title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Polish king John III Sobieski planned to restore Polish suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia, and for this purpose concluded an alliance with France on 11 June 1675. France promised assistance and subsidies, while Sobieski in turn allowed French recruitment in Poland-Lithuania and promised to aid Hungarian rebel forces who were to distract the Habsburgs from their war against France. For this plan to work out, Poland-Lithuania had to first conclude her war against the Ottoman Empire, which French diplomacy despite great efforts failed to achieve. Furthermore, Sobieski was opposed by the Papacy, by Polish gentry who saw the Ottomans as the greater threat, and by Polish magnates bribed by Berlin and Vienna. Inner-Polish Catholic opposition to an intervention on the Protestant Hungarian rebels' side added to the resentments. Thus, while Treaty of Żurawno ended the Polish-Ottoman war in 1676, Sobieski sided with the emperor instead, and the plan for a Prussian campaign was dropped.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: By 1678, Frederick William had cleared Swedish Pomerania and occupied most of it, with the exception of Rügen which was held by Denmark–Norway. This was followed by another success against Sweden, when Frederick William cleared Prussia of Swedish forces in what became known as the Great Sleigh Drive. However, when Louis XIV of France concluded the Dutch War by the Nijmegen treaties, he marched his armies east to relieve his Swedish ally, and forced Frederick William to basically return to the "status quo ante bellum" by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679). Though the Scanian War resulted only in minor territorial gains, attaching a small strip of the Swedish Pomeranian right bank of the lower Oder to Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania, the war resulted in a huge gain of prestige for the elector.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Frederick III of Brandenburg, since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia, was born in Königsberg in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1679) had cooled, not least because of the Huguenot question. In 1686, Frederick William turned toward the Habsburg emperor, with whom he concluded an alliance on 22 December 1686. For this alliance, Frederick William relinquished rights on Silesia in favor of the Habsburgs, and in turn received the Silesian County of Schwiebus which bordered the Neumark. Frederick III, present at the negotiations as crown prince, assured the Habsburgs of the continuation of the alliance once he was in power, and secretly concluded an amendment to return Schwiebus to the Habsburgs, which he eventually did in 1694. Throughout his reign, Brandenburg-Prussia remained a Habsburg ally and repeatedly deployed troops to fight against France. In 1693, Frederick III began to sound out the possibility of an elevation of his status at the Habsburg court in Vienna, and while the first attempt was unsuccessful, elevation to a king remained the central goal on his agenda.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: The envisioned status elevation did not merely serve a decorative purpose, but was regarded a necessity to prevail in political competition. Though Frederick III held the elevated status of a prince elector, this status was also gained by Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War, also by the Elector of the Palatinate in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and by Ernest Augustus of the House of Hanover in 1692. Thus, the formerly exclusive club of the prince-electors now had nine members, six of whom were secular princes, and further changes seemed possible. Within the circle of prince-electors, August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, had secured the Polish crown in 1697, and the House of Hanover had secured succession of the British throne. From Frederick III's perspective, stagnation in status meant loss of power, and this perspective seemed to be confirmed when the European royals ignored Brandenburg-Prussia's claims in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697).


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Frederick decided to raise the Duchy of Prussia to a kingdom. Within the Holy Roman Empire, no one could call himself king except the emperor and the king of Bohemia. However, Prussia was outside the empire, and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it. The practicability of this plan was doubted by some of his advisors, and in any case the crown was only valuable if recognized by the European nobility, most important the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1699, negotiations were renewed with emperor Leopold I, who in turn was in need of allies since the War of the Spanish Succession was about to break out. On 16 November 1700, the emperor approved Frederick's coronation in the Crown Treaty. With respect to Poland-Lithuania, who held the provinces of Royal Prussia and Ermland, it was agreed that Frederick would call himself King in Prussia, instead of King "of" Prussia. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, for similar reasons as the emperor, accepted Frederick's elevation prior to the coronation.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: On 17 January 1701, Frederick dedicated the royal coat of arms, the Prussian black eagle, and motto, "suum cuique". On 18 January, he crowned himself and his wife Sophie Charlotte in a baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: On 28 January, Augustus the Strong congratulated Frederick, yet not as Polish king, but as Saxon elector. In February, Denmark–Norway accepted Frederick's elevation in hope of an ally in the Great Northern War, and the Tsardom of Russia likewise approved in 1701. Most princes of the Holy Roman Empire followed. Charles XII of Sweden accepted Frederick as Prussian king in 1703. In 1713, France and Spain also accepted Frederick's royal status.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: The coronation was not accepted by the Teutonic Order, who despite the secularization of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 upheld claims to the region. The Grand Master protested at the emperor's court, and the pope sent a circular to all Catholic regents to not accept Frederick's royal status. Until 1787, papal documents continued to speak of the Prussian kings as "Margraves of Brandenburg". Neither did the Polish–Lithuanian nobility accept Frederick's royal status, seeing the Polish province of Royal Prussia endangered, and only in 1764 was the Prussian kingship accepted.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Since Brandenburg was still legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia technically continued until the empire's dissolution in 1806. However, the emperor's power was only nominal by this time, and Brandenburg soon came to be treated as a "de facto" province of the Prussian kingdom. Although Frederick was still only an elector within the portions of his domain that were part of the empire, he only acknowledged the emperor's overlordship over them in a formal way.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as the margrave's finances were controlled by the "Kreditwerk", an institution not controlled by the elector, and the "Großer Ausschuß" ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates, however, the "Kreditwerk" went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning the "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: To reduce the influence of the estates, Joachim Frederick in 1604 created a council called "Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark" ("Privy Council for the Electorate"), which instead of the estates was to function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While the council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651 due to the Thirty Years' War.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Until after the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Brandenburg-Prussia were politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William, who envisioned the transformation of the personal union into a real union, started to centralize the Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the "Geheimer Rat" as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved to be unfeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor ("Kurfürstlicher Rat") for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the "Geheimer Rat". The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of the estates ("Landständische Regierung", named "Oberratsstube" in Prussia and "Geheime Landesregierung" in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the estates' governments by creating "Amtskammer" chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680, the "Kreditwerk" came under the aegis of the elector.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Frederick William's excise tax ("Akzise"), which since 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation of the estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform the constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia, he confirmed the traditional privileges of the estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored the privilege of the Prussian estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an "Akzise" was raised with the estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian estates for the first time in 1674. Since 1704, the Prussian estates had de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682, the elector introduced an "Akzise" to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an "Akzise" was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Under the rule of Frederick III (I), the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of the monarchy. Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, yet firstborn Frederick III with the emperor's backing succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera, which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was created, called "Geheime Hofkammer" (since 1713: "Generalfinanzdirektorium"). This chamber functioned as a superior agency of the territories' "Amtskammer" chambers. The General War Commissariat ("Generalkriegskommissariat") emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local "Kriegskommissariat" agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but until 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: In 1613, John Sigismund converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism, but failed to achieve the conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio. Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious freedom, while the electors court remained largely Calvinist. When Frederick William I rebuilt Brandenburg-Prussia's war-torn economy, he attracted settlers from all Europe, especially by offering religious asylum, most prominently by the Edict of Potsdam which attracted more than 15,000 Huguenots.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Brandenburg-Prussia established a navy and colonies during the reign of Frederick William. The "Great Elector" had spent part of his childhood at the Pomeranian court and port cities of Wolgast (1631–1633) and Stettin (1633–1635), and afterwards studied at the Dutch universities of Leyden and The Hague (1635–1638). When Frederick William became elector in 1640, he invited Dutch engineers to Brandenburg, sent Brandenburgian engineers to study in the Netherlands, and in 1646 married educated Luise Henriette of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau. After the Thirty Years' War, Frederick William tried to acquire finances to rebuild the country by participating in oversea trade, and attempted to found a Brandenburg-Prussian East Indies Company. He engaged former Dutch admiral Aernoult Gijsels van Lier as advisor and tried to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor and princes of the empire to participate. The emperor, however, declined the request as he considered it dangerous to disturb the interest of the other European powers. In 1651, Frederick William bought Danish Fort Dansborg and Tranquebar for 120,000 reichstalers. As Frederick William was unable to raise this sum, he asked several people and Hanseatic towns to invest in the project, but since none of these were able or willing to give sufficient money, the treaty with Denmark was nullified in 1653.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: In 1675, after the victory at Fehrbellin and the Brandenburg-Prussian advance in Swedish Pomerania during the Scanian War, Frederick William decided to establish a navy. He engaged Dutch merchant and shipowner Benjamin Raule as his advisor, who after a first personal meeting with Frederick William in 1675 settled in Brandenburg in 1676 and became the major figure of Brandenburg-Prussia's emerging naval and colonial enterprise. The Brandenburg-Prussian navy was established from ten ships which Frederick William leased from Raule, and achieved first successes in the war against Sweden supporting the siege of Stralsund and Stettin and the invasion of Rügen. In Pillau (now Baltiysk) on the East Prussian coast, Raule established shipyards and enlarged the port facilities.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: After the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679), the navy was used to hijack Swedish ships in the Baltic Sea, and in 1680, six Brandenburg-Prussian vessels captured the Spanish vessel "Carolus Secundus" near Ostend to pressure Spain to pay promised subsidies. The Spanish ship was renamed "Markgraf von Brandenburg" ("Margrave of Brandenburg") and became the flagship of an Atlantic fleet that was ordered to capture Spanish vessels carrying silver; it was not successful in this mission. In the following years, the navy was expanded, and the policy of leasing ships was replaced by the policy of building or purchasing them. On 1 October 1684 Frederick William bought all ships that had been leased for 110,000 talers. Also in 1684, the East Frisian port of Emden replaced Pillau as the main Brandenburg-Prussian naval base. From Pillau, part of the shipyard, the admiral's house and the wooden church of the employees was transferred to Emden. While Emden was not part of Brandenburg-Prussia, the elector owned a nearby castle, Greetsiel, and negotiated an agreement with the town to maintain a garrison and a port.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: In 1679, Raule presented Frederick William a plan to establish colonies in African Guinea, and the elector approved. In July 1680, Frederick William issued respective orders, and two ships were selected to establish trade contacts with African tribes and explore places where colonies could be established. On 17 September, frigate "Wappen von Brandenburg" ("Seal of Brandenburg") and "Morian" (poetic for "Mohr", "Negro") left for Guinea. The ships reached Guinea in January 1681. Since the crew of the "Wappen von Brandenburg" sold a barrel of brandy to Africans in a territory claimed by the Dutch West Indies Company, the latter confiscated the ship in March. The crew of the remaining ship "Morian" managed to have three Guinean chieftains sign a contract on 16 May, before the Dutch expelled the vessel from the coastal waters. This treaty, officially declared as trade agreement, included a clause of subjection of the chiefs to Frederick William's overlordship and an agreement allowing Brandenburg-Prussia to establish a fort, and is thus regarded the beginning of the Brandenburg-Prussian colonial era.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: To facilitate the colonial expeditions, the Brandenburg African Company was founded on 7 March 1682, initially with its headquarters in Berlin and its shipyards in Pillau, since 1683 in Emden. Throughout its existence, the company was underfunded, and expeditions were financed also by private capital, including payments by Raule and Frederick William. In July 1682, an expedition under East Prussian Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was sent to Guinea to erect the fortress Großfriedrichsburg. On 24 February 1684, another treaty with indigenous chiefs was signed that allowed the erection of a second fort in nearby Accada (now Akwida), named Dorotheenschanze after Frederick William's second wife. On 4 February 1685, a treaty was signed with the chiefs of Taccararay (now Takoradi), some 30 kilometers east of Großfriedrichsburg. A fourth fort was built at a spring near the village of Taccrama, between Großfriedrichsburg and Dorotheenschanze, named "Loge" or "Sophie-Louise-Schanze". Overall, the colony comprised roughly 50 kilometers of coastline, and did not extend into the hinterland.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: A second colony was established at the Arguin archipelago off the West African coast (now part of Mauritania). In contrast to the Guinean colony, Arguin had been a colony before: In 1520, Portugal had built a fort on the main island, which with all of Portugal came under Spanish control in 1580. In 1638 it was conquered by the Dutch Republic, and in 1678 by France, who due to high maintenance costs abandoned it and demolished the fort soon after. On 27 July 1685, an expedition was mounted by Frederick William and Raule, who took possession of the vacated colony on 1 October. Subsequently, the fort was rebuilt and contacts to the indigenous population established. France was alarmed and sent a vessel to re-conquer the fort in late 1687, but the attack of a French frigate and a smaller vessel was beaten back by the Brandenburg-Prussian garrison. The victory improved the relations to the indigenous people, many of whom were carried off as slaves by the French before. While Arguin did not reach the economic importance of Großfriedrichsburg, it temporarily advanced to the world's primary staple port for slaves.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: The African colonies enabled Brandenburg-Prussia to participate in the Triangular trade, yet it lacked its own trading post in the Caribbean Sea. In 1684, Brandenburg-Prussia was denied the purchase of the French islands Sainte Croix and Saint Vincent. In November 1685, after a failed attempt to purchase Saint Thomas from Denmark–Norway, a Brandenburg-Danish agreement was reached that allowed the Brandenburg African Company to rent part of Saint Thomas as a base for 30 years, while the sovereignty remained with Denmark and administration with the Danish West Indies and Guinean Company. The first Brandenburgian vessel arrived in 1686 with 450 slaves from Großfriedrichsburg. Brandenburg-Prussia was allotted an area near the capital city Charlotte Amalie, called "Brandenburgery", and other territories named "Krum Bay" and "Bordeaux Estates" further west. In 1688, 300 Europeans and several hundred slaves lived on the Brandenburgian estates. In November 1695, French forces looted the Brandenburgian (not the Danish) colony. In 1731, the Brandenburg-Prussian company on Saint Thomas (BAAC) became insolvent, and abandoned the island in 1735. Their last remains were sold by auction in 1738.


