We’ve recently started a discussion of the week with Class 109 and we would like to invite you to join the discussion!

Question:

Are morals and ethics societal based (rooted in society)?  Are values based on personal or cultural/societal influences?

Class 109 Replies:

• It’s my opinion that morals, ethics, and values are all personally based.  How you are raised, trained or influenced.  Who were or are your mentors.  How you choose to live your life and your personal code of conduct.  That is what makes you who you are.  I don’t believe the one should let society dictate who you are.  Just sayin’…….

• Yes ethics, morals and values shape us into who we are but some of these we freely adopt as our standards but still there are other rules that society imposes upon us based on what’s wrong or right. Although we have a free will to choose, we’ll be judged accordingly.

• I think that some of this is is inherent in our nature but it is the nurture side that influences us personally with morals, ethics, and values. The choices that we make in life, our nuclear family influences, etc. Society can influence but it is your inner strength of character that determines what you will choose to believe in and act upon.

Leave your response by commenting on this post.

The holiday season is upon us and Starkey is preparing for the party season. Starkey Mansion is fervently making plans for a Holiday Open House coming in December. The date is being finalized and will be posted just as soon as the details are worked out. If you are interested in our Holiday Open House, please don’t hesitate to contact me J

Also…RESTORING THE ART annual conference is just around the corner. How time flies when we are working diligently! Starkey International is also working overtime to get all the details finalized. We are really excited about our main event this year! It promises to ‘outshine’ all the RTA’s before it. Again, if you are interested in more details for RTA, please keep checking back to this website or you can contact me directly at the number or email listed below.

Have a great Holiday Season!

Ms. Kristin Parks

Private Service Event Manager

Admissions Assistant

(303)832-5510

kparks@starkeyintl.com

 We are enjoying the beautiful crisp air, the changing aspens, and a full class to start on September 28^th! It’s now time to start focusing on our last class of the year. We are offering one more 1 week systems course starting October 26^th – October 30^th, 2009. This course is for experienced household managers and personal assistants who want to bring the Starkey software into their Principal’s estates. If you are interested in more information, please contact me at your earliest convenience as these seats are filling up quickly!

Sincerely,

Donald Jardine

Chief Operating Officer

Starkey Internationa

303-832-5510 Work

303-994-7407 Cell

djardine@starkeyintl.com

By former Presidential Chef Bill Althoff

Did you know that as a baseline it takes 2 hours to prep, prepare, serve, and clean up one average meal for 4 persons?

Excerpt Original Guide to Private Service Management, Starkey International

 The Super Grain

Perhaps many in the world have never heard of the grain—Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  Farmed for thousands of years it is the grain of the pitseed plant grown in the Andes Mountains since the Inca civilization.  It is known as the super grain of today.  You can find it at your local grocers in the rice and cous cous section of the store.  It cooks similar to the way rice does,  it is recommended you do not rinse it.  I like to cook it with chicken broth instead of water. You can season it with a wide variety of spices, I like to add saffron or my favorite is to cook it until it is almost ready and add my favorite sautéed vegetable in the pot. 

So if you haven’t heard of Quinoa, try it.  It pleases all palettes, it is gluten free, meat free and tastes great.

Julie and Julia

I recently went to the newly released movie featuring the life of Julia Child, Julie & Julia!  For those of us who have ever had a dream, and struggled many years to achieve it, it was downright inspirational!  I loved it.  It’s important not to take one’s self too seriously, but after 30 years in Private Service and now achieving age 60, it’s hard not to take some time on the subject.  What I saw in the movie was an ambitious young woman, seeking to find her gift in life.  Ultimately she found her calling writing about cooking with the great and very humorous Julia Child as her muse.   I decided right then and there that while I have written many texts and manuals in the field of my passion, Household Management and Service, I have not often written from my heart.  To that end, I am beginning today to do so.  I hope you like what you read, and will respond if you feel inspired to do so!

Recently, our educator, Mr. Althoff and I provided a private training for a very special and well-respected, old guard hotel.  The subject at hand was ”The giving and receiving of service”.  I have traveled the world watching for and in search of “true service.”  It is a subject upon which I have created a successful career.  In the end, Household Management is all about service.  One’s technical skills, while important, become very low on the scale of priorities without real and genuine service at the helm. 

