L. Katherine Baril, M.Ed., J.D.

Deb Stinson for City Council!

2011-07-06T14:55:00.001-07:00

"LIKE" my Facebook

Stinson for City Council

every wonder what a day of plastic cup wastes would look like???

2011-05-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

What does it look like when 350 million people do something with unintendend consequences.. . .4 million plastic cups a day on the airline industry-- 40 million coffee cups a day. . .

one out of every four people in the world in prison are in US prisons!

Why Buy local????

2011-05-29T08:56:00.001-07:00

Go ahead print this out and put it up at your store!!!

http://www.elocal.com/infographics/why-buy-local.html

Business on a Blackberry- a new business model

2011-05-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting case study for those of you who think you can't start your business without a storefront- pick up your PDA and get to work!!

Small Retail: Unusual places, unusual wines
By DAN RICHMAN
P-I REPORTER
July 5, 2008

You may never have heard of Garagiste, a Seattle company claiming to be the state's second-largest seller of wine, after Costco.Odds are, too, that if you read a single e-mail from this unusual retailer, you'd be a customer.

Founder Jon Rimmerman, 41, sends up to three e-mails a day to 10,000 people worldwide who have requested them.Traveling half the year with his life and work partner and a young daughter, the native Chicagoan seeks out unusual wines in unusual places.

Sometimes sitting in the middle of a vineyard, he types out enticingly descriptive e-mails on his BlackBerry.The wines he describes can be ordered with a click, charged to a credit card on file, and delivered anywhere in the U.S. or picked up from a nondescript refrigerated warehouse in Sodo.

That's it. No advertising, no marketing, no PR. Not even a storefront or a Web site offering product.

The only similarity between Rimmerman's family-owned business and a conventional wine store is shelving holding odd lots for sale in the warehouse.

But the business works. Garagiste -- pronounced "gah-rah-ZHEEST" but often just called "The Garage" -- sells an estimated average of 50,000 bottles a month. That means annual dollar sales in eight figures and steady profits supporting a staff of 12. The company is experiencing annual double-digit sales growth, Rimmerman said.

Wines are competitively priced, said one customer. A week's offering includes some wines at $8-$10 a bottle, some at $15-$20, and some at $20 and above. Anyone can sign up to receive e-mail offers, with no obligation to buy, at garagistewine.com.

Rimmerman's huge enthusiasm for wine -- plus his gift for describing its qualities and the culture, geology and geography of the places it's produced -- propel the business, enticing even nonwine drinkers.

For more information:
GARAGISTE
garagistewine.com

the new rural

2011-05-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Rural America outgrows label

August 7, 2008
By Haya El Nasser
USA TODAY

In New Hampshire's northernmost county, the wood pulp extracted from the rich forests to produce paper has long been the lifeblood of the local economy. As paper production increasingly moved overseas, the mill that helped boost the population of Berlin to 30,000 went into bankruptcy. Now, a new owner is keeping it going with 400 workers, down from a high of 2,400. Coos County's biggest town has lost two-thirds of its population.

"Once you peel the mill away, you have a city of 30,000 (housing) units but 10,000 people," says Cathy McDowell, executive director of the Family Resource Center in nearby Gorham. "There's blighted housing."

Locals tried to get federal funding to tear down some of the homes. They couldn't because there was a shortage of housing at the time in most of "urban" America.

In a nation whose urban needs influence federal policy and whose rural policy is dominated by agriculture, rural areas that have urban-style woes can fall through the cracks. "There is no rural policy for the kind of rural we are," McDowell says.

A study last year found that the 260 largest farm operations in 13 Midwest and Great Plains states received more federal money than Agriculture Department rural development programs for nearly 3 million people in more than 1,400 communities. The study covered the three most recent years for which data were available, says the Center for Rural Affairs, a non-profit rural and family-farm advocacy group based in Lyons, Neb.

"One policy doesn't fit all," says Mil Duncan, director of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

The institute just issued a report based on surveys of 8,000 people in 19 rural counties. Its findings emphasize that 21st-century rural America is not just about farming.

Home to 17% of the nation's population, rural areas consist of at least four distinct regions that face contrasting problems. According to the report, the four rural Americas are:

•Amenity-rich. They're places such as Aspen, Colo., or the Appalachian region around Asheville, N.C., where mountains, lakes, coastlines or forests draw vacationers, retirees and second-home owners. Challenges: affordable housing for longtime residents and workers and controlling sprawl to protect the environment.

•Declining resource-dependent. They once thrived on agriculture, timber, mining and manufacturing — industries that have declined because of globalization and depleted resources. The middle class is disappearing, and the population is aging and shrinking. The Great Plains is a prime example.

•Chronically poor. These are regions such as the Mississippi Delta where residents and the land have seen decades of dwindling resources.

•In transition. Traditional resource-based economies are in decline, but these areas have natural beauty that offers potential for growth in service economies and niche industries. These areas include parts of New England and the Pacific Northwest.

"Those historically have relied on natural abundance to support livelihood," says John Berdes, president of ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, a non-profit community development financial institution based in Astoria, Ore. "You didn't have to do that much to feel financially secure. In those communities today, that is no longer the case. … The challenge is learning new ways to do more with less." For example, he says, there are market opportunities for fisheries that can scientifically prove that their albacore tuna have low mercury levels.

Russ Karpisek owns Karpisek Meat Market in Wilber, Neb., 40 miles outside Lincoln. He's also a state senator. He says Americans have a distorted view of rural America. "Even in Nebraska, rural and urban senators see things much differently," he says. "You can get the Internet here (in rural places). You can run your home-based business."

Programs that help rural areas diversify are lacking, he says.

In its most recent farm bill, Congress set aside $4 million a year for a new rural development program, says Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs. "That's less than half of 1% of what's spent on farm programs annually."

Only 4% of rural residents make their living farming, says Karl Stauber, president of the Danville Regional Foundation in Virginia. He works in a region that once was a prime tobacco-growing area. It has evolved into a growing high-tech area.

The last time most Americans lived on farms was in 1880 and the last time the majority lived in rural communities was in 1920, he says. As rural populations continue to shrink, their needs may get even less attention once seats in Congress and most state legislatures are reapportioned after the 2010 Census, Stauber says.

"If policy is based on this assumption that rural is really about agriculture, then the vast majority of rural America is left out," he says.

we need a grid for the 21st century

2011-05-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

Northwest Leaders See Bigger, Greener Power Grid

Like the Great Depression that gave birth to hydroelectric dams, today's crisis could usher in a green energy revolution for the region.

