What’s Waggin’ – Fall 2024

By: Steven Appelbaum
ABC President & CEO

Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of “What’s Waggin”.

Hopefully, everyone is keeping cool.  I say this because, as I write this, we just got through a brutal heatwave in September.  In Southern California, September is one of the hottest months.  This year, we had a solid week of temperatures between 105 and 112 degrees.  Heck, it was over 100 degrees at night until 2:00 am, when it dipped to 95.  I have heard for years that the heat in California is dry, and while that might be the case when it’s over 105, it really doesn’t matter.  It’s cooler now, and my dogs are thankful for it.  Now, they will only sleep 19 hours a day.  Speaking of doggies, we just adopted two!  Our elderly Basset Hound, Roy, passed in his sleep in early April.  He was 15.   We adopted two new dogs in late June.  

Dolly, our six-year-old Basset, is a sweetheart.  She’s incredibly easygoing, and yes, a bit stubborn, which is actually a perfect description of the breed. She loves to nap in the sun and is always up for a good belly rub.  

Colton is a 16-month-old Basset/Beagle. We call him a Bagel. He’s sweet and smart and a bit of a bonehead, which I know is normal for a 16-month-old dog.  

So far, Colton has learned all the basics.  He walks well on a leash, sits, sits, stays, comes, and lays down.  He will do this on and off leash, although he is still somewhat hard of hearing around squirrels.   I also taught him to jump up on a boulder on our walk.  He does this to the command, “rockhound.”   Of course, Dolly wants to do this as well but can’t quite make it up the rock, so she puts her front paws on the boulder to the command “pebble hound.”   In my 100% objective opinion, they are super cute dogs.  

Since I am sure very few of you opened this newsletter to read about my dogs, here is what’s happening at ABC. 

As I shared in the last newsletter, we are changing/improving many of the systems at ABC. We will have an online enrollment agreement by mid- to late October and a modern CRM tracking system by November or early December. These exciting developments will not only allow people to enroll in programs in a modern fashion, but also allow the school to track leads and locate student and graduate information in a far more efficient way, ushering in a new era of efficiency and convenience at ABC.  

After the above items are addressed, we will implement a new and better Learning Management System (LMS). Realistically, that’s a Q1 2025 item. 

So is using AI to improve our current programs, translate them into different languages to offer them in other countries, and a whole host of other things. I find the AI aspect fascinating, and for those who are interested, check out websites like Sythesia.

I understand that some may find AI a bit daunting, and we’ve all seen Terminator and understand the premise of Skynet pretty clearly.   But let me assure you, while self-aware thinking software isn’t something I want to dwell upon, the use of AI to update and upgrade some of our teaching materials will benefit our students and alums.   It’s a tool that will help us all, since all alums can access any new curriculums we develop from the programs you graduated from.   

Thank you for your continued support and interest in ABC. Stay tuned for more exciting updates, and until next time, I wish you all good health and happiness.