It’s8.57am. Do you know where your best people are? There is a chance that a newbreed of manager might be using the Net to track them down. Nic Paton reports Whenit comes to job titles, the Internet has proved itself nothing if not innovative.Web weavers, Internet presence crusaders, chief evangelists, cyberdog engineers– they have all come, and some have gone, alongside the dotcom boom to bust. HRtoo, has spawned a new wave of Internet titles, from web miners to talentmanagers, as e-recruitment techniques have helped to change the relationshipbetween employers and recruiters.Twosurveys published in May show how far the Internet has taken off inrecruitment. The CIPD’s fifth annual recruitment survey found that more than 50per cent of employers go online to recruit potential candidates. And a study byrecruitment website totaljobs.com found two-fifths of firms polled expected toincrease the online recruitment budget within 12 months.Talentmanagers – also known as talent acquisition managers, talent directors, peopleeffectiveness managers or reward, resourcing and retention managers – can playa key role. By using the Internet to work more strategically, gatherintelligence on their sector and build contacts, they can ensure the bestpeople are brought in or retained.Theidea of talent management is not new in itself. The phrase first emerged in theUS in 1950s’ Hollywood. Talent managers have always been professionals whonurture and counsel talented individuals in the entertainment industry, actingas a go-between in the dealings of agents, publicists, managers and lawyers.Asthe Internet boom took off, the concept was embraced by HR professionals, ledby dotcoms and technology firms in Silicon Valley to improve efficiency and savetime and money. It has gradually moved into other sectors, with many blue-chipcorporations developing or importing sophisticated e-recruitment and talentmanagement functions.Atits most basic, e-recruitment can simply mean posting an e-mail address orconventional contact details for the HR department on the corporate website. Astep up from this is the advertising of jobs on the corporate site or on arecruitment agency’s job board and letting candidates apply eitherconventionally or online. BA, for instance, used its online recruitmentfunction to attract more blue-collar workers and hired 150 customer serviceagents in the three months after the site launched last year.Systemshave been developed to screen candidates online for suitability before interview.There have also been improvements in methods to sift applications – as thequantity of responses rather than the quality can be an issue in a market aslarge as the Internet. Selected candidates may be interviewed by an externalagency before being invited to see the company.Candidatestoo are moving on from simply putting their CVs online and will often postpersonal profiles. These can include discussion of their skills, aspirationsand career goals, and even video links.AtNortel Networks, 95 per cent of CVs are received electronically, with theturnaround from receiving the application to interview now counted in hoursrather than days.Others,such as Deutsche Bank, have used online recruitment to boost their graduateintake, which has risen 2 per cent at the bank since the introduction of onlinerecruitment last September. Leisurebusiness UCI has cut its hiring cost per trainee manager by £1,060 – a 66 percent fall – by using online recruitment. The firm’s online application formeven includes a behavioural questionnaire, covering core competencies.Somecompanies, meanwhile, are “mining” the Internet using technologyspecialists called “web spiders” or “e-cruisers” to searchfor passive candidates. It is at this more proactive level, akin toheadhunting, that talent managers come into their own, driving businesses totheir talent pools – such as a relevant discussion room – rather than waitingfor them to come forward, says Robert Drake, director of operations ate-recruiter Blue Boulder. “Talentmanagers get involved much earlier in the recruitment process. They know whatis going on in the marketplace,” he says.”It’slike if you went to New York and wanted to find a policeman, where would you go– Dunkin’ Donuts? It is a completely different mindset.” Talentmanagement also has an important role to play in managing the retention andrecruitment of board-level staff, says Tom Barnes, co-founder of onlineexecutive recruitment agency CalibreOne.com.”Seniorcandidates do not have a record of applying to recruitment agents because it isseen as cheapening themselves. It is about gaining the confidence of thecandidate and gaining the respect of the client,” he says Theholy grail of being a successful talent manager, according to Kevin Mannion,chief operating officer of e-procurement company Netengines, is being able tohire the right person before your bosses realise they need them. “Talentmanagers are building ahead of the need,” he says.Thefunction depends largely on building internal data sources, employee resourcesand electronic links to suppliers and other contacts. “It is aboutbringing efficiencies of supply rather than turning into a privateinvestigator, and going out to chat with people in coffee bars,” Mannion says.”Ido not necessarily think there has to be someone called a talent manager, butit is about building the principle, about applying the strategy to your staff.”Effectiveuse of the Internet has become one of the key tools in this process, saysChristopher Lloyd, channel head of jobs.telegraph, the recruitment site for TheDaily Telegraph. “TheWeb has enabled far greater access to both individuals and organisations thanbefore. Internal HR functions are dipping their toes into the arena of searchand selection. It is the equivalent of the internal headhunter.”However,the US economic downturn could yet skew the picture. As Andrew O’Driscoll,director of product management at San Francisco-based software solutions firmOneChannel, puts it, “No one is hiring. Companies don’t officially say it,but there are a lot with a hiring freeze in place. How times