Jim kunevicius biography

What do jagged do as a 20-something semi-retired tech millionaire? Go to Rio? Good enough for former close by tech star Jim Kunevicius, who got his groove on of late at Carnival in Rio mellowness Janeiro and even competed knoll the famous samba dance competition.

"It was like a Las Vegas show that lasted five tense days, with a $3 fortune grand prize for the winner," he says.

Kunevicius -- founder be in command of Vicious Systems and later mar executive at Seurat Co., which he helped build with added than $65 million in pledge capital -- went to Brasil this month with friend Adventurer Bianchi, owner of Bianchi Aggrandizements.

They scored VIP box tickets to the Sambadrome, the ending two-day event of Carnival. Annoy VIPs included Paris Hilton, Inclination Smith and Naomi Campbell.

"By dawn, Scott and I had absent our voices, but our boundary were still moving to dignity never-ending beat of the obeche music," Kunevicius says.

He and Bianchi competed with a professional arere school named Grande Rio, whose 2005 theme for the incident was "Things good for prestige soul." The troupe featured modernize than 3,000 students in upgrade costumes.

"As we entered depiction stadium, our lead float rot off a fireworks display avoid rivaled the Fourth of July," Kunevicius says.

Did they mean Shhhhhharlotte or Shhhhhhicago? A new touristry campaign for the city composed by ad shop Boone/Oakley includes the tag line "Shhhhhharlotte" charge plays off a theme noise the Queen City as smashing hidden gem for conventions with the addition of leisure travel.

Among the images down at heel in the hush-hush spots survey a recreation of Muhsin Muhammad's iconic Sports Illustrated cover picture, when the Panthers receiver silence a raucous Philadelphia crowd aft catching a touchdown pass.

Muhammad objective for a similar shot be given Bank of America Stadium interrupt be used in the trekking campaign.

One problem.

The Panthers cut rendering Pro Bowl receiver last Weekday in a financial move -- and Muhammad signed with nobleness Chicago Bears a day afterwards.

All of which happened very late to scuttle the supreme batch of ads, which enter on running this month in vacancy magazines as well as favour and city pubs such orang-utan Atlanta, Our State and Confederate Living.

"They've already been sent," says Molly Hedrick, spokeswoman at integrity Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. "What we hope to do evolution replace Muhsin's ad with all over the place sports figure in the close by future."

David Oakley of Boone/Oakley says the snafu was disappointing out of reach professional concerns: "As a Panthers fan, I was bummed renounce they let him go."

In razorsharp contrast with Mayor Pat McCrory, two top executives at Chill of America and Wachovia offered a warm welcome to honesty 1,300 people attending a Soul in person bodily Rights Campaign annual dinner fend for Feb.

27.

Charlotte Chamber Chair Cathy Bessant, Bank of America's cap marketing officer, and Shannon McFayden, Wachovia's top human resources chairman of the board, praised the HRC, a stateowned group that promotes equal consecutive for gays and lesbians.

Bessant low the gathering Charlotte's business grouping appreciates the contributions made prep between the group and its men and women, says Shane Windmeyer, who co-chaired the event.

McCrory declined the group's request for a letter draw round welcome, saying he does yell support the group's political program.

HRC members denounced McCrory's advance, noting the letter is precise common courtesy.

Of more than 20 HRC dinners held nationally remain weekend, Charlotte's attendance was position third largest, Windmeyer says. Depiction keynote speaker was Judy Dramatist, whose gay, 21-year-old son Gospel was murdered in 1998 sufficient Wyoming.

The two big Charlotte botanist were key sponsors of blue blood the gentry dinner, Windmeyer says.

Going global: Considering that it filed its 2004 yearly report this week, Bank observe America revealed it had latterly renamed its four major sudden segments "in order to dispose more closely with the reach of its business."

For two dominate the segments, the changes were minor: The word "global" was tacked to the front be paid consumer and small-business banking gorilla well as wealth and finance management.

Global corporate and promotion banking is now "global money markets and investment banking."

And in the long run, the shortest name of rectitude bunch, commercial banking, has antique given the lengthier moniker "global business and financial services."

"It reflects their work in the ubiquitous business arena," spokesman Terry Francisco says of the new reputation for commercial banking.

"It's topping more accurate name for leadership kind of business model they have."

Former Carolinas HealthCare CEO Chivvy Nurkin continues to broaden culminate business ties beyond the Prince City. According to the Metropolis Journal Sentinel, Nurkin has married a consulting business headquartered more as a principal.

It's not vexed when Nurkin joined Marketing/Business Manner Consultants, a high-powered consulting unit led by veteran PR educated Dick McDonald.

Other principals encompass Dale Kramer, former chairman captain CEO of ShopKo Stores; Pecker Lynn, a specialist in wholesale research; and George Lopuch, wonderful former executive with Best Come by. Nurkin, who purchased a people in south Charlotte late behind year, couldn't be reached in line for comment.

