Prize for dissertation on live experience and media at cultural events Esther Hammelburg is the winner of the sixth Boekman Dissertation Prize for arts, culture and policy The award was presented at the research conference Culture as a problem solver? organised by the Boekman Foundation and Erasmus University Rotterdam in Theater Zuidplein Jury president Prof Susanne Janssen presented the prize in the presence of representatives of the organising partners and the NWO Social Sciences and Humanities domain Hammelburg received the award for her dissertation Being there live: how liveness is realised through media use at contemporary cultural events in which she explores how the experience of live events is fundamentally changed by the use of digital media More information on their research is here find Esther Hammelburg shows how closely the audience experience of live events has become intertwined with the use of digital media That connection goes far beyond capturing a few images as memories Hammelburg shows that for many people today there is simply no experience of liveness without a phone She talks about eventspheres: hybrid events that take place simultaneously in physical locations and in media environments she drew up ten practical design principles to make the hybrid live experience for visitors as powerful as possible With her innovative and practice-oriented research the functioning of art and culture par excellence in the contemporary social context of concert-goers and festival-goers."  The Boekman Dissertation Prize is awarded once every three years by the Boekman Foundation and the NWO Social Sciences and Humanities Domain The prize awards the best Dutch dissertation at the intersection of art and aims to bring recent scientific insights to wide attention The prize comes with a cash prize of €10,000 The winner will also be invited as a guest editor for a themed issue of the magazine Bookman which focuses on the topic of the winning dissertation The dissertation prize is in line with the ideas of Emanuel Boekman (1889-1940) who was the first in the Netherlands to do a PhD on the relationship between government and art The jury of the 6th Boekman Dissertation Prize consisted of: Members of Culture Press co-own our cooperative for a small monthly or annual fee, and may also contribute content to the site where appropriate. 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Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" {excerpt}<\/p><\/div><\/li>"},"theme":{"name":"cardview"}}Newsletter This work, American and German paratroopers commemorate the 45th anniversary of two fallen paratroopers, by SGT Jacob Bradford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright Army had its first major engagement with the forces of Nazi Germany ending  with their disastrous defeat at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia the Desert Fox had gotten the better of them in what would be his last major victory against the Allies newly promoted Lieutenant General George S II Corps from Major General Lloyd Fredendall his new command also allowed him to deal with a family problem—his son-in-law Waters had been taken prisoner during the battle It was to be nearly two years before Patton had the chance to free his son-in-law It was only in 1945 that Patton was reunited with his daughter’s husband and not before one of the more glaring blunders of his career: a seldom recalled total flop of a mission behind enemy lines called Task Force Baum Task Force Baum was a mission to rescue Waters Though there is controversy over whether Patton truly knew if his son-in-law was held at the specific POW camp he was sending over 300 men on an absurdly dangerous mission to liberate the facts and testimony make a strong case that he did This was a reckless action by any standards A letter Patton sent to his wife the day the task force left on its mission references Waters as being at the POW camp who would have been able to identify Waters the far right flank of the Allied forces pushing into Germany Patton’s troops were crossing the Rhine and the POW camp at Hammelburg was about 50 miles to the East and behind the current German line As Patton was ordered to swing his forces North Patton claimed he was worried about the German’s executing the American POWs nobody else thought the raid was a good idea Though he claimed he had approval from his superior Command of the mission fell to Lieutenant Colonel Creighton Abrams who wanted a regimental-sized force to take on the job only approved a group of just over 300 men and officers with some medium and light tanks and other vehicles a battle-hardened officer in Patton’s neigh-unstoppable 4th Armored Division was selected to lead these men to Hammelburg at Hammelburg had just endured a brutal winter German officers and guards hardly had enough coal for their fires to keep their own rooms above 20F (-7C) were on starvation rations and many didn’t even have the strength to walk Waters had just arrived in the camp earlier in March having completed a forced march from another POW camp in Poland They only had a few maps and not even an exact location for the camp they were trying to find so; progress was very slow through the night and they had to ask directions from locals they