Since 1968, New Yorks National Black Theatre has provided a space for Black voices and stories to not only exist, but flourish. Founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, a performer, director, and figurehead of the Black Arts Movement, it boasts an important legacy of being the countrys first revenue-generating Black art complex and was recently included in the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

To date, NBT has presented more than 350 original theater works that have toured globally, and the likes of Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Nina Simone, and Maya Angelou have graced its stage. Most importantly, NBT was founded and continues to serve as a space for marginalized storytellers to build community, enrich their craft, and raise the collective consciousness around social and racial injustices through their groundbreaking work.

In 2008, Teers daughter, Sade Lythcott, took over as NBTs chief executive officer and appointed director, producer, and actor Jonathan McCrory as its executive artistic director in 2013. Under their stewardship, the organization has continued to evolve and become an even brighter beacon of Black culture. Currently, construction is underway for their new mixed-use building in Harlem, which will feature a shopping center, new theater, and affordable housing.

To honor NBTs crucial legacy and celebrate its expansion, BAZAAR.com connects with Lythcott, McCrory, and playwright Ngozi Anyanwu to discuss the role of art during the pandemic, the importance of creative spaces that feel like home, and why NBT is the new American Dream.

Sade Lythcott: The National Black Theatre is the longest continually run Black theater in New York City, founded in 1968 by my late mother, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, who was one of the four mothers of the Black Arts Movement.

The mission of the National Black Theatre really comes out of the principles of the Black Arts Movement, which really roots Black liberation as the center of all things that we get to produce and build. Her real focal point around Black liberation was tapping into the PTSD of the slave block through the auction aspect of the slave block, which is what she thought was analogous to the audition room. What if it wasn't a self-conscious act, but a God-conscious act of liberation?

The actors in her first company were called Liberators, and she thought, If we push this experiment to the maximum, what would it be like if we empowered Black artists to see themselves as Liberators in conversation with audiences and communities that tapped into what it might feel like to be free? That would spark direct action and activate our audience in a way that was a seductive form of introducing people to activism within their own agency of their life.

Courtesy of NBT

I took over in 2008 when she passed, and Jonathan joined me as co-leadership shortly thereafter in 2013. We have been stewarding the legacy of Dr. Teer and National Black Theatre through a contemporary lens of present-pulse theater making and Black narratives to ensure that the intersectionality of our storiesthe complexity of our storiesis told so that we can reveal the fullness and the wholeness of who we are as a people, which often is absolutely a 180 from how we are depicted, still, onscreen and definitely in the news.

As a Black artist, I was always searching for spaces to call my home, spaces to define as my home.

Jonathan McCrory: There's a slogan that Dr. Barbara Ann Teer has that is an invitation to what I wanted when I left NYU with my undergrad degree. It reads, "Welcome to your home away from home." She would welcome everyone at National Black Theatre that way, by saying, "Welcome to your home away from home."

As a Black artist, I was always searching for spaces to call my home, spaces to define as my home. I was searching for an ethos, a pedagogy, that would allow for the brilliance that is me, that is you, that is the future me, that is all of that, the future of us, to be able to see each other, know each other, and come into relationship with each other. And when Sade actually shared with me that mantra, or that space of being what NBT stood for, that really was, as we to like to say, the Kool-Aid that got me really into the cultural matrix of National Black Theatre.

I'm still latching onto what it means to make a Black home for the future of Blackness and of humanness. If home is where your exhale feels the best, as Sade would say, how does everyone that's a part of the matrix of National Black Theatre come in and lean into that curiosity point of home, and actually reposition National Black Theatre as a space of home?

SL: Home for everyone is different, and really it only calibrates around where you feel like you can put your guard down, and your exhale feels the best. For so many of us, that is not our birth home. It is our chosen home and our chosen family.

Ngozi Anyanwu: I'd known of NBT for a long time. When I joined, I was very much at the beginning of what is now a flourishing playwriting career. Jonathan had seen a production of my first play, which I self-produced with some friends and my sister, and essentially said to me, "Hey, come be this producing intern, and maybe do your play here, or see what it is to run a theater here."

At that point, I had interned at The Public. I had been a reader for Rattlestick [Theater]. I had very much been in the New York off-Broadway theater scene, but I had not yet seen the inner workings of a Black organization. And so, I was like, "Yeah, let me hang out at NBT and get my hands in everywhere, sit in on rehearsals, help cast plays."

In the middle of that, my playwriting career really took off. Right, Jonathan? I feel like you were there when I got the call for the Humanitas Award, so Jonathan was really there pre-all the fancy stuff. I really saw the trials and tribulations of being a Black organization and was like, "Oh, they need some more freaking resources." You know what I mean?

JM: The beauty of what Ngozi got to experience was the original facility, and in experiencing the original facility, she had this beautiful opportunity to be kind of, as I like to say, baptized, or washed, or cleansed with Dr. Teer's, I think, ultimate journey into how art can radically transform the heart and minds of folks.

NA: When you get there and you see everything, it alsoas an artist who works in just many different spaces and navigates many spacesit also just gives you the confidence to walk into any space and take that with you. You go in there, and you go, "Okay, I know I have a home, and I know that I can also emulate this too. I can also be a home for people."

And so, for me as a playwright, as a director, as a performer, I always now really do think about how am I being a welcoming space. If I'm walking into the Atlantic [Theater Company] and I'm employing my other actors as a playwright, how do I encapsulate what I've encountered?

JM: During the shutdowns throughout the pandemic, art was the thing that helped make sure our various spacesour living rooms, our corners, our outdoor spaceswere filled with life and filled with the vibration that allowed for us to remember, especially in New York, why we chose to live here. Why we are continuing to think and imagine differently.

We have a show running right now called Fat Ham, and what's really quite remarkable is that I think people are leaning into the presence of joy inside of theatrical space because they need joy right now. To be liberated inside of a joyful, laugh-filled space where you are hearing other people laughthere's a healing there. It's healing to find that common bridge, and theater does that like no other art form ever will.

The necessity of theater is that it helps to build microcommunities that share a common experience that opens up the heart, awakens the mind, and allows us to see a future in a nuanced way that we potentially never saw before. Art has shown us its unique value through the pandemic, and art is showing us as we get out of the shutdown the need to help us triage the psychic distance that the words social distancing did.

Maria Baranova

SL: I would just say that art has always been a catalyst for change. It's incredible to be in a conversation right now with someone like Ngozi who was been incredibly productive throughout the pandemic. The gift and magic of artists is that they are able to translate what we're all experiencing in a way that brings folks together. I truly believe that the way that we make systemic change starts at home. So this idea that through storytelling, you can change the hearts and minds of folks, policy soon follows.

A show like Fat Ham is not only a joyous story, but to tell this Black Southern queer story while legislation is being passed that says you can't say gay in Florida, we as artists and cultural institutions have this incredible opportunity of having heart-centered conversations that begin to shape the culture by which folks see themselves and are able to see all of our humanity.

The gift and magic of artists is that they are able to translate what were all experiencing in a way that brings folks together.

The University of Pennsylvania has been doing lots of studies on various communities, New York City in particular, and arts and culture drive down crime, so public safety is increased with the proximity to arts and culture. Education numbers go up when students are exposed to art programming. Mental health issues are combated through the arts, whether it's arts therapy or the exposure to arts. When we think about our community of the deaf and disabled population, they find access to the fullness of the textures of humanity through the ability to experience themselves in the ways that the kind of storytelling that arts and culture does.

NA: Essentially, I think what has always happened is that Black art, Black music, has always been the pioneer, and then other places, institutions, bite off of those things. I'm hoping that other organizations start pouring resources into Black institutions, not just taking from them, not just taking their artists, not just taking their ideas. What I'm hoping is that artists will want to go into that place, and then also pour back into that place.

SL: I can't remember if it's Martin Luther King or Malcolm X that said integration is like running into a burning house. I think we have firsthand experience that the American Dream is a nightmare for many of us. Folks are having more conversation about self-care, and in the rest and restoration of those meditations, they find that they want to be able to feel safe. As the news amplifies that you're not safe at church and you're not safe at grocery stores and you're not safe in schools, one thinks, Where does my exhale not only feel good, but feel safe? Black spaces and Black cultural spaces have become our churches. They have become our living rooms. They have become all of these things.

Spaces like NBT need to be protected, because we are the new American Dream.

It's not about the place, it's about the idea that we are forever holding this really big space for all of us to be fully, totally, and wholly Black. Spaces like NBT need to be protected, because we are the new American Dream, a bastion of liberation and freedom sans a white lens. I think that that feels really good right now where nothing feels safe.

JM: I think it's a very great question. NBT has a prudent track record of both of them showing up. One allows for this experiment of creating this beautiful oasis that has a fortress to it, and the other one has a narrative of creating a beautiful oasis that has an invitation to it. I would lean into the invitation of it all, only because race is a construct that actually divorces us of an indigenous practice.

Just because all of us on this Zoom come from the Black or the African tradition, we all have different relationships to Blackness. And those different relationships to Blackness are our own indigenous IP. Race says that I'm supposed to know you, but I might not actually know you. So then, I'm actually creating harm by putting that swath over it, versus saying that my people, who might not all have my same skin tone, have my same passion, care, and clarity, and vision for humanity to win.

If the quest is to unleash soul, soul doesn't have a color. If I want to see humanity win and not an individual race and not another kind of supremacy win, and I don't want to create supremacy with another name or from another vantage point, then I also have to reckon with the ways in which I even curate, cultivate, and live in an anti-Blackness POV. And if I'm not willing to reconcile that also, then I'm, again, going back to that place that I'm putting the swathiness saying that because I'm Black, I create no harm, when actually, I'm human, and humans create harm because of the conditions in which they're birthed out of.

SL: It's actually essential that our audiences not only look like us, they look like the world. Not because of the validation that may come, but the idea that we don't want to just preach to the choir, we want to preach to every choir. And coming into that relationship with our soul journey allows folks to see themselves in the journey, and then we all can eventually get free.

Courtesy of NBT

NA: I just have an even bigger question, which is, How do we not have to walk into a space where we feel like we have to protect this thing? I think we're so used to people taking that it's easy to walk into a space and be like, "I have to worry that you're going to take from me." But at the end of the day, it's like, "How do I, as an artist, liberate myself to know that my job is actually to give it away?" I cannot control who takes in my gift. I cannot control who identifies with it, who is honored by it, who writes me a wonderful letter, who wants to produce it. My job is to share this.