BY LES BLUMENTHAL - IDAHO STATESMAN WASHINGTON BUREAU; Edition Date: 12/14/08
WASHINGTON - Seventy-five years ago, during the height of the Great Depression, one of the largest public works projects of the New Deal began to take shape on the banks of the Columbia River in eastern Washington.
Some 7,000 workers employed by the Works Progress Administration built Grand Coulee Dam - a mile wide and twice as tall as Niagara Falls - along with Bonneville Dam and a transmission grid that electrified the Northwest. The electricity from the dams still powers the region.
Now, as the current economic downturn deepens, there is talk of another major public works project for the Northwest - one that would spread green wind power throughout the region like it did hydropower in the 20th century. Some estimate it could create 50,000 jobs.
Plus, the region's lawmakers want money to expand the Bonneville Power Administration's transmission system.
The ideas could be a perfect fit with the incoming administration's support for green energy and green jobs. It also could emerge as a model for turning the nation's antiquated 200,000-mile transmission system into a clean energy superhighway.
"It's the sleeper issue," said Rep. Jay Inslee, the Washington Democrat who has emerged as one of the leaders on green energy issues and climate change in the House. "We need a grid for this century, not the last."

think local first

2011-05-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Green gifts are made locally to last

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer,

Location, location, location.
The No. 1 rule for buying real estate (OK, maybe not in this market) also tops the list for buying green gifts

"When it comes to buying things, you have to weigh what the important issues are to you."
Buying goods locally isn't new, of course. Waves of community-supported agriculture have crested many times over the years. And any small store that has tried to compete with the Wal-Marts of the world urges its consumers to spend money within the community. With a faltering economy and a new focus on the emission-spewing role of global transportation, however, being a "locavore" seems to count for even more.Read the rest of the article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/14/LVQJ14CUJR.DTL

innovation- 10 Trends to Watch

2011-05-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

1. TOP 10 MACRO TRENDS

While our focus firmly remains on emerging consumer trends, we do include a brief overview of current global macro trends. These economic, demographic and political trends (from a changing global financial system to diverse demographics to the war for talent to a multi-polar world) are sourced from leading research firms and institutions, providing you with the context for everything that follows in the database and the 2011 Trend Report.

2. CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY 101

Equally important, understanding consumer needs, wants and desires is at the core of tracking, understanding and applying consumer trends. Building on Maslow's hierarchy, this brief section is basically a consumer psychology '101', giving you a crucial framework for understanding consumer behavior (in both developed and emerging consumer societies).

3. MOVE WITH THE CULTURE

A brief overview of the current revolution in business and consumer culture, and the processes, practices and convictions defining the business arena in 2011. We're witnessing the 'perfect storm' that links new generations, emerging markets, ideas about status, environmental concerns, corporate responsibilities and beliefs on what role business should play in society. While a threat to static incumbents, infinite opportunities exist for B2C brands that move with the new societal and cultural realities.

4. GENERATION G

More than ever, corporate giving, sharing and caring in post-recession 2011 will beat taking, so expect lots of new, cutting-edge trend examples for GENERATION G's sub-trends: from EMBEDDED GENEROSITY, BRAND BUTLERS and FREE LOVE, to PERKONOMICS, TRYVERTISING, RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS and REWARD.INC.
Includes 250+ related trend innovations.

5. DIGITAL DOMINANCE

Expect the differentiation between 'online' and 'offline' to be irrelevant for younger generations (and plenty of online-loving members of older generations, too). Life is 'online' now as both mobile online access and time spent online continue to explode. This is one trend that never stops, so expect plenty of new material illustrating ONLINE OXYGEN, MASS MINGLING, and OFF = ON at their most powerful in 2011.
Includes 130+ related trend innovations.

6. PLAYSUMERS

Closely related to DIGITAL DOMINANCE, consumers are embracing 'gamification' in all aspects of their daily lives. Fun and entertaining, games allow players to visualize progress, while satisfying fundamental needs and desires - for reward, status, achievement, self-expression, competition, and altruism. Includes the GAME ON sub-trend.
Includes 50+ related trend innovations.

7. INFO SCARCITY

One of the most impactful themes for 2011, we're diving deep into the endless new services and brands now helping consumers to satisfy their insatiable lust for relevant information, for transparency, for tracking, for mapping, and so on. Includes DIVINE DATA and VISUALOVE.
Includes 120+ related trend innovations.

8. CURATED CONSUMPTION---- Apple computers does this one really well. . .

Faced with today's avalanche of choice and (online) content, curators offer consumers a solution to information overload and choice paralysis. Get ready to help consumers to become curators: from BRAND CURATORS to TWINSUMERS to SOCIAL-LITES.
Includes 60+ related trend innovations.

9. REAL-TIME

Consumers’ ingrained lust for instant gratification is being fuelled by the host of novel, innovative, practical and fun real-time products, services and experiences. REAL-TIME includes sub-trends such as NOWISM, PRICING PANDEMONIUM, SEE-HEAR-BUY, and LIVING THE LIVE. Now's the time to embrace the here-and-now in all its splendid chaos, realness and excitement.
Includes 70+ related trend innovations.

10. EPHEMERAL

In economies that increasingly depend on (and thus value) intangible goods and services, and physical needs become increasingly satisfied, experiences become ever more valuable. The accumulation of material goods is replaced by preferring OWNER-LESS hassle-free existence - an obsession with the here and now, an ever-shorter satisfaction span (FSTR), and a lust to collect as many experiences and stories as possible. Closely related to NOWISM and HAPPYNOMICS.
Includes 80+ related trend innovations.

11. LOCAL LOVE

While the entire world may be at their fingertips, the vast majority of consumers still live a 'local' life, and happily so. Overlapping many of the other trends, the enduring appeal of all things 'here', from URBAN PRIDE to MADE HERE to LOCALITIED to NICHE NODES, will prove to be an endless source of innovation in 2011.
Includes 160+ related trend innovations.

12. DESIGN AND TRENDS

While, strictly speaking, not a ‘consumer’ trend, design has become such a key concern in the consumer arena and society at large, that it warrants a section in the 2011 Trend Report and database. Expect a to-the-point overview of key design trends and thinking in 2011: from biomimicry to devolved design to data-driven design to crowd-sourced design to beta-design to design simplicity and more.
Includes 70+ related trend innovations.

13. YOUNIQUE

From BRAND ME to CUSTOMYZED to SIPs (Socially Important People), consumers are embracing (and profiting from) everything that has to do with personal branding and social capital, relishing their elevation to MASTERS OF THE YOUNIVERSE.
Includes 30+ related trend cases and examples.

14. JOYNING

It's all about collaborative consumption as traditional boundaries between corporations, competitors and customers continue to blur. Brands are teaming up with customers, with designers, with brands from other industries and even with competitors. On top of that, consumers will continue to explore novel ways to form any kind of CROWD EXPRESS, connect P2P, or go down the SELLSUMER lane, joining the business arena not just as collaborators, but as players. While this trend is no longer 'new', the many insights and examples we're adding for 2011 certainly are!
Includes 80+ related trend innovations.

16. WELLBEINGS

With basic needs satisfied, consuming products, services and experiences with embedded (health or knowledge) benefits becomes a key concern amongst those consumers intent on achieving self-actualization . Learn from sub-trends like EVER-EDUCATING and WELLTHY, as consuming becomes a positive pursuit.
Includes 150+ related trend cases and examples.

17. EMERGING

From BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID to FUNCTIONALL to EXCEPTIONALL, via URBANY and the GLOBAL BRAIN, the incredible rise of emerging economies (yes, that would be Turkey and China and South Africa and India and Brazil and Vietnam and Indonesia and so on) remains one of the key consumerism stories in 2011. Satisfying the demands of both newly minted middle classes and low(er) income consumers means the avalanche of innovations for and by emerging giants will continue to surprise and delight in the next 12 months.
Includes 110+ related trend innovations.

18. INFINITE INNOVATIONS

Some trends are so well-researched and so pervasive that the only thing they're good for is relentless innovation. Think certain demographics, lifestyles, or themes like 'convenience' and 'personalization'. Hence our focus on fun new products and services from around the world, delivering on specific needs and wants. Brace yourselves for the latest and greatest innovations in PINK PROFITS (the Gay & Lesbian market), FEMALE FEVER (female purchasing power), BOOMING BUSINESS (baby boomers), MINISUMERS (infants & kids markets) and more, all waiting to be copied or improved on in 2011!
Includes 300+ related trend innovations.