title: Brandenburg-Prussia

text: Brandenburg-Prussia tried to claim Crab Island in 1687, but the island was also claimed by other European powers beforehand, and when a second expedition in 1692 found the island under Danish control, the plan was abandoned. In 1689, Brandenburg-Prussia claimed Peter Island, but the small rock proved unsuitable for trade or settlement. In 1691, Brandenburg-Prussia and the Duchy of Courland agreed on a partition of Tobago, but since Courland later abandoned the territory and thus was no longer present on the island, the agreement was nullified, and negotiations with the English government which had interests in Tobago did not result in an agreement. In 1695, Brandenburg-Prussia attempted to acquire Tortola from England via diplomacy, but the negotiations went nowhere, and were eventually called off. Likewise, England declined an offer to purchase Sint Eustatius in 1697.


title: From First to Last

text: From First to Last is an American post-hardcore band based in the Los Angeles Area and Tampa, Florida. Formed by Matt Good, Scott Oord, and Parker Nelms in November 1999, the current line-up consists of Matt Good (lead guitar, vocals), Sonny Moore (lead vocals), Travis Richter (rhythm guitar, unclean vocals), and Derek Bloom (drums).


title: From First to Last

text: The band released their first EP titled "Aesthetic" in 2003 which they recorded with founding member and vocalist Phillip Reardon who left the band in 2004 due to personal and creative differences. "Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount" followed in 2004 and "Heroine" in 2006, both with Moore; both these albums sold a combined total of 304,000 copies in the United States without much radio airplay.


title: From First to Last

text: Following the departure of Moore in February 2007 to work on his solo electronic project, the band added permanent bassist Matt Manning, and Good moved to lead vocals/guitar. Their third self-titled studio album was released in 2008 on Suretone Records. In August 2009 the band signed to Rise Records. In late 2009, Richter left the band. Their fourth studio album, "Throne to the Wolves" was released on March 16, 2010. On July 28, 2010, the band entered a hiatus.


title: From First to Last

text: In November 2013, the band re-formed, with Periphery vocalist Spencer Sotelo as the new lead vocalist, as well as Richter rejoining the band. They released their fifth album "Dead Trees" in April 2015. Sotelo departed the band in July 2016. Former vocalist Sonny Moore rejoined the band in January 2017. In May 2020 Matt Good admitted that while there are a few tracks that could be on a new album, he's unsure if it will ever come to fruition.


title: From First to Last

text: First Too Last was created in November 1999 in Tampa by Matt Good, Michael Blanchard and Scott Oord. Scott played bass, while Matt took on lead vocals and was convinced by Scott to also play guitar. Parker Nelms (drums) held practice at his house, but when the band began to travel, Parker was too young to do so. He was replaced by Steve Pullman to round out the lineup that, for the next three years, would play small shows in Florida.


title: From First to Last

text: In 2002, Matt joined the grindcore band The Color of Violence (at that time, called "Slaughter vs Skeleton, Fetus Destroyer"), where he met Travis Richter (guitar), who would later join First To Last, and Joey Antillion (bass). Some time later, Greg Taylor joined as (drums), who wrote about 4 songs, in which the "Aesthetic Demos" were created. After hearing the demos of what would be their first EP, Phillip Reardon (lead vocals) and Derek Bloom (drums) joined the band.


title: From First to Last

text: In 2003, the band released their debut EP "Aesthetic" on Four Leaf Recordings which featured the vocals of Reardon, Good and Richter. By the end of the year, they had changed their name to From First To Last and signed to Epitaph Records.


title: From First to Last

text: After the "Aesthetic" EP, the band wanted to move Matt Good to lead vocals. However, Good was reluctant to take on both lead vocal and lead guitar duties. He wanted From First to Last to have a frontman, to connect with the crowd better. Using the social networking site MySpace, Good came in contact with a guitarist and singer from California, Sonny Moore. Moore flew to Valdosta, Georgia, where "Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount" was being recorded, and was set to be the band's rhythm guitarist. However, when the other band members heard Moore singing "Featuring Some of Your Favorite Words", they decided that he was much better suited for lead singer than guitarist.


title: From First to Last

text: Matt Good wrote the album in two weeks. Moore came in after the music was tracked and completed the vocals. "Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount" was released on June 29, 2004.


title: From First to Last

text: From late May to mid-June 2005, From First to Last participated in the "Dead by Dawn" tour with bands Emanuel, Halifax and He Is Legend.


