Hasta La Gadget!

At a recent SHARE conference of mainframe technology users, attendees get an up-close look at their industry’s technology as part of an exhibit on the show floor. Image courtesy SmithBucklin

In the late 1940s, movie theaters began their war with what was then just a new trend: home entertainment. As household television sets became more common, there was concern about the impact on ticket sales. And in turn, how that could hurt popcorn sales.

“A group of popcorn processors led by Orville Redenbacher hired our founder William E. Smith to bring the processors together to promote the snack,” said Matt Sanderson, the president and CEO of SmithBucklin, an association management company. The company was founded in 1949 and is still involved in this sector, providing management services to the Popcorn Institute.

Most businesses, non-profit organizations and professional groups belong to some sort of association. The purpose of these alliances is not only to encourage networking, but to share what the group members do to the public. According to the American Society of Association Executives, there are over 60,000 trade and professional associations based in the United States.

“Associations are uniquely important to our economy because they are able to create value from the collective good and because they provide opportunities for passionate, driven volunteer leaders to move industries and professions forward,” said Sanderson.

Association management committees provide services to associations groups, handling operations like membership recruitment, conference and trade show planning, and financial management.

“By relying on an association management company, board members have the time and energy to focus what’s important to them; furthering the goals of their association and having a real impact on their industry or profession,” added Sanderson.

The role of association management has changed immensely. As business travel has become more affordable, more people are able to attend trade shows and conferences. Technology has made sharing information easier, and associations are offering more professional development and training programs to their member.

This demand for development is a rising trend. According to a Society for Human Resource Management study, 86% of employees surveyed seek development opportunities from their employer.

Associations help fill this void. Sanderson notes that they’ve seen this shift with their client SHARE Inc., a technology user group that provides education for mainframe computer specialists.

“Mainframe computer technology – the backbone of the airline, insurance and banking industries, among others around the world – is facing a job vacancy crisis,” he said. Their work with SHARE Inc. aims to provide education and mentoring with the next generation of mainframe specialists.

“It is clear to each of our colleagues that our work matters,” he said. “This has contributed to our ability to attract and retain talent, achieve results as a company, and deliver exceptional outcomes to the client organizations we serve.”

Taking influence from the Harvard Business Review’s “The Business Case for Purpose,” Sanderson considers it to be a purpose-led company that focuses on the impact of the work they do.

“It’s not surprising at all that our dedication to giving back extends beyond our walls, as they continue to help the communities in which they live,” said Sanderson. “What makes our company so unique is that our people are driven by the desire to serve others.”

This sense of purpose is important to the company. Their Facebook page is less about sharing corporate news. Instead, it shows the staff involved in some sort of volunteer activity ranging from an animal shelter to a community theater group for hospitalized children. The company regularly promotes volunteering, fundraising and sustainability programs.

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Figures released on World Refugee Day this week showed there are currently an estimated 65 million displaced people in the world – more than at any time in history.

As the head of an international agricultural development organisation working in Africa, I am often asked why we don’t work to address the current migrant crisis from Africa that has overwhelmed Europe.

The question directed to me is usually a sincere one, not borne of xenophobia or racism, but rather from a deep frustration that in our advanced and sophisticated 21st century society we should not be witnessing such scenes, night after night on our television screens.

My answer to such questions is a short one. We are.

For it is only by improving the economic circumstances of rural poor people in Africa that we will ultimately provide them with an acceptable alternative to the hugely risky, life-threatening and demeaning choices currently being taken by millions, as they uproot from their communities and take their lives into their own hands in search of ‘a better life’ somewhere else.

Noone who has ever visited a refugee camp, which I have done many times during a 30-years career that included many years in humanitarian relief, would ever describe these places as anything other than a stopgap. As the name itself suggests it is a place of refuge from something terrible that is occurring elsewhere. It is not the ‘better life’ that millions are taking huge risks to seek out.

A new EU plan, announced this month, sets out a framework that the Union believe can tackle some of the root causes of migration from Africa.

While the ‘carrot and stick’ approach in these proposals – which include a combination of aid and trade incentives – has been criticized by some African countries, and by aid organisations, it should be viewed as a step towards addressing the underlying cause of much of the current crisis, poverty.

Only by boosting growth in economies, creating jobs, and ensuring that countries can provide a future for their populations will the current flood of migration be resolved.

Building walls, Brexit opt-out campaigns or any number of breaches by Euro states of the Schengen freedom of movement charter are reactions, rather than solutions, to a problem that has been with us for generations.

For too long we have failed to properly solve the problem of extreme poverty that continues to cast an enormous shadow across developing countries of the world. That there are almost 800 million people worldwide living in extreme poverty – that’s one in nine of our global population – is proof enough that we are continuing to fail the poorest, and the most vulnerable.

In the current clamour over immigration to Europe it is often overlooked that such mass movement of people is placing a huge burden on the fabric of society across Africa, as well.

Figures released in 2015 showed that the top six destinations for African refugees and migrants were within the continent of Africa itself. The figures were: Ethiopia (659,524), Kenya (551,352), Chad (452,897), Uganda (385,513), Cameroon (264,126) and South Sudan (248,152), who collectively were accommodating 2,561,564 people of foreign origin in camps within their countries.

