Tens of thousands of companies from startups to Fortune 50 corporations, mom and pop shops to megaconglomerates are currently undergoing digital transformation. One common pitfall is not understanding the true requirements of adapting to the digital economy.

Transformation isnt only about technology; it requires a behavioral change, which makes cultural metamorphosis as important to a successful digital journey as choosing a cloud strategy. Shaking up the workforce is one way to make this happen.

You learn from all the talent around you and the way people think differently about problems, said Christine Heckart (pictured, left), chief executive officer of Scalyr Inc. That synergy often creates magical outcomes.

Geeta Schmidt(pictured, right), chief executive officer of Humio Ltd., agrees with Heckart.Celebrate peoples differences. [You should]feel comfortable and safe when youre coming with an opposite viewpoint because the diversity of thought is really what were trying to include.

Heckart and Schmidt spoke with Sonia Tagare, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Medias mobile livestreaming studio, in two different interviews during the CloudNOW Awards event in Menlo Park, California. Both women were presented with a Top Women in Cloud awardduring the event.

Picking one key value and focusing on it is important to build a cohesive company culture, according to Heckart. At Scalyr,this value is care.We really strive to have a culture that encourages people to care about each other and care about the companys mission, she said.

This means prioritizing customer experience and product quality but also has wider implications. [We] also care about the environment and care about the community and care about peoples lives outside of the day-to-day work job, Heckart added.

Being the CEO of a start-up is an exhilarating experience, according to Heckart. She draws inspiration from her co-workers and the employees she supervises.

Were a company by engineers for engineers; and engineers innovate to change the world, she said. Every day is different, and every day is fun.

Heresthe complete video interview with Heckart:

As one of Humios founders, Schmidt found her input was an integral part ofthe companys success. Yet alongside the excitement came challenges as she stepped out into male-dominated territory. She remembers her early days raising capital for Humio.

I walked into a venture capital event where there were no other female CEOs, she said. There were a hundred CEOs, and I was the only [woman].

Schmidt overcame her fear and proved herself as a CEO. Now she wants to help other women join her in the executive suite. This means taking active stance toward making the workplace more welcoming for women and minorities.

All employees, at every level, should feel like they can reveal their authentic self during work hours, according to Schmidt. This means bringing together folks that dont look like each other, wear exactly the same clothes, and do the exact same hobbies and come from the same country, she said.

Another way to help create a supportive work environment for women is throughevents such as CloudNOW, where women come together to share experiences and help one another. Id like to see more of [where] we actively create environments and communities for that to happen, Schmidt said.

Heres the complete video interview with Schmidt:

Becoming a C-suite executive led Schmidt to a revelation on how the concept could be applied in her personal life.I realized I probably need my own personal board, my own sort of support infrastructure, she said.

Gathering a diverse network pulled from family, friends, and career contacts gave her a safe place to gain advice and share experiences. The personal board isnt exactly people; its profiles, she said, describing how she built her board by seeking out people she could learn from outside of those she knew from her daily work.

As the relationships matured, she found that the personal board was a two-way street. The members supported her life and career growth, and she supported them.

Encouraging other women to adopt the same concept, Schmidt said that it builds a support infrastructure unrelated to ones job. Its not your manager; its not your coworker, she said. You feel some level of freedom having those discussions, because those people arent looking at your company. Theyre looking at helping you.

These interviews are just part of SiliconANGLEs and theCUBEs coverage of the CloudNOW Awards.

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Support our mission: >>>>>> SUBSCRIBE NOW >>>>>> to our YouTube channel.

Wed also like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we dont have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary onSiliconANGLE along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams attheCUBE take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.

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Success in the digital economy requires diversity at every level - SiliconANGLE

MINSTER Minster Bank enjoyed another successful year in 2019. Total assets increased to an all-time high of $517.9 million. Total deposits increased to $450.8 million for the year. These deposits were utilized in the communities we serve in the form of consumer and business loans, which grew to over $259.0 million in balances.

Our Private Wealth Management and Trust services continue to grow. We have developed a specialty in both personal and corporate retirement planning. Business owners and high net worth clients have benefitted from working with our professionals in the areas of business succession planning, Trust and investment management, said President and CEO Dale Luebke.

His report continues:

We continue to invest in technology and protecting our customers information. Minster Bank introduced Zelle person-to-person payments. Its a fast, safe and easy way to send money using our mobile banking app or online banking account. Funds are sent directly to the recipients account in a matter of minutes using their email address or U.S. mobile phone number. Real-time Alerts is another service that was introduced in 2019. Customers can easily set the type of account alert and how theyd like it delivered. The Minster Bank Mobile Banking app for mobile and tablet users, continues to grow.

The Minster Bank app is another convenient way to manage accounts, pay bills, and quickly send money to a friend or family member. Our Minster Bank VISA Debit Card gives our customers access to their bank accounts with no surcharge at any ATM displaying the MoneyPass logo. There are over 20,000 MoneyPass ATMs across the United States. Our business customers continue to enjoy the benefits of Remote Deposit Capture, which allows them to deposit checks at their place of business by scanning and transmitting the images to our bank for posting and clearing. The installation and set-up of the service is easy, saves time preparing deposits, and can help reduce the risk of fraud.

Minster Bank believes in giving back to the communities that have contributed to our growth and success. In 2019, scholarship money was donated to 13 graduating seniors throughout Auglaize, Mercer, Miami, and Shelby counties. Minster Bank also held Community Shred Days at our Troy, and New Bremen offices, which gave people the opportunity to have their sensitive documents shredded on site for free. Over 7.5 tons of paper was shredded and recycled during these events.

We have been very active in providing financial education programs to the schools in our area. Through this program and others, we reached over 2,000 students of all ages. We have also provided educational programs through the Ohio State Extension service, through talks at local service clubs, and through Chamber events.

In October 2019, I announced plans to open a new office in the Vandalia-Butler area. It has been our goal for some time to further expand the markets we serve. As part of our strategic planning process and growth philosophy, we make an effort to seek out prime locations and identify and hire outstanding employees. We look forward to continuing to develop and serve even more relationships throughout Montgomery County offering personalized service through a high-performing bank.

Minster Bank, a local community bank, and is headquartered in Minster, Ohio. Offices are located in Minster, New Bremen, St. Marys, Sidney, Troy, Wapakoneta, and a loan production office in Vandalia. Visit MinsterBank.com to learn more about Minster Bank.

Luebke

https://www.sidneydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2020/02/web1_Dale-Luebke-2017.jpgLuebke

.