title: From First to Last

text: The band went to Radio Star Studios in Weed, California to record their second album, produced by Ross Robinson. As their previous bassist Weisberg had been formally asked to leave the band due to internal conflicts, producer Ross Robinson asked Wes Borland, former Limp Bizkit guitarist, to play bass on the album. Borland later played several tours with the band. The album was released on March 21, 2006. It opened on the Billboard albums chart at No. 25, with first-week sales of over 33,000. Shortly thereafter in April, they signed to major label Capitol Records after bidding between that label and Warner Bros.


title: From First to Last

text: From mid March to mid May the band toured alongside Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights and The All-American Rejects for the "Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour" in support of their release Heroine.


title: From First to Last

text: FFTL then did a short European Tour with various bands. The band then played several dates on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, but were forced to drop out due to surgical removal of a nodule on Moore's vocal cords. He received his second nodule surgery in early July (his first being in May 2005). Following his recovery, From First to Last went out on the "World Championship Tour" supporting Atreyu along with Every Time I Die and Chiodos. While on that tour, Moore once again had vocal cord problems and had to leave the tour. The band had planned to have guitarists Good and Richter cover Moore's vocal duties for the duration of the tour until singer of Chiodos, Craig Owens, insisted that he provide lead vocals for their sets. Atreyu eventually forced From First to Last to drop the tour. The band later explained, "Our plan to enable us to play the rest of the tour was disregarded and as our crew was setting up for the show in Worcester, MA we were informed that we were being kicked off of the tour. Understand that it was not our choice to leave this tour... we were forced to leave." Atreyu then returned a statement about the controversy concerning From First to Last's departure, saying, "They couldn't perform as FFTL and are no longer on this tour."


title: From First to Last

text: Borland toured with From First To Last roughly since early 2006. He announced plans for a Fall 2006 tour that never went through due to Black Light Burns needing to find a new record label after Borland left Geffen Records. Borland has discussed plans to write and perform on the next From First To Last album, but he left the band due to Black Light Burns' busy schedule started to pick up, leaving no room for work with From First to Last.


title: From First to Last

text: In February 2007, lead singer Moore left From First to Last to pursue a solo career. His decision to leave was based on his urge to create his own music, and also due to the fact that singing in the band was putting an immense strain on his vocal cords, resulting in serious damage which needed multiple surgeries in order to be fixed. Moore posted new recordings on his Myspace and was part of a group of a band called Sonny and the Blood Monkeys. Moore now writes, produces, and performs music under the alias/stage name Skrillex, who has won 8 Grammy Awards for his electronic dance music, and now has 7 EP's and 2 Albums.


title: From First to Last

text: After vocalist Moore's departure, From First to Last faced a crisis. Their label, Capitol Records, had dropped them due to financial problems. Without a vocalist, label, permanent bassist, or any money, the band almost split. Guitarist/Vocalist Matt Good, however, decided to take on lead vocals while still providing a backup guitar role. The band also quickly picked up Matt Manning to become a full-time bassist. The band then spent their remaining money on a studio in which to continue work on their already-written third album.


title: From First to Last

text: The remaining members of From First to Last finished a headlining tour from July 21 through August 5 with guests Alesana, Vanna, Brighten, and Four Year Strong. Shortly before recording another album, the band played for a portion of the Show Must Go on tour with Hawthorne Heights, Secondhand Serenade, Powerspace, and Brighten, but later cancelled their dates on the last part of the tour to open for Deftones on a separate Canadian tour.


title: From First to Last

text: After completing a full mix of their new material, From First to Last was picked up by Suretone Records. Shortly after, they re-entered the studio to record their album again, this time with a professional crew and better quality. The band recorded this time in Los Angeles, with producer Josh Abraham and seasoned engineer Ryan Williams. At midnight on November 14, 2007, they released the first single from the album, "Two as One", on their Myspace account, and they later played that song live on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. A video was made for the song "Worlds Away" which was highly publicized. Although this record was widely promoted and the band had one of its biggest years ever, they personally feel the album was a failure in that it did not portray the true band as it was meant to be portrayed. Currently, they rarely, if ever, play any songs off this album, the only occasional one being the song "Deliverance".


title: From First to Last

text: From First to Last began their fall headlining tour, "RATHER BE SLAYIN' N00BZ", starting November 1 with guests Blessthefall, A Skylit Drive, and Vanna. Around the middle of the tour, the guests changed to Envy on the Coast, Pierce The Veil, Four Year Strong, and Mayday Parade.


title: From First to Last

text: On November 29, From First to Last announced they were going to be a part of the 2008 Hot Topic Take Action Tour. They played at the MTV Winter Valencia in Spain on March 6. On December 6, they announced they were going to be part of the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.


title: From First to Last

text: On May 6, 2008, From First to Last released their self-titled album, and starting June 20, hit the road on the Vans Warped Tour for its entirety.


title: From First to Last

text: On June 28, From First to Last updated their band members section of their MySpace, making Chris Lent a full-time member.


title: From First to Last

text: From the end of September to October 12, From First to Last played on The Blackout's "Sleep All Day, Party All Night" tour in the UK, along with The Medic Droid and We Are The Ocean.


title: From First to Last

text: FFTL stated that they would be on a break from touring in late 2008. Members Travis Richter and Derek Bloom were focusing on their side project, The Color of Violence, with tours soon after and a full-length debut album, Youthanize, which was released April 7, 2009. Member Chris Lent toured as the drummer for the band I Set My Friends on Fire as well as one of the two drummers for The Color of Violence (along with Jon Syverson of the band Daughters); Lent also confirmed that he is no longer a member of FFTL and is now writing/recording with ISMFOF. FFTL began writing new songs early 2009 and started demoing new songs in March 2009 for their next album, expected to be released March 2010. A full-length demo of a song on the new album was put on their Myspace at that time, as well as the previously unheard b-side from Heroine, "Save Us". A Second Full Length Demo was added on July 3, 2009, and a message to fans that they would be announcing their recording schedule and tentative label. As of August 6, 2009, the band had begun to track drums for the new record at EarthSound studios in Valdosta Georgia, with Lee Dyess.


title: From First to Last

text: In September 2009, Miss May I announced they would be touring with From First to Last in October 2009.


title: From First to Last

text: On October 1, 2009 FFTL announced that they would be touring with Greeley Estates and in October and November, and also that they had signed to Rise Records.


title: From First to Last

text: The band toured on the "You'd Be Way Cuter in a Coffin Tour" with Alesana, The Word Alive, Asking Alexandria, and Memphis May Fire in December 2009. Though recording was supposedly finished, the band was called off the road and was forced to cancel the last two weeks worth of performances – much to the dismay of fans, some of whom began to complain that the band could never finish a tour, and start rumors of a breakup – in order to go back home to Valdosta and put finishing touches on their recording. Matt Good responded to these claims and rumors


title: From First to Last

text: From First to Last released a new song off the album, "Going Lohan", on their MySpace page in November. The new album, "Throne to the Wolves", was announced and slated for release on March 16, 2010.


title: From First to Last

text: In late 2009 FFTL went through yet another lineup change with Travis Richter leaving the band; no official announcement had yet been made by the band and no reason was given for his departure. Matt Good and Matt Manning have been taking over Travis's screaming role and Blake Steiner (ex-Mia Medusa guitarist), who recorded on Throne to the Wolves, is his replacement. On December 31 FFTL released the song "I'll Inoculate The World with the Virus of My Disillusionment" on their MySpace.


title: From First to Last

text: On January 20, 2010, From First to Last finally made an official announcement about Travis's departure from the band via Myspace.


title: From First to Last

text: Travis is now the lead vocalist for the progressive metal band The Human Abstract. Richter left the band in 2011 and became a dubstep producer with the group ModifiedNoise.


title: From First to Last

text: Beginning on March 13, 2010 From First to Last headlined the Royal Family Tour 2010, supported by Eyes Set To Kill, Confide, Black Veil Brides and Sleeping with Sirens. That tour concluded on April 10. Eyes Set to Kill dropped off the tour for other engagements a week before.


title: From First to Last

text: Throne to the Wolves was released March 16, 2010. The album was received well by critics and fans alike; getting favorable reviews from Alternative Press, and Absolute Punk. The album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums, and number 45 on The Top Independent Albums. This is the band's first album not to chart the "Billboard" 200 since Dear Diary. After spending one week on the charts it dropped off; despite its poor debut, and first week sales of less than 4000, the album has been seen as a fresh start, and a new beginning for the band.


title: From First to Last

text: Starting on May 8, 2010 the band toured with Our Last Night, We Came as Romans, and A Bullet For Pretty Boy on the Welcome to the Circus tour, headlined by Asking Alexandria. The tour will end on June 9


title: From First to Last

text: On June 10, 2010 the band will begin playing dates through June 18 supporting A Skylit Drive on the second half of the "Go Fist Pump Yourself Tour", along with Tides of Man and Abandon All Ships. I Set My Friends on Fire were originally slated to play, but ISMFOF was forced to back out due to recording delays.


title: From First to Last

text: On July 29, 2010, Craig Owens posted a video on Facebook saying that Matt Good was the guitarist and keyboardist of his new band. On August 18, 2010, Owens announced account that the band is called Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows. The band's members include vocalist Craig Owens (Chiodos), drummer Aaron Stern (Matchbook Romance), guitarist/vocalist Nick Martin (Underminded), bassist Adam Russell (Story of the Year) and Matt Good in guitar, keyboards and vocals. Good left the band in 2012, now is a dubstep/electronica DJ with AJ Calderon in the duo Kit Fysto. D.R.U.G.S. disbanded in April 2012, as a result of the departure of lead singer Craig Owens who rejoined his former band Chiodos.