change. Arguablysome of the softer jobs, such as marketing and sales, have been hit the hardest– those jobs are always first to go.”Thatslowdown is now being firmly felt on this side of the Atlantic. As firms bracethemselves for the predicted recession and step up redundancies, the notion ofbeing able to use e-recruitment technologies to hire and retain the best peoplemore efficiently and cheaply is increasingly attractive.Butwhile the downturn means there may be a greater pool of talent, it may not bethe right talent, says Maurice Duffy, chief executive of e-recruitermkworldwide. The talent manager will be in the pivotal position of trackingthose in the market, snapping up appropriate talent and, critically, ensuringinternal talent stays on board.”Alot of organisations are taking blunt knives to their businesses at the moment,but you have to ensure you are not getting rid of people who have skills youmay need in the future,” he says. “Ifyou go back six months, it was how you managed them in, now it is how youmanage them out and get the mix right.” Ironically,just as HR is becoming aware of the existence of talent managers, the slowdownmight see them, if not their function, disappearing altogether.FionaSellers, director of HR consultancy Courtenay, says demand for talent managerpositions has dropped by 50 per cent this year. Businesses are instead hiringinto compensation, benefit and reward positions and resource managementpositions, where there has been a 20 to 25 per cent increase on last year. Shesays, “Last year talent managers were what everyone wanted – someone whomade the strategic decision about how recruitment was done. It was a vogue, alot of candidates saw it as a sexy job. “Butthe talent management role has been a bit of a five-minute wonder. This yearthe market has not been there for them. People have gone back into moreconventional management or education-focused roles. The climate last year wasmuch more about growth in a tight recruitment market. This year it is not somuch of a problem, although there are still pockets of shortages.”Whathas changed, probably permanently, she says, is the recognition by boards thattalent has to be managed, that people have to be attracted to a company,inspired to stay and develop and that holding on to them is critical to futuregrowth and success.”Managingtalent has come in the past two years and that is going to stay. I do not thinkthere has been a decline in people wanting strategic HR people, but we haveseen a decline in positions that are about managing talent. There was a hugehype. There is now a quieter revolution going on in HR,” she says.Casestudy Cisco SystemsE-recruitmententers new eraOnlinerecruitment is set to give way to a new generation of “web-enabled”recruitment processes, according to US computer network equipment manufacturerCisco Systems. Despitefreezing recruitment for the next six to eight months – the result of the economicdownturn that also saw the company announce an 86 per cent drop in fourthquarter profits last month – Cisco is pressing ahead with an innovativeresource management system.CiscoEMEA employment manager Adrian Godfrey, who manages a team of 24, says when the”all-singing, all-dancing” portal launches in January it will offeronline recruitment and assessment, career development, e-learning and afast-track management programme.”Oneof the things we want is not just to be putting a job up there. We will owneverything from recruitment to outplacement,” he says.Atthe height of the Internet boom, Cisco was hiring about 700 people a quarter,averaging a cost per hire of $5,000 (£3,500). The current recruitment freezehas allowed the firm to take a step back, examine its processes and look at howit can retain and develop the talent it has.Godfreysays, “Cost is not the only motivator. It is about assessing andpre-qualifying people a lot more quickly. It is difficult to put a price on it,but, yes, we will save money.”Itis about matching yourself online. You identify a job, put in your skills andprofile. It says, ‘you are 45 per cent suitable for this job, do you want tocontinue?’, then it can give a training analysis and link you to the e-learningportal.” Interviewswill remain face-to-face, but both sides will be more aware of how suitable acandidate is beforehand.”Wewill stop using the term recruitment and start talking about people mobilityand development,” Godfrey says.CasestudyCadbury SchweppesDrinksgiant slashes hiring costs with Web initiativeCadburySchweppes’ successful US e-recruitment initiative was extended to the UK on 1September.Theglobal drinks company launched its e-recruitment function in the US last year.Initially, it developed a simple website with information on the company andits brands. This was later expanded, with online job vacancy and applicationfacilities. As a result, costs per hire were slashed by more than 50 per cent.TheUK system is called Webhire. Candidates can download application forms from thecorporate web site and e-mail them direct to the company. They will receive ane-mail reply on receipt.InMay the company updated its corporate website to give more information on thecompany and recruitment contacts. Some jobs were also posted on the Stepstonee-recruitment site.”Wehave 36,000 staff, with about 1,000 managerial opportunities coming up in ayear, a significant number of which are filled internally,” says globalresourcing manager Laurie Zeleny. “So having a large e-recruitment budgetdoesn’t make much sense.” “Wedo not want to manage people through a computer, we are very much a ‘personaltouch’ company. But we also want to look at how we attract, recruit, develop,retain and optimise talent.”Wewill be looking for more efficiencies on cost per hire and will be encouragingtalent-sharing between our different UK businesses,” she adds.Notargets have been been set for the number of applications the company expectsto receive online. The success of the pilot will be assessed early next year. Netting talentOn 4 Sep 2001 in Personnel Today Previous Article Next Article Related posts:No related photos. Comments are closed. 