believed the force cutting dozens of miles into their lines was the spearhead of a major U.S They quickly directed all available troops and armor to the area to hunt them down and fend off the attack Baum and his men had made it to Oflag-XIII-B but had been fighting through the increasing number of German troops most of the way Only about half his men were in fighting shape the unit carried out its mission and began the assault on the camp Mistaking the grey-clad Serbian prisoners as German troops they fired rounds into their half of the camp The German general in charge of the the camp quickly realized they were outnumbered and done for and asked Waters to negotiate an end to the fighting As Waters and several others approached Baum’s force As the fighting ended and Baum took a gander at the prison he soon realized there were many more officers than he could take back to Allied territory He prioritized to officers of higher rank and said that anyone else was welcome to walk beside the column on the return journey or fend for themselves through the countryside was now in no shape whatsoever to travel and was being treated by Serbian doctors including the former chief surgeon of the Yugoslavian Army Baum led his column back towards safe territory All engines were frequently turned off to hide in silence Sherman tank and spoke in English over the radio to lure them in they lost four  Sherman tanks of their own to German attacks Baum ordered his force to stop until daylight as the column readied themselves to drive through hell Baum was shot in the groin and taken to Oflag-XIIIB along with many others Thirty-two men are listed as killed in action and 247 as wounded With their front lines continuing to collapse leaving behind all those who couldn’t walk Baum’s task force had punched a hole in the German line which allowed U.S so that Patton’s Third Army was able swing North with greater success than it would have otherwise (another reason Patton claimed he ordered the mission when General Dwight D Eisenhower furiously reprimanded him for it) Baum was personally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Patton Any higher-level award would have required an investigation and Patton was more than happy to put the whole incident behind him Colin Fraser is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE As a Museum volunteer he left a lasting imprint on our Education and Curatorial Services Departments Most of those hours were spent as a “4th floor volunteer,” working with our collection and exhibits department on the Museum’s administrative floor He used his skill as an architect to build models of exhibit cases for floor planning to create Morse code boxes still in use by our Education Department and helped to organize our research books in the Collections Department covering his unshakable and determined attitude towards life and projects He proved to me throughout my work with him that focused kindness and quiet determination were an inspirational way to live and work.” but ended up as a radio man on a halftrack Senior Curator & Restoration Manager Tom Czekanski recalls Bob saying that he got the job of radio man for his halftrack because he knew the phonetic alphabet just the  phonetic alphabet.” The Museum’s halftrack is even painted with the unit markings of the halftrack Bob was riding in during the Hammelburg Raid the attempt by a small task force in late March 1945 Back at the POW camp he and the others had only recently tried to liberate Bob’s leg was amputated above the knee by a Yugoslav POW surgeon This story and Bob’s full oral history about his service is a part of The National WWII Museum Digital Collections Senior Curator & Restoration Manager Tom Czekanski recalls how: “In June 2004 the Hammelburg Raid] was going to come visit for a book signing We wanted to do something special so we set out a Task Force Baum Living History Corps display We got the right patches and uniforms and such and we painted the halftrack with Bob's unit Senior Curator & Restoration Manager Tom Czekanski recalled another great story that Bob told about his service Bob had volunteered to be part of the troops sent to form a new division We would pull 10% of the men from 5 divisions and then fill in with new recruits to make a new division Normally the 10% sent were the worst troops in the division Bob said the train ride to the new base was frightening; the rest of the men were just out of control They got to the new base late and went to bed in barracks turned on the lights and said everyone up for PT Someone threw a trash can at him and yelled “*?!*&# you.” No one got up Bob said he was too scared that if he did they would beat him up later they all got dressed and went to breakfast This continued for a day or two until everyone's records caught up In comes an officer with some MPs; they start asking for this guy or that guy The officer hauls out dog tags and the MPs drag of the suspected trouble makers By the end of the day half the men in the barracks are gone; they have been replaced by young soldiers right out of boot camp turns on the lights and yells for everyone to get up for PT The new recruits hit the floor and the rest of the soldiers figure well vacation’s over and so that's the end of that Bob had a really charming way of narrating the often absurd or chaotic episodes of military life and even There were many moments when no one knew what to do when everyone was looking toward the other guy when it turned out that he was just as confused Even when it came to his surrender and capture Bob often talked about how he wasn’t sure how to surrender He recalled some people waving white cloths he still had questions about certain aspects of his captivity any time about anything.  