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Minster Bank has successful year in 2019 - sidneydailynews.com

February 20, 2020 01:01 ET | Source: Achieving the Dream

Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A comprehensive study examining the impact of Achieving the Dreams Open Educational Resources (OER) Degree Initiative reveals that community colleges that introduced OER courses across degree programs saw an explosion of OER courses on campus. The three-year initiative enabled 38 colleges in 13 states to offer 6,600 OER course sections over two and a half years, reaching nearly 160,000 students, the study said. Approximately 2,000 instructors participated in the development and delivery of these courses, substantially expanding the number of faculty with OER experience at participating colleges. Nearly 600 courses were redesigned, contributing to the availability of OER content. The studyconducted by SRI Education and rpk GROUP and released at Achieving the Dreams 2020 DREAM conference here todayfound that students enrolled in OER courses earned more credits than non-participating peers and that the effort was cost-effective not just for students but for institutions. Students at the participating colleges saved $10.7 million on the cost of learning materials. As courses became established, institutions were in position to recover their costs or even, in some instances, generate income from the effort as more students signed up for the OER courses. The Initiative aimed to increase college affordability and student success by catalyzing an institutional commitment to OER, said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream. The effort made OER not the responsibility of individual faculty but a campus-wide responsibility. The research shows that OER can be a key factor in student success, a crucial element in teaching and learning that can encourage more students to make more progress toward degrees and graduate. Whats particularly exciting is that now we know for sure that colleges can gain academic and financial benefits for students and recoup their initial investments over a relatively short time. While education research yields mixed or negative results, this study saw mostly positive effects, said Rebecca Griffiths, principal education researcher at SRI education and the lead investigator on this study. What was most striking was that students gained significant benefit from cumulative exposure to multiple OER courses than one-off OER courses. The study also provides a more exact picture of the cost-benefit trade-off for institutions. We have a much higher level of confidence that the savings are real and that OER is financially a good investment for institutions. Funding for the initiative was provided by support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, and the Speedwell and Shelter Hill Foundations. Academic Benefits The academic impact analysis, conducted by SRI, was based on results from 11 institutions that were selected as research partners at the start of the initiative in 2016. The analysis found that students who took multiple OER courses on average earned more college credits over time than otherwise similar students who took no OER courses. Overall, credit accumulation did not vary significantly for underserved students versus other students. Students who took OER courses had similar cumulative GPAs as other students, on average, according to the report. Increasing course accumulation is crucially important at community colleges, as studies reveal that students who have earned credit for more than 15 courses are more likely to persist in academic programs and graduate, notes SRIs Rebecca Griffiths. She stressed, however, that the study was not designed to determine whether increases in course attainment was caused by participation in the OER courses and this will need to be a topic for further study. SRI also surveyed 300 instructors in 2016 and 900 instructors in 2018 to understand their background and experiences with OER and 2,400 students in 2017 to gain their perspectives and experiences in OER courses. Researchers conducted site visits at ten colleges to gain further insight from both groups. In both surveys and focus groups, students mostly reported positive experiences in OER courses, the study said. Most students found OER materials accessible and well-aligned to learning objectives. Meanwhile, instructors reported that OER affected the way they presented and used materials in class, increased the relevance of those materials, and influenced their pedagogical beliefs overall. Instructors were more likely to report that OER influenced the relevance and use of instructional materials in their courses than their pedagogical strategies. Instructors were cautious in their assessments about the extent to which use of OER increased student engagement, preparation, and achievement in their courses. Forty-three percent of instructors thought their OER programs would definitely be sustained, and another 48 percent thought these programs may be sustained. Eighty-three percent said they would not return to using traditional materials in their courses. Will OER Degree Programs Take Hold? The OER courses that were created across institutions were fairly evenly divided among a broad range of degrees, including: Business and Administration; Computer and Information Systems; Health and STEM systems; Liberal Arts, General Studies, Humanities and History; Language and Literature; Social Sciences and Psychology, and other fields. OER course development was primarily focused on converting introductory or gateway courses to OER, with 91 percent of instructors indicating they were teaching introductory and/or gateway level courses in the 2018 instructor survey. The report does not state definitively whether completely aligning OER courses along a degree pathway will take hold. The courses were still being implemented through the life of the grant, said Richard Sebastian, director of Open and Digital Learning at Achieving the Dream. Students could not take enough courses in the programs at the time of the research to be able to determine the likely success of the OER degree pathways on the campuses, But the report noted the importance of establishing broad-scale efforts to enable students to earn degrees in OER courses. The concept of an OER degree pathway sends a clear signal that cross-unit coordination is needed across academic departments, advising, the registrar, IT, instructional design, the library, and the bookstore, the report said. Elevating OER into a pathway raises the likelihood of a coherent student experience supported by a coordinated and sustainable set of activities. Cost Savings and the Cost-Benefit Tradeoff Research conducted by rpk GROUP indicated that the initiative saved students, on average, $65 per course on instructional materials, factoring in actual student purchasing patterns. Student savings totaled about $10.7 million across all participating colleges, money that students said they would use to cover other educational or personal expenses. In surveys, 41 percent of respondents said OER courses would have a significant positive impact on their ability to afford college. More than half (53 percent) of students said they had not purchased required materials for a course at least once, and the most common reason was cost. The share of students reporting financial strain due to textbook costs was higher for Pell students and underrepresented minorities. On the other hand, relatively few students reported that they had withdrawn from a class or stopped taking courses for a semester or more due to costs (12% and 16%, respectively), the report said. Researchers also conducted a cost-benefit analysis of OER implementation at five cost partner institutions and estimated that the institutions would recover their investments in OER or even generate income from the effort. While implementation costs at institutions ranged from $300,000 to $1 million, colleges spent on average $576,000, two-thirds of which was used to pay faculty to develop courses and one-third of which was used for general program support. The research reveals that the average cost of providing OER degree courses ($70 per student) declined rapidly as enrollment in redesigned OER courses increased. When the impacts across all five cost partner colleges are taken into account, estimates suggest an average of $1.03 in gross revenue was generated for every dollar spent (program and additional delivery costs)a modest 3 percent institutional return on investment that reflects an average net financial benefit of $38,000, the study says. Courses developed and certified as OER are able to be freely shared with other institutions. Many of these courses will be added to Achieving the Dreams OER course library and made available to the public. Moving forward To move OER forward, institutions need to intentionally integrate this OER degree work into their institutional improvement efforts and organizational strategies, said Achieving the Dreams Dr. Karen A. Stout. To make this happen, Achieving the Dream is supporting expanding OER within institutions as part of its institutional improvement model and offering additional services to help institutions bolster sustainability of OER course development and faculty support. Based on instructor surveys and focus groups, the report recommends that institutions: Make OER adoption a strategic institutional initiative and connect OER degrees with strategic goals with high level administrative support. Ensure faculty receive learning opportunities and supports, including OER training and course development supports to enhance the instructor experience and improve course quality, and opportunities for collaboration with colleagues can also build morale. Address logistical and cultural barriers to course sharing across colleges. Communicate OER options strategically to increase student awareness of OER course options and degrees to students they most wish to reach. Additionally, Achieving the Dream will announce a new grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to investigate whether participation in OER courses led to an increase in course attainment at OER Degree Initiative colleges. Copies of the report are available at https://www.achievingthedream.org/resource/17993/oer-at-scale-the-academic-and-economic-outcomes-of-achieving-the-dream-s-oer-degree-initiative Participating colleges Colleges involved in the academic or cost impact studies included Alamo Community College, Austin Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, Central Virginia Community College, Forsyth Tech Community College, Herkimer Community College, Monroe Community College, Montgomery College, Pierce College, and Santa Ana Community College. #### ABOUT ACHIEVING THE DREAM Achieving the Dream (ATD) leads a growing network of 277 community colleges committed to helping their students, particularly low-income students and students of color, achieve their goals for academic success, personal growth, and economic opportunity. ATD is making progress in closing academic achievement gaps and accelerating student success through a unique change process that builds each colleges institutional capacities in seven essential areas. ATD, along with 75 experienced coaches and advisors, works closely with Network colleges in 44 states and the District of Columbia. SRI Education, a division of SRI International, is tackling the most complex issues in education to identify trends, understand outcomes, ad guide policy and practice. We work with federal and state agencies, school districts, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to provide research-based solutions to challenges posed by rapid social, technological and economic change. SRI International is a nonprofit research institute whose innovations have created new industries, extraordinary marketplace value, and lasting benefits to society.

