Connect Blog

Wayne Banks is riding to cure cancer

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:17:00 GMT

I’m Wayne Banks and I’m the CFO of UXC Connect.

On Friday 4 and Saturday 5 May, I will again join the Tour de Cure, a passionate group of people who cycle long distances in an attempt to cure cancer. It’s all about cancer research, prevention and awareness for everyone.

In past years, I have ridden from Sydney to Brisbane (2010) and Sydney to Melbourne (2011), and this year the tour is from Brisbane to Mission Beach. Unfortunately, due to an accident with a truck in February 2012, in my car not on my bike, I am not able to ride the entire 1,656 kms to Mission Beach. However, I am strong enough to ride 2 days with the team from Noosa to Hervey Bay. That’s 270 kms in 2 days, a mere 14 hours on the bike. I am most envious of my comrades that have trained hard, fundraised and will ride the entire way – I wish them safe travels.

As I write this, Tour de Cure 2012 has already raised almost $1.4 million and our target of $2 million is looking good. This is money that will fund projects to help cure cancer, which is what it is all about. I am also really excited about the school visits. We will be presenting to primary school students along the way talking to them about prevention, healthy living and listening to their stories. We have done this in previous years and it’s an absolute highlight and at times incredibly emotional and inspirational.

Tune into Channel 7 Sunrise TV to watch live coverage of our start each day and Mark Beretta will be broadcasting live from the tour. Last week, SBS caught up with Tour de Cure and filmed a short piece during one of our training sessions, it was aired on Sunday on Cycling Central and here is the link: http://twitter.com/#!/tourdecure_aus/statuses/197079967996182528

I am passionate about this cause and encourage everyone to donate. It is as simple as clicking here: https://www.tourdecure.com.au/index.php/pages/signature-tour-2012. As a CFO I’m glad to let you know that all donations above $2 are tax deductible!

Thank you to all those who have already sponsored me. Your amazing support, donations, and words of encouragement mean so much to me, Tour de Cure and all those men, women and children who have to cope with cancer today and in the future.

Thank you and best wishes,
Wayne Banks (Banksie)

Ian Poole in CEO Sleepout

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:04:00 GMT

Around 3 years ago as I was driving with my youngest son through Woolloomooloo in Sydney, near the Matthew Talbot Hostel, he asked me why so many people were lying around in the street. When I replied that they were homeless, he said, “why don’t they have a home to go to?” It was a simple question – but a difficult one to answer – so when I was approached about a year later to raise awareness of the homeless in Australia, I jumped at the chance.

At the last census 104,000 Australians were counted as homeless with over 50,000 on the street every night. 12,000 of these are children under the age of 12. In a country as wealthy as Australia, this is an unacceptable situation. Homelessness is much more than not having a roof over your head; it erodes a person’s dignity, hope and health. The homeless are amongst the most vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised people in our society and need the help of the wider community to understand their situation and assist in their recovery. The major issue confronting us is that around half of the homeless people are turned away when they seek accommodation. For the last two years I have participated in the CEO Sleepout with other Executives to raise awareness of the homeless, with over 230 CEOs roughing it outside Luna Park last year. The event was very confronting as we listened to the stories of many homeless people. I found that we shared many similar life experiences but they had to deal with a tragic or unbearable experience which severely impacted their lives.

Last year with the help of colleagues and friends, I raised almost $5,000. This year with the help of many of my team at UXC Connect and other business colleagues, I hope to raise $10,000.

The aim of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is not just to raise funds, but to raise awareness of the homeless. With their help and yours, we can fight the issue of homelessness together. Please support me, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and most importantly, Australias 104,700 homeless by sponsoring me in this year’s CEO Sleepout.

All donations over $2 are tax deductable, click here to donate.

Thank you, Ian

Networking at UXC Connect: International Womens Day & AIPM

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:57:00 GMT

by Connie Beck, Regional Manager, Customer Projects

As part of my leadership management at UXC Connect, I recently attended an International Women’s Day event in Perth. The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) has a women’s network called Women in Project Management (WIPM) and each year they hold a function with a guest speaker for International Women’s Day. I was really grateful to National PMO Manager Andy Almenara and Director, Marketing and Innovation Iggy Pintado for being so enthusiastic and supportive about me attending this event while working in the Perth office. Obviously Iggy, the ‘Twitter King’ is into networking, blogging, tweeting.... so, here is my blog!