Morethan 80 per cent of employers feel more under pressure then ever before,despite management efforts to combat the problem.Thesurvey of more than 800 managing directors shows that nine out of 10 areactively looking at ways of reducing stress in the workplace.Asimilar proportion monitor workforces regularly to ensure stress levels don’tincrease.PeterDone, managing director of Peninsula, which carried out the research, said thefindings show employers recognise the dangers of stress at work.Hesaid: “Although employers say they are stressed, they are making an effortto ensure their workplaces are stress free.”Largecompensation claims for workplace stress has brought home to employers thatthey must prevent stress at work.”www.peninsula.uk.com Comments are closed. Previous Article Next Article Related posts:No related photos. Employers under pressure to ease burden of staffOn 5 Feb 2002 in Personnel Today
ITS San Marco, which is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is going to arrive at the port of Mombasa on Labour Day, according to Standardmedia.co.ke.The ship is part of NATO forces currently deployed within anti-piracy campaign Operation Ocean Shield alongside with two vessels from Turkey and the United States.ITS San Marco will stay in Kenyan waters for a week.During ITS San Marco’s visit at the port, Italian ambassador to Kenya Paola Imperiale is going to meet with civilians and Kenyan Government officials and make donations to local charities.Commander of the NATO taskforce Rear Admiral Antonio Natale will answer questions from invited journalists on May 4th.“It will be an opportunity for Natale to engage with Kenyan and international media on NATO’s mission to counter piracy in the Indian Ocean,’’ Lt Laine stated.The warship will depart the port with journalists onboard on May 5th.“ NATO is acting under a United Nations mandate and its efforts have contributed significantly to the considerable drop in piracy off the coast of Eastern Africa,” Lt Laine added.[mappress]Naval Today Staff, April 29, 2013 View post tag: Navy View post tag: Mombasa View post tag: Arrive Back to overview,Home naval-today ITS San Marco to Dock at Port of Mombasa April 29, 2013 View post tag: Defence View post tag: Naval Share this article Training & Education ITS San Marco to Dock at Port of Mombasa View post tag: Marco View post tag: Defense View post tag: News by topic View post tag: port View post tag: San View post tag: its
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals withDisabilities.Please view Equal Employment Opportunity Posters provided byOFCCP here .The contractor will not discharge or in any other mannerdiscriminate against employees or applicants because they haveinquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay ofanother employee or applicant. However, employees who have accessto the compensation information of other employees or applicants asa part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay ofother employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwisehave access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is(a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtheranceof an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including aninvestigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with thecontractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR60-1.35(c) WVU & UHA are AA/EO employer –Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran – and WVU is the recipient of anNSF ADVANCE award for gender equity. Successful candidates must have an MD, MD/PhD or DO degree (theemployer accepts foreign educational equivalent). Candidates mustbe board certified/eligible in neurology at the time ofemployment. WVU Medicine is West Virginia University’s affiliated healthsystem, West Virginia’s largest private employer, and a nationalleader in patient safety and quality. The WVU Health System iscomprised of four affiliated hospitals and nine member hospitalsanchored by its flagship hospital, J.W Ruby Memorial Hospital inMorgantown, a 700+ bed academic medical center that offers tertiaryand quaternary care. WVU Medicine has more than 1,000 activemedical staff members and 18,000 employees who serve hundreds ofthousands of people each year from across the state of WestVirginia and the nation. Uniontown Hospital is a compassionate, dedicated community hospitalproviding a full range of medical care to residents of FayetteCounty and the surrounding areas for more than a century. Healthcare services provided at our acute and specialty care hospitalinclude an award-winning Cardiology Department and catheterizationlab, an award-winning Stroke Center, a state-of-the-art WoundHealing Center and the Family Beginnings Birthing Center.To learn more, visithttp://medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/neurology and applyonline at http://wvumedicine.org/morgantowncareers. For additional questions, please contact Kelli Piccirillo, SeniorPhysician Recruiter, at [email protected] . West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute andthe Department of Neurology in the WVU School of Medicine areseeking a General Neurologist to practice at Uniontown Hospital inUniontown, PA. The position involves clinical care, research,and teaching medical students and neurology residents. You willjoin a renowned team of physicians and researchers making anextraordinary difference in the lives of our patients. Ours is acollaborative atmosphere that allows practicing advanced medicinein a highly satisfying environment. We do so by recruiting some ofthe finest physicians from across the country – men and women whoare often recognized leaders in their specialty or subspecialty;investing heavily in new technology; practicing – and frequentlydeveloping – the latest techniques and placing the highest emphasison achieving great quality outcomes.The West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute,led by Dr. Ali Rezai, is expanding to include the clinical,research, and academic missions of Neurosurgery, Neurology, andBehavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, among others.