Interviews that have been given by refugees themselves – whether in Kenya or in Calais – tell us that if given the choice, the vast majority of those who make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe would not do so, if their futures at home were not so bleak.

People aren’t only moving across international borders in search of a better life either. There is also an accelerating pattern of rural to urban migration taking place in sub-Saharan Africa that is placing a huge burden on national services.

Africa will become the most rapidly urbanized region on the planet in the coming 25 years, as the number of people living in its cities is projected to soar to 56% of the population, according to UN estimates. That means that many more shantytowns like Kiberi, an urban slum of one million people outside Nairobi, Kenya, will spring up across Africa in the years to come.

At Self Help Africa our focus is on supporting rural poor communities to support their populations through an innovative mix of agricultural and enterprise development activities.

By supporting rural poor households to grow more, and access profitable markets for their produce, Africa’s small-scale farming families can realise the better future that they desire for themselves and their communities.

There is no quick fix to the problems of extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, just as there is no quick fix to the current migrant crisis in Europe. But there are many steps that can be taken to move us in the right direction.

Self Help Africa believes that by contributing to the creation of an economically vibrant African agricultural sector, we can play our part in tackling this challenge.

And in the same way, the announcement by the European Union of a comination of new aid and trade deals with Africa to support economic growth, has to be regarded as a positive approach to a crisis that has been going on for too long.

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Kit Harington showed up to his “Game of Thrones” audition with a battle wound even before he was cast as the valiant Jon Snow. In a new video interview with W Magazine, the actor explained why he walked in with a black eye. 

“I’d been in a fight the night before. I got in this fight with this guy at McDonald’s,” Harington said. “I went into McDonald’s with this girl I was sort of dating at the time, and it was late at night, and there were no seats. And I asked this guy and girl he was with if we could sit at the same table as him, and he said yes. We sat down and quite quickly he started being very rude to the girl I was with, calling her names.”  

The 29-year-old actor and his date tried not to engage with their horrible seatmate until he decided to call Harington’s date an “ugly pig.” That was the last straw. 

“I got up and said, ‘No, no, you can’t call her that,'” the actor said. “So I called him up for a fight, which I’d never done before … And he got up and he just kept going, [realizing how tall he was]. And I just realized that I had to, at that point, throw the first punch, otherwise I’d look like a complete wimp. And I got battered.” 

Luckily, Harington thinks that his black eye might’ve actually helped him get the job, so it all worked out for the best. 

To read the rest of Harington’s interview with W, head here.

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The very first election I voted in was in 1979 and I remember well the excitement and thrill of getting to vote for the President of the United States. I know that may seem insignificant, but the right to vote was and is of great importance and not to be taken for granted. I don’t take it lightly that I can and will be able to cast my singular vote for someone that will be the most prominent leader of the free world. And from someone that grew up around politics, I have a distinct and almost unapologetic sense of duty and responsibility to really consider the qualifications and concerns of the candidates. It was frustrating to watch the process of selecting the president in 2000 being turned over to the decision of the courts. Although I definitely acknowledge that the race should have never ended up so close to start with, it also showed that our political system needs to be reformed. Like so many on both sides of the aisle, I felt that we were not experiencing the efficient democratic process we had learned about in school.

And yet, here I am in Rome, Italy’s capital, the land of political chaos and my second residence where I have lived on and off for the past 20 years. Italy has had more governments since the end of WWII than any other industrialized nation in the world. It is a country that has always been known more for its political intrigue, mafia and continuous corruption scandals than for its ability to get things done. That said, I am filled with a sense of unease and embarrassment because we are currently experiencing a parallel situation in the United States. As a foreigner and an American well versed in Italian politics, I could always present arguments in the past that despite our divided government and despite the general discontent that has permeated the political debate, we still had our democratic system, one that provided for an often prolonged and hyped season of debates, media madness and the rise and fall of political fortunes.

This year, all bets are off. This year, as an American, I no longer can occupy the higher ground in the debates on personal integrity and internationalism. I am feeling uneasy about everything; the process, the candidates, the media, the voters and the prospects for the future. In addition, lack of US leadership and direction and the mere “idea” of a Trump presidency has the European continent very worried. After decades of the US setting an example of international diplomacy and democracy, it is more than an embarrassment that America is no longer being viewed as a reliable role model to the world in the election process. Ironically, while our usually reliable and predictable political system is deteriorating, on the other side of the Atlantic, there are a few new and unexpected developments in the mayoral race in Rome and throughout Italy.

The “Five Star” party which started as an opposition movement against corruption in 2009 by comedian and entertainment personality, Beppe Grillo, was largely considered as nothing but a joke and not to be considered seriously by the Italian population at large. The party, mostly fueled by the new generation of younger voters who are tired of establishment candidates, has unexpectedly grown in power in the last 7 years and yesterday’s election results ended in a surprise victory for Rome’s first woman mayor, 37 year old Virginia Raggi. The city of Torino followed suit in electing female 5 star candidate 31 year old Chiara Appendino. It seems as if this non establishment party is well on its way to actually establishing itself as the primary opposition group in the country’s national race in 2018. This is considered a direct and unexpected blow to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government which replaced Silvio Berlusconi’s long and seemingly endless”reign” in 2014.