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Largest-ever study of impact of Open Educational Resources in college reveals benefits of introducing OER courses on a broad scale - GlobeNewswire

NEW YORK (AP) David Ourlicht was a college student, walking down a street near campus, when he became one of millions of New Yorkers swept up in the era of stop and frisk.

A police officer accosted Ourlicht, deeming suspicious a bulge in his jacket. Police patted him down, told him to stand against a wall, emptied his pockets, finding nothing illegal, and accused him of lying about his address, according to court testimony. The 2008 encounter ended with a disorderly conduct summons, which was later dismissed.

Ourlicht was embarrassed, angry and rattled, but not surprised. Police encounters like that had become a cornerstone of policing under then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg and a fact of life for Ourlicht, who is of black and white heritage, and his friends growing up.

He later joined a lawsuit that helped curb stop and frisk and became a lawyer himself. But his experiences with police, which he says began with getting beaten and handcuffed at 15 while trying to go up to his apartment, still cast a shadow over his life today.

Every day I get into my car, every day I decide to step out of my house, its a psyching up that I have to do to myself, Ourlicht said. Its always there.

New Yorks stop-and-frisk history is getting renewed attention as Bloomberg campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg long defended the practice, even after a federal judge found that the stops discriminated against those who were black or Latino. He abruptly apologized in November shortly before announcing his White House bid and has largely sought to move past the issue.

That became difficult last week when a 2015 recording of Bloomberg resurfaced in which he said the way to bring down murder rates is to put a lot of cops in minority neighborhoods because thats where all the crime is.

Bloomberg said the remarks do not reflect my commitment to criminal justice reform and racial equity. He has since gotten endorsements from some members of the Congressional Black Caucus. And as he campaigned in the South last week, many black voters said they werent offended by the comments and were more focused on finding a candidate who could beat President Donald Trump.

But the former mayor likely will face more questions about the practice as his campaign gains traction. Bloomberg is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesdays presidential debate, where his rivals are sure to pillory him on stop and frisk to blunt his rise and appeal to African Americans, who are a critical voting bloc in the Democratic primary.

Stop and frisk is a term for a tactic police have long used: accosting, questioning and sometimes patting down people who officers think might be doing something illegal, but the suspicions didn't necessarily amount to probable cause for an arrest.

The New York Police Department began increasing its emphasis on stop and frisk in the mid-1990s, when Republican Rudy Giuliani was mayor. But stops soared under Bloomberg who held office as a Republican and later an independent rising from about 97,000 stops in 2002 to a high of about 685,000 in 2011. There were fewer than 13,500 stops last year, according to NYPD data.

Over 80% of the people stopped during the surge of stop and frisk were black or Latino.

They include Hawk Newsome, 42, who said he was stopped dozens of times while living in the Bronx when Giuliani, then Bloomberg, served as mayor.

Too often, people overlook the psychological effects of the policy, he added.

We felt like these cops could murder us. They were pulling out weapons on us and pushing us against the wall. There was this anxiety we could be killed at any time, said Newsome, chairman of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York. Just growing up in it, it made you feel hopeless, like, Damn, this is all my life will ever be. This is how they treat me. Look at our schools, look at our police. My life isnt worth much.

Police and Bloomberg insisted that the stops helped drive crime down to record-low levels and that the tactic was legal.

Critics said stop and frisk amounted to racial discrimination with little impact on crime. About 10% of stops led to arrests or summonses, and only about 1% to weapons seizures.

In 2013, a federal judge declared that New York Citys use of the stops had violated civil and constitutional rights.

Bloombergs administration appealed the ruling. His successor dropped the appeal and agreed to reforms and a court-appointed monitor.

It remains to be seen whether voters of color in and outside New York will see past the practice and give serious consideration to Bloomberg. But the national conversation in recent years about racial inequity in the criminal justice system could keep stop and frisk in focus during the rest of the campaign cycle.

Its complicated, said Dayvon Love, director of public policy of the grassroots think tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle in Baltimore.

I think theres more of a recognition that that approach doesnt work to solve the problem of violence and homicide in communities around the country, he said, but some people living in neighborhoods plagued by violence would see the strategy, not necessarily to the extreme of Bloombergs approach, as the best option available to them to meet their immediate needs.

From Loves perspective, black people who are politically well-connected and more interested in their own personal success could gravitate toward someone like Bloomberg.

Many young voters outside New York don't know much about Bloomberg's record as mayor.

But for Brandon Kolawole, 24, of Chicago, mention of stop and frisk triggers a response of familiarity and dread.

"I've seen it, and I've dealt with it," said Kolawole, who is black. "If the police see you, they can just pull you over, stop you and frisk you for whatever reason."

Kolawole, who said he won't vote in November, knows "very little" about Bloomberg and his role in expanding the policy. Kolawole has seen the presidential candidate's ads on television promoting his work with former President Barack Obama but doesn't know much about the former mayors time in office.

Warren Evans spent about 30 years in law enforcement in the Detroit area six of those as a county sheriff and one as the citys police chief. On Thursday, he endorsed Bloomberg for the Democratic nomination for president.

Evans, who is black and has been Wayne Countys elected executive for the past six years, understands the initial purpose of stop and frisk. But he says it failed because of bad police practice and the inherent bias many officers have about communities of color.

I dont think its going to resonate negatively over the long term for Bloomberg, Evans told The Associated Press. I agree with his final determination that when he looked at the data and understood what was going on, it wasnt good policy and it wasnt implemented well. But he has done what a lot of politicians dont do. He didnt fake an answer.

Regina Garcia Cano reported from Baltimore and Jennifer Peltz from New York. Associated Press writers Corey Williams in Detroit, Noreen Nasir in Chicago and Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed.

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Stop and frisk gets renewed attention in Bloomberg candidacy - KMOV.com

In one photo for their upcoming album, Map of the Soul: 7, the seven members of the South Korean supergroup BTS, or the Bangtan Boys, are cloaked in feathers, obscured by an ominous cloud of darkness. Other photos show them dressed in all-white and in neutral tones, posing in the midst of a sumptuous feast in a shadowy room.

These images are a sharp detour from the colorful, Wes Anderson-esque aesthetic of their previous album, Map of the Soul: Persona, but that wasnt a shock to fans: The Bangtan Boys public image, one that doesnt rely on traditional forms of Western masculinity, is constantly evolving, as is their music. Fans will tell you that the Korean supergroups discography, once heavily inspired by hip-hop, belongs to no genre. What defines BTS what sets them apart in the eyes of fans is their emotional honesty, expressed through their lyrics, press interviews, and personal vlogs. Theirs is an underdog story, where they managed to surpass the odds to become one of the highest-earning K-pop acts and the unofficial face of Korean music worldwide.

In Home, a sentimental track that reflects on BTSs material success, theres a verse that translates to the world thinks we own the whole world. It sure seems like it. BTSs new album, which comes out February 21, has garnered more than 3.42 million preorders within the first week of its announcement. The boys have drawn comparisons to legendary music acts like the Beatles and the Jackson 5 for their ability to sell out massive arenas worldwide. Theyve sold out at least seven shows for the North American leg of their 2020 tour from fans in all 50 states, surpassing ticket sale records of top US pop stars Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

The Western media and the world, for that matter has only been able to gawk at the sheer scale of BTSs dominance. Theyve posed on the covers of glossy magazines with headlines like How BTS Is Taking Over the World, Musics Billion Dollar Boy Band Takes the Next Step, and The K-Pop Megastars Get Candid About Representing a New Generation. BTS is receiving star treatment, but skepticism and resistance to their status as the worlds biggest pop stars still persist on the grounds of their boy band label, the (wrongful) assumption that their fanbase is fueled solely by teenage devotion, and xenophobia from an industry traditionally dominated by white Western stars.