19. ENDLESS-ECO

The 2011 Trend Report and database will continue to bring you the best of the best in brilliant eco-thinking and innovating from around the world. Whether it's ECO-EDUCATION, or ECO-EASY, or ECO-ICONIC, or ECO-SUPERIOR, the sheer amount of smart green innovations leaves you no excuse to not go all out on profitable sustainability.
Includes 210+ related trend innovations.

20. PARTICIBRANDS

Last but not least, the section on PARTICIBRANDS is really a roadmap for brands and organizations on how to anticipate and apply all trends highlighted in the 2011 Trend Report. Time to ‘MOVE WITH THE CULTURE' indeed!

generations- what will the boomers inherit?

2011-05-28T21:37:00.001-07:00

What will boomers inherit?

By Jennie L. Phipps · Bankrate.com
Tuesday, December 14
Posted: 4 pm ET

My 86-year-old mother-in-law gave my husband his annual holiday check last weekend when we visited. Sometimes she gives me my own check, but this year she said she didn't think I needed the money and that if I did, my husband could share his.

I laughed. Family money -- even when there isn't much of it -- is a tough topic.

A study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for the MetLife Mature Market Institute calculated that boomers will inherit $8.4 trillion in 2009 dollars. The median inheritance per person is $64,000. About $2.4 trillion has already been received as the Greatest Generation passes on. The wealthiest boomers will be given an average of $1.5 million, while those of us at the other end of the spectrum will be left $27,000. While it may not be a fortune, it's actually a higher percentage of the less affluent group's overall income, the study said. In all, two-thirds of boomers will inherit something.

This study referred to a previous study in 1986 that looked at the accuracy of this information and concluded -- not surprisingly in my view -- that the amounts differed significantly depending on who was doing the reporting. The previous study by William G. Gale and John Karl Scholz, compared estimates of the gift by recipients of the inheritances to the estimates of those making the gifts. Givers tended to inflate the amount of the gift while recipients underestimated the inheritances they received. Gale and Scholz concluded that information from the givers was probably more accurate because recipients didn't want to think of themselves as financially dependent. But who knows. Ultimately, the givers weren't around to verify when the money actually changed hands.

The Center for Retirement Research also looked at whether the current economic downturn is going to affect what boomers receive, and concluded that declining stock and home values are likely to cut inheritances by an average of 13.1 percent.

My husband, the CPA, says you can never account for money you don't have. And the Center of Retirement Research points out that this is particularly true of inheritances. "Boomer households should not count on an inheritance to eliminate the need for increased retirement saving," the study concludes.

The researchers also urged boomers to talk to their parents about their financial situation and their estate plans.

The New Economy-job-less recovery

2011-05-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

This Is What the Post-Employee Economy Looks Like- By Derek Thompson

Fifty years ago, the four most valuable U.S. companies employed an average of 430,000 people with an average market cap of $180 billion. This year, the four largest U.S. companies employ an average 120,000 people with an average market cap of $334 billion. The titans of 2011 have twice the the value of their 1964 counterparts with a quarter of the employees.

One statistic is a snapshot of the economy, not a complete wall-to-wall portrait. But zooming out reveals a similar picture: America's largest companies are making much more money with much fewer workers. In the last two years, the Dow has recovered three-quarters of its losses while our employment ratio remains at an historic low. But the profit-hiring gap isn't a temporary side-effect of the post-recession economy. It's a function of the economy, period.

Below is a a glimpse of the 10 most valuable companies in the world in 2011 vs. 1964 in order of market cap (in red) with their number of employees measured in blue. Witness the red tide. Figures are via New York.

A few observations:

1) The lesson these graphs scream loudest to me is the decline of the wired telecom and auto manufacturing industries, which used to be huge job machines. The former lost 55% of its revenue between 2000 and 2010 as mobile phones proliferated. The latter suffered a more protracted slump, but lost nearly a seventh of its total employment between 1992 and 2010.

2) As New York's Andre Tartar adds, these figures are even more striking when you take into account that a third of US-based corporations' employees are stationed overseas in 2011. Half of GE's employees, and three-fourths of IBM's workforce, are outside the U.S.

3) You might notice the last chart has only nine companies. That's because the data excluded Walmart, whose chart-busting 2.1 million employees is the equal of the top six companies (Exxon, Berkshire Hathaway, Apple, Microsoft, GE and Chevron) combined and doubled. This statistic, together with McDonald's announcement that it's adding 50,000 jobs this week, is a reminder that the jobs least replaceable by technology and globalization are on-scene service jobs that haven't been automated. That doesn't make them the fastest growing jobs (or the best paying jobs, for sure). But it makes them safe. For now.

Innovation- falling further behind

2011-05-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Innovation Fact of the Week
The $60 billion federal R&D funding shortfall

Beginning this week, ITIF will end the weekly update with a fact or data point about innovation. The Fact of the Week will provide a discrete snap shot of economic trends, technological advances, and historic data that we come upon in our research that strike as surprising, inspiring or even unsettling. We invite you to continue to read our reports and analyses and to attend our events. These facts will provide you something to think about, discuss and explore with others who are committed to advancing innovation.

Fact:
Growth in federal R&D investment from 1987-2008 was 0.3% per year, vs. 4.9% from 1953-1987, for a current annual shortfall of $60 billion.

Source:
National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.

Government funding for research played a key role in the technological breakthroughs that helped U.S. industry become global technology leaders World War II. Indeed, federal support of research grew 4.9% per year in inflation adjusted terms from 1953-1987. But with the decline of the Cold War and efforts at budget austerity, the federal government has abandoned its responsibilities to help fund research. Federal investments in research from 1987-2008 grew by only 0.3% per year, 15 times slower than in the prior era. If federal support had not lagged, current federal research funding would be $60 billion larger annually than it is today. Or another way to put this, we are short nearly nine National Science Foundations or twenty DARPAs. Other nations have done the opposite, ramping up their investments. From 1987 to 2008, R&D intensity increased substantially more in most other nations than the United States, including Japan (22 percent), Canada (31 percent), Sweden (34 percent), Ireland (75 percent), Korea (91 percent), Israel (110 percent), and China (110 percent). It's no wonder then, that the U.S. is falling behind in the race for global innovation advantage and losing the jobs related to that race.

change agents- 15 tips to consider

2011-05-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rick of these

Fifteen Tips For Change Agents

by Rick Brenner

By now, most of us understand that leading a successful change effort is a difficult job. It can be a little easier, though, when we recognize that to change an organization, its people must see their roles in it differently. If we focus on the people, and how they change themselves, we do a lot better.

f you're leading an organizational change effort, you'll have a chance to learn firsthand how difficult it can be. There's a lot of literature about change and change management. But change, even organizational change, happens one person at a time. Here are 15 tips about how people change. Keep them in mind, and you'll find the change leadership experience more rewarding and less frustrating.

Quick clicks:

Remember the Satir Change Model

As we move through change, we move through a sequence of stages:

Old Status Quo	The initial state of the system, characterized by comfort, familiarity, established patterns, relationships and routines.
Foreign Element	In the midst of Status Quo, some element emerges that interferes with the continuation of the existing form.
Chaos	Once the Foreign Element is recognized and accepted, the system must abandon the Status Quo. It enters a regime characterized by anxiety, vulnerability and anger. Performance drops, sometimes dramatically. For a discusssion of the sense of Chaos following September 11, see "Now We're in Chaos," Point Lookout for September 19, 2001.
Integration	One or more Transforming Ideas emerge, and people begin to figure out how to integrate them into the system — how to work with the changed situation.
Practice	People practice interacting with the new reality. They need support and encouragement to sustain the change as they practice.
New Status Quo	Performance returns to previous levels, and may eventually exceed them. People establish new patterns, relationships and routines containing the Transforming Idea.