How do we, as Black people, really get to this place where we're not so worried about other people, when really our job is to share this work? It really is to spread the gospel of our hearts and do it wherever we can, however we can, as fervently and as honestly as we can. Double down on what it is that you believe, what it is that you're trying to say, and that's the only way you can protect yourself.

Whats really important about National Black Theatre is that it awakens the consciousness of what is possible and turns the impossible into possibility.

JM: What's really important about National Black Theatre is that it awakens the consciousness of what is possible and turns the impossible into possibility. For Black dancers, the ability to know that there's an Alvin Ailey working at the realm and the scale at which Alvin Ailey works creates possibility. Even if they never work at Ailey, they can imagine their body, their craft, their company to potentially get to that scale. It creates a different North Star. National Black Theatre is positioned to become that North Star for Black artists. It casts a new ceiling that gets to get cracked. As Ngozi says, advance culture with innovation and also share culture at a wider and more generous aperture.

NA: I hope it's a blueprint to tell artists and to tell institutions how they can change and how they can pivot, spiritually and artistically.

I'm going to big up my man, Jonathan. There's been such growth and evolution in you that has really made you push that place forward, and Sade, pushed that place forward. And to see, "Oh, you can do a lot in a little bit of time. You can do a lot with no building still. You can do a lot online." You can go from being a place that was seemingly ignored by PWIs, but when quarantine happened, you both really became the leaders in conversation. It's a blueprint for building and growth. When you see that, as Jonathan was saying, you then also begin to ideate and imagine how you, too, can grow.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

This story was created as part of Future Rising in partnership with Lexus. Future Rising is a series running across Hearst Magazines to celebrate the profound impact of Black culture on American life, and to spotlight some of the most dynamic voices of our time. Go to oprahdaily.com/futurerising for the complete portfolio.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

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The National Black Theatre Steps into the Future - Harper's BAZAAR

PRESS RELEASE - 14 June 2022 17h45 CET - Regulated information

Consolidated annual information on the financial year 2021/22

Revenue increases slightly, market share grows

Operating profit and net result under pressure

Halle, 14 June 2022

General

Colruyt Group's current year result evolution was impacted by specific effects:

the Belgian foodservice partner Culinoa(*) and of the Belgian fitness chain JIMS(*). The services Culinoa provides are complementary to the activities of Solucious, Colruyt Group's foodservice specialist. JIMS operates 27 fitness centres in Belgium and Luxembourg, which also offer group exercise classes and digital coaching.

Both have been fully consolidated since respectively April and May 2021, which has contributed to the consolidated revenue. The impact on the operating profit and the net result is limited.

Consolidated annual information on the financial year 2021/22

page 1 / 27

https://www.colruytgroup.com/wps/portal/cg/en/home/investors

PRESS RELEASE - 14 June 2022 17h45 CET - Regulated information

I. Financial report

A. Consolidated income statement

1/04/2021

1/04/2020

(in million EUR)

-

-

Variance

31/03/2022(1)

31/03/2021(2)

Revenue

10.049

9.931

+1,2%

Gross profit

2.752

2.792

-1,4%

% of revenue

27,4%

28,1%

Operating cash flow (EBITDA)

741

850

-12,9%

% of revenue

7,4%

8,6%

Operating profit (EBIT)

375

523

-28,3%

% of revenue

3,7%

5,3%

Profit before tax

383

521

-26,5%

% of revenue

3,8%

5,2%

Profit for the financial year

288

416

-30,8%

% of revenue

2,9%

4,2%

Earnings per share (in EUR)(3)

2,16

3,06

-29,4%

Colruyt Group's revenue rose to over EUR 10,0 billion in 2021/22. Revenue was positively impacted by the revenue increase from the fuel distribution activities of DATS 24 (excluding petrol, revenue decreased by 2,0%) and the full consolidation of the new entities. On the other hand, the revenue evolution was negatively affected by the food store volumes being under pressure following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and by the discontinuation of the non-food sales through the Collishop website (as from October 2020).

Colruyt Group's market share in Belgium (Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay and Spar) rose to 30,8% in the financial year 2021/22 (30,6%(**) in 2020/21). At the start of the financial year 2022/23, the market share maintains its upward trend.

The gross profit margin decreased to 27,4% of revenue. Excluding petrol, the gross margin improved by 12 basis points. The full consolidation of the new entities had a positive impact on the gross margin.

In the financial year 2021/22, the Belgian retail market was characterised by a competitive market environment, in terms of both price and promotions. The last months of the financial year were marked by price increases, which the group tries to limit as much as possible for the consumer by thoroughly analysing every price increase request and by entering into consultations with the suppliers.

At the start of the financial year 2020/21, the gross profit margin was positively impacted by lower promotional pressure following the ban on promotions and discounts in Belgian supermarkets.

Consolidated annual information on the financial year 2021/22

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https://www.colruytgroup.com/wps/portal/cg/en/home/investors

PRESS RELEASE - 14 June 2022 17h45 CET - Regulated information

Net operating expenses climbed from 19,6% to 20,0% of revenue. The increase is mainly the result of rising inflation on all key financial statement items, such as employee benefit expenses and energy costs, the full consolidation of the new entities and the group's ongoing investments in its employees, high-qualityhouse-brand products, sustainability and digital transition. The increase is also explained by the one-off positive effect of EUR 31 million in the first half of the previous financial year 2020/21 (resulting from the contribution of Eoly's renewable wind energy activities into the energy holding company Virya Energy).

Further COVID-19-related costs were incurred in 2021/22, including additional benefits and days of leave that the group granted to its employees in sales, logistics and production as a token of gratitude for the efforts made. In the second half of 2021/22, following a decision of the Belgian government and the various agreements concluded at sector level, Colruyt Group granted to its employees a one-time compensation (the so-called 'corona bonus') in the form of consumption vouchers, for a total amount of approximately EUR 12 million.

The operating cash flow (EBITDA) amounted to 7,4% of revenue (8,3% in 2020/21 excluding the gain realised on the contribution of Eoly Energy).

The depreciation, amortisation and impairment charges rose by EUR 38 million. The increase is mainly attributable to the full consolidation of the new entities (EUR 14 million) and to the continuous investments in stores, production and distribution centres and transformation programmes.

The operating profit (EBIT) totalled EUR 375 million or 3,7% of revenue in 2021/22 (5,0% in 2020/21 excluding the gain realised on the contribution of Eoly Energy).

The share in the result of investments increased to EUR 6 million in 2021/22 (EUR -4 million in 2020/21). The increase is explained by the 2020/21 result that was adversely impacted by The Fashion Society and Vendis Capital due to the COVID-19 health crisis. This was partly offset by the higher result generated by Virya Energy in 2020/21.

The effective tax rate increased from 20,0% to 25,2%. The evolution of the effective tax rate is partly explained by one-off effects, such as the exempted gain on the contribution of Eoly Energy into Virya Energy in the previous financial year.

Excluding the gain realised on the contribution of Eoly Energy in the financial year 2020/21, the profit for the period decreased by 25,3% from EUR 385 million (3,9% of revenue) to EUR 288 million (2,9% of revenue).

The Board of Directors will propose a gross dividend of EUR 1,10 per share to the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Consolidated annual information on the financial year 2021/22

page 3 / 27

https://www.colruytgroup.com/wps/portal/cg/en/home/investors

PRESS RELEASE - 14 June 2022 17h45 CET - Regulated information

Revenue from the retail activities declined by 1,7% to EUR 8.165 million. The retail activities accounted for 81,2% of the consolidated revenue in financial year 2021/22.

The food retail revenue in Belgium, France and Luxembourg reported significant volume gains (offline and online) in the food stores in the financial year 2020/21 as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis. In the financial year 2021/22 however, the food retail revenue was marked by declining volumes in food stores due to the combination of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and a competitive market environment in terms of both price and promotions. Notwithstanding this revenue decrease, the market share of Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay and Spar in Belgium grew to 30,8% (30,6% in 2020/21).

In addition, the food retail revenue was impacted negatively by the discontinuation of the non- food sales through the Collishop website (as of October 2020) and positively by the full consolidation of Roelandt Group (as of January 2022).

Revenue of Colruyt Lowest Prices in Belgium and Luxembourgdeclined by 3,0%. The revenue performance was primarily impacted by the competitive market environment. The last months of the financial year 2021/22 were mainly marked by price increases which Colruyt Lowest Prices tries to limit as much as possible for the consumer, the consumer's financial situation being something that Colruyt Lowest Prices feels very strongly about. Colruyt Lowest Prices therefore continues to consistently implement its lowest prices strategy and delivers on its brand promise day after day.

In the financial year 2021/22, investments in the modernisation of 17 existing stores continued and a new Colruyt store in Luxembourg and a second Colruyt Professional store in Drogenbos were opened.

OKay, Bio-Planetand Crureported an aggregate revenue decline of 8,6%.

OKay opened five new stores in 2021/22, including one in Ghent with a new innovative store concept that allows customers to shop for groceries 24/7 (OKay Direct). Several stores were renovated this financial year, as in previous years. OKay thus continues to invest in convenience and in high-quality and fresh products.

For twenty years already, Bio-Planet has been a pioneer in sustainability with a large range of organic and eco-friendly products and healthy food. Bio-Planet wants to make conscious consumption more accessible and continues to focus on Belgian and local products.

For the Cru multi-experience markets in Overijse, Ghent and Antwerp, artisan products and customer experience, combined with craftsmanship, remain at the forefront while they pursue their efforts to improve operational efficiency.

The revenue of Colruyt in Francerose by 4,5%. Excluding petrol, Colruyt's revenue in France declined by 2,4%. Last financial year, the revenue was positively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, especially in the second half of the year.

Three stores were divested near Paris and four new stores were opened in the last quarter of 2021/22. Colruyt Prix Qualit is a clearly laid-out neighbourhood supermarket, where customers can find everything they need for their daily and weekly shop.

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Colruyt N : Consolidated annual information on the financial year 2021/22 - Marketscreener.com

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Think about trying to have a conversation with someone going through a bad break up. Or grieving. Or even just totally preoccupied with a new job or local drama. Its tricky, right?