The night was great, it was a chance to network, discuss trends in the corporate field and promote UXC Connect. When people asked what we were working on in WA, mining camps were the hot topic, as UXC Connect has a strong presence in this area. The connection was quickly made about who we are along with conversation about other services that we provide for organisations nationally.

There were approximately 100 women in the room. As I was the only person from Melbourne, the guest speaker, Margaret Sharpe from the Dept of Finance, opened her speech by thanking me for taking the time to attend in Perth (a bit embarrassing really) but very nice! The picture shows Margaret (on the left) and myself at the event.

The theme this year was growing our future female leaders.

The second part of the evening was around promoting women as leaders, in particular in Project Management. In Perth due to a strong mining industry this is a real issue as it is predominately a male dominated work force. A casual brainstorming task was held and there were outcomes in this area to assist women with equity, profiling, entering the field and assisting to resolve any gender issues. There was one male in the room (very brave) and at the end of the night we asked him why he was at the event. He confidently communicated that he wanted to know what the gaps were to assist promoting and employing more women. He then went on to advise that the main quality that he relies on when employing women in leadership/PM roles was ‘their intuition and ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously without getting stressed’.

All up, great night and I have also been asked to assist in the leadership and chapter forums at the Australian Institute of Project Management which is a great recognised institution in Australia. Watch this space...

The new CSI: Continual Service Improvement

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:47:00 GMT

by Daryl Yeo, Continual Service Improvement Manager

How many IT organisations do we know today who actually take active measures to perform continual service improvement?

At UXC Connect I have the privilege to be involved in shaping what that means to us as an IT service provider and more importantly what it means to our customers. I have learnt that continual service improvement must be more than a product, instead it must be the by-product of a genuine culture to see our customers succeed in their business objectives.

It is this core ingredient that differentiates us from other Continual Service Improvement programs on the market. This is the new CSI.

But what exactly is CSI? One of the earliest challenges I faced when building our practice was that almost everything could be classified as continual service improvement. I soon found myself knee deep in project work, transitioning in new services and designing new processes. In the end after a few months looking back it was hard to substantiate what tangible contribution our program had actually achieved.

Our core ingredient was sufficient in fuelling the effort for delivery but something else was missing. I would like to introduce you to the second ingredient: metrics.

In the simplest terms, where there is a business need, opportunity or problem our CSI methodology has evolved to understand, measure and improve. Our definition of what constitutes CSI is still defined by our customers’ needs but what we do now is to translate those needs into measureable metrics that we can use to substantiate improvement. The old saying stands true, “You can’t control what you can’t measure”.

Recently we have successfully completed three sustainable initiatives worth $200,000 in efficiency savings annually and at no cost to our customers. These projects ranged from reducing laptop fulfilment time from 33 business days to 5 working days and reducing the time Service Desk Agents spent on the phone by about 2000 minutes per month at no sacrifice of service quality to our customers.

Not all improvement projects we undertake have financial motives. For one of our customers a particular process was causing high inaccuracies (80% errors) with their user termination process. This caused them to consistently fail IT security audits. We spent time with them to understand their needs and made approved changes to existing processes which reduced the errors to less than 1%. They are now able to meet audit requirements and have reduced the associated IT risks to their organisation.

Another customer allowed their employees to transfer files through a corporate USB device. As a result of a technological gap there was the risk that confidential information was being stored on non-secure personal USB devices. Recognising the risk, we performed an evaluation on enterprise grade devices. We worked alongside their IT security team to ensure a fit for purpose corporate USB storage device that would meet their need to transfer information safely and securely.

These are just a few examples of what the new CSI looks like. I’m excited by the possibilities and it makes me wonder what does continual service improvement look like in your organisation?

What inspires me, every day

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:17:00 GMT

by Dan Suto

When asked why I work for UXC Connect it would be easy to respond with words like enabled, supported and involved but that would be half the story. I think working for any organisation comes down to people and how they support one another.