title: From First to Last

text: In 2011, Matt Manning and Blake Steiner formed the band Eye in the Sky. The band's members include Matt Simpson (drums), Blake Steiner (guitar) and Matt Manning (vocals and bass).


title: From First to Last

text: On August 20, 2013 Jon Weisberg launched his new band XO Stereo and released the first single "Show And Tell" with an accompanying music video. The band also features Justin Whitesel from LoveHateHero.


title: From First to Last

text: In November 2013, Matt Good, Derek Bloom, Matt Manning and Travis Richter reunited as From First to Last and launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the recording of a new EP. Good said he also reached out to Sonny Moore (Skrillex) to see if he would be interested in contributing in some way. Months after exceeding its crowd-funding goal of $25,000 by raising over $30,000, the band changed its plans slightly: the recording sessions proved fruitful and the band decided to release a full-length album instead of an EP, and the lineup changed significantly. Bloom was no longer a part of the reunion and the remaining members expanded to a six-piece with the addition of vocalist Spencer Sotelo of Periphery, drummer Ernie Slenkovich and third guitarist Taylor Larson. With the new lineup, From First to Last recorded and released an online stream of a new version of "Note to Self" – originally released on "Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount" in 2004 with Moore on vocals – to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. In the autumn of 2014, the band continued on with a tour with Black Veil Brides, Set It Off, William Control and Falling in Reverse.


title: From First to Last

text: From First to Last released the first single, eponymously titled "Dead Trees," off their fifth studio album on November 24, 2014. Weeks later in January 2015, From First to Last announced their signing to Sumerian Records for the release of their new album. On April 23, 2015 the band released "Dead Trees" through Sumerian.


title: From First to Last

text: On July 30, 2016, former vocalist Sonny Moore held a radio show on Beats 1 as Skrillex. The final song of the radio show, an untitled bonus track was, according to "Alternative Press", reminiscent of prior From First to Last work with Moore's vocals. The article talked about the rumors being generated by a Facebook post regarding a possible reunion.


title: From First to Last

text: On January 15, 2017, the band released a new single, "Make War", featuring vocalist Sonny Moore and original drummer Derek Bloom returning to the band (although the single featured drummer Travis Barker instead of Bloom.) Their first show back with Moore and Bloom was on February 7, during an Emo Nite LA event in Los Angeles, California at music venue Echoplex. This marked the band's first live performance with Moore in ten years and Bloom since his departure in 2010. Longtime bassist Matt Manning also appeared with the band during the show, having only performed alongside Moore briefly before his initial departure from the band. Aside from debuting "Make War" live, the band played a set featuring material strictly off of "Dear Diary...". Guitarist Taylor Larson was not present at the performance, and is no longer a member of the band.


title: From First to Last

text: In 2017, Moore stated that "Make War" was the first they wrote after reuniting. He later stated that the band plans to release more music.