Regional Cities Initiative, which will allocate a total of $126 million toward 100 quality of place projects totaling more than $2 billion in combined state, local and private investment in order to retain and attracttop talent to the Hoosier state. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has approved Regional Cities Initiative funding to support a quality of place project in southwest Indiana that will increase housing options, wellness and connectivity near Victoria National Golf Club in Warrick County.“Southwest Indiana is investing in its residents and future through projects like the Victoria’s Lifestyle Development, which will attract talent through its housing options and amenities,” said Governor Mike Pence. “As Indiana enters its third century, it is vital to continue our efforts in attracting and retaining top talent to our state. The Indiana Regional Cities Initiative is helping communities and regions collaborate on projects that are tailored to their local needs, improving the everyday lives of Hoosiers.”“With a growing region like Indiana’s Great Southwest, planned communities such as the Lifestyle Development at Victoria are needed to attract the future millennial workforce while helping to build a national brand,” said Beth McFadin Higgins, president of the Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.VICTORIA’S LIFESTYLE DEVELOPMENTThis project consists of adding 550 residences in a lifestyle community sprawled over 405 acres in Warrick County. The lifestyle development will be comprised of quaint villages, parks, amenities and a trail system, which will be incorporated into the Warrick County Trail.The project will complement Victoria National Golf Club, one of the top 50 golf courses in the United States, and will incorporate a variety of architectural styles with a diverse mix of price points. Planning, designing and permitting for this project is already underway with plans to break ground in early 2017. Residents are expected to move in by early 2018.Total Project Investment: $54.64 millionState funding: $2 million“The Lifestyle Development at Victoria is a perfect pairing with the goals and ambitions of the Regional Cities Initiative,” said Nick Cassala, president and general manager, Greenlife Development. “With the talent projections of southwest Indiana, this master planned community located near Victoria National Golf Club and the new Warrick County Park will provide amenities that focus on wellness and connectivity that top talent looks for when evaluating employment options.”Regional Cities Initiative in Southwest Indiana:These projects were recommended for funding by the Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) and are part of the region’s Indiana’s Great Southwest plan, which outlines a goal of 11 regional development projects in four counties totaling $926 million in quality of place investments.Southwest Indiana was one of three Indiana regions selected to receive state funding through the FacebookTwitterCopy LinkEmail
Children pretend to fall asleep and snore quietly at the 2016 Quiet Festival. By Donald WittkowskiWhat’s the perfect antidote for a noisy, raucous, headache-inducing presidential election?A giant mute button, perhaps? Well, maybe. But, believe it or not, there is someplace that celebrates the sweet sounds of silence.So, shut up and listen. We’ll tell you what it is.It’s called the Quiet Festival. The wacky annual event in Ocean City has grown in importance this year, coming just four days after the conclusion of the eardrum-shattering yell fest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.Novena Weigly, 8, and Reagan DeVlieger, 10, both of Ocean City, pet a hamster.Giving children and adults an escape from all the Election Day racket, the family-friendly Quiet Festival was a decidedly tranquil affair Saturday.Kids dressed up their dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, hamsters and even hermit crabs in colorful costumes in a quest to win the coveted Quiet Pet Contest.The Quiet Festival is held at the Ocean City Community Center, a complex that includes the public library. Fortunately, there was no need for any librarians to rush in and shush anyone.Everyone who attended the event received a “I Survived the 2016 Presidential Campaign” certificate to make it official.Mark Soifer, the city’s public relations director who dreamed up the event, said the Quiet Festival allows people to appreciate the simple things in life.“We would like to offer some quiet things to do to get over this,” he said, referring to the election. “Read some poetry, pet your dog, take a walk, fly a kite.”Mary Eileen Durante, left, and her mother, Eileen Durante, both of Northfield, show off their costumed pet guinea pigs and rabbit.Soifer complained (softly) that the volume of the presidential campaign was far too loud, including the political ads and the nasty insults exchanged by the candidates.“There have been other lively elections, but not like this one,” he said. “It was brutal, especially the way they insulted each other.”But at the Quiet Festival, things were sedate. Children sat on reclining chairs and pretended to fall asleep. Then they began to snore, quietly, of course.“The quietest snorer is the winner,” declared Soifer. “This is the Snore at the Shore Contest. It’s famous around the world.”Even the animals were quiet. Moose, a 9-year-old dachshund dressed up in a hotdog costume, didn’t dare bark.