Each day I’m inspired to travel 1.5 hours each way because I make a conscious choice to make a difference, in my own way, on my own terms, no matter how large or small. What you wouldn’t expect is to find a team of like-minded people doing the same. They come at varying levels in their careers, experience, knowledge, age, gender and race. The following is a snapshot of what my average day looks like.

My day starts at the front door where I find the Director of “first impressions”. The smiley face that gives you confidence that you’ll get through the day, regardless of what challenges you may face that day. It follows to the mail room star who knows every nook and cranny in the building as well as what makes the company tick. Often you’ll find him pottering around and out of the blue come up and say “hey I thought about you the other day and thought you might like this”.

As I arrive for my 9am meeting I’m greeted by the young woman who I have been mentoring for 3 years. We challenge each other in a trusting and respectful way, with the goal of improving our little patch of the world. The intended result is to improve the outcome for our clients, our staff and for us as professionals. We constantly strive for win-win. Although many years my junior she brings an unwavering commitment and belief in herself and inspires you with her tenacity, and confidence that she can change the world. I’m excited about the prospects of my day.

We are interrupted by one of my department heads who tells me that he has worked all-night ensuring that his customer network was back up and running, he has sent his senior technician to Melbourne, didn’t seek approval or fill in forms, but made his own call and informed me of the outcome. He didn’t ask my permission because he evaluated the situation, determined the best course of action for his client and acted upon it.

What he doesn’t tell me is that his final exam is tomorrow and that he might need some time off to prepare. What! I have to kick him out of my office, tell him to get some sleep and concentrate on nailing the exam .... accountability, this guy wrote the book!

Next we sit back and decide how to reward Baz who recently arrived from leave, spent 5 minutes with his wife, before working all weekend on solving a critical business issue for his main customer. We thought we better make it a decent one because it later turned out he spent the rest of the week in Melbourne and Brisbane. Was this his role? No. However, his integrity to himself, his profession and his company leaves me feeling average.

By now my other department head walks in and tells me that the analysis he did for the CEO was complete and in my inbox. This is the type of guy where you start a sentence and he’ll finish the book. Someone who works diligently and simply makes your life easier, never complains, but always willing to assist. I reflect on how fortunate I have been to see him develop to a position where he now commands respect from all those around him.

I walk out of my office and see a new Analyst gingerly walking up to me and asking me whether he can have a 5-minute chat about some things on his mind. We later spent 1.5 hours mapping out his career path and giving him pointers about how to go about achieving his goals. Did I have the time, no. However looking at this individual, his hunger and determination I could only be excited that he invited me into his world and allowed me to assist him in navigating his career. Wow!

I later realise that I have an urgent job for the marketing lady who is forever swamped but always manages to take my poorly cobbled drafts and turn them into works of art, or communiqués to change the world.

I hop on a conference call to an internal consultant in Canberra who has just been on a 3 week tender marathon yet still has the time to prepare a report on how he thinks my server team could perform better. His feedback is fair and based on years of experience that he has accumulated for the benefit of the company and not just himself.

The interesting thing here is that while I can only see my part of the world, I know that throughout the organisation a million similar examples could be found where support, respect and common purpose all play a factor in how we go about our work. So if I can be fortunate enough to come to a workplace such as this, then I’ll look forward to what tomorrow holds. Who knows what interesting challenges I’ll come across?

This is our culture. This is UXC Connect.

Creating a Recipe for a Successful Launch Event

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:39:00 GMT

by Gwen John

The recent merger of the three UXC companies – XSI, Integ, and UXC Connect (formerly Getronics) - was a major task, but we knew we were creating a bigger and more competitive company.

One of the main characteristics of the merger was that each company was 100% Australian and a leading infrastructure business in their own right. Indeed, it was their overlapping capabilities that provided the impetus for the merger. But how to communicate this concept to the market, and more importantly, to our customers?

Marketing would have a key role to play in launching the new company, and I was lucky enough to project manage this component. The ICT industry is awash with marketing messages and invites to countless events. Creating successful events, where the attendees praise them for being memorable and unique, is always the key goal for marketeers. The UXC Connect marketing team started brainstorming and went to work to create an unforgettable launch event that would promote the new combined brand.

Australia’s current fascination with chefs and the fine art of cuisine proved the ideal launch theme. The 100% Australian nature of the three companies showed that ‘local ingredients’ could combine to create a ‘true recipe for success’. It was a simple but compelling message.