Well, if youre a marketer, thats your job right now. From the war in Europe to the lingering pandemic to swelling climate anxiety across the globe, consumers have more on their minds than ever. Theyre also more digitally savvy, climate aware, and socially consciouswhich means messaging that worked in the past is likely to fall flat today.

To make sense of the changing landscape in outdoor-industry marketing, we spoke to experts across the space about how theyre updating their messaging to rise above the noise. Here are five strategies that get a thumbs-up from the pros.

When it comes to trends, brands focusing on values-first marketing is top of the list, says Ben Herman, president and co-founder of the agency Mad Fish Digital, based in Portland, Oregon. For his clientswhich include several outdoor brands like Pacific Yurts and Solmate SocksHerman says the triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet is quickly becoming the new norm.

As a whole, people are starting to change the paradigm of the shiny-new-product messagethe Mad Men, ad-agency style of marketing, adds Aileen Ottenweller, head of brand and business impact at Patagonia. Consumers today are wise to glib copywriting. Instead, they want moral substance and ethical leadership.

Brands, especially in the private sector, are playing a bigger role in how our society is being shaped, Ottenweller says. For Patagonia, a large part of its values-based marketing involves promoting responsible consumer behavior. To wit: The brand recently rolled out a customer-facing email signature with tips on how to identify ethical productsat Patagonia or elsewhereto aid smarter buying decisions. The brand also leverages its catalog and blog to share stories of inclusivity and environmental stewardship. The point of those stories is not to sell anything, per se, but simply to plant a flag that says, This is who we are. This is what we care about.

Of course, that kind of move is easier for Patagonia, which found its voice decades ago and stuck to it. If your company doesnt yet have a strong ethical purpose, Tentree founder David Luba says the best way to create one is by finding an attainable goal you can work toward, one that will really make a difference.

A boy shows off an upcycled Patagonia jacket saved from the landfill.(Photo: Donnie Hedden / Patagonia)

These days, theres so much technology available to verify what a company is doing and whether that work is authentic, Luba says. You have to make sure youre not just throwing money at something. You need to actually be solving a problem.

Tentree, for example, has promoted its mission of being environmentally restorative (the brand plants ten trees for every product sold, offsetting the carbon costs of production) since its founding in 2012. A few years after the company got off the ground, the team invented a verification software called Veritree to track tree plantings and shed some light on the process. A decade later, Tentree is known across the industry as the tree-planting company; its mission is tied inextricably to its brand identity.

If youre honest about what you specialize in, you can be honest about what you dont specialize in, says Luba. Thats what creates authenticity in a brand. I think well see more of that in the future, because nothing is more valuable and sought after than an authentic brand.

People keep saying theres going to be more consolidation in the outdoor industry, but Im not buying it, says Mark Boles, founder of the outdoor-lifestyle shop Intrinsic Provisions in Hingham, Massachusetts. Instead, Boles sees a resurgence of cottage brands, the artisan economy, and hyper-local products. Consumers, he feels, are tired of the unrelenting sameness that characterizes big-box chains like REI and Dicks. As the outdoor market matures, people are learning to trust smaller brands that fit their personal style and reflect their values.

A great example: One of Boles best-selling brands is Vermont Glove, which makes goat-leather accessories for $80 to $140 a pop. The products are high quality and the look is trending, but thats not necessarily why theyre selling, Boles says. Vermont Glove leans hard into its reputation as a hyperlocal, family-owned business. From the brand name itself to the Made in Vermont Since 1920 slogan on its packaging, the companys image resonates with proud New Englanders. To drive the point home, Vermont Glove isnt shy about advertising that its leather is sourced from American farms, or that it invests in homegrown community projects.

Another good example is Parlor Skis, a made-to-order ski company in Boston. Parlor builds its products from scratch according to customers exact specifications, complete with colorful, personalized top sheets. Want skis stamped with portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or the view from your childhood back porch? Parlor can do that. The goods arent cheap, but people are willing to pay for the brands artistic touch and small-batch feel. Plus, says co-founder Mark Wallace, bespoke gear is an instant conversation piece: Its a story on every lift.

Parlor Skis customers show off their one-of-a-kind creations.(Photo: Parlor Skis)

Big-box stores and online giants are also starting to take heed of the little guy trend. Brands like Backcountry and Black Diamond are now working hard to customize each new store they build to suit their respective locations. Every time we go into a new market, we try to really listen to what the people in the community care about, says Chris Purkey, Backcountrys head of Gearheads and retail. To do that, the brand partners with local nonprofits and other organizations that support the communitys values. Public Lands has a similar program, donating volunteer time and cash to conservation nonprofits that work in its stores immediate vicinity.

The takeaway: If youre a small brand with just a few employees, or a really scrappy startup, tell that story. Flaunt the benefits of being small. Advertise the amount of attention youre able to give to each product that goes out the door. Customers will reward you for it.

Its not just customers who are hungry for interaction as we emerge from the pandemic. According to Eric Henderson, CEO of Meteorite PR in Boulder, Colorado, media and business partners are equally starved for in-person events. That leaves experiential marketingand face-to-face PRpoised for a big comeback.

According to Henderson, Meteorite has seen huge success from its Adventure Camp concepta miniature industry bash held near Meteorites headquartersand its new media demo at Colorados Eldora Ski Area, for this very reason. Both events provide an opportunity for gear designers, reps, and media to rub elbows and try the latest gear from Meteorites clients. The interaction is huge, says Henderson. Its super valuable to journalists because it gives them long leads on stories, and it helps PR develop relationships with media they can tap into when exciting news comes up.

Retailers can get in on the action, too. Outdoor Divas, a Vail ski shop that caters exclusively to women, holds demo days throughout the season. The events are some of the shops most successful marketing efforts, according to store founder Kim Walker. We have women trying 10 or 12 pairs of skis in a day, Walker says. Its a great experience for them, its hugely educational for our employees, and it drives traffic and sales to us as well.

Or, if youre a brand, you can cut out the middleman and get into the experience game directly. After years of pandemic-driven hiatus, Fjllrven is bringing back its Classic Series in the summer of 2022, hosting large group backpacking trips for customers in six countries. And Parlor Skis has relaunched its build-your-own-ski classes to help people understand what goes into a custom setup.

Experiences are fundamental, says Henderson. Sharing the natural world is why were all in this business to start with. If youre not sharing nature personally with someoneif youre just doing it through digital or social mediaI think youre missing the point.

And, we would add, a big business opportunity.

Over the past five years, consumers have become wary of digital marketing strategies and the way their data is being usedand with good reason. These days, a large number of consumers are suspicious of tech giants like Meta, whose data many marketers rely on for ad targeting. The way consumers see big tech companies is changing, says Rebecca Heard, VP of brand, marketing, and e-commerce for evo, an 11-door retailer with stores in the U.S. and Canada. Customers in the outdoor spacewho may be especially mindful of the choices they makedont want us fueling big tech companies growth.

That leaves marketers scrambling to find alternative ways to source the data required to provide the level of ad personalization consumers have come to expect. The solution to this digital paradox? For one thing, Herman at Mad Fish Digital encourages his clients to use Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), which allow brands to manage their own cookies without having to go through a third party like Meta. First-party data collection, Heard agrees, is fast becoming the norm, especially as CDPs become more affordable for smaller brands.

The trick to using CDPs successfully, Herman says, is transparencyboth in your privacy policy and on those now-ubiquitous website popups. You have to be really explicit, he cautions, in letting customers know youre tracking browsing patterns using first-party cookies. The message users need to understand is that youre not selling their data, or using it in a nefarious way. It needs to be crystal clear that youre using it only to heighten customer experience.

There are other ways to do it. Some brands, like Backcountry, are exploring loyalty programs that give customers added value on their purchases in exchange for data. Other brands are polling customers through surveys. Evo is experimenting with a new SMS text message program to alert customers about events near them. More low-tech than ad targeting, SMS campaigns can nevertheless provide intimate connections with customers using data that many companies already have.

Of course, the goal is to not annoy the customer, Heard says. If you spam them, theyre going to block you or unsubscribe. But if you use their data mindfully and with permission, theyll come back and shop with you again.

In 2017, The North Face partnered with Spotify to release an exclusive song only available in rainy weathera campaign that coincided with the launch of a new rain shell, the Apex Flex GTX. In 2021, the brand partnered with Sonos Radio, releasing soundscapes from some of the worlds most extreme adventure destinations.

Collaborations offer a great opportunity to bring in that element of surprisethat breakthrough element that gets people to stop scrolling for a moment and see what were doing, says Mike Ferris, VP of global brand management at The North Face. Cross-industry collabs also help outdoor companies reach new consumers, adds Herman, especially those who might not consider themselves outdoorsy, per se.

An ad from The North Face for the Apex Flex GTX jacket, whose launch coincided with a North Face / Spotify partnership the release of a special song only available in rainy weather.(Photo: The North Face)

Merrells chief marketing officer, Janice Tennant, says evidence of crossover power has long been a growth-driver at her brand. We already see the Merrell Moab [one of the companys best-selling shoes] all the time in airports and in the streets, she says, adding that Merrell customers figured out on their own that the brands products are suited to more than just outdoor activities. The evolution were seeing, though, is brands not being afraid of telling that story, says Tennant.

Collabs also provide a way for brands to support nonprofits, affinity organizations, and artists of colorand theyre not limited to big corporations. Running brand Janji, for example, commissions print designs from Indigenous and local artists for each of its activewear collections. Vermont-based ski accessory brand Skida also has an extensive partnership model and has collaborated with DEI-focused cycling team Legion of Los Angeles, sunglass brand Pit Vipers, and Alaska-based fishing brand Salmon Sisters, among others.

I think [collaborations] are just going to gain momentum, Herman says, specifically combining outdoor content with lifestyle.