“He does not bark period. Isn’t that so funny?” said Moose’s owner, Ann Godfrey, of Ocean City.“We heard him bark once,” chimed in Godfrey’s 8-year-old daughter, Carly, a second-grader at the Ocean City Primary School.Quinn Schlembach, 7, of Ocean City, plays inside an expandable toy sphere.Carly’s father, Andy Godfrey, insisted that Moose even snores quietly. “It’s a soft snore, he said. “He’s not tearing the wallpaper off.”Novena Weigly, 8, a third-grader in Ocean City, let her well-behaved pet hamster, Penny, out of the cage for everybody to pet.“No, Penny doesn’t make a sound,” Novena said.Novena’s father, Bryan Weigly, confirmed it. “There’s no noise, just the sound of the hamster wheel,” he said.Perhaps the quietest of them all were three turtles owned by Karen and Charlie Buckley of Turtlesinger Inc., a nonprofit charity that educates the public about turtles.During the Quiet Festival, the turtles crawled along the top of a table, not making a sound.Charlie Buckley explained that some turtles can have extremely long lives, even 100 years or more.That’s a long time to be quiet.
The Cape May County freeholders are bringing enhanced and more accessible medical services to veterans in Cape May County.The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is in the final stage of opening its new location for the Cape May VA Outpatient Clinic. It is anticipated to open in December 2020 and is located in the County Commons complex in Rio Grande, according to a county news release.The new clinic will be more centrally located in Cape May County to provide services closer to veterans’ homes.Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton and Freeholder Jeff Pierson worked with then-Congressman Frank LoBiondo to push the VA for the expanded access. It has been a vision that Thornton and LoBiondo have been working on for over three decades.During his time in office, LoBiondo worked extensively to expand veterans’ access to healthcare in Cape May, Atlantic, and Cumberland counties, the release states.“This new VA clinic is going to be a real asset to the veterans in our county,” Thornton said. “I want to thank our former Congressman Frank LoBiondo for working so hard for Cape May County and for the VA to listen to the needs of our veterans.”The new clinic will be double the size of the current one, which is located at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. Services that will be available include a host of expanded offerings, including telehealth capabilities, hearing aid maintenance and repair, prescription drug benefits, physical therapy and optometry services.“We appreciate the cooperation of the VA to get this facility open in 2020, despite COVID-19,” Pierson said. “This will be a great facility to provide expanded services for our men and women who served.”The clinic was supposed to open in June but got pushed back due to the pandemic. Cape May County County Counsel Jeff Lindsay made the recommendation to the Freeholder Board when the county purchased what is now known as County Commons that it would be an ideal fit for the clinic. The idea was presented to the VA and they agreed to move forward.“On behalf of Township Committee and the many veterans that reside in Middle Township, I want to thank the VA and the Freeholder Board for bringing this state-of-the-art clinic to Rio Grande,” Middle Township Mayor Tim Donohue said. “This vital facility will bring the quality healthcare our Cape May County veterans deserve much closer to home. It’s great to see this vision become a reality.” The VA clinic is located in the County Commons Complex in Rio Grande. (Photo courtesy Cape May County)
Panorama Festival is fast approaching, and New York is getting amped up for this brand new festival. Their killer lineup features Arcade Fire’s only 2016 U.S. tour date, one of Kendrick Lamar’s only North American festival sets this summer, and a sure-to-be-incredible hometown comeback show by the one-and-only LCD Soundsystem. With The National, Alabama Shakes, Major Lazer, Sia, Run the Jewels and more on the bill, it’s sure to be an unforgettable weekend of music on Randall’s Island. However, music isn’t the only thing on Panorama’s mind, as the festival intends to blow attendees away with an incredible, interactive experience called The Lab. ***Scroll to the bottom to enter to win a pair of 3-day passes to Panorama NYC!***The Lab will be a state-of-the-art installation for all Panorama attendees to enjoy. It will feature a museum-like room filled with multiple interactive exhibits and a massive theater that provides a fully-immersive audio/visual experience, all contained inside of a unique structure with a projection-mapped exterior. Panorama looks to be the first festival of this scale to feature technology as one of its main components, and The Lab will be that dream brought to life. The project itself is the brainchild of Panorama promoters Goldenvoice and META.is director Justin Bolognino, who is a huge Phish fan, is one of the founding fathers of Brooklyn Bowl, and is an all-around champion of technology-based art.Justin is a man of many hats. As the former Creative Director of Brooklyn Bowl, Justin helped shape the brand and experience of the beloved multi-room venue. Bolognino then sold his Learned Evolution and Meta Agency companies to mega-promoter SFX and formed the in-house creative solutions studio FX1, where Justin brought unique and interesting experiential marketing to festivals like Electric Zoo and