BTSs path to superstardom was paved, in part, by South Koreas wave of cultural exports to the West from music to television dramas to elaborate skincare routines. Before BTS, a series of top K-pop acts (Big Bang, Girls Generation, EXO) have made US debuts, yet none really stuck, making the boys success even more unprecedented and unexpected.

In 2019, BTS reportedly brought in $4.65 billion for the South Korean economy through physical album sales, concert tickets, and branded merchandise. The band is currently worth 0.3 percent of the countrys gross domestic product and is projected to contribute $48 billion for South Korea by 2023, according to a report from the Hyundai Research Institute. These staggering numbers highlight how BTSs influence is a 21st century tour de force, something few Western pop artists are capable of achieving today.

At its heart, the music industry is driven by fan activity the money poured into live shows, album sales, and official merchandise to bolster an emerging artist onto musical charts, whether that be the USs Billboard Hot 100 or South Koreas Gaon Music Chart. To understand the scale of BTSs success among other K-pop acts and Western artists, you have to delve into the Korean entertainment industry and understand how its a wholly different beast than its American counterpart, down to how its biggest stars are cultivated and marketed.

While record labels, artist management companies, and talent agencies operate as separate entities in America, Korean entertainment companies are a configuration of all three. The top K-pop music companies are hybrid, highly integrated, full-stack cultural technology enterprises, said Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based agency that specializes in distributing Korean music. That means they have a top-down approach when it comes to managing creative endeavors and, in some cases, producing and shaping an artist or a band.

This is best reflected through K-pops intense trainee system, where potential stars are recruited through auditions and cultivated over years of rigorous performance training. Music studios are typically responsible for a groups formation, their marketing and music, and even their personal lives. While BTS members were recruited through this system, their management label, Big Hit Entertainment, took a different approach, placing fewer restrictions on them. BigHit CEO Bang Si-hyuk envisioned the boys as relatable, down-to-earth figures that fans could connect with. (BigHit did not respond to an emailed request for comment from Vox.)

Compared to other idols, BTS members have more creative and personal freedom, like the ability to write their own songs and lyrics and manage their own social media aspects that BigHit aggressively marketed to audiences. The result is a massive international fanbase nicknamed ARMY (an acronym for Adorable Representative MC for Youth), consisting of millions of people that span across ages and cultures.

These fans are well-organized and single-mindedly devoted to the Bangtan Boys. They constantly flood Twitter with hashtags to promote the bands activities, organize to stream new music, and even create merch for other fans. Perhaps most importantly, fans see BTS as original, authentic, and socially conscious public figures who arent afraid to talk openly about the struggles and anxieties of their career path.

This core notion of authenticity something that influencers, celebrities, and politicians alike aspire to embody is a key factor in BTSs astounding success overseas. It is a large part of the groups appeal to companies seeking their endorsements. From 2013 to 2018, BTS sold more than $1.1 billion worth of branded items, and theyre expected to have an even greater economic impact than the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics within 10 years, according to the Hyundai Research Institute.

When I talk to American BTS fans for my research, they say that theyre drawn to how genuine BTS is and how theyre saying something about themselves, rather than just talk about money, sex, and drugs [like American artists], Jade Kim, an associate professor at Texas A&M International University who researches Korean pop culture and media, told me. BTS blurs the line between [being a pop idol] and a person, and thats a big difference for fans.

The price of a music download or stream in Korea is worth shockingly little, Cho told me. Selling the same exact song or exact same album, Korean acts could earn more than eight times more profit outside of Korea than inside, he said. This has driven all types of Korean artists, from idols to indie singers, to go overseas and target an international audience. There arent enough Koreans on this planet, living inside or outside of Korea, to singlehandedly make K-pop go global, Cho said on BTS and the genres ascending popularity. Simply put, international fans are why K-pop is international.

International fans are why K-pop is international

While product sponsorships are common in the Korean entertainment industry, BTS has broken into the US market by the sheer force of its fandom, who have rallied stores like Hot Topic, Target, and Walmart to carry band merchandise and albums. Thats why you can find virtually every type of BTS-branded product imaginable on the internet. Theres BTS cold brew coffee, hand cream, Mattel dolls, and Funko Pop figurines. You can also buy BTS-inspired colored contacts, streetwear, Reebok shoes, and bank checks.

Granted, this is only a short list of BTSs brand collaborations and official merchandise. There are thousands of other unofficial products on the market, and the Bangtan Boys are also ambassadors for Fila, the city of Seoul (for three consecutive years), the Hyundai Palisade, and an electric street racing championship hosted by Formula E.

In short, BTS is everywhere in Korea and abroad. Their branding prowess is undeniable, and even products that are unintentionally promoted through a BTS members golden touch can quickly sell out, whether that be a sweater, fabric softener, or a bottle of wine. As careful as a member might be to not name-drop a brand, its only a matter of time before sleuthing fans and BTS product accounts identify whatever theyre wearing or alluding to.

The fandom is very focused on buying official merch from concerts, BigHit, or the BTS Line store because it directly supports BTS, said Liv, a 24-year-old BTS fan from England, who didnt want to disclose her last name for privacy reasons. Liv has stopped purchasing BTS merch for herself, but she sometimes gives away items on Twitter for other fans to have a chance at owning some BTS goodies.

Money is an inextricable aspect of any music fandom culture, not just BTSs: Fans want to support their favorite artists, and that devotion is usually expressed through purchasing concert tickets, albums, and merchandise collections all things that help the artist succeed. Still, not everyone can afford that or live where merch is easily accessible, Liv told me, which is why she and her fellow ARMYs are so passionate about hosting social media giveaways. K-pop fan culture is especially consumerist because, as Caitlin Kelley wrote for MTV, fans understand many Korean acts do not make much money if they havent attained the rarified stature of a top-selling group like BTS.

Therefore, fans can feel like they have a responsibility to support their faves by buying branded items every time a new collaboration or album is released. The relationship is like a parent giving unconditional love and support to their child, the band, David Kim, a YouTuber who analyzes Korean culture and K-pop, told the Washington Post.

Theres a downside to this focus on consumerism: Some fans spend thousands of dollars on merchandise or travel to attend concerts and meet-and-greets. Its normal to spend extra on multiple versions of collectibles. Merch-shaming also exists within some corners of K-pop fandom the idea that having a more extensive merch collection or attending a lot of performances is the marker of a good fan. Fan culture is complicated, and not everyone buys into the consumerist (and classist) ideology that owning merch makes someone a more dedicated fan. Most fans buy merchandise and concert tickets simply because they love the artist.

Within online fan circles, ARMY members like Liv have found ways to make the BTS community more inclusive, especially for younger fans and those who live in places where its prohibitively expensive to get items shipped. US BTS ARMY, a not-for-profit organization and fan news site for BTS, occasionally hosts worldwide merch giveaways for global fans, and Album For Every ARMY is a charity project for fans who are unable to buy their own BTS albums.

Theres a wide spectrum of ARMY fans, including those who are teenagers or are in school, that dont have the extra income for merch, Jackie, the chief financial officer at US BTS ARMY, told me. (Jackie, who volunteers to work on the site, asked to only be identified by her first name.)

We like to partner with a company and host these giveaways so that anyone can have access to some of this official merchandise, she said. As with most popular artists, theres a vast black market for unofficial products created and sold by companies and independent artists alike. Big Hit Entertainment has previously sought to curb the use of the Bangtan Boys image and crack down on unauthorized merch outside of concerts, but online, small businesses by fans proliferate.