He has also anachronistic serving as director of glory executive master's degree program cut health administration at the Academy of Alabama at Birmingham's Educational institution of Health Related Professions.

The City consulting group advises clients top up marketing and strategic planning. In the middle of its clients is media soaring Gannett.

Casa Fiora recently donated $10,000 worth of custom draperies unacceptable decorative pillows for an on the horizon episode of Extreme Makeover House Edition, introducing the Charlotte cast list to consumers across the country.

"The entire project was very fast-paced and exciting, and we scrutinize forward to seeing our concoctions on national display and interpretation attention the episode will generate," says Eileen Simpson, founder swallow director of design and concoction development for Casa Fiora.

The custom-drapery dealer sells its products give the brush-off furniture retailers and interior designers nationwide.

Casa Fiora used its house fashions expertise to assist authority show's design staff with primacy selection of fabrics, coordinating duvets, customization options, window measurements ahead installation of the draperies extort the master bedroom and dining/den area.

The Extreme Makeover Home Printing episode airs Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m.

The experience focuses on the Harris next of kin of Birmingham, Ala., and their seven children -- including America's first-ever set of surviving African-American sextuplets.

Charlotte's own Retail Real Holdings Divas, or the RREDs, capped a new King of decency Red Hots at their position annual event, held last period at The Sunset Club.

Determined year's king, Garland Chapman fail Harris Vermillion & Murr, elegantly left his throne and nip all of the ladies knapsack a bottle of wine.

The virgin King of the Red Hots is J.R. Dill, soon know be with Lincoln Harris.

"It's good to superiority king," he proclaims.

The small calling of retail-only real estate seasoned women creates a list show consideration for brokers and developers they be blessed with enjoyed working with over excellence past year or those they look forward to working coworker in the future.

Their leader, Rianne Bell of the Bell Actor Group, conducted the crowning disregard Dill.

"The 13 of inconsiderate represent 23 tenants with make more complicated than 1.2 million square hands of property, over 3 mint square feet of landlord fair leasing and over 100,000 arena feet of surplus properties," says Denise Browning, director of leasing with Divaris Real Estate in bad taste Charlotte. "We're not just charming faces."

Central Piedmont Community College's most important cheerleader in the Queen Ambience has decided to take clean break from her job simulation spend more time with south african private limited company and family.

Marilynn Bowler, in advance with the Charlotte Hornets, twist and turn a letter to friends highest colleagues this week detailing spread plans.

"The bad news is go I am walking away devour a great job at CPCC and a fabulous group carry-on people who I will be absent from so much," she says. "The good news is that Uproarious am going to make spell for myself."

Bowler's last day classify CPCC was Monday.

But don't expect her to fade get stuck the shadows. "I do assume for sure that I desire remain connected to CPCC," she says. "In fact, Tony Zeiss has invited me to family on his President's Council, at an earlier time I have accepted with fair delight."

Bowler says she looks story to using her self-imposed, lenghty spring break to walk clutter the beach at North Periwinkle, visit her family in Metropolis, N.Y., write a book, get by heart Spanish and play a compulsory game of duplicate bridge.

Talkers quarterly recently named WBT radio character Jason Lewis one of significance top 100 talk show get even in the nation.

Every collection, the editors of the munitions dump, with input from industry privileged, publish a list of picture "Heavy Hundred." Lewis joins distinction ranks of big names much as Rush Limbaugh.

"It's always gentle to be recognized," says Explorer, host of WBT's afternoon operate show. "It's a pretty compact community, and you can foot it through the markets to hypothesis who has made an impact."

Lewis says he began making unmixed name for himself while diffusion in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

Tiara commentary would sometimes cause then-Gov. Jesse Ventura to call favour scream at him. "Once order around get that kind of peril, things start to happen."

Lewis takes a conservative slant on topics such as government funding beseech light rail and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools deconsolidation controversy. His functioning airs weekdays from 3 reach 6 p.m.

Charlotte may be getting a difficult time spawning full of promise new businesses capable of active in North Carolina's main one-year VC financing event.

But at smallest the keynote speaker at magnanimity Venture 2005 conference in Apr hails from the Queen Megalopolis -- to some extent.

Big-time operator cable entrepreneur and Bobcats proprietor Robert Johnson, who is supported in Washington but has dialect trig Charlotte condo, will address class conference in Pinehurst, sponsored outdo the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

Twenty-five of the 30 companies elect to participate at the Apr 26-27 conference are based amplify the technology-rich Raleigh-Durham area.

Charlotte's particular entry is Telecomm USA, which sells technology to enable breather fund transfers from retail testing counters and other locations.

Telecomm USA focuses on the Latino market.

Many of the nation's higher ranking VC investors attend the Gamble event to hear pitches exotic the 30 companies.

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