assisted therapy, Green Chimneys offers specialized treatment as well as educational and recreational services. Children from troubled and abusive families come from all over the Tri State area to take part in the animal assisted healing process.

On Saturday, July 26, a group of 89 IMLPs participating in the July 2008 Bootcamp, took part in a community service event at Green Chimneys. The IMLPs worked for 5 hours assisting in a variety of tasks around the farm, focusing mainly on BoniBel farm and the wildlife enclosures. BoniBel farm supplies organic vegetables, honey, and maple syrup to the rest of Green Chimneys. Those who dedicated their time to BoniBel Farm split logs, cleaned vegetable beds, pulled weeds, shoveled compost, laid mulch, and picked raspberries.

IMLPs take a break for a picture

The wildlife enclosures mainly needed attention around the miniature horse paddock. The IMLPs who spent their time in this area tore down and rebuilt a fence around the paddock for the miniature horses in addition to moving several large rocks from the paddock and surrounding walkway. Some effort was also spent on weeding and spreading mulch around the nearby duck pond. The day concluded with a tour of the wildlife farm by Dr. Sam Ross, the founder of Green Chimneys. The entire Green Chimneys staff was very appreciative, as the work accomplished by the IMLP volunteers would have taken the Green Chimneys staff almost a month to complete and will provide a better environment for the children of Green Chimneys to learn and grow in.

To find out more information about Green Chimneys, please visit the Green Chimneys website.

A special thank you to Tanya Annuncio of GE Corporate for organizing the event and Nikki Lubold, a GE Money IMLP, for contributing to this post.