After I did his OH he and I would talk regularly when I would visit the 4th floor [where Bob volunteered in our Collections and Exhibits Department].  Any time I saw Bob there I would stop and spend a few minutes with him usually talking about the war.  His memories of the Hammelburg Raid were incredibly accurate Bob’s “Zawada boxes” await their next use with a new crop of summer campers Kimberly Guise holds a BA in German and Judaic Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst She also studied at the Universität Freiburg in Germany and holds a masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Louisiana State University and specializes in the American prisoner-of-war experience in World War II View Campus Map This work, German sniper instruction aims at Benning’s next phase of international partnership, by Bryan Gatchell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright This work, 4-3 Assault Helicopter Battalion supports training for German Bundeswehr Soldiers, by Thomas Mort, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. © mju-fotografieToday, the musicians sleep in the south wing, where the monks once also used to sleep. We transformed the historic monastery cubicles with their historic doors into modern guest rooms with a private bath, which serve as a space of tranquillity and contemplation. Away from the hustle and bustle of the dining room and the large rehearsal rooms. Section 01The north-east wing offers both old and new perspectives into the church. In the east-wing, a courtyard with a terrace furnished with an outside seating area for the dining room, and in the west-wing, the serenade courtyard for open-air concerts and parties. © mju-fotografieOur concept is predominated by monastic minimalism and natural to awake to the resplendent light of a new morning The historic doors and plasters have been refurbished and restored All of the rehearsal rooms and the dining room are furnished with the most state-of-the-art acoustics You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email Colvin of Lockney remembers how he and a buddy from Ralls were part of a high-speed raid designed to rescue Gen Patton's son-in-law from a German prison camp in the final year of World War II "We had trained at Mineral Wells," he said of Camp Wolters where he and Arthur took basic training in late 1944 they were infantrymen in the 4th Armored Division of the 3rd Army and Allied forces were ready to move forward into heavy fighting in Germany they often had to cling to Sherman tanks for the sake of speed over walking and for the mission that Colvin and Arthur would be on had shared his memories with his sons Lloyd and Lonnie and also recorded his experiences on cassette tape Their trip through France was relatively uneventful He commented several times how cold it was," Lloyd Arthur said "I think it wound up being the coldest winter in like 50 years." "We saw a little bit of combat before going after the son-in-law I was a 50-caliber machine gunner on the tank - stood up on the top and ran the machine gun." such as the slapping of a soldier in a medical facility the doomed raid into the prison camp at Hammelburg was one that was especially criticized by lower officers and resisted by those higher up According to "The Guns at Last Light," which was Volume 3 of a trilogy by Rick Atkinson the West Point cavalryman who was son-in-law to Patton was captured in Tunisia on Valentine's Day Atkinson quotes Waters' diary: "Reached Hammelburg at 6 p.m. A sizable force was sent to attempt a rescue of Waters and what was believed to be as many as 300 other American prisoners in the same camp The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission," by Richard Baron It consisted of a company of armored infantry and a reconnaissance platoon for a total of about 300 men The perilous mission would be operating 50 to 60 miles behind the lines in enemy territory During the mission the three close friends were on a bridge over a river they had to cross after the Rhine "The plane made one pass and they could tell he was probably wanting to target the bridge to blow it up and they let loose with everything they had on the tanks and with tracers." so they could utilize those tracers and didn't even have to sight Colvin said of the Hammelburg rescue assignment We didn't know what was happening there for a while - Patton had just sent us on that mission they encountered small-arms fire from German troops moved to the top of a hill to see what was happening on the other side Then artillery shells began falling on the area they had just vacated The excursion had apparently saved his life Colvin remembers reaching a German military camp "There was firing when we got to this camp We got in there and shot that thing up and we started to leave and