To their credit, fans are wary of off-brand merchandise that appears to be exploiting BTSs image for purely monetary gain. However, ARMYs are generally supportive of small artists who create original trinkets and drawings, said Stephanie Le, a 21-year-old college student who runs The Happi Peach pin shop on Instagram.

Le has turned several of her original designs of BTS members into enamel pins, a hobby that shes managed to successfully monetize in the past year. Fans tend to purchase official merchandise, but they also see the value we bring to things that arent normally produced, Le told me. I consider myself a multi-fandom pin maker, but BTS has lately been a big inspiration for me so Ive been drawing them more often.

Her operation is relatively small (she needs at least 20-50 preorders before she can manufacture a pin design), but some apparel and merchandise makers operate full-time businesses that solely cater to K-pop fans and even carry official products. Theres a constant stream of demand for novel items or t-shirt designs, especially when a band like BTS releases a new album.

Demand for branded merchandise is huge, but most devoted fans know that physical album sales carry weight in official music rankings. ARMYs have been savvily setting goals online for the boys comeback in late February, according to Jackie. When a new album comes out, we as a fanbase try and encourage the purchase of the album in the country where you reside in so it counts towards a chart in that country, she said. Since were a US base, most of our goals are directed towards the US.

Thats why Korean entertainment companies put so much effort into developing sleek, beautifully crafted albums; theyre marketed as collectibles, not just music products. (BTS was nominated for a 2019 Grammy in the Best Recording Package category.)

Instead of buying a CD with a booklet, you often buy a luxurious photo book [that comes] with posters, postcards, stickers, or tickets with the CD thrown in as a bonus, Cho of DFSB Collective told me of most K-pop albums. Some of these extra items are what industry insiders refer to as bundling, or including concert tickets or a piece of merch with the purchase of an album or song, something many top US artists do to boost album sales. (BTSs upcoming album is not bundled with any merchandise, and the band is one of the few acts that have reached No. 1 on the charts without bundles.)

For ARMYs (and other K-pop fans), it doesnt really make a difference what the album comes with or what it looks like; theyve planned to purchase it from the start. This level of sincere devotion to an artist and even mass mobilization on said artists behalf is what helped propel BTS into the international limelight. In other words, BTS fans take it upon themselves to actively promote the bands work. Theyve already figured out the number of iTunes and Spotify streams, YouTube views, and Shazam song requests it would take for BTS to reach the No. 1 spot once Map of the Soul: 7 is released. If achieved, these goals would once again prove BTSs ability to top the Billboard charts. This energy is something that even well-known stars like Justin Bieber struggle to capture: animating legions of fans to stream or buy music that will benefit the artist.

When journalists and music critics speculate about the future of BTS, the narrative inevitably turns to South Koreas two-year military service requirement, which all BTS members will be subjected to by the time theyre 28. For fans, its a fraught and bittersweet reality, given how Jin, BTSs oldest member, will turn 28 in December. With this latest record, however, 2020 will likely be another big year for the young men in both music and commercial spaces.

In a corporate briefing in early February, BigHit announced its plans to invest in a more immersive BTS concert experience, introducing tour villages in select cities with attractions like a BTS-themed hotel, an exclusive pop-up store, and other themed exhibits. The label is placing its focus on what fans want, a crucial part of its formula for success, according to executives. BTSs trajectory in the past three years has been unstoppable; theyve smashed records, sold out stadiums, cemented their international presence, and signed another seven-year contract, which means theyll likely keep performing into their 30s.

As long as our bodies hold up, well be doing the same thing in 10 years, Suga, one of the groups three rappers, told the Hollywood Reporter in a cover story last year (a story that was thoroughly criticized by fans for its inaccuracies, culturally insensitive sentiments, and lack of prior research).

And, likely, as long as BTSs bodies hold up, its not a question whether their fanbase will continue supporting them, financially and artistically, individually or as a group. Whatever they do and wherever they go, the ARMY will be behind them.

Sign up for The Goods newsletter. Twice a week, well send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters.

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BTS Map of the Soul: 7: How K-pop group BTS built a billion-dollar fandom - Vox.com

Democratic Debate

Last nights Democratic debate was a fire fight with verbal sparring in all directions. While everyone watching saw things through their own filters, it was clear that some of the candidates stayed closer to their personal messages and organizing concepts than did others. In general, those that did better in this debate were those that more strongly believed in their organizing concepts and let them guide their words and actions. Be. Do. Say.

Messages/slogans from the candidates websites:

Last year, Tom Porter recapped the winning US Presidential campaign slogans since 1948 and suggested that An effective slogan will sum up a candidate's pitch to the country in a few words, and be powerful enough to cut through the endless onslaught of information in people's lives.

Some of the most powerful were not completely original. But they did reflect the candidates fundamental beliefs:

It must start there. If the slogan does not flow from what the candidate fundamental believes, its highly unlikely that all their actions through the years will have been in line with that slogan. With the intense scrutiny and opposition research of a presidential campaign, they will get caught and called out like Mike Bloomberg did last night. He was forced to defend his previous support of things like Stop and Frisk and the way women had been treated at his company.

An organizing concept is the strategic core idea being executed in a slogan, message and communication points. Those with stronger beliefs in their organizing concepts find it far easier to stay on message. Theyre always communicating what they themselves believe and not reading PowerPoint slides or Post-It notes provided by others.

Bernie Sanders is always fighting for justice. Elizabeth Warren is always fighting corruption. Its harder for Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Bloomberg to stay on message because their organizing concepts are more amorphous.

The best example Ive seen was Charlie Shimanski and his first gathering of the American Red Crosss disaster response directors. As Charlie told me for an earlier article - which you can read by clicking here,

I start by getting a sense of what I want them to feel when they're done hearing from me - what I want them to feel, not hear me say.I wanted them to feel that they are at the core of what we do, that our success is on their shoulders. I wanted them to feel proud."

Feel proud was not a headline message. It was an organizing concept.

The most powerful organizing concepts guide slogans, messages, communication points to impact how others feel. Even though they are rooted in the candidate or leaders fundamental beliefs, they are not about the candidate or leader. They are about what the candidate or leader inspires and enables in others.

The first question anyone has about a presidential candidate or any new leader is What does this mean for me? Ultimately, all communication is personal. Candidates and leaders connect better with people that think those candidates and leaders can help solve the problems they most care about.

Those concerned about injustice or corruptions will gravitate to Sanders or Warren. The other candidates messages may be too generic to inspire the same passion. Their paths to success lie in strengthening messages based on organizing concepts they believe in and others care about.

This lesson applies to any executive onboarding into a new role. They must craft their entry communication plan based on a clear organizing concept. That concept must match their underlying beliefs and guide their actions and words. Everyone they interact with will listen and observe for clues about what this means for them. This is true for presidential candidates, new CEOs and new first line supervisors.

Click herefora list of myForbes articles (of which this is #619) and a summary of my book on executive onboarding:The New Leaders 100-Day Action Plan.

See the article here:
Lessons In The Power Of Organizing Concepts From Last Nights Democratic Debate - Forbes

Veteran broadcast journalist Shaun Robinson

This article is part of an ongoing series The Secrets of Successful Women. Articles focus on providing valuable career advice targeted to women professionals in particular but certainly valuable for all.