We ran a nationwide series of events centred around food, starting with three fresh ingredients. The flavours were enhanced, and, because the core ingredients complemented each other, they came together to produce a fine dish.

Each event was tailored to the needs of the local market. As a state-based organisation, State Managers injected their own passion and local knowledge. We used local chefs and fine food establishments to further cement the concept that the states owned the launch.

For the Sydney and Canberra events we worked with celebrity chef Pete Evans and the team from Hugo’s. Customers learnt how to mix a cocktail and make pizzas, and then competed for the ‘Best Pizza’ prize. The mix of learning and hands-on fun made the events stand out, generating customer feedback such as ‘one of the best events ever seen in the IT industry’.

It was so good to be part of these launches. Everyone who attended our events—from Perth to Canberra, from Adelaide to Melbourne and Brisbane—left with the feeling that we were different, understood the local market, and had a unique and creative approach. A sure recipe for success.

The Service Desk difference

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:39:00 GMT

by Natalie Topouzian

As the Service Desk Manager at UXC Connect I often get asked to explain exactly what differentiates my service desk from any other.
Before I reveal the answer, let me tell you a little about my team.

The Managed Service Desk is part of UXC Connect’s Enterprise Delivery Centre. The analysts are a mixed bunch: some are quiet achievers, some are extroverts, and some are even pranksters. On a standard day they will answer between 200-300 phone calls and action about 150-200 emails. While they relax and share a laugh between the calls they will also be working on individual continuous service improvement projects or finishing off that last bit of training. On a very quiet day you might even get caught in the middle of a miniature office Nerf gun war.

However, when an urgent issue impacts our customer environment, that’s when I really see my team shine. Because they give more than anyone could expect when it’s needed most. This is exactly what can be said about a day in June 2011.

At around 6.30am calls started flooding in from a customer saying that applications and the network were unavailable. It was crazy; we were hit with over 250 calls by 9am.

In addition to handling high priority calls, the senior service desk analysts focused all their attention on answering calls and providing fast effective answers to the lesser trained analysts. They quickly escalated any major issues to myself and jumped right back to work. Their diligence and dedication creating fantastic examples for the others to follow.

All my junior analysts did their very best: logging tickets quickly and answering the next call. It wasn't uncommon that day to see twenty or more instances of our ticketing system open on their machines as we put their multi-tasking skills to the test.

We also had great support from other teams within the business. The Remote Desktop Team put in their best efforts to assist us by logging as many of the emails they could from the Service Desk queue to try and lighten our load. This was not asked of them but they could see a fellow team struggling and took on extra work to try and help.

Ultimately, the analysts were faced with 1000 inbound calls during business hours alone. Or in other words, 1000 calls in 12 hours across 8 analysts. This was an amazing achievement for the team.

So, what is it that makes my Service Desk different from any other?

Our Culture promotes that when it’s work time we all work really hard to support our customer but when it’s time to relax we can all smile and share a laugh together. That culture is what makes us different from any other Service Desk. The force with which upper management endorses that culture and empowers its managers and team leaders to drive it creates the team dynamic that makes UXC Connect so different. Everyone strives to meet their SLA's not because it is their job but because they really want too for themselves and for the team.

We doubled the all time record for our Service Desk that day and the icing on the cake was that we only received positive feedback on our performance.

It's all about the intangible

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:59:00 GMT

Madeline Burton

The end of the interview arrived, so we asked the big one...

“Why do you want to work at  UXC Connect?”  

The response was immediate, “because youʼre known for having a consultative and constructive culture”.

It didnʼt end there. “Youʼre known for your dedicated team methodology, and the fact this never ʻʻstretchesʼ your people too long, so theyʼre free to form real relationships with workmates and clients alike.”  

Could we have said it any better ourselves?  

And then came the big one.... “you guys have done LSI (Life Styles Inventory)”.  

Turns out theyʼd previously worked in a large organisation where all senior managers were LSI-trained, and he liked what he saw. Improved management approaches, faster decision making, inclusive teamwork, and very happy clients.  