ran out of ammunition Then German soldiers came up and captured us." Arthur had talked about the Germans' use of bazooka shells against the tanks and he broke his ankle when he fell off the tank." said he didn't recall how he got underneath the bridge I think Daddy said there were eight of them that were captured." the German soldiers who captured them were carrying only bazookas because they had been intent on destroying the tanks Those were the only arms they used to point at the Americans they set out on an extended prisoner-of-war march that one of the men remembered as 30 days the larger part of the force suffered disaster "The Guns at Last Light," Task Force Baum had lost every vehicle and nearly every man was captured in addition to 57 killed The prisoners who could walk were marched to an area near Munich Arthur remembered that he didn't unlace his boot on his broken ankle thinking that he might not be able to get it back on Colvin said they were guarded in barns at night He remembers a German guard gave them advice and he relates it with a West Texas accent: 'Y'all just better stay with us - the war's going to be over pretty soon and if you get out here and get to rambling around I told that old guard I wasn't going to walk that day "We would eat old Irish potatoes and stuff like that," Colvin thinks he lost about 30 pounds on the march They never were placed in a concentration camp - the American troops simply overtook them and liberated them The former prisoners were released to their own means of getting back to Camp Lucky Strike in France because all of the supplies and everything was going to the front "We would just go from place to place," Colvin remembers They discovered a car without wheels in a barn and were able to find wheels that would fit it they were given transportation back to England and in England put on a ship to the United States When the ship's officer asked for volunteers among the troops They were given assignments involving transporting food by elevator from the kitchen area to the mess hall George Patton had to ask himself in March 1945 when he created a controversial unit known as Task Force Baum The overall goal of the mission was to liberate Prisoners of War (POWs) from Oflag XIII-B many argue the real reason for the task force was to rescue Patton’s son-in-law who was being held prisoner at the location In late March 1945, George Patton received intelligence that several hundred American prisoners of war had been moved to Oflag XIII-B near Hammelburg – around 40 miles behind enemy lines Patton summoned 23-year-old Army Officer Abraham Baum into his tent for a special assignment Upon being summoned to Patton’s tent, Baum remembered thinking “What the hell and I doing here?” He also recalled Cmdr Hoge and Creighton Abrams being present for the meeting None of them liked the task force idea Patton proposed Patton “said he’d get me the Congressional Medal of Honor I told him I had orders; I didn’t need to be bribed I had no idea the mission was about his son-in-law.” which may have influenced his enthusiasm for creating Task Force Baum No one knew the camp’s exact location or the number of POWs being held there Baum noted that the only thing the task force had going for them was the element of surprise which “was eliminated right away.” They set out on March 26 and by the evening had reached the town of Aschaffenburg they encountered heavy fire that disabled several of their vehicles the members of Task Force Baum had alerted the Germans of their presence They were met with more resistance as they went deeper into Germany they didn’t realize this was an assembly area for German infantry The German forces blew up the bridge as the Americans began crossing Abraham Baum now had to change their route into Hammelburg and got a German civilian to guide him and his men Task Force Baum finally reached Hammelburg where the Germans continued to ambush them By the time they reached Oflag XIII-B that afternoon they’d been operating nonstop for half a day against increasing German resistance the Americans fired at the German defenders of the camp Waters was shot by a German soldier putting up resistance before the situation could be explained to him The American colonel was taken back into Oflag XIII-B and treated by Serbian doctors also being held at the camp Task Force Baum eventually broke through Oflag XIII-B’s gates only to realize the prison camp contained far more than the 300 POWs they were planning to liberate; Baum realized only a small portion could actually be taken back to Allied territory on what remained of their fleet It was decided that only field-grade officers would be allowed to ride back with the task force while the remaining men could march beside the fleet The vast majority of the POWs interned at Oflag XIII-B could barely walk and opted to stay behind Soon after their departure, Task Force Baum was quickly surrounded and outnumbered by the German forces in the area. Despite their efforts, they annihilated. In total, 26 men on the task force were killed in action (KIA) with the majority of the survivors were forced to surrender They were taken prisoner at the very camp they were trying to liberate Only a handful of members made it back to Allied lines as their hospital