For more articles on Change, check out the topical archive.

Think about organizations organically

The word organization comes from the same root as the word organism, which is "a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relationships and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole" [Webster's 9th, Merriam-Webster]. That is, in an organization, behavior cannot be understood in local terms. Everything interacts, and you can't understand it in linear terms. Linear thinking about organizations just doesn't work. And it's a good thing, too, because every successful change effort exploits the nonlinearities of organizational behavior. Every time we "build momentum" on the basis of a series of small victories, we're using a fundamental nonlinearity of organizations — that small wins multiply into bigger ones. Of course, it works the other way, too — small losses multiply into big ones.
The problem is that we often expect organizations to respond to our change efforts linearly. For instance, we assume that if we follow some series of prescribed steps, we'll succeed. Or we assume that a cookbook procedure for organizational change exists. Or that some consultant knows all the answers. These kinds of approaches nearly always fail.
To succeed, think organically about organizations. Understand that their pieces interact to produce behaviors that are much more pronounced than any of the incremental changes you put in place. Use this force. It works.

Expect backtracking

Don't expect the organization to move smoothly from the Old Status Quo, through Chaos, into Integration, then Practice, and finally into New Status Quo. It almost never happens that way. There will be false starts and backtracking, and it's inevitable that things that you thought were buttoned down will come loose. Build it into your expectations, your schedule and your budget. To do otherwise is an exercise in fantasy.

Expect a loss of productivity at first

When you kick off a change cycle, you're introducing a Foreign Element. Chaos inevitably follows. If you've planned the change well, the Transforming Idea is included in your change plan, and you can expect the period of Chaos to be as short as possible — but don't expect it to be shorter than possible. Expect some Chaos. And Chaos depresses productivity. Count on it.

Take small bites

An organization — even an old, stodgy one — is a moving target. However well you think you understand the organization, don't take too long developing your change plan. By the time you get it implemented, the organization might have changed so much that the plan is obsolete. How long is too long? It depends on your organization. In a dynamic Internet startup, it could be that a week might be too long. For a company in a stable, old-economy industry, six months might be OK. It's best to start at the short end of the time scale, changing small things, until you have some experience and confidence that you can tackle larger projects.

Not everyone "gets it" in the same way

Even though you've carefully designed your communications and training, you can't expect everyone to understand your message right away. Change managers who have a 100% coverage expectation have a tendency to blame the failure to attain 100% acceptance on the people who "don't get it." This is one way "resistance" takes hold. A blaming change effort leader helps create resistance. Instead, offer alternative ways to understand the change and its implications, and offer these ways in multiple formats. Live sessions, handouts, Web sites, webcasts, videos, and even CDs or podcasts for commuting time. Do as much as you can. It's much cheaper to offer multiple messages in multiple formats than to deal with resistance, or worse — to have to start all over again a year from now, having failed the first time. It would indeed be nice if one single approach worked for everyone you needed to reach, but we just don't live in that corner of the Universe.

Not everyone "gets it" on your schedule

If you try to go faster than the people in the organization can, you risk creating unnecessary resistance. People get through Chaos at different rates. You can convey what you would like to have happen, but it's up to them to make it happen. Be flexible. Often, you might find it necessary to adapt your change plan as you discover what is actually happening in the organization.

People change for something better rather than to avoid something worse

Threats are fine for determining behavior, but they just don't create real change. Here are two approaches that don't work: "You had better do this, or it's your job." "If we can't figure out how to do this, we'll be out of business." Instead, realize that lasting change comes from within — from the heart, from the spirit. To create lasting organizational change, you must develop a vision of a better work life — a vision that people can really believe in.

Processes are really just ideas

Most change efforts require changes to organizational processes, and we have some great tools for representing processes. The tools are too good, though — we sometimes forget that processes have no physical manifestation. Processes are just ideas, and ideas exist only in our minds. So if a process is to change, what is in people's minds must change — their ideas about the processes, and how they, as people, relate to the processes and to each other.

You aren't in charge of anybody else's mind

If change efforts require changes in processes, and processes are just ideas, then you'll probably be tempted to try to change other people's ideas. Resist the temptation. You can't change anybody else's mind — only they can. You can provide information, vision, motivation, education, training, incentives, opportunity, resources, support, compassion, and anything else someone might need as they go through change, but only they can actually execute the change. Trying to change someone else's mind for them makes about as much sense as doing their exercise program for them.

Welcome resistance

Many change effort leaders feel that resistance is a bad thing, that it indicates failure to cooperate, or a poor change plan. It just isn't so. Resistance is wonderful. It shows that you're making some real progress. Resistance isn't actually resistance to change — it's resistance to the loss of the Old Status Quo. So when you see resistance, it means that people are sensing the loss of the Old Status Quo, which means that change has begun.
Resistance isn't a problem — how we cope with resistance is often the problem. Make certain that your change plan accounts for resistance, and that you have a sense of where resistance will come from and what you can do about it.

People don't forget what they already know

Although we know quite a lot about how to show people new ways, very little is known about how to make people forget old ways. The old ways will stay with the organization, no matter how tightly you try to constrain — or coerce — people to follow new paths. This means that after you've educated everyone about the new ways of doing things, the old patterns are still there. And people are always free to fall back on the old ways. The only way to limit this behavior is to make the new ways so appealing and fun that people will choose them over the old ways. How you do that depends on what you're changing and on your particular organizational culture. That's one reason why cookbook change processes don't work. Every case is unique.

Change your change process

If you get better at making changes in your organization, and if you keep at it, your organization will soon be a top performer. Why? So few organizations succeed at making lasting change, that it doesn't really take much to become a top performer. It looks like it takes a lot, because lasting change is so hard to do. To make change easier to do, invest first in getting better at changing things. For more, see Change How You Change.

Space your changes to avoid collisions

If your organization is just beginning to move out of the Chaos of one change effort, and you zap it with a new Foreign Element from another change effort, you'll slow progress on the first change effort. Space things out to give the organization time to integrate and Practice previous changes. For more, see Piling Change Upon Change: Management Credibility.

Expect change to take longer than you expect

Finally, recognize that in your own mind, you've already made the change. You've thought it through, and you know where you want things to go. But nobody else has — well, hardly anybody. Getting everyone to move to where they will want to go will take time. And we always underestimate how long it takes. Always. Top

This document is http://www.chacocanyon.com/essays/tipsforchange.shtml

What if we could rethink and redesign agriculture? today!! now!!

2011-05-05T19:33:00.001-07:00

The US Farm Bill will be debated again in 2012 and its time to begin the local and national discussion of what do we want from our food industry? how can it be organized? and even here locally in Jefferson County what would it take to move us from 4% local food consumption to 20% by 2020-- what would it take???

John Reganhold from WSU just printed a provocative article in SCIENCE magazine- a major international crops and soils scientist suggesting with his colleagues

Its the socio-political discussion not the science and technology that is the barrier to a sustainable food system-- read more:

Science magazine
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9863

FIELD congrats!!

2010-09-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

FIELD!!!
2010 Farm Interns for Education Leadership and Development

Jefferson County welcomes and needs a young generation of farmers. We welcome interns, graduates, entrepreneurs who want to learn from Master Farmers on the seven definitive micro-ecosystems that we have in our community. Thanks to our Master Farmers and interns!!
You've made this program much more than we ever expected!

Entrepreneurs- what makes them special

2010-09-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Anatomy of an Entrepreneur

Although entrepreneurs provide the majority of jobs in the United States, little is known about what makes them tick. The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur fills in some gaps by providing insights into high-growth founders' motivations, their socio-economic, educational, and familial backgrounds, as well as their views on the factors determining the success of start-ups.