title: From First to Last

text: In December 2017, the band debuted a new song entitled "Surrender" at Emo Nite Day in Los Angeles. The track was later released on July 23, 2018, with Bloom returning on drums.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Founded in 1866 as "Hampstead Football Club", they took the name Harlequins in 1870. They were one of the founding members of the RFU. For sponsorship reasons they were formerly known as "NEC Harlequins", but principal sponsorship is currently held by DHL and Castore.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins have been champions of England twice winning the title in 2012 and most recently in 2021. They won the European Challenge Cup in 2001, 2004 and 2011, and the domestic cup in 1988, 1991 and 2013.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The current club captain is Stephan Lewies, with Billy Millard Director of Rugby Performance and Tabai Matson Head Coach for the 2021/22 season.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866 and the first recorded game took place in 1867. A disagreement between Club Secretary William Titchener and William Alford in 1867 resulted in Alford leaving with half of the membership to form the club now known as Wasps. The club was renamed Harlequin Rugby Football Club in 1870, supposedly because the membership was no longer purely local, but the HFC monogram had to be retained. The word 'Harlequin' ("Arlecchino", a comic servant from the "commedia dell'arte") was found in a dictionary and all present agreed to the new name.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: During its first 40 years the club played at a total of 15 venues. Since 1909, they have only played at three.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 1906, the club was invited by the Rugby Football Union to use the new national stadium in Twickenham. In those early days, only one or two internationals were played there during the season, and before long Twickenham became the headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 1961, Harlequins undertook a tour of East Africa in conjunction with Pretoria Harlequins from South Africa, as guests of the Kenya Harlequin F.C. and the Rugby Football Union of East Africa; the club won five and drew one. The tour is notable for two facts, it was the first time that three sister clubs of the Harlequin family all played each other in a coordinated series of matches and at 19 days it was the longest overseas tour undertaken by a British club up to that time. Despite this, the tour pales to insignificance when it is realised the Pretoria club spent four weeks in East Africa playing eight matches and another in Rhodesia on the way home.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The London club arrived at Entebbe airport at dawn on 4 May and opened their tour with a 44–13 win against Uganda in Kampala on 6 May. They played West Kenya Province at Kitale (winning 24–6), and the Pretoria Harlequins on Saturday 13 May at the RFUEA ground, Nairobi (winning 13 – 11). The next two matches were played at the same location, beating the host club 16–0 the next day and earning a 9-all tie against Kenya Central Province on Wednesday 17 May. The last match for the London club was against Kenya at Nakuru on Saturday 20 May (winning 8–0). This last match was played under a typical "long-rains" shower that, though heavy, did not soften the hard ground enough to be a problem.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 1963, Harlequin FC acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres (57,000 m) just over the road from the Twickenham ground, which became its training pitch. This subsequently become their home: the Stoop Memorial Ground which in 2005 was renamed The Twickenham Stoop. This is named after Adrian Dura Stoop, who won 15 caps for England and is said to have been the person who developed modern back play.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: With the introduction of leagues in 1987 bringing a more competitive environment, Harlequins maintained their status in the Premier Division as one of England's top 12 clubs until 2005.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The club has won the Rugby Football Union clubs knockout competition on two occasions: the John Player Cup in 1988 and Pilkington Cup in 1991. In addition, they played in the finals of 1992, 1993 and 2001.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins hold the world record for providing the most players from one club (8) in a Rugby World Cup final. In the second ever RWC final at Twickenham in November 1991, seven Harlequin players appeared for England (Will Carling, Simon Halliday, Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Paul Ackford, Mickey Skinner, Peter Winterbottom) and Troy Coker played in the Australian pack.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins became the first British team to win the European Shield in 2001, defeating Narbonne 42–33 in the final. They then became the first team to win the tournament twice, defeating Montferrand 27–26 in the final of the renamed Parker Pen Challenge Cup on 22 May 2004.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 2005 they were relegated to National Division One after finishing at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership. In July of that year they announced that they would be establishing a partnership with rugby league club London Broncos, which saw the two clubs sharing Harlequins home ground The Stoop from the start of the 2006 Super League season. As part of the deal, the Broncos changed their name to Harlequins RL, though the two clubs remain under separate ownership.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 2005–06, Quins utterly dominated National Division One. They won 25 of their 26 league matches, including their first 19, losing only at Exeter Chiefs on 25 February 2006. Quins also averaged nearly 40 points per match, scored four or more tries in 20 matches, and racked up an average victory margin of slightly over 25 points. They secured their return to the Premiership on 1 April with four matches to spare, crushing Sedgley Park 65–8 while the only team with a mathematical chance of pipping them for the title, Bedford, lost 26–23 at Exeter.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: For the 2008 tour to New Zealand, England coach Martin Johnson selected four Harlequin players to play for the tour, Nick Easter, David Strettle, Mike Brown and Danny Care. Also five Harlequin players were selected for the England Saxons Barclays Churchill Cup matches to the United States and Canada. Tom Guest, Chris Robshaw, Adrian Jarvis, Ugo Monye and Will Skinner were all selected with Will Skinner chosen as captain for the side.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Chris Robshaw played a leading role in the 2007–08 season as Harlequins won 12 of their 22 Guinness Premiership matches and finished 6th in the league. Harlequins got off to a shaky start which saw them be in 2nd, 3rd 4th place consecutively, and during the latter half of the season Halequins managed to reach third after a string of seven wins out of nine, but defeats to London Irish, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers to finish the season meant that Quins dropped to sixth and missed out on the play-offs.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Two Harlequins players were short-listed for awards, Danny Care and Chris Robshaw, were short-listed for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season award. As well as Coach Dean Richards being short-listed for the O2 Director of Rugby of the Season as well as Tom Guest being nominated for MBNA Try of the Season for his try against Leeds Carnegie on Sunday 13 April 2008.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Players to leave Quins at the end of the 2007–08 season were Adrian Jarvis, Hal Luscombe, Chris Hala'ufia, Paul Volley, Nicholas Spanghero, Simon Keogh, Ricky Nebbett and Ryan Manyika.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: For the 2008–09 season Quins signed five new players; London Irish centre Gonzalo Tiesi, Ulster Back-row forward Neil McMillan, Auckland Blues fly-half Nick Evans, Tongan international Epi Taione who plays on wing, centre and back row and Fijian utility back Waisea Luveniyali.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins finished second in the 2008-09 Guinness Premiership table. In the play-offs, they lost 0–17 at home to eventual losing finalists London Irish.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins also hosted their first "Big Game" at Twickenham over the Christmas period, playing out a 26–26 draw with Leicester Tigers in front of 52000 people.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In the 2008-09 Heineken Cup Harlequins came top of their pool, including beating Stade Français both at home (thanks to a dramatic last play drop goal from Nick Evans) and away in front of 80000 people in the Stade de France in Paris. They lost 5–6 at the Stoop to eventual tournament winners Leinster Rugby at the quarter final stage, a match in which the infamous Bloodgate Scandal took place.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The contrast between this season and the previous season could hardly have been greater. With the shadow of Bloodgate still hanging over the club, the club struggled to an 8th-place finish despite retaining most of the players from their successful previous campaign. They also made a swift exit from the Heineken Cup at the group stages while failing to chalk up a single victory in the competition. Owing to the club's lower league position, they failed to qualify for the competition for the first time in three years.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins also hosted their second "Big Game" at Twickenham. Despite losing 20–21 to "London" Wasps, the game attracted 76000 spectators.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following the resignation of Dean Richards in August 2009, Conor O'Shea was appointed Director of Rugby in March 2010.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins endured a mixed 2010–11 season, which was characterised by inconsistency. They finished seventh in the league, which was insufficient to ensure Heineken Cup qualification. However, they proved their potential with some inspiring performances on their way to the Amlin Cup final. This included a historic win away against Munster in the semi-final, where they became only the second club to beat the Irish province at home in a European Competition. Harlequins won the final (19–18) against Stade Français to win its 3rd Amlin Cup.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins started the season well, winning their first ten premiership games before losing to Saracens at Twickenham Stadium in "Big Game 4" in front of a then club record for a premiership crowd, consisting of 82,000. The club's results after the defeat to Saracens continued to be generally strong, with only three other defeats in the regular season and the club went on to finish top of the league. They played Northampton Saints at the Twickenham Stoop on 12 May 2012, a match which they won thanks to a 25–23 victory sealed with a try in the 77th minute by Joe Marler. Harlequins beat Leicester Tigers on 26 May 2012, in the Premiership final at Twickenham Stadium to win their first Aviva Premiership title with a score of 30–23 in front of an 81,779 crowd. Tom Williams and Chris Robshaw scored the tries and Nick Evans scored 20 points through penalties and a conversion. Chris Robshaw was named man of the match.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: During this season, Harlequins played in the Heineken Cup thanks to their victory in the Amlin Cup the season before. However, they lost out on a quarter final spot in the last game of the pool stage after a defeat to Connacht. Subsequently, they went into the Amlin Cup competition but were resoundingly beaten by Toulon. Harlequins also played in the LV= Cup but did not make it out of their group with two wins and two losses.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins started their 2012–2013 season with four straight wins before suffering a first setback at the hands of Saracens at home in round 5 and at Exeter Chiefs in round 6. The club then managed to stay within the first two places of the table. On 29 December Big Game 5 proved to be a success with a 26–15 win over London Irish before a capacity crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham Stadium. Later in the season, the second setback came in the return game against Exeter when the Chiefs defeated Harlequins. The slide continued as they suffered back-to-back defeats against Saracens and Gloucester. They secured their place in the play-offs, but lost to Leicester at Welford Road in the semi-final 33–16.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Having qualified for the 2012-13 Heineken Cup on the virtue of their 2012 English Premiership title, Harlequins produced a strong showing in the pool stage, remaining unbeaten in pool 3 against Biarritz Olympique, Connacht Rugby and Zebre to be granted No. 1 seed for the quarter finals. However, they lost to No. 8 seed Munster at home 12–18 in the quarter final.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The LV= Cup featured a Harlequins team stripped of its players on international duty. Relying on a team of developing players, the club remained unbeaten throughout the pool stage. Harlequins beat Bath Rugby (31–23) in the semi-final at The Stoop, and defeated and Sale Sharks (32–14) in the final at Sixways Stadium. This was Harlequins' third title in the English/Anglo-Welsh Cup and the first since the inception of the Anglo-Welsh format. This title granted Harlequins a place in the 2013-14 Heineken Cup.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins made a disappointing start to the new season suffering two defeats in their opening two home games against Northampton and Saracens. Injuries stalled their start to the season, and they found themselves in seventh after five games. Their season did eventually improve and they did begin to challenge for a top four spot. But four consecutive away defeats set them back again. They were left in sixth place, six points behind fourth, with four games left to play. A series of several closely fought wins including a try bonus point in the penultimate game against Exeter Chiefs ensured they would face a winner takes all home tie against Bath in the final round of the regular season. A 19–16 win in this game saw them march on to a semi-final at Allianz Park having finished level on points with Bath but crucially winning one more game. Saracens won the semi-final to end Quins' hopes, beating them 31–17.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins also made a poor start in Europe suffering a 26–33 home defeat against Scarlets before being beaten at Clermont Auvergne. They replied strongly with back to back wins over Racing Metro. They lost their next home game against Clermont after they lost a 13–3 lead. They did win their last game at Scarlets to secure a place in the second tier Amlin Challenge Cup competition. They won their quarter final 29–6 at Stade Francais, but lost to Northampton Saints in the next round.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins were inconsistent at the start of the season and won half of their opening six games before heading into Europe.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins beat Castres Olympique in the first ever European Rugby Champions Cup match before an away win at Wasps and defeating Leinster at home. However, subsequent losses away to Leinster, and then at home to Wasps ensured Harlequins finished third in their group and were knocked out of the tournament.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The start of the 2015/16 season was delayed by the 2015 Rugby World Cup. However Harlequins made a strong start having a good first half to the season. They were in 3rd place in mid-January.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: One of the highlights of the seasons was the home defeat of Saracens. At that time Quins hadn't beaten Saracens for 4 years and Saracens were unbeaten in their first eight games of the season.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following this game Quins' form deteriorated, first giving away a 9-point lead at Newcastle followed by a home defeat by Northampton when fly half Ben Botica failed to kick the ball out of the play when the game had finished. It was the start of a run of 7 defeats in 9 games and, after being thrashed by the Exeter Chiefs on the final day of the season 24–62, Quins failed to earn a place in the European Champions Cup, finishing in 7th; one place below the top six finish required to qualify.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins put in a very strong performance in the group stage of the Challenge Cup, topping their pool and winning all of their first five games with a bonus point. This gave them a home quarter final.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: They fought back from 18 to 30 down against London Irish to win and reach a home semi-final against Grenoble, they comfortably won that game to set up a final against Montpellier in Lyon. After their League form had left them out of the Champions Cup places, they needed victory to ensure a place in the competition next season. They slipped to a 26–9 deficit and got within 7 points but Ben Botica inexplicably kicked the ball out of play in his last game before heading to Montpellier to hand his new club the title, leaving Quins as runners-up and out of the Champions Cup for a second consecutive season.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following Conor O'Shea's departure at the end of the 2015/16 season, Quins appointed John Kingston, then head coach, as his successor. A strong end to Kingston's first season left Quins on the brink of European Champions Cup qualification for the first time in three seasons.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: It was achieved after a bonus point away at Northampton Saints on the last day of the season secured sixth place, with the Saints themselves missing out on games won.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following the 2017/18 season, Kingston left Harlequins by mutual consent after 17 years of service to the club. His final home game featured a walk of honour around the stadium as thousands of fans applauded.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins then turned to appointing England defence coach Paul Gustard. At the same time, a number of coaches departed, or moved into smaller roles including Mark Mapletoft and Nick Easter, who had previously been Head Coach and Defence Coach before Gustard's appointment. After a patchy start to the 2018–19 season, Harlequins went on a five match winning run in the Premiership to move up to third, seven points clear of third place Gloucester.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins would have all-but sealed a place in the playoffs with victory, but were hammered 29–7 in front of their own fans, as Gloucester claimed a bonus point victory to move within touching distance of the London club. Ill-disciplined defeats at Saracens and Sale followed before a defining moment against Northampton Saints. Quins were within 90 seconds of recording a victory which would have effectively ended the hopes of Northampton and given themselves fresh momentum as the season headed into its last few games, but a try from Alex Mitchell, helped by a lack of defensive numbers on the blindside, gave Saints the victory and brought them up to fifth, right on Quins' tail.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: A late penalty miss saw Quins narrowly beaten at Exeter, and though they managed to beat Leicester in the penultimate weekend, defeat on the final day against Wasps would see them miss out on the play-offs. They were tied on points with Saints, but missed out due to fewer match wins, finishing fifth overall. James Lang's late penalty attempt would have won them the game, and secured their place in the play-offs had it gone over, but it was inexplicably taken at least a metre behind where it had been awarded in the view of TV pundit and former player Austin Healy and ultimately fell under the crossbar by "the distance Austin was talking about that they were marched back," according to fellow pundit and his former teammate Ben Kay.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In the Challenge Cup, Harlequins put together an impressive run, topping their group before edging Worcester Warriors in the quarter-final to book a semi-final trip to Clermont Auvergne. An impressive second half fightback was not enough as they were beaten 32–27. They won just one of their four pool matches in the Premiership Cup, to bow out at the group stage.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins made 32 personnel changes after the 2018–19 season, as Gustard looked to freshen up his squad, and after only winning one of their first four games, Quins would remain unbeaten for the rest of the calendar year. However, a 48–10 defeat to Sale, their most comprehensive league defeat since defeat by the same margin against Exeter nearly four years earlier, and an early exit from Europe spelt a disappointing start to the season.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Quins would eventually finish 3rd in their Champions' Cup pool with home and away victories over Bath, but as their league form continued to fluctuate, their main contention for silverware would come in the Premiership Cup. Having earned a place in the semi-finals at the start of the season, whilst the World Cup took place, they hammered a young Exeter Chiefs side 49–22 away from home to reach the final. This was set for 15 March 2020, before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following the resumption of the season, Quins recorded solid form to finish comfortably in sixth and earn qualification for the Champions Cup. Nonetheless, Gustard's hopes of a first trophy were dashed as the London club were beaten 27–19 against Sale in the Premiership Cup Final despite leading for most of the game.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins began their season with a 3–33 loss at home to Exeter Chiefs. By 10 January 2021, the club were positioned seventh in the Premiership table, failing to record a win at home and having also suffered a record 7–49 home defeat at the hands of Racing 92 in the Champions Cup.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: On 20 January 2021, it was confirmed that Paul Gustard left his role as Harlequins Director of Rugby by mutual consent .


