For PvE our progress over the last few weeks has been moving along very well. Vashj was cleared in 3 days of tries and Kael'thas is on the docket for next week. We are top 20 on Warsong and top 10 for Horde, and as far as I can gather #1 US guild. Our raiders have continued to show their persistence and resilience, stepping in to fill spots outside of their primary discipline and spending gold and badges to acquire Boss specific gear. We continue to hear requests for an extra raid night for Gruul/Mag and hope to be able to accomodate our non raiding guild members in this area.

All AoC players over level 60 must report for basic training this Sunday June 15th at 8pm EST at our city keep. This first session will work on 6v6 squad tactics and individual combat. All players who complete 6 hours of basic training (there will be many more future sessions) and are approved by their battalion commander will be promoted to phalanx rank, this rank will be a mark of honor for those who have earned a place in BD's forces.

With all the press being given to our city construction, our PvE raiding progress has not been getting the attention it deserves. In the past week we have begun downing Vistrix and Honorguard, and collecting the sweet epics they provide. Feast your eyes on this kill shot of Vistrix, and congratulations to everyone who's worked to learn the fights.

Last night, thanks to some excellent scouting work by Blacklotus, we discovered the day's patch had drastically reduced the cost of building a tier 3 keep. Suddenly the end game was one building away, and the race was on to claim a battlekeep before our Aoc Gold competitors. Notable events during the frenzied hours that followed include Malforus' breakneck rides to every corner of hyboria to collect resources and bring them to the city and Garibold and Kigenso's generous 11th hour contributions to push us over the top of the building mats. Thank you to everyone who contributed, we have achieved the goal I set out at release. Instead of months it took us weeks! Photos will be in the gallery soon.

The 2008-2009 Programme marks the 15th year of the AoC Beacon Awardswhich have led the way in exemplifying and promoting the best practice inthe further education sector.A high quality and responsive further education sector is essential if we are torealise our ambitions of strengthening UK economic performance and transforming the life chances of millions of people. Further education is unique in operating across society, having a real impact on businesses, young people and adults, including those from disadvantaged and minority communities.I applaud the Association of College's decision to use the wealth of material gathered from all of the winning and highly commended colleges since the Awards began to commission a comprehensive piece of research which I am sure will offer undeniable evidence of the transformational impact that further education colleges have on the lives of people and their communities. I should like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors of the AoC.

The Association of Colleges launched an innovative piece of research at a prestigious ceremony at the House of Commons yesterday (9 July) hosted by David Blunkett.The research entitled ‘Celebrating Colleges' celebrates the achievements of colleges who have contributed to the prosperity and wellbeing of the country.The research into the capabilities of the AoC Beacon award winning and highly commended colleges was commissioned a year ago.Pat Hood, the research consultant, identified six key capabilities across the winning colleges, including visionary leadership, collaboration, responsiveness and innovation and creativity.

"The college capital investment programme is a real success story for the sector, with students, employers and wider communities benefiting from new high quality buildings delivered on time and on budget. "The NAO report rightly identifies some areas for improvement and the risks associated with capital projects of this type, but with the right support we are confident that colleges can manage this risk, and complete the programme by 2013."

Commenting on the issues raised by the new Channel Four series on adult literacy - 'Can't Read, Can't Write' - Maggie Scott, AoC Director of Learning and Quality, said: "College adult literacy courses help millions of people boost their earning power, improve their career prospects, strengthen family and community ties or move on to further learning.

AoC Management Services were finalists at this year's Trade Association Forum (TAF) Awards held in central London last night.AoC's National Conference, held last November at the Birmingham International Conference Centre (ICC), was short-listed with six other organisations for the prestigious TAF best conference award.

Air Commodore Martin Doel OBE is currently responsible for training and development for all three of the Armed Forces and for civilian staff across the £36billion Ministry of Defence (MoD). Key accountabilities in this post include cross-Government liaison and project management of an MoD £55million e-learning system.