A team of researchers led by Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University, Raj Aggarwal of the University of Akron, Krisztina Holly of the University of Southern California, and Alex Salkever of Duke University surveyed 549 company founders of successful businesses in high-growth industries, including aerospace, defense, computing, electronics, and health care. The findings are presented in the following two reports.

Family Background and Motivation
The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family Background and Motivation provides insights into high-growth founders' motivations and their socio-economic, educational, and familial backgrounds.
Findings include:

More than 90 percent of the entrepreneurs came from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds and were well-educated: 95.1 percent of those surveyed had earned bachelor's degrees, and 47 percent had more advanced degrees.

Seventy-five percent of the respondents ranked their academic performance among the top 30 percent of their high school classes, and 52 percent said they ranked among the top 10 percent. In college, 67 percent of the founders ranked among the top 30 percent of their undergraduate classes, and 37 percent ranked their performance among the top 10 percent.
Founders tended to be middle-aged—40 years old on average—when they started their first companies. Nearly 70 percent were married when they became entrepreneurs, and nearly 60 percent had at least one child, challenging the stereotype of the entrepreneurial workaholic with no time for a family.
Making of a Successful Entrepreneur
The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Making of a Successful Entrepreneur provides insight into company owners' views about what influences the success or failure of a startup business. Entrepreneurs identified prior work experience, learning from previous successes and failures, a strong management team, and good fortune as the most important factors in their success.
Findings include:

Professional networks were important to the success of their current businesses for 73 percent of the entrepreneurs. In comparison, 62 percent felt the same way about personal networks.
Only 11 percent of the first-time entrepreneurs received venture capital, and 9 percent received private/angel financing. Of the overall sample, 68 percent considered availability of financing/capital as important. Of the entrepreneurs who had raised venture capital for their most recent businesses, 96 percent considered financing important.

Eighty-six percent of Ivy-League graduates ranked university education as important, as compared with 70 percent of the overall sample. Only 20 percent of entrepreneurs and 18 percent of Ivy-League graduates ranked university education as extremely important.
Most company founders (86 percent) ranked state or regional assistance as slightly or not at all important.

In identifying barriers to entrepreneurial success, the most commonly named factor – by 98 percent of respondents – was lack of willingness or ability to take risks. Other barriers cited by respondents were the time and effort required (93 percent), difficulty raising capital (91 percent), business management skills (89 percent), knowledge about how to start a business (84 percent), industry and market knowledge (83 percent), and family/financial pressures to keep a traditional, steady job (73 percent).

the best gift!!!! ted.com

2010-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

Check these out. . . and enjoy!!!

"The Best Stats You've Ever Seen"
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html
(population growth, health and wealth)

Stewart Brand "Power of Cities"
http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_proclaims_4_environmental_heresies.html
(note segment on population sink at minute 7:43)

3,000 year old technology is new innovation under your sink!

2010-09-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

DIGESTERS PRODUCE ENERGY, FERTILIZER AND CUT WASTE

Small changes can make a big difference, and that’s the idea behind a small-size anaerobic digester that WSU researcher Chad Kruger presented to a group of congressional staffers visiting the WSU Pullman campus earlier this month.

For the complete story read WSU Today online http://www.wsutoday.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=21045&TypeID=1

Higher ed options in Jefferson County

2010-09-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Peninsula daily news- Sep 3, 2010
Partnership with Vermont college may lead to full degrees for Jefferson County students

By Charlie Bermant Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND -- The offering of academic programs in Jefferson County that range from associate degrees to graduate degrees is within reach, the Jefferson County Higher Education Committee was told Thursday.

Goddard College, a liberal arts college in Plainfield, Vt., that offered a limited graduate degree program at Fort Worden State Park since 2002, is considering expanding its undergraduate offerings.

The move would turn its facility at Fort Worden, which it shares with Peninsula, into a West Coast campus for Goddard.

The idea was discussed at the monthly meeting of the Jefferson County Higher Education Committee, at which Peninsula College President Tom Keegan addressed about 20 people that includes representatives of Jefferson County Library, Port Townsend city, Washington State University and the Port of Port Townsend.

Keegan said that Goddard's offering of undergraduate degrees would provide a bridge between the associate's degree programs offered by Peninsula and the graduate degree programs offered by Goddard.

This expansion of local educational options would eliminate the need for local students to leave the area to get a complete education, and help Peninsula College satisfy a broader mission, he said.

"We are citizens of the world," Keegan said. "We must provide our students the skills they need to function in the global economy."

Port Townsend Planning Director Rick Sepler said that "the idea that we would become Goddard's West Coast campus is exciting.

The expansion of Goddard College is still in the preliminary stage, he said.

The possibility will be examined at a Port Townsend City Council work study session at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 in its chambers at 540 Water St.

Keegan visited Port Townsend after a three-day meeting in Olympia where he learned that colleges are facing cuts of up to 30 percent in the next few years.

The good news is that when the economy recovers, the need for retraining will increase, Keegan said, but the bad news is that the education needed will evolve into an unpredictable area.

Twenty years ago, Peninsula College offered courses in the now-lost craft of typewriter repair.

Computer repair was a popular course for a time, but "it is now cheaper to buy a new computer than to repair it," he said.

Today's needed trades have to do with network diagnostics and repair, but that could change.

As a result, faculty members are in the greatest need of retraining, Keegan said.

Keegan said that, statistically, a child who is 8 years old now will hold 14 career-path jobs before reaching his or her mid-thirties.

"Can anyone tell me what we need teach them?" he asked.

"Flexibility," said Jefferson County Commissioner John Austin.

"Critical thinking," said Lela Hilton, Clemente Course program director.

Keegan said the competition for students at brick-and-motor schools among Peninsula College and neighboring schools such as Olympic College -- which operates in Poulsbo and Bremerton -- is a thing of the past.

Instead, competition between schools is intense online.

Online classes offer convenience and variety, expanding offerings and making it possible to complete courses around the clock, he said.

Within this context, community colleges still can provide a needed personal service, Washington State University Extension Executive Director Katherine Baril said.

"As more people go online, they will need a third space where people come together for personal contact where they can better understand their educational choices," she said.

________

Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.

Entrepreneurs Keep the Local Food Movement Hot

2010-09-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Local food businesses play a much more critical role in economic development than commonly thought
By John Tozzi

Entrepreneurs are flocking to local food, starting businesses devoted to producing and delivering food within their communities. Just as consumers focus new attention on what we eat and where it comes from, farmers, foodmakers, restaurateurs, retailers, distributors, and processors are rethinking the business models behind it. They want to create enterprises that will succeed in the long run for local food to be more than just a fad or a luxury for wealthy Western consumers.

A report, "Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace," spotlights 24 ventures around the world that are pioneering models for local food.They range from the sprawling Organic Valley farmer co-operative, which ships more than $500 million in dairy and other products annually, to a caterer in Zambia that has branched out to selling processed food and equipment. The examples include private companies, co-ops, and nonprofits. Whatever the form, all the enterprises are locally controlled and aim to be sustainable business operations, not dependent on grants or government subsidies.

The 190-page report, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, highlights the role local food businesses play in economic development—creating jobs and bringing money into a community.Michael Shuman, an economist at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and co-author of the report, sees economic development intertwined with developing local food systems.For example, the Appalachian Harvest Network in the Appalachian region of Virginia and Tennessee helps mostly poor former tobacco farmers switch to growing organic fruits and vegetables for specialty stores and grocers, replacing a shrinking market with a growing one.Likewise, researchers found that the majority of the small farms that sell their crops at New York City's green markets could not survive without the access to the city's customers that the program provides.