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins went on to win 10 of their next 14 games, securing a fourth-place playoff position in the Premiership. On 19 June 2021, they played league leaders Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, conceding 28 points in the first half an hour of the match to trail 28-0 before half-time. Harlequins went on to undertake the biggest comeback in Premiership Rugby history to finish the match 31-31 after 80 minutes, going on to win 36-43 after extra time to book their place in the final.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: On 26 June 2021, Harlequins played Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham, defeating the incumbent champions 38–40 to win their second Premiership title.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: On 2 July 2021, it was confirmed that Tabai Matson would join the club as Head Coach for the 2021–22 season.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins play at the Twickenham Stoop, which is situated in Twickenham in south-west London. The stadium is named after former England international Adrian Stoop, who was a Harlequins player and later president of the club.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The club acquired the then athletics pitch in 1963, a ground of , close by to the RFU ground. It became the training pitch, and eventually, the Harlequins home ground. The site provided a ground that could be developed, and since then much has been done in terms of upgrading with a current capacity of 14,800. The stadium was known as the Stoop Memorial Ground for many years, but it was renamed the Twickenham Stoop in 2005.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: It delivers two flagship programmes: Switch – a women and girls project which aims to develop female leaders, and METTLE – a project that develops skills and knowledge to improve physical health and mental well-being for 9-12 year olds. The METTLE pilot was evaluated by St Mary's University and the programme was found to have had a positive impact on young people's self-confidence, wellbeing, decision making and mental resilience.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In September 2018, The Harlequins Foundation and The Movember Foundation announced a long-term partnership in joint initiative committed to help rugby fans, and the wider community, address the issues around men's health and provide information and guidance on what to do when mental health suffers.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The foundation delivers the Premiership Rugby Funded Programmes: Move like a Pro, Project Rugby, Tackling Health and Hitz.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Additionally the charity allocates grants to local organisations and charities in the local community.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: In 2020 it was announced that The Harlequins Foundation would partner with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and become the only Premiership Rugby club licensed to deliver the DofE.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Harlequins maintain a number of rivalries across English rugby, namely teams in the Greater London area.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Many consider Harlequins' main rivalry to be Wasps RFC. Both clubs were originally founded as one club, Hampstead Football Club, in 1866. Wasps were founded as a result of a disagreement between members of the club a year later. Hampstead Football Club changed its name to Harlequins in 1870. Despite Wasps' move away from the London metro area to Coventry in 2014, the rivalry still persists because of its historical roots.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Other rivalries include Saracens F.C. and London Irish, both of whom are Premiership clubs that reside in north and west London respectively.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: During the quarter final of the 2009 Heineken Cup against Leinster, Harlequins wing Tom Williams came off the field with what turned out to be a faked blood injury to facilitate a tactical substitution of fly-half Nick Evans back onto the field. An investigation by the ERC and the RFU revealed that blood injuries had also been faked by Harlequins to enable tactical substitutions on four previous occasions. These findings resulted in a twelve-month ban for Williams – reduced to 4 months on appeal, a three-year ban for former director of rugby Dean Richards and a two-year ban for physiotherapist Steph Brennan as well as a £260,000 fine for the club.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The club chairman Charles Jillings subsequently tendered his resignation while the club doctor Wendy Chapman was suspended by the General Medical Council for cutting Williams's lip to hide his use of the blood capsule.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: On 2 September 2009, it was reported that the club had narrowly escaped being thrown out of the Heineken Cup following the scandal when the board of organisers European Rugby Cup (ERC) said it approved of the bans and fines already handed out.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The affair was dubbed by many in the media "Bloodgate" with three proven incidents of the medical staff colluding with former director of rugby Dean Richards to abuse the blood-substitution rule. The rule was brought in to help with player welfare but was shown to have been abused by former policeman Richards, along with Dr Wendy Chapman, who was given an official warning by the Medical Council.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The Harlequins kit is one of the most distinctive in the game, and remained largely unchanged for many years. The kit has always featured a quartered shirt, typically consisting of chocolate brown, French grey, magenta and light blue with black and green sleeves, and most design changes have merely meant changes to the dimensions of the quarters, or the layout of the four main colours.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: Following several Adidas home kit variations focused upon the four "Quins quarters" colours, the 2021–22 season home shirt sees a return to a more traditional design with the inclusion of green and black sleeves, whilst the 2020–22 away shirt in red and white features a stylised aerial representation of the London area and River Thames. In July 2022, The Harlequins announced that the club had signed a multi-year partnership deal with the British sportswear brand Castore ahead of the 2022-23 season. The partnership will see Castore both design and manufacture the men's and women's home kits, training and travel-wear in addition to the youth teams kit.


title: Harlequin F.C.

text: The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Harlequins:


title: Okita Sōji

text: He was born in 1842 or 1844 from a samurai family in the Shirakawa Domain's Edo mansion. His great-grandfather was Okita Kan'emon (d. 1819) and his grandfather was Okita Sanshiro (d. 1833.) His father, Okita Katsujiro, died in 1845; he had two older sisters, Okita Mitsu (1833–1907) and Okita Kin (1836–1908). In 1846, in order to marry the adopted son of the Okita family, Okita Rintarō (1826–1883), his oldest sister Okita Mitsu became an adopted daughter of Kondo Shusuke in name. Kondo Shusuke was the third master of the "Tennen Rishin-ryū" and Okita started training at the "Shieikan" with him around the age of nine. By that time, Kondo Shusuke had already adopted Shimazaki Katsuta (the later Kondō Isami), but Hijikata Toshizō had not yet enrolled at the Tennen Rishin-ryū school. Okita proved to be a prodigy; he mastered all the techniques and attained the "Menkyo Kaiden" scroll ("license of total transmission") in the "ryū" at the age of eighteen or so.


title: Okita Sōji

text: In 1861, Okita became Head Coach ("Jukutou") at the Shieikan. Even though he was often commented to be honest, polite, and good-natured by those around him, he was also known to be a strict and quick-tempered teacher to his students.


title: Okita Sōji

text: Okita changed his name to Okita Sōji Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi some time before his departure with the Rōshigumi to Kyoto on March 26, 1863. However, the Rōshigumi was disbanded upon their arrival there on April 10, 1863, while the rest returned to Edo. Okita and several other founding members remained behind in Mibu to form the Mibu Rōshigumi, which would later be renamed as the Shinsengumi on August 18, 1863. Okita was the second youngest among the Shieikan members, most likely with Tōdō Heisuke being the youngest. His brother-in-law Okita Rintarō, also a practitioner of the Tennen Rishin-ryū, became a commander of the "Shinchōgumi" (the Shinsengumi's brother league in Edo.)


title: Okita Sōji

text: Okita Sōji soon became a "Fukuchō Jokin" (vice-commander's assistant) of the Shinsengumi. He was one of the members involved in the Serizawa Kamo (one of the original commanders of the Shinsengumi) and the Uchiyama Hikojiro assassinations in 1863.


title: Okita Sōji

text: Mediocre with the shinai, a master of the bokken/bokutou and bo staff, a fascinating trendsetter of the katana, his signature technique was named the "Hyakkidou-ri" (which roughly translates as "no light blade" or "unenlightened blade") or "Sandanzuki" (which translates as "Three Piece Thrust"), a technique that could attack one's neck, left shoulder, and right shoulder with one strike. (The Mumyo-ken supposedly could hit all three points simultaneously, but this is an embellishment.) The Mumyo-ken was his own invention and may have been derived from an invention of Hijikata's, the Hirazuki.


title: Okita Sōji

text: It is a popular conception by the public that his tuberculosis was first discovered when he fainted during the Ikedaya incident, mostly due to the depiction appearing in a famous work chronicling the Shinsengumi as well as a number of period dramas based upon it. Some sources on the other hand say that he contracted the disease after that. Both theories are fairly reasonable, as tuberculosis can kill quickly (in weeks), or very slowly (many years). However, one should note that people rarely survived the disease longer than a year once it progressed to the point that they would collapse, and Okita did not die until four years after the affair. Some researchers now believe he instead collapsed due to some other ailment, such as anemia or heat stroke. While many of Shinsengumi fans believe that Yoshida Toshimaro was killed by Okita during the Ikedaya Affair (based on Shimosawa Kan and Shiba Ryōtarō's fiction), it is a historical inaccuracy.