This training included several members of the hotel staff, both front line associates and management.  The discussion centered on serving their new, mostly younger, guests.   I made the statement that most of us in the U.S. under the age of 65 do not really understand how to receive service, most particularly those of us who are in the service industry.  We all have been raised with a very intense “hard work ethic,” and when it is uncomfortable or unfamiliar, we prefer to just do it ourselves! 

My statement about receiving service, while interesting to some, went right over the heads of most in the room until the Operations Manager of the property stopped the conversation and shared the following story:  I recently was at an upscale golf club.  My caddy kept wiping off my clubs, deciding which one I needed, and fetching and washing my golf ball.  Annoyed, I finally stopped him and said, “Please, I can really do this myself!”  My caddy, equally frustrated, said, “It’s my job to help you, let me take care of you!”  This very smart manager, at that moment, really got it!  “This is what you are talking about,” he said with total amazement emanating brightly from his face.   “How can we expect our new guests to appropriately receive when we as providers do not know how it is done?”  There was total silence in the room.  I could have kissed him with appreciation.  He gets my gold Starkey Star for the year! 

My intimate understanding of service is that those who come to give service in their life, need to also learn how to receive it, as much as those who receive service, typically have yet to also learn how to give.  And finally, when genuine service does really happen, giving and receiving at the same time, in the same moment, an alchemical flash throughout time occurs.  It is a moment in our life that few forget.  It is why we have something that it is so ill understood, SERVICE!

It has been very busy in admissions since the CostCo Connection article was published.  Our phones are very busy with new students requesting admissions to our four and eight week Household Management Certification Programs both in Denver and at our Washington, DC location.  We are very excited to receive our new students, here and abroad.  I hope you have a great summer!

Call or email me directly, anytime you have questions about our spectacular programs at 1-800-888-4904 at Starkey or 303-994-7407 on my cell.

I look forward to the opportunity to be of service.

Donald Jardine

Director of Operations

Starkey International

Classy Class

Starkey International teaches

service with style

By Doug McPherson

The Costco Connection

Published August 2009

 Click here to see this article in it’s original format

Click here to download this article as a PDF

Thank you to all of our Veterans! Many of you shared the Military Stars Event at the Embassy Suites Hotel on July 30^th, 2009 with Starkey International Institute. Ms. Stimson, Mr. Althoff, and myself hope you enjoyed the Employer Panel and stopping by the Starkey booth. Good luck on your civilian workforce transition! If I can be of any assistance, please contact me at your convenience on my cell phone 303-994-7407. I look forward to the opportunity to be of service.

Mr. Donald Jardine
Chief Operating Officer
Starkey International Institute
djardine@starkeyintl.com

We are excited about our new program that we are offering at Starkey International.  We have just been approved for our Private Service Wine Sommelier Certification (level 1).  This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the essential and fundamental aspects of wine knowledge, based on the five major wine regions of France.  The students will examine traditional wine practices and distinguish between those that are more contemporary.  Through thoughtful exploration and awareness  of basic practices, terminology and evaluation, this introductory course will provide a sound basis for the wine novice as well as a review for those with prior wine knowledge.  This 35 hour course will include the following:

·         Introduction to fermentation and distillation

·         Mixology and Bar basics

·         Introduction to wine in history and various cultures

·         Wines today

·         Old World wines and New World wines

·         Wine cellaring and Storage

·         Food and Wine Pairing

·         Glass ware and various wine tools

·         Exploration of the five major wine regions of France and comparison of the New World counterparts

·         Will participate in serving a formal dinner (12) including the planning, prep, and mirrored service.

Each class will include lecture, PowerPoint and visual learning as well as hands on tasting.  You can take this course as part of your eight-week curriculum or you can take this course as a stand alone course.

Please call our Admissions department about more details.

Starkey International is in the process of setting up the mansion for its new guests! Soon, the mansion will be accessible to small, local non-profit and corporate events. We are excited as we begin to create new menus, produce marketing materials, and develop our new web page! Please stay tuned….there will be plenty more excitement to come!