Marketing is moving from a solely campaign-based model to an always-on model. Well still need larger campaigns to break through the noise, but between those peaks, we have to have these other momentswe have to continually surprise and delight the consumer through unique partnerships, earned media, and press.Mike Ferris, VP of global brand management at The North Face

I think well see the trade show model die or become outdated. Between that, tariffs, and supply chain issues, we cant keep marketing products eight months in advance. People dont want to read about gear until its available to them. So I think well start seeing earned media, press releases, and similar things launched on a rolling basisnot just in big gear guides that happen twice a year.Eric Henderson, CEO of Meteorite PR

Were seeing a [messaging] shift from this idea of the outdoors as an individual pursuit to a community one. It was colonization over time thatturned [the outdoors] into this individualistic thing instead of the religious, communal space that it was in the past. Thats changing.Mark Boles, owner of Intrinsic Provisions; former advertising and marketing strategist

I think well start to see more micro-influencers rather than macro ones. Customers are getting savvy. They know when someone who has a bunch of followers is just trying to push product. I dont think ambassadors will go away, but the space is maturing.Ben Herman, president of Mad Fish Digital

More:
Outdoor Industry Marketing Trends of the Future - Outside Business Journal

Updated In one of the many ongoing age discrimination lawsuits against IBM, Big Blue has been ordered to produce internal emails in which former CEO Ginny Rometty and former SVP of Human Resources Diane Gherson discuss efforts to get rid of older employees.

IBM as recently as February denied any "systemic age discrimination" ever occurred at the mainframe giant, despite the August 31, 2020 finding by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that "top-down messaging from IBMs highest ranks directing managers to engage in an aggressive approach to significantly reduce the headcount of older workers to make room for Early Professional Hires."

The court's description of these emails between executives further contradicts IBM's assertions and supports claims of age discrimination raised by a 2018 report from ProPublica and Mother Jones, by other sources prior to that, and by numerous lawsuits.

On Friday, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas granted the plaintiff's motion for discovery in Schenfeld v. IBM, an age discrimination claim filed in late 2018.

The judge's order [PDF] covers Exhibit 10, which "contains emails that discuss the effort taken by IBM to increase the number of 'millennial' employees."

"An email dated June 10, 2016 was sent by [former] IBM employee Erich Clementi, SVP of sales and distribution, Chairman Europe, which contained the term 'dinobabies' that was used to describe older IBM employees," the order says, referencing the ageist pejorative that surfaced without attribution in February as part of another age discrimination case, Lohnn v. IBM.

"Furthermore, the push to increase the number of millennial employees and decrease the number of older employees was the subject of several emails involving Ginny Rometty, the predecessor Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and Diane Gherson, who was SVP for Human Resources."

The judge's order continues, "The emails contained within Exhibit 10 evidence an interest at the then CEO-level to change the profile of IBM employees so that it reflected a younger workforce. The core issue presented in this case is whether Plaintiff [Eugen Schenfeld] was illegally separated from IBM due to his age. Therefore, the relevancy of these emails to this litigation is pronounced."

The emails were sent during the April 24, 2016 and July 30, 2017 time frame, some of which included John Kelly, SVP and Director of IBM Research, who is among the defendants in the lawsuit. The plaintiff, IBM research scientist Eugen Schenfeld, alleges that he was ousted in 2018 as part of "Project Concord," one of many IBM workforce reductions, which Big Blue refers to as "Resource Actions."

In a different age discrimination claim, Kinney et al. v. IBM, the plaintiffs' recent discovery request reveals just how many "Resource Actions" IBM has implemented from 2014 through 2020. At least 71 of them have been identified in a recent court filing [PDF].

The codenames for these layoffs are listed as follows:

Rometty stepped down as CEO on January 1, 2021 and was replaced by Arvind Krishna. She was then hired as consultant at IBM, at a rate of $20,000 per day if she provides four or more hours of services, or $10,000 otherwise.

IBM shareholders appear to have become unhappy with the way the company has been dealing with allegations of past misconduct.

Two-thirds of IBM shareholders voting on proposals at the company's annual meeting in April supported a measure to require the company to produce a public report on the financial risks arising from its use of concealment clauses that limit what workers can say about workplace misconduct.

That same month, a group of IBM investors sued IBM for securities fraud, alleging that the company misreported mainframe sales to inflate executive bonuses. That complaint led to four similar lawsuits filed by firms representing other investors.

IBM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The trial date for the Schenfeld case is scheduled next month.

After this story was published, an IBM spokesperson got back to us and reiterated past statements about the lack of age discrimination at the company.

"The facts of the matter have not changed: there was and is no systemic age discrimination at IBM and the data back that up," IBM's spokesperson said. "Further, with regards to the Schenfeld case, age played no role whatsoever in this individual's departure."

More here:
IBM ordered to hand over ex-CEO emails plotting cuts in older workers - The Register

Express News Service

A good story can be likened to a vortex. It has the potential to draw everything towards it. Filmmakers Pushkar-Gayatri, Bramma and Anucharan hope to pull us all into one such vortex with the world they have created for Amazon Prime Videos Tamil original, Suzhal.

Four independent and focused voices have come together to make an eight-episode series that hopes to open the floodgates for Tamil content to become global. While Pushkar and Gayatri have written the series, Anucharan and Bramma are directing four episodes each. Here are the four in conversation about this ambitious web series:

Excerpts from the conversation

Unlike our neighbouring industries, filmmakers in Tamil cinema are expected to carry the burden of Kadhai, Thiraikkadhai, Vasanam, and Iyakkam. How was it to move out of that vortex to create Suzhal?

Pushkar: Initially, we were supposed to direct the series, but due to prior commitments, we had to hand the responsibility into the able hands of Bramma and Anucharan.

Gayatri: It was almost like giving up our own child for adoption. But then, we reconciled with the fact that for long-form storytelling, it is better to get more like-minded people as collaborators.

Bramma:It is indeed their baby, and it was a huge responsibility to take care of Suzhal properly. It is important that the child grew up the way Pushkar and Gayatri envisioned too.Anucharan: It helped us focus all our attention on one craft, and actually enhanced my love for filmmaking.

Pushkar: In fact, we see our films as hugely collaborative pieces. Anyone from the cast and crew can walk up to us with their suggestions. Also, with Anucharan and Bramma on board, we not only knew of their work but loved it too. Their idea of drama felt right for Suzhal.

Gayatri: Yeah, we neither wanted the pitching of the drama to be too artsy or indulgent nor too over-the-top. It needed a natural pace of drama.

Pushkar: I think thats where the observational skills of Bramma and Anucharan came into play.

Bramma: It helped that the philosophies in Suzhal, the character motivations, etc gelled well with my own vision. I think Suzhal has given me the belief that such collaborations are good for me.

With content getting ever bigger, there is now a vortex of pressure to make everything pan-Indian or even pan-world. Is this development freeing or restrictive?Gayatri: How much ever we market our stories as pan-Indian, what really matters if the audience puts in that effort to see it.

A: Truth be told, it is only after Amazon Prime Video saw the series that they decided to take it to so many territories.

P: The reason why there is almost a derogatory feel to the pan-Indian tag is that a lot of such content being churned out has its story and setting in a nameless, faceless space. What has really worked in the pan-Indian market are stories that are firmly rooted in our time and space. See, people across the world are willing to see stuff from everywhere. The best international content is not just in English anymore. There needs to be a universality of emotions and rootedness in our stories.

From the glimpses into the world of Suzhal, it is clear that each of you has moved away from the vortex of comfort zones

Pushkar: We did not even cross Chennai city limits in our previous films. For Suzhal, we went to Ooty and Kodaikanal. Even Suzhal was initially set in Chennai, but we took a conscious decision to move out of the city. With our writing in the past three films, we always focus on one plot idea. However, with writing for OTT, we could let our story flow in multiple directions. There is an investigative drama as the plot engine, and how a particular crime affects the inhabitants of the fictional town of Sambalur lead to some fascinating detours.

Gayatri: This is also the first time we have dealt with family dynamics in our writing. It began as a feature film idea in 2014-15, and we knew it couldnt be contained in a couple of hours. OTT hadnt yet reached our shores then, but we knew it would eventually, and we waited for the right time to expand Suzhal to its present format.

Bramma: In fact, Anucharan and I were the last entrants into team Suzhal. The principal casting, and the core technical crew were all in place.

Anucharan: For the shows seamlessness, they had to make such decisions.

Pushkar: But credit to Anucharan and Bramma for gelling with the team almost instinctively.

Gayatri: I am glad that they didnt really lose sleep over not having their own team and agreed to work with a largely unfamiliar setup. If they had gone down that rabbit hole, there would have been no end to our discussions.

Having been part of mainstream and not-so-mainstream cinema for so many years, the prospects offered by OTT would definitely have been enticing. How do you see the evolving vortex of the OTT medium?

Bramma: It is almost like everyone in cinema worked towards building this world. Heres a world that is more than just the hero or the heroine. It is a world built on the importance of story and screenplay. This is the evolution we have been waiting for.

Anucharan: We see smaller actors get roles that have convincing and fulfilling character arcs. That is their dream, which almost never happens in films.

Gayatri: When television shows first came into existence, we had interesting stuff happening. But then, there was a downward spiral. OTT is a new-age medium, and we want to do something significant to stay on top of things right from the word go.

Anucharan: But we also have to be very careful. We cant afford to waste this medium. Everything must be properly planned and executed, and with Suzhal, we hope to have made that all-important first step.

See the original post here:
INTERVIEW| Into the vortex with Amazon Prime Videos Tamil original, Suzhal - The New Indian Express

Trigger Warning: Discussions on sex, asexuality, and desire.

Everyone who loves horror has a soft spot for final girls. Though there are many that I gravitate toward, the one that holds the lock and key to my heart is Suspirias Suzy (1977). Entering a world of wicked whimsy and intimacy, Suzy navigates the dark facets of desire, but she doesnt quite fit in. You can probably see how, as an asexual person, that journey feels somewhat familiar to me. Suzy is just one of the many empowering final girls rebelling and surviving throughout the vast spectrum of horror storytelling.

Final girls, while usually providing a virginal non-sexual presence for the audience to root for, navigate hyper-sexual worlds and learn to survive against the odds. It was because of the final girl that I, too, learned to survive a hypersexual world. By altering my reading of the final girl, seeing her not as virginal or pure, but as an asexual presence, my world shifted. The final girl gave me the tools I needed to survive.

When I was thirteen years old, I fell in love. I stared at the large poster for Jennifers Body (2009) outside my local cinema. It was kept safe from my innocent and exploratory fingertips behind a thin layer of plastic. I thought Megan Fox was the prettiest girl Id ever seen, but I wasnt old enough to watch the film. Months later, after eagerly awaiting its release, I finally saw Jennifers Body, a film about Jennifers transformation into a demonic succubus, and her best friend from childhood, Needy. The film, being absolutely ahead of its time, explores the facets of intimacy and power that run deep in female relationships and sexual relationships with boys and men.