What a match! You see, about 10 years ago UXC Connect, or Getronics as we were known then, commenced a cultural change program based on LSI that was to become a core attribute of who we are - and set the bar high for our competitors when trying to attract clients and employees alike.  

Of course, we always had an emphasis on promoting a positive internal culture and customer-centricity. Afterall, our business is dependent on people wanting to deliver great service to our clients. However, LSI took it all to a new level and helped create a culture that has become our differentiator - a reason why people come here to either work or engage our services.  

We had brought in the experts and rolled out the programs. It was a top-down affair too with senior management participation all the way. A big call when the program calls for honesty in assessing people - up and down the hierarchy of the organisation. LSI can be a confronting process. You find out what the people around you really think of you.

  However, it enhanced the way we operate enormously. And weʼve maintained a continued commitment to this cultural change program over the years. Today, we even hire with LSI principles in mind - and this means we recruit great people focused on delivering great service to our great clients.  

The result is that we have some of the highest client delight ratings in the industry, and we retain productive and positive people for years. Itʼs amazing!  

This applicant obviously knew that he wanted to be a part of a team that support its clients with the enthusiasm and client-centricity for which we are famous. I can also confirm that his old boss (from one of our large competitors) also knows how he feels about the team at UXC Connect: “itʼs just too hard to compete with the intangible”. Looks good to me though.

Commitment in a Crisis

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:04:00 GMT

Alec Kay

Here’s a moral dilemma.

Midnight and all is quiet in a family residence in the city of Brisbane. The baby is finally settled – four hours to the next feed. Exhausted wife already asleep in the bed next to you and you’re just about to drop off when there is a knock at the front door. Standing at your doorstep is your customer’s IT Service Support Manager in a mild but composed panic.

Do you - slam the door in his face, phone for the police, set a large dog on him or invite him in?

This was the conundrum that faced Mark Hunter, our Program Domain Infrastructure Team Leader, late one night during the Queensland flood crisis.

He chose to invite him in, partly because he’s a good bloke and partly because he doesn’t have a dog.

It was then explained to him that as a result of the Queensland flood disaster the decision had been made by local authorities to cut off power in the Brisbane CBD at 7 am the following morning. In response his company wanted to power down its State Headquarters (SHQ) to protect its IT assets but still wanted its Retail Stores to be able to function.

They moved to the dining room and a conference call was set up with the company’s IT Incident Management team – Mark even put his dressing gown on just to add an air of professionalism to the proceedings. A decision was made, plans were drawn up and Mark went to work.

After working all through the night, Mark implemented the plan – the SHQ was safely shut down and all retail sites and outlets could do business as usual. Then, despite working through the night Mark was still at work on time the following morning to support the Business Continuity Plan and provide leadership and technical expertise for his team.

The subsequent feedback from the customer was that they were amazed with Mark's professionalism, willingness to go the extra mile and composure in their time of need. It was also acknowledged that this was a true reflection of the culture and approach of UXC Connect to support the business and that they probably wouldn’t have this level of commitment from any other IT provider.

To end on a happy note, the business is delighted, Mark’s wife is now talking to him again and although he says he would do it again if the situation ever arose he has also said that he’s planning to buy a large dog.

Friday the 13th...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:02:00 GMT

Mark Pacitti  

Picture the scene – 3 o’clock on a Friday afternoon, everyone in the open-plan office is winding down for the weekend after another long, hard week at the keyboard. It’s a warm mid-November day in 2009; the sun is streaming through the windows against the backdrop of the Melbourne skyline; the smell of summer is well and truly in the air.

But this is not just any Friday afternoon in November. This is Friday the 13th...

A call came through from our main customer liaison advising that they were experiencing a major systems outage at one of their subsidiary companies in Sydney. Regular Situation Management teleconferences were immediately established and hosted by the customer’s Service Delivery Team – every two hours from 7am to 11pm. Contingency and communications plans were discussed at length while a team of techs worked through the night on a solution. Although UXC Connect did not provide any services to the subsidiary company in the area where the problem had arisen, we attended all the teleconferences to keep abreast of the situation, to ascertain how it might impact us, and how we may be able to assist.

There are thirty dedicated staff in our team here, onsite full-time in Melbourne at one of our largest customers, where we provide Service Desk, Desktop and Infrastructure Support Services, but we have little presence on this account in Sydney.