Innovation- plant trees

2010-09-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

In Montreal the city plants 100,000 new trees each year. . they started in the l900s when Olmsted designed the City's park system and wrote in his journal: "Now i have given the city its lungs".

Portland ‘Treebates’ now help city stormwater programs branch out. New intiative encourages property owners to plant thousands of new trees

entrepreneurs: 10 tips for success

2010-09-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Reasons for Entrepreneurial Success

By JAY GOLTZ, New York Times

I really have only one indulgence. I bought an expensive convertible a few years ago. It is not a midlife crisis car; I would call it a midlife celebration car. It is not red. It was a prerecession purchase.
In any case, I was driving to work one recent morning, sitting at a stoplight when a car pulled up next to me and the young man behind the wheel rolled down his window. He shouted over, “How can I be successful like you?”
I sensed he was serious. I appreciated his moxie, and I wanted to give him a great answer. I also knew that I had between five and 10 seconds for the pearls of wisdom to be hatched and delivered. I didn’t panic. I went with my two favorite standbys: make sure your customers are happy and make sure your employees are with the program. The light changed. He seemed pleased with his stoplight counseling. He thanked me, and we both drove off.
But I started thinking: Is that the best I could do? Did I give him enough to get him on his way? Should I have mentioned the “work hard and follow your passion” mantra? No. He certainly has heard that before. Still, I wished I’d had another chance. I feared this would haunt me forever — or at least until lunch. And then, voila! We were at the next stoplight, and he was again next to me, again with his window and mind open. Rebound. I get another shot!
He told me he was graduating from DePaul University, and he wanted to know what else I had for him. By this point, I’d realized that I couldn’t give him the secret to business success in 10 seconds. That would take at least a minute, but I was not prepared. It is an excellent question that requires some thought. I told him I’d post an answer on this blog. So, to you DePaul graduate with moxie, here is what I believe are the most important success factors in business:
1. Look for opportunities to do something better than just about everyone else.
2. Accept risk as a necessary evil. It makes for much less competition.
3. Act responsibly to customers, employees and vendors.
4. Goals aren’t enough. You need a plan. You need to execute the plan.
5. You need to fix the plan as you go. Learn from your mistakes. Most people don’t.
6. Do not reinvent the wheel. Learn from others — join a business group.
7. Make sure the math works. I know plenty of people who work hard and follow their passion but the math doesn’t work. If the math doesn’t work, neither does the business.
8. Make sure that every employee understands and works toward the mission.
9. There are going to be difficult times and you need to be resilient; whining is a waste of time.
10. There will be sacrifices. Work to find a balance so that you don’t become a financially successful loser. It’s not about the income, it’s about the outcome.
That’s my Top 10 list. I’m sure there are more. What do you think is missing?

Try more democracy!!

2006-10-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Collaborative effort
WSU-UW policy consensus
center renamed
By Denny Fleenor
College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences

Bill Ruckelshaus believes that the best approach to tackling tough policy issues is more democracy, in other words informing and involving more people in addressing the issues that affect their lives.

In 2003, Ruckelshaus worked with the presidents of Washington State University and the University of Washington not only to establish a joint program to apply their resources to addressing contentious public policy issues, but to provide funding for its launch.

Originally named the WSU-UW Policy Consensus Center, its mission is to act as a neutral resource for collaborative problem solving by bringing the capabilities of the two research universities to bear on policy issues.

At a recent reception, WSU President V. Lane Rawlins and UW President Mark Emmert announced the renaming of the center as the William D. Ruckelshaus Center.

Ruckelshaus is highly respected for his public, corporate and community leadership. He is best known as the first director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a post to which he returned during the Reagan administration. He has served as a senior vice president of the Weyerhaeuser Corporation and chairman/CEO of Browning Ferris Industries, and currently is a partner and principal in Madrona Venture Partners.

“There’s no one like Bill Ruckelshaus,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said at the reception. “Governors, as well as several U.S. presidents, have called upon him to work on problems that have eluded resolution by the best and brightest.”

The governor complimented the two university presidents for their foresight in forming the center to apply the resources of both universities to addressing vexing policy issues.

“Everyone will know what the center stands for when they see the name William D. Ruckelshaus on the door: Integrity, clear and practical thinking, good humor, respect for all, and civil solutions that create a better future for everyone,” the governor said.

In accepting the honor, Ruckelshaus, who chairs the center’s advisory board, said that he views the center’s mission as important to ensuring that our democracy works.

“The missing element is strong public understanding of issues. We need an informed public who can demand decisions from our leaders and that’s what you are up to,” he said. “The center doesn’t solve problems. Its success is in providing help for the people involved to solve them, and those are the most durable solutions.”

Ruckelshaus praised the role of Extension, the WSU home for the center.

“Extension is an important place for the center to be, and a natural place,” he said. “Extension has people all over the state who see the problems every day. If this effort results in a better place for us to live, we’ll have really accomplished something.”

More information about the Ruckelshaus Center and its work can be found at www.ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu.

Podcast

2006-07-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Farm to cafeteria gets boost this fall

2006-07-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Schools go on health kick as federal law takes hold

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- They're promising to keep closer tabs on student lunch trays, pull sugary treats from vending machines and classroom celebrations and encourage more pulse-raising activities during the school day

The nation's public schools are under orders to adopt nutrition and exercise goals before classes resume in the fall. The written wellness policies are required by a federal law that took effect July 1.
"Some school districts and school buildings have already made a lot of these changes and some have done nothing just because they've never been required to," said Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, executive director of Action for Healthy Kids, a 50-state nonprofit network. "Frankly, schools that have never had this conversation are having it."
The law's primary objective is straightforward: combating rising childhood obesity rates. Overweight children miss more school than their average weight counterparts, according to the National School Boards Association. Backers also argue that reducing sugar in students' diets leads to greater focus in the classroom.
Some states are making similar efforts through new laws and policies, and the federal law gives school boards wide latitude, causing vast differences in their approaches.
In Tennessee's Williamson County, for instance, the broadly worded policy runs 23 lines; in Hampton, New Hampshire, the five-page plan is so detailed it suggests elementary students have "at least two colors other than white and brown as part of their lunch meal."
Committees comprised of administrators, teachers, parents and students are looking well beyond the cafeteria for ways to promote healthier eating habits and more physical activity.
In St. Paul, students will find water, fruit juice and milk in vending machines that used to dispense soda. In Farmington, Utah, schools are holding recess before lunch so kids don't give short shrift to their meals in the race to the playground.
Teachers in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, will encounter restrictions on goodies they can give out in their classrooms. Lollipops and sodas will be no-nos.
Rhonda Dunham, a principal at an elementary school in the district, will try other rewards for students who meet homework goals or display good behavior. One plan is to set up elegant lunches, where kids get specially prepared meals at tables with linen cloths, china and glassware.
"They feel a bit more grownup that way," she said.
Classroom candy also has lost favor in the northwestern Minnesota district of Perham Dent.
"The truth is, one Jolly Rancher isn't bad, but 13 years of several Jolly Ranchers a day is a bad habit to learn," said superintendent Tamara Uselman.
Her district is incorporating more movement into the school day as well. One geography teacher is setting up stations in her classroom so students are on the move every 20 minutes.
Many school districts are making clear that recess is valuable exercise time and shouldn't be withheld as punishment.
While school leaders and health advocates generally laud the law's intent, concerns do exist.
Congress didn't give schools money to implement the policies or offer compensation for the potential loss of vending sales proceeds.
An Illinois education panel noted another barrier: Schools have difficulty setting aside time from their other pressing priorities such as the federal No Child Left Behind law, which carries consequences if students don't show progress in core subjects.
The wellness directive requires school districts to measure progress but doesn't contain consequences for those that don't live up to the law.
"I don't think the federal government put enough teeth into this," Dunham, the elementary principal, said. "We are accountable basically only to ourselves. In some school districts, I could see this going by the wayside."
And don't expect the wellness policies to, um, bear fruit overnight.
"It's like eating an elephant," said Brenda Greene, the National School Board Association's director of school health programs. "You need to do it one bite at a time."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at:
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Cultural creatives make good neighbors and good economies!