Needy, while not very traditional, became my first encounter with a final girl. She was the antithesis of the films titular character, Jennifer, who, for the most part of the film, was a horny and murderous succubus occupying the body of a teen girl. While the bisexual in me understood I wanted to hold hands with Jennifer (and Needy, and Chip), the undiscovered asexual part of me fawned over daydreams of sandbox love and how it would last forever.

Needy made sense to me because she represented a sort of intimacy Id scarcely seen anywhere else. She rejected the sexual norms I was being confronted with, but still explored and investigated desire in the hypersexual world she wandered through, where, for many women and girls, sex becomes currency.

As someone at the cusp of their coming of age years, Needy gave me realisation. This was a final girl who was soft and wanted me to understand that there were different sorts of love and intimacy.

Five years later, It Follows (2014) made its debut. I wasnt a gawky teenager anymore. I was a fully-fledged eighteen-year-old who was starting to suspect she was a little bit asexual. While the world picked apart my asexuality, my peers started asking me if it was a phase, if Id had the right sex, and if I could love as other humans did. Id pushed myself to explore sex and desire, even if it hurt me, whilst simultaneously retreating from meaningful intimacy. But candidly, in the most simple words I can find, I felt ashamed about being asexual (and bisexual, too).

It Follows, reminiscent of Craven and Carpenter, overtly tackled the complex subject of human desire and our relationship to sex. The story follows Jay, who loses her virginity under false pretences, and soon afterwards is pursued by a superhuman creature that, as the title suggests, follows her at an unending, unwavering walking pace. With murderous intentions, the creature murders each sexual partner down a chain of which Jay is now a link. This was a story that pushed me to explore how decisions and impulses are often satisfied, navigated, and driven by human libido, survival instincts, and desire.

Every scene felt like a pressure cooker, pushing me to ponder the anxiety and shame that form around the subject of body and sex. Jay, (who wears the ghost of Carol Clovers traditional final girl on her sleeve) became a vehicle to explore shame as she fought to survive the confines of an anxiety-fuelled, sex-conscious world.

Whilst still trying to understand my identity (and how to exist as I was), It Follows confronted me with the deeply rooted hypocrisy that our world frowns upon both the presence and absence of desire. It loves and hates it in the same breath. Jay taught me that understanding the expression, desire, intimacy, and coming of age isnt always beautiful. Sometimes its ugly, and you must embrace the ugliness to survive. Its part of the journey.

On a warm summer night sometime later, I watched Friday the 13th (1980). It felt wrong watching it beneath a fading blue sky, in dry August air. It was the sort of heat that would only be satisfied upon removing all your clothes, but I sat, uncomfortable, in the black turtleneck Id pulled off a coat hanger when the morning had a slight chill. Throughout the viewing, despite my cheeks burning red and my forehead glistening with a sheen of sweat, the jumper stayed firmly wrapped around my upper body.

I watched Alice, this very traditional final girl, move through a world in which the presence of desire is frequently punished, only to get to the end to know that the absence of it is also punished, too. In this beautiful hot summer, there was something amiss under the surface. This world, dark, camp, and twisted, communicates an exaggerated view of the way society views sex and desire by punishing characters who both do and do not display interest in sex, stalking them equally around Camp Crystal Lake, machete in hand.

Alice, the nonsexual presence and final girl of Friday the 13th, navigated the trauma of trying to exist in a sex/desire-obsessive world. As Alice interacted with her peers, who were mostly horny youngsters, I realised, sweating inside that thick black turtleneck, that Id been punishing myself for rejecting desire. As little boy Jason burst out of the lake and embraced her, it struck me: I was suffocating.

Alice was a final girl that responded to her fear with denial until the threat became too lethal to ignore. Even at the beginning of Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Alice is killed having still not confronted the lingering fear of Jason. This was a final girl that wanted me to embrace the messy. The moral of the story? While I watched this movie, I got a heat rash. I wish Id just taken my jumper off and embraced the heat.

The first time I met Suzy, Id slipped into one of the velvet seats at my local independent cinema for a 35mm showing of Suspiria (1977). The cinema was half-filled with odd bods. Me and my friend, Sarah (who is a life-long admirer of this film), sat side by side, anxiously awaiting the dimming lights, and the one-of-kind score by Goblin.

I have a soft spot for Suzy. From the moment we got off the plane together in the middle of that frightful storm and made our way to the unsettling and uncanny German dance school, The Tanz Dance Academy, I knew we would be lifelong companions.

The moment Suzy steps onto this uncharted terrain, where desire and dark whimsy tempt her at every turn, she experiences a strange, dissociative sickness. Whilst taking her time to explore every facet of this strange academy, understand the value of physical expression, and commune with all the strange and fantastical women that reside there, Suzy is confronted with a singular truth: she does not belong.

What I identified with is the experience of systemically having sexualisation and desire thrust upon me, trying to accept it, and becoming damaged as a result. Watching Suzy reject this desire (which is presented through images of body horror, dark crafts, and the occult) and reject the systemic power spoke deeply to my innate impulses as a human person. In those red velvet seats, surrounded by the scent of stale popcorn, and the sounds of gasps, I held my breath.

This response to desire, intimacy, fear, expression, and exploration was fascinating because it taught me that just like gender and sexuality, desire is also a spectrum. Though Suzy rejoices in the presence of other women, which I understood as a bisexual woman, I could relate to her fear of being confronted by forms of expression that werent in her nature.

Suzy gave me a full understanding of desire, expression, and intimacy, enough to piece together a sense of knowing I was who I was. I was asexual and that was okay. Because the umbrella of asexuality is so broad, Suzy and Suspiria helped me understand the different facets and layers of wanting, which for me was more dependent on emotional intimacy without anything physical. Suzy told me to hold on to the magic, love ardently, but be unafraid in setting boundaries where I needed them. My body was mine and if I didnt want it to be used in certain ways, it would stay untouched.

Max, who appears in The Final Girls (2015), embodies the modern final girl, whilst also loving and respecting her predecessors. She is a final girl for everyone, for all sorts of women/people existing with their different impulses of desire and expression.

The Finals Girls is a love letter to the evolution of the final girl through pop culture. In this film, Max and her scrappy group of friends are transported into a campy, 80s slasher (called Camp Blue Finch), featuring a character played by her (since-passed) Mum. Max and her friends, alongside the cast of the film they exist within, are procedurally picked off one by one as Billy Murphy brings them to a gruesome end.

The first time I watched this film, unlike any of the other films, I watched it alone. I turned off the lights, curled up on the couch with a cup of tea, some cookies, and my Snuggie, and pressed play. From the score reminiscent of Friday the 13th and the mock trailer for Camp Blue Finch, it had me. In this love letter to genre cinema, I thought of all my friends who sit at different stops across the spectrum of desire, and how, even though we want different things, we still love each other, protect each other, and empathise with each other.

This final girl is self-aware whilst still being a non-sexual presence. Shes vulnerable, but still in control. And, interestingly enough, she experiences a vast range of intimacy throughout the film. Whether its friendship, familial, or romantic connections (without sexualisation), she embraces all forms of love that she experiences throughout the film, but stays true to who she is, unwilling to change herself to please others. Unapologetically.

Max gave me self-discovery and self-understanding. I think its only natural to reject what doesnt reflect or validate your own experiences, but she taught me to embrace who I was and simultaneously embrace others, too. My read of this film was about a nonsexual presence (an asexual) standing up for those who differ from her in their identities because were so much stronger when we look out for each other.

I often wonder if I have what it takes to become a final girl. Its because of Max, that if I ever feel a little bit lost in the obscurity of life, I sing Bette Davis Eyes, gather my strength, and live to fight another day.

Thank you to the final girls, from Aliens Ripley (1979), to Ready or Nots Grace (2019), and beyond. Whether theyre the traditional final girls from the shlock horror we love, or a new subverted take, we love you no matter what form you come in.

The spectrum of desire and expression is for everyone to explore in their own way. We all have our struggles with love, connection, and desire, and were all trying to survive these small battles. Storytelling through the lens of horror is just another way to see and validate these personal tribulations and fears. Those who understand horror know how fear manifests and how it feels to navigate it alone.

Ultimately, this is what it comes down to: The final girl is a fiction, so we, those who feel a little lost somewhere in the obscurity of the margins, can make her whoever we need her to be in order to survive. Do you want to reclaim the final girl? Just repeat after me: The final girl is strong. The final girl is independent. The final girl knows what she wants. The final girl is asexual.

The final girl, no matter what, survives.

See the rest here:
How I Reclaimed the Final Girl as an Asexual - Dread Central

Source: Shutterstock

Climate change is a serious challenge for businesses, but marketers may be doing too little to address it. Results from the February 2022 edition of The CMO Survey show only one-third of surveyed companies have incorporated climate change issues into their brand strategies or have specific marketing goals related to climate change.

Strikingly, nearly 40% of companies are taking no climate-related marketing actions.

These number are more encouraging in the UK where 57% of companies have incorporated climate change into brand strategies and only 19% are taking no climate-related marketing actions. Nevertheless, these statistics are disconcerting given many climate change leaders believe time is growing short to effect major change and protect the planet for future generations.

So why are so many marketers falling behind on climate action? Findings from The CMO Survey provide several possible explanations.

Companies are less likely now than before the pandemic to take actions to reduce the negative impact of marketing-related activities on the ecological environment, except for a small increase in willingness to change their brands.

In February 2020, survey results showed that 73% of marketers reported they were changing products and/or services to reduce the negative impact of marketing-related activities on the ecological environment. However, this number dropped by 30% two years into Covid. This is likely because many marketers took on additional time-sensitive and mission-critical responsibilities during the pandemic, such as accelerating digital initiatives.

Close to 50% of marketers surveyed say its difficult to communicate ideas about climate impact to customers or partners. Marketers may reason that if they cannot articulate climate priorities to those they work most closely with, it may not be worth the risk and cost of moving forward with these initiatives.

Only one third of marketers believe their companies will be rewarded for taking climate-related actions, and only a quarter report their customers are willing to pay a higher price for more climate-friendly offerings. Thats likely accurate for the short term as the rising cost of raw materials, finished products and services shift buying behaviours.

Just 19% of marketers report their companies have adopted climate-related metrics. This makes it difficult to understand where the company stands on climate issues and limits the ability to act strategically.