On the 7pm conference call, I was asked to have a team of UXC Connect desktop engineers available on the Sunday morning at various sites throughout Sydney and Melbourne, to carry out some installations that might need to be performed manually. A quick phone call to my counterpart on one of our Sydney-based accounts took care of that requirement. Within an hour, he called me back, having contacted eight of his staff who were all available and willing to help our small presence in Sydney, in addition to the staff from my own account who were available in Melbourne.

On the 9pm conference call, the customer’s CIO asked us all to be prepared for a long weekend ahead. He also asked me whether UXC Connect could supply a Wintel server engineer to be on the ground in Sydney (by the Saturday morning no less!) and to be there for up to four days. This was to provide relief to their own Infrastructure team, who were going to be working day and night all weekend and possibly beyond. Undaunted, I made a few phone calls and before long, three Senior Wintel server engineers confirmed their availability. One of them was available to fly to Sydney as soon as first thing Saturday morning, one was available on the Sunday morning, and a third was available to go up first thing on the Monday morning and stay as long as necessary, but also available to provide remote support over the weekend.

It is important to point out here that none of these staff on either of our accounts were on our on-call rosters, yet every single one of them answered their phone and was willing to give up their weekend at short notice to help. Furthermore, we were not contractually obliged to help out in this situation, but we recognised the impact of this outage on our customer’s business. So to say that I felt empowered, proud and supported by both my company and my colleagues when I provided a full rundown of who was available and when on the 11pm conference call, would be an understatement.

 After the burning of much midnight oil, the steps to recovery were ascertained, the recovery teams were dispatched, and everything went like clockwork. The final all-clear was given late on the Sunday night. Everything was tested, up and running by Monday morning with minimal impact to the business, and just in time for the sun to start shining through the windows again. When it did, it shone onto the aftermath of a typical situation that once again demonstrates how working for UXC Connect is a reason to be proud - we walk the talk, our customers are at the centre of everything we do, our staff are flexible and willing to help no matter what time of day or night, every seemingly adverse situation is an opportunity to show our true colours, and we truly understand how to connect IT with business outcomes.

The Answer Was China

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:05:00 GMT

Iggy Pintado

Before joining UXC Connect in July this year, I'd seen and heard the company describe itself as "customer-centric". The old website even declared "The Customer is at the heart of everything we do." I thought to myself, easy to say but hard to prove. So a few weeks after I joined, I set out to find some evidence of this customer centricity. As luck would have it, I found it right outside my office door in the form of 37-year veteran, account manager Mike Ward. Having started with the organisation when the company was known as Olivetti, Mike had recently been presented with his 30+ years Service award by our CEO Paul Timmins (Paul pictured on left, Mike’s on the right).

I had a raft of questions to ask Mike about the company culture when I arranged to meet him. As one of the longest-serving employees, he'd know how things get done around the place. When I approached his desk for our meeting, I saw a large box with Chinese markings and the Apple logo on it. My curiosity got the better of me and had to ask: "What's with the box, Mike?"

"Do you really want to know?", he replied. He then related this story.

One of our key customers used a special camera to process identification cards for their customers. Years ago, we had set up the system for them and had been managing their requirements ever since. They required an additional 12 Apple cameras for a new office they were setting up. Mike checked if Apple still made the camera but they'd ceased production a few years ago. The camera proved to be very special indeed. For the customer to change over to a newer model camera, they would have to modify over 10,000 lines of software application code. As this wasn't a desired option all round, Mike needed to find another solution which was to try and source the original cameras elsewhere. "So where did you search?", I asked. "Where would YOU look for something no longer being produced?" I didn't expect his answer.

"I found a supplier on eBay."

Mike found the same model cameras from a supplier in China who could ship in 7 days. He placed the order on his own credit card and the box with the product arrived on his desk a few days later. He had already informed the delighted customer and was preparing to ship, install and bill them. As the company representative responsible for the customer outcome, Mike felt empowered enough to take the initiative on this predicament and mentioned it to his management as a courtesy. "I was compelled to solve the customer problem - I took the necessary action to do so knowing that my management would support me."

There are many stories like this about our culture that we'd like to share with you over the coming months on our blog, now called "Stories of Our Culture".