Alas

To paraphrase some Aaron Sorkin dialogue, speechwriters and ghostwriters take no bows. So here on out, only bylined work (or original, unpublished work) on these pages.

Darnell Skepple and the Virgin Gang

this release/short article didn't get much media attention, but its a great story

NFTE Student Gets Nifty Offer

Darnell Skepple, emerging web designer, flies to San Francisco to learn from Sir Richard Branson

When Darnell Skepple joined the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship's E-Club during his senior year at North Miami Beach High School, he hoped the skills he learned would take him places. And they did; this week, they took him to San Francisco for a week of mentoring and job shadowing with Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group.

Darnell met Mr. Branson when the mogul was in South Florida for the opening of the new Virgin America terminal at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Darnell and other NFTE E-Club members were invited to the ribbon-cutting and to take a tour of a Virgin jet by Mr. Branson, who also shared his secrets for entrepreneurial success. That brief walk aboard the Airbus A320 was Darnell's first time on an airplane.

It would not be his last.

When Richard Branson learned that this budding entrepreneur had never before flown the friendly skies, he immediately offered him roundtrip ticket anywhere Virgin America goes. After brief deliberation, Darnell decided to go to San Francisco to visit Virgin America's headquarters. Darnell, who is travelling west with his NFTE program director Chris Brignolle, will spend May 2 through May 9 learning and being coached by one of the airline industry's most innovative executive teams.

For Darnell, who advanced to the North Miami Beach High business plan competition finals in his junior year with his website design business, LD Designs, the trip to Virgin headquarters won't be just a vacation. He will receive valuable feedback and guidance about how to get his web design company of the ground, and be mentored by Virgin's web development staff. Also on the itinerary for Darnell's trip: a couple of sit-ins on high-level corporate meetings, job shadowing, and conversations with Mr. Branson himself.

Two excellent organizations joined forces to provide Darnell with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. First, NFTE South Florida, which has been teaching students in Miami Dade and Broward county crucial entrepreneurial skills in an academic setting since 2006. In response to high drop-out rates amongst inner–city youth- and with consideration for a still-challenging economic environment, NFTE South Florida has been working hard to educate and train a new generation of entrepreneurs through its experiential curriculum and education programs, nurturing students and youth from low-income communities to stay focused in their classroom, community and beyond. NFTE has taught countless local students how to think and act like entrepreneurs, so they can take control of their destiny and lead financially independent lives.

Virgin Unite, as the Virgin Group's nonprofit foundation, has partnered with NFTE on its Entrepreneurs Unite campaign. In fact, Virgin Unite lists the incubation of entrepreneurship one of its three primary missions, and has reached out to entrepreneurial development programs across the world. Virgin Unite was founded in 2004.

As might be expected from a budding web designer, Darnell Skepple is blogging and tweeting about his experience in San Francisco. TO follow his adventure, go to http://virginandnfteproject.weebly.com/index.html.

Revisiting, Part II

A note on format: I will indicate the individual that each piece was written on behalf of (I'm a ghost for the most part), and include a link to where the piece has appeared when available. But the works will be posted in their original state; that is, before my boss, my colleagues, or any editors got to them. In some respects, this is the MS Word version of a perspective sketch. I prefer to think of it as straight- all bourbon, no branch.

Revisiting

Less than one post in a year is inauspicious. So in a fit of better-late-than-never fervor, here comes the fix.

In the following few entries, I'll either paste or link to some of my recent works (or not so recent, if I like them enough). This isn't just to claim my allotment of Blogger server space either; I am fully confident that someone, somewhere, will find these of interest.

OK, I'm not all that confident. But I'm putting stuff up anyway. Enjoy.

Welcome to the wordsmithery

Burritt Wordsmiths specializes in providing a variety of writing and creative development services for companies in a wide range of industries. From quick-hitting web copy to long-form research pieces- including grants- we are capable of delivering impactful, eloquent written materials for any purpose and to any desired effect. Our expertise also extends into the realm of public relations- think pitching and brand development- and management strategy.