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  • Members of the armed group, who were charged with plotting to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, made some security lapses during their group meetings.
  • One of the members collected all of their cell phones and put them in a box “to prevent any monitoring,” a federal affidavit said.
  • Unbeknownst to them, however, one of the confidential sources who attended the meeting was wearing a recording device.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Several members of an armed group who were charged with plotting to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan at her vacation home failed to thoroughly inspect each other for security breaches during a group meeting, according to a federal affidavit released Thursday.

Adam Fox, one of the six men who was charged in the plot, was said to have met with other accomplices at his business in Grand Rapids on June 20. According to

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The New Home Company Inc. (NYSE: NWHM) today announced a business update ahead of investor meetings.

The New Home Company (NYSE: NWHM) announced today that net new home orders totaled 152 for the first two months of the 2020 third quarter, representing an increase of 100% compared to prior year period. The company generated 73 net new orders in July on a monthly absorption pace of 3.2 per community and 79 net new orders in August on a monthly absorption pace of 3.4 per community.

“We are very pleased with the order momentum we experienced in the first two months of the third quarter,” said New Home Company CEO Leonard Miller. “Buyers continue to be motivated by low interest rates and the desire for single-family home ownership, a sentiment that has only grown stronger as a result of the pandemic. All of our markets experienced a significant year-over-year improvement in

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By William James and Andy Bruce

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – British trade minister Liz Truss has reversed an earlier decision to remove meetings she held with an influential free-market think tank from the public record, a letter written to the opposition Labour Party showed on Thursday.

Two meetings and a dinner with the Institute of Economic Affairs were removed from government-published transparency data in August after the department said they were held in a personal capacity, not in her role as trade minister.

That prompted sharp criticism from Labour, who accused her of trying to hide the meetings and wrote to Truss seeking to determine whether she had broken the ministerial code of conduct which covers the disclosure of meetings.

On Thursday, one of Truss’s junior ministers replied to Labour to say that the meetings would now be reinstated on the public record, according to a copy of

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My kids start school next week. And the emails coming from the school district are frequent. But like many kids across the country, mine will be spending a fair amount of time doing virtual coursework via Zoom and other platforms. Some school districts are expecting young children to spend upwards of five or six hours a day in Zoom meetings with teachers and classmates.

None of us are meant to sit in video meetings for that long.

My business coaching firm has worked remotely for over ten years now. We have become experts in how to streamline communication and meetings so that we make the most of our time together and are able to focus on the things that really propel our business forward. And we teach our clients how to do the same.

But for many business owners, as for these kids, the mere mention of yet another meeting

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Graham Corporation (NYSE: GHM), a global business that designs, manufactures and sells critical equipment for the oil refining, petrochemical and defense industries, today announced that James R. Lines, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey F. Glajch, Vice President-Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer, will participate in the virtual Midwest IDEAS Investor Conference on August 26 and 27, 2020.

Graham will webcast a presentation which will be available at 8:00 AM Eastern Time on August 26, 2020 on the Midwest IDEAS conference website at www.IDEASconferences.com and in the investor relations section of the Company’s website at www.graham-mfg.com. The presentation will be available for 90 days following the conference.

ABOUT GRAHAM CORPORATION

Graham is a global business that designs, manufactures and sells critical equipment for the energy, defense and chemical/petrochemical industries. Energy markets include oil refining, cogeneration, and alternative power. For the defense industry, the Company’s equipment is used in

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Remote presentations aren’t going away anytime soon. Zoom, Skype, and WebEx gatherings are the new normal. Business leaders and their employees need to learn how to replicate in a virtual environment the interactions and two-way dialogue that make in-person meetings meaningful. One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is talking too much and not engaging the audience—in virtual meetings and even when everyone is in the same room.

Whether you are speaking with one or hundreds, planning for interaction will help you better connect with your audience, and enable you to learn what your viewers are really thinking—crucial for effective communication that leads to action.

Here are 10 best practices to help leaders and managers capture audience attention and fuel a productive discussion during virtual meetings:

Don’t save questions for the end

Encourage participants to pose queries throughout the session. The goal is to replicate true two-way communication and not

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SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(Business Wire)–Ooma, Inc. (NYSE: OOMA), a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, today announced CFO Ravi Narula and Matt Robison, Director of IR and Corporate Development, will participate in the Midwest IDEAS Investor Conference, which will be held virtually August 26-27, 2020.

About IDEAS Investor Conferences

The mission of the IDEAS Conferences is to provide independent regional venues for quality companies to present their investment merits to an influential audience of investment professionals. Unlike traditional bank-sponsored events, IDEAS Investor Conferences are “Sponsored BY the Buyside FOR the Buyside” and for the benefit of regional investment communities. Conference sponsors collectively have more than $200 billion in assets under management and include: Adirondack Research and Management, Allianz Global Investors: NFJ Investment Group, Ariel Investments, Aristotle Capital Boston, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss, BMO Global Asset Management, Constitution Research & Management, Inc., Fidelity Investments, First Wilshire Securities Management, Inc., Gamco Investors,

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Last month, we talked about ways to make yourself more engaging in virtual meetings.

Now let’s talk about making those meetings more engaging for everyone else.

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        

 

As business moves from the conference room to the computer screen, the dynamics of meetings have changed. In-person interactions have been replaced with a computer screen full of blank faces, looking like a dull version of “Hollywood Squares.” Attendees become bored, zone out or are frustrated by the inability to chime in — something many are calling “Zoom Gloom.”

But it doesn’t have to be that way, according to Joanne Brooks, who is the founder and president of Northbrook-based marketing production company Creative Impact Group. By injecting a bit of entertainment or an element of surprise, Brooks said meetings and conferences can become more enjoyable and engaging for attendees and — as a result — more productive.

“There’s plenty of things you can do

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