To say Shaun Robinson is an accomplished trailblazer is an understatement. In the impossible-to-penetrate world of entertainment and broadcast journalism, success is merely a pipe-dream for many, but Shaun Robinson beat the odds to establish herself as an accomplished veteran. She is celebrated by generations of viewerswhether as a staple on the red carpet conducting celebrity interviews, hosting Access Hollywood for 16 years or hosting Tell All specials for some of TLCs most celebrated shows including 90 Day Fianc. More recently, Shaun has leveraged her success to diversify and expand her reach into areas that fully complement her range of philanthropic and professional interests including founding the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls, and expanding her acting chops by joining the cast of BETs Games People Play. More recently shes transitioned to the role of executive producer (alongside Bishop T.D. Jakes and Senior Vice President of TDJ Enterprises, Derrick Williams) with the launch of an upcoming Lifetime Network series Seven Deadly Sins based on Victoria Christopher Murrays anthology. Shauns list of credentials and achievements is awe-inspiring without a doubt and her generosity is equally compelling. In the midst of a hectic work schedule, she graciously carved out time to share her secrets to success.

Career Advice Big Ideas

1.Dont be afraid to reclaim your power

Early in Shauns career she, unfortunately, experienced the first of several me too incidents when she had to fend off unwelcome physical advances from a station owner during her early days in her hometown Detroit. After rebuffing his advances, she was abruptly removed from the popular talk show that shed created (Strictly Speaking) and demoted to street reporting. She recounts, There was no recourse for meno HR department you could report to. While that type of traumatic experience could have easily derailed her dreams and more fundamentally eroded her sense of self, she instead decided to reclaim her power. Robinson explains, One day I just left for lunch and never came back. Working in an industry known for scarce opportunity, she willingly stepped into the unknown. Indeed, she took the brave step of honoring her personal values and boundaries knowing that she had the grit, determination and skill to start over and succeed.

2.Dont listen to detractorsinstead persevere

Once Shaun left the Detroit station where shed been unceremoniously demoted after rebuffing the owners advances, she found a new job in Flint, MI as an anchor/reporter. She reflects, I wanted to bring more positive stories about black communities in the area because the media focus was usually centered around crime. It always seemed to be a battle. After only 2.5 months at the station, the news director told Shaun that things werent working out and she had two weeks to find another job. Disappointed but not defeated, she pressed on and continued to look for broadcast journalism work. While browsing a broadcast industry magazine, she saw a classified ad for a medical reporter at a television station in Milwaukee. She sent the station a resume tape, and they flew her out for an interview. She reflects, While I had no medical background, they wanted someone who could connect with the audience and deliver complicated and often confusing health information in a clear and interesting way. Needless to say, she got the job and spent the next 3.5 years of her career as an on-air medical correspondent with that station. Reflecting back, she acknowledges that a key to her success having received so many rejections was the determination to not listen to her detractors.

Ive always had detractors people in my ear telling me that what I wanted to achieve was out-of-reach. They told me Id NEVER land a job with a national television show. Some people are well-meaning because they dont want you to be disappointed. Whatever the motivation, Ive learned to drown out the noise, stay centered and persevere! Sometimes its a game of whos the last one standing. Youve got to just keep trying!

3.Be willing to move if necessary

Its easy to get comfortable in a city, but being flexiblewilling to move around (particularly during the early career stages)can make a huge difference. In many industries certain opportunities and experiences are only available to those who are willing to uproot and pursue them, and the broadcasting/media and entertainment space is no different. Shaun clearly prioritized opportunity over comfort in her pursuit of building a credible bio that would help her land her dream jobnational entertainment television show correspondent. When she saw an opportunity, location didnt matter. She knew she would make the best of it, and that job would become just one thread in the tapestry of her soon to be illustrious career.

4.Be prepared

Determined to pursue her dream as a correspondent for a national entertainment program, she submitted an audition tape to Access Hollywood and was flown out for an interview. In 1999 before the ubiquity of cable television and 24 hour news, there were very few national entertainment television programs, and the competition for anchor roles was beyond steep particularly for black females who were glaringly underrepresented. Shaun didnt just get the job. She became one of the longest running entertainment show anchors in network television history having anchored Access Hollywood from 1999-2015. For a whopping 16 years she not only served as an on-air personality covering breaking news, interviewing celebrities, and building a relationship with viewers across the country, she became a staple on the red carpet for Hollywoods most prestigious events including The Oscars, The Golden Globes, The Grammys and other renowned awards shows. Reflecting back on her experience, she credits much of her success and longevity in a brutally competitive industry to her relentless focus on being prepared.

Having an academic background in journalism paired with solid in the trenches broadcast journalism experience was invaluable. During breaking news situations like the deaths of JFK Jr. and Michael Jackson, I wasnt just a talking head. I actually used my journalism skills...It takes skill to ask questions of one celebrity on the red carpet while a producer is telling you in your ear who is coming up next on the red carpet. There is no substitute for preparation and hard work.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 11: TV personality Shaun Robinson attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe ... [+] Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

5.Make time to give back

After leaving Access Hollywood Shaun says her top priority was establishing the S.H.A.U.N Foundation for Girls.Serving on the advisory board of the United Nations Foundations Girl Up adolescent girl campaign and previously serving on the national board of Girls, Inc.,the national girls empowerment organizationShauns been dedicated to empowering girls and women for decades. The S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls nurtures and supports under-served and underrepresented girls and young women in the areas of:

STEM

Health

Arts

Unity

Neighborhoods

Shaun clearly believes that giving back, mentoring and helping others is a key ingredient for long term success, not just for her but for the broader community.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Shaun Robinson attends the 2014 Girls Inc. Los Angeles Celebration ... [+] Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 19, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

Career Advice Practical Tips

1.Prioritize self care

As a correspondent on a national network entertainment show, Shaun often endured a grueling schedule of personal and professional commitments. She learned early that self care is priority #1. She shares, You have to find time to refuel. Find time to get centered, eat right, and exercise. Her regimen includes starting the day with a healthy breakfast. Some of her preferred breakfast options include.

Oatmeal with blueberries

Power quinoa

Avocado toast with a mixture of avocado, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, garlic salt and pepper on vegan bread

Kale smoothie

Chicken apple sausage (a couple times a week)

Shauns Kale Smoothie Ingredients

Kale

Spinach

Carrot

Banana

Apple

Ginger

Water

2.Develop a healthy rhythm to your day

After leaving Access Hollywood, Shaun, not only, worked on building her foundation, but also immersed herself in multiple television projects. At the end of the day, I had accomplished a lot, but still felt like I was missing something important. I started thinking about what would get me back to my center and more fulfilled. Shaun says she now tries to check four boxes every day:

1.Sharpen the saw (take a class, read a book, etc.)

2.Enhance my health (take an exercise class, monitor eating, etc.)

3.Help someone else (mentor a girl, attend an event for her foundation, etc.)

4.Pure enjoyment (meet a friend for lunch, watch a guilty pleasure show, etc.)

She insists that she doesnt beat herself up if she misses a category on a particular day, but the intentional design helps keep her in balance overall.

3.Use timers to keep yourself on track throughout the day

Virtually everyone struggles with time management, and Shaun is no different. But Shaun has a great technique for keeping herself on track. Throughout the day she sets a timer to alarm 10 minutes before she needs to leave for her next appointment. In fact, as we started our interview, she warned me that she was setting a timer for ten minutes before she needed to leave to help keep herself on track for her next commitment. Its such a simple but powerful technique and given the fact that virtually all phones these days have timers, its such an easy practice to implement. So instead of being habitually late to meetings, appointments, etc., start setting timers to give yourself a 10 minute warning.