If Davos is any indication of the larger tenor of thinking about climate, companies may be worried the tide is turning against climate activism and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The line between sound forward-looking business strategies and woke capitalism may be too difficult for many business leaders to walk and they are pulling back.

Despite these discouraging results, CMO Survey data offers several bright spots. First, the largest companies, both in terms of annual sales revenue and number of employees, are doing more on the climate action front.

Larger companies are more than twice as likely as the average size company to have explicit goals related to their impact on climate change. This could be due to a combination of internal pressure from employees, external pressure from investors and the public, and leaders desire to future-proof their businesses and be good stewards in the communities they serve.

Regardless of the reason, we think this should bode well for the future because larger companies often blaze the path for smaller companies and entire industries to follow.

Marketers can help lead companies by providing research and case studies on how adopting climate metrics leads to business innovation, operational efficiency, and other forms of competitive advantage.

An example is Unilevers Dove brand, which announced an ambitious plan to reduce plastic waste by 2025. Not only is the plan designed to reform the brands own plastic footprint with stainless-steel refillable deodorant sticks and other product changes, it is also hoping to push the broader cosmetics industry towards a more sustainable future.

Second, marketers report their customers and partners are in fact shifting demand to more climate-friendly products and services (57.5%) and demanding more transparency on climate impact (51%).

Interestingly, the demand for climate-friendly products/service is stronger among B2B Services (69.6%), indicating business customers will likely drive changes that may then influence the B2C product sector.

At the same time, the demand for transparency is stronger among B2C-product companies (59.1%), pointing to an opportunity to communicate more clearly with consumers.

Third, more than half of marketers believe making climate-related changes to products/services will not change their customers experience. This should make it easier for companies to change their products and services without requiring complex explanations that may turn some consumers off.

Companies can no longer treat climate change solely as a matter of corporate responsibility or a branding opportunity. Responding to and preparing for climate change is a fundamental business problem and those companies that do not prepare will face shareholder and stakeholder risks. Given this, what role, if any, should marketing leaders play?

Give marketers climate responsibilities. A key marketing responsibility is to capture and respond to the voice of the customer. Therefore, we expect that if marketers have an increasingly larger role to play in climate, companies will engage in more actions.

Our results support this idea. Astoundingly, only 24% of companies report that reducing climate change is currently part of marketings job responsibility (this is 39% in the UK). However, in companies in which reducing climate change does fall under marketing, 71% of companies have explicit goals related to climate change. This number drops to 22% when marketers do not have this responsibility. Thus, marketers are the logical choice to help lead this important duty for their companies.

Lead on climate metrics. Despite the current pushback, we expect ESG reporting to become the norm and companies that regularly communicate their efforts to combat climate change will have an advantage.

And although many companies do not have climate-related metrics in place now, we think this will change as consumers continue to push for transparency.

Marketers can help lead companies by providing research and case studies on how adopting climate metrics leads to business innovation, operational efficiency, and other forms of competitive advantage. This effort will be meaningful to consumers and other stakeholders, as well as elevate marketings role in the company.

Focus on the long-term. Nearly half of marketing leaders believe their companies are unwilling to make short-term financial sacrifices to reduce their environmental impact. This is cause for concern, but it is also an opportunity to focus the climate conversation on the long-term.

Marketing leaders need to point out the long-term gains to the companys stakeholders that are and will be affected by climate change if they do not act to forestall what seems like an almost inevitable future.

Studying the long-term concerns among stakeholders and building a stronger understanding of how the company can work together with these individuals and organisations is an important role for marketers because they have the strongest connection to the external world.

This is going to take some work, however. CMO Survey research shows only a third of marketers focus on preparing for the future as opposed to managing the present. We encourage marketers to shift their focus to the future as one way to gain traction on climate issues.

Leverage constraints to innovate. Research shows companies often innovate well in the presence of constraints. Marketing leaders should capitalise on climate pressures to encourage their organisations to think about new business models that might also help their companies solve other challenges or that improve the companys chance of leaping ahead of competitors.

Other innovations may be less dramatic but equally effective, including redesigning products to have a lower carbon footprint, collecting waste and reusing it in new products, developing reusable packaging and more.

Internal selling. It is challenging that almost half of marketers believe their companies are unwilling to make short-term financial sacrifices to reduce their environmental impact. Marketers may first find they need to sell sustainability internally before they try to sell it externally. This means first identifying the value proposition to internal parties and then shoring up evidence about positive effects.

A white paper by ADEC ESG Solutions on this topic also recommends starting at the top with the C-suite, building a coalition by recruiting advocates, and highlighting success stories internally and among competitors.

The sooner companies adapt their marketing strategies to the reality that there is no planet B, the better off they and our environment will be.

Nudge customers. At present, only a quarter of companies use strategies to nudge customers or partners to accept climate-related policies. Marketers need to use their considerable knowledge of consumers to shift behaviours.

In one incredible example, researchers showed that using social influence tactics in hotels to persuade customers to reuse towels by asking guests to Join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment increased towel reuse by 33% over standard Help save the environment pleas.

Another example is P&Gs marketing campaigns for Tide and Ariel to encourage consumers to wash clothes in cold water to save money on energy bills and protect the environment.

Partner with customers. Marketing leaders can also view climate action as an opportunity to deepen their relationships with customers.

Alipay, a popular Chinese online and mobile payment platform, launched its Alipay Ant Forest project to work together with customers to reduce its emissions and plant trees throughout China. The initiative has been wildly successful, attracting more than 600 million users since its launch in 2016.

Use storytelling for climate action. Climate technologies may be effective, but companies need a story to connect with customers. The 2022 Super Bowl featured more climate-related ads than ever before, with seven focused on electric vehicles (EVs).

Generating significant buzz, Hyundais History of Evolution commercial for the fully electric IONIQ 5 takes the viewer through an evolutionary journey. Staring Justin Bateman, it starts with cavemen, stops by the invention of the first map, the telephone, early TVs and the first electric car to eventually reach the IONIQ, showing off its features while speeding down a scenic road.

Through well-known historical milestones and tongue-and-cheek humour, Hyundai was able to capture the attention of consumers in a very compelling way that other companies may want to take a page from.

Empower employees to innovate. Workers at the PG Tips tea factory led the company to reduce the size of tea bags in order to save paper (and money). Years later, sustainability continues to be one of its main selling points.

Harnessing ideas from workers just makes good business sense because they know the products and services well and may see opportunities missed by managers.

Likewise, engaging employees in this way is very motivating and could have additional downstream productivity and retention benefits.

Avoid greenwashing. But these actions must be credible, meaning marketers should not advocate for change and help to develop the story of change unless companies are ready to walk the talk by making fundamental aspects to their business and product strategies. That means rethinking raw material suppliers, changing product formulations, creating physical-digital products, finetuning logistics, and more.

For example, fashion brand H&M received considerable pushback for the marketing of its Conscious Collection when it was found that its products were not made of as sustainably sourced materials as H&M claimed.

Falling behind on climate action is no longer an option for companies. Playing catch up will, we predict, become costlier over time as the effects of climate change become more apparent and permanent. In fact, lawsuits aimed at greenhouse-gas emitting companies are a growing trend.

This is an especially exciting moment to lead on this front as the Biden administration in the US increasingly favours an approach to combating climate change that gives the private sector a more prominent seat at the table.

The sooner companies adapt their marketing strategies to the reality that there is no planet B, the better off they and our environment will be.

Christine Moorman is the T Austin Finch, senior professor of business administration, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. She is founder and director of The CMO Survey and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Marketing.

Katie Hinkfuss is a second-year MBA student at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a fellow for The CMO Survey.

A complete set of UK results can be viewed here, and you can also sign up to participate in the next CMO Survey.

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Marketers are the logical choice to lead on sustainability - Marketing Week

Annual Awards Program Recognizes Top Mindful Companies, Services and Products Within the Packaged Goods Industry

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB)JUNE 08, 2022

The 2022Mindful Awards Program, an independent recognition platform highlighting conscious companies and products that mindfully make waves in the ever-expanding world of consumer-packaged goods, today announced that Annie Ryu ofjack & annies, a sustainable plant-based brand made from a real, whole plant, jackfruit, has been recognized as Mindful CEO of the Year.

As the global pioneer and leader in jackfruit products and farm-to-market jackfruit supply chains, jack & annies frozen and refrigerated products are available nationwide and gaining in popularity amongst both plant-based and meat-eating consumers. The company makes sustainable plant-based foods from a real whole plant: jackfruit. Annie Ryu, its founder and CEO, is committed to creating craveable, whole plant foods that shake up the CPG industry one innovation at a time.

Ryu discovered jackfruit while visiting India to implement a maternal and child healthcare program as part of her Harvard pre-med studies. First encountering jackfruit at a street vendors stand, she became inspired by the potential of the tasty, meaty plant to make a healthy difference for people and the environment. She switched gears from medicine to food and has since worked relentlessly to help popularize jackfruit as an ideal meatless innovation, all while building a supply chain that efficiently transports jackfruit from India to the U.S.

Currently, there are 8,000 new acres of certified organic land where new jackfruit trees have been planted. Additionally, with 70 percent of jackfruit globally going unused, by creating jack & annies, Ryu has helped to keep thousands of tons of jackfruit out of compost.

Ryu was also careful to build her jackfruit supply chain in order to ensure farmers could create income and realize better livelihoods. Today, jack & annies supports a straight-from-the-farmer supply chain that helps 1,500 families earn 10-40 percent of their income.

After only one year on the market, jack & annies is a top 10 brand in the natural channel, and a top 10 nugget brand in grocery in the meatless alternative segment.

In addition to building consumer interest for at-home consumption, jack & annies aims to drive interest and innovation within the foodservice space. By incorporating jack & annies products into recipes and menus, restaurateurs and foodservice operators can contribute to a sustainable food system, while preventing food waste and offering consumers delicious, whole-plant foods.

The future of food is taking shape around whole-plant foods, such as jackfruit, with jack & annies intending to play a central role in this evolution. Ryu and her team are working towards positioning jack & annies as the first whole-plant offering available to consumers nationwide, in both restaurants and major grocery retailers. In an increasingly saturated market of plant-based meat alternatives, Ryu is differentiating the category with one jackfruit based product at a time.