Mysteryland. Finally, as the head of META.is, Justin works to elevate artists who use creative technology as a medium. I recently sat down with Mr. Bolognino to discuss all things The Lab, as well as some insight into working with Phish and working on the creation of Brooklyn Bowl. Click here for full details on The Lab via The Verge, and see below for a full transcript of the interview with Justin BologninoLive For Live Music: Break down The Lab for us? What is it? What isn’t it?Justin Bolognino: Well, The Lab is maybe the largest scale, single festival experience activation in history, as far as I’ve seen. There are three main components to The Lab: there’s the architectural façade, with is being projection-mapped by VolvoxLabs, then there is an 150×30 foot exhibition space that will host some six different interactive installations from leading New York City creative technology studios. We also have one other interactive installation—Emilie Baltz’s “Cotton Candy Theremin Universe”—that’s going to happen as a pop-up throughout the weekend. The Dome, which is the final component; we are creating a custom seventy-foot immersive audio-visual experience that’s the exclamation point on what should be a pretty inspiring tour. Hopefully you walk out of this thing a little knocked off your axis, that’s the idea. L4LM: How did you dream up for such an ambitious, multi-media experience?JB: I think such a resonant thing about this project is it didn’t feel like I dreamed it up or that there was anything active about it, it just feels natural. It wasn’t like an arduous task where there was a lot of brainstorming, it kind of flows beautifully. Really, it’s the culmination of everything I’ve done over the past ten years, all in one environment. It’s not so terribly different from Brooklyn Bowl at the end of the day.L4LM: How so?JB: I think the idea is in the simultaneity, we live in a very linear world that needs things one after the next, whereas, you can perceive reality to be happening simultaneously, and so, that was the big challenge when we built Brooklyn Bowl, people said ‘how will you have bowling, and music, and food all at the same time? That’s not going to work.’ And if you focus enough on the experience and focus enough on the feel and focus enough on how all of these elements are going to integrate, then I do think that level of simultaneity works and The Bowl obviously has only proven the fact.L4LM: What makes NYC and Panorama the perfect place for this vision?JB: Well, [festival promoters] AEG and Goldenvoice brought the catalyst of this idea to me. They wanted to create a festival that celebrates creative technology as a high form of art. That’s what Meta is predicated on, and I think that’s ultimately why they came to me, and the reason why I won the job in the end. I was able to create a story that includes not only the artists that we (Meta) rep but our competitors. I brought in people that we are normally pitching against to be a greater part of this community. I think that’s incredibly exciting; there’s a sea change happening around this, and that sea change is elevating creative technologists to the level of talent, and AEG wanted that. So we built that, then we took that same message to HP [Hewlett Packard], and HP is into that, so, this is kind of big. I’ve been in this for a long time and never seen so many partners so willing to tell this story…Quickly, back to your question about what it isn’t, it isn’t a festival activation where you’re going to walk out of there going ‘well that was cool, but who the hell did all of that?’ I think that’s one of the biggest problems that we solve on a daily basis at META.is, and especially at The Lab. We’re putting extensive lengths to make sure you know who these artists are. All the talent will have what we’re calling ‘exhibition pods’ on-site, so every single exhibit has a free standing structure that talks about the talent, that shows their reel, that shows content, that has their bio, and that’s a level up on how this type of talent normally gets treated, especially when they’re up against music.L4LM: Do you see this as being a new trend in festivals, or do you think that this is something that is specific to a festival like a Panorama or a company like an AEG who can get behind it. JB: Yeah! I think it has to be, I think the market’s going to demand it, I think that creative technologists are the next rock stars, and if festivals don’t catch up with that then they’re going to get left in the dust.I want to be clear, this isn’t just different for the sake of different, but telling a colloquial story that’s relative to the region that the festival is being built in. Coachella can only exist in the California desert, period. And Panorama could only exist in New York City, and that’s the idea, that they’re reflective of each other. It’s not just a stage with musicians performing on it like some of the other events that happen in New York on this scale. There’s a story, there’s a thread, we’re pulling together a community based around a narrative, and that narrative is: creative technology is amazing, and it’s time to respect that, and make it a quintessential part of the festival experience. And this came from AEG, this was their mandate, it’s not like I pitched them on that idea and that’s why it’s so exciting, because they want to tell that story. They don’t want to just have a genre-specific festival, they don’t want to have just a few headliners and throw up a stage