2006-07-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Maine Issues Guide for the Creative Economy

Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives.

The handbook is the result of two years of work by Maines Creative Economy Steering Committee following a 2004 conference on the future of the state economy. The study was requested after it was reported that the creative economy was generating $6.6 billion annually in cultural tourism dollars. The committee has drawn upon the work of Richard Florida, who has theorized that networks of educated and entrepreneurial citizens lead to dynamic local economies.

The state's Creative Economy Council estimates that 8.3 percent of Maine's workforce is made up of creative workers. These workers include artists, artisans, engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers. In Maine, this group has an average income 33 percent higher than the rest of the workforce. Florida and other theorists have described this creative class of workers as a decisive factor in determining regional success.

The University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Policy has developed the handbook's most useful tool for communities in other states, a section entitled "Ten Building Blocks of the Creative Economy" that gives economic development groups a starting point to assess and cultivate their creative resources. These building blocks represent vital qualities of a growing creative economy. Each is accompanied by a series of questions, which can illuminate a regions creative strengths.

The Muskie School has assembled these blocks into a model of creativity-led sustainable growth. Two qualities, time and money, are "enhancers," elements that build on a community's pre-existing strengths. With time and money, regions can become more attractive to highly-skilled and creative workers by building upon pre-existing "assets." Creative people, centers of education, cultural/natural amenities, business engagement, and infrastructure are the foundations of the creative economy. They are linked by "connectors," such as leadership, networks and strategies, which determine the availability of enhancers and lead to the effective use of assets. Together, these building blocks can be used to design strategic assessments and plans based on attracting a creative workforce.

To read Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities, visit: http://www.econdevmaine.com/resources/default.asp

<http://www.econdevmaine.com/resources/default.asp> Links to this report and more than 4,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at: http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.

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Lost on the Metro? Whip Out Your IPod

2006-07-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

CATEGORY:Technology

Downloadable July 4th Map Previews Things to Come, Transit Official Says

By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 1, 2006; B01

Metro has a plan to help the confused, iPod-carrying tourist on Independence Day: The service has put a map with its Fourth of July schedule and service changes online, in a format intended for downloading and viewing on the popular digital music player.

The file, which Metro has dubbed "The Revolutionary Map," is compatible with any color-screen iPod or Nano that lets users view photos or video.

Metro riders will need to keep a number of holiday schedule changes in mind, whether they carry an iPod or not: The Smithsonian station will be closed, the Blue line will be truncated, and the Orange line will alternate between New Carrollton and Largo Town Center, just to name a few examples.

Cathy Asato, a Metro spokeswoman, said she does not know how many times the map has been downloaded since it was posted on Tuesday. Metro usually gets fewer riders on the holiday; last Fourth of July, for example, there were 541,101, compared with about 700,000 on a typical weekday.

The downloadable map is just one new tool that Metro is using to get information to riders about the service, she said. Metro also lets riders get service updates sent to their cell phones, and more iPod compatible maps are on the way this fall. "People have been asking for easier access to information on Metro," she said.

Asato has not downloaded the map herself, alas: Her iPod is too old.

Metro has been getting the word out about the map by giving local bloggers a heads up. One blog, Metroblogging DC, rated the map as "swank" though it also complained that "the fonts are jaggy and a bit hard to read."

This is not the first time mass transit maps have appeared on Apple's popular music player. The San Francisco area's BART system, for example, has an iPod version of its maps online.

A software designer in New York started scanning in and posting transit system guides on his site, http://www.ipodsubwaymaps.com/ , last year. The site now has 23 subway map files, on systems from Singapore to Salt Lake City.
Metro's map is available at http://www.wmata.com/ipodmap .

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

Jennie Watkins Ananda Hill Farms

2006-05-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

Jennie Watkins, Ananda Hill Farms talks about her French Chickens on the opening day of the 2006 Port Townsend Farmers Market.

Interview: Susanne, Tradewind Farms

2006-04-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

CATEGORY: Food and Farms

Susanne, Tradewind Farms, talks about her new goat farm on opening day of the Port Townsend Farmers Market.

4-H News: Pamela Roberts Interviews Blair Wolfley

2006-03-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Pamela Roberts, 4-H Jefferson County Coordinator, interviews Blair Wolfley, SW District Director WSU Vancouver (Research & Extension Unit), at the 2006 WSU Research & Extension Westside Agriculture and Natural Resource Days in Puyallup, WA.

Podcast: The Tamer Kirac Interview

2006-02-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

CATEGORY:Technology

Tamer Kirac resigned his position last week with the Economic Development Council (EDC) to take a job with the U.S. Agency for International Development as a development specialist serving in Iraq.

Listen To Interview (MP3, 34 minutes)

KeyNote At ANR

2006-02-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

4-H News recorded my keynote at the 2006 WSU Research & Extension Westside Agriculture and Natural Resource Days Feburary 15th at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center.

The Wine Experience Launches Daily Podcasting of The Wine Experience Radio Show: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-02-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

CATEGORY:Food and Farms

"Corkscrew Productions announced today the free daily Podcast of The Wine Experience Radio Show.

Daily Podcasting of this unique national radio program is the ideal way for people to stay up to date about wine, learn wine basics, hear about wine country regions and travel, and discover the joy of wine, food, and entertaining." (More)

USATODAY.com - Bowl marketers think small

2006-01-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

USATODAY.com - Bowl marketers think small: "NEW YORK � This year, Super Bowl ads will be anywhere you want them to be: on TV during the game, on the Web, on your iPod, even on your wireless phone.

The small-screen media add return for advertisers on the cost to make game ads and the average $2.5 million per 30 seconds this year to air them. "It's a better way to amortize the cost of Super Bowl ads," says Seth Palansky, NFL spokesman. "The goal is more places to get your ad seen."

The goal is to engage audiences beyond a 30-second ad," says Nicole Bradley, Pepsi-Cola spokeswoman. Pepsi will offer more content related to its Diet Pepsi game ads starting Monday when it launches www.brownandbubbly.com."

WSU MacFest2 Workshop: Podcasting with Vin Capone (1 of 4) - Google Video

2006-01-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

See all the MacFest2 videos on video.google.com.

Pamela Roberts, 4H News, Interviews Vin Capone Apple Computer

2006-01-26T11:41:00.001-08:00

Pamela Roberts, 4-H News, interviews Vin Capone, Digital Video/Quicktime Development Executive for Education Apple Computer, two hours before his workshop at WSU Jefferson County Extension on podcasting and Final Cut Pro. More information: http://jefferson.wsu.edu/forums

Arizona Department of Education to Assess Students' Technology Skills: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-01-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

"The state of Arizona will become the first in the nation to formally assess its students' preparedness for a future in the 21st Century classroom and workplace using a new solution called TechLiteracy Assessment. Through a new partnership with Learning.com, the Arizona Department of Education will measure elementary and middle school students' proficiency with information and communication technology.