title: Okita Sōji

text: Based on Shiba Ryoutarou's fiction, many also believe that Okita and Hijikata were like brothers. In history, Yamanami Keisuke was the vice-commander Okita shared a brotherly relationship with. Yamanami's "seppuku" (with Okita as his second) in 1865 was an extremely painful incident in Okita's short life. There is no record showing that Hijikata and Okita were close; it is debatable whether Okita even got along with Hijikata.


title: Okita Sōji

text: In 1865, Okita became the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi and also served as a kenjutsu instructor; later that year, he was appointed by Kondo Isami to be the fifth master of the Tennen Rishin-ryu after him.


title: Okita Sōji

text: Although highly unlikely, it was rumored that he wielded a famous katana called "Kiku-ichimonji". However, he surely owned a set of "Kaga Kiyomitsu" (a katana and a wakizashi) and his so-called "Kikuichimonji Norimune" was likely a "Yamashiro Kunikiyo" instead.


title: Okita Sōji

text: During the Boshin War, after the Battle of Toba–Fushimi in the first month of the year Keiō-4, Okita went into Matsumoto Ryōjun's hospital in Edo. He then moved to a guesthouse with Okita Rintarou, Okita Mitsu, and their children. When the shogunate forces (including the Shinsengumi and the Shinchōgumi) retreated to the Tōhoku region, Okita remained in Edo alone. He died from tuberculosis on July 19 (the 30th day of the fifth month, by the lunar calendar), 1868. Later that night, he was buried at Senshō-ji Temple in Azabu, Edo, under his birth name (with Okita Sōji listed in the death records.) The claim that Okita died when he was 25 is based on the theory that he was born in 1844 and therefore was 25 by East Asian age reckoning when he died in 1868.


title: Okita Sōji

text: The Senshō-ji Temple cemetery had been open to the public for years until the release of NHK's Taiga drama, "Shinsengumi!" in 2004. Due to the newfound interest in the Shinsengumi and Okita thanks to the drama itself, many visitors flocked to the temple to see his grave, resulting in the temple's cemetery to become restricted to the public, except for one day each year in June.


title: Okita Sōji

text: "Okita" (沖田) was his family name; "Sōji" (総司) was his given name; "Fujiwara" (藤原) was his family clan (the surname of his ancestors); "Kaneyoshi" (房良) was his , a formal given name (like a middle name for gentlemen equivalent). It is unclear whether Okita changed his name to "Okita Sōji Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi" in 1863 or in 1862 (or less likely, in 1861.) There is a theory that he changed his name to Sōji because some people around him called him "Sō-Ji" (short for Sōjirō.) Other than his full name, he could be referred as "Okita Sōji" or "Okita Sōji Kaneyoshi". In writing, he was sometimes referred as "Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi" (formal name used in writing) or "Okita Kaneyoshi" (like the "initials" for his full name.)


title: Okita Sōji

text: Like the other members of the Shinsengumi, fictionalized accounts of Okita's life and actions appear in novels, period dramas and anime/manga series. Although his given name is sometimes pronounced as "Soushi" in the fictional world, it is actually "Sōji".


title: New product development

text: In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along with various business considerations. New product development is described broadly as the transformation of a market opportunity into a product available for sale. The products developed by an organisation provide the means for it to generate income. For many technology-intensive firms their approach is based on exploiting technological innovation in a rapidly changing market.


title: New product development

text: The product can be tangible (something physical which one can touch) or intangible (like a service or experience), though sometimes services and other processes are distinguished from "products". NPD requires an understanding of customer needs and wants, the competitive environment, and the nature of the market.


title: New product development

text: Cost, time, and quality are the main variables that drive customer needs. Aiming at these three variables, innovative companies develop continuous practices and strategies to better satisfy customer requirements and to increase their own market share by a regular development of new products. There are many uncertainties and challenges which companies must face throughout the process.


title: New product development

text: The product development process typically consists of several activities that firms employ in the complex process of delivering new products to the market. A process management approach is used to provide a structure. Product development often overlaps much with the engineering design process, particularly if the new product being developed involves application of math and/or science. Every new product will pass through a series of stages/phases, including ideation among other aspects of design, as well as manufacturing and market introduction. In highly complex engineered products (e.g. aircraft, automotive, machinery), the NPD process can be likewise complex regarding management of personnel, milestones, and deliverables. Such projects typically use an integrated product team approach. The process for managing large-scale complex engineering products is much slower (often 10-plus years) than that deployed for many types of consumer goods.


title: New product development

text: The product development process is articulated and broken down in many different ways, many of which often include the following phases/stages:


title: New product development

text: The front-end marketing phases have been very well researched, with valuable models proposed. Peter Koen et al. provides a five-step front-end activity called front-end innovation: opportunity identification, opportunity analysis, idea genesis, idea selection, and idea and technology development. He also includes an engine in the middle of the five front-end stages and the possible outside barriers that can influence the process outcome. The engine represents the management driving the activities described. The front end of the innovation is the greatest area of weakness in the NPD process. This is mainly because the FFE is often chaotic, unpredictable and unstructured.


title: New product development

text: Engineering design is the process whereby a technical solution is developed iteratively to solve a given problem.


title: New product development

text: The design stage is very important because at this stage most of the product life cycle costs are engaged. Previous research shows that 70–80% of the final product quality and 70% of the product entire life-cycle cost are determined in the product design phase, therefore the design-manufacturing interface represent the greatest opportunity for cost reduction.


title: New product development

text: Design projects last from a few weeks to three years with an average of one year. Design and Commercialization phases usually start a very early collaboration. When the concept design is finished it will be sent to manufacturing plant for prototyping, developing a Concurrent Engineering approach by implementing practices such as QFD, DFM/DFA and more.


title: New product development

text: The output of the design (engineering) is a set of product and process specifications – mostly in the form of drawings, and the output of manufacturing is the product ready for sale. Basically, the design team will develop drawings with technical specifications representing the future product, and will send it to the manufacturing plant to be executed. Solving product/process fit problems is of high priority in information communication design because 90% of the development effort must be scrapped if any changes are made after the release to manufacturing.


title: New product development

text: There have been a number of approaches proposed for analyzing and responding to the marketing challenges of new product development. Two of these are "the eight stages" process of Peter Koen of the Stevens Institute of Technology, and a process known as "the fuzzy front end."


title: New product development

text: "The fuzzy front end" (FFE) is the messy "getting started" period of new product engineering development processes. It is also referred to as the "Front End of Innovation", or "Idea Management".


title: New product development

text: It is in the front end where the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed and decides whether or not to invest resources in the further development of an idea. It is the phase between first consideration of an opportunity and when it is judged ready to enter the structured development process (Kim and Wilemon, 2007; Koen et al., 2001).


title: New product development

text: It includes all activities from the search for new opportunities through the formation of a germ of an idea to the development of a precise concept. The Fuzzy Front End phase ends when an organization approves and begins formal development of the concept.


title: New product development

text: Although the fuzzy front end may not be an expensive part of product development, it can consume 50% of development time (see Chapter 3 of the Smith and Reinertsen reference below), and it is where major commitments are typically made involving time, money, and the product's nature, thus setting the course for the entire project and final end product. Consequently, this phase should be considered as an essential part of development rather than something that happens "before development", and its cycle time should be included in the total development cycle time.


title: New product development

text: Koen et al. (2001) distinguish five different front-end elements (not necessarily in a particular order):


title: New product development

text: A universally acceptable definition for Fuzzy Front End or a dominant framework has not been developed so far.


title: New product development

text: In a glossary of PDMA, it is mentioned that the fuzzy front end generally consists of three tasks: strategic planning, idea generation, and pre-technical evaluation. These activities are often chaotic, unpredictable, and unstructured. In comparison, the subsequent new product development process is typically structured, predictable, and formal.


title: New product development

text: R.G. Cooper (1988) it describes the early stages of NPPD as a four-step process in which ideas are generated (I), subjected to a preliminary technical and market assessment (II) and merged to coherent product concepts (III) which are finally judged for their fit with existing product strategies and portfolios (IV).


title: New product development

text: The Stage-Gate model of NPD predevelopment activities are summarised in Phase zero and one, in respect to earlier definition of predevelopment activities:


title: New product development

text: These activities yield essential information to make a Go/No-Go to Development decision. These decisions represent the Gates in the Stage-Gate model.


title: New product development

text: A conceptual model of front-end process was proposed which includes early phases of the innovation process. This model is structured in three phases and three gates:


title: New product development

text: The final gate leads to a dedicated new product development project. Many professionals and academics consider that the general features of Fuzzy Front End (fuzziness, ambiguity, and uncertainty) make it difficult to see the FFE as a structured process, but rather as a set of interdependent activities ( e.g. Kim and Wilemon, 2002). However, Husig et al., 2005 [10] argue that front-end not need to be fuzzy, but can be handled in a structured manner. In fact Carbone showed that when using the front end success factors in an integrated process, product success is increased. Peter Koen argues that in the FFE for incremental, platform and radical projects, three separate strategies and processes are typically involved. The traditional Stage Gate (TM) process was designed for incremental product development, namely for a single product. The FFE for developing a new platform must start out with a strategic vision of where the company wants to develop products and this will lead to a family of products. Projects for breakthrough products start out with a similar strategic vision, but are associated with technologies which require new discoveries.