in a parking lot. They want to tell a story, and I’m pretty blessed to have the opportunity to help tell that story.L4LM: A lot of information has been released about The Lab, including the artists involved, the pieces they are making, etc., and it seems well curated with thought provoking pieces. Are there any surprises in store for people who make their way to The Lab?JB: Maybe! There’s only one way to find out! How cool would it be to have a surprise DJ set in a 360-degree, immersive video dome? L4LM: It would be pretty cool!JB: Well I think that would be pretty awesome. Whether or not that happens, who knows?The Cotton Candy Theremin in the exhibition is kind of like that that but it’s not going to be a surprise, it’s publicized. We’ll probably release set times for it and everything.L4LM: What are you most excited about for The Lab?JB: The thing I’m most excited for is just getting all of the humans that are involved in this thing in one space together, I mean, these guys are known for their work, but the collective consciousness of the eleven different studios that are involved with this thing all in one place resonating together, that’s really exciting.L4LM: What music are you looking forward to seeing at Panorama? Can we expect to see any of The Lab’s amazing artists collaborating with any musicians on the festival lineup?JB: Well, I hope so, that would be awesome, surely it’s a great opportunity for all of the artists involved with this project, but that remains to be seen.In terms of music, obviously LCD Soundsystem should go without saying, one of my all time favorite bands, one of the best live bands ever, I believe, and I like to dance. So, that’ll be awesome.Honestly I think it’s the best lineup of the summer, headliners on down, and I’m not just saying that. How much music I’ll be able to see, I’m not so sure. I want to see FKA Twigs, I’m very excited about that, and also I haven’t seen Alabama Shakes since they played Brooklyn Bowl many, many years ago.L4LM: Besides Panorama, what other festivals stick out to you as being technology-forward?JB: I was just in Barcelona for Sonar, which is the best example, and they do it so right. They have daytime activities that shine a spotlight on creative technologists, on people using creative technology to build new instruments, on the digital side of the music game, they had a whole VR area, and at night they premier new stage designs, pair together visual and musical talent and they do it on a grand scale with the most amazing vibes. So Sonar wins, thus far. I really like what Moog Fest is doing…Day For Night is doing a really nice job at this down in Houston. But there’s a lot of room, there’s a lot of room to bring creative technology into the live music and experiential festival space. L4LM: As one of the original people involved with the project, and one of the key designers of the fan experience at Brooklyn Bowl, do you have any stories that stand out in your head?JB: The thing that sticks out most about The Bowl, led by Mr. [Peter] Shapiro and Charley Ryan, who are the masters of this, but every single thing about Brooklyn Bowl was created for your experience. I have this one anecdote where, there’s the wall that separates the lanes from the general admission area, and there’s the big screens at the end of the lanes. We built that wall to the height that we had specified, and we stood in the middle of the general admission area, and noticed that the wall was blocking the bottom quarter or so of the screens up on the lanes. And we literally ripped the wall out and re-built it to be low enough for an averaged height person to be able to see the screens from the GA. And I have one hundred more stories like that that surely highlights how every square pixel of that place was thought through and re-thought through based on how it would feel for the attendee to be in that room. From the content that’s on the screens to the nature of the branding, the consistency of the branding, the environmental design, I mean every single thing; it was an Apple-like approach to a venue, and I don’t know that there’s many venues out there that took that many detail to focus on the quality of your experience. That’s why we got hired originally to do that job, we share in that desire to uphold quality, but also that continues to inspire me to this day, to deliver that level of quality for attendees. Experience is everything, that’s what we do; Experience first, make money later. Shaprio has built an empire with that philosophy, and it’s as genuine and authentic as anything I’ve seen in the business world.L4LM: What was it like working for Phish? I know you’re a huge Phish fan, and were lucky enough to help organize the video that played before Festival 8’s Exile on Main Street set. Can you tell me a little bit about the process involved in collaborating on something so important with Phish?JB: It was crazy, I mean, we did the entire video that opened for Phish at festival 8 for their Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street in about 3 weeks. That year they did that really amazing marketing campaign where they built this online portal that had 99 different classic record covers with haunted, Halloween style music. And every day, you’d check back and a dagger would fly out and kill three or four of the records, leaving only ten left by the end of the month. At the time I was representing video-remix-DJs Eclectic Method, and I had this idea to have all 