beds were near each other Both men remained in the hospital until the 14th Armoured Division liberated Oflag XIII-B on April 6 nine days after Task Force Baum’s failed liberation attempt Whether or not George Patton knew his son-in-law was being held at Oflag XIII-B has been disputed he claimed Task Force Baum was a diversion for the US Third Army’s move northward and stated he wasn’t aware of John Waters’ whereabouts When Patton visited Abraham Baum in hospital, the injured man said it is difficult for me to believe that you would have sent us on that mission to just rescue one man,” to which Patton responded In this 2018 book, Patton’s Last Gamble: The Disastrous Raid on POW Camp Hammelburg in World War II Duane Schultz reexamines Patton’s motivations for Task Force Baum and offers two explanations for his motives – both of which reflect poorly on the general Schultz suggests Patton did know about his son-in-law’s whereabouts and that the mission was, in fact, set in motion to rescue Waters. Schultz also suggests the raid could have also been Patton’s attempt to one-up his rival, Gen. Douglas MacArthur More from us: Colditz Castle Was Turned Into a Prisoner of War Camp During the Second World War Two months before Patton launched Task Force Baum MacArthur’s troops had successfully rescued over 500 Allied POWs and civilians from a Japanese prison camp near Cabanatuan City Schultz suggests Patton resented the media attention MacArthur received and was determined to recapture the spotlight Patton remains the only individual who really ever knew the true motivation behind Task Force Baum Maddy Hiltz is someone who loves all things history She received her Bachelors of Arts in history and her Master’s of Arts degree in history both from the University of Western Ontario in Canada Her thesis examined menstrual education in Victorian England although when she wants to be lazy she loves to read a good thriller She loves spending quality time with her friends linkedin.com/in/maddy-hiltz The German Army Infantry School in Hammelburg has recently deployed two cutting-edge GEREON unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) developed by the German technology company The GEREON UGVs are being used in ‘Robotic Breach’ operations This involves the clearance of various obstacles in challenging wooded and urban terrains A critical feature of these systems is the gathering and analysis of sensor data This data is crucial for enhancing and complementing existing artificial intelligence models thereby improving operational efficiency and safety One of the standout features of the GEREON UGVs is their integrated Acoustic Sensor Module This module is part of over ten different ‘click-and-go’ payloads for the GEREON RCS It enables infantry squads to immediately detect and accurately locate enemy fire This feature is a game-changer in terms of battlefield awareness and response capabilities including the capability to climb stairs and 360-degree sensor technology This technology is pivotal for swift threat identification within buildings a crucial advantage in urban warfare scenarios Cookie Policy Copyright © 2025 Defence Industry Europe | mady by: geekon.eu We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns and to the members of The Greatest Generation Tribo-Chemie was founded in 1992 with the aim of manufacturing “Made in Germany” release agents that provide solutions for companies looking for suitable products for pressure die casting and forging Tribo-Chemie has been a much in demand partner for many years when it comes to customised release agents and lubricants for an efficient Tribo-Chemie places great importance on the environmental compatibility of their products when developing specific formulas for individual customers The family-run SME based in the small town of Hammelburg in Lower Franconia doesn’t just supply small and major customers from the German automotive industry and other sectors but also companies in European and non-European companies Tribo-Chemie is particularly proud of its intensive customer support as the ultimate aim is that the supplied products work perfectly in the production process at the customer’s Production processes at individual customers are never identical and this has to be taken into account when developing and using highly-efficient release agents Product groups like Graphitex® and Isolat® prove themselves worldwide Tribo-Chemie mainly has the expertise and commitment of their mostly long-standing employees to thank for its success.  