title: New product development

text: Economical analysis, benchmarking of competitive products and modeling and prototyping are also important activities during the front-end activities.


title: New product development

text: The quote "Innovate or die!" is widely attributed to Peter F Drucker, but this attribution has been disputed. Regardless, the quote stands true, and the year 2018, for example, saw the failure of many large brands, likely due to the lack of importance placed on innovation and new product development.


title: New product development

text: Customer-centric new product development focuses on finding new ways to solve customer problems and create more customer-satisfying experiences. Companies often rely on technology, but real success comes from understanding customer needs and values. The most successful companies were the ones that differentiated from others, solved major customer problems, offered a compelling customer value proposition, and engaged customers directly.


title: New product development

text: Team-based new product development involves various company departments working closely together to overlap the steps in the product development process, which saves time and increases effectiveness. Departments that typically work together in cross-functional teams are legal, marketing, finances, design and manufacturing, suppliers and customer companies. If there is a problem, all the companies can work together to resolve it.


title: New product development

text: Thanks to digital technology, customer co-creation has become an important part of the new product development process. This allows companies to get customer feedback and input early on in the process to ensure that they are developing a product that customers actually want.


title: New product development

text: Systematic new product development focuses on creating a process that allows for the collection, review, and evaluation of new product ideas. This helps to ensure that good ideas are not lost and that the company is able to develop products that meet customer needs and desires. It also allows for the management of new product development from a holistic and systematic perspective, which can help increase the chances of success for new products.


title: New product development

text: Having a way in which employees, suppliers, distributors, and dealers become involved in finding and developing new products is important to a company's success. It is also important for companies to have a process in place for monitoring the competition and their products so that they can stay ahead of the curve.


title: New product development

text: In order to successfully manage the new product development process, companies must have an innovation management system in place. This system helps to ensure that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that the company is able to track and assess the progress of new products. The innovation management system should also help to foster a culture of innovation within the company, which can help to increase the chances of success for new products.


title: New product development

text: An innovation manager is a senior person appointed to be responsible for implementing and managing the innovation management system. They are also responsible for ensuring that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that the company is able to track and assess the progress of new products.


title: New product development

text: The role of the innovation manager is becoming increasingly important, as more and more companies are realizing the importance of innovation and new product development. In order to be successful, companies must place a high priority on innovation and have the right tools in place to manage the process. Only then can they hope to create innovative and successful new products.


title: New product development

text: A cross-functional innovation management committee is a team of individuals from different company departments,including marketing, engineering, design, manufacturing, and research and development, who are responsible for overseeing and managing the new product development process. This committee helps to ensure that all aspects of new product development are taken into account and that the company is able to track and assess the progress of new products. Companies may get a better overall picture of new product development by putting together a cross-functional team, which can help generate fresh ideas and give assistance in evaluating them.


title: New product development

text: In difficult economic times, it is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development. Oftentimes, such situations result in a short-sighted focus on cost-cutting and a reduction in spending on new products. However, companies that are able to innovate and create new products will be better positioned for the future.


title: New product development

text: Although counter-intuitive, tough times may even call for a greater emphasis on new product development. This is because companies need to find ways to meet the changing needs and tastes of their customers. Innovation can help a company become more competitive and better positioned for the future. In difficult economic times, it is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development.


title: New product development

text: In addition, companies can use virtual product development to help reduce costs. Virtual product development uses collaboration technology to remove the need for co-located teams, which can result in significant cost savings such as a reduction in G&A (general & administrative) overhead costs of consulting firms.


title: New product development

text: Another way to reduce the cost of new product development is through the use of 24-hour development cycles. This approach allows companies to develop products more quickly and at a lower cost. By using a 24-hour cycle, companies can shorten the time it takes to get a product to market, which can give them a competitive advantage and capability that can be extremely useful in cases where there is a sudden change in market conditions or customer needs.


title: New product development

text: In difficult economic times, it is even more important for companies to focus on innovation and new product development. By using a variety of methods, such as virtual product development and 24-hour development cycles, companies can reduce the cost of new product development and improve their chances of success.


title: New product development

text: There are many different roles in a product development team, however below is a list of some of the more common ones:


title: CNN+

text: CNN+ (pronounced as CNN Plus) was a subscription streaming service and online news channel owned by the CNN division of WarnerMedia News & Sports. Announced on July 19, 2021, launched on March 29, 2022, and closed on April 28, 2022, it was designed as an offshoot of the CNN television channel, carrying a daily lineup of live news programming, as well as original series and documentaries drawn from the channel's library, and an "interactive community".


title: CNN+

text: Most of its programming was hosted by existing CNN personalities, while CNN also notably hired Fox News journalist Chris Wallace to host an interview program for the service.


title: CNN+

text: The launch of CNN+ came amid the merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which was completed in early April. On its launch, CNN+ received mixed reviews, while it was reported that fewer than 10,000 people were using CNN+ on a daily basis. On April 21, 2022, new CNN head Chris Licht and WBD's head of streaming J.B. Perrette announced that CNN+ would be discontinued effective April 28, 2022 (only 30 days after its original launch), citing the service as being incompatible with the company's goal of having one streaming service to encompass all WBD properties (which would be a proposed merger of Discovery+ with HBO Max).


title: CNN+

text: Selected CNN+ original programs have been picked up by HBO Max and the main CNN network. After having been removed from HBO Max ahead of the launch of CNN+, CNN's library of factual programs will be added to Discovery+ in the future.


title: CNN+

text: On July 19, 2021, CNN announced that they would offer a new round-the-clock streaming service, due to launch in the first quarter of 2022. The plan was for the service to provide eight to 12 hours of live programming a day, complemented by original series created just for the service and others culled from the network's archives, as well as an "interactive community" that would allow viewers to interact with on-air talent. The service was described by CNN head Jeff Zucker as "the evolution of video news and the start of a new era for the company", while the service's chief Andrew Morse described it as the "most important launch" for CNN since its founding in 1980.


title: CNN+

text: Former NBC News correspondent Kasie Hunt was one of the first personalities confirmed to join the service; "The Source with Kasie Hunt" was announced as the title of her news show. On December 12, 2021, the network announced that Scott Galloway, a New York University professor, joined CNN+ as a contributor to its original live programming. On the same day, Chris Wallace announced that he would join CNN+ after spending 18 years at Fox News, as well as serving as the host of "Fox News Sunday".


title: CNN+

text: Throughout the month of January 2022, several CNN cable news anchors, including Kate Bolduan, Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper, and Fareed Zakaria, and former NPR host Audie Cornish had joined CNN+ to host original programming shows on the streaming service. That same month, CNN+ announced additional talent hires, including Rex Chapman and Alison Roman, had joined the streaming service.


title: CNN+

text: The surprise departure of Jeff Zucker in February 2022 had disrupted the long-term vision for CNN+ before it launched. David Zaslav, the CEO of Discovery, Inc., said, "I haven't gotten a business review on what CNN+ is going to be and how it's going to be offered." Zaslav later became CEO of the merged Warner Bros. Discovery; the merger closed shortly after CNN+'s launch date.


title: CNN+

text: CNN+ launched on March 29, 2022. Subscribers who joined in the first month paid $2.99 per month, about a 50% discount from the regular price, and their promotional rate was to have remained valid for the duration of their subscription. More than 100,000 subscribers joined in its first week. The service became available on Roku devices on April 11.


title: CNN+

text: CNN+ launched to mixed reviews and low subscriber numbers. "Vulture", in its generally unfavorable review, wrote that "While it’s far too early to reach any definitive judgments, CNN+ in its formative phase feels somewhat like the Quibi of streaming news: Lots of money has been spent, big stars are onboard, but it’s hard to figure out just what the service is supposed to be and why a large number of people will want to pay for it." The reviewer noted disapprovingly that CNN+, despite its standalone subscription fee, does not include any CNN content either live or on demand. "Newsday"'s media critic Verne Gay gave CNN+ a two-star review (out of four), praising many of its shows and the lack of commercial interruption while wondering about the mythical "unicorn viewer who has no time to eat or sleep" with the time and attention to watch its content. "PC Magazine" gave CNN+ a 4.0 out of 5 rating, praising its programming and its lack of ads while criticizing its lack of live CNN programming (without a paid cable subscription) and its lack of mobile content downloads. "National Review" was sharply negative about CNN+ before its launch, considering it a dumping ground for content that "wasn't good enough to run on CNN."


title: CNN+

text: CNN executives originally expected to have 2 million subscribers in CNN+'s first year and 15–18 million after four years. CNN originally estimated that it would invest $1 billion in CNN+ over its first four years, but after a slow start, "Axios" reported that "hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut" from that investment.


title: CNN+

text: On April 12, two weeks after its launch, CNBC reported that fewer than 10,000 people were using CNN+ on a daily basis. With the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery having completed four days earlier, CNBC suggested that CNN+ programming may become available as part of a larger bundled offering with HBO Max and Discovery+, each of which have millions of subscribers. Much of the CNN original programming on HBO Max had been removed in advance of the CNN+ launch.