The No Child Left Behind Act states that by 2006, schools must ensure that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the student's race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability. Arizona will use TechLiteracy Assessment to proactively ensure that its students are meeting both national and state technology standards and goals.

Through a contract that includes professional development and set-up fees, the state plans to administer assessment of at least 25,000 fifth- and eighth- grade students by June 30, 2006. Arizona will target districts and charter schools that receive federal education technology grants. The state plans to use the assessment data for federal reporting purposes, but most importantly, the data will assist the state in educational technology planning."

Arizona Department of Education to Assess Students' Technology Skills: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

JournalStar.com: UNL prof puts the 'p' in podcasting

2006-01-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

UNL professor Calvin Garbin records his Psychology 350 course and puts the audio files on the web for podcasts and MP3 downloads. (Jill Peitzmeier)

"It's called podcasting, class, and it may mean you never, ever have to take notes again. Psychology Professor Calvin Garbin is one of the first instructors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to take the college student's latest favorite gadget, the iPod, and harness its power as an educational tool.

After he wrapped up his Wednesday Intro to Psychology lecture - a lecture in which he spoke for 50 minutes about such things as - causal research hypothesis' - Garbin returned to his office on the second floor of Burnett Hall and began the process of making the 20th-century lecture available with 21st-century technology.

He had recorded the class using a wireless microphone hooked to his shirt. That sound morphed into an audio file on Garbin's computer after being captured by a receiver in his office.

Now all the long-time psychology professor needed to do was cut the audio into short chunks and place it on his Web site. " (more)

Students and teachers hit the podcasts | CNET News.com

2006-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

Students and teachers hit the podcasts | CNET News.com

"The subjects were typical for a seventh-grade classroom: a summary of a mealworm's metamorphosis, strategies on improving memory and making studying easier, and a story about a classroom candy thief.
But the discussions last fall at Longfellow Middle School in La Crosse, Wis., were not taking place only for their classroom to hear. They were recorded as part of a series of podcasts the students produced and syndicated over Apple's iTunes music store.
"Their audience has moved to the entire world," said Jeanne Halderson, one of two seventh-grade teachers at Longfellow who supervise the podcasts. "The students find that exciting. It's a lot more motivating to write something that the whole world can hear, rather than just something for a teacher to put a grade on."

Podcasting--posting an audio recording online that can be heard through a computer or downloaded to a mobile device like an iPod--is following blogs and online classes as yet another interactive technology catching on as a teaching tool. Currently, iTunes lists more than 400 podcasts from kindergarten through 12th-grade classes, while Yahoo has nearly 900 education-related podcasts. Some are produced by teachers wanting to reach other educators with teaching tips, while many are created by students, like the La Crosse seventh graders with their podcast."

By Jeffrey Selingo

The Podcast Creation Guide (PDF)

2006-01-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

What Is Podcasting?
Podcasts are the new phenomenon of professional and homemade audio broadcasts available on the Internet. Unlike traditional radio shows with set schedules, podcasts can be listened to at any time in the iTunes application or on an iPod.With iTunes 4.9, Apple took podcasting mainstream by building into iTunes
everything you need to find, subscribe to, manage, and listen to podcasts. You can even publish your podcast to iTunes (as long as it’s free of copyrighted material) and reach a potential audience of millions.

The Apple Podcast Creation Guide will assist you in learning to create and distribute an audio podcast accessed with the iTunes application.

CNET: Stanford on iTunes

2006-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Stanford on iTunes debut, in late October, marked the first time a university made audio content from lectures, interviews, commencement speeches and the like publicly available through a system like the iTunes Music Store.

"I absolutely love this," said David Sellinger in an e-mail to the university's alumni relations department. "I missed all of the lectures last weekend, and this allows me to take my Stanford spirit everywhere. This is one of the greatest things ever. Hearing (historian) David Kennedy's voice again almost makes me giddy to learn and keep on learning."

When it launched, the service had around 400 audio programs available for download through a branded iTunes Music Store site. Stanford alumni relations officer David Vargas said that number will grow exponentially over time and will soon include video content as well.

Content from the Stanford program is accessible to anyone free of charge. Interestingly, that may be no more than a happy coincidence: Vargas said Stanford on iTunes is really about providing the university with an easy and inexpensive way to distribute all manner of content to its 180,000 alumni in 151 countries. (more)

Podcasting in Education
Educational podcasting. Content to go.

Would you like to listen to lectures or lessons on demand? Podcasts can deliver educational content for listening or viewing on your computer and iPod, freeing learning from constraints of the physical classroom.

A podcast is audio or visual content that is automatically delivered over a network via free subscription. Once subscribed to, podcasts can be regularly distributed over the Internet or within your school’s network and accessed with an iPod, laptop, or desktop computer (both Macs and PCs).

Apple Digital Campus
The Apple Digital Campus Podcast invites you to subscribe to this exciting podcast and hear conversations with leading thought leaders and practitioners on ways technology is enhancing and transforming higher education.

Mac Fest II at WSU!!!

2006-01-23T05:59:00.000-08:00

APPLE computer and WSU Jefferson County Extension are joining to host
the Second Annual Mac fest-- January 26 at WSU Port Hadlock. . .FREE!!
1PM-5PM

Learn about podcasting-- a possibility for local free radio??
See the new video film studio that WSU is offering as a business
incubator for local video production and digital film making

Are you interested in a local Apple certification classes?
See the New Final Cut Pro suite including motion, soundtrack and I
sight!

Event is free-- call WSU 379-5610 for more information or visit
www.jefferson.wsu.edu

Be sure to check out what¹s happening at WSU Jefferson County
Go to our new on line community events calendar at
www.jefferson.wsu.edu

You can also sort all the events by clicking on the date, category , or
type of workshop.

Habitat JAM :: Get involved in Habitat JAM

2005-11-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

Habitat JAM :: Get involved in Habitat JAM

30 Years ago I was a delegate to the first UN Habitat conference in Vancouver- we promised to come back 30 years later and talk again

I want to share with you how folks are using this web site to engage people in a global conversation. .about 6 ecological themes, water, housing,
climate etc.

Good example of use of technology for democratic based dialogue--interesting experiment. . Just imagine. .. .

What is Habitat JAM? Watch Video

Continuing our discussion of how we capture entrepreneurial opportunties

2005-11-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. . . Continuing our discussion of how we capture entrepreneurial opportunties- coach small businesses- and develop guilds or an online work “temporary employment service”. I wanted to offer this example of about 10 or so of these a week that come across my desk— some of pay, some have barter, others have amazing opportunities— I guess the issue for me is there energy to pursue these and meet once a month or so to put together a temporary on line employment- community works web portal/ network and see if we can capture some work/ salary opportunities locally

Examples:

folks need short term computer training, repair, web design, back up
folks call wanting to have an energy audit for their house and then construction
someone to do marketing or grant writing for specific local non profits
short term project coordination- community outreach/ coordinating meetings/ databases
someone to research a closed system bio-composter to save our city biowaste project
short term video projects e.g. Film local educational events and then put them on PT TV
I bet we could all think of a list of them that would be available to be linked- networked- guilded- good work/ professional experience for young people

EXAMPLE:

Do you have Business or Marketing students or faculty looking for businesses to link up to analyze an existing business or a new business venture.

I think that there is real potential in this and the idea of really making money for this community— but it needs to have some folks that are supportive and willing to work together to make it happen. . . I need some folks to work with me for 1-2 days to conceptualize, put together the web sites, and get the pilot up and going. It needs room for a calendar— for individual web digital portfolios— for marketing etc etc.

Let me know what you think. . . .