Emmy award winning journalist, author, actor, producer, and philanthropist Shaun Robinson long ago silenced her detractors. By any measure, shes not just succeeded but slayed in the cut throat world of media and entertainment. True to form, she shows no signs of slowing down and instead insists that her most impressive accomplishments are yet to come.

Stay tuned for a follow up article to learn about how Shaun dared to leave her dream job and reinvent herself!

Professionalism Matters, Inc.

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The Secrets Of Successful Women: Broadcast Journalist Shaun Robinson - Forbes

This past weekend, Harvard Track and Field split their efforts, with part of the team competing in the Valentine Invitational at nearby Boston University and part of the team competing at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina. Crimson records were tested and broken on the long weekend, as a pair of Havard runners from both the mens and womens sides had incredible performances in the mile.

Entering the weekend, the womens team was ranked No. 1 in the region while the mens team was not far behind, ranked No. 2 in the region.

The second day of the Valentine Invitational was where most of the excitement happened, with strong performances across the board including but not limited to an all-time record broken in the mile for the Crimson.

That performance record was broken by none other than cross country standout and senior Kieran Tuntivate who ran a blistering 3:57.36 to win the event, breaking the once famed four-minute mile barrier, placing second in the Ivy League all time and fifth in the NCAA this year. Obviously, this performance smashed the Harvard record in the event, as Kieran continues to decorate the Havard record books with his individual efforts.

Personally I want to do well at nationals, I dont know what event Ill do, but well see, said Tuntivate on his personal goals for the year and beyond. And then I definitely will continue running post-collegiately, hopefully take a shot at going to the Olympics and world champs next year as well.

Senior Mike Kolor and junior Kaeo Kruse earned personal bests in the mile, finishing in 4:06.83 and 4:11.25 respectively. Kruses run was over 10 seconds faster than his previous personal best as the mens mile runners had a very successful day as a collective.

Along with the record-breaking mile performance, not to be outshined, other Crimson athletes turned in their own strong performances. Junior middle distance runner Ryan Thrush won his heat in the 500 meters and ended up finishing second overall in the event with a time of 1:02.60, good for third all time in the Harvard record books. All other Crimson runners that competed in the 500, junior Charles Lego, sophomore Max Serrano-Wu, and senior Jacob McLennan, had personal bests in the race, showing off strong group training.

Junior standout sprinter Jovahn Williamson took home second in the 400 and sixth in the 200, building off his success at last week's meet. Junior Kahil Wassell finished in 15th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.14 seconds. The top performer outside of the track was junior Wesely Donhauser, who placed 13th in the mens weight throw, good for a personal best. To conclude the night, junior long distance runner Will Battershill notched a personal best in the 3000-meter run, good for third all time in the Crimson record books. A pair of first-years, Acer Iverson and Ben Hartvigsen, and sophomore David Melville grabbed personal bests as well in the event, as the distance runners continued their strong team performances from the fall cross country season.

I want to take it one meet at a time, said Tuntivate when asked about team goals. I think we have a shot at winning HEPs (Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championship) this year on the mens side, which would be pretty awesome considering where weve been.

Just a day before, the Harvard women had their own champion performance as junior Abbe Goldstein turned in an incredible showing in the mile. Goldstein crushed her previous personal best with a time of 4:35.70 on the way to a seventh-place finish in the event, placing her second in the Crimson record books for the event. Just behind Abbe was cross country star and junior, Anna Juul, who placed 11th with a time of 4:37.87, just off her personal best. Goldstein's stellar effort in the mile places her in 10th in the NCAA this year, a sure highlight for the Crimson Track and Field squad this season. Tuntivate and Goldstein likely punched their tickets to nationals with their performances and will look to build on their success as the season progresses.

For the womens side on distance Abbe Goldstein ran a fantastic race, likely to get her a spot at nationals, while on the guys side Kieran Tuntivate hammered a 3:57 mile and qualified for nationals in his second event, said sophomore David Melville on the highlights from the weekend. Going forward the team is gearing up for HEPs and trying to get ready to score as many points as possible in two weeks.

To round out day one of the Valentine Invitational, middle distance junior Tessa Medrano finished in 10th in the 1000-meter run, crossing the line in 2:48.67, on the way to a personal best. This strong effort was good enough for fourth all time in the event for Harvard women. Sophomore Fredericka Lucas earned a top-35 finish in the long jump, senior Martha Kebeh and sophomore Obie Amudo placed 16th and 24th in the weight throw respectively, while senior Maya Miklos and junior Rachael Estell, nabbed 34th in the 400-meter dash and 34th in the long jump each.

Down south at Clemson, sophomore pole vaulter Alana Caroll placed ninth, clearing 3.82 meters on her best effort. This result landed Caroll in fifth all time in the Crimson record books for the event. Fellow sophomore vaulter Kylie Hilton cleared 3.67 meters, finishing just behind in 14th.

Other notable performances in the Tiger Paw Invitational included senior All-Ivy Leaguer Simi Fajemisin, who placed 19th in a highly competitive long-jump heat with a mark of 5.90 meters. Back on the track, senior hurdler Zoe Hughes earned a new personal best, crossing the line in 8.66 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

Day two of Tiger Paw saw junior Erick Duffy take home an impressive third place in the mens pole vault, and Fajemisin continued her strong invitational with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump.

Looking ahead, Harvard Track and Field has a week off before returning to action at the huge Ivy League Indoor HEPs Championship, hosted by Cornell. Building off impressive performances from the men and the women, the team will look to train before its biggest meet of the season thus far as it competes for the Ivy League title.

Read more here:
Men's and Women's Track and Field Put Up Performances for the Record Books in Two Different Meets | Sports - Harvard Crimson

"We aren't over the money taboo yet," said Majd Maksad, co-founder of Status Money, a personal finance site that allows users to anonymously compare their finances with that of their peers. "We're not at the point where people are going to sit with colleagues and friends to talk about how much they make, how much they owe and their credit score."

"Virtually everyone reacts to seeing what their peers are spending," said Francesco D'Acunto, assistant professor at Boston College's Carroll School of Management, "and everyone tries to move to their peers' level."

"It is the opposite of Keeping up with the Joneses" D'Acunto said. "This type of intervention has a sobering effect. It happens for people at all income levels and those with high levels of education, people who should know better."

Any conversation about money is better than not talking about it all, said Dr. Alex Melkumian, a financial therapist in Los Angeles, even if it is just a making a silly joke about "buying back my dignity" or posting a wine glass emoji on Venmo to show that you just repaid your friend for drinks the other night.

"Money is a bigger taboo than sex," he said. "We have an emotional attachment to money and there is guilt and shame about not being able to talk about it."

At his practice, which assists people in making behavioral changes regarding the way they relate to and use money, he asks clients to bring in something deeply personal, that perhaps no one else has ever seen: bank statements.

"It is amazing how much you can know about a person and how intimate that feels when you're reviewing their bank statement with them," he said. Patterns emerge and there is some relief that they are no longer suffering in silence, he said.

"We can talk about anxiety or poor behavior choices," he said, "but unless we look at the numbers and see where the money is going, we can't explore the emotional attachment to it."

A platform like Venmo, which allows people to directly pay one another often with an emoji-filled description that can be seen publicly, also helps make personal spending patterns more open, Dr. Melkumian said.

"What's interesting to me is that they could have set it to private," he said, noting the app has a setting that keeps transactions from being publicly disclosed. "Instead, they chose to put it out there."

But even if they want to share, they aren't being totally transparent.

"It is all coded with funny emojis or inside jokes between people," he said. "Ultimately what they are communicating is that they still aren't comfortable talking about money."