99 albums-worth of content remixed into a video that would open up the show. And it’s one of those insanely rare opportunities and cold-pitch, and push a project through. First of all, the [non-disclosure agreement] I signed to be able to be told what the cover-album was, was like first-born child level; I didn’t even tell my wife what it was, true story, It was that protective. So, we made it happen, and the whole process was done within less than three weeks, maybe two-and-a-half weeks, and that’s collecting 99 pieces of video content all relating to 99 albums. We had twelve people and a massive spreadsheet for people to search everywhere for content, DVDs, YouTube, etc., and it was a huge undertaking in and of itself just to source the content. There are three guys in Eclectic Method; each took a chunk, and they created a masterpiece. That video they made in the time they made it, with the pressure and everything else was just an extraordinary piece of work. Funnily enough, it is ended up accidentally being four minutes and twenty seconds long, and I’ll take that as a happy accident.Two big things: the whole thing was done through management, I was never allowed to talk directly to the band (which, as a huge head, was probably the reason that they did that) and the second thing is that they reserve the right to not do it, that was part of their contract that, if, on the day of show, they didn’t wanna do this thing they didn’t have to. So, I flew out to Festival 8, handed the DVD to [Jason] Colton [ed. note: one of Phish’s managers] on Saturday the day of the show, and it’s like ‘alright, taking the final back to the band’, and I didn’t find out if they had approved it until 3:00pm that afternoon, and that night, it happened. And let me tell you, it was an out of body experience, the whole thing. I didn’t even have the capacity to enjoy it because it was such a surreal thing. I think my favorite memory At 3pm I get the text that “it’s on” and that night it happened.L4LM: Do you have any thoughts on Phish’s new LED Rig?JB: I think if there’s one band in the world that doesn’t need LED lights, it’s Phish, and I think that addition does not equal evolution. I would say that true creativity is taking things away until all that’s left is the essentials, and I don’t think there’s anything essential in this rig. But, if they are here to stay, I think there is a wide-open canvas with-which to produce very high-level content.Enter To Win A Pair Of 3-Day GA Passes To Panorama NYC!
Nearly all U.S. regions stand to gain economic benefits from power plant carbon standards that set moderately stringent emission targets and allow a high level of compliance flexibility, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Syracuse University, Resources for the Future, and the Harvard Forest, Harvard University as a project of the Science Policy Exchange.The study was published today, June 7, 2016, in the open access journal PLOS ONE. The authors report large national net benefits of approximately $33 billion per year for the power plant carbon standard in the study, based on estimated costs of $17 billion per year and projected benefits of $29 billion for a subset of health co-benefits, and $21 billion for climate benefits.While other studies have analyzed total national costs and benefits of power plant carbon standards, this is the first study of its kind to break down the costs and benefits by sub region for the entire U.S.“We found that the health benefits would outweigh the estimated costs of the carbon standard in our study for 13 out of 14 power sector regions within five years of implementation—even though we only looked at a subset of the total benefits,” said lead author Jonathan Buonocore, research associate and program leader at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Chan School. Read Full Story
Read Full Story Three students from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health are among the 32 recipients of the Harvard Traveling Fellowship for 2016–17. Fellowships are awarded to graduate students and recent graduates from across the University to support research, study, and travel abroad or domestically.Corey Prachniak, M.P.H. ’16, has begun to explore gender, health, and human rights in Bogotá, Colombia; Laura Goodman, M.P.H. ’17, is researching the epidemiology of birth defects in Mongolia; and Yadira Almodóvar-Díaz, Dr.P.H. ’17, is working to improve the health care system in her native Puerto Rico.Prachniak decided to pursue public health after earning a law degree in order to be a more effective advocate for the health rights of LGBT people. In Bogotá, Prachniak is exploring how forms of gender-based discrimination, such as denial of gender-affirming care to transgender individuals, violates people’s right to health. Prachniak views the fellowship as an opportunity to combine advocacy, activism, and research in order to make the biggest possible impact.Goodman, a student in the School’s new online/on-campus M.P.H. in epidemiology program, hopes her work will promote policy changes to improve pediatric surgical capacity in Mongolia. After taking courses first from her home in Sacramento, Calif., and on campus in June, Goodman is now working with colleagues from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences and the National Center for Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia to study the epidemiology of birth defects as part of her M.P.H. capstone project.