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A happy and productive workforce
April 1st, 2020
The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers. –Sybil F. Stershic Back in my salad days at Lakewood Publications, when I was in my mid-30s I was working with a lot of people in their mid-20s, who liked to ask me […]
Renewable energy: what’s your business plan?
March 1st, 2020
By Galynn Nordstrom Doing some recent reading on entrepreneurship, I came across an article in Forbes magazine, in which the author, Dr. Steven Berglas, gives some tips to budding businesspeople, beginning with: 1. Marry a June Bride (or Be One). He explains that the concept of, or preference for, a “June bride” isn’t that most […]
Making more than money
February 1st, 2020
January always brings two things forcibly to mind: first, the NFL playoffs, and second, an almost viral need to find lists of reasons to make business or economic predictions for the coming year. (This is the February issue, I know, but it’s January 14 as I write this.) The Minnesota Vikings … washed out of […]
Industry issues in 2019
April 1st, 2019
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." ~Carl Sagan So it’s March now … and the end of six weeks of some of the most unpleasant weather Minnesota has had in decades. Snow, cold, snow, cold, snow, cold, snow and cold together for variety, and […]
Sustainability, industry trends, and rooftop revels
December 1st, 2018
"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." ~Ansel Adams Just in case you missed the recent announcement: IFAI’s offices in Roseville, Minn., have just installed solar energy panels on the (flat) roof to reduce energy usage, and possibly even sell some of it back to the grid. […]
Any messages?
August 1st, 2018
You want to know what to buy? The business that makes an object of desire is now the worst source of information about it. The best source is all of us. Doc Searls, David Weinberger, Two “Cluetrain Manifesto” authors, Jan. 2015 Communication is content. Markets are conversations. Electronics are (nearly) ubiquitous. And Generations Y and […]
Corporate social responsibility: giving back to your community
January 1st, 2018
Tents on cars. Tents on rafts. Smartfoam helmets. Cool firefighting. Emergency balloon networks. Real shade sailing; working partnerships with architects; creating a welcoming workplace. Novel substrates for smart fabrics; clever cash flow strategies; mountaintop Geofoam. New products. Industry events. We’re starting out 2018 with much the same editorial emphasis as in previous years: to provide […]
Disaster relief and rebuilding
October 1st, 2017
It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes. ~Douglas Adams Hurricanes. Earthquakes. Floods. Fire. It’s only September 18 as I write this, and this month is already on the record books. And, according to today’s paper, the atmospheric parade just keeps on coming, Atlantic and Pacific: Maria. José. […]
An intelligent ecosystem
May 1st, 2016
Last Friday (April 22), I’d meant to wear my original “Earth Day” button, purchased in 1970 as a callow youth in Morris, Minn.; but as a jaded professional in Minneapolis, Minn., I remembered to grab earrings but left the button sitting next to one that says “CTHULHU FOR PRESIDENT: If you’re tired of voting for […]
Warp speed
April 1st, 2016
One of my friends emailed me this morning to ask about some research she was doing into the history of women’s participation in “technological” careers, wondering what was considered “high tech” 30, 40 and 50 years ago, and reminiscing about professional life before cell phones and computers and a global communications network. When I started […]