In the past, I would never have considered evaluating the European system of shorter and quicker elections and exploring the possibility that perhaps the United States ought to consider its own version of something comparable. Considering our present chaos in 2016 however, it is certainly worth considering a shortened and more condensed election cycle with less focus on big money in politics. If we didn’t have 18 months to choose our leaders, we might find that voters would become more serious about focusing on the policies instead of the personalities, the impacts instead of the insults with hopefully the final objective of looking towards a positive outcome for us all and not just the income.

As an activist and someone that believes that social change can occur through conscious and well defined strategies of engagement, I think it is important that our systems continually be called into question. We should be evaluating ways of modifying old outdated rules which we may perceive to be the best or that we have become complacent about changing. Our objective should be to work with not only what is based on tradition and our past history of the election process, but also engage in a new practical, honest and introspective debate and review.

Take this most recent presidential primary season. Millions of people cast their votes, many for the first time, excited by one ‘outsider’ candidate or another. Yet, in the final analysis, for both parties, the decision was not what the voters wanted, but what a small and influential group of politically connected elected officials and large donors thought. In the case of the Republican party, it was clearly that of a system that favored candidates that were able to influence the media and the donors in the early days of the campaign. The Trump effect aside, the reality is that we are at the end of the primary and the individuals that are shaping the general election contest are the largest contributors, those that will be able to help fund what is going to end up being a billion-dollar campaign. On the Democratic side, the primary season ended on a sour note as the nominees argued over the so called “super delegates” and their influence on the process. Once again, a small group of individuals that will have the ultimate say in whom is eventually nominated to be the standard bearer for the party.

This brings me back to what I have experienced and seen in Europe for decades. It is also a innately flawed process that has its influencers, money brokers, corruption scandals and political intrigue. Despite recent new and inspiring developments I have just touched upon in Italy, the general population is still cynical that things will change and that corruption will be diminished. Old world cynicism and suspicions aside, it is possible however that European elections do offer some insights into ways to curb the overwhelming influence a small group of individuals and money can have. Whether it’s the length of the election season, the involvement of more parties, holding the election on a weekend or mandatory registration, there may be some policies presently that we as a former colony of the European states could learn from. This is something that would not just improve the quality of the elections, but would potentially help us as a country to focus on issues rather than rhetoric and policy instead of posturing.

Here’s to November 8th, it will not come soon enough.

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On Monday, I stood alongside leaders, activists, and people from all backgrounds that have committed their lives to fighting for LGBTQ rights. I stood humbled beside them, overcome with emotion and gratitude for the blood, sweat, and tears they’ve devoted to ensuring equal rights for all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation. We stood together – gay and straight, brown and white, young and old – at the site of America’s newest national park: Stonewall National Monument.

Established last Friday as the 412th national park site, the ground on which we stood bore witness to the events of June 28, 1969 that helped shape the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. It was at the Stonewall Inn on that day that New York City police conducted a raid; one of many raids that had become commonplace at gay bars and often resulted in harassment and arrests. Unlike previous raids, however, this time the crowds held their ground and refused to disperse. The protest expanded to neighboring streets and into nearby Christopher Park. It grew to as many as several thousand people, lasted for six days, and marked a significant turning point in the struggle for LGBTQ rights.

Nearly 50 years later, in the very same vicinity, the events of June 27, 2016 will go down in history as the day when the President of the United States, the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, and individuals and organizations inside and outside the LGBTQ community together declared loudly and clearly that LGBTQ history is American history – and that at this place this story will be told.

For our part, the National Park Foundation will lead an effort to raise the approximately $2 million needed to launch the new park. We will work in partnership with local and national organizations and the community to fund National Park Service rangers, a temporary ranger station and visitor center, research and materials, exhibits, LGBTQ community outreach, public education, and scholar engagement. The Foundation will also help establish a local Friends Group to provide ongoing philanthropic support to the new monument.

As we move from the National Park Service’s first century into its second, I couldn’t be more proud to be part of a national park community that is committed to telling a more complete American story.

With the designation of Stonewall National Monument, the arc of equality bends a little bit more in a direction of ensuring that all people in this great nation have an equal footing in life. Places like Stonewall National Monument will help to ensure that future generations appreciate this place as they do Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Statue of Liberty.

This work of telling America’s story is a cornerstone of our Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks – a $350 million fundraising initiative that will help protect America’s treasured places, connect all people to them, and inspire our next generation of park stewards who will be adding their own chapters to this important American narrative.

Join us. Together let’s celebrate our newest national park, Stonewall National Monument, and let’s look toward the future as we honor an America that represents us all.

Support Stonewall National Monument at nationalparks.org/Stonewall and learn more about the Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks at campaign.nationalparks.org.

Photo credits: Tami Heilemann/Department of the Interior

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