While the conspicuous consumption of those around us can be fairly evident -- the neighbor's fancy new car, for example -- we often don't know the full picture of our peers' finances, like how much they earn, what they spend on groceries or their debt load.

In some cases, the comparisons help users know whether they are even in the ballpark of appropriate spending and saving levels and can even influence them to change harmful behaviors or patterns.

"There is a pent up curiosity about 'How am I doing compared with other people?'," said Maksad. "There is a little fear. A little competition. A little encouragement to do better."

A social network on the site places users in a feed with people in their peer group and allows them to anonymously discuss and crowdsource their money questions, troubles and solutions.

"Being able to share this with other individuals and a community, without having to publicly divulge your identity, allows people to get the benefit of talking about money without enduring the personal psychological cost," said Maksad.

But to get the most out of Status Money, users will need to provide a good deal of personal information -- date of birth, annual income, whether they rent or own a home, an address and the last four digits of their Social Security number if they wish to link to a credit bureau report that provides score-related information. The app also asks users to link their bank accounts, credit card accounts and taxable and non-taxable accounts.

The anonymity that Status Money offers makes the social network for finance more feasible, said Maksad. "The social feed works because it is about preserving this privacy. People don't talk about money on Facebook or post about it on Instagram. This is purpose built for talking about your own finances."

Read the original post:
These apps are changing the way we talk about money - CNN

When he started as a Major Indoor Soccer League referee in the 1980s's, Brian Hall had one big wish. He wanted to work games with Esse Baharmast, the youngest fulltime referee.

"He was that model of the referee that I wanted to be," Hall said. "It was like, please appoint me with him. I want to learn from him. I want to see how he manages these games at the top level."

Hall got his wish, eventually following in Baharmast's footsteps as a national and international referee and working the 2002 World Cup.

Best known for whistling the correct penalty kick call during Norway's win over Brazil that stirred world-wide controversy and headlines at the 1998 World Cup, Baharmast cannot be defined by just that moment. His impact also has been felt domestically and internationally as U.S. Soccer Director of Referees, teacher, FIFA instructor and mentor.

"As an instructor, he's got this use of the language that draws pictures, said Hall, now the head of Concacaf referees. He has the ability to use analogies of other parts of life and tie that into reffing. The way he has conducted himself as a role model and as a mentor to so many people around the world it's pretty phenomenal."

Baharmast, 65, will be honored for his contributions to the game as recipient of the 2019 Werner Fricker Award at U.S. Soccer's AGM in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 15. The award is named for the late U.S. Soccer president who brought the 1994 World Cup to the USA.

"For Esse to receive this builder award, it is really significant because Esse is really the builder of the referee program of U.S. Soccer," said National Soccer Hall of Famer Dr. Joe Machnik, the awards presenter. "He's the foundation block. He's the referee who has accomplished the most and has continued to provide leadership."

Baharmast, who came to the U.S. at 18 to study English at the University of Kansas-Lawrence, got into officiating by accident, breaking his tibia and fibula in a game. A professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia suggested he become a referee.

As it turns out, Machnik, the MISL referee in chief, worked Baharmast's first pro game, an exhibition match in Wichita, Kansas many years ago. When a snowstorm prevented a referee from traveling to Cleveland, Baharmast officiated his first MISL game. He quickly moved up the ladder.

Baharmast's most memorable year was 1996. He worked the middle of the first Major League Soccer game between the San Jose Earthquakes and D.C. United, the first MLS Cup played in a noreaster in Foxborough, Mass., Lamar Hunt Open Cup final and A-League (now USL) final. That likely will never be duplicated.

He also officiated the 1996 Olympic men's semifinal match between Argentina and Portugal, though he was criticized beforehand. Baharmast remembered reading the newspapers: "Why is there an American referee in that game? It's a high-risk game. blah, blah, blah."

Nothing went awry.

He caught FIFA's eye and was asked to ref a game between Japan and Korea in 1997 that would determine which team would qualify for the World Cup.

"There was a lot of history between the two countries," Baharmast said. "For FIFA to trust us with a big game like that, Japan and Korea in Korea at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, was incredible. That was another game where we had no problems."

Japan won, 2-1. "On the way back to the airport, the Japanese fans going back [home] were bowing in respect," Baharmast said. "It was incredible.

"After the semifinal of Argentina and Portugal at the Olympics, FIFA had seen the games that I could do, the high-risk games and they were comfortable giving those types of games to us."

Baharmast's defining moment came in Marseille at France 98. Norway and Brazil were tied in the 88th minute when he called Junior Baiano for a shirt-holding foul that denied Tore Andre Flo a goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area.

"Immediately, I knew my angle was perfect," he said. "I'm looking straight at it. I don't believe he does it. How stupid can he be? Why is he doing it at the last minute? Even I hesitated a little bit because I don't want to call a penalty at the last minute. I am hesitating a little bit to see if an advantage comes. Maybe the ball goes to another Norwegian player who places it into the back of the net.

"No word from Junior Baiano. He was the first one out of there. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as protesting."

Norway converted the penalty for a 2-1 win, qualifying for the next round. Because the proper angle wasnt shown on worldwide television, it looked like a phantom call.

"To make matters worse, Morocco got eliminated from this and the Moroccan coach was Henri Michel, who was former French national team coach. He has the ear of the reporters who are talking, he said, adding that television stations showed a split screen where the Moroccans are celebrating and jumping with joy after beating Scotland and now, they're crying."

"I told the people, 'Hey, all these cameras, tomorrow I'm going to open a newspaper, there's going to be a picture from behind the goal that shows the picture in a clear shot and it would be good to go. No such thing. All it was talking about was scandal. It was a huge controversy. Incompetent referee. FIFA needs to send this referee home."

Vilified for "botching" such an important call, Baharmast remained steadfast. "If I had to do this 100 times over again, I'd do it 100 times over," he said. I know in my mind and my heart I made the correct call."

A few days later a Swedish television station posted a video and picture proving Baharmast was spot on.

"These things happen for a reason. Every tournament I went to I had to justify my presence there because everybody was cutting down the U.S., telling us 'You guys don't even have football, you call it by the name soccer. What do you guys know about the game? You have no business being here type of thing, he said. Even after my decision on television I remember that broadcasters who were showing the red card, who were saying, 'Send the referees from non-footballing countries back and the World Cup should have the best referees ... two from Germany, two from France, two from England. It was for us to endure the pain and ignorance of the people. ... Then they had to eat soccer crow after the video came out. It has served us well. Had the camera showed the correct angle immediately, it would have just been another penalty."

In 2011, the National Association of Sports Officials awarded Baharmast its most prestigious honor, the Gold Whistle. NASO called his decision one of the top 20 calls of all-time.

Beyond his personal success, Baharmast has been gratified by the growth of game officials in the United States. He is proud that more Americans have been receiving FIFA appointments at World Cups and world championships.

"Its really incredible because we are getting the respect that we deserve," he said. "The tree that was planted before is bearing plenty of fruit."

Baharmast has played a role in tending that tree. When he decided to hang up his whistle to become U.S. Soccer director of officials, his final match was the 1998 MLS all-star game. Hall was the fourth official. Late in the game, the ball went out of bounds and Baharmast walked off the field.

"He gave me the whistle and I finished the game, Hall said. It was like handing over the reins to the next person to follow him."

Sounds just like quintessential Esse Baharmast, paying it forward.

Excerpt from:
The Right Call: Esse Baharmast and the Making of a Great American Referee - U.S. Soccer