has developed very successfully over the last few years as a result and is 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Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security Kurdish authorities have praised the effectiveness of Milan anti-tank missiles provided by Germany in their fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) Marangoni Retreading Systems Deutschland GmbH is congratulating Reifen Müller from Hammelburg for making its millionth tyre Reifen Müller’s Hammelburg factory turns out around 350 tyres a day the plant can produce 200 retreads in each 8 hour shift The high level of automation offers high productivity savings in labour and faster processing times The RB 3000 is a completely automatic machine in which the cushion gum is applied directly onto the casing Reifen Müller was the first tyre retreading company in Europe to use RB 3000 technology the firm added its second Ringbuilder 3000 machine owner and managing director of the German company confident that it will further improve the efficiency productivity and quality of the cold retreading process If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com Hankook recently expanded its Alphatread operation at this site by setting up a separate mould cure retreading operation The new mould cure retreading production area takes up around 2,000 square metres of a facility that now measures 15,000 square metres The total area can be increased to a space of 20,000 square metres if and when needed Although Hankook officially unveiled the enlarged facility just last month it has already been up and running for about a year now we can meet the increased demand for hot retreaded tyres,” says Manfred Zoni TBR sales director at Hankook Reifen Deutschland “Compared to the old factory we have been able to almost double our production capacity We can now produce up to 100,000 hot retreaded tyres each year the decision to exclusively use A-carcasses helps to make Hankook Alphatread profiles the highest quality.” “Hankook recognises the ever-increasing challenges of our Fleet and Dealer partners across Europe,” adds Guy Heywood vice-president marketing truck & bus tyres at Hankook Tire Europe safe and environmentally friendly solutions we are investing in our retread range and production facilities We aim to offer more dimensions and to focus with our fleet partners on extracting all of the value Hankook build into our premium new truck tyres.” The growth potential offered by the enlarged facility is impressive when considering that of the 100,000 truck tyres retreaded in Hammelburg last year only around 20,000 were mould cure retreads These weren’t exclusively Alphatread retreads either with output also covering products such as the RM (Reifen Müller) retread range The Hankook subsidiary intends to produce 35,000 mould cure retreads in Hammelburg this year in the 14 Cima vulcanisation presses now installed in the plant up from ten in the previous production facility Hankook will install a further six in the near future produce 80,000 Alphatreads a year as well as other mould cure retreads commenting only that it was “well into seven figures.” Hankook wants to produce 35,000 mould cure retreads in Hammelburg this year (Photo: NRZ/Arno Borchers) A case against the Real Estate Institute opened in the High Court at Auckland yesterday alleging it had breached a contract with a data service company and should pay more than $700,000 in compensation involves a disagreement over whether a contract existed between the parties Wellington-based data business RPNZ is seeking $626,179 from the institute for breach of contract and compensation for loss of future profit from a ditched business deal A further $139,450 is sought for breach of good faith and compensation for wasted expenditure RPNZ counsel Pam Andrews said a contract was entered into with the institute on October 18 RPNZ was a joint venture between Australian company RP Data and property information service Quotable Value NZ That joint venture was initially known as QVRP Information Services although in 2003 QV sold its half-share to RP Data and the company then changed its name to RPNZ RPNZ's case is that it entered into a contract with the institute to develop Project Confederation The institute was to supply up-to-date sales information from its agents to the data service which would then build the technology to merge information of the two entities and shoulder the cost of developing a new service misleading and deceptive conduct in trade and breach of good faith Andrews said the project dated back to 1998 when there was an opportunity to merge the institute's information with the data firm's A project team was formed of representatives from the institute and the data firm Leonie Freeman was a consultant to the institute and its project manager for Project Confederation until her resignation in 2002 was project manager for the QVRP side of Project Confederation who were incurring significant expenditure in having the technology built that they did not consider there to be an agreement," Andrews said When Boud Hammelburg became institute executive director in February 2002 he drafted a paper outlining what he saw as the project's flaws senior people from both sides gathered including Max Oliver Both parties agreed to continue the venture and various drafts of a legal contract passed between Jeffries and Hammelburg But the institute refused to allow its project team members to attend a technical sign-off meeting and Jeffries and Hammelburg held several meetings "The possibility that no agreement existed was never raised in those meetings," Andrews said * Data business RPNZ was to join the Real Estate Institute * The two were to develop a major property computer database * RPNZ was to get access to important sales data from agents * It was to shoulder the costs of setting up the systems * The institute was to get access to RPNZ's large property database The casino operator has downgraded its earnings guidance for the second time.