Im overwhelmed with gratitude to receive this award. Ever since I took up the mission to convert an underutilized crop to nutritious, delicious food, and an income stream for farming families in India, the wonder of jackfruit keeps inspiring me, said Ryu. I have never been afraid of a challenge, but I had no knowledge or connections in the food industry and no formal business education or prior experience. What I did know is that the next generation of plant-based foods should be real food that comes from a real plant. This makes it possible to transform the global food system for the better. Im committed to crafting tasty foods that deliver the benefits of plants to improve the health of our bodies and the planet as well as the livelihoods of our farmers.

The mission of the Mindful Awards program is to honor conscious companies and products that do whats right for people and the planet. Recognizing the best in transparent, fair, natural, organic, sustainable, healthy and delicious products. This years program attracted more than 1650 nominations from companies all over the world. All nominations are evaluated by an independent panel of experts within the consumer-packaged goods industry, with the winning products and companies selected based on a variety of criteria, ranging from brand principles, environmental impact, health, taste and transparency.

Many plant-based brands primarily use water, isolates, or other chemically processed ingredients leading to highly processed products. Additionally, 70% of jackfruit has hitherto gone unused a huge shame as this underutilized crop is tasty and nutritious being high in fiber and low in calories, said Travis Grant, Managing Director, Mindful Awards. Annies approach is creating a more responsible and sustainable food system. By using full container load ocean freight to get their food from India to North America in the most carbon efficient way, and always working to improve the land by planting trees and promoting regenerative agricultural practices, she is an industry leader with a clear vision for her brand and the future of food. Annie embodies the qualities of a Mindful CEO Of The Year.

jack & annies products are currently in over 3,000 stores.

About Mindful AwardsThe Mindful Awards organization is devoted to honoring mindful companies in the consumer-packaged goods industry that are setting the foundation for our future. The Mindful Awards are devoted to providing a forum for public recognition around the achievements in categories Food, Beverage and Snacks, Supplements, and Leadership. Mindful Awards goal is to further expand recognition of mindful companies. For more information visitMindfulAwards.com.

About jack & anniesjack & annies made by The Jackfruit Company, was founded by Annie Ryu, and is on a mission to create real, delicious foods with great flavor and texture in a sustainable way by using jackfruit, an underutilized crop. The Jackfruit Company operating the largest global jackfruit supply chain, is a leader in R&D and now accounts for over 70% of all retail jackfruit products sold. jack & annies is more than just a plant-based brand that creates a delicious alternative to meat, it is made from a whole plant grown on a tree with jackfruit always as the first ingredient. From crispy jack nuggets to savory breakfast jack sausage patties, the brand offers foods that are satisfying for meat eaters and plant eaters alike. Bite-by-bite, jack & annies builds a better planet and supports farming communities in India by preventing an underutilized crop from going to waste and provides over 1,200 farming families with 10-40% of their income. For more information on jack & annies, visithttp://www.jackandannies.comor follow them onInstagram,Facebook, and Twitter@jackandannies.

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jack & annies Annie Ryu Named Mindful CEO of the Year In 2022 Mindful Awards Program - Food Industry Executive

Digital photography heralded an evolution, not just in how we capture images but also how we consume them. This change eventually rendered shooting on film all but redundant in a commercial capacity as professional photographers made the switch to digital.

The game-changer was that digital allowed rapid delivery of images. Online content is instant and printed media has arguably suffered as a result. Social media and smartphones played their part too, as content creation was no longer exclusive to pros or media companies.

Prerequisite skills aside, the ability to quickly take, edit and share an image online meant that everyone had the potential to become a photographer and to generate an income from their photos or social media content. Expectations changed and the industry with it, but still film refused to die.

Even today there's a debate among professional and hobbyist photographers about film vs digital, so which is best? Ultimately the answer depends on what you shoot, how you shoot and the aesthetic that you like, but the best cameras (opens in new tab) and the the best film cameras (opens in new tab) might help you to decide.

Resting dormant from the collective consciousness of many photographers, film has always retained a loyal and passionate fan base. Now, many are returning to this once abandoned medium. Why? Matt Parry shares what makes film so special and whether switching back to the tried and tested methods could work for you.

About Matt Parry

Matt is an award-winning travel photographer and a regular contributor to a range of magazines. His love for film was reignited by his day job as marketing manager for Ilford.www.mattparryphoto.com (opens in new tab)

Who is shooting film and why?

Much of todays increased demand for film stems from passionate enthusiasts a large proportion of whom fall into a younger demographic of 18- to 35-year-olds. This audience grew up with digital and so working with film is a refreshing antithesis.

Companies wanting to tap into this demographic are also embracing film, particularly when commissioning editorial, lifestyle and fashion-based content. Outside of these genres, there is increasing use amongst photographers, particularly those specialising in wedding, documentary and portrait images.

One thing that most pro film shooters have in common is that they will do so alongside digital, swapping between mediums as necessary, often using digital as a safety net, which is useful given the fallible nature of film.

In genres where digital excels, it may seem odd to choose film. But those preconceptions can be used to great effect as a way to differentiate from the competition. Take the case of Joshua Paul, who photographs the F1 pitlane using a 1913 Graflex 4x5-inch camera or David Burnett who photographed Donald Trumps 2019 impeachment hearings on a large 1940s wooden 4x5-inch box camera. Neither photographer would suggest theirs was the most convenient way to capture images, but both achieved international recognition as well as stunning results that differed from those of their digital peers.

As those examples attest, being able to competently shoot film is undoubtedly another string to a photographers bow. The ability to flex and switch between mediums for the right project is a differentiator and, in a competitive industry, differentiators are valuable commodities.

While not all projects are commissioned, some professional photographers shoot film for personal or passion projects. This is a way to diversify and satiate their own interests in film without being beholden to a client. Film is distinct enough from the digital day job to retain the pleasure and enjoyment of making pictures while the images go on to form part of their portfolio, showcasing a preferred style of shooting to prospective clients.

Indeed, some photographers have garnered critical acclaim through personal projects. Alys Tomlinson, an editorial, design and advertising photographer, won the Sony World Photographer of Year in 2018 for her Ex Voto project all shot on black and white film. Craig Easton, another British editorial and advertising photographer, won the same title in 2021 for his Bank Top project, again shot on film.

However, the move back to film isnt just for photographers. Major motion pictures are still being made on film, including blockbusters such as the latest James Bond and Star Wars movies or award-winning TV series, such as Succession. Presumably, a preference of the director, cinematographer or movie studio because it enables the aesthetic they want to achieve. Perhaps, though, it is simply just their preferred medium.

What films are still being made?

There are three formats of film still manufactured on a large scale 35mm(135), medium format (120 roll film) and large format sheet film. These are available in color negative, black and white negative and color reversal (slide) films.

Want to buy the best film for 35mm cameras (opens in new tab)?

Big names, such as Kodak and Ilford, are the primary manufacturers with a large selection of films covering the major formats, while another familiar name, Fujifilm, is still around but with a heavily consolidated range.

Increased demand has also seen the emergence of relatively new but popular brands, such as CineStill and Lomography, who repurpose emulsions, including motion picture and surveillance films, into cassettes and rolls.

If I decide to start using film, should I shoot in black and white or color?

Using black and white film is a conscious choice you make at the outset of any shoot and thinking and seeing in black and white is a great learning experience. Black and white offers the widest choice of films, is the most affordable, readily available and is perfect for both new and experienced shooters. It is easiest to home develop and print in the darkroom, which in turn provides an extra level of creative control over the final image. Ilford, Kentmere, Kodak and Foma are the main brands to consider.

On the other hand, color film ranges from consumer to pro standard with a few quirky options thrown in for good measure. It is typically more expensive, particularly at the pro end. Kodak dominates color film with a superb choice at both ends of the market, while Fujifilm, CineStill (repurposed Kodak motion picture film) and Lomo are excellent alternatives.

Do I need to be a pro photographer to make money from film?

There are many ways to generate an income through film photography, whether in a professional or semi-professional capacity. Entrepreneurs have set up and run small labs or learnt how to give new life to old analogue film cameras, while others have sold their silver gelatin prints at art fairs.

Given that there is currently an increased level of interest in film photography, many photographers have turned to education, running courses on shooting, processing or printing, while there are plenty of YouTubers and bloggers generating income through film-only content.

This buoyant segment of photography, which is refreshingly non-reliant on technology and innovation, has given rise to an adjacent industry of complementary, often crowd-funded, products. Emerging companies now manufacture 3D large-format cameras and use the latest LED lighting for scanning or enlargers. They have also reinvented cold shoe light meters as well as devices to help the scanning of negatives with digital cameras.

What about film cameras?

Countless different film cameras were made over many decades, creating an abundance of choice. Unlike digital cameras and its sensor, film cameras are essentially light-tight boxes. Form, build quality, functionality and lens choice are the key differentiators to consider.

Check out: the best film cameras (opens in new tab)

Many pro shooters will opt for a higher-end medium format camera, such as a Pentax, Mamiya or Hasselblad, to benefit from the larger negative, but options are admittedly more limited here as demand has increased and prices surge. There are, however, plenty of superb 35mm cameras, some early precursors to modern DSLRs, while the manual-only models of the 1970s are more fun to shoot. For the ultimate in image quality, a large-format camera might be the way to go

There are plenty of bargains to be found, with eBay and Facebook Marketplace being good starting points for any search and to get an indication of prices. However, for peace of mind and a warranty, it is worth considering a specialist second-hand film camera retailer.

How do I develop my films?

For ease and convenience, you can send your films off to a lab that offers developing, scanning and printing services. However, for maximum control over your negatives, particularly black and white, home processing is a great option. It is affordable, easy to do and allows you to choose a specific developer to bring out your desired characteristics. All the equipment and chemicals for home developing are readily available and there is plenty of how to help and guidance online.

How do I digitize my negatives?

Most labs will offer a scanning service at different tiers from low to high-res. This is the most convenient route if outsourcing the processing. If you home process or want greater control over your scans then use your digital camera and a macro lens mounted onto a copy stand or tripod.There's also the best film scanners (opens in new tab).

You will need a good light source to backlight your negatives and something to keep them completely flat. You can find examples of DIY setups online or invest in one of the many options that have hit the market recently from companies such as Negative Supply, Valoi, Pixl-Latr and others.

When scanning negatives, especially color, you will also need some software to convert your raw files into positive images. Film Lab app and Negative Lab Pro are the two leading options while flatbed scanners normally come bundled with their own proprietary software.

Scan your old film with the Plustek OpticFilm 8100 scanner

Should I attempt to do darkroom printing?

One of the biggest differentiators between film and digital is the tangible nature of the medium. Having a negative allows you to make a darkroom print, which is one of the most creative, fun and rewarding aspects of film.

Here's the best darkroom equipment (opens in new tab)

Unlike inkjet prints, silver gelatin prints are unique, handmade and have greater permanence, which means they have greater value either when selling or offered as an added-value service. It is easier than you may think to set up a temporary or permanent darkroom at home, while it is also possible to rent time in darkrooms around the country.

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Ilford's pop-up darkroom (opens in new tab)The best film for large format cameras (opens in new tab)The best professional cameras (opens in new tab)

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Is film better than digital photography in 2022? We asked an expert - Digital Camera World

PTI, Jun 14, 2022, 9:00 AM IST

We often imagine that human consciousness is as simple as input and output of electrical signals within a network of processing units therefore comparable to a computer. Reality, however, is much more complicated. For starters, we dont actually know how much information the human brain can hold.

Two years ago, a team at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, US, mapped the 3D structure of all the neurons (brain cells) comprised in one cubic millimetre of the brain of a mouse a milestone considered extraordinary.

Within this minuscule cube of brain tissue, the size of a grain of sand, the researchers counted more than 100,000 neurons and more than a billion connections between them. They managed to record the corresponding information on computers, including the shape and configuration of each neuron and connection, which required two petabytes, or two million gigabytes of storage. And to do this, their automated microscopes had to collect 100 million images of 25,000 slices of the minuscule sample continuously over several months.

Now if this is what it takes to store the full physical information of neurons and their connections in one cubic millimetre of mouse brain, you can perhaps imagine that the collection of this information from the human brain is not going to be a walk in the park.

Data extraction and storage, however, is not the only challenge. For a computer to resemble the brains mode of operation, it would need to access any and all the stored information in a very short amount of time: the information would need to be stored in its random access memory (RAM), rather than on traditional hard disks. But if we tried to store the amount of data the researchers gathered in a computers RAM, it would occupy 12.5 times the capacity of the largest single-memory computer (a computer that is built around memory, rather than processing) ever built.

The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons (as many stars as could be counted in the Milky way) one million times those contained in our cubic millimetre of mouse brain. And the estimated number of connections is a staggering ten to the power of 15. That is ten followed by 15 zeroes a number comparable to the individual grains contained in a two meter thick layer of sand on a 1km-long beach.

A question of space If we dont even know how much information storage a human brain can hold, you can imagine how hard it would be to transfer it into a computer. Youd have to first translate the information into a code that the computer can read and use once it is stored. Any error in doing so would probably prove fatal.

A simple rule of information storage is that you need to make sure you have enough space to store all the information you need to transfer before you start. If not, you would have to know exactly the order of importance of the information you are storing and how it is organised, which is far from being the case for brain data.

If you dont know how much information you need to store when you start, you may run out of space before the transfer is complete, which could mean that the information string may be corrupt or impossible for a computer to use. Also, all data would have to be stored in at least two (if not three) copies, to prevent the disastrous consequences of potential data loss.

This is only one problem. If you were paying attention when I described the extraordinary achievement of researchers who managed to fully store the 3D structure of the network of neurons in a tiny bit of mouse brain, you will know that this was done from 25,000 (extremely thin) slices of tissue.

The same technique would have to be applied to your brain, because only very coarse information can be retrieved from brain scans. Information in the brain is stored in every detail of its physical structure of the connections between neurons: their size and shape, as well as the number and location of connections between them. But would you consent to your brain being sliced in that way? Even if would agree that we slice your brain into extremely thin slices, it is highly unlikely that the full volume of your brain could ever be cut with enough precision and be correctly reassembled. The brain of a man has a volume of about 1.26 million cubic millimetres.

If I havent already dissuaded you from trying the procedure, consider what happens when taking time into account.

A question of time

After we die, our brains quickly undergo major changes that are both chemical and structural. When neurons die they soon lose their ability to communicate, and their structural and functional properties are quickly modified meaning that they no longer display the properties that they exhibit when we are alive. But even more problematic is the fact that our brain ages.

From the age of 20, we lose 85,000 neurons a day. But dont worry (too much), we mostly lose neurons that have not found their use, they have not been solicited to get involved in any information processing. This triggers a programme to self-destruction (called apoptosis). In other words, several tens of thousands of our neurons kill themselves every day. Other neurons die because of exhaustion or infection.

This isnt too much of an issue, though, because we have almost 100 billion neurons at the age of 20, and with such an attrition rate, we have merely lost 2-3% of our neurons by the age of 80. And provided we dont contract a neurodegenerative disease, our brains can still represent our lifelong thinking style at that age. But what would be the right age to stop, scan and store? Would you rather store an 80-year-old mind or a 20-year-old one? Attempting the storage of your mind too early would miss a lot of memories and experiences that would have defined you later. But then, attempting the transfer to a computer too late would run the risk of storing a mind with dementia, one that doesnt quite work as well.

So, given that we dont know how much storage is required, that we cannot hope to find enough time and resources to entirely map the 3D structure of a whole human brain, that we would need to cut you into zillions of minuscule cubes and slices, and that it is essentially impossible to decide when to undertake the transfer, I hope that you are now convinced that it is probably not going to be possible for a good while, if ever. And if it were, you probably would not want to venture in that direction. But in case youre still tempted, Ill continue.

A question of how

Perhaps the biggest problem we have is that even if we could realise the impossible and jump the many hurdles discussed, we still know very little about underlying mechanisms. Imagine that we have managed to reconstruct the complete structure of the hundred billion neurons in Richard Dixons brain along with every one of the connections between them, and have been able to store and transfer this astronomical quantity of data into a computer in three copies. Even if we could access this information on demand and instantaneously, we would still face a great unknown: how does it work? After the what question (what information is there?), and the when question (when would be the right time to transfer?), the toughest is the how question. Lets not be too radical. We do know some things. We know that neurons communicate with one another based on local electrical changes, which travel down their main extensions (dendrites and axons). These can transfer from one neuron to another directly or via exchange surfaces call synapses.

At the synapse, electrical signals are converted to chemical signals, which can activate or deactivate the next neuron in line, depending on the kind of molecule (called neuromediators) involved. We understand a great deal of the principles governing such transfers of information, but we cant decipher it from looking at the structure of neurons and their connections.

To know which types of connection apply between two neurons, we need to apply molecular techniques and genetic tests. This means again fixating and cutting the tissue in thin slices. It also often involves dying techniques, and the cutting needs to be compatible with those. But this is not necessarily compatible with the cutting needed to reconstruct the 3D structure.

So now you are faced with a choice even more daunting than determining when is the best time in your life to forego existence, you have to chose between structure and function the three-dimensional architecture of your brain versus how it operates at a cellular level. Thats because there is no known method for collecting both types of information at the same time. And by the way, not that I would like to inflate an already serious drama, but how neurons communicate is yet another layer of information, meaning that we need much more memory than the incalculable quantity previously envisaged.

So the possibility of uploading the information contained in brains to computers is utterly remote and might forever be out of reach. Perhaps, I should stop there, but I wont. Because there is more to say. Allow me to ask you a question in return, Richard: why would you want to put your brain into a computer? Are our minds more than the sum of their (biological) parts? I may have a useful, albeit unexpected, answer to give you after all. I shall assume that you would want to transfer your mind to a computer in the hope of existing beyond your lifespan, that youd like to continue existing inside a machine once your body can no longer implement your mind in your living brain.

If this hypothesis is correct, however, I must object. Imagining that all the impossible things listed above were one day resolved and your brain could literally be copied into a computer allowing a complete simulation of the functioning of your brain at the moment you decide to transfer, Richard Dixon would have ceased to exist. The mind image transferred to the computer would therefore not be any more alive than the computer hosting it.

Thats because living things such as humans and animals exist because they are alive. You may think that I just stated something utterly trivial, verging on stupidity, but if you think about it there is more to it than meets the eye. A living mind receives input from the world through the senses. It is attached to a body that feels based on physical sensations. This results in physical manifestations such as changes in heart rate, breathing and sweating, which in turn can be felt and contribute to the inner experience. How would this work for a computer without a body? All such input and output isnt likely to be easy to model, especially if the copied mind is isolated and there is no system to sense the environment and act in response to input. The brain seamlessly and constantly integrates signals from all the senses to produce internal representations, makes predictions about these representations, and ultimately creates conscious awareness (our feeling of being alive and being ourselves) in a way that is still a total mystery to us.

Without interaction with the world, however subtle and unconscious, how could the mind function even for a minute? And how could it evolve and change? If the mind, artificial or not, has no input or output, then it is devoid of life, just like a dead brain.

In other words, having made all the sacrifices discussed earlier, transferring your brain to a computer would have completely failed to keep your mind alive. You may reply that you would then request an upgrade and ask for your mind to be transferred into a sophisticated robot equipped with an array of sensors capable to seeing, hearing, touching, and even smelling and tasting the world (why not?) and that this robot would be able to act and move, and speak (why not?).

But even then, it is theoretically and practically impossible that the required sensors and motor systems would provide sensations and produce actions that are identical or even comparable to those provided and produced by your current biological body. Eyes are not simple cameras, ears arent just microphones and touch is not only about pressure estimation. For instance, eyes dont only convey light contrasts and colours, the information from them is combined soon after it reaches the brain in order to encode depth (distance between objects) and we dont yet know how.

And so it follows that your transferred mind would not have the possibility to relate to the world as your current living mind does. And how would we even go about connecting artificial sensors to the digital copy of your (living) mind? What about the danger of hacking? Or hardware failure? So no, no and no. I have tried to give you my (scientifically grounded) take on your question and even though it is a definite no from me, I hope to have helped alleviate your desire to ever have your brain put into a computer.

I wish you a long and healthy life, Richard, because that definitely is where your mind will exist and thrive for as long as it is implemented by your brain. May it bring you joy and dreams something androids will never have.

(By Guillaume Thierry, Bangor University Bangor. The Conversation)

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When will I be able to upload my brain to a computer? - Udayavani English